Nation & World Glance
Rescuers search for people out of contact in Taiwan after strong earthquake
hualien, Taiwan — rescuers searched for dozens of people out of contact Thursday a day after Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter century damaged buildings, caused multiple rockslides and killed nine people.
in the eastern coastal city of hualien near the epicenter, workers used an excavator to put construction materials around the base of a damaged building to stabilize it and prevent a collapse. mayor hsu Chen-wei previously said 48 residential buildings were damaged. Some of the damaged buildings tilted at precarious angles with their ground floors crushed.
more than 1,000 people were injured in the quake that struck Wednesday morning. Of the nine dead, at least four were struck inside Taroko national park, a tourist attraction famous for its scenes of canyons and cliffs in hualien County, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the island’s capital Taipei.
nearly 150 people were either still trapped or out of contact Thursday, the national Fire agency said.
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about two dozen tourists and some others were stranded in the park. The health and welfare ministry said 64 others were workers at a rock quarry. Six workers from another quarry were airlifted from the area where access was cut off because roads were damaged by falling rocks.
US braces for retaliation after attack on Iran consulate — even as it says it wasn’t involved
Washington — Shortly after an airstrike widely attributed to israel destroyed an iranian consulate building in Syria, the united States had an urgent message for iran: We had nothing to do with it.
But that may not be enough for the u.s. to avoid retaliation targeting its forces in the region. a top u.s. commander warned on Wednesday of danger to american troops.
and if israeli prime minister Benjamin netanyahu’s recent broadening of targeted strikes on adversaries around the region to include iranian security operatives and leaders deepens regional hostilities, analysts say, it’s not clear the united States can avoid being pulled into deeper regional conflict as well.
The Biden administration insists it had no advance knowledge of the airstrike monday. But the united States is closely tied to israel’s military regardless. The u.s. remains israel’s indispensable ally and unstinting supplier of weapons, responsible for some 70% of israeli weapon imports and an estimated 15% of israel’s defense budget. That includes providing the kind of advanced aircraft and munitions that appear to have been employed in the attack.
israel hasn’t acknowledged a role in the airstrike, but pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Tuesday that the u.s. has assessed israel was responsible.
Prosecutors recommend at least 10 years in prison for parents of Michigan school shooter
pontiac, mich. — prosecutors in michigan are recommending at least 10 years in prison next week for two parents who are the first in the u.s. to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley showed a “chilling lack of remorse” for her role, and James Crumbley “failed to exercise even the smallest measure of ordinary care” that could have prevented the deaths of four students at Oxford high School in 2021, prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday.
The Crumbleys, the parents of shooter Ethan Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter at separate trials earlier this year. They were not accused of knowing their son’s plan. But prosecutors said they failed to lock up a gun at home and ignored his mental health.
The maximum prison stay for the crime is 15 years. But the minimum sentence set by the judge on april 9 will be critical because the Crumbleys would be eligible for parole consideration after that time. They will get credit for about 2 1/2 years spent in the Oakland County jail since their arrest.
messages seeking comment from defense lawyers were not immediately returned Wednesday.