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☆ Orcas Sink Fourth Boat Off Iberia, Unnerving Sailors
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The yacht Grazie Mamma II carried its crew along the coastlines and archipelagos of the Mediterranean. Its last adventure was off the coast of Morocco last week, when it encountered a pod of orcas. The marine animals slammed the yacht’s rudder for 45 minutes, causing major damage and a leak, according to Morskie Mile, the boat’s Polish operators. The crew escaped, and rescuers and the Moroccan Navy tried to tow the yacht to safety, but it sank near the port of Tanger Med, the operator said on its website. The largest of the dolphin family, orcas are playful apex predators that hunt sharks, whales and other prey but are generally amiable to humans in the wild.

Organizations: Moroccan Navy Locations: Morocco, Tanger, Strait, Gibraltar, Portugal, Spain

☆ Who Killed the Innkeeper With a Sword in 1315?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A street musician murdered for playing music too loudly after dusk. And who killed the innkeeper with a sword after a fight? But fans of true crime and history can now peruse them in an interactive medieval murder map released in September by University of Cambridge researchers. Users can click through the back stories of more than 300 murders in the English cities of London, York and Oxford. Entries are searchable by gender, day of the week and even weapon (pole-axe or crossbow?).

Persons: Queen, England, ”, Manuel Eisner Organizations: University of Cambridge, Oxford, Cambridge Locations: London, York

☆ Air Canada Apologizes for Questioning a British Lawmaker About His Background
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Canada’s largest airline, Air Canada, has apologized to a British lawmaker, Mohammad Yasin, after lawmakers said Mr. Yasin was singled out for questioning because of his name and background on a recent official trip to the country. Pablo Rodríguez, the Canadian transport minister, told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday that his office had contacted the airline about the screening. “We called Air Canada and Air Canada apologized,” Mr. Rodríguez said, “and apologizing was the right thing to do.”Mr. Yasin, a member of Parliament for the Labour Party, has represented the constituency of Bedford in eastern England since 2017. While leaving for a trip to Canada with other lawmakers last week, he said, he was questioned vigorously at Heathrow Airport near London. Details of the questioning emerged on Monday when one of Mr. Yasin’s colleagues, Clive Betts, said in remarks to Parliament that Mr. Yasin was the only lawmaker in the group delayed for questioning by officials who they believed worked for Air Canada and the Canadian government.

Persons: Mohammad Yasin, Yasin, Pablo Rodríguez, ” Mr, Rodríguez, “, Mr, Yasin’s, Clive Betts Organizations: Air, Air Canada, Labour Party, Airport, Canadian Locations: Air Canada, British, Ottawa, Bedford, England, Canada, London

On Tuesday morning, few meteorologists were talking about Tropical Storm Otis. At that time, forecast computer models didn’t show much to be concerned about. By Sunday evening, the computer forecast models were still not showing much. This is why meteorologists often preach that a computer model isn’t a forecast — forecasters create forecasts, they like to say. On Monday evening, with Otis still a tropical storm, satellite images revealed a little feature that could mean that the storm was about to intensify very quickly.

Persons: Tropical Storm Otis, Otis, Zach Levitt, Tomer, we’re, Eric Blake, Hurricane Otis Organizations: Tropical Storm, National, U.S, National Hurricane Center, Otis, Hurricane Locations: Mexico, Tomer Burg, Florida, @burgwx, Acapulco

Before the storm made landfall, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico had urged residents in Guerrero to brace for the storm. “Agree to move to shelters, stay in safe places: away from rivers, streams, ravines, and be alert,” he said on Tuesday. It also recommended that Acapulco residents take shelter, avoid crossing streams and flooded streets, and stay away from areas prone to landslides. The rainfall could cause flash and urban flooding, as well as mudslides in the mountainous areas, forecasters said. “There are no hurricanes on record even close to this intensity for this part of Mexico,” the hurricane center added.

Persons: Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ”, Otis, Hurricane Patricia Organizations: of, Protection Locations: Mexico, Guerrero, Acapulco, Tecpán, Oaxaca, Pacific Coast

Tens of thousands of women and nonbinary people in Iceland were expected to participate on Tuesday in a one-day strike, which organizers called the country’s largest effort to protest workplace inequality in nearly five decades. Iceland is a global leader in gender equality but still has a long way to go, said Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, a spokeswoman for the Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, the country’s largest federation of public worker unions. “Iceland is often viewed as some sort of equality paradise,” Ms. Steingrímsdóttir, an organizer of the strike, said. “If we’re going to live up to that name, we need to move forward and really be the best we can be — and we’re not stopping until full gender equality is reached.”Organizers urged women and nonbinary people to stop all work on Tuesday, including household errands and child care. Even Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said she would take part, telling local news media that she would not call a cabinet meeting and that she expected other women in the cabinet to strike.

Persons: Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, Ms, Steingrímsdóttir, Katrín Jakobsdóttir Organizations: Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, ” Locations: Iceland

When the sun broke through the dreary sky on a recent summer’s day in London, Lauren Thompson started packing for a family picnic. Another city resident, Maxwell St Hill, began masterminding plans for an afternoon barbecue. And Johana Bowhill texted her friends that a day dedicated to outdoor games — to celebrate her 24th birthday — was going ahead. Though strangers, the three Londoners all had the same idea for the best way to take advantage of the precious blue skies. “The first thing that people do is flock to the parks,” Ms. Thompson said.

Persons: Lauren Thompson, Maxwell St Hill, —, Ms, Thompson, “ There’s, ” Locations: London

The Americans took off in a plane from Tehran just before 9 a.m. Eastern time and were expected to fly to Doha, the capital of Qatar. Officials said that they would be given brief medical checkups before flying to Washington on a U.S. government plane. Several of the Iranian American prisoners, who hold dual citizenship, had been moved from the notorious Evin prison to a hotel last month, according to officials at the State Department and the National Security Council. The U.S. government had deemed the five wrongfully detained. Their release comes after more than two years of quiet negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Organizations: Iranian, White House, Officials, State Department, National Security Council Locations: Iran, Tehran, Doha, Qatar, Washington, U.S

☆ Relief Efforts in Libya Turn to Disease Prevention, as Hopes for Finding Survivors Dim
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly a week after a powerful storm caused catastrophic flooding in northeastern Libya, rescue groups assessing the damage left behind after two dams collapsed in the city of Derna — washing entire neighborhoods out to sea — said that the death toll was still being assessed amid diminishing hopes for finding survivors. “There are still bodies in the water,” said Salem Al Naas, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent in Derna, adding in an interview that workers were still searching hundreds of buildings where families were feared to have died. People are being found alive — one person was pulled from the rubble yesterday, Mr. Al Naas said. The United Nations had said on Saturday that at least 11,300 people had died and that more than 10,000 people were still missing, citing figures it said were from the Libyan Red Crescent. But Mr. Al Naas walked that back a bit, and said that while those numbers “might be an approximate number,” the final death toll is yet unknown.

Persons: —, ”, Salem Al, Al Naas, “ Organizations: Libyan, United Nations Locations: Libya, Salem, Salem Al Naas, Derna, Libyan

More than 5,000 people were killed in Libya after torrential rains caused two dams to burst near the coastal city of Derna, destroying much of the city and carrying entire neighborhoods into the sea, local authorities said on Tuesday. Libya, a North African nation splintered by a war, was ill-prepared for the storm, called Daniel, which swept across the Mediterranean Sea to batter its coastline. The country is administered by two rival governments, complicating rescue and aid efforts, and its infrastructure had been poorly maintained after more than a decade of political chaos. In the city of Derna alone, at least 5,200 people died, said Tarek al-Kharraz, a spokesman for the interior ministry of the government that oversees Eastern Libya, according to the Libyan television station al-Masar. At least 20,000 people were displaced.

Persons: Daniel, Tarek al Organizations: Eastern, Libyan Locations: Libya, Derna, African, Eastern Libya

Deadly floods swept through northeastern Libya over the weekend, with the top official in the region warning that the toll could exceed 2,000 dead as rescue teams searched for survivors. It was not immediately clear what the head of the divided country’s eastern region, Osama Hamad, or the spokesman were basing their numbers on. But the flooding was centered in the region under Mr. Hamad’s administration. The internationally recognized government in western Libya, in Tripoli, has not put out figures. “Entire neighborhoods have been swept away by the sea, and entire neighborhoods have disappeared with their inhabitants,” Mr. Hamad said in a phone interview with the Libyan television channel al-Masar on Monday from the port city of Derna in eastern Libya.

Persons: Osama Hamad, ” Mr, Hamad Organizations: Libyan Locations: Libya, Tripoli, Derna

“They have nowhere they can go back to,” Mr. Choula said of his family, who spent Saturday night sleeping in a field with several other families. Some are rallying together to send funds and organize shipments of supplies for survivors while others are heading home to help on the ground. But Mr. Dehy said he had received dozens of calls from Moroccans who want to immediately send help home. For Moroccans watching from afar, “the only thing that helps them is knowing that they helped, that they didn’t just stand idly by,” Mr. Dehy said. Mr. Choula, 41, said he was gathering money to send home.

Persons: Youssef Choula, “, ” Mr, Choula, ”, Latif Dehy, Dehy, —, Ella Williams, Talat N’yakoub, It’s, “ I’ve, Williams Organizations: “, French, of, British Moroccan Society Locations: Gloucestershire, England, Marrakesh, Amizmiz, Moroccan, Avignon, France, Morocco, Europe, Britain, ”

Violent storms have pounded parts of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey with extreme amounts of rain, causing floods that killed at least 13 people, ravaged roads and prompted evacuations. In Greece, where record rainfall has swamped the country’s central region this week, the death toll stood at three, after the authorities on Wednesday recovered two more bodies. In Turkey, seven people were killed by flooding in the northwest late on Tuesday, according to the interior minister. And Bulgarian officials said on Wednesday that three people had died in floodwaters on that country’s Black Sea coast. Greece’s fire service said Wednesday that it had received more than 2,000 calls for help in 24 hours.

Locations: Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Volos

☆ Have You Seen Paul McCartney’s Lost Bass Guitar? Tips Welcome.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Before Beatlemania, there was the distinctive Höfner violin bass — the first guitar that Paul McCartney bought after becoming the bassist for the Beatles. That bass can be heard on some of the band’s most famous hits, including “Love Me Do,” “She Loves You,” and “Twist and Shout.”Mr. McCartney picked up the instrument in a Hamburg music store in 1961, and it accompanied the Fab Four as they rocketed to stunning success, becoming the most famous band in the world. But the guitar vanished eight years later. A new campaign is seeking to find the missing instrument, and hundreds of people have responded, hoping to help solve the decades-old mystery: Where is Paul McCartney’s missing bass guitar?

Persons: Paul McCartney, Mr, McCartney, Paul McCartney’s Locations: Hamburg

☆ Grim Struggle Begins to Identify Victims in South African Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Families of the victims of a fire in downtown Johannesburg were still searching for relatives at mortuaries and hospitals on Friday to see if they had lived or died, a day after the blaze tore through an overcrowded building in one of the deadliest residential fires in South African history. At least 74 people died in the fire, a dozen of them children, with some victims jumping to their deaths from the building and others trapped inside. Health officials on Friday urged people to come forward to identify their relatives at a mortuary, adding that 40 men and 24 women were among the victims. Ten other bodies were so badly burned they were beyond recognition, they said, and DNA testing would be used to identify them. On Friday morning, the police were seen taking search dogs around the charred site.

Organizations: Health Locations: Johannesburg, mortuaries, South

☆ Scenes From Johannesburg: A Deadly Fire Downtown Kills Scores
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A fire consumed a crowded five-story building in downtown Johannesburg early on Thursday, tearing through an informal settlement of homeless people in what was being described as one of the deadliest blazes in South African history. Owned by the city, the building once provided emergency housing for women but had become home to a large squatter camp, a sign of the scarcity of affordable housing in South Africa’s most populous city. These are photographs from the scene.

Locations: Johannesburg, South Africa’s

☆ King Charles to Visit France in September, After Protests Forced Delay
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

King Charles III of Britain announced plans on Thursday for a visit to France next month, his first trip to the country as monarch, after widespread demonstrations postponed a visit planned earlier this year and caused an awkward moment for President Emmanuel Macron. The British monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, will visit Paris and Bordeaux from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22, Buckingham Palace said, adding that it would be a celebration of “the shared history, culture and values of the United Kingdom and France.”The French president had originally intended to host King Charles in March, in one of the king’s first overseas trips as Britain’s head of state. On the heels of a visit from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the plan for King Charles’s trip was a signal of a warming in the relationship between the two countries, which has been strained in the years since Britain formally left the European Union in 2021. But an outpouring of anger in March over a plan by Mr. Macron to raise the retirement age in France to 64 from 62 spurred huge street demonstrations and strikes, some of which turned violent. The strikes also disrupted train services, causing concerns over the travel logistics.

Persons: King Charles III of, Emmanuel Macron, Queen Camilla, Buckingham, ”, King Charles, Rishi Sunak, King Charles’s, Macron Organizations: Paris, European Union Locations: France, British, Bordeaux, United Kingdom, Britain

☆ Scenes From Greece, Where Hundreds of New Fires Burn
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With forests parched from weeks of scorching heat waves, the authorities in Greece feared that this summer’s conditions had created more opportunities to spark catastrophic wildfires. Those fears came true this week, with officials calling a raft of summer wildfires the worst since modern record-keeping began. Fierce fires earlier in the season had already ravaged acres of land on several Greek islands, causing tourists to flee during the height of the travel season. The fresh fires this week razed even more of the country, resulting in apocalyptic scenes of burning homes and cars as locals used buckets of water to defend their villages. Earlier in the week, Greek firefighters recovered the bodies of 18 people, among them two children, in a forest in the northern Evros region.

Locations: Greece, Athens, Evros

In the game’s last seconds, Ona Sánchez couldn’t sit still. Then, when the referee finally blew the whistle to confirm that Spain had won the Women’s World Cup, she and the crowd around her — girls, boys, parents and other fans who had gathered to watch the match in Sant Pere de Ribes, near Barcelona — erupted in cheers. Olé, olé, olé!” Ona and her friend Laura Solorzano, both 11, and draped together in a Spanish flag, sang in the small town’s central cobblestone square as other supporters splashed water from a nearby fountain. The two friends, both players in a local soccer club, said they couldn’t have hoped for a better ending. “It was the first time I watched a World Cup,” Ona said, emerging from a group of dancing children.

Persons: Ona Sánchez couldn’t, “, ” Ona, Laura Solorzano, ” Locations: Spain, Sant Pere, Ribes, Barcelona

☆ Thousands Evacuated in Canary Islands After ‘Most Complex’ Fire in 40 Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Tonight, at least, the fire has behaved and the weather has behaved normally,” Fernando Clavijo, the regional president for the Canary Islands, told reporters on Friday, adding that firefighters had worked intensely to stop the fire’s progress after it moved in an unpredictable manner earlier in the week. Mr. Clavijo said he was hopeful that the forecast would improve, but added that the blaze still was not under control. At least eight municipalities have been affected by the fire, though local authorities on Friday lifted the lockdown order on La Esperanza, a village northeast of Teide National Park, where 3,820 residents had been ordered earlier in the week to shelter in place. The priority on Friday, Mr. Clavijo said, was to confine the fire to an area near the village. For residents closest to the fire, the past few days have been marked by streams of choking smoke and an overcast sky with an orange glow that has been filled with falling ash.

Persons: ” Fernando Clavijo, Clavijo, I’ve, ”, María Luisa Pacheco, La Orotava Organizations: El Locations: Canary, La Esperanza, Teide, La, Spanish

☆ Free Cash in Ireland, at Least for a Moment, Thanks to a Bank Glitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For some customers at the Bank of Ireland, it was a windfall too good to be true. The bank, one of Ireland’s largest, acknowledged on Wednesday that a “technical issue” with its online banking services had allowed some customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts, prompting the authorities to monitor crowds after long lines formed at some A.T. M.s around the country. The problems began on Tuesday, after some Bank of Ireland customers complained that they could not access online banking services, leaving them unable to pay for transactions or transfer money. But the technical glitch also allowed customers to transfer or withdraw funds without affecting their overall balance, the bank said, and some people apparently seized on the opportunity to take out money they did not have. Crowds began to gather around some Bank of Ireland A.T.M.s, according to footage circulating online and chatter on social media, even as the bank warned people not to overdraw their accounts.

Organizations: Bank of Ireland, Ireland Locations: M.s

☆ U.K. Reveals 5 Espionage Arrests After BBC Reports Russia Link
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Specialist officers from a unit of the force that covers national security policing, carried out the arrests after an investigation, the police statement said, but none of the five have been formally charged with espionage. The statement did not address the BBC report directly. Three of the people were identified by both the BBC and by the police as Orlin Roussev, 45; Biser Dzambazov, 42; and Katrin Ivanova, 32. The police said they had been separately charged with possessing false identification documents with “improper intention.” The BBC report said they had been charged with possessing false documents, including passports and identity cards for Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Slovenia. The police said that Mr. Roussev lived in the eastern English county of Norfolk, and that Mr. Dzambazov and Ms. Ivanova lived in the London district of Harrow.

Persons: Orlin Roussev, Biser Dzambazov, Katrin Ivanova, Roussev, Dzambazov, Ivanova Organizations: London Metropolitan Police, BBC Locations: Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, English, Norfolk, London, Harrow

☆ Heat Waves Are Killing Older Women. Are They Also Violating Their Rights?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The women live scattered around Switzerland, speak a mix of the country’s languages — German, French and Italian — and have worked in varying professions. But the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, a group of about 2,400 Swiss women aged 64 and over, say they have a common fear: soaring temperatures and heat waves that are threatening them with health ailments in their final decades. “It is difficult to go outside — it is difficult to breathe,” said Fatima Heussler, 71, a member of the group who lives in Zurich, who retired after several decades of working with visually impaired older people. Last year’s summer heat was so tiring, she said she could not do even light household chores. “I used to love summer — and now I can be threatened by it.”

Persons: ”, Fatima Heussler, Isabelle Joerg, “ Locations: Switzerland, —, Zurich, Basel

☆ Greenpeace Protesters Scale U.K. Prime Minister’s Roof With Ease
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Greenpeace activists, angered by Britain’s decision to issue new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, took their opposition to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday — or at least to the rooftop of one of his homes. With apparent ease and unhindered by security guards, the four protesters walked onto the grounds of the manor house Mr. Sunak owns in the village of Kirby Sigston in North Yorkshire, climbed onto the roof and draped the facade with panels of black fabric. “It really was about this image of pouring oil all over the prime minister's house,” said Ami McCarthy, a political campaigner for Greenpeace, who said Mr. Sunak was choosing profits over addressing climate change. “We need our prime minister to stop being so hellbent on fossil fuels.”Mr. Sunak and his family, who live in London, were not at the residence at the time, the North Yorkshire police said, and the four protesters were eventually arrested after spending several hours on the roof. They were taken into custody on suspicion of causing criminal damage and public nuisance.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Kirby Sigston, ”, Ami McCarthy, Mr Organizations: Greenpeace, North Yorkshire police Locations: North, Kirby, North Yorkshire, London

☆ Amsterdam to Cruises: ‘Party Time Is Over’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Isabella Kwai | More About Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Amsterdam will bar cruise ships from docking in the city center as part of a broader effort to curb pollution and reduce the large numbers of tourists who visit the Dutch capital. The City Council passed a proposal on Thursday to close a terminal where more than a hundred cruise ships dock each year not far from the central train station. “The motivation of the proposal from the City Council was to reduce the number of tourists, but also for environmental reasons,” Amsterdam’s deputy mayor, Hester van Buren, said in a statement on Friday. The cruise ship measure was the latest attempt by Amsterdam to cap the number of visitors and crack down on bad behavior as the tourism industry has rebounded, addressing residents’ longstanding grievances linked to overcrowding and rowdy tourists. Last year, the city drew about 20 million visitors and in 2021, close to nine million tourists came either for a day trip or overnight, according to city data.

Persons: ”, Hester van Buren Organizations: The City Council, City Council Locations: Amsterdam, The

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