NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Female expedition: A team of British soldiers has become the first allfemale group to cross Antarctica using only muscle power. After spending 62 days on the ice, the Army’s Ice Maiden Expedition crossed the finish line at Hercules Inlet on Saturday. The team skied 1,056 miles, traveling coast to coast and pulling sleds weighing 176 pounds. Temperatures hit as low as minus 40 degrees. The Army offered congratulations, describing the team as “ordinary women doing extraordinary things.” Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said the team is “an inspiration to us all and are role models to young people across the country.”
Territorial waters: The Chinese government on Saturday accused the U.S. of trespassing in its territorial waters when a U.S. guided missile destroyer sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China would take “necessary measures” to protect its sovereignty after the ship sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday without China’s permission. Scarborough is a small, uninhabited reef that China seized from the Philippines in 2012. It lies about 120 miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. The U.S. Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation. Balkans tensions: Serbia’s president pledged Saturday to help build a lasting peace in Kosovo days after the killing of a moderate Kosovo Serb politician fueled fears of instability in the Balkans. Amid tight security, Aleksandar Vucic arrived for a two-day visit that officials said was designed to ease concerns among Kosovo’s Serbs after the slaying Tuesday of one of their leading politicians, Oliver Ivanovic. Upon arrival, Vucic first visited an Orthodox Serbian monastery before laying a wreath at the site of the attack on Ivanovic in the divided town of Mitrovica. Ivanovic was a rare voice of tolerance amid persistent ethnic tensions in Kosovo, nearly two decades after the 199899 war.
Deadly crash: A bus carrying people on a ski trip crashed Saturday in Turkey, killing 11 passengers and injuring 44 others, authorities said. Ozdemir Cakacak, governor of Eskisehir province, said the bus was traveling from the capital of Ankara to the western city of Bursa when it crashed on a road in his region. The state-run Anadolu Agency quoted the driver as telling police that he veered toward the side of the road to avoid striking what he thought was a stray dog.
Health risk: The government of Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais decreed a state of emergency Saturday for its public health system because of an outbreak of yellow fever in 94 of its 853 cities. The decree allows the government to contract health providers without going through a bidding process. Since last summer, 35 cases of yellow fever have been confirmed in Brazil and 20 people have died, according to figures from the health ministry. The World Health Organization said last week that all of Sao Paulo state is also at risk for yellow fever and recommended that international visitors be vaccinated.
Fatal fire: A blaze at a plastic factory on the northern outskirts of the Indian capital of New Delhi on Saturday killed at least 17 people, officials said. A dozen fire engines battled the blaze in the Bawana industrial area. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.