INTERNACIONAL
China chemical plant explosion leaves at least 5 dead
At least five are dead and six are missing Tuesday following a massive explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China.
Videos captured in the wake of the blast at the Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co. facility in Weifang showed huge columns of smoke rising into the sky.
The blast was powerful enough to knock out windows at a warehouse more than two miles away, according to the Associated Press.
A student at a school about 1,000 yards away from the plant told state-run news site The Paper that he heard one explosion and saw dirt-yellow smoke, tainted with redness, rising from the plant. He said there was a funny smell, and all students were given a mask and told not to remove it.
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In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Firefighters extinguish fires at the explosion site of a chemical plant in Weifang, in east China’s Shandong Province, on Tuesday, May 27. (Xinhua via AP)
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
At least five people were dead and 19 were injured, local emergency management authorities said.
Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co. manufactures pesticides as well as chemicals for medical use, and has more than 500 employees, according to corporate registration records.
More than 230 first responders went to the site of the blast.
The incident took place less than two weeks after the National Ministry of Emergency Management held a workshop on preventing and controlling risks in the chemical industry, as Beijing urged officials at chemical industrial parks to boost their capabilities in «managing hazardous chemicals.»
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At least 5 people reportedly are dead following the chemical plant explosion on Tuesday, May 27, in Weifang. (Reuters/TPX Images of the Day)
Last year, the chemical plant was cited for «safety risks» at least twice, but in September it was praised by the Weifang Emergency Management Bureau for resolving those matters.
Officials at the plant identified more than 800 safety hazards in the first eight months of 2024 and rectified all of them, the bureau said, according to the AP.
A warehouse complex storing large amounts of hazardous chemicals caught fire and exploded in Tianjin in 2015, leaving 173 dead or missing.
An explosion at a chemical plant in China’s eastern Shandong province has left at least six missing, officials said. (AP)
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In 2019, 78 people were killed in a blast at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China’s eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
El Gobierno de Brasil estima que el nuevo horizonte petrolero frente al río Amazonas, cuya exploración fue autorizada este lunes por la agencia ambiental del país, atraerá inversiones por unos 300.000 millones de reales (55.000 millones de dólares).
El Instituto Brasileño de Medio Ambiente (Ibama) concedió a la petrolera estatal Petrobras el permiso para perforar un pozo exploratorio en una zona del Atlántico situada a unos 500 kilómetros de la desembocadura del Amazonas y a unos 175 kilómetros de la costa.
La decisión, cuestionada por las organizaciones ecologistas, se produjo a menos de un mes de que comience la cumbre climática de la ONU (COP30), que se celebrará en la ciudad amazónica de Belém.
Sin embargo, el ministro de Minas y Energía, Alexandre Silveira, afirmó que ese nuevo horizonte petrolero, cuyo potencial es de 10.000 millones de barriles recuperables, representa “el futuro de la soberanía energética” de Brasil.
“Brasil no puede renunciar a conocer su potencial. Hicimos una defensa firme y técnica para garantizar que la exploración se realice con total responsabilidad ambiental (…) Nuestro petróleo es uno de los más sostenibles del mundo”, aseguró en una nota.
Según estimaciones oficiales, además de atraer una cantidad importante de inversiones, si finalmente se materializa la explotación de hidrocarburos en la región, conocida como Margen Ecuatorial, el Estado brasileño recaudará “un billón de reales (cerca de 200.000 millones de dólares) en las próximas décadas”.
Además, el Ejecutivo del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva prevé la creación de 300.000 empleos directos e indirectos.
Silveira subrayó que la exploración del territorio se llevará a cabo “bajo los más altos estándares de sostenibilidad, conciliando la preservación ambiental con la generación de empleo e ingresos”.
Y recordó que Petrobras montó “la mayor estructura de respuesta del país, con 13 embarcaciones a disposición para apenas un pozo”.
“La decisión refuerza el compromiso del Gobierno con una transición energética justa, inclusiva y equilibrada, en la que el desarrollo de las actividades de exploración y producción de petróleo y gas avanza de la mano con las políticas de descarbonización y expansión de los biocombustibles”, señaló el ministro.
Por otra parte, ONG ambientalistas cargaron este lunes contra la concesión de la licencia. El Observatorio do Clima, un red formada por 130 organizaciones, señaló en un comunicado que se trata de una decisión “desastrosa” desde el punto de vista ambiental y pedirán ante la justicia que el permiso sea “anulado” por las “fallas técnicas” en el proceso de licenciamiento.
La red ambientalista apuntó, además, a la contradicción que supone dar esta licencia a menos de un mes del inicio de la COP30.
La decisión es un “sabotaje” a la COP30 y “va en dirección contraria al papel de líder climático reivindicado por el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva”, de acuerdo con el Observatorio do Clima.
Asimismo, la licencia para explorar esta área, situada a unos 500 kilómetros de la desembocadura, choca, según los ambientalistas, con las metas del Gobierno brasileño, que se ha comprometido a reducir entre un 59 % y un 67 % las emisiones contaminantes hasta 2035.
“En un escenario de emergencia climática como el actual, la apertura de nuevos pozo de petróleo contradice los compromisos del país con la transición energética y refuerza patrones excluyentes e insostenibles”, señaló la portavoz de Greenpeace Mariana Andrade, en declaraciones distribuidas a los medios.
Brasil, según los ambientalistas, debería invertir más en energías renovables, en vez de ampliar su producción de petróleo.
“Necesitamos invertir en alternativas que generen desarrollo inclusivo y sostenible, como las energías renovables y la bioeconomía; insistir en el petróleo es ir en dirección contraria al mundo”, dijo, a su vez, Ricardo Fuji, especialista en conservación de WWF en Brasil.
Alrededor del área objeto de la licencia hay reservas ambientales, territorios indígenas, manglares y arrecifes de coral, así como una variada diversidad marina con especies en peligro de extinción.
La petrolera tiene planes para explorar la región desde 2022, pero el proceso de autorización se alargó durante casi cinco años, ante los pedidos de información adicional por parte del Instituto Brasileño de Medio Ambiente (Ibama), la entidad responsable de emitir los permisos.
(Con información de EFE)
South America / Central America,RIO DE JANEIRO
INTERNACIONAL
NYC mayoral rivals unite against billionaire ‘election interference’ as campaign enters final stretch
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With two weeks until Election Day, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa have landed on unlikely common ground: rejecting billionaire influence in the New York City mayoral election.
Two billionaires, Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, are calling on Sliwa to drop out of the mayoral race in order to clear a pathway to victory for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent candidate.
«The billionaires can conspire to pick their candidate,» Sliwa said during a press conference in Manhattan on Monday. «I trust the people. They will make the decision. I will not drop out.»
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New York City mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa speaks to reporters in Manhattan on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, with two weeks until Election Day. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)
Several blocks downtown at his own press conference Monday morning, Mamdani admitted his surprise to agree with Sliwa.
«I never thought I would say this, but here we are, where the only candidates who agree that billionaires shouldn’t control the future of this city are the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee,» Mamdani said.
Catsimatidis, who is also the CEO of WABC Radio, publicly urged Sliwa to drop out of the race on Monday. Sliwa has long hosted a radio program on WABC but is on leave while he runs for mayor.
«Curtis would make the best mayor of all the candidates … but Curtis has to realize that he should love New York more than anything else,» he said. «It certainly looks like Curtis should pull out right now.»
«I’m not dropping out,» Sliwa reaffirmed to reporters on Monday while responding to Catsimatidis’ plea.
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New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani fields reporter questions in Manhattan on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)
A recent Fox News survey of the mayoral race, conducted Oct. 10–14, asked voters about their second-choice candidate. If both Adams and Sliwa are out, the results show Mamdani keeping a significant lead, even as support for Cuomo increases.
With Sliwa out, the poll found Mamdani would pick up 50% compared to 37% to Cuomo.
Yet, Cuomo on Monday said that when New Yorkers realize that Sliwa dropping out would create a head-to-head matchup with Mamdani, «they’ll discard the spoiler Curtis Sliwa and rally behind Cuomo to save the city.»
When asked who bears responsibility if Mamdani is elected mayor, Sliwa told Fox News Digital on Monday, «We blame Andrew Cuomo.»
«I would suggest to Andrew Cuomo, stop this nonsense. You are the one who is responsible for Zohran Mamdani. You got beaten mightily in a Democratic primary,» Sliwa said when asked about Cuomo calling him a «spoiler.»
Mamdani on Sunday responded to a viral clip of Sliwa reiterating that he will stay in the race, despite pleas from billionaires, like Ackman.
«It’s genuinely positive for our democracy that there’s another candidate in this race who believes NYC voters should pick their next mayor, not billionaires who mostly live somewhere else,» Mamdani said in the post.
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Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, left, speaks while participating in a mayoral debate with Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, right, and independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (not pictured), Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)
Ackman and Catsimatidis are among those billionaires arguing that a vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani.
«Like that Ackman, out in Chappaqua, what does he know about New York City?» Sliwa questioned on Monday, telling reporters that billionaires «have paved the way for Zohran Mamdani because every time they fail, it makes it easier for Zohran Mamdani to campaign.»
«They should stay out of it, focus on Wall Street, hedge funds. They know nothing about the streets, as clearly evidenced by their panic,» Sliwa said, urging billionaires to «let the people decide.»
«Billionaires should be ashamed of themselves for interfering with this election. I call it election interference. Let the people decide. That’s the way I was raised. That’s the way everybody was raised. Nobody was ever told the billionaires were going to pick the person who wins an election.»
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Mamdani agreed with his Republican opponent on Monday, arguing that New Yorkers «no matter what they think about our politics, want to make their own decisions, and that is one place where Curtis and I agree, which is that it’s time for New Yorkers to make this decision, not for billionaire donors to decide who gets to run this city.»
«To have a candidate spending all his time pleading with another candidate to get, it shows that he doesn’t have much to share with New Yorkers himself,» Mamdani said of Cuomo.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cuomo for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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