AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — A major new storm was brewing in the Bay of Bengal off India’s east coast, forecasters warned Thursday, just days after the biggest cyclone to hit the west of the country in decades left at least 110 people confirmed dead. Scientists say cyclones in the region are becoming both more frequent and stronger as climate change leads to warmer sea temperatures. Cyclone Tauktae pummelled India’s western coast late Monday and left […]
International
China says US ‘creating risks’ with South China Sea warship sail-bys
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Thursday branded the United States an “out-and-out security risk creator” in the South China Sea, after an American warship sailed through waters near the disputed Paracel Islands. Tensions in maritime waters claimed by both China and many of its neighbors have ratcheted up recently, with Beijing staging live-fire drills and sending hundreds of fishing vessels to a reef claimed by the Philippines. China’s military said the USS Curtis Wilbur, […]
Ardern spends big in New Zealand’s ‘recovery’ budget
by Neil SANDS WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled a big-spending budget Thursday aimed at stimulating the coronavirus-hit economy while carrying out long-awaited progressive reforms. The center-left leader — who faced criticism before last year’s election for her cautious approach to implementing change — announced major funding boosts to welfare payments, social housing and health. “We’re making sure our recovery leaves no one behind,” Ardern said. “It’s what some […]
Israel Prime Minister’s office issues Q & A statement to clarify latest Israel-Gaza conflict
PM Netanyahu’s office details how latest Israel-Gaza conflict started and clarifies alleged misinformation being circulated by the militant Palestine group Hamas (Editor’s note: Below is the Question and Answer format statement from the Israel government’s press office under the Office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarifying questions on the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas-ruled Gaza. We are publishing it in full) ——— “Everything you needed to know about the latest escalation in Israel” […]
US allows Pfizer vaccine in fridge for a month
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for up to a month in the United States, the country’s health regulator announced Wednesday, in a change expected to help distribution of the shot. The US Food and Drug Administration said it had made the decision “based on a review of recent data submitted by Pfizer,” and will allow vials of the vaccine to be stored at refrigerator temperatures […]
Eight new dead in Gaza, Israel strikes toll rises to 227: ministry
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Israeli strikes killed seven people including a disabled man, his pregnant wife, and their three-year-old child in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Wednesday, the health ministry said. Another person died of wounds sustained the day before, the ministry in Gaza told AFP, bringing to 227 the number of people killed in Israeli bombardment in the coastal strip since May 10. © Agence France-Presse
Biden calls for ‘de-escalation’ as Israel and Gaza trade fire
by Sakher Abou El Oun with Sebastian Smith in Washington GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — US President Joe Biden called for a “significant de-escalation” in Israel’s conflict with Gaza’s armed groups ahead of a diplomatic push Thursday to stem the violence, as the sides traded further fire. Israeli fighter jets hit the residences of at least six Hamas leaders, according to an army statement, which said “military infrastructure” was stored at each site. As […]
Myanmar town pleads for help as thousands flee fighting
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Desperate residents of a Myanmar town hit by clashes between the military and an anti-junta defence force pleaded for help Wednesday as the UN warned the fighting may have forced thousands to flee. Government forces used artillery to flush out rebels from the western town of Mindat after fighting broke out on May 12, a spokesman for a local insurgent group said, and later cut off its water supply. One resident […]
25,000 evacuated after WWII bomb found in German city
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Thousands of people, some of them shaken, were evacuated Wednesday from a neighbourhood of Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt following the discovery of a massive World War II bomb. City authorities said 25,000 people were evacuated from the densely populated Nordend area after the 500 kilogram bomb was unearthed during construction work. Bomb disposal teams are due to detonate the explosive once they cover it with soil, the authorities said. People sheltering […]
Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on amid ceasefire push
by Sakher Abou El Oun with Jonah Mandel in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Deafening air strikes and rocket fire once more shook Gaza overnight and early Wednesday amid an international diplomatic push to broker a ceasefire after more than a week of bloodshed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s bombing of Gaza had set its Hamas Islamist rulers back “many years” since it began on May 10 in response to Hamas rocket […]
India reports record 4,529 daily Covid-19 deaths
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India on Wednesday reported a record 4,529 coronavirus deaths in a single day even as the number of new cases in its devastating new wave fell. The daily pandemic death toll has been rising in recent days as cases spread into rural districts with poor health facilities. With the latest deaths, India’s official toll has now risen to 283,248 behind the United States on more than 600,000 deaths and Brazil […]
Engineers inspect Chinese skyscraper after shaking triggers panic
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Engineers were inspecting a skyscraper in southern China on Wednesday, a day after it triggered widespread panic when it suddenly began shaking, as people took to social media to ask if shoddy construction may have been to blame. The 300-meter (1,000-foot) SEG Plaza in the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong began swaying in the early afternoon on Tuesday, prompting people inside and those on the streets below to flee. […]
