Cargo ship fire off Canada said controlled
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Canadian Coast Guard officials said Sunday that a fire that was burning in several containers aboard a cargo ship off the coast of British Columbia appeared to be out.
The Coast Guard said it received word late Saturday morning that a fire had broken out in 10 damaged containers aboard the MV Zim Kingston, which is now anchored about 5 miles off the provincial capital of Victoria, and that two of the burning containers held hazardous material identified.
"The majority of the fire is actually out," JJ Brickett, federal incident commander with the Canadian Coast Guard, said during a teleconference Sunday. "We still see it smoldering."
The Coast Guard said the hazardous material inside the containers prevented the ship's crew from spraying cold water directly on the fire. Efforts to retrieve the containers would not be able to start until after a break in a storm that was forecast to worsen until today, authorities said.
The Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre in Victoria reported 16 crewmembers were safely taken off the ship, while five others, including the captain, remained on board at their own behest.
Mexico expects hurricane landfall today
MEXICO CITY -- Hurricane Rick headed for Mexico's southern Pacific coast Sunday and is forecast to reach land by today.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Rick had winds as high as 85 mph and was expected to hit somewhere around the seaport of Lazaro Cardenas and the resort of Zihuatanejo by Monday.
The hurricane was located about 110 miles south of Zihuatanejo. Rick was moving north at 6 mph.
Some strengthening was expected and Rick could develop winds as high as 105 mph.
The center warned that Rick could produce flash flooding and mudslides. The coast has mountainous terrain that in the past has been very vulnerable to flash flooding and mudslides.
A hurricane warning was in effect for points west of Acapulco all along the coast to Punta San Telmo.
"During its passage over land, it will cause intense to torrential rains and possible mudslides and flooding, as well as rising levels in streams and rivers, in the states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco," Mexico's National Water Commission said in a statement.
Earthquake shakes Taiwan, injures woman
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- An earthquake shook Taiwan's capital, Taipei, on Sunday and caused falling rocks that injured a woman and damaged a car. No deaths were reported.
The 6.5 magnitude quake struck at 1:11 p.m. and was centered near Yilan, a city about 22 miles east of Taipei near the northeastern coast, according to the Central Weather Bureau. It was followed seconds later by a 5.4 magnitude quake.
Buildings in Taipei swayed. The subway and some other mass transit services were suspended.
A woman was injured by falling rocks in Taroko National Park in Hualien County, south of Yilan, the Central News Agency reported. It said one car on a highway was damaged also by falling rocks but no one was injured.
Iran detainee's U.K. spouse goes on a fast
LONDON -- The husband of U.K. charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained for more than five years in Iran, has gone on a hunger strike again after a court decided she has to spend another year in prison.
Richard Ratcliffe started his fast Sunday outside the British government's Foreign Office in central London.
He plans to maintain a "constant vigil" by sleeping in a tent outside the building's main entrance in an effort to pressure Prime Minister Boris Johnson to secure the release of his wife and other detained dual British-Iranian nationals, Amnesty International announced.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe served five years in prison after being taken into custody at Tehran's airport in April 2016 and convicted of plotting the overthrow of Iran's government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups deny.
In May, she was sentenced to one additional year in prison on charges of spreading "propaganda against the system" for having participated in a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009 -- a decision upheld this month by an appeals court. The verdict includes a one-year travel ban, meaning she wouldn't be able to leave Iran until 2023.
Ratcliffe went on a 15-day hunger strike two years ago outside the Iranian Embassy, a move he credits with getting their 7-year-old daughter Gabriella released.
"We are now giving the U.K. government the same treatment. In truth, I never expected to have to do a hunger strike twice. It is not a normal act," Ratcliffe said on his change.org petition.
He said Iran remains the "primary abuser" in Nazanin's case, but the "U.K. is also letting us down."
"It is increasingly clear that Nazanin's case could have been solved many months ago -- but for other diplomatic agendas. The PM needs to take responsibility for that."