Explosive mines among risks slowing efforts to export grains out of Ukraine
CBSN
Shipping companies are not rushing to export millions of tons of trapped grain out of Ukraine, despite a breakthrough deal to provide safe corridors through the Black Sea. That is because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, ship owners are assessing the risks and many still have questions over how the deal will unfold.
The goal over the next four months is to get some 20 million tons of grain out of three Ukrainian sea ports blocked since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion. That provides time for about four to five large bulk carriers per day to transport grain from the ports to millions of impoverished people worldwide who are facing hunger.
A Joint Coordination Center (JCC) was inaugurated in Istanbul on Wednesday as part of the effort to get grain exports moving under the terms of the deal, CBS News' U.N. correspondent Pamela Falk reported.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.
Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.
Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland and appeared ready to do the same with its ambassador to Spain.