Other News

18 die as Madagascar police shoot at albino kidnap protesters: medic

by Laure VERNEAU Agence France-Presse ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — Eighteen people died Monday after police in Madagascar opened fire on what they called a lynch mob angered at the kidnapping of an albino child, a senior doctor told AFP. Dozens were wounded, some of them seriously. “At the moment, 18 people have died in all, nine on the spot and nine in hospital,” said doctor Tango Oscar Toky, chief physician at a hospital in southeastern […]

IMF approves revival of massive Pakistan loan program

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The IMF board on Monday approved an agreement to revive a massive loan program for Pakistan, as the country grapples with devastating monsoon flooding that has worsened an economic crisis. The Washington-based crisis lender will release $1.1 billion to the country immediately, and has added an additional $500 million to the total size of the package, bringing it to about $6.5 billion. In addition, the International Monetary Fund agreed to […]

Engine issue forces NASA to scrub launch of giant Moon rocket

by Lucie AUBOURG (AFP) NASA called off a test flight on Monday of its largest-ever rocket in a setback to the ambitious program to send humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. “We don’t launch until it’s right,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine temperature issue forced liftoff from Kennedy Space Center to be scrubbed. “This is a very complicated machine,” Nelson said. “You don’t want to light the candle until […]

Filipinos in Libya urged to stay home as deadly clashes kill 32

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday night urged Filipinos in Libya to take shelter at home as deadly clashes in the capital killed 32. In a text message to reporters, DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said no Filipino has been reported among the casualties. “The DFA strongly urges our kababayans to take shelter at home or in other safe places while the fighting is ongoing and to contact our Embassy through its hotline […]

Kremlin urges ‘pressure’ on Ukraine over nuclear plant

Moscow, Russia (AFP) The Kremlin on Monday called for “pressure” on Kyiv to reduce tensions at the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine that Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling. “All countries are obliged to put pressure on the Ukrainian side so that it stops endangering the European continent by shelling” the nuclear plant, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. His remarks came as International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi announced […]

Zaporizhzhia mission ‘hardest in history of IAEA’: Ukraine FM

  Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) The UN atomic watchdog’s mission to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine will be the agency’s hardest to date, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned Monday. “This mission will be the hardest in the history of the IAEA, given the active combat activities undertaken by the Russian Federation on the ground and also the very blatant way that Russia is trying to legitimise its presence,” Kuleba said during a visit […]

UPDATE: Fire extinguished on ferry off Sweden with 300 aboard

  Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) A fire that broke out on a car ferry carrying 300 people off Sweden’s coast on Monday has been extinguished and the ship will be towed to port, Swedish maritime authorities said. The blaze appeared to have started on a refrigeration lorry on the car deck of the Stena Scandica, which was sailing from Sweden to Latvia. “The fire is out,” Swedish Maritime Administration spokeswoman Lisa Mjorning told AFP. “The ferry […]

Heatwave-hit Chinese province resumes power to factories

Beijing, China (AFP) The southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan downgraded emergency energy supply measures on Monday, restoring power to some factories after weeks of rolling blackouts due to a heatwave-induced shortage. Parts of Sichuan province and neighbouring Chongqing saw rainfall and lower temperatures beginning Sunday, after weeks of record temperatures higher than 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and a crippling drought that strained hydropower generators throughout the region. “Reservoir water levels are gradually increasing and the […]

Tens of millions battle Pakistan floods as death toll rises

  Sukkur, Pakistan (AFP) by Ashraf KHAN Tens of millions of people across swathes of Pakistan were Monday battling the worst monsoon floods in a decade, with countless homes washed away, vital farmland destroyed, and the country’s main river threatening to burst its banks. Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said a third of the country was under water, creating a “crisis of unimaginable proportions”. Officials say 1,061 people have died since June when the seasonal […]

Sen. Marcos urges inventory of local white onions to check hoarding

Says activities of onion traders should be closely monitored   (Eagle News) — Senator Imee Marcos called for a comprehensive inventory of local white onions so the Philippine government can determine if traders are hoarding supplies. The senator who is the older sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said it is important to track the activities of onion traders who bought the onions from the local farmers. “Trace the traders who bought white onions from […]

Skeleton of huge dinosaur unearthed in Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal (AFP) —  Palaeontologists in Portugal have unearthed the fossilised skeleton of what could be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe. The remains are thought to be those of a sauropod, a herbivorous dinosaur 12 metres (39 feet) tall and 25 metres long. “It’s one of the biggest specimens discovered in Europe, perhaps in the world,” palaeontologist Elisabete Malafaia, from the Faculty of Sciences at Lisbon University, told AFP on Monday. The bones were […]

Engine issue threatens delay of NASA Moon rocket

United States  (AFP) by Lucie AUBOURG An engine problem threatened to delay the launch on Monday of NASA’s most powerful rocket yet on an uncrewed test flight to take humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. Blastoff, which had been planned for 8:33 am (1233 GMT), was put on hold because of a temperature issue with one of the four engines on the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the US space […]