Battle to contain fuel spill after ships collide

A Tunisian ship and a Cypriot ship are seen after a collision in the Mediterranean Sea north of Corsica island. Photo / AP

France: Two merchant ships collided north of the French island of Corsica, causing a 4km fuel spill in the Mediterranean Sea that French and Italian authorities are working to contain. No one was injured, but the collision smashed a hole of several metres long in the hull of one of the ships, causing the spill. Two French ships were sent to the area and specialists were helicoptered in. The Italian coast guard also sent an aircraft to monitor the operation and three ships to help contain the spill. Clean-up work will resume tonight NZT, when experts will decide how to safely separate the ships. The maritime authority said that a Tunisia-registered ship carrying trucks with merchandise rammed into Cyprus-registered container ship CSL Virginia.

Brazil: The two leading presidential candidates in Brazil have cast their ballots in the country's election. Far-right congressman and poll leader Jair Bolsonaro voted in Rio de Janeiro. He told reporters he thought there would be no need for a second round on October 28 because he would get more than the 50 per cent needed to avoid a runoff. A recent poll showed Bolsonaro garnering support among 36 per cent of voters. Fernando Haddad, who is running in second place, voted in Sao Paulo.

Haiti: An aftershock has hit as emergency teams brought relief and survivors sifted through the rubble of their toppled cinderblock homes in Haiti after an earthquake killed at least 12 people and left 188 injured. Haiti's civil protection agency said at least seven people died in the coastal city of Port-de-Paix and three people died in the nearby community of Gros-Morne in Artibonite province. Among the dead in the magnitude 5.9 quake were a 5-year-old boy crushed by his collapsing house and a man killed in a falling auditorium. The US Geological Survey says the 5.2 magnitude aftershock has rattled northern Haiti. The epicentre was located 15.8km north-northwest of Port-de-Paix, and had a depth of 10km.

At least 10 die after 5.9-magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti https://t.co/ZEetkIPc9y

— The Guardian (@guardian) October 7, 2018

United States: Newly named Tropical Storm Michael could strengthen to a hurricane as it heads to the Florida Panhandle, the US National Hurricane Centre said. It upgraded the tropical depression in the Caribbean to a named tropical storm, saying it had winds of up to 65 km/h. The storm could strengthen into a hurricane by Wednesday or Thursday, the hurricane centre said.

Romania: A referendum aimed at putting same-sex marriage further out of reach in Romania was invalidated after a quick tally showed too few voters cast ballots, election officials said. The weekend vote on a constitutional amendment that would have changed the definition of family to make marriage a union between a man and a woman instead of between "spouses" required voter turnout of at least 30 per cent for the result to stand. Election officials said after polls closed that only 20.41 per cent of eligible voters participated.

United States: A 2-year-old boy has been fatally shot after someone fired into a crowd outside a party in Chicago. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the boy as Julien Gonzalez. Police say he was on the footpath outside a home on Chicago's northwest side when shots were fired. He was with an 18-year-old man who was shot in the leg and survived. Authorities say a fight between two females had spilled out of the house and to an alley where the crowd had gathered.

A mysterious death has galvanized thousands of Bosnian Serb protesters ahead of Sunday’s general election in notoriously sectarian Bosnia and Herzegovinahttps://t.co/uuW5qCBfIa

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 7, 2018

Bosnia: Bosnians voted in a general election that could install a pro-Russian nationalist to a top post and cement the ethnic divisions of a country that faced a brutal war some 25 years ago. The ballot was seen as a test of whether Bosnia will move toward integration in the European Union and Nato or remain entrenched in rivalries stemming from the 1992-95 war. The country consists of two regional mini-states — one Serb-run and a Muslim-Croat entity — with joint institutions in a central government. Voters were electing the three-person Bosnian presidency, the Serb president and the two entities' parliaments and cantonal authorities. The election's main focus was the Bosnian presidency because of the candidacy of hard-line Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who advocates eventual Serb separation from Bosnia. Dodik also is a key Balkan ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his victory would mean stronger influence of Russia.

Middle East: A Palestinian attacker opened fire inside a West Bank industrial zone where Israelis and Palestinians work together, killing two Israelis and seriously wounding a third. The Israeli military said it was treating the killings as a nationalistic attack and that forces were searching for the suspect. But other workers suggested the attack had been carried out by a disgruntled employee and was not politically motivated. The shooting took place in the Barkan industrial zone, near the large Israeli settlement of Ariel.

- AP