News in Brief (2024-01-08)

FE Team | Published: January 07, 2024 22:11:43

Biden admin leaders, Pentagon officials
unaware for days Austin was in hospital
WASHINGTON, Jan 07: Senior Biden administration leaders, top Pentagon officials and members of Congress were unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalised since Monday, U.S. officials said Saturday, as questions swirled about his condition and the secrecy surrounding it. The Pentagon did not inform the White House National Security Council or top adviser Jake Sullivan of Austin's hospitalization at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, until Thursday, according to two administration officials. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon's failure to disclose Austin's hospitalization for days reflects a stunning lack of transparency about his illness, how serious it was and when he may be released. — AP
Death toll of IS-claimed Kabul blast rises to five
KABUL, Jan 07: The death toll from an attack on a bus in western Kabul claimed by the Islamic State group rose from two to five on Sunday, police said. Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran gave an initial toll of two dead and 14 wounded in an explosion on a bus on Saturday evening in the capital's Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood-an enclave of the historically oppressed Shiite Hazara community. In a statement Sunday, he revised the toll to five dead and 15 wounded, adding that the survivors had been hospitalised and their conditions were stable. He said the blast was caused by explosives planted on the bus and that "police are still investigating the incident to find the culprits and bring them to justice". — AFP
Thousands of years old tusk unearthed
BISMARCK, Jan 07: The first person to spot it was a shovel operator working the overnight shift, eyeing a glint of white as he scooped up a giant mound of dirt and dropped it into a dump truck. Later, after the truck driver dumped the load, a dozer driver was ready to flatten the dirt but stopped for a closer look when he, too, spotted that bit of white. Only then did the miners realize they had unearthed something special: a 7-foot-long mammoth tusk that had been buried for thousands of years. "We were very fortunate, lucky to find what we found," said David Straley, an executive of North American Coal, which owns the mine. After spotting the tusk, the crews stopped digging in the area and called in experts, who estimated it to be 10,000 to 100,000 years old. — AP