Suspicion falls on Iran as oil tanker "hit by a projectile" off Oman
CBSN
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tension with Iran, an official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, the Mideast-based defense official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they did not have authorization to discuss the attack publicly. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military organization in the region that monitors shipping, told the AP: "We are aware of an incident and it's being investigated at this time."
The Reuters news agency quoted Commander Timothy Hawkins of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which also operates extensively across the region, as saying the American military was aware of an incident in the Gulf of Oman involving a commercial vessel, but offering no further comment. The official who spoke to the AP identified the vessel attacked as the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon. That tanker is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been "hit by a projectile" about 150 miles off the coast of Oman. It was not immediately clear whether the explosion was caused by an air or sea-borne device, both of which have been used in attacks on commercial vessels in the region..
London — As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl.
Vaughan Gething was elected as the new first minister of Wales on Wednesday, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K. Gething was elected to lead the government by members of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, four days after winning the contest to be leader of Wales' governing Labour Party. He secured 27 of 51 votes in the legislature, the Senedd, where Labour is the biggest party.
Errekunda, Gambia — Lawmakers in Gambia will vote Monday on legislation that seeks to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, or FGM, which would make the West African nation the first country anywhere to make that reversal. The procedure, which also has been called female genital cutting, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers.
Man falls to his death from hot-air balloon in Australia, leaving pilot and passengers "traumatized"
A man fell to his death from a hot-air balloon Monday as it passed over suburban Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.