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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Ammonium nitrate, which Lebanese authorities have said was the cause of the Beirut blast, is an odorless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertilizer that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades. These include notably at a Texas fertilizer plant in 2013 that killed 15 and was ruled deliberate, and another at a chemical plant in Toulouse, France in 2001 that killed 31 people but was […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s worst-hit state of Victoria reported 15 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, including a man in his 30s, making it the country’s deadliest day of the pandemic to date. An outbreak in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city and the capital of Victoria, has seen hundreds of new cases recorded daily in recent weeks, including 725 on Wednesday. The epidemic surge continued even though Melbourne has been under a stay-at-home lockdown for nearly a […]
by Rogerio FLORENTINO, with Jordi MIRO in Brasilia PROCONE, Brazil (AFP) — A tractor cuts a firebreak through the vegetation of the Pantanal, the world’s biggest tropical wetlands, as firefighters race to contain the blazes that have been devastating one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The Brazilian Pantanal suffered a record 1,684 fires last month, triple the number from July 2019, according to satellite images. It was the worst month on record for […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US on Tuesday added 1,302 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The world’s largest economy also added 53,847 new cases of the virus, the Baltimore-based institution’s tracker showed at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Wednesday). The US has now recorded 4,765,170 total cases with 156,668 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world. But President Donald Trump […]
by Peter HUTCHISON NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Tropical storm Isaias pounded the US eastern seaboard with driving rain and strong winds on Tuesday, cutting power to over one million households and felling trees, including in New York. At least one person was killed in New York City after a tree fell on their car, while another was critically injured by a falling branch, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Wind gusts up to 78 […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Tuesday there was no evidence that Chinese-owned TikTok had abused the data of its hundreds of millions of users. “We have had a good look at this, and there is no evidence for us to suggest… that there is any misuse of any people’s data,” he told the Aspen Security Forum meeting in Aspen, Colorado. “There are plenty of things that are on TikTok […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday successfully tested an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a launch directed from an airborne command center, the Air Force said. The missile was launched at 12:21 am (0721 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, travelling 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles) over the Pacific Ocean before landing in the sea near the Marshall Islands. “The test demonstrates that the United States’ nuclear […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel on Tuesday offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon, with which it is still technically at war, following the huge explosions that rocked Beirut, killing dozens of people and wounding thousands. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed his National Security Council to make contact with UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov “in order to clarify how Israel can further assist Lebanon”. Earlier, Defence Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — About 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in the Beirut port warehouse that exploded Tuesday, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said. “It is unacceptable that a shipment of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate has been present for six years in a warehouse, without taking preventive measures,” he said at a defense council meeting, a spokesman told a press conference. “It is unacceptable and we […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian was among the dead after massive explosions devastated Beirut’s port on Tuesday and killed dozens, Australia’s prime minister said. “It’s my deep regret to inform you that one Australian has been killed in this horrific blast,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told The Today Show without providing further details. Two enormous explosions killed at least 73 people and injured thousands, shaking distant buildings and spreading panic and chaos in the […]
by Clemence FOURNIVAL avec Julie PACOREL à Marseille MARTIGUES, France (AFP) — A forest fire Tuesday ravaged 800 hectares of vegetation near the southern French city of Marseille, forcing the evacuation of over 200 people, officials said. There were no casualties thus far from the blaze that broke out west of Marseille, as 1,200 firefighters and water bombing planes were deployed to fight the flames. Some 225 people, mostly tourists and campers, were evacuated by […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday offered US assistance to Lebanon after Beirut was rocked by massive blasts. “We are monitoring and stand ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this horrible tragedy,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter. Pompeo in an accompanying statement said that the United States will wait for the findings of Lebanese authorities on the cause of the explosions, which killed at least […]
