(Reuters) PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 11 – At least 30 people were killed on Saturday in a stampede in the northern countryside of Haiti, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise. Jean Henri Petit, head of Civil Protection for Haiti’s Nord Department, said the stampede occurred at the Laferriere Citadel, an early-19th-century fortress built shortly […]
(Reuters) April 12 – Cyclone Vaianu made landfall in New Zealand’s North Island on Sunday, triggering floods, power outages and forcing hundreds to evacuate. The cyclone crossed the coast near the Maketu Peninsula, packing destructive winds exceeding 130 kph (80 mph), heavy rain and large swells, national weather provider MetService said, describing Vaianu as a […]
(Reuters) BEIJING, April 12 – China on Sunday unveiled 10 new incentive measures for Taiwan, including easing tourist curbs, allowing in “healthy” television dramas and facilitating food sales, following a visit by the island’s opposition leader. The move comes at the end of a trip to China by Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), […]
(Reuters) ISLAMABAD, April 12 – The U.S. and Iran failed to reach an agreement to end their war despite lengthy talks that concluded on Sunday in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, jeopardising a fragile ceasefire. Each side blamed the other for the failure of the 21-hour-long negotiations to end fighting that has killed thousands and sent global oil prices soaring […]
BBC: An Orthodox Easter truce agreed by Russia and Ukraine came into force on Saturday afternoon but 38 minutes later we heard air raid sirens in Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine. Since then, officials and military have recorded multiple ceasefire violations along the frontline, although no long-range missile or drone strikes. The pause in fighting is […]
BBC: After floods devastated their village, Indrani Ravichandran and her family are back in their house, living in the only section that is still standing. They are among the many victims of Cyclone Ditwah that ravaged the country last November. The scale of the storm – and the destruction it wreaked – was unprecedented. Over […]
BBC: Hundreds of petrol stations in the Republic of Ireland have run out of fuel as protests over high prices continue for a fifth day. RTÉ said about 500 forecourts had run out of petrol and diesel due to the protests, involving slow-moving convoys made up of vehicles including tractors. The protests have been organised over […]
BBC: Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh has won an election with 97.8% of the vote, keeping him at the helm of the strategically-placed Horn of Africa nation for a sixth term, preliminary official results show. The 78-year-old’s sole challenger Mohamed Farah Samatar got 2.19% of the vote, in a poll boycotted by most of the […]
BBC: The British rock band Deep Purple met a long-time super fan in Tokyo on Friday – who just happened to be the Japanese prime minister. “You are my god,” Sanae Takaichi, a hard rock enthusiast, told the band’s drummer Ian Paice, beaming as she handed him a pair of signed Japanese-made drumsticks. An avid […]
(Reuters) TAIPEI, April 11 – Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Saturday that it spotted 16 Chinese warplanes operating near the island the previous day, around the same time China’s president was meeting the Taiwanese opposition leader. Late on Friday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) […]