Avalanche in Kashmir leaves skier dead
SRINAGAR, India -- A Russian skier was killed and five others were rescued, along with their local guide, after an avalanche hit a popular Himalayan ski resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.
The officials said at least six Russian skiers and their local guide were hit by the avalanche and buried in snow high in the mountains of the tourist town of Gulmarg. Rescuers pulled six survivors from the snow. Officials did not immediately identify the dead Russian skier.
Gulmarg is nestled in the Pirpanjal mountain range in the western Himalayas and has one of Asia's largest ski terrains, where thousands of domestic and international tourists visit.
Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir and have caused heavy death tolls for the Indian and Pakistani armies camped near the militarized Line of Control on the mountainous and forested frontier that divides Kashmir between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Court: Extradite crypto suspect to U.S.
PODGORICA, Montenegro -- A court in Montenegro has ruled that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon should be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges rather than to his native South Korea, a court official in the Balkan country said Thursday.
Kwon, 32, was arrested nearly a year ago in Montenegro on an international arrest warrant in connection with a $40 billion crash of Terraform Labs' cryptocurrency, which devastated retail investors around the world. South Korea and the U.S. have requested Kwon's extradition from Montenegro.
High Court spokesperson Marija Rakovic said Kwon's lawyers have three days to appeal the ruling.
"The High Court made two decisions, one on the extradition of Do Kwon to the U.S. and the other rejecting South Korea's request on the same grounds," she told The Associated Press. "The Court of Appeal will decide on both decisions of the High Court."
Kwon, known as "the cryptocurrency king," is wanted by the U.S., where he was charged with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York. South Korean prosecutors have also sought his extradition.
Kwon and another South Korean were arrested at Montenegro's Podgorica Airport on March 23 last year while trying to depart for Dubai using fake Costa Rican passports. Kwon and five others connected to Terraform were wanted because of allegations of fraud and financial crimes in relation to the implosion of its digital currencies in May 2022.
TerraUSD was designed as a "stablecoin," a currency that is pegged to stable assets like the dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations in prices. However, about $40 billion in market value was erased for the holders of TerraUSD and its floating sister currency, Luna, after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg.
Kwon is serving a four-month prison sentence in Montenegro for using the fake passport.
Ship in China strikes bridge, killing 5
BEIJING -- Five people died after a large container ship hit support pillars for a bridge over a river in southern China early Thursday, sending a section of the roadway and five vehicles crashing down.
Three small trucks, a bus and a scooter fell off the bridge south of the city of Guangzhou, authorities said. The bus, the scooter and one of the trucks landed inside the empty ship and the other two trucks fell into the water.
One side of the ship hit a bridge support and then the bow hit another pillar, causing a section of the bridge deck to collapse, authorities said, blaming it on "improper operation by the crew."
The collapse of the Lixinsha Bridge also cut off water and access to an island that is home to about 8,000 people, mostly farmers, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Temporary water lines and a ferry service were set up for residents.
The dead included the driver of the bus, that of the scooter and three people in the trucks that went into the river, city officials said at a late afternoon news conference. There were no passengers on the bus.
Two other people were treated at a hospital for injuries and were in stable condition. A crew member on the ship had minor injuries.
Authorities detained the owner of the ship, according to Chinese media.
Knife attack at school injures 4 students
BERLIN -- Four students were wounded in a stabbing Thursday at a school in the western German city of Wuppertal and a suspect, believed to be a student himself, was arrested, authorities said.
The incident took place Thursday morning at Wilhelm Dörpfeld high school in the city of about 350,000 people near Duesseldorf and Cologne. Police said four students were wounded, as was the suspect, the German news agency dpa reported.
The top regional security official, Herbert Reul, said the attack was apparently carried out with a knife by a 17-year-old student. Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, said at least two of the victims were seriously injured, as was the suspected assailant.
He told the state legislature's home affairs committee that he had been told the suspect inflicted injuries on himself. There was no word on a possible motive, and the suspect was believed to be a lone assailant.
Volunteers bring the body of a Russian skier into a hospital in Tangmarg, near Gulmarg, a popular skiing destination in Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. Officials say that the Russian skier was killed by an avalanche that hit Gulmarg on Thursday. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
An injured Russian skier gets treatment at a hospital in Tangmarg, near Gulmarg, a popular skiing destination in Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. Officials say that one Russian skier was killed and four rescued when an avalanche hit Gulmarg on Thursday. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A paramedic and volunteers transport the body of a Russian skier to a hospital in Tangmarg, near Gulmarg, a popular skiing destination in Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. Officials say that the Russian skier was killed by an avalanche that hit Gulmarg on Thursday. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A paramedic and volunteers transport the body of a Russian skier in a hospital in Tangmarg, near Gulmarg, a popular skiing destination in Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. Officials say that the Russian skier was killed by an avalanche that hit Gulmarg on Thursday. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Parents pick up their children from school on Thursday after an attack at the Wilhelm Doerpfeld School in Wuppertal, Germany. (AP/Martin Meissner)