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☆ After Stabbing Rampage, Australia Struggles With Questions of How and Why
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Victoria Kim | Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a perfect mid-autumn day, the scene at the upscale mall in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, was as humdrum as it was idyllic: mothers pushing strollers, gaggles of teenagers being young, families whiling away the weekend afternoon. A mile from the famed Bondi Beach, a knife-wielding attacker stabbed nearly 20 people inside the shopping mall, including a 9-month-old girl. Six of the victims, including the girl’s mother, have died, and about a dozen others were being treated at hospitals. The police on Sunday were combing through a crime scene spanning several floors of the sprawling Westfield Bondi Junction mall. They were also interviewing hundreds of witnesses to Saturday’s attack, trying to piece together the chronology of a rampage that punctured a sense of security in this wealthy suburb of Australia’s largest city.

Persons: — Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bondi, Westfield, Australia’s

☆ At Least 5 Killed in Stabbing at Mall in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Victoria Kim | Damien Cave | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

PinnedFive people were killed and several others injured in a stabbing rampage Saturday afternoon at a crowded major mall in Sydney, Australia, prompting the police to declare a critical incident and evacuate the area. The attacker was shot and killed by a lone police officer who was directed into the mall by people fleeing the scene, police said. The officer then opened fire, saving lives, Anthony Cooke, police assistant commissioner for the New South Wales Police, said at a news briefing. The assailant stabbed about nine people as he moved through the mall Saturday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner Cooke said. “There’s nothing we’re aware at the scene that would indicate any motive or ideology,” Assistant Commissioner Cooke said in the briefing, noting the investigation was in its early stages.

Persons: Anthony Cooke, Cooke, “, Yan Zhuang, Isabella Kwai Organizations: New South Wales Police, ”, Westfield, Southern Hemisphere Locations: Sydney, Australia, Westfield, Bondi, Sydney’s Eastern

Five people were killed and several others injured in a stabbing rampage Saturday afternoon at a crowded major mall in Sydney, Australia, prompting the police to declare a critical incident and evacuate the area. The attacker was shot and killed by a lone police officer who was directed into the mall by people fleeing the scene, police said. The officer then opened fire, saving lives, Anthony Cooke, police assistant commissioner for the New South Wales Police, said at a news briefing. The assailant stabbed about nine people as he moved through the mall Saturday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner Cooke said. “There’s nothing we’re aware at the scene that would indicate any motive or ideology,” Assistant Commissioner Cooke said in the briefing, noting the investigation was in its early stages.

Persons: Anthony Cooke, Cooke, “, ” Organizations: New South Wales Police Locations: Sydney, Australia

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion and helped to fuel a resurgence in the sport’s popularity in the 1990s, has died in Tokyo. When he became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, he was the first foreign-born wrestler to achieve the sport’s highest title in its 300-year modern history. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships, and his success set the stage for an era during which foreign-born wrestlers dominated the top levels of Japan’s national sport. Akebono, who was 6-foot-8 and 466 pounds when he was first named yokozuna at 23, towered over his Japanese opponents. Painfully shy outside the dohyo, as the sumo ring is known, he was known for using his height and reach to keep opponents at a distance.

Persons: Taro Akebono Organizations: United States Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

☆ Middle East Crisis As Ramadan Nears Its End, Relief Remains Elusive in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Israeli airstrikes a week ago killed seven aid workers who had been delivering food in Gaza, renewing the international focus on the hunger crisis there. But UNRWA, the primary United Nations agency aiding Palestinians, said that 103 aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Sunday. Until now, almost all aid for Gaza has entered through two southern border crossings, at Rafah and Kerem Shalom. Before the conflict, around 500 commercial and aid trucks entered Gaza each day. Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said that Gaza needs 500 trucks of aid each day, for weeks and months, to remedy the crisis.

Persons: Israel, Biden, COGAT, Matthew Miller, Miller, Benjamin Netanyahu, Juliette Touma, Michael Crowley Organizations: UNRWA, United, State Department, Israel, Food, United States Central Command Locations: Gaza, COGAT, United Nations, Rafah, Kerem Shalom, Israel, Ashdod, United States

☆ Baltimore Shipping Channel Will Partially Reopen by End of April, Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Victoria Kim | More About Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A shipping channel in the Baltimore harbor that has remained blocked since last week’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be partially reopened by the end of April, with full traffic expected to be restored by late May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday. The announcement comes on the eve of President Biden’s scheduled visit to the site of the wreckage on Friday. Officials have warned that clearing the warped, jagged debris from the channel will be a complex and potentially dangerous underwater salvage operation, as they scramble to reopen the Port of Baltimore, a key automobile hub that employs 8,000 people. A 280-foot-wide, 35-foot-deep channel leading to the port is expected to be opened first, allowing for container ships and vessels transporting automobiles, the Army corps, which maintains the shipping channel to ensure that it is navigable, said in a statement. The channel will allow one-way traffic of vessels at a time to and from the port, according to the statement.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Biden’s Organizations: U.S . Army Corps of Engineers, Army Locations: Baltimore, Port of Baltimore

☆ Middle East Crisis Biden Is Set to Speak With Netanyahu Amid Rising Frustration With Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

President Biden’s anger and frustration over Israel’s conduct in the war has hit a peak in recent weeks, according to a senior administration official. It was not immediately clear what, if any, changes in U.S. policy toward Israel would accompany the sharp criticism and anger from Mr. Biden and his top officials. You know, we’re going to have to wait to see what the investigation says,” Mr. Kirby told reporters in Washington. Mr. Kirby said on Wednesday that the United States did not plan to carry out its own separate investigation. “I hope this will be the moment where the president changes course,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland.

Persons: Biden’s, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, ”, Defense Lloyd J, Austin III, Yoav Gallant, John F, Kirby, “ I’m, ” Mr, “, Netanyahu, Israel’s, Chris Van Hollen, Rishi Sunak, Katie Rogers Organizations: Defense, Pentagon, White House Locations: Gaza, Israel, Washington, Australia, Britain, Canada, United States, Poland, Maryland

☆ Hualien County Is a Quiet, Scenic Tourist Destination
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Victoria Kim | More About Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hualien County on Taiwan’s east coast is a scenic, sleepy tourist area tucked away from the island’s urban centers, with a famous gorge and aquamarine waters. The county has a population of about 300,000, according to the 2020 census, about a third of whom live in the coastal city of Hualien, the county seat. Hualien County is home to Taroko National Park, one of Taiwan’s most popular scenic areas. Visitors come to explore the Taroko Gorge, a striated marble canyon carved by the Liwu River, which cuts through mountains that rise steeply from the coast. The city of Hualien is a popular destination as a gateway to the national park.

Organizations: Central News Agency, Earthquakes Locations: Hualien County, Taiwan’s, Hualien, Taiwan, Taipei, Hualien .

It was so strong it set off tsunami warnings in Japan, China and the Philippines. But then, even in a fault-riddled place with long and hard experience with earthquakes, the jolt of aftershock after aftershock was startling, continuing every few minutes throughout the day. The magnitude-7.4 quake killed nine and injured at least 1,011 others, stretching an expert quake response system that has served as a model in other places. In Hualien County, close to the epicenter, 71 people were trapped in two mining areas as of Wednesday night and dozens of others were stranded, according to officials. Around 14,000 households were without water, and 1,000 households were without power.

Persons: aftershock Locations: Taiwan, Japan, China, Philippines, Hualien County

☆ World Central Kitchen Has Fed People in Disaster and War Zones Around the Globe
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The nonprofit group teams up with local food providers, governments and restaurateurs to quickly scale up and provide meals to people in need. The organization said the Israeli military was behind the attack. The group says it operates 68 “community kitchens” in Gaza, and has sent in more than 1,700 trucks loaded with food and cooking equipment so far in nearly six months of war. World Central Kitchen is a relatively new aid provider in Gaza, where people have been heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance for decades because of a long-running Israeli blockade. In March, it became the first entity to deliver aid by sea to the enclave in nearly two decades by building a makeshift jetty fashioned out of rubble.

Persons: José Andrés, ” Locations: Haiti, Gaza

The temblor set off at least nine landslides, collapsing hillsides onto the Suhua Highway in Hualien, according to local media reports. The quake was centered in the waters off Hualien, according to the United States Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 10 miles under the earth’s surface, according to Taiwan. Here is the latest: In Japan, tsunami waves as high as 30 centimeters hit the shore on Yonaguni Island at 9:14 a.m. local time. People in China took to social media saying they felt the tremors as far as away as Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Shanghai.

Persons: Tobin, Motoko Rich Organizations: Rail, United States Geological Survey, Weather Administration, U.S . Pacific, Warning Locations: Taiwan, Japan, Hualien, Taiwan’s, Taipei, People, China, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai

☆ Airstrikes Kill Soldiers in Syria in Apparent Israeli Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Airstrikes killed a number of soldiers near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo early Friday, Syria’s state news media and an independent organization reported, in what appeared to be one of the heaviest Israeli attacks in the country in years. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that tracks Syria’s civil war, said that the dead included 36 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah fighters and a Syrian from the pro-Iranian militias. The group said the attack appeared to have hit multiple targets, including a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia that Iran supports and has a presence in Syria. The airstrikes stoked fears that have unsettled Western officials for months: that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza could escalate into a broader conflict against Syria, Iran and its proxies across the region, which could entangle allies of those involved, like Russia and the United States. But fears of a wider conflict have persisted as Israel and Hezbollah have clashed for months along the border, and as Israel has carried out assaults on Iran-linked targets in Syria.

Organizations: Syrian Observatory, Human Rights, Lebanese, . Army Locations: Syrian, Aleppo, Britain, Iran, Syria, Gaza, Russia, United States, Israel

☆ Middle East Crisis Top U.N. Court Orders Israel to Allow ‘Unhindered’ Aid Into Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Anushka Patil | Marlise Simons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

In an interim ruling on Jan. 26, the court ordered Israel to ensure that more aid would be allowed into Gaza. Since then, the “catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further,” necessitating further measures, the court said on Thursday. The ruling touches on some issues that leading aid organizations have called Israeli impediments contributing to the risk of famine in Gaza. Palestinians, U.N. officials and aid workers have voiced concerns about diseases spreading, hospitals collapsing and children beginning to starve to death. But, she wrote, the court “can at least mitigate” the risk to Palestinians by directing the parties before it: South Africa and Israel.

Persons: Israel, “, Aharon Barak, Abdulqawi Yusuf, ”, Nawaf Salam, ” Hilary Charlesworth, Johnatan Reiss, Victoria Kim Organizations: International Court of Justice, United Nations, South, United Nations ’, ” Locations: The Hague, Gaza, Israel, South Africa, Africa, Somalia

“The tankers and cargo ships of 1950 aren’t the tankers and cargo ships of today,” said James Salmon, a spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority. “It’s going to do a number on them,” he said of a modern ship and the hazard it poses to a bridge like the one in Baltimore. Image The new bridge ship collision protection system project on the Delaware Memorial Bridge will install eight stone-filled “dolphin” cylinders, each measuring 80 feet in diameter. Credit... Delaware River and Bay AuthorityThe situation with the Key Bridge is “unique,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which represents state transportation departments. A protection system was subsequently built around the new pier.

Persons: ”, James Salmon, Francis Scott Key, Michael Rubino, don’t, Joseph Ahlstrom, It’s, “ It’s, Dali, hurtled, Jim Tymon, ” John Snyder, Pete Buttigieg, “, Paul, Gerald Desmond Bridge, Matt Gresham, Joong Kim, Michael Forsythe Organizations: Bay Authority, Port, SUNY Maritime College, New York State, American Association of State, Transportation, National Transportation Safety, Sunshine Skyway, Administration, Baltimore Sun, Union, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Liberty University Locations: Delaware, Bay, Baltimore, Port of Los Angeles, . Delaware, Maryland, Tampa Bay, Tampa, U.S, Minnesota, Union Pacific, St, New York, Bayonne, New Jersey, Staten Island, Long Beach, Calif, New Orleans, Mississippi, Port of New Orleans

There are more heavily trafficked routes across the Baltimore Harbor than the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Harbor Tunnel carries double the daily traffic of the Key Bridge and the Fort McHenry Tunnel much more than that. The six men who are missing were part of this tradition of working Baltimore: members of a construction crew, working overnight hours filling potholes on the bridge. One day in 1977, Mr. Metzger said, his father, a truck driver, was coming back home from his route and happened upon the bridge’s ribbon cutting. And the Key Bridge is gone.”

Persons: Francis Scott Key, “, ”, Kurt L, Mr, Schmoke, Rafael Alvarez, Dali, Jim Lo Scalzo, Curtis Bay, Alvarez, Baltimoreans, James Metzger, Metzger, Metzger’s Organizations: Fort, University of Baltimore, Chesapeake, Washington , D.C, Bethlehem Steel Plant, Amazon Locations: Baltimore, Fort McHenry, Baltimore’s, Maryland, Washington ,, New York City, Shutterstock

PinnedA cargo ship struck a bridge that crosses outer Baltimore Harbor early Tuesday, triggering a collapse, the authorities said. The Coast Guard received a report of an impact at 1:27 a.m. Eastern time at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, said Matthew West, a petty officer first class for the Coast Guard in Baltimore. “I-695 Key Bridge collapse due to ship strike,” the agency said on the social media site X. Officer West of the Coast Guard said that a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, the Dali, had hit the bridge. The bridge — named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” — opened in 1977.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Matthew West, Niki Fennoy, Brandon M, Scott, “, Dali, Grace Ocean, Scott’s, —, Derrick Bryson Taylor Organizations: Coast Guard, Baltimore Police, Fire Department, Maryland Transportation, Grace, Maryland Transportation Authority, Maryland Port Administration, American Locations: Baltimore, ”, Singapore, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Maryland

☆ Middle East Crisis Israeli and U.S. Defense Ministers to Meet in Washington With Tensions High
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

For the increasingly tense U.S.-Israel relationship, the fallout from passage of the U.N. cease-fire resolution was immediate, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he would not send a planned high-level delegation to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials. But on Monday, when the Security Council took up a less strongly worded resolution, calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan, the U.S. representative abstained, allowing the measure to pass. Mr. Gallant, before meeting with Mr. Sullivan, gave no sign Israel would agree to a cease-fire. He reiterated the administration’s position that before going into Rafah, Israel must have a detailed plan to protect, shelter and feed the civilians there. The U.N. resolution and the American role in it drew angry responses from far-right elements of Israel’s government.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Netanyahu, “, Mr, Israel’s, John F, Kirby, ”, ” Mr, Yoav Gallant, Jake Sullivan, Antony J, Blinken, Lloyd J, Austin III, Gallant, Sullivan, Austin, Patrick Ryder, General Ryder, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Eric Schmitt, David E, Sanger, Cassandra Vinograd Organizations: United, Security, U.S, White, National Security Council, Pentagon, . Security, Palestinian, Security Council Locations: Israel, Washington, Rafah, Gaza, United States, ”

The group got a dramatic second wind soon after the Taliban toppled the Afghan government that year. The attack raised ISIS-K’s international profile, positioning it as a major threat to the Taliban’s ability to govern. Counterterrorism officials in Europe say that in recent months they have snuffed out several nascent ISIS-K plots to attack targets there. And now the group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow. “ISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands, referencing Moscow’s interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.”

Persons: Biden, Michael E, “, Qassim Suleimani, Vladimir V, Putin, Colin P, Clarke, ” Organizations: Taliban, U.S, Islamic State, ISIS, military’s, Command, Counterterrorism, Soufan, Kremlin Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, Moscow, State Khorasan Province, U.S, United States, Persian, Europe, Kerman, Iran, Gen, Iranian, Russia, New York, Chechnya, Syria

☆ Barren Fields and Empty Stomachs: Afghanistan’s Long, Punishing Drought
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Lynsey Addario | Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

They awake in the mornings to find another family has left. Those who remain pick apart the abandoned homes and burn the bits for firewood. They speak of the lushness that once blessed this corner of southwestern Afghanistan. What paltry water dribbles out from deep beneath the arid earth is salt-laced, cracking their hands and leaving streaks in their clothes. Several years of punishing drought has displaced entire swaths of Afghanistan, one of the nations most vulnerable to climate change, leaving millions of children malnourished and plunging already impoverished families into deeper desperation.

Locations: Afghanistan

☆ Bernie Sanders Proposes Reducing Americans’ Workweek to 32 Hours
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Bernie Sanders this week unveiled legislation to reduce the standard workweek in the United States from 40 hours to 32, without a reduction in pay, saying Americans are working longer hours for less pay despite advances in technology and productivity. The law, if passed, would pare down the workweek over a four-year period, lowering the threshold at which workers would be eligible to receive overtime pay. The 40-hour workweek has stood as the standard in the United States since it became enshrined in federal law in 1940. In a hearing on Thursday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the proposed law, Mr. Sanders, independent of Vermont, said profits from boosts in productivity over the decades had been reaped only by corporate leaders, and not shared with workers. “The sad reality is that Americans now work more hours than the people of any other wealthy nation,” he said, citing statistics that workers in the U.S. on average work for hundreds of hours longer each week than their counterparts in Japan, Britain and Germany.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, pare, Sanders, ” Organizations: Health, Education, Labor, Pensions Locations: United States, Vermont, U.S, Japan, Britain, Germany

Severe storms tore through three Midwestern states on Thursday, producing a tornado in northwestern Ohio and damaging dozens of homes in eastern Indiana. In Indiana, the towns of Winchester and Selma appeared to be the worst hit. Local officials said they believed a tornado had hit a trailer park in Winchester according to 13 WTHR, an NBC News affiliate, and a pastor said his church had been destroyed. Meteorologists said they were working to confirm that a tornado had touched down there.

Persons: Selma Organizations: Local, NBC News Locations: Ohio, Indiana, In Indiana, Winchester

☆ Many Aid Deliveries for Gaza Are Rejected for ‘Dual-Use’ Items, Groups Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

COGAT, the Israeli agency overseeing aid deliveries into Gaza, accused Mr. Lazzarini of lying, saying that it was in constant contact with the United Nations and had not been notified of the denial. The agency said 1.5 percent of aid trucks trying to enter the territory had been turned away. Mr. Lazzarini is the latest official to say that the Israeli military’s inspections are keeping aid from getting to Gaza’s 2.2 million people. A member of the British Parliament said this month that Israel had turned away 1,350 water filters and 2,560 solar lights provided by the British government because they were considered a threat. Many items that have been turned away aren’t explicitly listed, she said.

Persons: Philippe Lazzarini, Mr, Lazzarini, David Cameron, Israel, Miriam Marmur, aren’t Organizations: UNRWA, United Nations Locations: Gaza

The World Food Program said that its delivery, containing food for 25,000 people, was its first since Feb. 20 to the northern part of the enclave. For five months, aid groups had been able to reach northern Gaza only by entering through one of two southern border crossings, and then attempting a difficult and hazardous drive to the north. Little aid has reached northern Gaza after major relief groups suspended operations there, citing lawlessness, poor road conditions and Israeli restrictions on convoys. The convoy included one truck full of flour and five carrying food packages. “The significance of this is that it revives the hope of continued access to northern Gaza over land,” Ms. Etefa said.

Persons: Abeer Etefa, Ms, Etefa, “, ” Organizations: United Nations, Food Program, World Food Locations: Israel, Gaza, Be’eri

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday morning, according to Israel’s military. Israel’s military said its fighter jets had retaliated by striking a number of sites linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The group is a key ally of Hamas, whose Oct. 7 attacks on Israel led to the war in Gaza. Since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began, Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel on a near-daily basis. The Israeli military regularly responds with strikes against Hezbollah-linked targets inside Lebanon.

Persons: Hassan Nasrallah, Khalil al, Euan Ward, Adam Sella Organizations: Hamas’s Locations: Lebanese, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Lebanon’s Bekaa, Cairo, United States, Egypt, Qatar, Iran

☆ Israel Hamas War: Latest Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Victoria Kim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Distribution of humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, in Rafah, Gaza, earlier this week. But aid workers say that the maritime project is not ambitious enough to alleviate the humanitarian disaster unfolding as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip. The floating pier, General Ryder said, would be built and assembled alongside an Army ship off the Gaza coast. Israeli officials have denied they are hampering the flow of aid, saying the United Nations and aid groups are responsible for any backlogs. “We want to see the amount of aid going via land increase significantly,” General Ryder said.

Persons: Biden, Biden’s, Pat Ryder, General Ryder, Sigrid Kaag, “, Israel, ” General Ryder, “ We’re, ” Organizations: United Nations Relief, Works Agency, Pentagon, U.S ., 7th Transportation Brigade, Base, Army, Defense, U.S . Army, . Security Council, Israel ., United Nations, ” Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Eustis, Va, Norfolk, Egypt, Kerem, Israel, United, U.S, ”

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