China Quake: Deadly Tremor Rocks Sichuan City In Lockdown

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September 5, 2022

At least 46 people have been killed after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern China, state media said.

The quake struck at 13:00 local time in Sichuan province at a depth of 10km. The impact severed telecommunications lines and triggered mountain landslides that caused “serious damage”, local media reports say.

Some 21 million people in Sichuan’s capital Chengdu were last week ordered to stay at home because of Covid rules.

The epicentre of the quake was at Luding, a town in a remote mountain region located about 226km southwest of Chengdu, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

State broadcaster CCTV said 17 people died in the city of Ya’an, while 29 deaths were reported in the neighbouring prefecture of Ganzi.

Tremors shook buildings in Chengdu and the neighbouring mega-city of Chongqing, leaving roads blocked and cutting communication lines in areas home to more than 10,000 residents.

More than 500 rescue personnel have been dispatched to the epicentre, while workers laboured to clear roadblocks caused by landslides, according to state broadcaster CGTN.

Chengdu residents reported seeing people running out of their high-rise apartments in a panic after receiving earthquake alerts on their phones.

On Friday, Chengdu became the latest city to be locked down by Chinese authorities, in an attempt to stem the rise in Covid cases.

The latest disaster comes months after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake tore through Sichuan in June. Sichuan is a earthquake-prone area, as it lies along the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

US Warplanes Fly Over Middle East Amid Iran Tensions

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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The United States military says it has flown flew a pair of nuclear-capable B-52 long-distance bombers over the Middle East in a show of force, the latest such mission in the region as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran.

The bombers took off from the Royal Air Force base at Fairford, England, and flew over the eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea on Sunday in training missions together with Kuwaiti and Saudi warplanes, before departing the region.

Although the US military’s Central Command did not mention Iran in its statement, Washington has frequently dispatched B-52 bombers to the region as hostilities simmered between the US and Iran. The last such flyover was in June.

Former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers sparked a series of escalating incidents in the region.

Even as diplomats wrangle over a possible revival of the nuclear accord, Iran’s navy seized two American sea drones in the Red Sea last week.

That capture came just days after the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard towed another sea drone before releasing it as an American warship trailed it.

The US Navy has been deploying ultra-endurance aerial surveillance drones to monitor threats in the crucial waterways, which have seen a series of maritime attacks.

Tensions also remain high after recent confrontations between US forces and Iranian-backed militias in the region. Washington last month carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria that targeted areas used by militias backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, prompting a response from Iranian-backed fighters.

Germany Apologises 50 Years After Munich Olympics Attack

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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Germany on Monday sought “forgiveness” from families of victims in the 1972 Munich Olympics attack, admitting responsibility for a litany of failings that led to the deaths of 11 Israelis.

The apology by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on behalf of Germany 50 years on came after a bitter and long fight by bereaved relatives for appropriate compensation and for Berlin to own up to mistakes made that led to the massacre.

On September 5, 1972, eight gunmen of the Palestinian militant group Black September stormed into the Israeli team’s flat at the Olympic village, shooting dead two and taking nine Israelis hostage.

West German police responded with a bungled rescue operation in which all nine hostages were killed, along with five of the eight hostage-takers and a police officer.

Despite the devastation, the International Olympic Committee announced on the morning of September 6 that the Games would go on.

Steinmeier summarised the entire episode as triple failings – in the preparation of the Games and its security concept; the events of September 5 and 6; and the “third failure began the day after the assassinations – the silence, the suppression and the forgetting”.

He said for decades, there was disregard for the victims’ suffering, calling it “years of hardheartedness”. The Games were meant to showcase a new Germany 27 years after the Holocaust, and to be a marked difference from Hitler’s 1936 propaganda showcase. But instead, they opened a deep rift with Israel.

In 2012, Israel released 45 official documents on the killings, including specially declassified material, which lambasted the performance of the German security services.

United Nations Warns Famine ‘At The Door’ In Somalia

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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The United Nations has warned that Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade, and that time was running out to save lives in the drought-stricken country.

Addressing a press conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu, visiting UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the unprecedented failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, decades of conflict, mass displacement, severe economic issues are pushing many people to the brink of famine.”

Griffiths said there are concrete indications that famine will strike Baidoa and Burhakaba in the Bay region of south-central Somalia between October and December.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops.

Humanitarian agencies have been ringing alarm bells for months and say the situation across the Horn of Africa — including Kenya and Ethiopia — is likely to deteriorate with a likely fifth failed rainy season in the offing.

UN agencies say In Somalia alone, about 7.8 million people or half the population face crisis hunger levels, including about 213,000 in danger of famine.

Around one million have fled their homes on a desperate quest for food and water.

Griffiths said the situation was worse than during Somalia’s last famine in 2011 when 260,000 people died, more than half of them children under the age of six.

He described scenes of heart-rending suffering during a visit to Baidoa, describing it as the epicentre of the crisis where he saw “children so malnourished they could barely speak” or cry.

Police Hunt Two Men After Canada Knife Rampage Kills 10

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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Police are hunting two men suspected of killing 10 people in a stabbing rampage that devastated an indigenous community in Canada as authorities tried to determine a motive for attacks that shocked a nation where mass violence is rare.

Police launched a manhunt for Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, after they allegedly stabbed people in 13 different areas across an indigenous community and its surrounding province on Sunday. At least 15 others were wounded.

The attacks in Saskatchewan province were among the deadliest in Canada’s modern history and a statement by indigenous leaders indicated they may have been drug related.

Police said some of the victims appeared to have been targeted, while others were apparently random.

The suspects were last seen traveling in a black Nissan Rogue and spotted on Sunday in the city of Regina, about 320 km south of the attacks in the James Smith Cree Nation and the village of Weldon.

In an update on Monday morning, police said the suspects were still at large and urged residents to call authorities if they had information that could help in tracking the two men.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had been in direct communication with the James Smith Cree Nation leadership, adding, “we are ready to assist in any way we can.”

Police bulletins urged people to take precautions including sheltering in place, while warning against picking up hitchhikers or approaching suspicious people.

2022 Admission: OAU Begins Screening Exercise For UTME, Direct Entry

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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September 5, 2022

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The Management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun has announced the 2022 admission screening exercise for UTME and Direct Entry candidates.

This is contained in a statement by the Registrar and Secretary to Council of the institution, Margaret Omosule, on Monday, in Ile-Ife.

Omosule said the opportunity was for only the candidates who made OAU their first choice in the 2022 UTME, scored 200 and above, and those who applied for Direct Entry (DE).

She adding that registration for the 2022 Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (PUTME) screening exercise would begin from Thursday, Sept. 8 to Saturday, Oct. 15.

According to her, candidates are required to visit “admissions.oauife.edu.ng”; Log on to the site with their Registration Number as Username and their Surname as Password.

The Registrar explained further that the candidates should fill the biodata form and click continue; obtain a Remita Retrieval Reference (RRR) from this site only, and use it to make payment online or at any commercial bank.

Omosule stated further that once payment was accepted, the system would log out and they could now login again, adding that the screening exercise would be done online.

“Applicants that provide false information, or upload incorrect credentials will automatically be disqualified.

“Candidates are required to check their screening schedule on the OAU Porter from Oct. 12.

“Candidates will also be required to participate in the Post-UTME screening on their allotted dates and time from Oct. 17 to 22 ,” She said.

Omosule urged applicants to note the screening fee of N2,000.00 only and all enquires should be forwarded to admissions@oauife.edu.ng or enquiry@oauife.edu.ng.”

Liz Truss Vows Tax Cuts After Winning PM Vote

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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Liz Truss set to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning a leadership race for the governing Conservative Party on Monday, vowed to press ahead with promised tax cuts and action to tackle a deepening energy and cost of living crisis.

After weeks of divisive leadership contest, Truss, currently the foreign minister and the favourite to win, beat former finance minister Rishi Sunak in a vote of Conservative Party members, winning by 81,326 votes to 60,399.

Truss takes over as the country faces a crunch on household finances, industrial unrest, a recession and war in Europe, where Britain has been a leading backer of Ukraine.

She appeared to rule out another national election before 2024, when she promised to deliver a great victory for her party.

But in a sign of deep divisions in her party, her winning margin was much narrower than had been expected and the narrowest in any Conservative leadership election held this century. Truss also won with the support of less than 50% of members, as almost one in five did not vote.

Truss will succeed Boris Johnson, who was forced to announce his resignation in July after months of scandals saw support for his administration drain away and ministers quit to force him out.

Johnson will travel to Scotland to meet Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss will follow him and be asked to form a government by the monarch.

Long the front-runner to replace him, Truss will become the Conservatives’ fourth prime minister since a 2015 election.

UK Deportation Plan Faces Challenge In The High Court

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Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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The British government’s plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda has faced a legal challenge in the High Court this Monday after Human rights groups and labour unions filed a number of lawsuits arguing the policy is both illegal and immoral.

The lawsuits forced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to cancel the first planned deportation in mid-June.

Johnson’s successor, former foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has already said she supports the plan.

In April the British government announced an agreement with Rwanda under which people who enter Britain illegally would be deported to the East African nation, where they would be allowed to seek asylum. In exchange for accepting them, Rwanda would receive millions of dollars in development aid.

The lawsuits were brought by several asylum-seekers who were targeted for deportation in June, as well as immigrant rights groups Care4Calais and Detention Action, and the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents border staff who will have to enforce the policy.

William Ruto Extends ‘Hand Of Brotherhood’ To Vote Rivals

By

Zoe Maven

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September 5, 2022

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Kenya’s president-elect William Ruto says he will extend a hand of brotherhood to his rivals after the Supreme Court upheld his victory in the August 9 presidential poll.
In a speech following the court decision, Ruto said, ”We are not enemies, we are Kenyans’.
In a unanimous ruling on Monday, the court, after considering several issues, including the integrity of the technology used, the validity of result sheets, and whether the election outcome would have been affected by irregularities and illegalities, Chief Justice Martha Koome said, the petitioners failed to prove that the election has any reasonable ground to be nullified.
The verdict ends a prolonged political process, including an election campaign dominated by mudslinging and fake news, with many observers fearing that the dispute over the result would boil over into violence.
But on Monday, Ruto struck a conciliatory tone, saying election and judicial institutions have won and that his government would work to make Kenya a country for everyone.
As deputy president, Ruto was widely expected to succeed outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, but found himself exiled to the sidelines when his boss struck an alliance with former foe Odinga, endorsing him for the top job.
A businessman with a rags-to-riches background and a shadowy reputation, Ruto had styled himself as “hustler-in-chief” and champion of the downtrodden as Kenya grapples with an economic crisis.
Both Ruto and Odinga had vowed to respect the court’s ruling, with memories still raw of deadly violence that marred previous election disputes in East Africa’s most vibrant democracy.

Sea Bathers Warned Of Pollution After Heavy Rain In UK County

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Angel Gimalo

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September 5, 2022

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People are being advised not to swim at 24 beaches in Devon and Cornwall because of bacterial pollution.

The Environment Agency blamed heavy rain for the problem, “as we have seen over the last couple of days”.

It said the pollution was “short term” and did not expect it to last more than 72 hours.

Beaches affected include North Sands in Salcombe and Goodrington near Paignton, both in Devon, as well as Summerleaze in Bude, Cornwall, said the agency.

An agency spokesperson said there were a “number of factors that can influence the quality of bathing waters”, including wind, sunlight, rain and tide.