Global News

By Darryl Coote UPI | Posted by TOE The United States and Iran have agreed to stop attacking one another, according to reports, a move that could end days of escalating strikes that threatened their brittle truce. The two countries have been in negotiations to end their war since signing a Memorandum of Understanding on June 17. But scheduled talks for Tuesday had appeared in jeopardy after Iran allegedly attacked a container ship on Thursday, triggering tit-for-tat strikes in which the U.S. military attacked Iran and Tehran attacked U.S. allies in the region. On Sunday, after both Bahrain and Kuwait said they had come under Iranian attack, the United States and Iran agreed to halt hostilities,  Axios ,  CNN  and  ABC News  reported, each citing an unnamed senior U.S. official. Iranian officials have yet to confirm the reported agreement. The United States and Iran, which have been at war since Feb. 28, signed a MOU toward ending the conflic...

By Gavin Blackburn EuroNews | Posted by TOE Emergency teams with rescue dogs are continuing the search for any remaining survivors of powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela, where the death toll has surpassed 1,450 and nearly 200 buildings have completely collapsed. A man and his teen son were found alive under the rubble on Sunday by French and American rescue teams in Caraballeda, a town about 40 kilometres north of Caracas. The rescue offered a glimmer of hope in an ongoing tragedy that has shaken a country already mired in an economic crisis, but tens of thousands of people were still reported missing and the critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims following a natural disaster has now passed. Millions more people were feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs after one of Latin America’s most devastating earthquake disasters. Rescue teams from the United States, Mexico and elsewhere scrambled to save people as desperate resident...

By Nathan Rennolds EuroNews | Posted by TOE More than 68,000 people are reportedly still missing in Venezuela after two earthquakes devastated parts of the country earlier this week. Back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors hit Venezuela on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction and killing 1,430 people. A further 3,238 people were injured. Emergency response teams have flown in from around the world to support the 30,000 Venezuelan specialists leading search and rescue efforts, as authorities race to recover survivors. Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said 24 countries have so far provided support, sending 521 tonnes of supplies, 86 canine teams and more than 2,741 search, rescue and support personnel. Many locals have also taken matters into their own hands, digging through mounds of rubble in an attempt to find their loved ones. Harrowing videos circulating on social media show rescuers pulling people, including infants, out from topp...

By The Associated Press | Posted by TOE Burkina Faso’s military government severed diplomatic ties with France, its former colonial ruler that had been a key security partner for the West African nation before relations fractured. The junta said in a statement Friday it broke off relations with France effective immediately, accusing it of “blatant neo-colonial ambitions and active support for subversive networks and terrorists,” without providing evidence. France’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that the country regrets the “hostile and unfounded decision, which illustrates the worrying drift of the Burkinabè authorities.” “Necessary reciprocal measures are currently under review,” he said. Confavreux added that France is monitoring the safety of French government personnel and citizens in Burkina Faso and urged them to exercise heightened vigilance. The West African country of 23 million people has been battered by yearslong  ...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG AP | Posted by TOE  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed major  weapons tests  and called for the military’s “deadly and destructive offensive posture” to be bolstered, state media reported Friday, as South Korea announced it would drastically boost its drone warfare capabilities. The development comes as tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula, with Kim pushing to strengthen both nuclear and conventional  military capabilities  while refusing to return to talks with South Korea and the United States. The tests watched by Kim on Thursday were meant to evaluate the power of a “special mission” warhead for a tactical ballistic missile, an upgraded multiple rocket launch system and the hit accuracy of shells with an extended firing range of a self-propelled gun-howitzer, the official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA cited Kim as saying results of the tests proved the technological progress achieved ...

By Margioni BERMÚDEZ AFP and Posted by TOE Powerful twin earthquakes have killed 32 people and injured more than 700 in Venezuela, the nation’s interim president said Thursday, after the massive shocks collapsed entire buildings and sent people running in panic. Rescue workers and residents were seen clambering on piles of rubble in the hunt for survivors after the disaster that prompted leader Delcy Rodriguez to declare a state of emergency. The earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck the same area of Venezuela on Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), causing buildings in the capital to crumble and forcing the closure of the country’s main airport. Addressing the nation early Thursday, Rodriguez said the government had “received reports of 32 deaths” and “more than 700 injured,” adding she did not yet have data on the “hardest-hit region” of La Guaira, located near the capital. Rodrig...