Briefs, January 27, 2013
Unidentified attackers blew up Yemen's main oil pipeline, forcing the country to shut down one of its most lucrative sources of income. A government source said production was halted after a device placed under the pipeline exploded.
SANAA, Yemen - Unidentified attackers blew up Yemen's main oil pipeline, forcing the country to shut down one of its most lucrative sources of income. A government source said production was halted after a device placed under the pipeline exploded. Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged by insurgents and tribesmen since anti-government protests created a power vacuum in 2011. A long closure of the line last year forced the country's largest refinery at Aden to shut. Reuters
PORT-AU-PRINCE -Twenty-two people were killed late on Friday in a road accident in northern Haiti when a truck carrying pilgrims plunged into a ravine, hospital sources said. Another 30 people travelling in the truck had been injured, some of them seriously, said a doctor at the hospital treating them. According to police, the truck fell into a canal and some of the passengers had drowned while others were crushed by the weight of the vehicle. AFP
WELLINGTON - Rescuers found the wreckage of an aircraft that went missing in Antarctica with three Canadians aboard, with officials describing the crash on a steep mountainside as "not survivable". The Twin Otter disappeared on Wednesday while on a supply run from the South Pole to Italy's Antarctic base at Terra Nova Bay. New Zealand's rescue service said two helicopters flew over the wreckage late yesterday, after setting off from a base camp 50 kilometres from the crash site, the closest they could get in the unforgiving conditions. AFP
SYDNEY - A "mini-tornado" hit Australia's east coast, officials said, as they warned parts of Queensland state to prepare for flooding, with rains lashing the state set to intensify. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said the storm had caused great damage near Bundaberg, 300 kilometres north of Brisbane, and several people were injured. Queensland has seen days of very heavy rainfall in the wake of tropical cyclone Oswald. AFP
KABUL - At least 12 people were killed in bombings around Afghanistan, including 10 policemen who died when a suicide bomber driving a motorcycle blew himself up in northern Kunduz province, officials said. Earlier yesterday, a remote-controlled bomb on a bicycle exploded, killing one police officer and one civilian in the eastern city of Ghazni. AP
