Sea ice conditions in the Antarctic are likely to delay plans to take passengers off an ice-bound ship, officials say. Rescue co-ordinators based in Australia said it is now likely the airlift will not go ahead on Thursday as hoped. They had earlier been optimistic that helicopter operations would begin soon as weather conditions had improved. The ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, with 74 passengers and and crew aboard, has been […]
Wagons from a mile-long train carrying crude oil have burst into flames as they derailed after a collision in the US state of North Dakota. A plume of thick black smoke could be seen many miles away and explosions were heard. No injuries were reported, but officials are urging people from the nearby town of Casselton – some 2,300 people – to evacuate as a precaution. An investigation into […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: Avianca announces the cancellation of 33 flights into and out of the country NEW: El Salvador’s president says authorities don’t know if the volcano will erupt again Chaparrastique sent a plume of gas and ash about 3 miles high, environmental ministry says Some flights to San Salvador, the capital, were redirected to other airports to avoid the ash El Salvador’s Chaparrastique volcano erupted Sunday, sending a dark […]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS An explosion on a trolleybus killed at least 10 people, state media report It follows a blast at a train station a day earlier that killed 17 people Russia is due to hold the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February Another deadly blast struck the southern Russian city of Volgograd on Monday, killing at least 10 people and further highlighting Russia’s security challenges as it readies to host […]
A suicide attack on a train station in Russia’s southern city of Volgograd has killed 16 people, officials say. Initial official claims that the bomber was a lone woman have been replaced by uncertainty about who carried it out. President Vladimir Putin has ordered security to be tightened at railway stations and airports across Russia. Moscow is concerned militant groups could be ramping up violence in the run-up to the […]
Two men arrested following fire aboardKing Seaways ferry from Newcastle One, 26, arrested on suspicion of arson and another, 28 suspicion of affray Two crew members and four passengers airlifted to hospital last night 23 people in total suffered from smoke-related injuries, says ferry firm Passenger suspected of setting fire in cabin detained by ship staff Police say they cannot be sure whether blaze was accidental or on purpose Vessel […]
Morale high on ship stuck off Antarctica STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: One of three icebreakers sent to rescue stuck ship stopped by ice NEW: The rescue ship may need two more days to reach the trapped vessel, captain says The stranded vessel is carrying tourists and researchers studying climate change The 74 people aboard had a “great Christmas” while at a frozen standstill, leader says A Chinese icebreaker heading to free […]
Former Lebanese minister and opposition figure Mohamad Chatah has been killed by a car bomb in central Beirut. Four others were killed and at least 50 people were hurt in the attack. Mr Chatah, a Sunni Muslim, was an adviser to ex-PM Saad Hariri. He was also a staunch critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement that backs him. There has been a wave of […]
A video released anonymously to reporters in Pakistan shows Warren Weinstein, a US government contractor who was kidnapped more than two years ago, appealing to President Obama to negotiate a release. A U.S. government contractor kidnapped by al-Qaida militants in Pakistan in 2011 has recorded a video message calling on the Obama administration to negotiate with his captors and saying he feels ‘‘totally abandoned and forgotten.’’ Warren Weinstein looked ashen […]
The pilot of a Mozambican airliner that crashed in Namibia last month deliberately brought the plane down, aviation experts in Mozambique believe. Mozambican Airlines flight TM470 left the capital Maputo bound for Angola on 29 November, but crashed, killing all 33 people all board. The Civil Aviation Institute said the pilot made a “deliberate series of manoeuvres” causing the crash. The pilot’s motives are unknown, and the investigation is continuing. […]
