Other News

Austria govt unveils ‘eco’ tax reform

VIENNA, Austria (AFP)  – Austria’s government unveiled on Sunday what it calls an “eco-social” reform of the tax system, a key promise of the conservative-green coalition. Under the measures set out at a news conference by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and several of his cabinet colleagues, Austria will follow the example of neighbouring Germany and introduce a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. This is to come in from mid-2022 at a level of 30 euros ($35) […]

MIAA releases list of operational commercial flights for Monday, Oct. 4

(Eagle News) — The Manila International Airport Authority has released its list of operational commercial flights for Monday, Oct. 4: Flight schedules may change at any given time. MIAA advised passengers to secure confirmation of their flights as only those with the confirmation will be allowed entry into the airport premises. The Palace has said only Bermuda was on the country’s updated red list, which means travel restrictions are in place.

In Siberia, a copper mine hopes to become a global energy pivot

by Andrea PALASCIANO Agence France-Presse UDOKAN, Russia (AFP) – In 1949, a Soviet expedition in Siberia was looking for uranium to supply the national nuclear arsenal when it stumbled on a vast deposit of copper. More than 70 years later, a mining complex in Russia’s Far East between Lake Baikal and the Pacific Ocean is finally due to launch operations next year. With copper key to the world’s energy transition away from carbon, the hope […]

In Venezuela, a village on stilts slowly succumbs to mud

by Margioni BERMÚDEZ Agence France-Presse VENEZUELA (AFP) – Congo Mirador was once an idyllic spot: a community of homes on stilts that seemed to float on the calm waters of a lagoon in western Venezuela. Now, the community is inundated with mud, a victim of silt generated by the Catatumbo river. Most of its residents have left, and Congo Mirador is slowly fading away. The river’s source is in Colombia, and it flows into Venezuela’s […]

Fire brought under control after ravaging Honduran resort island

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — Authorities managed to bring a major fire on a tiny Honduran resort island under control Saturday, after the blaze consumed dozens of homes and forced 400 people to evacuate. “The fire is 100 percent controlled,” said the head of the government’s Permanent Intervention Commission (COPECO), Max Gonzales, at a mid-afternoon press conference. A huge cloud of black smoke rose in the early morning from the island of Guanaja, located in the […]

Vaccinated Wiggins can play in Warriors NBA home games

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and will be able to play in NBA home games this season, coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday. Wiggins’ status was in doubt after the San Francisco Department of Public Health announced anyone age 12 or older had to be fully vaccinated to attend indoor events in the city. “Andrew got vaccinated,” Kerr said after a team practice. […]

French Catholic Church probe uncovers some 3,000 paedophiles

Some 3,000 paedophiles have operated inside the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of an independent commission investigating the scandal told AFP days ahead of the release of its report. The commission’s research uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 paedophile priests or other members of the church, said Jean-Marc Sauve, adding that it was “a minimum estimate”. The commission’s report is due to be released on Tuesday after two and a half years of research […]

California authorities rush to mitigate impact of major oil spill

Authorities in California’s beachfront Orange County cities scrambled Sunday to mitigate the fallout from a major oil spill off the coast that caused “substantial ecological impacts.” As of Sunday, the oil plume from the 126,000-gallon (480,000 liters) spill of post-production crude was an estimated 5.8 nautical miles (6.7 miles, 10 kilometers) long and stretched along the popular shorelines of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, Huntington Beach city authorities said in a statement. “The spill has […]

‘Pandora Papers’ expose leaders’ offshore millions

More than a dozen heads of state and government, from Jordan to Azerbaijan, Kenya and the Czech Republic, have used offshore tax havens to hide assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a far-reaching new investigation by the ICIJ media consortium. The so-called “Pandora Papers” investigation — involving some 600 journalists from media including The Washington Post, the BBC and The Guardian — is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents […]

New Zealand tightens travel rules as Covid spreads

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand announced Sunday tighter border restrictions, as new cases of Covid-19 emerged in areas previously free of the coronavirus. “We are introducing the requirement for air travellers aged 17 and over, who are not New Zealand citizens, to be fully vaccinated to enter New Zealand,” Covid-19 response minister Christ Hipkins said. The national flag carrier Air New Zealand also announced it was introducing a “no jab, no fly” policy […]

Yemen conjoined twins ‘like any child’ after separation in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — A Jordanian hospital has successfully performed the country’s first operation to separate conjoined twins, seven-month-old babies from Yemen, the chief surgeon announced Sunday. It was “a rare and delicate” procedure which is “a medical success for the whole kingdom”, said the doctor, Fawzi al-Hammouri. The nearly eight-hour operation which required 25 surgeons and technical advisers was performed in July. But Amman’s Specialised Hospital delayed any announcement because “after the operation they […]

Eight killed after violence breaks out at India farmer protest

LUCKNOW, India (AFP) — At least eight people were killed in northern India Sunday after clashes broke out at a farmers’ protest, officials told local media, in a deadly escalation of their year-long campaign against controversial agriculture laws. The farmers had gathered for a demonstration in Uttar Pradesh state’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, where the junior home affairs minister Ajay Mishra and the state’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had been due to visit. Chaotic […]