Rebels claim downing US drone over Yemen
AP, Cairo
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed they shot down a U.S. drone over the country’s north, as a leading rights group said Wednesday the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis killed at least 47 Yemeni fishermen in bombing attacks on fishing boats last year.
Yahia Sarie, a military spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthis, said in a statement their air defenses downed a U.S. MQ-9 drone Tuesday over the northern city of Dhamar.
UN to meet at Russia’s request on recent US missile test
AP, United Nations
The U.N. Security Council will hold an open meeting Thursday at Russia’s request on a U.S. missile test that would have been banned under a treaty that both Washington and Moscow abandoned earlier this month.
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told reporters Wednesday that Moscow called for the meeting “because of the threats the U.S. pronounced on the deployment and development of the missiles, in breach of the agreements.”
Don’t worry about drinking microplastics in water: UN
AP, Geneva
The World Health Organization says the levels of microplastics in drinking water don’t appear to be risky, but that research has been spotty and more is needed into their effects on the environment and health.
Microplastics are created when man-made materials break down into tiny particles smaller than about 5 millimeters (roughly one-fifth of an inch), although there is no strict scientific definition.
Japan bullet train runs at 280 km per hour with door open
AFP, Tokyo
A Japanese bullet train hurtling along at 280 kilometres per hour ran for nearly a minute with one of its doors completely open on Wednesday, its operator said. The accident, due to human error, was a rare mishap for the Japanese “Shinkansen” bullet train which has a world-famous safety and punctuality record. The Tokyo-bound Hayabusa No. 46 train screeched to an emergency stop in a tunnel shortly after leaving Sendai station in northeastern Japan when the conductor saw a warning light that the door of the ninth carriage was open, East Japan Railway said.
German, Dutch govts meet to discuss
climate change
AP, The Hague
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and key Cabinet ministers are meeting their Dutch counterparts Thursday to discuss ways of tackling climate change together. The meeting at Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s official residence comes as Germany is set to miss its emissions goals for 2020 by a wide margin, even as Merkel’s government acknowledges that it has to further ramp up its ambition by next year as part of its commitment under the 2015 Paris climate accord.
