In the World
YEMEN
Blast at dairy complex kills at least 40 people
At least 40 people died in a blast at a dairy complex in western Yemen on Wednesday as warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition continued to pummel insurgent positions.
The circumstances of the explosion that all but leveled the site in the port city of Hodeida were not clear. Some witnesses and officials blamed Saudi airstrikes, and others attributed the blast to artillery fire from the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim rebel group. The Associated Press cited two military officials as saying the premises had been used to store weapons.
The Interior Ministry reported 80 people injured, some critically, in addition to at least 40 killed.
The fierce airstrikes by the Saudi-led regional coalition that began last week continued, targeting bases and weapons depots of the Houthis, who are fighting alongside loyalists of the country's deposed president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The insurgents seized the capital, Sana'a, in September and recently had been closing in on the port city of Aden, the country's commercial hub.
- Los Angeles Times
MEXICO
Oil-platform fire kills four
A fire at an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday killed at least four workers and sent dozens leaping into the water for safety. Sixteen workers were reported injured, and there may be a number of missing, Mexico's state oil monopoly said. It was not clear whether a significant amount of oil had spilled. It was the latest disaster that Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has had to contend with and comes as the company is trying to reposition itself after the government's decision to open the energy sector to foreign investment. - Los Angeles Times
RUSSIA
43 die as trawler sinks
A Russian freezer trawler with an international crew of 132 sank Thursday morning in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, and at least 43 crew members were killed, rescue workers said. The emergency services in Kamchatka, citing the head of the rescue operation, said 63 crew members were rescued and the fate of the remaining 26 from the Dalny Vostok trawler was unknown.
- AP