BEIJING: Debris from a rocket that boosted part of China’s new space station into orbit fell into the sea in the Philippines on Sunday, the Chinese government announced. Most of the final stage of the Long March-5B rocket burned up after entering the atmosphere at 12:55 a.m., the China Manned Space Agency reported. The agency said earlier the booster would be allowed to fall unguided. The announcement gave no details of whether remaining debris fell on land or sea but said the “landing area” was at 119 degrees east longitude and 9.1 degrees north latitude. That is in waters southeast of the Philippine city of Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan. There was no immediate word from Philippine authorities about whether anyone on the ground was affected. China has faced criticism for allowing rocket stages to fall to Earth uncontrolled twice before. NASA accused Beijing last year of “failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris” after parts of a Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean. The country’s first space station, Tiangong-1, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2016 after Beijing confirmed it lost control. An 18-ton rocket fell uncontrolled in May 2020. China also faced criticism after using a missile to destroy one of its defunct weather satellites in 2007, creating a field of debris that other governments said might jeopardize other satellites. The July 24 launch of the Long March-5B, China’s most-powerful rocket, carried the Wentian laboratory into orbit. It was attached on Monday to the Tianhe main module, where three astronauts live. The remains of a separate cargo spacecraft that serviced the station fell into a predetermined area of the South Pacific after most of it burned up on reentry, the government announced earlier.
YREKA, California: Two bodies were found inside a charred vehicle in a driveway in the wildfire zone of a raging California blaze that was among several menacing thousands of homes Monday in the Western US, officials said. Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger that the fires will keep growing, The McKinney Fire in Northern California near the state line with Oregon exploded in size to nearly 87 square miles (225 square kilometers) after erupting Friday in the Klamath National Forest, firefighting officials said. It is California’s largest wildfire of the year so far and officials have not yet determined the cause. The vehicle and the bodies were found Sunday morning in the driveway of a residence near the remote community of Klamath River, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Nearly 5,000 homes and other structures were threatened and an unknown number of buildings have burned, said Adrienne Freeman, a spokesperson for the US Forest Service. The smoky blaze cast an eerie, orange-brown hue in one neighborhood where a brick chimney stood surrounded by rubble and scorched vehicles on Sunday. Flames torched trees along State Route 96 and raced through hillsides in sight of homes. Valerie Linfoot’s son, a fire dispatcher, called to tell her their family home of three decades in Klamath River had burned. Linfoot said her husband worked as a US Forest Service firefighter for years and the family did everything they could to prepare their house for a wildfire — including installing a metal roof and trimming trees and tall grasses around the property. “It was as safe as we could make it, and it was just so dry and so hot and the fire was going so fast,” Linfoot told the Bay Area News Group. She said her neighbors have also lost homes. “It’s a beautiful place. And from what I’ve seen, it’s just decimated. It’s absolutely destroyed,” she told the news group. Firefighting crews on the ground were trying to prevent the blaze from moving closer to the town of Yreka, population about 7,500. The blaze was about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) away as of Monday. A second, smaller fire in the region that was sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny California community of Seiad Valley. Freeman said “there has been significant damage and loss along the Highway 96 corridor” that runs parallel to the Klamath River and is one of the few roads in and out of the region. She added: “But just how much damage is still being assessed.” Erratic storms were expected to move through Northern California again on Monday with lightning that threatened to spark new fires in bone dry vegetation, forecasters said. A day earlier, thunderstorms caused flash flooding that damaged roads in Death Valley National Park and in mountains east of Los Angeles. In northwestern Montana, winds picked up Monday afternoon on a fire burning in forested land west of Flathead Lake, forcing fire managers to ground all aircraft and leading the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to start evacuating residents on the northeastern corner of the fire. The fire was putting up a lot of smoke, creating visibility problems for aircraft, said Sara Rouse, a spokesperson for the fire management team. The fire, which started Friday afternoon near the town of Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation, measured 20 square miles (52 square kilometers), fire officials said. The Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 85 square miles (220 square kilometers) in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon. It was 23 percent contained Monday. And a wildfire raging in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged. It was about 30 percent contained by early Monday. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday, allowing him more flexibility to make emergency response and recovery effort decisions and to tap federal aid. Scientists have said climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. The US Forest service shut down a 110-mile (177-kilometer) section of the famed Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California and southern Oregon. Sixty hikers in that area were helped to evacuate on Saturday, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, which aided in the effort.
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Another round of rainstorms hit flooded Kentucky mountain communities Monday as more bodies emerged from the sodden landscape, and the governor warned that high winds could bring another threat — falling trees and utility poles. Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll rose to 37 while hundreds of people remained unaccounted for five days after one of the nation’s poorest regions was swamped by nearly a foot of rain. The water poured down hillsides and into valleys and hollows, engulfing entire towns. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes. Beshear suggested many of the unaccounted for would be located when cellphone service resumes.
“When cell service gets back up, we do see a whole lot of people finding people they love and care about, so looking forward to those stories,” he said. Radar indicated that up to 4 more inches (10.2 centimeters) of rain fell Sunday, and the National Weather Service warned that slow-moving showers and thunderstorms could provoke more flash flooding through Tuesday morning. “If things weren’t hard enough on the people of this region, they’re getting rain right now,” Beshear said Monday at the Capitol in Frankfort. “Just as concerning is high winds — think about how saturated the ground has been.” The wind “could knock over poles, it could knock over trees. So people need to be careful.” An approaching heat wave means “it’s even going to get tougher when the rain stops,” the governor said. “We need to make sure people are ultimately stable by that point.”
Chris Campbell, president of Letcher Funeral Home in Whitesburg, said he’s begun handling burial arrangements for people who died. “These people, we know most of them. We’re a small community,” he said of the town about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southeast of Lexington. “It affects everybody.” His funeral home recently buried a 67-year-old woman who had a heart attack while trying to escape her home as the water rose. Campbell knew her boyfriend well, he said. On Monday, he met with the family of a husband and wife in their 70s, people he also knew personally. He said it’s hard to explain the magnitude of the loss. “I don’t know how to explain it or what to say, to be completely honest,” he said. “I just can’t imagine what they’re going through. I don’t think there really are words for it.” Campbell said his 90-year-old grandmother lost the entire home where she’s lived since 1958. She managed to escape to a neighbor’s house with only some photos. Everything else is gone, he said. More than 12,000 utility customers remained without power. At least 300 people were staying in shelters. The floods were unleashed last week when 8 to 10 1/2 inches (20 to 27 centimeters) of rain fell in just 48 hours in parts of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and western Virginia. The disaster was the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have pounded parts of the US this summer, including St. Louis. Scientists warn that climate change is making such events more common. Meanwhile, nighttime curfews were declared in response to reports of looting in two of the devastated communities — Breathitt County and the nearby city of Hindman in Knott County. Breathitt County declared a countywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The only exceptions were for emergency vehicles, first responders, and people traveling for work. “I hate to have to impose a curfew, but looting will absolutely not be tolerated. Our friends and neighbors have lost so much. We cannot stand by and allow them to lose what they have left,” County Attorney Brendon Miller said in a Facebook post. Breathitt County Sheriff John Hollan said the curfew decision came after 18 reports of looting. He said people were stealing from private property where homes were damaged. No arrest have been made. Hindman Mayor Tracy Neice also announced a sunset-to-sunrise curfew because of looting, television station WYMT reported. Both curfews will remain in place until further notice, officials said. Last week’s flooding extended to parts of West Virginia and Virginia. President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to flooded counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was helping. Another relief effort came from the University of Kentucky’s men basketball team, which planned an open practice Tuesday at Rupp Arena and a charity telethon. Coach John Calipari said players approached him about the idea. “The team and I are looking forward to doing what we can,” Calipari said.
ZUPCE, Kosovo: NATO-led peacekeepers backed by helicopters on Monday oversaw the removal of roadblocks protesters had set up in Kosovo, where political tensions have flared more than two decades since a NATO campaign of airstrikes drove out Serbian forces. Kosovo police said the removal of the barricades in the north of the country allowed two border crossings with Serbia to be reopened. “Roads are now free for traffic to pass, both border crossings are open now for people and goods to cross,” the police said in a statement. The removal of the barricades came after the Kosovo government postponed the implementation of a decision that would oblige ethnic Serbs, who are a majority in the north, to apply for documents and car license plates issued by Kosovan institutions. The situation has revived faultlines with Serbia and Russia, neither of which recognize Western-aligned Kosovo as an independent state and have blocked its efforts to join the United Nations. Kosovo, recognized as a nation by more than 100 countries, is seeking to join NATO. The government’s decision to postpone followed consultations with US and EU ambassadors. “Violence will not be tolerated. Those who use violence will be punished by the rule of law with the force of law,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti told journalists on Monday. He said a total of nine road bocks had been set up.
SIMMERING DISPUTE Fourteen years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, some 50,000 ethnic Serbs in the north still use license plates and papers issued by Serbian authorities, refusing to recognize the Kosovan government. Ethnic Serbs had parked heavy machinery including trucks filled with gravel on roads near the border with Serbia on Sunday in protest at the new policy, which the government agreed to postpone until Sept. 1. After that date, local Serbs will have 60 days to switch to Kosovo license plates and accept documents issued at the border to Serbian citizens, including those living in Kosovo without local papers. “Now, thank God, some escalation has been avoided overnight, but this situation has only been delayed for 1 month,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. Tensions with Serbia remain high and Kosovo’s fragile peace is maintained by NATO’s KFOR mission, which has 3,770 troops on the ground. The mission issued a statement on Sunday say it was prepared to intervene in line with its mandate if stability was jeopardized. Italian peacekeepers were visible in and around then northern town of Mitrovica on Sunday. A Reuters reporter saw helicopters from the KFOR flying over the north of Kosovo, which borders Serbia. Peacekeepers were also present as the roadblocks were dismantled, standing at the roadside and chatting with residents. Earlier on Monday, the government began issuing extra documents to Serbian citizens at the biggest border crossing between Serbia and Kosovo, Merdare. Kosovo’s government said it would stop issuing the documents once road blocks are removed. A year ago, after local Serbs blocked the same roads in another row over license plates, Kosovo’s government deployed special police forces and Belgrade flew fighter jets close to the border. Serbia and Kosovo committed in 2013 to a dialogue sponsored by the European Union to try to resolve outstanding issues but little progress has been made.
RIO DE JANEIRO: Conjoined twins born in Brazil with a fused head and brain have been separated in what doctors described Monday as the most complex surgery of its kind, which they prepared for using virtual reality. Arthur and Bernardo Lima were born in 2018 in the state of Roraima in northern Brazil as craniopagus twins, an extremely rare condition in which the siblings are fused at the cranium. Joined at the top of the head for nearly four years — most of that spent in a Rio de Janeiro hospital outfitted with a custom bed — the brothers are now able to look each other in the face for the first time, after a series of nine operations culminating in a marathon 27-hour surgery to separate them. London-based medical charity Gemini Untwined, which helped carry out the procedure, described it as the “most challenging and complex separation to date,” given that the boys shared several vital veins. “The twins had the most serious and difficult version of the condition, with the highest risk of death for both,” said neurosurgeon Gabriel Mufarrej of the Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute (IECPN) in Rio, where the procedure was performed. “We’re very satisfied with the outcome, because no one else believed in this surgery at first, but we always believed there was a chance,” he said in a statement. Members of the medical team, which included nearly 100 staff, prepared for the delicate final stages of the surgery on June 7 and 9 with the help of virtual reality, said Gemini Untwined. Using brain scans to create a digital map of the boys’ shared cranium, surgeons practiced for the procedure in a trans-Atlantic virtual-reality trial surgery. British neurosurgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, the lead surgeon for Gemini Untwined, called the virtual reality prep session “space-age stuff.” “It’s just wonderful, it’s really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk,” he told British news agency PA. “You can imagine how reassuring that is for the surgeons... To do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff.” Pictures and videos released by medical staff showed the boys lying side-by-side on a hospital bed post-surgery, little Arthur reaching out to touch his brother’s hand. In tears, the boys’ mother, Adriely Lima, described the family’s relief. “We’ve been living in the hospital for nearly four years,” she said.
QUETTA: A Pakistan army helicopter reviewing flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan, has gone missing with the top military commander from the southwestern province on board, the army's media wing said on Monday.
The XII Corps, also known as Quetta Corps, is stationed in Quetta, Balochistan. It is commanded by Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali, who was on the helicopter.
“A Pakistan army aviation helicopter which was on flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan lost contact with air traffic control,” the army's ISPR media wing said. “6 individuals were on board including Commander 12 Corps who was supervising flood relief operations in Balochistan. Search operation is underway.”
Pakistan has witnessed torrential rains since the monsoon season began in June, causing flash floods in several parts of the country.
Statistics from the National Disaster Management Authority said 434 people had been killed in rains across Pakistan since the onset of the monsoon season, with Balochistan worst hit with 149 deaths since mid-June.
Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudous Bizenjo expressed concern about the disappearance of the army helicopter.
“May Allah Almighty protect all the people and crew in the helicopter,” Bizenjo said. “The chief minister instructed the district administration of Lasbela and the police to use all means and resources to search for the helicopter. Provide full support to administration and police rescue teams.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the disappearance of the army helicopter as “alarming.”
“The entire nation prays to Allah Almighty for the safety, security and return of these sons of the country who came out to help the flood victims,” he tweeted.
On Monday, Sharif visited flood relief camps in Balochistan’s Qila Saifullah district.
He was accompanied by Bizenjo and said he had witnessed several administrative weaknesses in the relief camps, including the absence of proper records maintained by the doctors and paramedics responsible for treating flood victims.
“There are camps in which people have come from adjoining areas with their families, leaving behind their houses which have been destroyed in rains,” the prime minister said. “I have met them, including children and elderly people. However, I could not get any confirmation that they were given food. In fact, the inhabitants of the relief camps clearly told us they had not been fed.”
Sharif directed the chief minister to take strict action against all “negligent” officials.