(AFP) — At least one person was killed and four injured in an overnight prison revolt in Ecuador’s port city of Guayaquil, at the same facility from which one of the country’s most feared gang leaders escaped in January, the government said Thursday. Deputy security minister Lyonel Calderon said the toll was provisional pending a “complete review of the entire penitentiary center,” located in a city which has become a dangerous hub for the export […]
International
Russian military jet crashes into sea off Crimea: governor
(AFP) — A Russian military plane crashed Thursday into the sea off Ukraine’s annexed peninsula, the Moscow-installed governor of the city of Sevastopol said. “A military plane has fallen into the sea,” Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a post on Telegram, without giving the cause. Footage on social media showed a plane in flames falling out of the sky. Sevastopol, the historic headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, sits on the southern tip of Crimea, the […]
Landmark Australia, Tuvalu climate and security pact to go ahead
SYDNEY, March 27, 2024 (AFP) – Australia and Tuvalu are pressing ahead with a landmark treaty offering the Pacific Island’s citizens a climate refuge, quieting speculation about the fate of the pact. The 11-page treaty was tabled to the Australian parliament late Tuesday — offering Tuvalu residents the right to live in Australia if their homeland is lost to rising sea levels. The pact also commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural […]
Climate change changing Earth’s time: study
By Daniel Lawler and Juliette Collen PARIS, March 27, 2024 (AFP) – Struggle to wrap your head around daylight savings? Spare a thought for the world’s timekeepers, who are trying to work out how climate change is affecting Earth’s rotation — and in turn, how we keep track of time. In a strange twist, global warming could even help out timekeepers by delaying the need for history’s first “negative leap second” by three years, a […]
Milky Way’s black hole surrounded by strong magnetic fields: astronomers
PARIS, March 27, 2024 (AFP) – Astronomers have discovered powerful magnetic fields spiralling around the black hole that sits at the centre of the Milky Way, the European Southern Observatory said Wednesday. A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) for the first time showed in polarised light a ring of magnetic fields surrounding the Sagittarius A* black hole. The fields are similar to those observed around the M87* black hole at the heart […]
What is the economic impact of the Baltimore bridge collapse?
By Beiyi SEOW with Elodie MAZEIN in New York WASHINGTON, March 27, 2024 (AFP) – Diverted cargo and supply chain disruptions have left businesses rushing to avoid an economic hit following the collapse of a major bridge in Baltimore after it was hit by a cargo ship. With vessel traffic at the Port of Baltimore suspended until further notice since Tuesday’s accident, experts warn of knock-on effects but say these should be manageable in the […]
Israel tanks surround Gaza’s Nasser Hospital: witnesses
Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded a hospital in Gaza’s Khan Yunis on Tuesday, witnesses said, as the Palestinian Red Crescent reported another facility was “out of service” due to military operations. Witnesses at Nasser Hospital, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from the fighting, told AFP that shots were fired at the sprawling complex in the southern city, but no raid was as yet taking place. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli […]
US will continue aiddrops into Gaza, White House says
(AFP) — The United States will continue dropping essential aid from the air into the Gaza Strip, the White House said Tuesday, after Palestinian militant group Hamas called for them to end following fatal drownings and stampedes. “Air drops are one of the many ways that we are helping to provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and we will continue to do so,” the National Security Council said in a statement, after Hamas […]
Japan attempts to revive Moon lander after second lunar night
TOKYO, March 26, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s space agency said on Tuesday it will try to revive its Moon lander after a second frigid, two-week lunar night, following a surprising awakening last month. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. As the sun’s angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out scientific […]
Kim’s sister says N. Korea will reject any contact with Japan: KCNA
SEOUL, March 26, 2024 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister said Tuesday Pyongyang would reject “any contact or negotiations” with Japan, just a day after she said Tokyo’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested a summit with her brother. Relations between the two countries are historically strained, including by a long-running kidnapping dispute and North Korea’s banned weapons programmes, but Kishida has recently expressed a desire to improve ties, which Pyongyang […]
Dali, the ship that brought down Baltimore bridge
PARIS, March 26, 2024 (AFP) – The Dali container ship that caused the collapse of a key bridge in Baltimore is recently built and flies under Singapore’s flag. It was constructed by the Korean Hyundai shipyard in 2015 and is 300 metres long (985 feet), 48 metres wide and 24.8 metres tall, with gross tonnage of 95,000 tonnes, making it an average-sized container ship. It had left Baltimore port at 1 am local time Tuesday […]
Russia blames Kyiv, West over Moscow gun attack
MOSCOW, March 26, 2024 (AFP) – Russia on Tuesday sought to shift blame for the Moscow concert hall attack onto Ukraine and its Western backers, despite the Islamic State group claiming responsibility for the massacre of at least 139 people. The Kremlin’s security services have been scrambling to explain how gunmen on Friday managed to carry out the worst attack in Russia in over two decades. President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that “radical Islamists” conducted […]





