Global News

By The Associated Press | Posted by TOE A Ukrainian drone attack Monday on the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk killed 12 people and wounded 39 others, authorities in the Tatarstan region said. Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities with long-range drones almost daily in recent months. The barrage has caused fuel shortages in Russia, eaten into Russian refining capacity, and unsettled the Russian public. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it is a campaign to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and stop his more than 4-year-old invasion. Nizhnekamsk came under a “massive” drone attack targeting industrial and civilian facilities on Monday morning, according to the press service of Tatarstan’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov. No further details were immediately available. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Nizhnekamsk is roughly 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) east of the Ukrainian border and has a population of about 240,0...

By Associated Press | Posted by TOE Shanghai’s two airports canceled more than 1,300 flights and authorities relocated some 300,000 people in surrounding regions as China prepared for  Typhoon Dolphin , after the storm brought heavy rains to northern Taiwan. The outer bands of the storm on Saturday hit northern Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, bringing rain. Some Taiwanese airlines also canceled their flights to China Sunday. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were estimated at about 162 kilometers per hour (101 mph) as of Sunday morning. It is bringing heavy rains, creating a risk of severe flooding as well as landslides and is expected to hit Zhejiang province and northern parts of neighboring Fujian province late Sunday. Forecasters in China predicted that areas could see 200-400 mm (7.9–15.7 inches) of rainfall over the next few days. Authorities are warning of severe landslide risks in Zhejiang. Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports re...

By Associated Press | Posted by TOE Yemen’s Houthis  said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom. Meanwhile,  Iran  has made new demands about the reopening of the  Strait of Hormuz , and the  Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry  to accelerate production of weapons. Here’s a look at developments across the Middle East on Sunday. Full coverage can be found  here . Houthis target Aramco refinery Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said they targeted an Aramco refinery in the city of Jazan with a drone. The attack was in response to Saudi drones’ breaching Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Hajjah and Saada, he said. Early on Sunday, the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire at a facility belonging to the Aramco refinery without casualties. The ministry said the fire was extinguished but it...

By Associated Press | Posted by TOE  Authorities in eastern China shut schools and tourist sites as Typhoon Dolphin made its way toward land on Saturday. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were estimated at about 162 kilometers per hour (101 mph). It will bring heavy rains, creating a risk of severe flooding as well as landslides and is expected to hit Zhejiang province and northern parts of neighboring Fujian province late Sunday. Shanghai is also in the path of the storm. Forecasters predicted that areas could see 200-400 mm (7.9–15.7 inches) of rainfall over the next few days. National authorities declared a level III emergency response, the second lowest level. Many tourist destinations in Zhejiang are shut Saturday and Sunday, as well as all water-based activities, including ferries and cruises. Authorities in the city of Ningbo, one of the province’s largest, ordered schools and other educational facilities shut this weekend and all water-related act...

By TIAN MACLEOD JI AP | Posted by TOE A student shot several people at a high school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing at least six people and wounding several others, police said. The shooting happened at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of the national capital, Royal Thai Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan told The Associated Press. A witness told reporters that students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building. About an hour after the shooting, people stood outside the school comforting one another and police and first responders walked around inside the school. Authorities gave conflicting information on the casualties that could not immediately be reconciled. Trairong told news broadcaster Channel 3 the shooter was being hospitalized in serious condition and 15 others were injured, with two in critical c...

By AFP | Posted by TOE Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and were finalising arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway, Tehran said Wednesday, even as fresh security incidents highlighted continued risks for regional shipping. The agreement would be a step towards reopening the key energy route, but official sources briefing Iranian media stressed that any easing still hinged on Washington ending its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran has exercised de facto control of the waterway and threatened any vessels transiting routes it deems unauthorised ever since the United States and Israel launched their war against the country on February 28. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted Tehran is keen for a deal to reopen Hormuz, but Iran has denied this and said it will instead make arrangements with its neighbour across the strait, Oman. “The geographical coordinates of the route env...