Tag: Six In The Morning

Nepal earthquake: Rescue effort intensifies

   

BBC

Rescue efforts in Nepal are intensifying after nearly 2,000 people were killed on Saturday in the worst earthquake there in more than 80 years.

Many countries and charities have offered aid to deal with the disaster.

Seventeen people have been killed on Mount Everest by avalanches – the mountain’s worst-ever disaster.

Meanwhile a powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.

The 6.7 magnitude tremor sent people running for open ground in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

Fighting in Iraq’s Ramadi displaces thousands

    Tents, food and other aid sent to residents fleeing capital of Anbar province as ISIL fighters gain new territory.

19 Apr 2015 06:43 GMT

Thousands of families continue to flee the Iraqi city of Ramadi as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group closes in on the capital of Anbar province, clashing with Iraqi troops.

The UN has announced that more than 4,000 families fled Ramadi and its suburbs in the past few days due to the ongoing clashes between ISIL and Iraqi forces, which has turned the city into a ghost town.

The UN also confirmed on Wednesday deaths among those trying to flee – including newborn babies – due to the lack of proper necessities and harsh conditions. Families have left their homes with little or nothing on their backs.

Obama-Castro summit caps thaw in US-Cuba relations

   

BBC

US President Barack Obama has said his meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro will help both countries “turn the page” after decades of hostility.

He described the meeting on the fringes of the Summit of the Americas in Panama as “candid and fruitful”.

Mr Obama said that the former foes would continue to have differences but could advance mutual interests.

The meeting was the first formal talks between the two countries’ leaders in more than half a century.

Kenya mourns victims of Garissa al-Shabab attack

   

BBC

Kenya has begun three days of mourning for the 148 victims of an attack on students by militant group al-Shabab.

Easter ceremonies will be held to remember those who died in Thursday’s attack on Garissa University, and flags are expected to fly at half-mast.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to respond to the attack “in the severest ways possible”.

Sunni Islam’s most respected seat of learning, Cairo’s al-Azhar University, has also condemned the attack.

The Kenyan Red Cross says that so far 54 of the victims have been identified by relatives at a morgue in the capital, Nairobi.

Lee Kuan Yew: Singapore holds funeral procession

   



Singapore is bidding farewell to its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died on Monday aged 91.

Despite torrential rain, thousands lined the streets to view the funeral procession carrying Mr Lee’s coffin from parliament, where it has been lying in state, across the city.

A state funeral attended by world leaders is now taking place, ahead of a private family cremation ceremony.

One million people have visited tribute sites this week, say local media.

More than half a million people – 12% of Singaporean citizens – visited Parliament House to see Mr Lee’s coffin, while at least 850,000 others went to community sites to pay tribute.

Pentagon investigates ‘IS online threat’ to US military

   

BBC

The US defence department says it is investigating an online threat allegedly made by Islamic State (IS) to about 100 of its military personnel.

A list of names and addresses was posted on a website linked to the group alongside a call for them to be killed.

The group said it obtained the information by hacking servers and databases but US officials said most of the data was in the public domain.

A US security source told the BBC that those on the list were being contacted.

The group, which called itself the Islamic State Hacking Division, said the personnel named had participated in US missions against IS.

Cyclone Pam leaves ‘most’ of Vanuatu population homeless

    29 minutes ago

BBC

Vanuatu’s president has told the BBC most of his people are homeless after the devastating cyclone that ravaged the Pacific island nation on Saturday.

Speaking from Japan, Baldwin Lonsdale said Cyclone Pam had destroyed most buildings in the capital Port Vila, including schools and clinics.

A state of emergency has been declared in the tiny state of 267,000 people, spread over 65 islands.

At least eight people are reported to have been killed.

However, it is feared the toll will rise sharply as rescuers reach outlying islands.

Thousands of people spent a second night in shelters.

The category five storm, with winds of up to 270km/h (170mph), veered off its expected course and struck populated areas when it reached Vanuatu early on Saturday local time (+11 GMT).

Obama praises Selma ‘heroes’ 50 years after march

      7 hours ago

BBC

US President Barack Obama has marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights march in Alabama by paying tribute to the “heroes” who took part.

He delivered a speech commemorating “Bloody Sunday” on 7 March 1965, when security forces attacked black demonstrators in the city.

Mr Obama said the marchers, who were campaigning for equal voting rights, had “given courage to millions”.

His wife Michelle and about 100 members of Congress also attended the event.

“Because of what they did, the doors of opportunity swung open not just for African-Americans, but for every American,” he said, standing in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the violence took place.

Egypt’s ‘terrorist’ labelling of Hamas prompts protests

      Palestinians across Gaza denounce ruling and reject Egypt’s accusations that the group is aiding armed forces in Sinai.

01 Mar 2015 04:58 GMT

Protests have broken out in the Gaza Strip against an Egyptian court’s decision to declare Hamas a “terrorist” organisation, just weeks after the Palestinian group’s armed wing was given the same designation.

A judicial source told AFP news agency that the court issued the verdict on Saturday, a ruling seen as in keeping with a systematic crackdown on Islamist groups by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Palestinians throughout refugee camps and cities in Gaza held demonstrations in protest at the decision.

Turkey launches rescue operation inside Syria

      Turkish forces carry out incursion into Syria to evacuate Turkish soldiers from Suleyman Shah tomb, Turkish PM confirms.

22 Feb 2015 07:27 GMT

Turkish soldiers guarding the tomb of Suleyman Shah in Syria have been successfully evacuated to Turkey in a military operation overnight, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Davutoglu said the remains of Suleyman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, would be moved to a different area of Syria which has been brought under Turkish military control.

The military said in a statement that there had been no clashes during the operation but that one soldier had been killed in an accident.