Pakistan looks “like a sea” after floods, PM says, as 18 more die
Sehwan, Pakistan Reuters Parts of Pakistan seemed “like a sea”, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, after visiting some of the flood-hit areas that cover as much as a third of the South Asian nation, where 18 more deaths took the toll from days of rain to 1,343. A woman and children walk as […]
US accuses Russia of war crime by forcibly deporting Ukrainians
United Nations Reuters The United States accused Moscow of committing a war crime on Wednesday by forcibly deporting Ukrainians to Russia and said it has information that Russian officials are overseeing so-called filtration operations. “These operations aim to identify individuals Russia deems insufficiently compliant or compatible to its control,” US Ambassador to the United Nations, […]
Shelling damages Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant’s backup power line – IAEA; Pope urges halt to “world war”
Vienna, Austria/Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Shelling on Tuesday damaged a backup power line at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which has already lost all four of its regular power lines, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency said there was no immediate impact from the […]
Ecuador Indigenous demand rulings against extractive industries be enforced
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Two Indigenous communities from Ecuador’s Amazon region on Tuesday demanded the Constitutional Court enforce rulings from 2018 and 2019 to protect thousands of hectares of tropical jungle from oil and mining projects. Local courts in Ecuador ruled separately in favour of the A’i Cofan community of Sinangoe, in the country’s Sucumbios province, […]
Israeli President evokes horrors, ties at German parliament
Berlin, Germany AP Israel’s President addressed Germany’s parliament on Tuesday about atrocities committed during the Third Reich, while at the same time praising the close and friendly relations that have emerged between the two countries since the end of the Holocaust. Six million European Jews were murdered by Germany’s Nazis and their henchmen during World […]
StrangeSights: Great balls of fire; a dream job of doing nothing; and, Janus, the two-headed tortoise, turns 25
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
No kerosene, no food, Sri Lanka’s fishermen say
Mannar, Sri Lanka Reuters As the sun rose over Sri Lanka one morning in late August, around a dozen fishermen were laying out their nets on a beach in Mannar, a small island just off the country’s north-western coast, the start of the day’s work. But many other fishermen in the community are unable to […]
Nigeria’s Rivers state police free 15 children abducted for trafficking
Yenagoa, NigeriaReuters Police in Nigeria’s Rivers state rescued 15 children who were abducted in order to be trafficked, police said in a statement on Tuesday. The children, ranging from four years to 15-years-old, were found with a 44-year-old woman claiming to be a nun in the southern state in Nigeria’s Delta region. Police arrested the […]
Updated: China clears roads to earthquake epicentre, death toll rises to 74
Updated: 3pm (AEST) Beijing, China Reuters China has reopened roads leading to the epicentre of Monday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan and traffic has resumed, state media reported on Wednesday, while the death toll has risen to 74. In addition, a total of 259 people were injured in the disaster and […]
El Salvador: War on gangs leaves poor families reeling
NELSON RENTERIA and ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report that President Bukele’s crackdown has led to mass arrests, mainly young men from poor areas, and relatives say many are innocent…