UNITED STATES
Dock collapse kills seven
At least seven people were killed after part of a boat dock collapsed, sending at least 20 into the Atlantic off Georgia. Coast Guard ships were on Saturday night searching for missing people. The incident, which also caused multiple injuries, happened during a celebration of Sapelo Island’s tiny Gullah-Geechee community of black slave descendants, authorities said. A gangway crowded with people waiting for a ferryboat collapsed late on Saturday afternoon on the barrier island, said Tyler Jones, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which runs the ferry. “We and multiple agencies are searching for survivors,” he said.
INDIA
Bomb threats disrupt travel
More than 70 fake bomb threats have been made against flights operated by multiple Indian airlines this week, media reported yesterday, sparking fear among passengers and global delays. All flights landed safely, but the spate of threats has resulted in planes being diverted to Canada and Germany, and fighter jets scrambled to escort aircraft in the skies above the UK and Singapore. Authorities have not said how many threats have been received in the past week, but the Times of India and broadcaster News18 reported more than 70 hoaxes targeting domestic and international flights since Oct. 13. At least 30 hoax threats were made on Saturday alone.
UNITED KINGDOM
Book returned 113 years late
A book borrowed from a school library before World War I has finally been returned — more than a century overdue. A copy of Poetry of Byron was found by a man in Carmarthenshire, Wales, who felt it should be returned to St Bees School, near Whitehaven, England, where it had been lent a schoolboy. Inside the blue clothbound book the name Leonard Ewbank is written, along with the date Sept. 25, 1911. Ewbank died serving in WWI. The school was “honored” to have the book returned, principal Andrew Keep said. “It’s incredible to think that a piece of St Bees’ history has found its way back to us after all these years,” Keep told the BBC. The book could be one of the most overdue library books of all time. In May, a book borrowed from a library in Helsinki was returned 84 years overdue.
UNITED STATES
Cher inducted to hall of fame
Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne were among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an elite group formally introduced into the music pantheon on Saturday at a star-studded concert gala. Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest and Peter Frampton round out the 2024 class of honorees, artists honored at the ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio. Big Mama Thornton, Alexis Korner and John Mayall received special honors for “musical influence,” as Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield received awards for “musical excellence.” Dua Lipa started the ceremony with a performance of Believe, with Cher joining the pop star onstage to finish her 1998 smash hit, which was credited as the first song to use auto-tune technology as an instrument. “I changed the sound of music forever,” she said in her acceptance speech, less than a year after railing against the hall for not having yet added her to the ballot. “It was easier getting divorced from two men than it was getting in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” she quipped.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS