International

Why unprotected eclipse gazing will leave you seeing stars

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2024 (AFP) – Just a single, unguarded glance at a solar eclipse can result in a lifetime of vision loss, eye health experts warn. On Monday, tens of millions of spectators across Mexico, the United States and Canada will witness the Moon completely obscure the Sun’s light, a rare celestial spectacle that won’t be visible for most of North America again until 2044. Medical literature is teeming with examples of people who […]

Taiwan slams Bolivia for quake solidarity with China

Taiwan’s foreign minister lashed out at Bolivia Saturday for expressing solidarity with China following an earthquake that struck the island Beijing views as its own. At least 10 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured by the magnitude 7.2 quake that struck Taiwan Wednesday, with strict building codes and widespread disaster readiness credited with averting a bigger catastrophe. On Friday, Bolivia’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying the country “expresses its solidarity with the […]

US, Russian, Belarus ISS colleagues return to Earth

A NASA astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut and Belarus’s first ever space traveller on Saturday returned to Earth safely after a fortnight aboard the International Space Station, Russia’s Roscosmos agency reported. “Today, at 10:17am Moscow time (0717 GMT), the descent vehicle of Sozuz MS-24 manned spacecraft landed near the Kazakh city of Jezkazgan,” Roscosmos reported. “The (vessel’s) deorbit and its descent to Earth went off normally,” the agency added. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and the first […]

Philippines, US, Australia, Japan to hold joint drills in disputed sea

MANILA, April 6, 2024 (AFP) – The United States, Australia, Japan and the Philippines will hold joint naval and air drills in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday, their defence chiefs said in a statement, as they deepen ties to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region. The exercise will take place in the disputed waterway — which Beijing claims almost entirely — days before US President Joe Biden is due to hold the […]

Israeli army says body of hostage recovered from Gaza

JERUSALEM, April 6, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s army said on Saturday its troops recovered the body of a hostage abducted by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack and later murdered in captivity in the Gaza Strip. The recovery of Elad Katzir’s body brings to 12 the number of bodies of hostages which the army says it has brought home from Gaza during the war. But it gave no comfort to his sister, who blamed […]

Taiwan helicopters pluck quake-stranded tourists to safety

HUALIEN, Taiwan, April 6, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan rescue helicopters flew sorties Saturday to pluck tourists to safety after a massive earthquake cut off roads and blocked tunnels, leaving hundreds stranded for days in the mountains. At least 13 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured by the magnitude 7.4 quake that struck the island on Wednesday, with strict building codes and widespread disaster readiness credited with averting an even bigger catastrophe. The quake […]

Russia evacuates almost 4,500 people after dam burst

MOSCOW, April 6, 2024 (AFP) – Russia on Saturday said it had evacuated almost 4,500 people in the Orenburg region in the southern Urals due to flooding after a dam burst. Emergency services worked through the night after a dam burst in the city of Orsk, near the border with Kazakhstan, on Friday. The press service of the Orenburg governor said “4,402 people, including 1,100 children” had been evacuated and more than 6,000 homes were […]

Muhammad Ali’s ‘Thrilla in Manila’ shorts up for auction

The shorts worn by Muhammad Ali in his legendary “Thrilla in Manila” boxing match are up for grabs at Sotheby’s in New York, part of a growing sports memorabilia market eyed by auction houses. Bids — including the latest for $3.8 million — have been rolling in since late March for the Everlast-brand shorts, which are white with black stripes and are signed by Ali. The auction is open until April 12. The sale comes […]

Thousands of Philippine schools suspend in-person classes due to heat

By Pam CASTRO MANILA, April 5, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of schools in the Philippines suspended in-person classes Friday, the education department said, as parts of the tropical country endured dangerously high temperatures. The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation, but conditions this year have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Many schools have no air-conditioning, leaving students to swelter in crowded, poorly […]

New York rattled by small earthquake

NEW YORK, April 5, 2024 (AFP) – New York City was shaken by a small earthquake on Friday with a 4.8 magnitude and an epicenter in neighboring New Jersey state, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). There were no initial reports of injuries or damage. In Brooklyn buildings shook, rattling cupboard doors and fixtures, an AFP correspondent reported. At the United Nations, which has its headquarters in New York, a Security Council meeting […]

Russian governor in intensive care after stabbing

MOSCOW, April 5, 2024 (AFP) – The governor of Russia’s far northern Murmansk region has been taken to intensive care after being stabbed by a man on Thursday evening, local authorities said. Andrey Chibis, 45, was knifed in the stomach outside a cultural centre in the town of Apatity, where he had been holding a meeting with local residents. He is currently in “the intensive care and resuscitation department” of a hospital in the city […]

UN rights council considers call for halt to arms sales to Israel

The UN Human Rights Council was on Friday debating whether to demand a halt in arms sales to Israel, whose war in Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, mostly civilians. If the text is adopted, it would mark the first time that the United Nations’ top rights body has taken a position on the bloodiest-ever war to beset the besieged Palestinian territory. The draft text calls on countries to “cease the sale, transfer and […]