Skip to main content

Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
Post a Comment

India probes suspected human trafficking after 276 nationals return home

India has launched an investigation into how 303 Indians ended up on a chartered flight that was grounded in France last week because of suspected human trafficking, authorities in the western Indian state of Gujarat said on Wednesday. Tipped off by an anonymous informant, French authorities on Friday prevented the plane from flying to its listed destination of Nicaragua from a refuelling stopover at Vatry airport in northeastern France. It had taken off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 11 unaccompanied minors among the passengers, 276 of whom returned to India on Tuesday. Many of the Indians onboard hailed from Gujarat, officials said. Sanjay Kharat, a senior Gujarat police official, said authorities had obtained the names and addresses of 21 persons from the state who were on the flight, and that investigators were trying to determine who facilitated their travel. Read Pending human trafficking inquiry: Passengers leave France for India "Our teams have already spoken with some of them ...(or) their family members," he said. The flight was operated by Romania's Legend Airlines. Its lawyer Liliana Bakayoko declined to name the client who chartered the plane, citing contractual confidentiality. An official at India's home ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the registration of the chartered flight and "people operating this entire nexus" had been identified, but declined to elaborate. A ministry spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking further comment. French authorities placed two of the passengers on "assisted witness" status after investigating them for suspected people smuggling, while another 25 remained in France to apply for asylum. In France, "assisted witness" is an intermediate status between that of a witness and an indicted suspect. Read FIA, Greek police vow to curb human trafficking Reuters was not immediately able to speak with any of those who returned to India, with some declining to talk after emerging from Mumbai airport and others hiding their faces with their hands or clothing. The Indian home ministry official said Indian immigration officials were also being questioned to see if any children had left India unaccompanied. "All these people landed in (the UAE) at different times, and they congregated to leave on the same plane. They had legal tourist visas to enter Dubai," the official told Reuters. The plane was held in France a day after the US State Department said it would impose visa restrictions targeting individuals operating charter flights into Nicaragua for migrants heading towards the US -Mexico border. According to US Customs and Border Protection data, the number of Indians caught trying to enter the United States illegally has tripled over the past three years. US authorities caught 96,917 Indians between October 2022 and September 2023, up from 30,662 three years earlier.

from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/T0zqpM1
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

A bridge collapsed at a cobalt mine in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least 32 wildcat miners, a regional government official said Sunday. The bridge came down Saturday onto a flooded zone at the mine in Lualaba province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the provincial interior minister, told reporters. He said 32 bodies had been recovered and more were being searched for. The DRC produces more than 70 percent of the world supply of cobalt, which is essential for batteries used in electric cars, many laptop computers and mobile phones. More than 200,000 people are estimated to be working in giant illegal cobalt mines in the giant central African country. Local authorities said the bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine, about 42 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the Lualaba provincial capital, Kolwezi. "Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry," said Mayonde. He said ...
Post a Comment
Read more

US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

Some 16,000 US and Philippine troops kicked off the annual joint military drills on Monday in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), local media reported. WPS is the official designation by Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country's exclusive economic zone. The 19-day exercises, dubbed "Balikatan 2024," will involve around 5,000 Philippine and 11,000 US troops, making it the largest joint military drills between the two allies conducted in decades, local English daily Manila Times reported citing the military. A total of 14 nations, including Japan and India, will take part in the drills as observers amid mounting maritime tensions in the South China Sea. Contingents from the Australian Defence Force and the French Navy will also join the exercise as participants. Read also: China urges US to stop using Philippines as a pawn to destabilise South China Sea France will join the group sail but will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine E...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
Post a Comment
Read more