NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
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Iran nuclear pact: The head of Iran’s nuclear program said Sunday that the Islamic Republic has begun “preliminary activities for designing” a modern process for 20percent uranium enrichment for its research reactor in Tehran, signaling new danger for the nuclear deal. The comment on state television from Ali Akbar Salehi increases the pressure on the international community as 20-percent enrichment would mean Iran has abandoned the terms of the 2015 atomic accord. President Trump already pulled the U.S. out of the accord in May and resumed sanctions on Tehran. So far, United Nations inspectors say Iran continues to comply with the deal’s terms, which limits enrichment to 3.5 percent.
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China mine collapse: At least 21 coal miners were killed when a mine collapsed in northern China, state media reported Sunday. The disaster occurred Saturday in Shenmu in Shaanxi province in the heart of the country’s coal-mining belt, according to state TV and the Xinhua News Agency. Sixty-six other miners were rescued. The number of fatalities reported in cave-ins, explosions and other disasters in Chinese coal mines has fallen sharply over the past decade, but the industry remains the world’s deadliest.
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Severe storms: Three German skiers were killed in an avalanche in Austria and a fourth was still missing, police said Sunday as snowfall again blanketed the Alps. In France, two ski patrol members were killed when the devices they use to trigger avalanches exploded. The two accidents brought to at least 26 the number of weatherrelated deaths reported in parts of Europe this month. In Austria, the wife of one of the German skiers reported them missing on Saturday. The bodies of the men, ages 32, 36 and 57, were recovered later Saturday near the ski resort of Lech. In France, the HauteSavoie region’s high mountain gendarmerie said the patrol members were killed Sunday in Morillon.
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Paris explosion: Rescuers found a woman’s body under the rubble of a bakery that was blown apart by a powerful explosion, bringing the overall death toll to four, authorities said Sunday. The blast Saturday in the Rue de Trevise in north-central Paris also injured dozens of people. Nine people were still in critical condition, fire officials said. The blast appeared to be accidental. Firefighters were already on the scene to investigate a suspected gas leak at the bakery when the explosion happened. Two firefighters were among those killed.
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Suriname drugs: Authorities have confiscated more than 5,000 pounds of cocaine in the largest seizure ever for the South American country. Acting Police Chief Roberto Prade said the cocaine was discovered at the port in the capital of Paramaribo concealed between bags of rice in eight shipping containers. No one has been arrested, but police have identified four suspects after last week’s discovery. Prade said the drugs were destined for Europe.
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Poland stabbing: Pawel Adamowicz, the mayor of the city of Gdansk, was in very serious condition after he was stabbed onstage Sunday during the finale of a charity event, Poland’s interior minister said. Adamowicz was attacked with a knife. Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski called the stabbing “an act of inexplicable barbarity.” Police said the suspect, who was arrested, is a 27-year-old with a criminal record. Adamowicz has been mayor of Gdansk, a Baltic port city, since 1998. He was part of the democratic opposition born in that city under the leadership of Lech Walesa during the 1980s.