World news in brief
Champion skier dies in Japanese avalanche
A US freestyle skier has died in an avalanche in Japan. Kyle Smaine, 31, was in Nagano Prefecture on Sunday in the middle of Honshu Island when he got caught in the avalanche, according to his father William Smaine. Nagano police said that as many as five men from the US and Austria were caught up in the avalanche that occurred on the eastern side of Mount Hakuba Norikura, Reuters reported.
The five men had been skiing in two groups, with three of them being able to climb down the mountain on their own, while two of them, Smaine and an unnamed man, were stuck on the 8,100ft (2,468m) high mountain. Both of them were found without vital signs.
Smaine, who won gold in the halfpipe at the 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships, had posted about his Japan trip on Instagram just hours earlier, writing that he was there to experience the “unbelievable snow quality”. An avalanche warning had been issued by weather officials following days of heavy snowfall as the country battles the severe disruption that the weather, including record-beating low temperatures, has caused.
US issues warning about terrorist attacks in Turkey
The US embassy in Turkey has issued a security alert for travellers to Istanbul, warning of “possible imminent retaliatory attacks” by terrorists. The bulletin, published in the early hours of yesterday, warns tourists to the popular Turkish city to “stay alert in locations frequented by Westerners”, and “keep a low profile”.
Istanbul suffered a terrorism attack on 13 November, on busy Istiklal Avenue near the diplomatic quarter, which killed six people and injured 80. Turkish authorities blamed Kurdish separatists for the incident. Yesterday’s US embassy alert read: “The US government cautions its citizens of possible imminent retaliatory attacks by terrorists against churches, synagogues, and diplomatic missions in Istanbul or other places Westerners frequent, especially in the Beyoglu, Galata, Taksim, and Istiklal areas.”
Eight dead in mass shooting in South Africa
Eight people were shot dead and three injured in a mass shooting at a birthday party in South Africa. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement that the shooting took
place in Kwazakele, Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape province on Sunday, with two gunmen opening fire at the assembled guests.
Police said that the shooting took place between 5.15pm and 5.30pm local time and the gunmen fled after the attack. Police said that no arrests have been made yet and the incident was being investigated. While the victims have not been identified yet, authorities said that the owner of the house was among them.
Finland sticks with Sweden in Nato bid
Finland still wants to join Nato alongside Sweden and hopes to do so by July, despite objections from Turkey. The Nordic nations applied last year to join Nato following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey suspended talks last week after protests in Stockholm that included the burning of a Quran.
Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan suggested on Sunday that Ankara could agree to Finland joining ahead of Sweden, but this was dismissed yesterday by Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto. “Our strong wish is still to join Nato together with Sweden,” Mr Haavisto told a news conference in Helsinki.
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