NEW York (WABC) - A fire on a subway work train filled the Astor Place station with smoke early Tuesday, injuring eight MTA workers and six firefighters. The southbound train caught fire on the express tracks at the station just before 2:30 a.m. The fire spewed heavy smoke through the station in the East Village, sending commuters on the platform level to the street. “A lot of heavy smoke, not only at street level but also at the station level,” FDNY Assistant Chief Tom Currao said. At the same time, a northbound train arrived at the station and discharged its passengers. Firefighters helped them to safety and made sure none were injured. The fire started in a four-car vacuum train, used to clean up debris and litter off the tracks.

 

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s government is portraying its accelerating military buildup not only as a way to protect the country but as a route to greater prosperity, arguing in its latest defense white paper that arms production can support economic growth. The white paper “stresses that investment in defense benefits the wider economy and people’s lives”, according to a Defense Ministry presentation document. That message aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s broader use of strategic state spending in an effort to drive economic growth. The pitch is reinforced by the document’s anime-style cover, which depicts a smiling family in a gleaming cityscape rather than the troops, weapons and military insignia featured on many previous editions. 

 

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WASHINGTON (The Guardian) - An immigrant being held at a New Jersey ICE detention center died on August 1, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday. Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, 41, is the 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year, according to agency data. Lopez-Cornejo, who is originally from El Salvador and first came to the U.S. in 2006, was arrested by ICE agents in Plainfield, New Jersey, on June 18 and sent to Delaney Hall detention facility to await deportation. Less than two months later he suffered an unspecified “medical emergency”, and was later pronounced dead by University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, ICE said.

 

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PARIS (AFP) - Long-range attacks have killed at least five people in Russia and four in Ukraine, according to local officials, as escalating long-range missile and drone attacks kill a mounting toll of civilians. A Ukrainian drone struck a warehouse in the Moscow region, killing five people and injuring 10, regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Tuesday. The strike was one of three overnight attacks on warehouses across Russia. A warehouse belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries was also struck by drones in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow. Wildberries confirmed that a blaze broke out after another of its warehouses near St Petersburg was attacked.

 

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Paris (AFP) -Guatemala has declared its second-highest emergency alert level and evacuated two villages after a major eruption of Fuego, Central America’s most active volcano, which the country’s Institute of Volcanology warns is “moving towards a more explosive phase”. Disaster agency Conred said on Monday the orange “danger” alert applies nationwide. The volcano is just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City. Footage released by the emergency services showed the powerful eruption turning clouds red and lava flowing down the slopes of the 3,763-metre-high (12,346-foot) volcano. Huge plumes of ash spewed about six kilometres (four miles) into the air.