Separate fire, blasts cut power in much of Iraq amid heat wave
BAGHDAD — Power was cut off in large swaths of southern and central Iraq for much of Saturday during scorching summer heat and observances of the Shiite holy day of Ashoura after a fire broke out at a power station in the southern city of Basra.
The fire at the Al-Bkir substation in Basra resulted in the separation of transmission lines linking the southern and central regions, leading to a complete shutdown of the electrical system in the area, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity said in a statement. It said the fire was accidental.
The power outage came as the electrical system faces other challenges, including fuel shortages and surging demands for electricity during a major heat wave. On Saturday, temperatures reached 116.6 degrees.
Also Saturday, the company that handles electricity transmission in the north reported that the northern transmission line in a remote area outside the city of Haditha in western Iraq had been sabotaged. Three towers were hit by improvised explosive devices, putting the line out of service, the statement said.
It did not say who was responsible for the attack.
Staff were not initially able to repair the damage on Friday due to security issues, the statement said. Islamic State cells and other armed groups are active in the remote desert area. On Saturday, workers were able to access the site with the help of security forces and begin repair work.
The power blackout had a domino effect on other services, with Baghdad Municipality attributing a disruption in tap water supply to the outage caused by the fire in Basra. The municipality said it was trying to run water pumps using generators to limit the impact on citizens.
Earlier this month, Iraq signed a $27 billion deal with TotalEnergies that many hope will help resolve Iraq’s longstanding electricity crisis, attract international investors and reduce its reliance on gas imports from neighboring Iran.
Four air crew members were missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States, officials said Saturday.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter went down late Friday night near Lindeman Island, a Great Barrier Reef tourist resort, exercise director Australian Army Brigadier Damian Hill said.
A search involving U.S., Canadian and Australian personnel was underway to find the crew who are all Australian men, officials said.
It was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan this year, after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast in March.
Australia announced in January that its army and navy would stop flying the European-built Taipans by December 2024 because they had proven unreliable. They will be replaced by 40 U.S. Black Hawks.
Australia search: Colombia president’s son:
Colombian police arrested the president’s son Saturday as part of a high-profile money laundering probe into funds he allegedly collected from convicted drug traffickers during last year’s presidential campaign.
President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel who rose through Colombia’s political ranks as an anti-corruption crusader, said he wouldn’t interfere with the investigation.
The arrest of Nicolas Petro is a major setback to the government, which has been buffeted
by conservative attacks as it struggles to maintain bipartisan support for Colombia in the U.S., a longtime ally in the war on drugs and illegal armed groups.
The investigation stems from shocking declarations made by Nicolas Petro’s ex-wife, Daysuris del Carmen Vasquez, to local media outlet Semana earlier this year.
In the interview, Vasquez detailed how she was present at meetings when her husband arranged a donation of about $150,000 from a politician once convicted in Washington of drug trafficking and who was seeking the Petro campaign’s support to resume his political career.
Thai fireworks explosion: A large explosion Saturday at a fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand killed at least 10 people and wounded scores, officials said.
The Narathiwat province’s Public Relations Department also said that also at least 118 people were hurt, and that residents of more than 200 households
were affected. It said that officials believe there are still a number of people trapped under the debris waiting to be rescued.
Sanan Pongaksorn, the provincial governor, told public broadcaster Thai PBS that the blast was likely ignited by construction work that was taking place in the warehouse, with sparks from metal welding causing the fireworks stored inside to catch fire and explode.
Biden grandchild: President Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old girl fathered by his son Hunter with an Arkansas woman, Lunden Roberts, in 2018.
“Our son Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden said in a statement.
It was his first acknowledgment of the child.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter,” he said. “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”
Hunter Biden’s paternity was established by DNA testing after Roberts sued for child support, and the two parties recently resolved outstanding child support issues. The president’s son wrote about his encounter with Roberts in his 2021 memoir, saying it came while he was deep in addiction to alcohol and drugs, including crack cocaine.
The president, who has made a commitment to family central to his public persona, has faced increasing criticism from political rivals and pundits for failing to acknowledge the granddaughter.
UFO hearing: A top Pentagon official has attacked last week’s widely watched congressional hearing on UFOs, calling the claims “insulting” to employees who are investigating sightings and accusing a key witness of not cooperating
with the official U.S. government investigation.
Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick’s letter, published on his personal LinkedIn page and circulated Friday across social media, criticizes much of the testimony from a retired Air Force intelligence officer that energized believers in extraterrestrial life and produced headlines around the world.
A career intelligence officer, Kirkpatrick was named a year ago to lead the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, which was intended to centralize investigations into UFOs. He writes in part, “I cannot let yesterday’s hearing pass without sharing how insulting it was to the officers of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community who chose to join AARO, many with not unreasonable anxieties about the career risks this would entail.”
“They are truth-seekers, as am I,” Kirkpatrick said. “But you certainly would not get that impression from yesterday’s hearing.”