International

China reports zero local virus cases as Delta outbreak retreats

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported no new domestic coronavirus cases Monday, and Beijing appears poised to bring to heel the pandemic’s most serious resurgence in months — driven by the highly contagious Delta variant — with mass testing and targeted lockdowns. The latest outbreak, which began in mid-July when cleaners at a Nanjing airport tested positive, is the most severe since Covid-19 first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan. Over a thousand people […]

At least 21 dead in flooding in US state of Tennessee

    WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Devastating floods in the southern US state of Tennessee have left at least 21 people dead and dozens missing, local officials said Sunday in what they warned was a preliminary toll. Tennessee was hit Saturday by what meteorologists called historic storms and flooding, dumping 15 inches (38 centimeters) or more of rain. Rural roads, state highways and bridges were washed out and widespread power outages affected thousands of […]

Rare tropical storm lashes northeastern United States

by Peter HUTCHISON NEW YORK, United States (AFP0 — Tropical Storm Henri slammed into Rhode Island on the US east coast Sunday, knocking out power to thousands of Americans, uprooting trees and bringing record rainfall before weakening as it moved across New England. The storm — earlier downgraded from a Category 1 Hurricane — hit land near the town of Westerly at approximately 12:15 PM (1615 GMT), the National Weather Service said. Henri is a […]

Lightning cuts short NYC Homecoming Concert

  By Joanne Soriano EBC New York Bureau (Eagle News) — The much anticipated “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” in Central Park was cancelled halfway through the five-hour program due to lightning. An announcement was made for attendees to quickly and calmly exit due to approaching severe weather. The show was initially suspended with attendees asked to find a safe place to shelter, then cancelled. Before the concert, Mayor Bill De Blasio had also […]

Covid-19 cases in Seattle area increase regardless of vaccination status

  By Janice Mejica Garcia EBC Seattle Bureau (Eagle News) — Nearly a year and a half has passed since the world went into lockdown to slow the transmission of Covid-19. Even though vaccines have been developed to help protect individuals, the virus mutated to the ‘Delta variant.’ This variant’s impact is being felt in the Seattle area, a place some consider as ground zero of the Covid-19 infections in the U.S. According to the […]

Putin warns of influx of Afghan militants disguised as refugees

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his country Sunday to prevent an influx of refugees from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, saying militants could enter under the guise of seeking asylum. “Our Western partners are persistently raising the question of placing refugees in Central Asian countries before obtaining visas to the United States or other countries,” he told a meeting of officials of the ruling United Russia party. “But who is among these refugees? How can […]

US orders American airlines to aid Afghan evacuation

  The United States on Sunday enlisted several major airlines in its frantic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and other foreigners from Kabul following its fall to Taliban extremists. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin activated the rarely-used Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to aid the onward movement of people arriving at US bases in the Middle East, the Pentagon said. “We’re going to try our very best to get everybody, every American […]

Russian rocket launches 34 new UK satellites

A Russian Soyuz rocket has blasted into space carrying 34 new satellites from British operator Oneweb, which aims to provide broadband internet everywhere in the world. The rocket operated by Europe’s Arianespace took off successfully at 2213 GMT Saturday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Roscosmos space agency said in a statement. It was the fifth launch of OneWeb satellites this year, with the last one on July 1. OneWeb is working to complete […]

Elon Musk says Tesla’s robot will make physical work a ‘choice’

After dominating the electric vehicle market and throwing his hat into the billionaire space race, Tesla boss Elon Musk announced the latest frontier he’s aiming to conquer: humanoid robots. The irascible entrepreneur said Thursday he would have an initial prototype of an androgynous “Tesla Bot” by next year. Based on the same technology as the company’s semi-autonomous vehicles, the robot will be able to perform basic repetitive tasks with the aim of eliminating the need […]

Israel strikes Gaza after border clashes

Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza Saturday after clashes between its troops and Palestinian protesters left dozens injured, including an Israeli border policeman and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who were both critically wounded. The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes against four weapons sites and that it had reinforced its Gaza division with additional troops. The escalation came exactly three months since Israel and the enclave’s Islamist rulers Hamas reached a truce following their deadliest […]

Swedish PM Stefan Lofven to step down in November

Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Sunday he would step down in November to allow a successor time to prepare for the country’s September 2022 general election. Lofven was reinstated as prime minister by parliament in early July just weeks after being ousted in a historic vote of no confidence. He told a political rally on Sunday he would “leave my position as party chairman at the party’s congress in November and […]

Pacquiao says ‘may not’ return to ring after Ugas upset

Manny Pacquiao plans to take his time before deciding on his future but admitted on Saturday he may not return to the ring after his upset defeat to Yordenis Ugas. The 42-year-old Filipino boxing superstar indicated he now planned to turn his attention to his political career in the Philippines in the wake of a unanimous points defeat to Ugas. “In the future you may not see Manny Pacquiao fight in the ring,” Pacquiao said. […]