Subscribe
World
U.S. gasoline shortage eases, but pumps dry in some areas
Gasoline shortages that have plagued the U.S. East Coast slowly eased on Sunday, with 1,000 more stations receiving supplies as the country’s largest fuel pipeline network recovered from a crippling cyberattack. The six-day closure of...
Two dead, dozens hurt in Israeli synagogue accident – ambulance service
At least two worshippers were killed and more than 100 injured on Sunday when a grandstand collapsed in a synagogue under construction in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s national ambulance service said. The accident in Givat Zeev, just north of Jerusalem, raised more questions about safety measures at large ultra-Orthodox events,...
Palestinian killed after ramming car into 6 Israeli police in Jerusalem – police
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian driver who crashed his car into a police roadblock, injuring six officers, in a flashpoint Jerusalem neighbourhood on Sunday, police said. The incident occurred in Sheikh Jarrah, in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, which is the focus of a court case in which several Palestinian families could be evicted from homes...
Extra seat thrown out, FAST wins Samoa election
The Supreme Court in Samoa has thrown out the electoral office’s decision to appoint an extra woman member of parliament. It means the decision breaks a month-long deadlock from the April election, handing the newcomer FAST party a majority. The electoral office last month added the extra seat purportedly to meet a provision in the...
Israel launches dozens of strikes as Gaza fighting enters second week
Israel launched dozens of air strikes in Gaza and the Hamas militant group kept up its rocket attacks on Israeli cities in fighting that spilled into a second week on Monday. International calls mounted for a ceasefire, but there was no sign of any imminent end to the most serious hostilities between Israel and Gaza’s ruling...
Samoa court dismisses call for second election
Samoa’s Supreme Court has thrown out the Head of State’s decision to call a second election, clearing the path for the newcomer FAST party to form a government. Announcing the second election earlier this month, Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II told Samoans it was the best way to break the political deadlock that emerged after last...
Ministers will make England lockdown easing decision on June 14
Ministers will make a decision on June 14 about whether or not to proceed with the final phase of lockdown easing in England, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, describing the pandemic as “under control”. On Friday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme to try to contain...
Chileans urged to make voices heard on rewriting of constitution
Chileans were urged on Sunday to follow through on their call for a new constitution as voting to pick the architects of the charter entered a second day amid concerns about low turn-out, particularly in the country’s more marginalized areas. Observers around the South American nation reported a slow start in most polling stations on...
Top Indian virologist quits government panel after airing differences
A top Indian virologist has resigned from a forum of scientific advisers set up by the government to detect variants of the coronavirus, he told Reuters on Sunday, weeks after questioning the authorities’ handling of the pandemic. Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of the forum known as INSACOG, declined to give a reason...
U.S. says ready to help Israel, Palestinians if they seek a ceasefire
The United States told the United Nations Security Council on Sunday it has made clear to Israel, the Palestinians and others that it is ready to offer support “should the parties seek a ceasefire” to end the worsening violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. “The United States has been working tirelessly through diplomatic...
India promises more vaccines as daily COVID-19 deaths stay above 4,000
Some Indian states said on Sunday they would extend COVID-19 lockdowns to help contain the pandemic, which has killed more than 270,000 people in the country, as the federal government pledged to bolster vaccine supplies. The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in India has risen more than 4,000 for the...
Israel air strikes kill 42 Palestinians, rockets fired from Gaza
An Israeli air strike in Gaza destroyed several homes on Sunday, killing 42 Palestinians, including 10 children, health officials said, as militants fired rockets at Israel with no end in sight to seven days of fighting. The Israeli military said the civilian casualties were unintentional. It said its jets attacked a tunnel system used by militants,...
Philippines douses five-hour blaze in hospital treating COVID-19 patients
Firefighters put out a blaze early on Sunday at one of the Philippines’ largest hospitals that had prompted the evacuation of dozens of patients from the facility, which also treats coronavirus sufferers. No casualties were reported in the fire at the government-run Philippine General Hospital in the capital, Manila, which was extinguished at dawn. Its...
U.S. fuel crisis eases as pipeline returns to normal after hack
Widespread gasoline shortages along the U.S. East Coast began to ease slightly on Saturday as the operator of the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline said it was back to delivering “millions of gallons per hour” following last week’s cyberattack. Ships and trucks were deployed to fill up storage tanks after the six-day Colonial Pipeline shutdown, the...
Explainer: Why has conflict flared up in Israel and Gaza?
The skies above Israel and the Palestinian Territories are again alight with explosions. The death toll is climbing and there is no end to the fighting in sight. This is the latest eruption of long-running tensions that date back to conflict over the establishment of Israel and the displacement of Palestinians. It is the worst...
Shaun Bythell: Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops
Shaun Bythell has run Wigtown’s The Bookshop since 2001. It’s the largest second hand bookshop in Scotland with shelves spanning nearly two kilometres and containing more than 100,000 books. His trademark sardonic humour has landed him the unofficial title of “Scotland’s grumpiest bookseller”. It has also produced two bestselling books; The Diary of a Bookseller and...
‘I’m finally here’: Greece opens to tourists
Greece formally opened to visitors on Saturday local time, kicking off a summer season it hopes will resurrect its vital tourism industry battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. After months of lockdown restrictions, Greece also opened its museums this week, including the Acropolis museum, home to renowned sculptures from Greek antiquity. “I feel really alive and...
16th May
Covid-19: Australian flight arrives half empty from India
The Qantas jet touched down at the RAAF base shortly before 9am, local time. It was scheduled to carry up to 150 passengers but in the end only carried 80 people back to Australia. A total of 70 people were barred from boarding; 46 of those tested positive to Covid-19, while 24 others were identified...
Israel Gaza violence: US envoy arrives for de-escalation talks
A US envoy has arrived in Tel Aviv for de-escalation talks as unrest between Israel and the Palestinians continues. Hady Amr will take part in talks with Israeli, Palestinian and UN officials in the hope of agreeing on a ceasefire. Early on Saturday, Israel conducted air strikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants responded by firing...
Israel Gaza conflict: Netanyahu vows to continue air strikes
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to “continue to respond forcefully” to rocket attacks as conflict with Palestinians in Gaza enters a seventh day. Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed at least three Palestinians early on Sunday, health officials said. Palestinian militants fired rockets towards Tel Aviv, causing people there to flee to bomb...
Covid-19: India’s fight against cow dung and other misinformation
As India’s health system sags under the weight of an unprecedented second wave of Covid-19 medical quackery is growing in the gaps. From cow dung baths to mass “anti-Covid” steam-inhalation events, misinformation is rampant – and some government officials have been partly to blame. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, a group...
Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency as COVID-19 cases surge
Trinidad and Tobago will impose a state of emergency from midnight to contain an increase of COVID-19 cases and related deaths, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said on Saturday. Rowley also imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, with some exceptions to essential services including the energy sector, supermarkets, and pharmacies. The...
Ecuador indigenous protestors block access to Petroecuador oil field
An indigenous community in Ecuador’s Amazon region is blocking access to one of state oil company Petroecuador’s main fields in a protest over compensation, prompting the company to request help from the armed forces to deliver supplies. In a statement on Saturday, Petroecuador said the protest has left it unable to send supplies needed to...
Britain to treble tree planting by 2024 to fight climate change
Britain said it planned to treble tree planting rates over the next three years to help reach its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as part of efforts to fight climate change. The UK wants to push ahead with its environmental plans and encourage other nations to do the same ahead of its...
Israel bombs Hamas Gaza chief’s home as fighting enters seventh day
Israel bombed the home of Hamas’s chief in Gaza early on Sunday and the Islamist group fired rocket barrages at Tel Aviv as hostilities stretched into a seventh day with no sign of abating. At least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes across the coastal enclave, health officials said, and many were injured...
Spotify founder Ek says his bid for Arsenal was rejected
Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek said on Saturday an offer to buy Premier League Arsenal had been rejected by owner Stan Kroenke’s family. Ek took to Twitter to issue a statement correcting “inaccurate reports” that he had not made a bid. “This week an offer was made to both Josh Kroenke and their bankers...
Italian study shows COVID-19 infections, deaths plummeting after jabs
COVID-19 infections in adults of all ages fell by 80% five weeks after a first dose of Pfizer (PFE.N), Moderna (MRNA.O) or AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccine, according to Italian research published on Saturday. The first such study by a European Union country on the real-world impact of its immunisation campaign was carried out by Italy’s National...
Myanmar army battles anti-coup rebels as armed resistance grows
Myanmar’s army battled local militia fighters in the northwestern town of Mindat on Saturday, residents said, to try to quell a rebellion that has sprung up to oppose the junta which seized power in the Southeast Asian country in February. The fighting is some of the heaviest since the coup and underlines the growing chaos...
Bodies of COVID-19 victims among those dumped in India’s Ganges -gov’t document
Bodies of COVID-19 victims have been found dumped in some Indian rivers, a state government letter seen by Reuters says, in the first official acknowledgement of the alarming practice, which it said may stem from poverty and fear of the disease in remote areas. Images of corpses drifting down the Ganges river, which is considered...
Disney World and other U.S. theme parks update mask rules
Disney World and other U.S. amusement parks updatedtheir mask policy following the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week. Masks have been made optional in outdoor areas and pool decks at Walt Disney Inc’s (DIS.N) Disney World in Orlando, Florida, effective May 15, but are still needed for entering...
