World News

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Torrential rains kept battering Australia’s east coast on Tuesday, intensifying the flood crisis in Sydney as thousands more residents were ordered to leave their homes after rivers swiftly rose past danger levels.

About 50,000 residents in New South Wales, most in Sydney’s western suburbs, have been told to either evacuate or warned they might receive evacuation orders, up from Monday’s 30,000, authorities said.

“This event is far from over, please don’t be complacent,” New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters. “Wherever you are, please be careful when you’re driving on our roads. There are still substantial risks for flash flooding.”

The latest wild storm cell – which brought heavy rains with several places receiving more than Australia’s annual average rainfall in three days – is likely to ease in Sydney from Tuesday as the coastal trough moves north, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.

But the risk of flooding could remain through the week with most river catchments already near capacity even before the latest deluge.

About 90mm (3.5 inches) of rain could fall over six hours in the state’s mid-north coast from Tuesday, reaching up to 125mm in some places, BoM said.

Winds up to 90km per hour (56 miles per hour) are also forecast in several flood-hit places, raising the risk of falling trees and power lines.

“We’re asking people across Sydney today to please stay at home unless you really need to leave the house,” state Emergency Management Minister Steph Cooke said.

The federal government late on Monday declared the floods a natural disaster, helping flood-hit residents receive emergency funding support.

Emergency crews will continue their rescue operation on Tuesday to tow a bulk carrier ship that lost power off the coast of Sydney after tow lines broke in severe weather, officials said.

Major flooding is occurring at Windsor in Sydney’s west, which is going through its third flood this year, with current water levels higher than seen in the deluge early this year, the weather bureau said.

Footage on social media showed submerged roads and bridges, while emergency crews rescued stranded people from partially submerged vehicles that became stuck in rising waters.

Nigel Myron, a Windsor resident, said he has kept an inflatable boat ready if he had to evacuate though he is looking to move back to his place once waters recede.

“At the end of the day, what can you do? It is what it is and we dust ourselves off from the ashes and rebuild after the floods have come and gone,” Myron told ABC television.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by David Gregorio and Lincoln Feast.)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department said on Monday that independent investigators could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after conducting detailed forensic analysis.

The U.S. Security Coordinator, by summarizing investigations by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, also concluded that gunfire from Israeli Defense Force positions was likely responsible for her death, but that it found no reason to believe that this was intentional.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday that it was closely monitoring the situation in Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan province after deadly unrest broke out, and that issues there should be solved through “legal means” rather than rioting.

“We welcome the measures taken by the leadership of Uzbekistan and are confident that they will contribute to the complete normalisation of the situation in this part of the country,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We are in favour of resolving any issues by legal means, and not through street riots.”

Eighteen people were killed and 243 wounded during unrest in Karakalpakstan last week over plans to curtail its autonomy, Uzbek authorities said on Monday.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The first of the more than 200 firefighters from six European countries that will help their Greek colleagues in fighting wildfires have arrived in Athens.

The 28 Romanian firefighters were welcomed Saturday by Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Christos Stylianides and the leadership of Greece’s Fire Service.

“Romania is happy to join the pre-positioning program with a specialized firefighting force,” Romanian team leader Col. Alexandru-Adrian Csilik said. “We have a previous experience here in Greece.”

The Romanians, along with other countries, including Russia and Turkey, helped Greece fight widespread wildfires in August 2021, which broke across the country and devastated the northern part of Evia, Greece’s second-largest island, as well as the southern Peloponnese peninsula.

This year, the EU has set up a “pre-positioning pilot project” designed to lead to a permanent Europe-wide cooperation program.

“We are scaling up preparedness to #forestfire season in Europe. As of today, +200 (firefighters) from around Europe will be strategically positioned in Greece to quickly join national forces before (fires) could get out of control,” Janez Lenarcic, Stylianides’ successor as European commissioner for crisis management, tweeted Friday.

The Romanian firefighters, who brought five fire engines along, will operate in the Attica region, which includes the capital Athens, until July 31.

Those who arrived Friday will be relieved by an equal number of Romanian firefighters on July 15. Their place will be taken in August by a 25-strong French contingent.

A team of 16 Bulgarian firefighters, with four fire engines, also arrived Friday in the city of Larissa, in central Greece, and was welcomed by local authorities and Fire Service officers. The Bulgarians will stay in the area throughout July.

On July 15, 16 German firefighters will start operating in the Peloponnese; they will be replaced in early August by 14 Norwegian and 24 Finnish firefighters, who will be relieved once, in mid-August, by an equal number of their compatriots.

Wildfires are frequent in Greece, helped by the hot and dry weather and frequent high winds. Climate change also means that wildfire seasons are also getting longer.

Greek authorities say higher fuel costs have added to challenges facing the fire service, which relies heavily on water-dropping planes to battle blazes in the mountainous country.

Greece will begin using fire retardant chemicals in water drops this year and will also use starting fires tactically to fight larger blazes.

Four of the six leaders of the foreign contingents watched a live firefighting exercise west of Athens on Thursday. The leaders of the German and Norwegian teams watched the exercise online.

A study by an international consortium of research institutions shows that the expanded wildfire seasons and intensity of the fires will also negatively impact efforts to limit carbon dioxide emissions because of dwindling forests, which are normally effective carbon absorbers. The study even suggests that the intensity of wildfires could progressively exceed current firefighting capabilities.

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Lefteris Pitarakis contributed to this report.

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BANGKOK (AP) — China’s top diplomat on Saturday arrived on his first visit to Myanmar since the military seized power last year to attend a regional meeting that the government said was a recognition of its legitimacy and opponents protested as a violation of peace efforts.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will join counterparts from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group in the central city of Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The grouping is a Chinese-led initiative that includes the countries of the Mekong Delta, a potential source of regional tensions due to an increasing number of hydroelectric projects that are altering the flow and raising concerns of ecological damage. China has built 10 dams along the upper stretch of the Mekong, the part it calls the Langcang.

Military government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told a news conference in the capital Naypyitaw on Friday that the attendance of the foreign ministers at the meeting was a recognition of Myanmar’s sovereignty and its government.

He said the ministers will sign memorandums of understanding and contracts. He did not elaborate.

It’s unclear whether Wang would meet Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government.

Myanmar’s military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. It was quickly met by nonviolent nationwide demonstrations and triggered armed resistance that some U.N. experts now characterize as civil war.

According to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 2,053 civilians have died in the crackdown on the resistance movement.

Wang last visited Myanmar to meet with Suu Kyi just three weeks before the military ousted her.

China is Myanmar’s biggest trading partner and an old ally. Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar’s mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its major arms supplier, together like Russia.

Many in Myanmar suspect China of supporting the military takeover, and Beijing has refused to condemn the army’s power grab. China says it follows a policy of non-interference in other countries’ affairs.

The foreign minister of Myanmar’s shadow government, which opposes the ruling military council, protested the Bagan meeting, saying any such efforts in partnership with Myanmar’s military violate the will of the people and undermine community building.

The statement said that holding the foreign ministers’ meeting in Myanmar is in direct opposition to a peace plan by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Myanmar, although a member of ASEAN, has done little to implement the plan and its stonewalling led fellow ASEAN members to block government leaders from attending major ASEAN meetings.

Since the military seized power, Chinese special envoy Sun Guoxiang has visited Myanmar twice, and Wang has met his Myanmar counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, twice in China.

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NEW DELHI (AP) — A Pulitzer Prize-winning Kashmiri photojournalist said on Saturday that she was stopped by Indian immigration authorities from flying to Paris without giving any reason.

In a tweet, Sanna Irshad Mattoo said she was scheduled to travel from New Delhi to Paris for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of 10 winners of the Serendipity Arles Grant 2020.

“Despite procuring a French visa, I was stopped at the immigration desk at Delhi airport,” she said.

She said she was not given any reason but was told by immigration officials that she would not be able to travel internationally.

There was no immediate comment by Indian authorities.

Mattoo was among the 2022 Pulitzer Prize winners in the Feature Photography category for the coverage of the COVID-19 crisis in India as part of a Reuters team.

She has been working as a freelance photojournalist since 2018 depicting life in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where insurgents have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence or its merger with neighboring Pakistan.

Journalists have long braved threats in the restive region as the government seeks to control the press more effectively to censure independent reporting. Their situation has grown worse since India revoked the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019.

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GENEVA (AP) — Lesbian and gay couples in Switzerland rejoiced as they legally tied the knot Friday when the rich Alpine nation formally joined many other western European countries in allowing same-sex marriage, with some saying better late than never.

The first same-sex marriages came about nine months after 64.1% of voters backed the “Marriage for All” law in a national referendum. It puts same-sex partners on an equal legal footing with heterosexual couples, including allowing them to adopt children together and to sponsor a spouse for citizenship.

Switzerland authorized same-sex civil partnerships in 2007.

Friends and family greeted Aline and Laure – who asked that their surnames not be published – with hugs, cheers, applause and a few joyous tears at a Geneva manor house where they exchanged vows to formalize their two-decade relationship.

“It’s great joy, a super moment to put in the history books,” said Laure, 45, a human resources executive, adding that July 1 holds special importance because its the 19th anniversary of their civil union.

“It’s normality that’s taking effect. It’s going to become commonplace, let’s say, whether its two women, two men, or heterosexual couples to marry,” Laure said.

Holding Laure’s hand, Aline said: “It’s true that Switzerland has been a little slow. It’s not a moment too soon, after all. Now’s the time.”

With a population of 8.5 million, traditionally conservative Switzerland was until Friday among a few western European nations that didn’t recognize same-sex marriages. Greece, Italy and the microstates of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino only allow male-female couples to marry.

Most countries in central and eastern Europe do not allow same-sex marriage.

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AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch central bank chief apologized Friday for the institution’s involvement in the 19th-century slave trade, the latest expression of contrition in the Netherlands linked to the country’s historic role in the trade in enslaved people.

The apology came at an event on the national day marking the Dutch abolishment of slavery and followed similar moves in recent years from municipal authorities in the major Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

De Nederlandsche Bank has acknowledged that it was involved in the transatlantic slave trade between 1814 and 1863 and even paid compensation to plantation owners when the Netherlands abolished slavery, including to members of the central bank’s board at the time.

The bank’s president, Klaas Knot, told a gathering in Amsterdam: “Today, on behalf of De Nederlandsche Bank, I apologize for these reprehensible facts.”

He added: “I apologize to all those who, because of the personal choices of many, including my predecessors, were reduced to the color of their skin.”

The bank announced a series of measures including boosting diversity and inclusiveness in its ranks and setting up a 5-million-euro ($5.2-million) fund for projects aimed at reducing “contemporary negative effects of nineteenth-century slavery.”

Knot’s apology came exactly a year after Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema apologized for the Dutch capital’s role in the slave trade. In April, Dutch bank ABN AMRO also apologized for historic links to slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the launching of power transmissions to Romania was the start of a process that could help Europe reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.

Zelenskiy’s comments in his nightly video message on Thursday followed an announcement by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that exports had started earlier in the day – with a volume of 100 megawatts – four months into Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The president said the start of exports was “another significant step in our movement toward the European Union”.

“Thanks to Ukrainian electricity, a significant part of the Russian gas used by European consumers can be replaced. This is therefore not just a question of export earnings for us but a question of security for all of Europe,” Zelenskiy said.

“Let me remind you that linking our country to the common EU energy system took place already after the war began. Ukraine is doing things now that once seemed impossible.”

Ukraine reached agreement in mid-March to join the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) as an observer after its grid was linked to that of the EU.

The ENTSO-E said this week that preparations had been completed for the first exports from Ukraine, together with power from ex-Soviet Moldova, starting on 30th June – using an interconnection with Romania.

Electricity trading on other interconnections between Ukraine and Slovakia and Ukraine and Hungary – as well as between Moldova and Romania would soon follow, it said. The group said the total trade capacity would initially be set to 100 MW in the first phase.

In his earlier announcement, Prime Minister Shmyhal said Ukraine’s electricity export potential towards Europe could reach 2.5 gigawatts.

(Reporting by Ronald Popeski; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – An Argentine truckers strike ended on Thursday, after some unions upset with diesel shortages reached a deal to lift the one-week protest around the major port of Rosario, which is expected to help the flow of grains for export going forward.

The truck driver protest over high fuel prices has paralyzed corn and other grains exports just as the bulk of the harvest was headed to ports for shipment to foreign markets.

Some protests, however, could continue since some smaller truckers groups were not involved in the deal.

Argentina is the world’s second biggest corn exporter, the top exporter of processed soyoil and meal, as well as a major wheat and beef supplier.

“Despite not agreeing (with a recent negotiation of truck cargo rates) and taking into account the crisis that our country is going through, we decide to lift the strike,” one of the unions, Autoconvocados Unidos, said in a statement.

The union described its decision as an act of good will.

The volume of trucks entering ports had already picked up on Thursday, up some 70% versus a day earlier to reach over 1,500 vehicles, according to data from the Rosario grains exchange.

Rosario’s ports are the point of departure for 80% of Argentina’s agricultural exports, most of which arrives in trucks.

“It’s getting back to normal,” said Guillermo Wade, manager of the country’s maritime port chamber, referring to the ability of trucks to access the port.

Also on Wednesday, the transport ministry agreed with some farm and transport groups that were not involved in the strike to hike grain freight rates by 25%.

But most protesting unions, including the UNTRA truckers union, called the rate increase insufficient even as they mostly opted to remove highway blockades.

“We have many more expenses than that,” said UNTRA leader Carlos Geneiro.

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Argentina: grains truck traffic https://tmsnrt.rs/3E6QpQu

Argentina: grains truck traffic (Interactive graphic) https://tmsnrt.rs/3JuNZwp

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(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Additional reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Nick Zieminski and Aurora Ellis)

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