World News Quick Take

Polls on Tuesday opened in the only US election that really matters: Fat Bear Week. Hundreds of thousands of people were readying to vote on animals gorging themselves in rural Alaska. In a contest that has rapidly become one of the Internet’s favorite moments, the brown bears of Katmai National Park unwittingly compete in a series of head-to-head contests to see which one of them has most impressively piled on the pounds ahead of hibernation. Viewers can watch a livestream of the enormous animals as they scoop salmon from the Brooks River, or browse biographies of some of the top contenders, including before-and-after pictures showing how much weight the bears have gained over a summer of feasting. “For each matchup, vote for the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears,” organizers said. “The bear with the most votes advances to the next round. Only one will be crowned Fat Bear Week champion.”

A brown bear eats his catch in Brooks Falls, Alaska, on Aug. 12, 2023.

Photo: AFP

SOUTH AFRICA

Shooters kill 11 people

Shooters stormed a homestead in a township in the eastern port city of Durban, killing 11 people, the head of the provincial government and police said yesterday. “The victims, including a pregnant woman, were gathered at a house shortly before 11pm when armed assailants reportedly entered the premises and opened fire,” KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli said. Three people survived the attack in the township of KwaMakhutha, police said. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, police said, adding that investigators were following a “promising” lead that could assist in the case. “The incident has left the community in profound shock and grief,” Ntuli said. Local television station eNCA reported that the attackers forced everyone into a room before shooting them and also set fire to a car belonging to one of the victims. “It’s shocking and sad. These are guys I grew up with. I can’t believe it. It’s like a movie,” the broadcaster cited a local resident as saying.

UNITED KINGDOM

Space squadron to launch

The government yesterday announced that it would launch a new military space squadron charged with defending the country’s satellites, in the latest move as countries rush for military space capabilities. The new Royal Air Force squadron would protect critical satellites used in communications and to warn of incoming missile attacks, the Ministry of Defence said. It described the unit — to be known as No III Space Effects Squadron — as the country’s first dedicated to “disrupting, degrading, and denying enemy activity targeting British interests in space.”

CHINA

Kid breaks Rubik’s record

A six-year-old girl has set a new women’s world record for solving a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube in just more than four seconds, state media reported. Young speedcuber Lian Yunzhi (連允之) broke the women’s 3x3 average world record twice this month at two World Cube Association certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said on Monday. She posted averages of 4.52 and 4.27 seconds, after solving the cube five times. Lian is “the first female speedcuber to average under 4.5 seconds,” CCTV added. “She was an introverted kid. Now, she is very confident wherever she goes,” her mother, Lin Yangxi (林洋西), was quoted as saying. Lian has mastered more than 1,300 solving formulas and spent two to three hours daily on training, CCTV said.