World

Chengdu, Sep 6 (IANS) Forty-six people have been killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Luding County in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday, local authorities said at a press briefing.

As of 8:30 p.m. Monday, 16 people were missing and over 50 injured, said Wang Feng, deputy director of the Sichuan provincial emergency management department, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among the dead, 29 were from Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture which administers Luding County, and the other 17 were from Ya'an City.

The earthquake relief headquarters of Ganzi has activated the highest level of emergency response for the earthquake.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Luding County at 12:52 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicenter was monitored at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 16 km, the CENC said.

The epicenter is 39 km away from the county seat of Luding and there are several villages within the 5-km range around the epicenter.

--IANS
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London, Sep 5 (IANS) UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was on Monday announced the victor of the contest for the Conservative Party leader, defeating former Chancelllor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and paving the way for her to become the next Prime Minister.

Truss, who succeeds Boris Johnson, will be the third woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, all of from her Conservative Party.

Announcing the results, 1922 Committee chief, Sir Graham Brady said Truss won 81,326 votes, or over 57 per cent, compared to Sunak's 60,399 votes.

There was a turnout of 82.6 per cent of the over 170,000 registered party voters, he added.

In her brief address on the occasion, Truss thanked the party for "organising one of the longest job interviews in history", as well as her supporters.

She praised her rivals, particularly Sunak, saying that the campaign was "hard-fought" and showed "the depth and breadth of talent" in the party.

Truss pledged to follow through on her promises to voters, saying the Tory party needs to show it can deliver over the next two years, and that she has a "bold plan" to cut taxes and grow the UK economy.

On the rising energy bills, she says she will "deliver" when it comes to crisis by not only dealing with bills but also the long term supply issues.

--IANS
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Hong Kong, Sep 5 (IANS) More than 70 Chinese cities have been placed under full or partial Covid lockdowns since late August, impacting more than 300 million people, as local authorities rush to stamp out infections at all cost in the final countdown to leader Xi Jinpings expected third term, media reports said.

Since August 20, at least 74 cities with a combined population of 313 million have imposed lockdowns that cover entire cities, districts or multiple neighborhoods, according to CNN's calculations.

They include 15 provincial capitals and Tianjin, a provincial-level municipality, CNN reported.

Many of the restrictions are still in place. According to Chinese financial magazine Caixin, 33 cities are currently under partial or full lockdowns. Experts say more cities are likely to be added in the coming weeks.

The sweeping restrictions that upend lives and businesses stand in stark contrast with the return to normal life in much of the world, where societies have mostly pivoted to living with the virus, CNN reported.

But China insists that zero-Covid is saving lives. Health officials have cited the relatively low elderly vaccination rate and inadequate rural healthcare as hurdles to relaxing restrictions, but Chinese public health experts say political factors have played an outsized role, too.

Xi Jinping, a staunch advocate for the country's uncompromising zero-Covid strategy, is poised to be anointed as the country's top leader for another five years at the 20th Party Congress, scheduled to start on October 16.

The highly choreographed affair is meant to be a moment of celebration and vindication of the achievements of the Party -- and of Xi personally over his decade in power. And severe outbreak risks are undermining that triumphant image, experts say.

"The Party wants to make sure nothing untoward, such as a major outbreak, could potentially threaten social stability, shadow the leadership transition process – and not to mention tarnish Xi's personal leadership credibility," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, CNN reported.

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Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) The death toll in Pakistan's catastrophic flooding has increased to 1,314, with the weather office forecasting more rain to lash the country over the next few days that may trigger landslides in the northern areas.

According to the latest National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) update, 24 people were killed in the last 24 hours, which increased the overall toll in the deadly deluge triggered by the incessant rain since mid-June, reports Xinhua news agency.

The update also said that 115 people were also injured in the same time period, which increased the cumulative number to 12,703.

The NDMA said that a total of 1,682,726 houses have been destroyed so far, while an estimated 750,405 livestock has perished.

At least 633,091 flood-affected people were currently living in camps.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department that rain and thundershower with isolated heavy falls may occur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan region and parts of Punjab province till Tuesday.

It added that rainfall is also expected in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until Monday.

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Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has blasted his predecessor Imran Khan for what he called "Imran Niazis despicable utterances to malign institutions".

The Prime Minister also said that Khan's "nefarious agenda is clearly to disrupt and undermine Pakistan", Samaa TV reported.

The strong response from the premier came a day after Khan, addressing a rally in Faisalabad, said that Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were trying their level best to nominate their army chief, who will be a personal favourite.

Khan also said that if a powerful and patriotic general became the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) he would question Zardari and Nawaz Sharif about their corruption, Samaa TV reported.

The current COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa is set to retire in November this year and Prime Minister Sharif will appoint his successor.

Taking to Twitter On Monday, Shehbaz Sharif said: "Imran Niazi's despicable utterances to malign institutions are touching new levels every day. He is now indulging in direct mud-slinging & poisonous allegations against Armed Forces & its leadership. His nefarious agenda is clearly to disrupt & undermine Pakistan."

Khan also drew condemnation from PML-Q Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who said that from sepoys to generals everyone in the Pakistan military was a patriot and that no one needed a certificate of patriotism.

The nation will not allow anyone to embroil the military in politics at their public rallies, he said in a video statement.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Sep 5 (IANS) Former US President won an Emmy Award to go with his two Grammys.

Obama won the best narrator Emmy for his work on the Netflix documentary series, "Our Great National Parks", reports cbsnews.com

The five-part show, which features national parks from around the globe, is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, 'Higher Ground'.

He was the biggest name in a category full of famous nominees for the award handed out at Saturday night's Creative Arts Emmys, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Attenborough and Lupita Nyong'o.

Obama is the second president to have an Emmy. Dwight D. Eisenhower was given a special Emmy Award in 1956.

Obama previously won Grammy Awards for his audiobook reading of two of his memoirs, "The Audacity of Hope" and "A Promised Land." Michelle Obama won her own Grammy for reading her audiobook in 2020.

EGOT refers to a special category of entertainers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. To date, 17 people have done it.

The late Chadwick Boseman also won an Emmy for his voice work on Saturday. The 'Black Panther' actor won for outstanding character voiceover for the Disney+ and Marvel Studios animated show 'What If...?'

On the show, Boseman voiced his 'Black Panther' character T'Challa in an alternate universe where he becomes Star-Lord from "Guardians of the Galaxy".

It was one of the last projects for Boseman, who died in 2020 of colon cancer at age 43.

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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested two Afghan nationals in Noida and recovered 5 kg of heroin worth Rs 21 crore from their possession, sources said on Monday.

The Cell shared the information with Noida police and a joint team recovered the huge quantity of heroin.

"The heroin was kept in a car that was stationed in a garage. Jitu and Ashok, two mechanics at the garage were also held from the spot. They are residents of Bulandshahr. The heroin was kept in the trunk of the car which the accused would smuggle using a different vehicle," the sources said.

A number of Afghan nationals study in Greater Noida and there are possibilities that they might have been involved in drug peddling, the sources claimed.

The names of the arrested Afghan nationals are withheld as of now.

--IANS
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Baghdad, Sep 5 (IANS) A total of five Islamic State (IS) militants, including two local leaders, were killed in an operation to track down IS militants in northern Iraq, the Iraqi military said.

A statement by the media office of Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said on Sunday that the Iraqi security forces attacked two IS hideouts, killing three IS militants inside, during an operation in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk.

The troops found four explosive devices, an explosive belt, a motorcycle, a camera, and other equipment at the hideouts, the statement added.

An anonymous security source told Xinhua that one of the killed militants is known as the local security leader of the al-Dibis area in the northwestern part of the province.

Another JOC statement said that a joint force from the army and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi killed a local IS leader in the Himreen mountain range and another militant after surrounding them in the mountainous area on the provincial border between the provinces of Kirkuk and Salahudin.

Over the past months, Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities, Xinhua news agency reported.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, its remnants have since melted into urban centres, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against the security forces and civilians.

--IANS
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Kampala, Sep 5 (IANS) Five people were killed in a stone quarry collapse in the central Ugandan district of Wakiso, police said.

Police in a statement issued here on Sunday said that five bodies were retrieved from the rubble at Namulanda Nganjo cell in Kajjansi Town Council.

The incident took place on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The statement said four of the dead were casual labourers while one was a truck driver.

Investigations into the cause of the incident are still ongoing, according to the Police.

"We, however, advise members of the public in the surrounding area to avoid moving to the quarry as it is currently a threat to the lives of those occupying it," the police statement added.

At least four people were killed after a stone quarry collapsed in Uganda's capital Kampala in June 2021.

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Tehran, Sep 5 (IANS) A senior Iranian lawmaker has urged Western countries to refrain from delays in reaching a nuclear agreement, warning that otherwise, Iran would consider "other options".

Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told the official IRNA news agency on Sunday that a win-win agreement is important for securing Iran's national interests.

"The Westerners need negotiations more than Iran ... if the Western side does not make an agreement, we have other options on the table, and Iran's hands are not empty in this regard," he noted.

"Any agreement that deprives and limits Iran of the desired privileges will not be accepted by the Iranian nation," he added.

In response to the question about safeguard issues, he said that solving the safeguards issues can "repair the damaged wall of trust between Iran and the West".

Iran has repeatedly said that reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about traces of uranium in some of its nuclear sites in the past are "political" and this case should be closed simultaneously with the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran and the US are indirectly exchanging views about a recent EU proposal aimed at resolving the outstanding issues on the revival of the JCPOA, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran signed the deal with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

The talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus. On August 8, the EU put forward a "final text" of the draft decision on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

--IANS
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