Other News

No survivors in crash of Russian helicopter with 22 on board in far east

(Reuters) -Searchers found no survivors among the wreckage of a Russian helicopter that crashed in the far eastern peninsula of Kamchatka with 22 people on board, state news agency TASS said on Sunday. The Mi-8T helicopter had taken off from a base near the Vachkazhets volcano. The Kamchatka peninsula, some 7,100 km (4,400 miles) east of Moscow, was hit by a cyclone over the weekend, with heavy winds and rain, but it was not clear […]

Update: Russia will change nuclear doctrine due to West’s actions in Ukraine, official says

LONDON (Reuters) -Russia will make changes to its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons in response to what it regards as Western escalation in the war in Ukraine, state media quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Sunday. The existing nuclear doctrine, set out in a decree by President Vladimir Putin in 2020, says Russia may use nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack by an enemy or a conventional […]

Thousands of Australians without power as heavy rain, damaging winds lash Tasmania

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of people in Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania were without power on Sunday after a cold front brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings. “Around 30,000 customers are without power across the state this morning,” Tasnetworks, a state-owned power company, said on Facebook on Sunday. The nation’s weather forecaster said on its website that a cold front over Tasmania, population around 570,000 people, was moving away, “although […]

Israel recovers bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Goldberg-Polin

By Ari Rabinovitch and Stephanie Kelly JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in southern Gaza where they were apparently killed not long before Israeli troops reached them, the military said on Sunday. “According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them,” military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in a briefing. The bodies of Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, […]

China, Philippines accuse each other of ramming ships in South China Sea

By Neil Jerome Morales and Joe Cash BEIJING (Reuters) -The Philippines and China exchanged accusations of intentionally ramming coast guard vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, the latest in an escalating series of clashes in the vital waterway. The collision near the Sabina Shoal was their fifth maritime confrontation in a month in a longstanding rivalry. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, […]

Doctor charged in death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry ‘incredibly remorseful’

By Steve Gorman and Jorge Garcia LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – One of two doctors who are among the five people charged in the ketamine overdose death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry was barred by a federal judge on Friday from practicing medicine and through his lawyer afterward expressed remorse. Dr. Mark Chavez appeared in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for a brief arraignment on a single felony count of conspiracy to illegally distribute ketamine […]

Pacific leaders remove Taiwan from communique after China complaint

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Pacific Islands Forum has removed references to Taiwan from a communique issued on Friday after the region’s annual leaders meeting, after complaints by China’s envoy. The bloc of 18 nations includes three members with diplomatic ties to Taiwan, and 15 members who recognise China, a major infrastructure lender to Pacific Islands countries where Beijing is seeking to increase its security presence. A communique released on Friday on the […]

At least 6 dead in Japan as Typhoon Shanshan grinds on

TOKYO (Reuters) – At least six people were dead as Typhoon Shanshan crept eastward through Japan on Saturday, drenching large areas with torrential rain, triggering landslide and flood warnings hundreds of kilometres from the storm’s centre. Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed homes with roofs partly sheered off while cars drove wheels-deep on flooded roads in the country’s southwest. The storm made landfall in Kyushu on Thursday, bringing record levels of rainfall. One person was […]

Singapore plans law to restrict banking transactions of scam targets

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s home ministry said on Friday that it will introduce a law in coming months to grant police the power to temporarily restrict the banking transactions of targets of scams who refuse to believe they are being duped. The proposed law comes as the number of scam cases involving the voluntary transfer of money by the victim to the scammer remains high, despite measures and efforts to educate the public on how […]

NASA narrows Crew-9 lineup to accommodate astronauts aboard ISS

(Reuters) – NASA said on Friday it will replace two crew members for an upcoming SpaceX flight to accommodate the two astronauts aboard the International Space Station who had arrived on Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both former military test pilots who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will replace Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson on the SpaceX mission. Last week, NASA officials deemed issues with Starliner’s propulsion […]

Hong Kong court convicts former Stand News editors of sedition

By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) -A Hong Kong court on Thursday found two editors of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles in a case that has drawn international scrutiny amid a security crackdown in the China-ruled city. The two editors, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, could be jailed for up to two years when they are sentenced on Sept. 26. Their conviction is the […]

Cuba faces uphill battle as Oropouche virus spreads

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban health authorities launched small-scale fumigation efforts in Havana on Friday to fight the spread of the Oropouche virus, but a rainy Caribbean summer, fuel shortages and growing roadside trash heaps are complicating those efforts, workers and officials said. More than 500 cases of the virus have been registered since May when the disease was first detected in far-eastern Cuba, health officials said this week. The virus, also known as sloth fever, […]