Subscribe
World
Fledgling Peru govt seeks “new deal” with miners – minister
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Peru will seek “a new deal” with its all-important mining sector by providing incentives for projects with “social profitability” in the world’s No. 2 copper producer, new Energy and Mining Minister...
German NGO Sea-Watch rescues nearly 100 migrants overnight in Mediterranean
ABOARD SEA-WATCH 3, Mediterranean (Reuters) – German NGO Sea-Watch said on Friday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants in the Mediterranean overnight, many of whom were injured, some with severe “fuel burns” – chemical burns caused by exposure to gasoline mixed with seawater. Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts...
U.S. CDC chief says there will be no federal mandate on COVID-19 vaccine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Friday there will be no nationwide mandate for Americans to get a COVID-19 vaccine, clarifying comments she made earlier during a televised interview. “To clarify: There will be no nationwide mandate. I was referring to mandates by private institutions and...
Turkish wildfire leaves charred home and ashes, as blazes spread
MANAVGAT, Turkey (Reuters) -Days after a raging wildfire in southern Turkey drove his family from the home they lived in for four decades, Mehmet Demir returned on Saturday to discover a burnt-out building, charred belongings and ashes. Bedsprings, a ladder, metal chairs and some kitchenware were the only things left identifiable after some of the...
COVID-19 cases surge in Sydney as police cordon deters protest
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Sydney’s coronavirus cases continued to surge on Saturday as police cordoned off the city’s central district, preventing a planned anti-lockdown protest from taking place. There were 210 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 reported in Sydney and vicinities that are under a weeks-long strict lockdown while battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta...
U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders on Friday in response to the Havana government’s crackdown on protesters, and President Joe Biden promised Cuban-American leaders more actions were coming. The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions, which appeared to be largely symbolic, were a reaction...
Haiti police say former Supreme Court judge suspect in president’s killing
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haitian police on Friday outlined fresh accusations against a former Supreme Court judge over her links to the assassination of President Jovenel Moise earlier this month, saying she had met with some Colombian mercenaries accused of killing him. The assassination of Moise has plunged the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation deeper into chaos,...
Argentina lakes turn pink but the outlook not rosy, environmentalists say
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Two lakes in a far-flung coastal region of Patagonia, in Argentina, have turned fluorescent pink, as of yet unexplained phenomena that local environmentalists fear could be harmful and caused by industrial contamination. The lakes, located near an industrial park on the outskirts of the Argentine city of Trelew, sprawl across a...
Delta variant rampant in Asia; Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia post record COVID infections
The Olympics host city Tokyo, as well as Thailand and Malaysia, announced a record number of COVID-19 infections on Saturday, mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease. Cases surged in Sydney as well, where police cordoned off the central business district to prevent a protest against a strict lockdown that will...
U.S. sues Texas after it blocks transport of migrants in state
The U.S. Justice Department sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday, seeking to block an executive order that restricts the transport of migrants through the state and authorizes state troopers to pull over vehicles suspected of doing so. In a lawsuit filed in El Paso federal court, the Justice Department said Abbott’s order, which he...
Thousands displaced as floods hit Bangladesh Rohingya camps
Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flash floods in refugees camps displacing thousands of Rohingya Muslims in southeastern Bangladesh this week, U.N. and other officials said on Friday, with further heavy rainfall expected. At least six Rohingya, including three children, died in landslides and flooding while 15 Bangladeshis were killed and more than 200,000 stranded...
Haiti police say former Supreme Court judge suspect in president’s killing
Haitian police on Friday outlined fresh accusations against a former Supreme Court judge over her links to the assassination of President Jovenel Moise earlier this month, saying she had met with some Colombian mercenaries accused of killing him. The assassination of Moise has plunged the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation deeper into chaos, and launched an...
U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come
The United States imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders on Friday in response to the Havana government’s crackdown on protesters, and President Joe Biden promised Cuban-American leaders more actions were coming. The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions, which appeared to be largely symbolic, were a reaction to “actions...
COVID-19 cases surge in Sydney as police cordon deters protest
Sydney’s coronavirus cases continued to surge on Saturday as police cordoned off the city’s central district, preventing a planned anti-lockdown protest from taking place. There were 210 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 reported in Sydney and vicinities that are under a weeks-long strict lockdown while battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant. Saturday’s...
‘The war has changed,’ CDC says, calling for new response to Delta variant
The war against COVID-19 has changed because of the highly contagious Delta variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said, proposing a clearer message, mandatory vaccines for health workers and a return to universal masking. An internal CDC document said the variant, first detected in India and now dominant across the globe, is as contagious...
31st July
International Space Station thrown out of control by misfire of Russian module -NASA
The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said. The seven crew members aboard – two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and...
Peru’s Castillo names Marxist party member as prime minister
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo on Thursday named Guido Bellido, a member of his Marxist party, as prime minister, a move which dimmed hopes of a moderate left administration and will face an uphill confirmation battle in Congress. Bellido, a congressman, is a member of the self-described Marxist-Leninist Free Peru party, with which Castillo won the...
‘Like back in Syria’: migrant volunteers clear up flood-hit Germany
Syrian volunteers have rushed to towns hit by Germany’s most devastating floods in 60 years to clean them up and renovate homes, drawing on their experience with catastrophes in their homeland to help the country that took them in. Germany, which lost at least 180 lives in the flooding earlier this month, opened its borders...
Philippines’ Duterte fully restores key troop pact with United States
President Rodrigo Duterte has restored a crucial pact governing the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines, the two countries’ defence ministers said on Friday, reversing a decision that had caused increasing concern in Washington and Manila. The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) provides rules for the rotation of thousands of U.S. troops in and out...
Malta government carries responsibility for journalist’s murder, inquiry finds
An independent inquiry into the car bomb murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta found on Thursday that the state had to bear responsibility after creating a “culture of impunity”. Caruana Galizia was killed in a massive explosion as she drove out of her home on Oct. 16, 2017. Prosecutors believe top businessman...
Samoa’s new leader confirms scrapping of China-funded port
The new prime minister of Samoa has confirmed she will cancel a China-backed port project, but hasn’t closed the door to China as she navigates a path for the Pacific nation against a backdrop of intensifying regional competition between Beijing and Washington. Fiame Naomi Mataafa indicated she would only approve investments that had clear benefits...
New Zealand introduces bill to outlaw LGBT conversion therapy
New Zealand introduced on Friday legislation that proposes up to five years in prison for practices intended to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, known as LGBT conversion therapy. The proposed measures were aimed at ending such practices, which do not work, are widely discredited, and cause harm, Justice Minister Kris...
International Space Station thrown out of control by misfire of Russian module -NASA
The International Space Station (ISS) was thrown briefly out of control on Thursday when jet thrusters of a newly arrived Russian research module inadvertently fired a few hours after it was docked to the orbiting outpost, NASA officials said. The seven crew members aboard – two Russian cosmonauts, three NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut and...
Airlift begins for Afghans who worked for U.S. during its longest war
Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got under way for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the United States during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The operation to evacuate U.S.-affiliated Afghans and family members comes...
Grisly murder of diplomat’s daughter sparks outrage over femicides in Pakistan
A grisly murder in the heart of Islamabad involving families from the privileged elite of Pakistani society has dominated headlines for the past week, stirring national outrage over femicides in the South Asian nation. Noor Mukadam, 27, the daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded in a posh neighborhood of the capital on...
Asian nations impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions due to Delta outbreaks
Asian countries from Australia to Japan and the Philippines announced tighter COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, as they battle worsening coronavirus outbreaks, driven by the more contagious Delta variant. Detected in some 96 countries, the Delta variant, first identified in India, has become a concern globally, prompting even countries with advanced vaccination programmes such as the...
Philippines to place Manila area in lockdown to curb Delta variant
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday approved the imposition of lockdown measures in the capital region, in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and to shield the country’s medical system. The Manila capital region, a sprawl of 16 cities home to more than 13 million people, will be placed under...
Bicycle riding volunteers deliver medicines in Indonesia’s Semarang
Pedalling through the Indonesian city of Semarang, Arrahman Surya Atmaja stops at a pharmacy to pick up some vitamins before hitting the road again to deliver them to a person isolating at home. The 35-year-old is part of a small group of volunteer cyclists running errands for people in the city of 3 million, which...
India reports most new COVID cases in three weeks
India reported 44,230 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the most in three weeks, the latest evidence of a worrying trend of rising cases that has forced one state to lock down amid fears of another wave of infections. India was battered by the Delta variant of the virus in April and May but the rate...
U.S. voices concern over harassment of media covering China floods
The United States is “deeply concerned with the increasingly harsh surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of U.S. and other foreign journalists” covering recent floods in China’s Henan province, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday. China’s harsh rhetoric toward news it perceives as critical “has provoked negative public sentiment leading to tense, in-person confrontations and...
