GENEVA, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – A third of the world’s population is still without access to the internet, even though the number of people connected has never been so high, according to the latest UN statistics published on Tuesday. Around 100 million more people are able to access the internet since last year’s census by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency for information and communication technologies. That means 67 percent of the […]
International
US hit by record number of billion-dollar disasters so far this year
WASHINGTON, Sept 11, 2023 (AFP) – Between January and August, the United States was struck by a record-breaking 23 weather and climate disasters where losses exceeded $1 billion in each case, official data showed Monday. The tally for 2023 has already exceeded the previous record of 22 such events in 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, and four months still remain in the year. These disasters included fires in Hawaii in August, […]
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts again
LOS ANGELES, Sept 11, 2023 (AFP) – Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, one of the world’s most active, erupted again on Sunday, spewing fountains of lava more than 80 feet (24 meters) high. Kilauea began erupting at around 3:15 pm local time (0115 GMT Monday), the US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. “The eruption was preceded by a period of strong seismicity and rapid uplift of the summit,” it said. It is the third time the […]
Rhino kills keeper, injures another in Austria zoo
VIENNA, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – A rhinoceros attacked and killed one zookeeper and severely injured another in its enclosure in the Austrian city of Salzburg, authorities said Tuesday. The deadly attack occurred in the early morning hours, when a keeper was carrying out routine tasks in the Salzburg Zoo’s rhino cage, police said in a statement. “For reasons still unknown, a rhino attacked a 33-year-old woman zookeeper”, who succumbed to her injuries on the […]
Japan PM to replace foreign and defence ministers: reports
TOKYO, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to replace his foreign and defence ministers in a major reshuffle that will increase the number of women in cabinet posts, reports said Tuesday. Kishida, who took office in October 2021, has seen his popularity as well as his standing within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party sag ahead of a party leadership election next year. The changes, expected to be announced on Wednesday, […]
Escaped Brazilian murderer evading US police steals rifle
NEW YORK, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – Schools near Philadelphia were closed and residents told to lock their doors Tuesday after an escaped Brazilian murderer dodged gunfire to steal a rifle from a home and was declared “extremely dangerous.” Danelo Cavalcante, who made a daring escape from Chester County Prison nearly two weeks ago, has become the subject of fear and fascination for Americans as he continues to avoid police dogs, drones, helicopters and special […]
China releases new measures for Taiwan ‘integration’
BEIJING, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – China outlined on Tuesday a raft of measures for strengthening integration with Taiwan, in an indication that Beijing aims to expand links with the self-ruled island that were severed during the Covid-19 pandemic. China claims the democratic island as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016. Ties drifted further as coronavirus curbs gummed up trade and other […]
Children of couple that fled Britain put into Pakistan state custody
ISLAMABAD, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – Five British-Pakistani children brought to Pakistan by a fugitive couple wanted over the death of a 10-year-old girl in Britain were taken into the custody of state protective services on Tuesday, police said. Surrey Police in Britain said last week the welfare of the five children was “a priority” after Sara Sharif was found dead with multiple injuries in her family home in August. They believe her father Urfan […]
10,000 missing in Libya storm floods, death toll ‘huge’: Red Cross
GENEVA, Sept 12, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll from freak floods in eastern Libya is expected to soar dramatically, with 10,000 people reported missing, the Red Cross warned on Tuesday. Officials in Libya have said at least 150 people were killed in the sudden flooding on Sunday afternoon after storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, lashing Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. But Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) […]
Marseille woman hit by stray bullet in turf war dies
A 24-year-old woman has died after being hit by a stray bullet in an attack on a drug-dealing hotspot in the French Mediterranean city of Marseille, prosecutors said on Tuesday. The woman was hit late on Sunday evening when a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov rifle tore through her apartment building. She was declared brain dead on Monday. Around 40 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Marseille this year — a situation […]
‘Moving fortress’: Kim Jong Un’s bulletproof train
By Claire LEE An olive green North Korean train, emblazoned with a gold stripe, trundled across the border into Russia Tuesday, carrying North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Since taking power in 2011, Kim has made seven international trips, and crossed the border into South Korea twice, using his special train for the majority of his overseas travel. AFP takes a look at what we know about Kim’s preferred […]
Embracing extraordinary times! ASEAN in Focus – Sept. 11, 2023
