Category Archives: World News

Israeli aircraft strike Hamas sites in Gaza as hostilities escalate

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Cross-border gunfire earlier on Saturday seriously injured an Israeli soldier and wounded 41 Palestinians

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas sites in Gaza late on Saturday, the military said, in an escalation of hostilities after earlier cross-border gunfire seriously injured an Israeli soldier and wounded 41 Palestinians, including two critically.

The injuries came during a Gaza protest organised by the enclave’s Islamist rulers, Hamas, and other factions in support of Jerusalem, where Palestinian clashes with Israeli police helped spark an 11-day Israel-Hamas conflict in May.

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Henri becomes hurricane as it heads for Long Island and New England

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  • Forecasters predict landfall in New York or Connecticut
  • New England has not been hit by hurricane since 1991

Preparations for a monster storm forecast to hit parts of the US north-east were stepped up on Saturday after Henri was promoted to a hurricane as it moved closer to land.

In New York, Andrew Cuomo used his last hours as governor to direct the state response, declaring a state of emergency in some areas and telling residents: “If you have to get to higher ground, it has to be today.”

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Springsteen and LL Cool J to play New York comeback concert – as Covid surges

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Thousands will show proof of vaccination to attend star-studded Central Park extravaganza as city averages nearly 1,900 cases a day

As coronavirus cases continued to rise across the US, thousands were expected nonetheless to attend a concert in Central Park on Saturday night, staged to celebrate New York City’s recovery amid the pandemic.

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, LL Cool J and Andrea Bocelli were included in the lineup for We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert. Most tickets distributed by the city were free, with attendees required to show proof of vaccination.

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Raging Delta variant takes its toll as Philippines runs out of nurses

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Bad pay and conditions at home and demand for Filipino nursing skills overseas have left the country with a soaring death rate

The Covid Delta variant has swept across south-east Asia over recent months, prompting lockdowns and overwhelming hospitals – from Malaysia to Thailand and Indonesia. Now the impact is being felt in the Philippines, just as the country’s chronic lack of health workers reaches a crisis point.

“The disease has become very aggressive,” said Michael Bilan, who works on a Covid ward in Manila. This time, patients tend to require a higher amount of oxygen, for longer, he said. The number of Covid patients is also at a record high: last week, 277 were receiving treatment. New wards have been opened to meet demand.

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Trump to stage Alabama rally as state struggles with Covid surge

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Ex-president to support of Mo Brooks, who is running for Senate and sympathised with man who threatened to blow up US Capitol

Donald Trump was due to stage a rally in Alabama on Saturday night, in a city that has declared a Covid emergency and in support of a congressman who both backed Trump’s attempt to overturn the election and this week sympathised with a man who threatened to blow up the US Capitol.

Related: Capitol bomb claim suspect charged with weapon of mass destruction threat

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‘Racist and flat out wrong’: Texas Republican blames Black Americans for Covid surge

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Dan Patrick refuses to apologise for false claim while Texas experiences highest hospitalisation rates since January

Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor of Texas, has refused to apologise for blaming rising Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths on unvaccinated African Americans, comments one Black Houston official called “racist and flat out wrong”.

Related: Texas school district requires masks after finding dress code loophole to bypass ban

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R Kelly sex-trafficking trial: manager used bribe to get Aaliyah fake ID

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  • Demetrius Smith details moves to let singer marry 15-year-old
  • R Kelly denies charges in New York trial

A former tour manager for R Kelly testified on Friday that he paid a $500 bribe to a government worker to get the singer Aaliyah a fake identification card so Kelly could secretly marry her when she was 15 years old.

Related: Aaliyah: ‘Her sound is the R&B blueprint’

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Disinfection robots and thermal body cameras: welcome to the Covid-free office

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A workplace in Bucharest filled with anti-virus innovations could become the new normal in office design, its creators hope

Not so long ago it may have seemed more like a futuristic vision of the workplace – or a hospital.

But the hands-free door handles, self-cleaning surfaces, antimicrobial paint, air-monitoring display tools, UV light disinfection robots, and 135 other measures at an office block in Bucharest are here to stay, say the creators behind what they are touting as one of the world’s most virus-resilient workplaces, which they hope will become the new normal in office design.

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Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know

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Vaccine efficacy against infection is waning slightly with time – but efficacy against severe symptoms remains strong

Federal health authorities have recommended booster shots for all adults who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with either the the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, citing evidence that suggests breakthrough infections could become more common over time.

The plan has faced scrutiny. Some US scientists have said data was insufficient to support the decision, and vaccines remain highly effective against severe disease requiring hospitalization and death. The World Health Organization harshly criticized US leaders for using vaccines to provide a third shot to people, even as most around the world haven’t had one.

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World weatherwatch: Peru’s saint of storms brings salvation to cities and ski slopes

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Seasonal storms that blow up on the Peruvian coast at this time of year are named after St Rosa

In August 1615, a Dutch pirate fleet under Joris Van Spilbergen threatened the city of Lima. According to legend, a nun called Sister Rosa, whose original name was Isabel Flores de Oliva, prayed for deliverance. A tremendous storm blew up just as the pirates were sailing in to sack the city and scattered their fleet.

The storm was hailed as a miracle, and Sister Rosa became the first person born in the Americas to be canonised. She is patron saint of embroidery, gardening, the Americas, and the city of Lima. The seasonal storms that blow up on the Peruvian coast at this time of year are known as the Tormentas de Santa Rosa or Saint Rosa’s storms. These traditionally occur 15 days either side of the saint’s day on 30 August.

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‘This isn’t surprising’: Jacinda Ardern warns New Zealanders to remain calm as Covid cases rise

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Country records 21 new cases, its worst single day for transmission since April last year

Jacinda Ardern has warned New Zealanders the worst of the Delta outbreak of Covid-19 is yet to come after another jump in cases.

New Zealand recorded 21 fresh community cases on Saturday, the country’s worst single day for transmission since April last year.

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Levelling up Pompeii: grave shows how a former slave went far

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Inscriptions by the body of Marcus Venerius Secundio proudly list his achievements after being liberated

The inscription on the gravestone proudly attests to how far Marcus Venerius Secundio, a former slave of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, went in life. In order of importance, he lists his achievements after being liberated. The first was his role as custodian of the Temple of Venus, built soon after the creation of Pompeii as a Roman colony.

He also joined the ranks of the Augustales, a college of priests who were in charge of a form of emperor worship. But perhaps the most telling indication of his eventual status was that he financed entertainment events in Greek and Latin.

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Blow for Uber as judge finds California’s gig-worker law unconstitutional

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  • Judge sides with drivers in lawsuit brought over Prop 22
  • Uber criticizes decision and says it plans to appeal

A judge on Friday struck down a California ballot measure that exempted Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections.

Related: One airport, 1,300 snakes: San Francisco helps to save endangered species

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Biden to ‘mobilize every resource’ to get Americans home from Afghanistan

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  • Embattled president promises: ‘We will get you home’
  • Biden endeavors to evacuate Afghans who supported US

Joe Biden, under mounting pressure to evacuate American citizens from Afghanistan, has said the US is considering “every means” to get people to Kabul airport, promising: “We will get you home.”

Related: ‘We will get you home,’ Biden tells Americans in Afghanistan – live

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Biden confirms plan to nominate Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan

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• Obama’s former chief of staff also served as Chicago mayor

• Emanuel joins long list of ambassadors awaiting confirmation

Joe Biden plans to nominate Rahm Emanuel, a former US lawmaker who served as chief of staff to President Barack Obama and as mayor of Chicago, to be ambassador to Japan, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

White House officials lauded Emanuel’s experience and long years of public service in announcing the nomination.

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‘We’re beating this together’: Jemaine Clement on Covid, crime and his friend Taika Waititi

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The co-creator of Wellington Paranormal and Flight of the Conchords is busy with new projects and looking forward to bingeing friends’ work

It’s a blustery Wellington night and we’re on the brink of the second nationwide lockdown of the pandemic. There’s a measured knock at my flat door. Jemaine Clement shakes my hand warmly and removes his boots. We’re meeting off the back of the global success of his comedy series Wellington Paranormal and he is in an ebullient mood. He’s also in a thirsty one: tonight the former door-to-door orange juice salesman is plumping for copious glasses of water instead.

Paranormal is one of two spinoffs from his and Taika Waititi’s vampire film What We Do in the Shadows. It stars Shadows’ police officers Minogue (Mike Minogue) and O’Leary (Karen O’Leary), recruited for the paranormal unit by Sgt Ruawai Maaka (Maaka Pohatu). The trio, and their colleague Const Parker (Tom Sainsbury), are oblivious, bungling and affable. Clement explains the importance of Paranormal being a collegial shoot.

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‘No second chances’: Can New Zealand beat Delta?

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Jacinda Ardern has led a global Covid success story, but other countries have come unstuck when facing the Delta variant

As epidemiologist Michael Baker scrolled through a growing list of New Zealand’s Covid-exposed locations, “my heart just sank,” he says.

Bars, nightclubs, churches, schools, restaurants and hospitals – the bullet points were an infectious disease expert’s nightmare. “Virtually every high risk, indoor environment was on that list.”

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‘No one wanted to come near us’: what it’s like being pregnant amid Fiji’s Covid outbreak

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As Fiji battles to contain the coronavirus, pregnant women are having to give birth in isolation

For 34-year-old Jane, being told she had tested positive for Covid-19 just a few days before giving birth was an experience she would never forget.

“There were some minor complications during the final trimester of my pregnancy. On 18 July, I was taken to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva but I had to wait outside with other pregnant mothers who were about to deliver,” said Jane, not her real name.

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Joe Biden gives update on situation in Afghanistan – video

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President Joe Biden, rejecting criticism of his handling of the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan, has warned that the operation to evacuate thousands through Kabul airport carries risks, but promised Americans in the country that 'we will get you home'.

'Make no mistake, this evacuation mission is dangerous. It involves risks to our armed forces and it's being conducted under difficult circumstances. I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss. But as commander in chief, I can assure you that I will mobilise every resource necessary,' Biden said.

The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan by a 31 August deadline, although Biden said this week that US troops at Kabul airport providing security for the evacuation could stay longer if necessary.

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Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon hits highest annual level in a decade

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Rainforest lost 10,476 sq km between August 2020 and July 2021, report says, despite increasing global concern

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has hit the highest annual level in a decade, a new report has shown, despite increasing global concern over the accelerating devastation since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.

Between August 2020 and July 2021, the rainforest lost 10.476 square kilometers – an area nearly seven times bigger than greater London and 13 times the size of New York City, according to data released by Imazon, a Brazilian research institute that has been tracking the Amazon deforestation since 2008. The figure is 57% higher than in the previous year and is the worst since 2012.

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