A cargo ship that ran aground in Norway, narrowly missing a house, is being towed to a nearby harbor
OSLO, Norway (AP) — A cargo ship that ran aground in a Norwegian fjord and narrowly missed a house, was pulled back into open water and was being towed to a nearby harbor on Tuesday — five days after the spectacular accident.
A tugboat hauled and refloated the NCL Salten off the shore of the Trondheim fjord in the morning hours. The vessel was being taken to the nearby harbor of Orkanger.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK quoted Ole T. Bjørnevik, the general manager of the tugboat company tasked with the refloating operation, as saying that it 'went better than expected.'
Containers had been unloaded from the ship ahead of the refloating.
The ship ran aground early last Thursday. No oil spills were reported, and none of the 16 people aboard was injured.
The on-duty navigator, the ship's second officer, has been charged with negligent navigation after he allegedly fell asleep on duty.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Migrants and ICE officers contend with heat, smog and illness after detoured South Sudan flight
WASHINGTON (AP) — Migrants placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the men and their guards are contending with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the looming threat of rocket attacks, the Trump administration said. Officials outlined grim conditions in court documents filed Thursday before a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to swiftly remove migrants to countries they didn't come from. Authorities landed the flight at the base in Djibouti, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from South Sudan, more than two weeks ago after U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found the Trump administration had violated his order by swiftly sending eight migrants from countries including Cuba and Vietnam to the east African nation. The judge said that men from other countries must have a real chance to raise fears about dangers they could face in South Sudan. The men's lawyers, though, have still not been able to talk to them, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, whose stated mission is to ensure the United States is a global leader on human rights. Barnard spoke Friday at a hearing of Democratic members of Congress and said some family members of the men had been able to talk to them Thursday. The migrants have been previously convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., and President Donald Trump's administration has said that it was unable to return them quickly to their home countries. The Justice Department has also appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and allow swift deportations to third countries to resume. The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight became another flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president's policies. The Trump administration said the converted conference room in the shipping container is the only viable place to house the men on the base in Djibouti, where outdoor daily temperatures rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), according to the declaration from an ICE official. Nearby burn pits are used to dispose of trash and human waste, and the smog cloud makes it hard to breathe, sickening both ICE officers guarding the men and the detainees, the documents state. They don't have access to all the medication they need to protect against infection, and the ICE officers were unable to complete anti-malarial treatment before landing, an ICE official said. 'It is unknown how long the medical supply will last,' Mellissa B. Harper, acting executive deputy associate director of enforcement and removal operations, said in the declaration. The group also lacks protective gear in case of a rocket attack from terrorist groups in Yemen, a risk outlined by the Department of Defense, the documents state. ___ Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this story.
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Less spending, high prices and fewer animal sacrifices at this year's Eid al-Adha celebrations
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Less spending, higher prices and fewer animal sacrifices subdued the usual festive mood as the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha was celebrated around the world. Eid al-Adha, known as the 'Feast of Sacrifice,' coincides with the final rites of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. It's a joyous occasion, for which food is a hallmark, with devout Muslims buying and slaughtering animals and sharing two-thirds of the meat with the poor. Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of the three-day feast early Friday with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes. For the second year since the war with Israel broke out, no Muslims in Gaza were able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air, and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together. 'This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,' said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. 'There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses … The conditions are very, very harsh.' The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said Thursday that Gaza's people are projected to fall into acute food insecurity by September, with nearly 500,000 people experiencing extreme food deprivation, leading to malnutrition and starvation. 'This means the risk of famine is really touching the whole of the Gaza Strip,' said Rein Paulson, director of the FAO office of emergencies and resilience. The war in Gaza and the struggle to celebrate were at the forefront of the minds of Muslims in Kenya, Imam Abdulrahman Mursal said as he led Eid prayers in the capital, Nairobi. 'We ask Allah to hear their (Palestinian) cries. We feel their pain, as much as we are far from them,' Mursal said. 'But what unites us is our Muslim brotherhood, so we ask Allah to give them victory and to give victory to all the other Muslims wherever they are, if they are facing any kind of oppression. Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac. South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh will celebrate Eid al-Adha on Saturday. Ahead of the festival, many Muslims in the region were turning to livestock markets to buy and sell millions of animals for sacrifice. In New Delhi, sellers were busy tending to their animals and negotiating with potential buyers. Mohammad Ali Qureshi, one of the sellers, said this year his goats were fetching higher prices than last year: 'Earlier, the sale of goats was slow, but now the market is good. Prices are on the higher side.' Festival preparations also were peaking in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where many Muslims dye sheep and goats in henna before they are sacrificed. 'We are following the tradition of Prophet Ibrahim,' said Riyaz Wani, a resident in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, as his family applied henna on a sheep they plan to sacrifice. In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, Muslim worshippers were shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets and the Istiqlal Grand Mosque was filled for morning prayers Friday. Outside Jakarta, the Jonggol Cattle Market bustled with hundreds of traders hoping to sell to buyers looking for sacrificial animals. While sales increased ahead of Eid, sellers said their businesses have lost customers in recent years due to economic hardship following the COVID-19 pandemic. A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2022 and 2023 significantly dampened the typically booming holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep, though Indonesia's government has worked to overcome that outbreak. Rahmat Debleng, one of the sellers in the market, said before the pandemic and the FMD outbreak, he could sell more than 100 cows two weeks ahead of Eid al-Adha. But on the eve of the celebration this year, only 43 of his livestock were sold and six cows are still left in his stall. Jakarta city administration data recorded the number of sacrificial animals available this year at 35,133, a decline of 57% compared to the previous year. More than 1.6 million Muslims were in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Friday to perform the Hajj ritual, the symbolic stoning of the devil. Mina is where Muslims believe the Prophet Ibrahim's faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but then God stayed his hand, sparing his son. In the Christian and Jewish versions of the story, Abraham is ordered to kill his other son, Isaac. As Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha, the holiday was tinged with bitterness in the rebel-controlled city of Goma, in eastern Congo. Under the looming shadow of the occupation, hundreds of worshippers wearing colourful tunics and hijabs gathered at Goma's Stadium of Unity to pray for peace. The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma. Despite the challenging situation in the region, those gathered expressed their gratitude for being able to celebrate the holiday. 'We were anxious because of the war, but by God's grace, we made it here,' Fatuma Ramazani, a Muslim resident of Goma, told The Associated Press. 'We prayed 'in' peace, and that is why we prayed 'for' peace to return,' he added. 'Islam is a religion of peace, so we can only pray for peace and for God's grace to help all those involved in this security issue to see how to prioritize peace,' Grâce Omar, another worshipper, said. In the crowded stadium, imams emphasized the importance of solidarity and prayer in difficult times. 'Today is a special day for Muslims, so I take this opportunity to pray to God to bring peace to Congo in general, and to areas plagued by violence, like Goma, in particular. It is time for people to say 'enough' to all that is happening in the country,' said Imam Sheikh Sabiti Djaffar Al Katanty. Eid al-Adha celebrations in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, were overshadowed by one of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. The severe hardship stems from recent government economic policies, intended to boost savings and attract investors. Instead, these measures have fueled high inflation and sent the naira plummeting to record lows against the dollar. The cost of rams for the traditional Eid al-Adha sacrifice, central to the celebration, has more than doubled since last year. Despite these challenges, some devout Muslims in Nigeria, where roughly half the population practices Islam, found reason for hope. 'We know prices are a bit on the high side and everything is hard,' Lagos student Amira Mustapha said. 'But we should look beyond that and see the positive side of things, celebrate, be joyful for seeing another year and pray for seeing many more years.' An event celebrating Eid-al-Adha on Friday brought together Christian and Muslim religious leaders and citizens in Turkey's southeastern city of Mardin, according to state-run media. Organized by the Mardin Municipality's Art Academy, attendees included Mardin Governor Tuncay Akkoyun, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop Saliba Ozmen and Deputy Mufti Ali Uney, alongside congregants from both faiths. 'Recently we celebrated Easter. Today we're celebrating Eid al-Adha. Tomorrow there will be another holiday, and we will again be together, said Bishop Ozmen. Deputy Mufti Uney praised the gathering as a 'great example of co-existence' and wished for fraternity and solidarity. ___ Associated Press journalists Shonal Ganguly, in New Delhi, Dar Yasin in Srinagar, India, Inaara Gangji, in Nairobi, Justin Kabumba, in Goma, Cinar Kiper in Bodrum, Turkey and Dan Ikpoyi in Lagos, Nigeria contributed to this report.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
An ally took control of live bombs dropped by US Air Force planes. That's never been done before.
The US Air Force recently allowed another country to take control of American bombs in flight for the first time, with F-15 Strike Eagle pilots passing control of their glide bombs over to Norwegian forces. The Norwegian Armed Forces announced the successful weapons test last week, describing it as a test of networked weapons, "weapons you can communicate with after they're fired," that delivered a "groundbreaking" result. "For the first time, the Americans have allowed another country to take control of an American bomb on its way to the target," the armed forces said. The Norwegians said that two US Air Force F-15E fighter jets flew toward Norway's coast with two American GBU-53/B glide bombs in the exercise, called Jotun Strike. Using data provided by various sensors, including those on a deployed P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, Norwegian soldiers took control of the bombs when they dropped and used a network to direct them toward targets they had selected. With the data support, the soldiers adjusted the bomb's course. Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces' Operational Headquarters, Vice Adm. Rune Andersen, called the result of the test key to Norway maintaining a "technological lead." He added that the test highlighted the "good relationship" between the US and Norway, saying that the test was "based on a high degree of trust and integration between close allies." Capt. Brett Stell, from the 494th Fighter Squadron, US Air Force, explained that the recent exercise was "a demonstration of what warfighting looks like in the future." It proved that "a weapon launched from a US platform can be guided by a Norwegian sensor across domains and distances," he said, adding that "this level of integration shows our shared ability to conduct complex, network-enabled engagements-even in contested environments." The unprecedented exercise was not just about Europe, "it's about homeland defense forward," Stell said. "Threats to the US can originate beyond the Western Hemisphere, and our forward capabilities in the European theater are essential for early warning, rapid response, and deterrence," he said, explaining that "exercises like Jotun Strike make our collective force more lethal, more integrated, and ready to fight and win together." A new kind of weapons test Network-enabled weapons are ones that can be guided and redirected as they fly using communications networks. The armed forces said that "via a built-in radio transmitter, military personnel can communicate with the weapon after it has been fired, change its course, change the target it is going to attack, and await or abort an attack. All based on updates they receive in real time." The concept tested last month was developed in Norway with Norwegian industry, the armed forces said. Specifically, the Norwegian Battle Lab & Experimentation had been working on its concept for network weapons since 2019, with a 2025 deadline. NOBLE is a group in the Norwegian Armed Forces that is affiliated with the operational headquarters and tasked with concept development and experimentation for the military. Its network weapons concept had only previously been tested in simulations, and Col. Roger Samuelsen, the head of NOBLE, said "this was the big test." He said that "it was fantastic that this worked." "It is the first time this weapon has been released in a live version. And it was also the first time someone from the Norwegian Armed Forces tested a live network weapon." The test took place on May 14 at Andøya, a large island in Norway's northwest. The system had already been tested in the US against other simulators, Samuelsen said. He said Norway was repeatedly told it was ahead of others on this technology and that he believed that was why the US wanted to provide weapons and planes for this test. He added that he was "very excited to see if the software we have developed would work as intended, even though we have done all the preparations and tests that were possible in advance." He said the outcome means Norway "now can both plan, lead, coordinate and carry out an engagement with network weapons." Network weapons can get real-time data from external sensors, making them more likely to hit their targets. And they can be made to change course after they are fired. The Norwegian Armed Forces said the network weapons have "increased range and safety" since they don't need to see the target. Instead, they can be launched from further away and controlled, so they "can be fired at a safe distance without the platform supplying the weapon having to expose itself." It also means the target can be changed depending on what's happening and what the military wants to hit. The technology is key for Norway, a smaller country that needs to use its resources efficiently and make the most of recent acquisitions like the P-8 and F-35 fighter jets, but there's also interest from allies. Samuelsen said that people who work in "concept development in NATO have already shown interest in the Norwegian concept." And he said allies are interested in the control software that it has developed with Norwegian software company Teleplan. "There are not many nations that have this weapon or the technology within reach," the armed forces said.
