By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, July 26, 2024 (AFP) – Kamala Harris signaled a major shift on US Gaza policy Thursday, with the presidential hopeful telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a peace deal and insisting she would not be “silent” on the suffering in the Palestinian enclave. Ripping up outgoing President Joe Biden’s playbook of mostly behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel, the vice president said after meeting Netanyahu that it was time to end […]
International
Philippine Coast Guard to deploy floating barriers to contain oil spill
By Faith Brown with Pam Castro in Manila LIMAY, Philippines, July 26, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippine Coast Guard planned Friday to deploy oil dispersant and floating barriers a day after a tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel sank off Manila. AFP journalists at the Port of Limay in Bataan province watched coast guard personnel preparing equipment for a boat to be used against the slick in Manila Bay. The MT Terra Nova […]
Humanity suffering from ‘extreme heat epidemic,’ UN chief warns
By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS UNITED NATIONS, United States, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – Humanity is suffering from an “extreme heat epidemic,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, calling for action to limit the impacts of heat waves intensified by climate change. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world,” he said. “That’s 122 degrees Fahrenheit. And halfway to boiling.” […]
Three missing, 4,000 evacuated in heavy Japan rains
TOKYO, July 26, 2024 (AFP) – At least three people were missing in Japan on Friday after heavy rains caused rivers to burst their banks, washing away cars and prompting several thousand locals to evacuate, authorities and media reports said. Local governments in the northern prefectures of Yamagata and Akita on the main island of Honshu issued evacuation advisories to more than 200,000 people, the fire and disaster management agency said. Of those, at […]
Video game actors to strike in California
LOS ANGELES, United States, July 26, 2024 (AFP) – Hollywood’s video game actors will go on strike early Friday to demand safeguards against artificial intelligence, the US actors’ union announced. The work stoppage for the industry’s video game voice actors and motion capture performers begins at 12:01 am (0401 GMT) in California, according to the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Thursday’s announcement comes after more than a year […]
Thousands flee fast-spreading wildfire in northern California
LOS ANGELES, United States, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – Firefighters were battling a fast-moving wildfire in the US state of California on Thursday, authorities said, with more than 3,500 people forced to flee their homes. The Park Fire broke out Wednesday evening, on the last day of a heat wave affecting the region. More than 1,150 personnel were deployed to fight the blaze, which was only three percent contained, according to the California Department of […]
Wildfire engulfs parts of main town in Canada’s Jasper National Park
By Jacob STONE with Anne-Marie PROVOST in Montreal MONTREAL, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – An “out of control” wildfire has devoured up to half of the main town in western Canada’s popular Jasper National Park, authorities said Thursday, with 400 foreign firefighters called in to help battle the blaze. While the fire has so far caused no casualties, as many as 25,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from the area before the conflagration suddenly grew […]
Philippines says tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of oil capsizes in Manila Bay
MANILA, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – A Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank off Manila on Thursday, authorities said, as they sought to contain a spill stretching several kilometres. The MT Terra Nova had been heading for the central city of Iloilo when it sank in Manila Bay, nearly seven kilometres (4.3 miles) off Limay municipality in Bataan province, near the capital, in the early hours. Strong winds […]
Biden says time to pass torch to ‘younger voices’
By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, July 25, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden told Americans Wednesday he quit the 2024 election to unite the country, saying in a historic Oval Office speech that it was time to pass the torch to “younger voices.” “I revere this office. But I love my country more,” the 81-year-old said in an elegiac prime-time address to the nation urging his divided country to embrace democracy and shun hatred. “The […]
President Marcos urges swift relief as Typhoon Carina and monsoon batter the Philippines
Manila, July 24, 2024 – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has urged government agencies to prioritize assistance to isolated areas affected by Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) and the intensified southwest monsoon, known locally as “habagat,” which continue to bring heavy rains to parts of the country. In a briefing held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Marcos commended the government’s response efforts thus far. He instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) […]
Taiwan braces for Typhoon Gaemi to make landfall
YILAN, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan closed schools, suspended the stock market, and declared a typhoon holiday Wednesday as Gaemi barrelled towards the island, bringing torrential rains and whipping winds to its northeast. Typhoon Gaemi, packing sustained wind speeds of 162 kilometres (100 miles) per hour, also affected Japan and the Philippines — which also announced that government offices would close for the day. It is expected to make landfall in northeast Taiwan by […]
Streets turned into rivers as Typhoon Gaemi hits Philippines
MANILA, July 24, 2024 (AFP) – Relentless rain drenched the northern Philippines on Wednesday, triggering flooding in Manila and landslides in mountainous regions as Typhoon Gaemi (local name: Carina) intensified the seasonal monsoon. In the densely populated capital, rescuers were deployed across the city to help evacuate people from low-lying homes after downpours turned streets into rivers. People clutched flimsy umbrellas as they waded through thigh-deep murky water or used small boats and shopping […]