SYDNEY, Australia — Australian officials are pushing ahead with Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display despite more than a quarter of a million people signing a petition calling for the event to be scrapped. The Change.org petition said the funds that would normally be spent on the dazzling firework display should be redistributed towards the firefighting […]
BUSHEHR, Iran — A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Iran early Friday morning in a region which houses the country’s first nuclear power plant. The quake occurred just after 5 a.m. local time, 27 miles southeast of the city of Borazjan in Bushehr province, at a depth of 23.7 miles, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). […]
MANILA, Philippines. — A typhoon that lashed the central Philippines on Christmas Day has killed at least 16 people and caused damage to homes and tourist areas. Typhoon Phanfone, known locally as Typhoon Ursula, first made landfall on Eastern Samar province on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and storm surges. It hit as the equivalent of […]
KABUL — The Taliban says it’s responsible for an attack in Afghanistan that left one U.S. servicemember dead. A spokesman for the group said that several other U.S. and Afghan troops were wounded, which hasn’t been confirmed by U.S. sources. The attack reportedly took place in Kunduz province, an area that’s seen numerous insurgent attacks. The […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia. — Five people are now facing the death penalty in connection with the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor announced the sentences today, adding that three others had been sentenced to years behind bars. The crown prince drew international condemnation for the killing because several Saudi agents involved […]
NEW DELHI, India. — Protesters in India have vowed more civil action against a new citizenship law, even as the Indian government extends sweeping controls on protests and imposes internet shutdowns following deadly country-wide demonstrations. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in at least 15 cities across the country, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata on […]
CENTRAL JAVA, Indonesia. — Between 108,000 and 117,000 years ago, the first humans to walk upright took their last stand. Researchers have discovered the youngest fossils of Homo erectus in Central Java, Indonesia, an ancient human species that went extinct before modern humans evolved. The researchers say that their findings confirm when the species went […]
BEIJING, China. — China has officially commissioned its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, a significant step forward in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions for the country to field a world-class navy. Xi attended the commissioning ceremony in the southern province of Hainan Tuesday, according to state-run media, where the Shandong finally entered service […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan. — Former Pakistan President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been sentenced to death in absentia for high treason following a six-year legal case. A three-member special court in Islamabad on Tuesday convicted Musharraf of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule while he was in power, in a case that had been pending […]
MINDANAO, Philippines. — A 6-year-old girl was among three people killed when a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines island of Mindanao on Sunday. The girl was inside her family’s house when the building collapsed and killed her, the province’s governor, Douglas Cagas, told CNN. Fire Service director Chief Superintendent Samuel Tadeo confirmed the three deaths and […]
