Airborne toxic event
The week's news at a glance.
Lviv, Ukraine
A train carrying toxic yellow phosphorus derailed in western Ukraine this week, releasing a cloud of poisonous gas over 35 square miles. Phosphorus, used in fertilizers and pesticides, can catch fire spontaneously when exposed to air and causes liver damage if consumed. Hundreds of villagers were evacuated from the contaminated area, and 20 were hospitalized. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, who rushed to the site, compared the accident to the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. “A disaster has happened. After the Chernobyl catastrophe we are dealing with a case that can pose a real threat for our people,” said Kuzmuk. “It is an extraordinary event with unpredictable consequences.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked again
Feature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Loyalty tests: The purge at the FBI
Feature Kash Patel is conducting polygraph tests on FBI agents to weed out anyone speaking badly about him
-
The all-seeing tech giant
Feature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?