DETROIT, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – A shooter opened fire at a water park in the US state of Michigan on Saturday, wounding nine or more people including at least one child, police said. The local sheriff’s office said it potentially had the suspect contained near the scene of the shooting in Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit. “It appears like the individual pulled up, exited a vehicle, approached the splash pad, opened fire. Reloaded, […]
Other News
Philippines submits UN claim to extended continental shelf
MANILA, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines has sought recognition from the United Nations for its claim to an extended continental shelf off the island that is closest to a hotly disputed region of the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire waterway through which trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passes annually, and huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under its seabed. The sea is also important as […]
Israel announces daily Gaza ‘pause’ for aid deliveries
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s military said Sunday it would “pause” fighting around a south Gaza route daily to facilitate aid deliveries, following months of warnings of famine in the besieged Palestinian territory. The announcement of a “local, tactical pause of military activity” during daylight hours in an area of Rafah came a day after eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast near the far-southern city and three more […]
Sinkholes threaten luxury property in Chile’s resort city
By Pedro SCHWARZE VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – It was meant to be paradise on earth: a luxury apartment building standing just a few meters away from the beach with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. However, intense rains that have lashed Chile in recent days caused a giant sinkhole to open underneath this high-end property in the resort city of Vina del Mar, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of residents. […]
Water crisis batters war-torn Sudan as temperatures soar
PORT SUDAN, Sudan, June 16, 2024 (AFP) – War, climate change and man-made shortages have brought Sudan — a nation already facing a litany of horrors — to the shores of a water crisis. “Since the war began, two of my children have walked 14 kilometres (nine miles) every day to get water for the family,” Issa, a father of seven, told AFP from North Darfur state. In the blistering sun, as temperatures climb past […]
Early summer heatwave claims first victim in Cyprus
NICOSIA, June 14, 2024 (AFP) – A 91-year-old woman became the first death from an early heatwave gripping Cyprus as the island sweltered under record June temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) on Friday. Health officials said a woman died at Nicosia General Hospital suffering from heatstroke; another five elderly patients were being treated in hospitals with severe symptoms of heatstroke. State health organisation spokesperson Charalambos Charilaou told reporters the woman suffered a cardiac […]
‘Constant blood’: Ukraine’s frontline medics battle exhaustion
By Maryke VERMAAK Ukraine, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – When Vitaliy signed up to join the Ukrainian army as a surgeon, he made a promise not to burn himself out, fearing he could be needed for a lengthy and bloody war. More than two years after Russia invaded and with the fighting showing no sign of subsiding, that promise is being put to the test. Vitaliy serves at a medical post in the Pokrovsk area […]
Toss delayed in India v Canada T20 World Cup match
LAUDERHILL, United States, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – A wet outfield caused a delay to the toss ahead of the T20 World Cup match between India and Canada at Central Broward Stadium on Saturday. Both the scheduled games at the Florida venue have been abandoned due to rain and while the forecast for Saturday’s game looks more promising there remained wet parts of the outfield needing attention. Umpires will carry out an inspection of the […]
Canadian Navy ship join US, Russian subs in Cuba
HAVANA, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – A Canadian Navy patrol ship docked Friday in Cuba, which is also hosting two nuclear-powered submarines — one American and one Russian. The HMCS Margaret Brooke docked in Havana on its way back from “a successful deployment in the Caribbean basin,” the Royal Canadian Navy said on Facebook. It “will conduct a port visit to Havana from June 14 to 17, 2024, in recognition of the long-standing bilateral relationship […]
Meta pauses AI plans in Europe after privacy complaints
VIENNA, June 14, 2024 (AFP) – Meta has paused plans to use personal data to train its artificial intelligence technology in Europe, Ireland’s regulator said Friday, after the social media giant was hit with privacy complaints. Last week, a Vienna-based privacy campaign group filed complaints in 11 European countries against Meta, saying the global tech giant’s planned privacy policy change would allow “unlawful” use of personal data to train an “undefined” type of current and […]
Iran, Sweden free prisoners in Oman-mediated swap
By Ramin KHANIZADEH, Payam DOOST MOHAMADI TEHRAN, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – Iran and Sweden announced on Saturday a prisoner exchange that saw a former Iranian official jailed in Sweden freed as Stockholm said Tehran had released a European Union diplomat and a second Swede. “Hamid Noury, who has been in illegal detention in Sweden since 2019, is free and will return to the country in a few hours,” Kazem Gharibabadi, head of Iran’s High […]
Ukraine seeks path to just peace at Swiss summit
By Robin MILLARD with Jake CORDELL in Warsaw BURGENSTOCK, Switzerland, June 15, 2024 (AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped to find paths to a “just peace” as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine opened Saturday. More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit — though with Moscow rejecting the event, it only […]