HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Dozens of Hong Kong triad members have been arrested in a series of operations targeting gangs using high-powered speedboats to smuggle contraband to the Chinese mainland, police said Monday. Smuggling has been a mainstay of the triad organised crime gangs operating on both sides of the border for years but the phenomenon has surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Police embarked on a crackdown after a marine officer was killed last […]
International
6.2 magnitude earthquake rocks Hawaii, no tsunami threat, no impact to Kilauea Volcano
by Alfred Acenas (EBC Hawaii-Pacific) Eagle News Service HONOLULU (Eagle News) – The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) recorded an offshore magnitude-6.2 earthquake southwest of Hawaii’s Big Island on Sunday, October 10, at 11:48am, Hawaii Standard Time (5:48 a.m. Monday, Oct. 11 Manila time) The said phenomenon was centered about 27 kilometers (17 miles) south-southeast of the town of Nāʻālehu at a depth of 35 kilometers (22 miles). The state’s Department […]
New Zealand health workers, teachers told ‘no jab, no job’
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand announced Monday a sweeping “no jab, no job” policy for most healthcare workers and teachers to prevent the spread of Covid-19. “We can’t leave anything to chance so that’s why we are making it mandatory,” said Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, who is also the education minister. Doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers must be double-jabbed by December 1 while everyone working in the education sector who […]
Iceland halts Moderna jabs over heart-inflammation fears
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Iceland on Friday suspended the Moderna anti-Covid vaccine, citing the slight increased risks of cardiac inflammation, going further than its Nordic neighbours which simply limited use of the jabs. “As the supply of Pfizer vaccine is sufficient in the territory … the chief epidemiologist has decided not to use the Moderna vaccine in Iceland,” said a statement published on the website of the Health Directorate. This decision owed to “the increased […]
Sydney lockdown ends after 106 days
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Elated Sydneysiders were emerging from almost four months of “blood, sweat and no beers” early Monday as a long coronavirus lockdown was lifted in Australia’s largest city. Sydney’s more than five million residents have been subjected to a 106-day lockdown, designed to limit the march of the highly transmissible Delta variant. With new infections now falling — New South Wales state recorded 477 cases on Sunday — and […]
Thousands rally against Tunisia president’s ‘coup’
TUNIS, Tunisia (AFP) — At least 6,000 Tunisians rallied on Sunday against a presidential power grab in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago. Despite checkpoints and security screenings of protesters, it was the biggest rally yet against the actions of President Kais Saied, who on July 25 sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and granted himself judicial powers, after months of political stalemate. Saied followed up the […]
Pro-EU rallies draw tens of thousands in Poland
Tens of thousands of Poles rallied on Sunday in defence of their country’s EU membership, after Poland’s top court last week issued a landmark ruling against the primacy of EU law. The pro-EU demonstrations were called by former EU chief Donald Tusk, now leader of the country’s main opposition grouping, Civic Platform, who has warned of the prospect of a “Polexit”. “Tens of thousands of people in Warsaw and in over 100 cities and towns […]
18 hurt in Chile clashes between indigenous protesters and police
Riot police clashed with protesters Sunday during a rally by the indigenous Mapuche community, leaving 18 people injured and 10 arrested, authorities said. About a thousand activists marched in the center of Santiago, many wearing ponchos and traditional head ornaments, demanding autonomy for the Mapuche, when police moved in to disperse the protest with water cannons and tear gas. Protesters responded with sticks and stones in a confrontation that lasted about 40 minutes, according to […]
Sixteen killed in Russian parachutists’ plane crash
Sixteen people were killed when a plane carrying parachutists crashed in central Russia on Sunday, the emergencies ministry said. The L-410 plane carrying 22 people crashed around 9:23 am (0623 GMT) near the town of Menzelinsk in the republic of Tatarstan, the ministry said on its Telegram channel. “Six people were rescued, 16 were taken out without signs of life,” the ministry said. The ministry had earlier said 15 people died and that the aircraft […]
Czechs in post-vote limbo as president rushed to hospital
The Czech Republic was plunged into uncertainty on Sunday as President Milos Zeman was rushed to hospital a day after his ally, populist billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, narrowly lost an election. The president, who plays a critical role in nominating any future prime minister, was taken to hospital by ambulance shortly after meeting Babis and appeared to be unconscious upon arrival, with someone seen holding up his head. His doctor said he was in […]
Algerian president demands ‘total respect’ from France
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday demanded France’s “total respect”, following a row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country. Last weekend Algeria recalled its ambassador from Paris and banned French military planes from its airspace, which France regularly uses to reach its forces battling jihadists in the Sahel region to the south. The moves came after a bitter row over visas, followed by media reports that French President Emmanuel […]
Dubai police say $136 million worth of cocaine seized
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE authorities seized half a tonne of cocaine worth more than $136 million, Dubai police said on Sunday, in one of the biggest drug busts in the Gulf country. Officers “recently thwarted a smuggling attempt of 500 kilograms of pure cocaine into the country”, a police statement said. “The narcotics, worth more than 500 million dirhams ($136 million) in street value, were well-hidden within the structure of a […]
