International

Major Israel-Hezbollah missile exchange as region watches for escalation

By Maytaal Angel and Maya Gebeily JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a bigger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare. Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant […]

China, Philippines clash in South China Sea despite efforts to rebuild trust

MANILA/BEIJING (Reuters) – The Philippines and China clashed in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Sunday over what Manila said was a resupply mission for fishermen, the latest in a series of sea and air confrontations in the strategic waterway. The incident overshadows efforts by both nations to rebuild trust and better manage disputes after months of confrontations, including a violent clash in June where a Filipino sailor lost a finger. The Philippines […]

Philippines urges China to halt ‘provocative’ actions after flare incidents

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines called on Beijing on Saturday to “immediately cease all provocative and dangerous actions” after accusing it of “unjustifiably” deploying flares from China-occupied Subi Reef on Aug. 22 while a Manila aircraft was conducting patrols. The same aircraft also “faced harassment” from a Chinese jet fighter while it was conducting a surveillance flight near Scarborough Shoal on Aug. 19, the Philippines’ South China Sea Task Force said in a statement. “Such […]

Floods, landslides in India’s Tripura displace tens of thousands

By Tora Agarwala, Ruma Paul GUWAHATI/DHAKA (Reuters) -Soldiers in lifeboats ferried people to safety in India’s northeastern state of Tripura on Friday after heavy rain triggered floods and landslides, forcing more than 65,000 people from their homes and killing 23, authorities said. Television images showed army personnel manning the rescue craft, while cars and buses were marooned in streets of knee-deep water, and disaster management officials said four days of incessant rain had swelled rivers. […]

SpaceX to return Boeing’s Starliner astronauts from space next year, NASA says

By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two NASA astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule will need to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, NASA officials said on Saturday, deeming issues with Starliner’s propulsion system too risky to carry its first crew home as planned. Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both former military test pilots, became the first crew to ride […]

French police arrest man suspected of attempted arson against synagogue

  LA GRANDE-MOTTE, France (Reuters) -French police have arrested a man suspected of trying to set a synagogue ablaze in the southern French city of la Grande-Motte on Saturday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. About 200 police officers had been hunting for the suspect, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said earlier, adding that the attacker had set fire to several entry doors to the synagogue and several cars nearby. BFM TV said the suspect was a […]

German police arrest suspect in stabbing rampage, official says

By Matthias Inverardi, Petra Wischgoll and Tom Sims SOLINGEN, Germany (Reuters) -A man suspected of a stabbing rampage in the western German town of Solingen has been taken into police custody, a state official told German television on Saturday, some 24 hours after the attack that killed three people. North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister Herbert Reul told the ARD broadcaster that he was “a bit relieved” after authorities spent the day following a “hot lead” that […]

Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France, French media say

  PARIS (Reuters) – Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources. Telegram, particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union, is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat. It aims to hit one billion users in […]

Australia police say 4 people injured in Sydney stabbing attack

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian police said on Sunday that four people including a police officer were injured in a mass stabbing in Sydney, the latest in a series of stabbing attacks in the city this year. Police said in a statement on Sunday morning that four people were “injured following a crash and suspected stabbing a short time ago”. “There is definitely an incident in Engadine,” a police spokesperson said, referring to a suburb in […]

Thailand says mpox case recorded in traveller from Africa

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand has detected an mpox case in a European man who arrived from Africa last week and is awaiting test results to determine the strain, a disease control official said on Wednesday. Thai authorities were treating the case as if it were the Clade 1 form of mpox, as the person, a 66-year-old European man with residency in Thailand had arrived on Aug. 14 from an African country where it was spreading, Thongchai […]

In Spain’s drought-hit Costa Blanca, people queue for bottled water

  By Eva Manez TEULADA-MORAIRA, Spain (Reuters) – A severe drought has rendered tap water undrinkable in several towns along Spain’s Costa Blanca, forcing holidaymakers and locals to queue at distribution points for bottled water to cover their basic needs. As water levels have dropped, salinity has increased, prompting authorities in some areas to deem tap water unsafe for drinking or cooking. Bottled water is being distributed free of charge. Overdevelopment, climate change and mass […]

Ukraine attacks Moscow in one of largest ever drone strikes on Russian capital

  By Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. The war, largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands […]