A round-up of other world news in brief...
Search for 19 miners missing in Slovakia
HANDLOVA - Rescue teams were searching yesterday for 19 miners missing after an underground explosion at a coal mine in northern Slovakia.
The emergency crews were battling zero visibility and temperatures of up to 70 degrees Celsius in the hope of finding the workers, who had been putting out a fire in the Handlova mine when the explosion occurred, the mine owner said. – (Reuters)
9m stolen from Saudi princess
SARDINIA – Burglars who raided the Italian hotel suite of a Saudi princess got away with more than £9 million in jewellery and cash.
Police said the princess was not in her room at the luxury Colonna Pevero Hotel in Porto Cervo, a resort on the island of Sardinia, when the robbers struck some time last Tuesday night or early Wednesday.
They used a master key to gain access, then ripped out the wall safe.
Officials have not identified the princess. – (AP)
Greenpeace drop boulders into strait
KATTEGATT STRAIT – The environmental group Greenpeace dropped dozens of boulders into the Kattegatt strait between Sweden and Denmark to fight “bottom trawling” with nets that rake the seabed.
Sweden, which holds the six-month European Union presidency, called Greenpeace’s actions yesterday “confrontational” and said that while it wanted to protect marine life, the waters were not a spawning area for popular species like cod. – (Reuters)
Police unsure if Eta still on island
MADRID – Spanish police are still unsure whether the Basque terrorist group Eta was planning more attacks on Majorca following its planting of at least three bombs. They admitted they did not even know if the bombers were still on the island. “We have to work on both hypotheses: that they are still here and that they may have quit the island,” said regional interior ministry representative Ramon Socias.
He said investigations should establish whether yesterday’s small blasts were triggered by timers. If they were, the devices could have been planted days in advance. The blasts, which caused no injuries and little damage, came barely a week after Eta killed two police officers in another bomb attack on Majorca. – (AP)
Israel bombs tunnel at Gaza
GAZA – Israeli warplanes have bombed a tunnel under the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, the first such attack in almost two months, the Israeli military has said.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the raid, in which there were no reported casualties, was in response to firing from Gaza and that Israel would respond to every shooting. – (Reuters)