Israel: Syria has not received missiles
JERUSALEM – Israel’s defense minister says advanced anti-aircraft missiles have not reached Syria.
Moshe Yaalon said that according to “Russian talk,” the sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft missiles have not yet been delivered, despite indications to the contrary from Syrian president Bashar Assad. Russia has said it is committed to selling the missiles. Israel and the U.S. have pressured Russia to cancel the sale.
Yaalon made the remarks to a parliamentary committee Monday.
Israel has carried out several airstrikes in Syria in recent months that are believed to have destroyed weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israel has not confirmed carrying out the attacks.
The delivery of the Russian missiles to Syria could limit the Israeli air force’s ability to act. Israel has threatened to attack the missiles if they are delivered.
119 die in China poultry-plant fire
BEIJING – A fire at a poultry processing plant in northeastern China on Monday trapped workers inside a cluttered slaughterhouse with only a single open exit, killing at least 119 people in one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years.
Survivors described panic as workers, mostly women, struggled through smoke and flames to reach doors that turned out to be locked or blocked.
The accident highlights the high human costs of China’s lax industrial safety standards, which continue to plague workplaces despite recent improvements in the country’s work safety record. It also comes amid growing international concern over factory safety across Asia following the collapse in April of a garment factory in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 people.
Besides the dead, dozens were injured in the blaze in Jilin province’s Mishazi township, which appeared to have been sparked by three earlyl morning explosions, Xinhua said. The provincial fire department attributed the blasts to an ammonia leak. The chemical is kept pressurized as part of the cooling system in meat-processing plants.
Boston fire chief quits, citing bomb criticism
BOSTON – Boston’s fire chief announced his resignation Monday, saying public criticism from his deputies for the way he responded to the marathon bombings has made it impossible for him to do his job.
Chief Steve Abraira said in a letter that his resignation is effective Friday.
Thirteen of the department’s 14 deputy chiefs complained to Mayor Tom Menino in a letter 11 days after the April 15 bombings that Abraira’s failure to take command of the scene was indefensible and part of a pattern of shirking leadership.
“You can unequivocally consider this letter a vote of no confidence in Chief Abraira,” said the letter, which was first reported by The Boston Globe.
Abraira has said his command staff had the bombing scene under control and he acted according to national standards, which dictate the chief takes charge only if something is going wrong.
Miss. man indicted in ricin-letters case
JACKSON, Miss. – A federal grand jury has indicted a Mississippi man suspected of sending poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and other officials, according to an indictment made public Monday.
The five-count indictment charges 41-year-old James Everett Dutschke with developing, producing and stockpiling the poison ricin, threatening the president and others and attempting to impede the investigation.
If convicted on the charges, he could face life in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
Dutschke was arrested April 27 at his home in Tupelo. He is suspected of mailing ricin-laced letters April 8 to Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lee County Justice Court Judge Sadie Holland.
Associated Press
