Peace through strength, Taiwan president says on China battle anniversary

-
By Reuters, Posted by TOE KINMEN, Taiwan — Peace can only be secured through strength and not even an inch of territory can be sacrificed, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on ⁠Sunday, visiting a sensitive frontline island to mark a key battle with Chinese forces almost seven decades ago. Taiwan has controlled the Kinmen and Matsu islands, which lie just off the Chinese coast, since the Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. No peace ⁠treaty or armistice has ever been signed. In heavy rain, ​Lai ⁠laid a wreath and bowed at a memorial park for the 68th anniversary of the 1958 clash with Chinese forces, known as the start of the second Taiwan ⁠Strait crisis — the last time Taiwanese and Chinese forces battled on a large scale. Addressing veterans later, ​Lai ⁠expressed gratitude to those who “stood united and ‌fought a bloody battle to repel Communist totalitarian aggression”. “Our resolve to unite ...
Post a Comment

Cuba keeps schools closed, workers home during recovery from power failure, hurricane

-

Cuba said on Wednesday it would keep schools closed and non-essential workers home through Sunday as the crisis-racked Caribbean island nation struggled to recover from the collapse of its power grid last Friday and Hurricane Oscar this week.

The island’s far eastern province of Guantanamo was particularly hard hit by Oscar, which made landfall as a category one hurricane and unleashed more than 15 inches of rain in some areas. The cyclone was downgraded to a tropical storm before veering north to the Bahamas earlier this week.

The storm, combined with a nearly unprecedented electrical grid collapse on Friday, created a nightmare scenario in a country already suffering dramatic food, fuel and medicine shortages.

The crisis prompted scattered protests throughout Havana and elsewhere in the country.

Officials said late on Tuesday seven people had died as a result of the storm. Cuba’s armed forces had rescued nearly 500 people from remote areas isolated by floodwaters or landslides, with upwards of 4,000 residents still housed in shelters.

Flash floods destroyed homes, roads, agricultural lands and already decrepit infrastructure throughout the major coffee-producing region. Wind and rain had damaged at least 2,280 homes, state-run media reported.

Communications were still spotty in rural areas, and most of the eastern province remained without power as emergency workers cleaned up tangles of downed power lines.

The United Nations said on Wednesday it would support Cuba in recovery efforts following Oscar.The video player is currently playing an ad.00:03Mexico’s Acapulco still reeling from Hurricane Otis one year on

The storm had also complicated the recovery of Cuba’s already precarious electrical grid. Cuba stabilized its electrical service on Tuesday, but warned that outages would continue as before the grid collapse.

Cuba’s outdated power plants, struggling to keep the lights on, reached a full crisis this year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled, culminating in last Friday’s grid collapse.

A generation deficit of about one-third total demand was expected on Wednesday, the national electric company said, leaving many Cubans still in the dark.

SOURCE: REUTERS, AP AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/0Do9ly2

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Myanmar earthquake death toll rises as fresh tremors further complicate rescue efforts

-
Image
A5.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The tremor was part of a series of aftershocks following Friday’s devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which resulted in the collapse of numerous buildings and significant infrastructure damage. The death toll has risen to over 1,600, with more than 3,400 individuals reported missing; these numbers are expected to increase as rescue operations continue. Foreign rescue teams and supplies arrived in Myanmar on Sunday to help the impoverished country cope with an earthquake that killed over 1,600 and left many near the epicentre scrambling for help without proper equipment. The 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, jolted the Southeast Asian nation on Friday, leaving 1,644 people dead, 3,408 injured and 139 missing, the military government said. India, China and Thailand are among Myanmar’s neighbours that have sent relief ...
Read more

Israel says situation on Lebanon border ‘not sustainable’

-
By James Mackenzie Reuters  Israeli officials and media reacted with satisfaction on Monday after a  long-expected missile attack  by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement appeared to have been largely thwarted by pre-emptive Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and Israel seemed content to let Sunday’s attack, in retaliation for the  killing of a senior Hezbollah commander  in Beirut last month, count as settled for the moment. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said Hezbollah had suffered a “crushing blow” from the Israeli strikes but that a longer lasting solution was still needed. “The current situation is not sustainable,” he told a briefing, referring to the tens of thousands evacuated from their homes in northern Israel, a situation mirrored on the other side of the border in southern Lebanon. “Israel will do its duty and return its population to our sovereign territory.” Hopes that children might return for the start of the ...
Read more