Drought-hit Danube River reveals scuttled German World War II ships
Mohacs, Hungary/Prahovo, Serbia
Reuters
—
The wrecks of explosives-laden Nazi ships sunk in the Danube River during World War II have emerged near Serbia’s river port town of Prahovo, after a drought in July and August that saw the river’s water level drop.
Four vessels dating from before 1950 have also come to light in Hungary’s Danube-Drava National Park near Mohacs, where the Danube’s water level stood at only 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) on Tuesday, the lingering effect of severe heat waves and persistent drought in July and August.
The vessels revealed in Prahovo were among hundreds scuttled along the Danube by Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet in 1944 as they retreated from advancing Soviet forces, destroying the ships themselves. The wrecks can hamper river traffic during low water levels.
Strewn across the riverbed, some of the ships still have turrets, command bridges, broken masts and twisted hulls, while others lie mostly submerged under sandbanks.
Endre Sztellik, a guard at the Danube-Drava national park, said of one of the ships, “we still don’t know what this is exactly. What is visible and an unfortunate fact is that the wreck is diminishing as people are interested in it and parts of it are going missing.”
The Danube stood at 1.17 meters (3.8 feet) in Budapest on Tuesday, which compares with an all-time record low of around 0.4 meters (1.3 feet) registered in October 2018. During floods, the Danube rises well above 6 meters (19.7 feet).
“Eastern Europe is experiencing critical drought conditions that are affecting crops and vegetation,” the European climate service Copernicus said on its website in its latest drought report, published earlier this month.
Long-awaited rainfall set in on Monday, which is expected to raise Danube levels to around 3 meters (9.8 feet) at Mohacs by the weekend, with the river likely to submerge the shipwrecks again.
The level of Poland’s longest river, the Vistula, has fallen to a record low, leaving sandbanks exposed in Warsaw and water so shallow a moose was filmed walking across it in a section in the countryside.
#news
Read More...
Woman stung by scorpion while getting luggage at Boston's Logan Airport
A woman was taken to a hospital Sunday night after a scorpion stung her at Boston Logan International Airport.
Boston Emergency Medical Services took the woman to an area hospital by ambulance just before 7 p.m., they said in a statement to NBC News.
It's not clear what kind of scorpion stung the woman or what condition she was in.
The 40-year-old woman, who identity has not been released, was retrieving her luggage from the baggage claim area of customs when she was stung, NBC Boston reported.
#NBC #News #Boston #Scorpion #Airport
Read More...
Russia and U.S. Held Secret Talks on Restarting Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
Russian and U.S. negotiators held secret talks on resuming gas flows to Germany via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the German tabloid Bild reported Sunday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The Swiss-based operator of Nord Stream 2 and other Russia-based entities linked to the $11 billion pipeline are currently under U.S. sanctions. The reported U.S.-Russia discussions on restarting the pipeline are seen as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to rebuild ties with Russia.
According to Bild, Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell made multiple unofficial visits to the headquarters of Nord Stream 2 AG — the pipeline’s operator, which is fully owned by Russia’s sanctioned energy giant Gazprom — in the Swiss city of Steinhausen for negotiations.
Grenell denied participating in the reported talks.
#TheMoscowTimes #News #Russia #US #Germany
Read More...
[Philippines] Ex-president Rodrigo Duterte arrested over crimes against humanity
MANILA, Philippines – Former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) on Tuesday, March 11, over a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), becoming the first former Philippine head of state to be arrested through an order by an international tribunal.
Earlier, an informed ranking source told Rappler that Duterte is already in custody, which was also confirmed to Rappler by a separate security source. Malacañang later confirmed this.
Duterte faces a crimes against humanity case before the international court over his drug war that killed close to 30,000 people, according to tallies by human rights groups. Prior to his arrest, the former president was put on Red Notice alert by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), following the ICC’s issuance of a warrant.
#Philippines
#Rappler #News
Read More...