Burning out of control

How can Europe stop the #wildfires currently burning out of control across the continent?

Bob Ward from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change shares his views with Juliet Mann only on @CGTNEurope’s #TheAgenda

#climatechange #netzero

Japan Earthquake: Hospital CCTV Captures Surgery During 6.8-Magnitude Quake

CCTV footage from Kumamoto General Hospital captured medical staff shielding a patient as a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Japan on July 28. Equipment can be seen swaying violently inside the operating room, but the hospital said the surgery was later completed successfully.

#Japan #Earthquake #Kumamoto #Hospital

Netanyahu rejects US Gaza plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas must fully disarm before Israel withdraws from Gaza, rejecting a US-backed plan that would tie disarmament to a phased Israeli troop withdrawal.

“We are talking about genuine disarmament, not a token one.” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.

#israel #netanyahu #hamas #trump #iran

Israel's military (IDF) have closed the West Bank village of Taybeh to nonresidents, saying it aimed to prevent growing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers across the West Bank.

The order, the military said, only applies to Israelis and not Palestinians. A spokesperson said turning Taybeh into a closed military zone was 'due to some violent attacks by Israelis in the region.'

'Upon receiving any report of violations of the order, IDF soldiers are dispatched to the area and operate to disperse the gatherings and detain suspects in order to protect the citizens of the area and to maintain order,' the military said in a statement.

Taybeh is one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank and was visited last year by the Greek Orthodox patriarch and the Roman Catholic cardinal of Jerusalem.

#israel #palestine #westbank #middleeast #taybeh

A morning earthquake shook the Colombian capital Bogota, with the tremor being felt as far away as the border with Venezuela, reports suggest.

The Colombian geological service reported that the quake's epicenter was in Choco province, on the Pacific coast.


"The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) reports a magnitude 6.6 earthquake recorded at 7:34 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, at a depth of 79 km. The epicenter was located near San Jose del Palmar, Choco," the UNGRD said on its X account, adding it is in contact with local authorities to verify potential damage.

The governor of Colombia's Choco, Nubia Carolina Córdoba-Curi, has said that 'there are injuries and severe damage to buildings'.

#colombia #earthquake

Typhoon Dolphin hits east China’s coast with record rainfall

Typhoon Dolphin has battered east China's coast with torrential rain, flooding and gale-force winds, triggering widespread disruptions and large-scale rescue efforts.

After making two landfalls in Zhejiang Province on Sunday, the storm inundated cities including Wenzhou and Taizhou, leaving roads submerged and residents stranded. Emergency crews have been rescuing trapped residents and responding to flooding across the region.

More than one million people have been evacuated, including about 215,600 from Shanghai, as authorities continue to monitor the storm and its impact.

#China #TyphoonDolphin #Typhoon #ExtremeWeather #Flooding #Zhejiang #Shanghai

FIFA president Gianni Infantino came under renewed fire on Monday as a joint letter from three confederations – UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC – declared football "belongs to no individual".

Infantino has been the butt of scathing criticism ever since launching, and then withdrawing within days, a plan to bring private investment into FIFA competitions, including World Cups.

FIFA had hit back on Saturday at "a concerted and ongoing effort by some to undermine" football's governing body and Infantino.

However, Monday's letter from the governing bodies of European football (UEFA), North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC), showed his critics are unbowed. 

But what did the letter say? What happens next for Infantino? And what previous controversies have dogged his reign? 

Read on for our report: https://tinyurl.com/4cdsh3hv 

#football #infantino

Daniel Kinahan, an allegedly prominent figure in Ireland's organised crime underworld, has appeared in court in Dublin after being extradited from the United Arab Emirates.

The 49-year-old was formally charged with directing a criminal organisation during an unusual Sunday sitting of Ireland's Special Criminal Court.

Kinahan's arrest in Dubai in April brought an end to his long period living in the UAE. He had spent around 10 years in the country and became well known in international boxing circles, helping arrange major fights and working with some of the sport's biggest names.

U.S. authorities have identified Kinahan as one of three alleged leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. Kinahan denies any ties to organized crime. 

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2ww84hmp 

#Ireland #Crime #Dubai #DanielKinahan #Boxing

In southwest France, the flames are easing, but the damage is still spreading.

Over the last few weeks, wildfires have torn through forests, destroyed homes and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee – but away from the fire front, businesses across the Atlantic coast are counting the cost.

From plummeting tourist numbers to early wine harvests, some of France's key industries are suffering.  

CGTN's Sarah Coates reports from Bordeaux. Read more: https://shorturl.at/qpUHm 
 
#france #fires #wine #tourism

US President Donald Trump countered Iran's call for Washington to pay war reparations by demanding Tehran themselves pay for the "damages they've done over a 50-year period."

He seemed to reference USS Cole, a guided-missile destroyer that was bombed in a suicide attack by al-Qaeda, a predominantly Sunni jihadist group. The extent of al-Qaeda's ties to Shia-led Iran are debated. 

#iran #tehran #trump #protests #reparations

Searching for survivors of the Colombia earthquake


Rescue efforts across western Colombia carried into a second day on Tuesday as emergency workers dug through collapsed buildings and flattened homes, amid expectations that the death toll from the country's most powerful earthquake in decades could rise.

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake tore through Colombia's coffee-growing heartland early on Monday, killing at least 164 people.

The quake reduced multi-story buildings to rubble in cities such as Pereira and Cali, and cracked apart one of the towers of a historic cathedral in the city of Manizales.

Emergency teams aided by police, soldiers and volunteers worked through the night with excavators and, at times, their bare hands, hunting for survivors beneath debris.

#colombia #earthquake

Drone footage shows US neighborhood in ruins after wildfires


Drone footage shows a neighborhood in Spokane, Washington state, left in ruins after wildfires tore through the area.

Many evacuees among the tens of thousands forced to flee a cluster of wildfires near Spokane were allowed back to their homes on Sunday as firefighters stepped up efforts to extinguish the remaining hot spots.


As of Sunday, those fires had scorched more than 40 sq km and destroyed or heavily damaged more than 900 homes in and around Spokane.

At the height of the conflagration, as many as 64,000 residents were under evacuation orders as wind-driven flames engulfed neighborhoods and kept firefighters on the defensive.

#news #wildfire #fire #firefighter #US #drone

Colombia quake: Reporter witnesses desperate search for survivors

Rescuers and volunteers are racing against time to search for survivors after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday, killing at least 132 people and injuring more than 570.

CGTN correspondent Michelle Begue arrived in hard-hit Pereira around midnight, where rescue teams and volunteers were searching through the rubble of a collapsed five-story building for signs of life.

#ColombiaEarthquake #Pereira #Rescue #SearchAndRescue

As Greece enters another dangerous wildfire season, a new line of defense is already watching… from space.

Four thermal-imaging satellites are scanning the country's mountains, forests and islands around the clock, searching for the first signs of fire – even in remote areas where flames could otherwise go unnoticed.

The system, known as the Hellenic Fire System, is the world's first national satellite constellation built specifically to detect and track wildfires. Officials hope it will give firefighters the one thing they desperately need when every second counts: more time.
Unlike drones or ground cameras, the satellites can monitor huge areas of the country at once.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/ghaL1 

#greece #ai #satellite

Severe heat and drought have devastated corn fields across north-eastern Bosnia, leaving farmers facing a harvest that may be a fraction of what they once produced.

Farmer Slavisa Lukic says yields that once reached 6–7 tonnes per hectare could fall to just 1.5–2 tonnes this year.

With temperatures nearing 40C and irrigation limited, farmers are being forced to adapt or risk abandoning corn production altogether.


Read more here: https://shorturl.at/eSmpT 

#news #Europe #Bosnia #agriculture #farming #climatechange

Rescue teams search rubble of collapsed building in Colombia

Rescue teams and sniffer dogs worked through the night on Aug. 10 to search the rubble of a collapsed eight-story building in Cali, Colombia, one of the areas hardest hit by the 7.5-magnitude earthquake.

#Colombia #earthquake #Cali #rescue

Who is Andras Baka, Hungary's new president?

Hungary has a new president: a 73-year-old retired judge called András Baka. The Hungarian president has limited executive power, but this appointment has a clear political message – as a step change away from previous prime minister Viktor Orban. 

From Budapest, CGTN's Pablo Gutierrez explains more. 

#hungary #president