Global News

Rescuers freed four people from collapsed buildings in Myanmar on Monday, Chinese media reported, offering some hope three days after a massive earthquake that killed around 2,000 as searchers in Myanmar and Thailand raced to find more survivors. Among those rescued from the rubble in Mandalay in the early hours of Monday were a pregnant woman and a girl, the Xinhua news agency reported. Mandalay is near the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday that wreaked mass devastation in Myanmar and caused damage and deaths in neighbouring Thailand. China, India and Thailand are among Myanmar’s neighbours that have sent relief materials and teams, along with aid and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore and Russia. “It doesn’t matter how long we work. The most important thing is that we can bring hope to the local people,” said Yue Xin, head of the first detachment of the China Search and Rescue Team, Xinhua reported. In Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, emergency crews using cranes a...

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 ...

By Layli Foroudi Reuters  In Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean, tourists flock to crystalline waterfalls nestling in the tropical rainforests. But the water that comes out of Christelle Marie-Sainte’s tap at home runs yellow. “I don’t drink the tap water,” she said, outside a supermarket where she was buying locally-bottled Lafort water. A relatively low-cost brand, Lafort is double the price of an equivalent product in parts of Paris. Anger at Martinique’s prices and poor services erupted in months of protests and unrest late last year that saw dozens of businesses targeted and burned. The protests have largely given way to a movement that has won concessions from Paris, including a promise last week of government-backed legislation to tackle grocery prices, which official data shows are on average 40% higher than on the mainland. Like many contentious issues in Martinique, water is intertwined with questions of class and race, including the prominence of a handf...

Qatar hosted a second round of talks on Friday between Congo and Rwanda and separately met with representatives of the Rwandan-backed rebellion waging an insurgency in eastern Congo, four sources told Reuters. Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met last week in Doha for their first talks since M23 rebels stepped up an offensive there in January. Congolese and Rwandan officials held talks on Friday, while M23 representatives met separately with Qatari mediators, said two sources from the Congolese government and two from the rebels. SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/9etf2GX

BY DAVID RISING and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI AP A powerful earthquake  rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand  on Friday, destroying buildings, a bridge and a dam. At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage. At least 10 died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction collapsed. The full extent of death, injury and destruction was not immediately clear — particularly in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries. It is  embroiled in a civil war , and information is tightly controlled. “The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” the head of Myanmar’s military government,  Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing  said as he announced on television that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured in his country. In Thailand, Bangkok city authorities said 10 people were killed, 16 injured and 101 missing from three construction sites, including the high-rise. The ...

BY DAVID RISING and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI AP A high-rise building under construction in Bangkok collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighboring Myanmar midday on Friday, police said, and possible casualties are not yet known. A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran. Police told The Associated Press they were responding to the scene near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse. The midday temblor was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock, and people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more. “All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok’s many malls shoppi...

Carney said that Canada’s old relationship with the United States, “based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation, is over”. Speaking to reporters in Ottawa after a cabinet meeting, Carney said Canadians must “fundamentally reimagine our economy” in the face of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. He said Canada would respond with retaliatory tariffs that will have “maximum impact” on the US. The era of deep economic, security and military ties between Canada and the United States “is over,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday, after President Donald Trump announced steep auto tariffs. Trump’s planned 25 percent levy on vehicle imports to the United States is to come into force next week and could be devastating for a Canadian auto industry that supports an estimated 500,000 jobs. Carney, the Liberal Party leader, called the original Canada-US Automotive Products Agreement signed in 1965 the most important deal in his lifeti...

By Ahmed Kingimi and Amindeh Blaise Atabong Reuters Suspected Islamist fighters launched a coordinated attack on an army base and a military outpost in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, killing at least 16 people, security sources told Reuters. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province militants have mainly operated in the northeast of Nigeria, attacking security forces and civilians and killing and displacing tens of thousands of people. In the latest assault, Boko Haram insurgents and ISWAP fighters struck an army base in the Wajiroko area of Borno State at about 2100 GMT on Monday and set military equipment on fire, the sources said. One of the soldiers in the Wajiroko brigade said at least four soldiers had been killed and several others injured, including the brigade commander. Armed fighters in light tactical vehicles also stormed an outpost in Wulgo, a village about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol, killing 12 soldiers and inju...

By Kang Jin-kyu and Sue Han Kim AFP One of South Korea’s worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing “unprecedented damage” and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites. More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic. The death toll jumped to 24 on Wednesday, as wind-driven flames tore through neighbourhoods and razed an ancient temple. “Twenty four people are confirmed dead in the wildfires so far,” with 12 seriously injured, a ministry of interior and safety official told AFP, adding that these were “preliminary figures” and the toll could rise. Most of those killed were local residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area...

Deadly wildfires spread further across South Korea on Monday as authorities designated three more counties ‘special disaster zones’. At least four people have been killed and hundreds forced to flee their homes since blazes broke out in several areas on Saturday, stoked by strong winds and dry weather. Kim Byung-wook, a 64-year-old farmer in Sancheong County in the southern part of the country, said the house he had lived in for more than 30 years had been destroyed. “Things that remind me of my youth disappeared without a trace – photos of my children when they were young,” he told Reuters. “The biggest priority is to quickly come up with measures to support and allow disaster recovery as soon as possible,” he said. Sancheong was already a special disaster zone – a designation that triggers extra funding and other measures. Acting President Han Duck-soo added another county in South Gyeongsang Province and two others in Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province to the list. Han, who r...

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell Reuters An Israeli airstrike at a hospital in Gaza on Sunday killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said, in an attack Israel said had targeted a key figure in the militant group. The Gaza Health Ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimize harm at the site. Hamas said a member of its political office, Ismail Barhoum, had been killed. Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, confirmed the target was Barhoum. The military did not name the target, which it described only as “a key terrorist” in Hamas. Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV said Barhoum was being treated at the hospital for wounds sustained in a previous attack. Israel says Hamas systematically embeds in hospitals, schools and shelters, which the group denies. Video on social media showed a fire blazing on ...

By Ece Toksabay and Ezgi Erkoyun Reuters A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Sunday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than decade. The decision to send Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic. The court said Imamoglu, 54, and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation, one of two that were opened against him last week. The court decided to release the mayor under judicial control measures over a separate terror-related charge, broadcasters Halk TV and AHaber reported, potentially blocking the government from appointing a trustee to run the country’s largest city. Imamoglu, who leads Erdogan in some polls, has  denied...

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is withdrawing Hunter Biden’s government bodyguards, extending his campaign of political retribution to Joe Biden’s son. Trump announced the same measure against Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter with former first lady Jill. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asserted that Hunter Biden’s security detail is composed of as many as 18 people, calling it “ridiculous.” He said Hunter Biden was currently on vacation in South Africa and noted he had recently suspended US aid to the country over alleged rights violations. “Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list,” Trump wrote. Federal law grants Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses, but only to their children if they are under age 16. Nonetheless, protection is often extended for a period of time to adult child...

By Helen ROWE AFP Britain’s Heathrow airport — Europe’s busiest — shut down early on Friday after a major fire at an electricity substation cut power to the sprawling hub, causing disruption worldwide to hundreds of flights and thousands of travellers. Around 120 Heathrow-bound planes were in the air when the closure was announced, according to online flight tracking service FlightRadar24. Around 70 firefighters were deployed to tackle the “highly visible” blaze at the substation in Hayes, west London. Videos on social media, apparently shot inside Heathrow’s terminals, showed shuttered shops and deserted corridors, lit only by emergency lighting. Heathrow, which handles more than 80 million passengers a year, has around 1,300 takeoffs or landings a day. British Airways said the closure of its main hub “will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers”. “We’re working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and...

BY HANNA ARHIROVA, Associated Press  Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday they had each swapped 175 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges since the Russian full-scale invasion started three years ago. “We are bringing back soldiers, sergeants, and officers — warriors who fought for our freedom in the ranks of the Armed Forces, the Navy, the National Guard, the Territorial Defense Forces, and the Border Guard Service,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader said Tuesday that releasing all prisoners of war as well as captured civilians would be an important step toward peace and could help build trust between the two countries. He has repeatedly called for an “all-for-all” prisoner exchange. This comes as ongoing discussions about a temporary ceasefire that may pause the war continue. Warm reunions Shortly after the exchange took place near the northern border of the two warring countries, dozens of anxious families rushed to a hospital in Ukraine’s...

By Camillus Eboh Reuters Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in oil-producing Rivers State and suspended the state governor, his deputy and all lawmakers. Tinubu, in a television broadcast, said he had received security reports in the last two days of “disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them.” “With all these and many more, no good and responsible president will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the constitution to address the situation in the state,” added Tinubu. Police said earlier they were investigating the cause of a  blast in Rivers state  that resulted in a fire on Nigeria’s Trans Niger Pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal. Rivers, in the Niger Delta, is a major source of crude oil and militants have in the past blown up pipe...

BY MARCIA DUNN AP Stuck in space no more,  NASA astronauts  Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different ride home to  close out a saga  that began with a  bungled test flight  more than nine months ago. Their  SpaceX capsule  parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just hours after departing  the International Space Station . Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end. Within an hour, the astronauts were out of their capsule, waving and smiling at the cameras while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks. It all started with a flawed Boeing test flight last spring. The two  expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on  Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule  on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent St...

By Danny Kemp with Ola Cichowlas in Warsaw AFP Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday in a call with Donald Trump Tuesday to halt attacks against Ukrainian energy targets but would not accept an immediate full ceasefire and insisted that the West halt all military aid for Kyiv. The US and Russian leaders spoke for more than an hour and a half and both expressed hopes for repairing relations wrecked by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its pro-Western neighbor three years ago. But the highly anticipated call failed to produce the breakthrough Trump had hoped for, as there was no agreement from the Russian president for Washington’s proposed 30-day ceasefire, already agreed to by Ukraine. In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he backed the energy truce but believed Putin’s refusal of a wider peace showed he was not “ready” and still seeks to “weaken” Ukraine. Trump insisted on his Truth Social network they had “an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire ...

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, JOSEF FEDERMAN and SAMY MAGDY AP Israel launched  airstrikes across the Gaza Strip  early Tuesday, killing at least 326 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas  refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement . Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions. The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza, including much of the northern town of Beit Hanoun and other communities further south, and head toward the center of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon launch renewed ground operations. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s off...

Peru’s government declared on Monday a state of emergency in the capital Lima while it also deployed soldiers to the streets to help quell a recent surge of violence that claimed the life of a popular singer. The death of prominent cumbia musician Paul Flores early Sunday provoked popular outrage, after the bus he was traveling in came under fire from unknown armed assailants. Flores died after he was shot, according to police. The crime wave, including a jump in extortion rackets, prompted President Dina Boluarte to declare that she would like to see murderers face the death penalty, even though Peru only allows execution for convicted traitors. The 30-day emergency decree applies to Lima as well as in neighboring Callao province and grants authorities additional powers to deploy the military to combat lawlessness. In recent years, officials in Peru have repeatedly declared emergencies when criminal activity or social unrest spikes. The government moves on Monday follow weeks of ...