U.S. MOUNTAIN CLIMBER GOBRIGHT DIES IN MEXICO FALL

Civil defense officials in northern Mexico reported Thursday that California mountain climber Brad Gobright died in a fall.

The fall occurred Wednesday at an almost sheer rock face known as Sendero Luminoso on the El Potrero Chico peak near the northern city of Monterrey.

The Nuevo Leon state civil defense office said Gobright fell about 300 yards.

The publication Rock and Ice described Gobright, 31, as a native of Orange County, Calif., who was “one of the most accomplished free solo climbers in the world.”

Mexican officials said Gobright was accompanied by another foreign climber when the accident occurred. The civil defense office described the area as “inaccessible.”

The office said, “We extend our sympathies and support to the rock climbing community.”

Fire continues at Texas plant; 50,000 under evacuation order.

PORT NEC H E S,

» More than 50,000

T E X A S people in east Texas remained under a mandatory evacuation order Thursday as a fire continued to burn at a chemical plant, one day after two massive explosions.

Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said the evacuation order and a 10 p.m. curfew order remained in effect. Officials don’t know when people will be able to return to their homes.

“It’s Thanksgiving. A lot of people are displaced; they can’t go home,” Stephens told TV station KFDM on Thursday, explaining the danger of further explosions and fire was the reason the evacuation order stayed in place.

The Wednesday blasts, 13 hours apart, blew out windows and doors of nearby homes and prompted an evacuation of a 4mile radius from the plant in southeast Texas, about 80 miles east of Houston.

Seven dead after plane crashes near Canadian city.

KIN G STON, ONT A

Police in the Canadian city of Kingston said seven people died when a small plane crashed in the area Wednesday evening.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada sent a team of four investigators to the crash site.

They said the plane left Markham, Ontario, and was destined for the Kingston airport. But it went down just a few miles from its destination.

Kingston Police Constable Ash Gutheinz said Thursday there’s “no indication” there were any survivors from the crash.

Identities of the victims have not been released.

Opponents attack Johnson’s character as U.K. election looms.

LON D

Opposition parties intensified attacks on Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday with two weeks to go until Election Day, as polls suggested the U.K. leader’s Conservatives have a substantial lead.

Johnson was accused of running scared of scrutiny after he declined to take part in a debate alongside his main opponent, Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party, and other party leaders, and refused to commit to a one-on-one TV interview.

For Thursday’s climatechange debate, broadcaster Channel 4 put Earthshaped ice sculptures atop podiums in place of Johnson and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who also declined to appear.