Australian authorities fear worsening wildfires
SYDNEY – Firefighters battling some of the most destructive wildfires to ever strike Australia’s most populous state were bracing Saturday for worsening conditions, with higher temperatures and winds expected to intensify the danger in the coming days.
In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, one of the worst-hit regions in fire-ravaged New South Wales state, 193 homes have been destroyed and another 109 damaged by the fire storm that peaked Thursday, the Rural Fire Service said.
The damage toll announced Saturday was more than double the count from the previous day and was expected to continue to rise as assessment teams and police move deeper into the destruction zone in search of survivors and victims. Homes have been reported destroyed in other regions, but numbers were not yet available.
With 68 fires still burning – 22 of them out of control – and dangerous weather conditions forecast through Thursday, authorities were expecting the worst.
Turkish hostages released in Lebanon
BEIRUT – Two Turkish pilots kidnapped by militants in Lebanon were freed Saturday as part of a three-way deal that saw nine Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria released from captivity, officials said.
Turkish Airlines pilots Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca had been held since their kidnapping in August in Beirut. A private jet carried the pilots out of Beirut’s international airport Saturday night as family members of the kidnapped pilgrims anxiously waited there for their arrival.
The Turks’ release is part of a negotiated hostage deal that included the freeing of the kidnapped pilgrims, as well as dozens of women held in Syrian government jails.
The nine Shiite pilgrims were kidnapped in May 2012 while on their way from Iran to Lebanon by Turkey and Syria.
Residents of the mostly Shiite southern suburb of Beirut fired celebratory gunfire into the air, waved the Lebanese national flag and recited poetry in anticipation of seeing their loved ones.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said that the pilgrims should arrive at the international airport in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
Titanic violin sells for over $1.6M at auction
LONDON – A violin believed to have been played on the Titanic before the doomed vessel sank was auctioned for more than $1.6 million Saturday, a fantastic figure that one collector said may never be beaten.
The sea-corroded instrument, now unplayable, is thought to have belonged to bandmaster Wallace Hartley, who was among the disaster’s more than 1,500 victims.
The story of Hartley’s band, which stoically continued playing on the ship’s deck until the disaster’s final hour, is a memorable part of James Cameron’s “Titanic,” when Hartley and his colleagues are seen playing “Nearer, My God, To Thee” as the passengers around them scream and drown in the icy water.
The incredible story, and its heart-rending portrayal in one of the world’s most popular films, likely played a role in pushing the instrument’s price to 900,000 pounds, or past 1 million pounds when the buyer’s premium and tax are taken into account.
20 killed, 44 injured in Philippine accident
MANILA, Philippines – A truck carrying hog feed smashed into the rear of a passenger bus on a remote downhill provincial road in the northern Philippines early Saturday, setting off a series of wrecks that left at least 20 people dead and injured 44 others, police said.
The bus driver lost control of his vehicle after the first collision and hit two buses and four vans coming from the opposite direction before toppling over on the narrow downhill road in Quezon province on Luzon island, about 72 miles southeast of Manila, Atimonan town police chief Jonar Yupio said. Parts of the bus pinned many of the victims, and others were killed by flying metal debris, including the engine.
All those killed – including four children, the truck driver and his assistant – were in either the truck or the first bus that was hit.
Social workers said a 1-year-old girl was among the survivors. Rescuer Jun Panuil said he found the baby muddied and covered in blood from other victims on the side of the road near the bus. He said the blood had made rescuers suspect the child was seriously hurt, but she had only a few scratches.
Somalia suicide attack kills at least 12 people
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a small but crowded restaurant in a city north of the capital Saturday, killing himself and at least 12 others, police said.
Mohamed Abdi, a senior Somali police official, said the attack in the city of Beledweyne, about 210 miles north of Mogadishu, also wounded at least 10 others. Many of those killed or wounded are civilians, he said, though some of the victims may also be government soldiers.
The attacker walked into the restaurant and took a seat among diners before setting off the explosives tied around his waist, one witness said.
“He sat among the diners then blew himself up there,” Mohamed Ulusow, a Beledweyne resident said by phone.” Pieces of human flesh were scattered there and the blast has largely ripped off the restaurant’s roof.”
Somalia’s president condemned the attack and blamed it on al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab.
Associated Press
