BEIJING, May 7, 2024 (AFP) – Two people were dead and 21 wounded after a man went on a stabbing spree at a hospital in southwest China on Tuesday, local officials said. “A knife attack occurred at the Chengnan Hospital in Zhenxiong County, which resulted in two deaths and 21 injuries,” a statement on the county’s official WeChat account said. The suspect — a man from a nearby village — is under investigation, authorities said. […]
International
Boeing Starliner crewed mission postponed shortly before launch
By Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo with Issam Ahmed in Washington CAPE CANAVERAL, May 7, 2024 (AFP) – The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spaceship was dramatically called off around two hours before launch after a new safety issue was identified, officials said Monday, pushing back a high-stakes test mission to the International Space Station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped in their seats preparing for liftoff when the call for a “scrub” […]
Hamas accepts Gaza truce proposal, Israel urges Rafah evacuation
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Hamas on Monday said it accepts a proposal for a truce in the seven-month-old war in Gaza, as Israel renewed an order for Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate ahead of a long-threatened invasion of the city. The Hamas announcement brought cheering crowds onto the street amid tears of happiness, chants of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and celebratory shooting in the air. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s […]
Columbia University cancels main graduation ceremony due to Gaza protests
NEW YORK, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Columbia, the prestigious New York university at the heart of US campus protests against the war in Gaza, announced Monday that it has canceled the main ceremony for graduating students next week. The Ivy League institution said it would “forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15” and hold a series of smaller events instead. “We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, […]
Millions suffer ‘severe’ food insecurity in Burkina, Mali, Niger: rights group
ABIDJAN, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – The number of people suffering from “severe” food insecurity in the military-ruled Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has jumped to 7.5 million people, the US International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned on Monday. “The magnitude of severe food insecurity and related malnutrition continues to intensify in the region,” said the group that helps those facing conflict and disaster. “In the Central Sahel alone (Burkina Faso, Mali […]
Israel’s Rafah evacuation order sparks global alarm
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Israel called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah Monday ahead of a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, amid increasing global alarm about the consequences of such a move. The evacuation call followed disagreement between Israel and Hamas over the Palestinian militant group’s demands to end the seven-month war, during weekend negotiations in Cairo. Egyptian state-linked media said the talks stalled after a rocket attack claimed […]
Philippines won’t use water cannon on Chinese ships: Marcos
MANILA, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday the Philippines would not respond in kind to China’s deployment of water cannon against its vessels, ruling out the use of “offensive” equipment as Manila asserts its sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea. Beijing has dispatched hundreds of coast guard and other vessels to press its claims over most of the waterway despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal […]
Putin orders nuclear drills, Russia captures Ukrainian villages
MOSCOW, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine, Moscow said Monday, in response to “threats” from Western officials to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine. The announcement came as Russian forces said they captured two villages in the war-battered regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian troops have struggled to hold the line. Russian officials in the border region of […]
Russia threatens strikes on UK military targets in Ukraine ‘and beyond’
MOSCOW, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Moscow on Monday said it that it could launch strikes at British military targets inside Ukraine and elsewhere if Kyiv’s forces used British-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russia. The statement issued by the Russian foreign ministry came after British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during a visit to Ukraine that Kyiv “absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia”. He also said that London did not put “caveats” […]
Three more teen suspects identified in German MEP attack
By Sam Reeves FRANKFURT, Germany, May 6, 2024 (AFP) – Three more teenage suspects have been identified in relation to an attack in Germany on a European parliament lawmaker (MEP), authorities said Monday, after a 17-year-old turned himself in. Matthias Ecke from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) was set upon by four attackers as he put up European election posters in the eastern city of Dresden on Friday night. The 41-year-old needed an operation […]
Netanyahu: govt to ‘close’ Al Jazeera TV in Israel
JERUSALEM, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government has decided to shut down the Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, with which his administration has had a long-running feud. The government “unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel”, Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter. “There will be no freedom of speech for the Hamas trumpets in Israel,” Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said […]
Driver dies after ramming car into White House gate
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – A driver died after crashing a car into the exterior gate of the White House late Saturday, the US Secret Service said. “Shortly before 10:30pm a vehicle traveling at a high speed collided with an outer perimeter gate on the White House complex,” the service said in a statement on social media platform X, adding there was “no threat” to the White House itself. Officers arriving at the scene […]
