Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by Andrew Beatty SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited firefighters battling Australia’s bushfire crisis on Sunday as he apologized for a Hawaiian holiday that ended early after public outrage. Morrison toured the headquarters of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service — whose exhausted volunteers have been struggling to contain deadly, out-of-control-blazes for months on end — where he admitted he had erred in travelling overseas. Morrison had departed for a […]
by Daniel DE CARTERET Agence France Presse BUXTON, Australia (AFP) — A state of emergency was declared in Australia’s most populated region on Thursday as an unprecedented heatwave fanned out-of-control bushfires, destroying homes and smothering huge areas with a toxic smoke. As thousands of firefighters battled blazes, temperatures neared 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places and authorities warned the extreme weather conditions could get even worse. Australia endures bushfires every year […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Eight people were killed and at least 24 critically injured when a devastating fire swept through an illegal plastics factory outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, police said Thursday. The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and quickly ripped through the ground floor of the Prime Patent Plastic factory at Keraniganj, just southwest of Dhaka, they said. “One person burnt to death on the spot and 33 workers were critically burnt. Seven of […]
by Andrew BEATTY / with Daniel de Carteret in Gosford Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Toxic haze blanketed Sydney Tuesday triggering a chorus of smoke alarms to ring across the city and forcing school children inside, as “severe” weather conditions fuelled deadly bush blazes along Australia’s east coast. Fire engines raced office-to-office in the city centre with sirens blaring, as inland bushfires poured smoke laden with toxic particles into commercial buildings. Emergency […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Smoke haze from bushfires raging in Australia spread to the capital Sunday, as firefighters raced to contain more than 140 blazes ahead of a heatwave forecast early this week. Australia is experiencing a horrific start to its fire season, which scientists say began earlier and is more extreme this year due to a prolonged drought and the effects of climate change. Residents of Canberra in the country’s southeast woke up to […]
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed on Sunday condolences to the families of victims of the deadly fire that hit a factory in Delhi. The fire erupted in the factory in the Anaj Mandi area of Delhi in the morning. According to the Hindustan Times newspaper, the death toll has risen to 43 people, while over 50 people were hospitalized. “The fire in Delhi’s Anaj Mandi on Rani Jhansi Road is extremely […]
NEW Delhi, India (AFP) — At least 43 people have died in a factory fire in India’s capital New Delhi, with the toll expected to rise, police told AFP. The blaze broke out in the early hours in the city’s old quarter, whose narrow and congested lanes are lined with many small manufacturing and storage units. “We… have since rescued at least 50 people,” Sunil Choudhary, New Delhi’s deputy chief fire officer, told AFP. […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Out of control bushfires forced residents in eastern Australia to flee their homes on Saturday, as other parts of the country braced for a heatwave due next week. Bushfires are common in the country but scientists say this year’s season has come earlier and with more intensity due to a prolonged drought and climatic conditions fuelled by global warming. Scorching temperatures have tipped above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) close […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — Authorities in Greece on Thursday were investigating possible arson in a four-star Athens hotel fire in which three people were hurt, state news agency ANA said. The agency cited fire department sources who said jerry cans containing “a flammable liquid” were found on the first and second floors of the Athenaeum Palace, one of the capital’s newest luxury hotels. The fire is believed to have started on the first floor of […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — Twenty-three people were killed and dozens injured as a fire triggered by an explosion in a gas tanker tore through a factory in the Sudanese capital on Tuesday, officials said. Thick plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky after the blaze broke out at a tile manufacturing unit in an industrial zone of north Khartoum, witnesses said. “The explosion was loud. Several cars parked in the compound of the factory […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Hundreds of California firefighters on Tuesday battled a wind-driven brush fire that grew out of control overnight near Santa Barbara, threatening thousands of homes and prompting evacuation orders. The so-called “Cave Fire” that started around 4:00 pm on Monday in Los Padres National Forest, grew to 4,100 acres (1,659 hectares) overnight as it moved toward populated areas in the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta and nearby communities. Some 600 […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An online fundraiser for koalas injured in devastating bushfires topped Aus$1 million ($680,000) on Thursday, making it Australia’s biggest campaign on the GoFundMe platform this year. Deadly bushfires have ravaged vast swathes of eastern Australia, and wildlife carers estimate the blazes have killed hundreds of koalas this month in New South Wales state alone. A crowdfunding page set up by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital to provide automatic water drinking stations […]
