NASA said Tuesday it was analyzing an object that crashed from the sky into a Florida man’s home — which could well be a piece of debris jettisoned from the International Space Station. Alejandro Otero of Naples, Florida, posted on X that the item “tore through the roof and went (through) 2 floors” of his house, almost striking his son, on the afternoon of March 8. He believes it was a piece of a cargo […]
Other News
Residents of four Northern Luzon areas ‘strongly advised’ to immediately move to higher ground or farther inland
(Eagle News)–Residents of four areas in the northern part of the Philippines were “strongly advised” on Wednesday, April 3, to immediately move to higher ground or farther inland following a strong earthquake in Taiwan. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said covered by the advisory were residents of the Batanes Group of Islands, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and Isabela. In issuing the advisory, PHIVOLCS noted that the coastal areas in the Philippines fronting the Pacific […]
‘I’m back’: Sixers Embiid to return against Thunder
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid will make his long-awaited return from injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, the team confirmed. Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Embiid, who has not played since late January, has been passed fit by the Sixers and will play limited minutes, reports said. The Sixers ace has missed 29 games after injuring a knee in a defeat to the Golden State Warriors on January 30. He underwent surgery in […]
Earthquake in Taiwan ‘strongest in 25 years’: Taipei seismology official
TAIPEI, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – The earthquake that hit Taiwan’s east on Wednesday morning was “the strongest in 25 years”, said the director of Taipei’s Seismology Centre. “The earthquake is close to land and it’s shallow. It’s felt all over Taiwan and offshore islands… it’s the strongest in 25 years since the (1999) earthquake,” Wu Chien-fu told reporters, referring to a September 1999 quake with 7.6-magnitude that killed 2,400 people. This is a developing […]
Israeli army chief says strike killing aid workers was ‘grave mistake’
By Adel Zaanoun with Fiachra Gibbons in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s defence chief said Wednesday that a strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza was a “grave mistake”, after the incident prompted a chorus of international condemnation. “This incident was a grave mistake,” IDF chief Herzi Halevi said in a video message on the strike that hit a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy on Monday. “It shouldn’t […]
Main airport in Japan’s Okinawa suspends flights after tsunami alert: official
TOKYO, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – – Flights were suspended at the main airport in Japan’s southern region of Okinawa on Wednesday due to a tsunami alert triggered by an earthquake in Taiwan, a government official said. Operations at Naha Airport were suspended from 9:25 am local time (0025 GMT) as a precautionary measure, a transport ministry official stationed at the airport told AFP. “Incoming flights need to divert” at the airport, located on the […]
Philippines warns of tsunami, orders evacuation of coastal areas after 7.4-magnitude quake in Taiwan
MANILA, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines warned of “high tsunami waves” and called for the evacuation of coastal areas in the country’s north on Wednesday, lowering an earlier warning after a major quake struck neighbouring Taiwan. “The people in the coastal areas of the following provinces are strongly advised to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland,” the state seismology institute said in an advisory. Coastal areas in the provinces of […]
Major 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan triggers tsunami warnings across the region
By Amber WANG TAIPEI, April 3, 2024 (AFP) – A major 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan’s east on Wednesday morning, prompting tsunami warnings for the self-ruled island as well as parts of southern Japan and the Philippines. The quake hit just before 8:00am local time (0000 GMT), with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) putting the epicentre 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Taiwan’s Hualien City, at a depth of 34.8 km. Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued […]
Inter-agency committee to streamline right-of-way activities for national railway projects created
(Eagle News)–President Bongbong Marcos has created an Inter-Agency Committee for Right-of Way (ROW) Activities for National Railway Project. In issuing Administrative Order No. 19 dated March 25 that created the committee, the President said the body shall “study and devise an efficient and collaborative mechanism to streamline the process of land acquisition necessary for the implementation of all railway projects.” The Presidential Communications Office said the committee’s powers and functions include coordinating the implementation […]
12-year-old killed, two seriously injured in Finland school shooting
HELSINKI, April 2, 2024 (AFP) – Finnish police said a 12-year-old child died and two others seriously wounded after a peer opened fire Tuesday at a school just north of the capital Helsinki. “Today, after 9:00 am, a shooting incident took place at a school … in which a sixth grader, a student of the school, died,” Ilkka Koskimaki, police chief of Eastern Uusimaa police department, told a press conference, adding two others were “seriously […]
4.2-magnitude earthquake strikes off Occidental Mindoro
(Eagle News)–A 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Occidental Mindoro on Tuesday, April 2. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake hit at 2:36 p.m. Its epicenter was 19 kilometers southwest of Mamburao. The depth of focus was 20 kilometers. The following instrumental intensities were reported: Instrumental Intensities: Intensity III – Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro; Intensity II – City of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro Intensity I – Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro; Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro […]
‘Dust and scorpions’: Inside Iraq’s crumbling school system
By Salam FARAJ BANI SAAD, Iraq, April 2, 2024 (AFP) – In a small village in central Iraq, children cram into dilapidated classrooms in a converted farmhouse with open-air toilets, a symptom of how education has been neglected in the oil-rich but war-weary country. “We close the school when it rains because water leaks through the roof,” said Oudai Abdallah, director of a public elementary school in Bani Saad district, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north […]