Category: World

BBC: Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui has been killed in Afghanistan, said the country’s ambassador in Delhi. Siddiqui, the chief photographer of Reuters news agency in India, was on assignment in Afghanistan when he died. He was embedded with a convoy of Afghan forces that was ambushed by Taliban militants near a key border… Continue reading Indian photojournalist killed in Afghanistan

AP: COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for an almost normal summer of fun. The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 deaths,… Continue reading Covid deaths and cases rising again globally

AP: Firefighters were working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires, the largest burning in California and Oregon, as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids. The largest wildfire of the year in California — the Beckwourth Complex — was raging along the Nevada state line and has… Continue reading Wildfires rage as US West grapples with heat wave, drought

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Australia reported its first locally contracted COVID-19 death of the year on Sunday and a 2021 record 77 new cases of the virus in the state of New South Wales, which is battling an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant. State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the numbers in and around the country’s… Continue reading Australia reports first 2021 local COVID-19 death, highest case number

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP): Haitian authorities have made more arrests in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, raiding Taiwan’s Embassy where several suspects are believed to have sought refuge, while also detaining two Haitian-Americans and several former Colombian soldiers allegedly tied to the plot. In all, 17 suspects have been detained and another eight are being… Continue reading More suspects arrested in assassination of Haitian president

NKANDLA, South Africa (AP): Former South African president Jacob Zuma turned himself over to police early Thursday to begin serving a 15-month prison term. Just minutes before the midnight deadline for police to arrest him, Zuma left his Nkandla home in a convoy of vehicles. Zuma handed himself over to authorities to obey the country’s… Continue reading South Africa’s ex-leader turns himself in for prison term

CNN: Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise was killed during an attack on his private residence early on Wednesday, according to the country’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has declared a state of siege in the country. The attackers stormed Moise’s home at around 1 a.m. and fatally wounded the head of state, according to the… Continue reading Haiti President Jovenel Moise assassinated in attack on his residence

BBC: Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed temperature records. Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 130 sudden deaths since Friday. Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor. Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight… Continue reading Canada weather: Dozens dead as heatwave shatters records

BERLIN (AP): Most European troops have already pulled out of Afghanistan, quietly withdrawing months before the U.S.-led mission was officially expected to end — part of an anticlimactic close to the “forever war” that risks leaving the country on the brink of civil war. Germany and Italy declared their missions in Afghanistan over on Wednesday… Continue reading Most European troops exit Afghanistan quietly after 20 years

MOSCOW (AP): Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that an incident involving a British destroyer in the Black Sea couldn’t have triggered a global conflict even if Russia had sunk the warship because the West knows it can’t win such a war. The tough statement appeared to indicate his resolve to raise the stakes should… Continue reading Putin says US and UK were behind Black Sea ‘provocation’