Boats scour ocean for black boxes
BEIRUT: Emergency workers searched deep in the Mediterranean on Wednesday for the black boxes from a doomed Ethiopian Airlines jet as weather experts said that lightning had struck in the plane’s path around the time of the deadly crash. Emergency workers will expand their search radius for the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines jet if they do not find the black boxes Wednesday, an army official said. Searchers have fanned out for 30 km along Beirut’s coast, and about 8 km out to sea, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.
Gaza power plant hampered
GAZA CITY: A new dispute between the rival Palestinian governments has drastically reduced production at the Gaza Strip’s only power plant, exacerbating the territory’s chronic electricity shortage, officials said Wednesday. The argument over who should pay for the plant’s fuel is part of an acrimonious power struggle between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the internationally backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
‘Chemical Ali’ buried in Tikrit
TIKRIT: Ali Hassan Al-Majeed, known as “Chemical Ali” for his use of poison gas against minority Kurds, was buried late on Tuesday near his cousin, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a tribal leader said. Majeed’s burial in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit came a day after he was hanged in Baghdad for crimes against humanity. “His body was received late last night by police in Tikrit,” Munaf Ali Al-Neda said on Wednesday.
— Compiled from agencies
