Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of oil capsizes off Manila

Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of oil capsizes off Manila
Above, the oil tanker MT Terra Nova tilts off Manila Bay on July 24, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard/AFP)
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Updated 26 July 2024
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Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of oil capsizes off Manila

Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of oil capsizes off Manila
  • The MT Terra Nova was heading for the central city of Iloilo when it capsized in Manila Bay
  • An oil spill stretching several kilometers has been detected in the busy waterway

MANILA: A Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank off Manila on Thursday, authorities said, as they raced to contain a spill.

The MT Terra Nova was heading for the central city of Iloilo when it capsized in Manila Bay, nearly seven kilometers off Limay municipality in Bataan province, near the capital, in the early hours.

The vessel went down as heavy rains fueled by Typhoon Gaemi and the seasonal monsoon have lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.

An oil spill stretching several kilometers has been detected in the busy waterway.

“We are racing against time and we will try to do our best to contain it immediately and stop the fuel from leaking,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said at a briefing.

He warned that if all the oil in the tanker were to leak, it would be the biggest spill in Philippine history.

“There is a big danger that Manila will be affected, even the shoreline of Manila, if the fuel will leak, because it is within Manila Bay,” Balilo said.

Thousands of fishermen and tour operators are dependent on the waters for their livelihoods.

Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said 16 of the 17 crew members had been rescued from the stricken vessel.

A search was underway for the missing crew member, but Bautista said strong winds and high waves were hampering response efforts.

Four of the crew were receiving medical treatment.

A photo released by the coast guard showed the MT Terra Nova almost entirely submerged in rough seas.

An oil slick stretching about 3.7 kilometers was being carried by a “strong current” in an easterly, north-easterly direction, the coast guard said in a report.

Coast guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan said he ordered a probe into the incident.

Marine environmental protection personnel have been mobilized to help contain the slick.

“It will definitely affect the marine environment,” Balilo said, describing the amount of oil on the ship as “enormous.”

One of the worst oil spills in the Philippines was in February 2023, when a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro.

Diesel fuel and thick oil from that vessel contaminated the waters and beaches along the coast of Oriental Mindoro province, devastating the fishing and tourism industries.

The oil dispersed over hundreds of kilometers of waters famed for having some of the most diverse marine life in the world.

Thousands of fishermen were ordered to stay ashore, and swimming was banned.

In 2006, a tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge.


Pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested at Tour de France

Pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested at Tour de France
Updated 9 sec ago
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested at Tour de France

Pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested at Tour de France
  • The protester, who was holding a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, got past security barriers and ran toward the finish line

TOULOUSE: A protester wearing a t-shirt reading “Israel out of the Tour” was arrested on Wednesday after running onto the final straight of the Tour de France 11th stage.

The protester, who was also holding a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, got past security barriers and ran toward the finish line in Toulouse as Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen won a sprint finale.

The man was intercepted by a race staff member and arrested, the local prefecture said.

Several police officers have been assigned to protecting the Israel-Premier Tech team during the Tour. The team was set up by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, but there are no Israeli riders in this year’s race.

With the Gaza war causing international controversy, last year the team said it had asked its riders not to wear jerseys with any reference to Israel while out training as a precaution.


French town withdraws pop festival funding over Kneecap appearance

French town withdraws pop festival funding over Kneecap appearance
Updated 23 min 57 sec ago
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French town withdraws pop festival funding over Kneecap appearance

French town withdraws pop festival funding over Kneecap appearance
  • Saint Cloud said its council had now voted to withdraw the subsidy
  • The group have said they are committed to the Palestinian cause

NANTERRE, France: A town that hosts one of France’s biggest pop festivals announced Wednesday that it was withdrawing its subsidy to the event because controversial Irish rappers Kneecap had been booked to play.

British police are investigating Kneecap’s lead singer under a terror offense after he was accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert last year. The Lebanese militant group is banned in Britain.

Police said they are also investigating videos allegedly showing calls for the death of British lawmakers.

The Paris suburb of Saint Cloud approved a 40,000 euro ($46,500) subsidy this year for the Rock En Seine festival that last year attracted 180,000 people over four days.

The town council said the money had been agreed before the lineup was announced. Kneecap are to appear at the event on August 24. Saint Cloud said its council had now voted to withdraw the subsidy.

A statement said the town “finances, within its means, a cultural and artistic project. On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality.”

The town said it respects the festival’s “freedom” to decide its lineup and had not sought “any kind of negotiation with the aim of influencing the program.”

Kneecap have been taken off the bill for festivals in Scotland and Germany this year because of the controversy.

The group have said they are committed to the Palestinian cause but have denied any terrorism connection. Singer Liam O’Hanna, who appears under the name Mo Chara, has condemned the charges against him as political. O’Hanna is to appear in court again four days before the Rock En Seine show.


South Korean teacher, mother arrested for stealing exam

South Korean teacher, mother arrested for stealing exam
Updated 28 min 4 sec ago
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South Korean teacher, mother arrested for stealing exam

South Korean teacher, mother arrested for stealing exam

SEOUL: A teacher and a parent of a high school student in South Korea have been arrested for breaking into a school to steal exam papers, police told AFP on Wednesday.

The country is known for placing extreme emphasis on academic achievement — with its annual college entrance exam forcing airplanes to be grounded during English listening tests.

The pair are accused of breaking into a high school in Andong, about 270 kilometers south of the capital Seoul, at around 1:00 a.m. on July 4 to steal exam papers, triggering an alarm and leading to their arrest.

“A 31-year-old teacher and the 48-year-old mother have confessed to the crime,” said a detective at the Andong Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The teacher was a private tutor for the student while working at the school, where she was employed until February last year, authorities said.

Police suspect the pair may have committed similar thefts in the past, helping the student ace academically, and that money was exchanged between the teacher and the mother.

“They tried to steal exam papers across many subjects, not confined to Korean, which the suspect was teaching,” the detective told AFP.

A school maintenance worker was also arrested for aiding the late-night breach, investigators said.

The student, who had maintained top grades since enrolling in 2023, has been expelled and her grades nullified, according to the Yonhap news agency.


Trump says supporters questioning Jeffrey Epstein case are ‘weaklings’

Trump says supporters questioning Jeffrey Epstein case are ‘weaklings’
Updated 31 min 20 sec ago
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Trump says supporters questioning Jeffrey Epstein case are ‘weaklings’

Trump says supporters questioning Jeffrey Epstein case are ‘weaklings’
  • Trump says Republicans are not sticking together
  • Some supporters want more details on sex offender’s case

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked fellow Republicans critical of his administration’s handling of the case of dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On social media and in the Oval Office, Trump lashed out at allies he said were falling for a “hoax” pushed by Democrats, who “unlike Republicans ... stick together like glue.”

Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, was facing federal charges of sex-trafficking minors when he died by suicide in jail in 2019. He had pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed after his death.

Some of Trump’s most loyal followers were enraged when the Trump administration last week reversed course on its pledge to release documents it had suggested contained major revelations about Epstein and his alleged clientele.

“It’s all been a big hoax,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans fall into the net and so they try and do the Democrats’ work.”

On Truth Social earlier in the day, Trump said of Republicans raising concerns about the case: “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!” The backlash over the Epstein case has laid bare tensions inside Trump’s coalition and is testing one of Trump’s most enduring political strengths: his ability to command loyalty and control the narrative across the right.

A former Trump adviser, Mike Flynn, on Wednesday said on X that the matter was not a hoax. “With my strongest recommendation, please gather your team and figure out a way to move past this,” he said.

The Justice Department last week concluded there was “no incriminating client list” or any evidence that Epstein may have blackmailed prominent people. The review also confirmed prior findings by the FBI that Epstein killed himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and that his death was not the result of a criminal act such as murder.

Some House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have continued to call for the Justice Department to release more Epstein documents. But Republicans have blocked efforts by Democratic lawmakers to push measures that would force the agency to make those documents public.

Trump, who knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s, on Wednesday again defended Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the matter and said she could release any credible documents related to the case.

“Whatever’s credible, she can release,” he told reporters. “If a document’s there that’s credible, she can release. I think it’s good.”

But he was also eager to move past the issue.

“I’d rather talk about the success we have with the economy,” he said.


London Southend Airport partially reopens after plane crash that killed four

London Southend Airport partially reopens after plane crash that killed four
Updated 42 min 27 sec ago
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London Southend Airport partially reopens after plane crash that killed four

London Southend Airport partially reopens after plane crash that killed four
  • Southend Airport reopened “for a small number of flights“
  • Normal operations will resume from Thursday

LONDON: London Southend Airport said on Wednesday that it had partially reopened after flights to and from the airport were suspended following a plane crash that killed four foreign nationals.

A US-built Beechcraft B200 Super King Air plane had been bound for the Netherlands on Sunday when it crashed shortly after takeoff.

Southend Airport, which is located about 35 miles east of the capital and used by easyJet to fly to European holiday destinations, reopened “for a small number of flights.”

“Four easyJet flights will land at London Southend Airport this evening Eastern Airways will also operate an empty positioning flight,” the airport said in a statement on X.

Normal operations will resume from Thursday.

Police said in a separate update on Wednesday that searches by the Air Accident Investigation Branch were now complete and the aircraft was being “carefully dismantled to move into the next phase of the investigation.”