A stunned US East Coast woke to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, filling low-lying apartments with water and turning roads into car-swallowing canals. At least 12 people died in New York City in flooding caused …
Read More »Eight people suffocate at Burkina Faso mine after police fire tear gas
Eight people suffocated to death when police in Burkina Faso used tear gas against unauthorised gold miners at Nordgold’s Bissa mine, a prosecutor said on Thursday. About 40 were on site on Wednesday when the police fired tear gas, which “caused panic and the suffocation of the clandestine gold miners”, …
Read More »Congo says 12 dead, 4,400 sick following Angola mine tailings leak
Twelve people died and 4,400 fell sick in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo following a tailings leak from the Catoca diamond mine in Angola in July, Congo’s environment minister said on Thursday. Following a visit to Kasai province, where the Tshikapa river turned red and many fish died, environment …
Read More »Western Union is resuming money-transfer services to Afghanistan
Western Union Co is resuming money-transfer services to Afghanistan, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday, a decision he said was in line with a US push to allow humanitarian activity to continue after the Taliban’s takeover. The world’s largest money-transfer firm and MoneyGram International Inc, another global remittance provider, …
Read More »Poland declares state of emergency on Belarus border amid migrant surge
Poland declared a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus on Thursday following a surge of illegal migration that Warsaw has blamed on its neighbour. Poland and the European Union have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging hundreds of migrants to cross into Polish territory to put pressure …
Read More »US used secret CIA base outside Kabul to evacuate Americans, 1,000 Afghan commandos & their families – media
The US reportedly used a secret CIA compound to rescue Americans, along with members of elite Afghan special forces, amid the chaos in and around the Kabul airport. The compound, known as the Eagle Base and located less than three miles north of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, …
Read More »US Supreme Court refuses to block Texas abortion ban
Divided court denies emergency request for an injunction barring enforcement of the most restrictive abortion measure since 1973. The Supreme Court of the United States has refused to block a Texas law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The judges voted 5-4 early on Thursday to deny an emergency …
Read More »British Islamic State ‘Beatle’ to plead guilty to US terrorism charges
A British-born man who was a member of a team of Islamic State terrorists in Syria nicknamed “The Beatles” accused of beheading American hostages was due to plead guilty on Thursday to U.S. criminal charges, according to a federal court record. A docket entry for the U.S. District Court in …
Read More »J&J vaccine shipments from S.Africa to Europe halted, AU says
An arrangement whereby Johnson & Johnson was shipping COVID-19 vaccine doses to Europe that had been packaged in South Africa has been suspended, African Union (AU) envoy Strive Masiyiwa said on Thursday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month he was “stunned” by the arrangement, since Europe has very …
Read More »India locks down Kashmir after quiet burial of separatist Geelani
Authorities blanket disputed region with troops and clamp down on communications to prevent protests over Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s death. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the veteran separatist leader from Indian-administered Kashmir, has been laid to rest as the Indian authorities crackdown on public movement and impose a near-total communications blackout …
Read More »Apple hit with antitrust case in India over in-app payments issues
Apple Inc is facing an antitrust challenge in India for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system, according to a source and documents were seen by Reuters. The allegations are similar to a case Apple faces in the …
Read More »India has most COVID-19 cases in two months, worst-hit Kerala in focus
India reported the biggest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases in two months on Thursday, as the government worries about the virus spreading from the most-affected Kerala state, schools reopening, and the start of the festival season. Densely populated Kerala, on India’s southern tip, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the …
Read More »Dolphins lead rescue crew to swimmer missing for 12 hours: Report
A rescue crew was able to find a swimmer who was missing for 12 hours off the Ireland coast after they spotted a dolphin pod surrounding him, the BBC reported last week. “The RNLI volunteers spotted the exhausted man among the dolphins in the sea near Castlegregory in County Kerry,” …
Read More »Romania coalition at risk after junior party pulls support for PM
Romania’s centrist ruling coalition faced possible collapse on Thursday as a junior party withdrew support for the prime minister in a row over the sacking of its justice minister, threatening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The dismissal of Stelian Ion deepened rifts in the centrist coalition formed between Prime …
Read More »Panamanian-flagged tanker seized in Indonesian waters
The Indonesian Navy says it has seized a Panamanian-flagged tanker in the waters off Riau islands after the foreign vessel was found to be carrying more than 4,000 tons of oil without valid permits. Indonesian Navy commander admiral Arsyad Abdullah said in a statement late Wednesday that the Panamanian-flagged tanker, …
Read More »Abu Dhabi removes quarantine for all vaccinated travellers
Abu Dhabi will remove the need to quarantine for all vaccinated travellers arriving from international destinations starting Sunday, said the Abu Dhabi government media office on Twitter on Thursday. A negative PCR test remains a requirement to travel to the United Arab Emirates’ capital, it said.
Read More »Facemasks and sanitizer as French kids go back to school
Twelve million French children headed back to school on Thursday, wearing facemasks, using sanitizer at the entrance and standing distanced from each other in the yard under strict government rules aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. “This is very different from usual ‘back-to-school’ days,” said Matthieu Seguin, deputy director …
Read More »‘Zorba the Greek’ music composer Mikis Theodorakis dies aged 96
Composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose infectious, earthy score for the film “Zorba the Greek” helped foster a sunny, carefree image of his country for millions of tourists, died on Thursday, aged 96. As news of his passing swept through the nation, parliament held a moment of silence. “Today we lost a …
Read More »Kremlin says US military help could make Ukraine behave dangerously
The Kremlin said on Thursday that U.S. military assistance to Ukraine could make Kyiv behave unpredictably and dangerously in the conflict in its east, and expressed regret at a U.S.-Ukrainian friendship it said was motivated by opposition to Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Washington …
Read More »EU must create rapid reaction force, top officials say
Two senior European Union officials urged the bloc’s governments on Thursday to set up a rapidly deployable military force to intervene around the world, saying the crisis in Afghanistan offered a chance to end years of inaction. The EU’s top diplomat and its military chief said the bloc needed to …
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