South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Fuel tanker explosion injures 7 in inferno at Afghan-Iran border
HERAT, Afghanistan — A fuel tanker exploded Saturday at the Islam Qala crossing in Afghanistan’s western Herat province on the Iranian border, injuring at least seven people and causing a massive fire that consumed more than
500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel, according to Afghan officials and Iranian state media.
It wasn’t clear what caused the blast.
Wahid Qatali, Herat’s provincial governor, said Afghan first responders did not have the means to put out the huge fire and had requested support from Iran in the form of firefighting aircraft.
“For the time being, we can’t even talk about the casualties,” Qatali said.
The intensity of the flames meant ambulances were having trouble reaching the wounded or getting close to the site of the blast, said Mohammad Rafiq Shirzy, spokesman for the regional hospital in Herat’s capital city, also named Herat.
Seven people injured by the fire had been admitted to the hospital, he said.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency quoted truck drivers as saying more than
500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel had burned.
Two explosions at the border crossing were powerful enough to be spotted from space by NASA satellites.
The fire spread to the Dogharoon customs facilities on the Iranian side of the border and first responders — including the fire department, the Iranian army and border forces — were assisting in extinguishing the blaze, according to Iranian state television. The Afghan side of the border crossing has its own fire department, but officials in Herat said they weren’t in control of the fire even in the first few minutes.
The Islam Qala border crossing is about 75 miles west of the city of Herat, and is a major transit route between Afghanistan and Iran.
The United States allows Afghanistan to import fuel and oil from Iran as part of a special concession that exempts Kabul from U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Japan earthquake: A large temblor shook a broad area across eastern Japan late Saturday, with its epicenter off the coast of Fukushima, near where three nuclear reactors melted down after a quake and tsunami nearly 10 years ago.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said there were no irregularities at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
The earthquake left nearly 900,000 households without power across the Fukushima region and forced the closure of roads and suspension of train services. While rattled residents braced for aftershocks, a landslide cut off a chunk of a main artery through Fukushima prefecture.
TEPCO said electricity was gradually being restored, according to government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato.
Japan’s meteorological service reported the quake’s magnitude as 7.3, up from the initial report of 7.1, but said there was no danger of a tsunami.
Coming a little less than a month before the 10th anniversary of what is known as the Great East Japan earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, the quake rattled the greater Tokyo area for about 30 seconds starting at 11:08 p.m. and was felt powerfully in
Fukushima and Sendai.
The quake was a reminder of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011, killing 16,000 people. After the subsequent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, 160,000 people fled or were evacuated from around the plant.
Arizona copper mine: A federal judge has rejected a request from a group of Apaches to keep the U.S. Forest Service from transferring a parcel of land to a copper mining company.
Apache Stronghold made the request as part of a lawsuit it filed against the Forest Service earlier this year. It’s the latest attempt to preserve the land in eastern Arizona that Apaches consider sacred because of the spiritual properties there at least temporarily while the court hears arguments on the merits of the case.
U.S. District Judge Steven Logan said Friday
that because the group is not a federally recognized tribe with a government-to government relationship with the United States, it lacks standing in arguing that the land belongs to Apaches under an 1852 treaty with the United States.
Proposed tax in Poland:
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday defended a new advertising tax opposed by media outlets, arguing the measure would protect Polish broadcasters and news publishers from international companies.
Morawiecki, in a strongly worded Facebook post, denied the tax would be detrimental and said it would not apply to small, regional media but will break the dominance of giant international corporations.
Independent media in Poland have protested the right-wing government’s proposal for the tax, saying
it would put many small news outlets out of business and undermine the freedom and variety of the country’s media landscape. The government wants it implemented July 1.
The government argues that its proposed “solidarity” tax would force giant companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon pay their fair share of taxes. It says the tax, which is linked to the size of companies, would raise some 800 million zlotys ($215 million) and provide funds for health care and culture at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has strained state finances.
The proposed tax is still at an early stage while the government tries to secure backing.
Water sale protest: Water rights activists in Maine decried the potential sale of bottled water brand Poland Spring, saying the buyer identified in news reports represents a new threat to
the state’s resources.
A crowd of about 100 gathered Saturday for the rally sponsored by Community Water Justice to express their worries.
Nickie Sekera, co-founder of the group, said she is worried that a private equity firm could be less responsive than Nestle, relieving the company of any accountability it promised to Maine communities.
Nestle announced in June that it was considering selling its bottled water brands in North America. The brands to be sold include Arrowhead, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Poland Spring and Zephyrhills.
Rally participants are worried about news reports suggesting the Swiss company was negotiating the potential sale with One Rock Capital Partners LLC, a New York-based private-equity firm.
Nestle declined to comment on negotiations. A spokesperson for One Rock didn’t return a message.