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☆ Rescue efforts in full swing as Australia's inland towns brace for flood peaks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Australia's east is in the grip of the fourth major flood crisis this year due to a multi-year La Nina weather phenomenon, typically associated with increased rainfall. Across New South Wales (NSW) state there were 103 flood warnings on Saturday. "We've had a couple of flood rescues…right now I am at a property east of Forbes helping move some horses. Along the Murrumbidgee River near the town of Wagga Wagga floods peaked on Friday at the highest level since 2010. All four of Australia's eastern states, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have been hit with floods this year.

☆ China vows to continue with 'dynamic-clearing' COVID strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's strict COVID containment approach is still able to control the virus, despite the high transmissibility of COVID variants and asymptomatic carriers, an official from the China National Health Commission told a news conference. Asked if there would be a change of policy in the near term, disease control official Hu Xiang said China's measures are "completely correct, as well as the most economical and effective." The briefing followed a week in which markets surged on hope China would relax restrictions, buoyed further on Friday when a former disease control official told a banking conference that China would make "substantial" changes to COVID policy in the coming months. "We attach great importance to these problems and are rectifying them," said Tuo Jia, another disease control official. China reported 3,837 new COVID-19 infections for Friday, of which 657 were symptomatic and 3,180 were asymptomatic, a slight decrease from the six-month-high of 4,045 new COVID-19 infections reported a day earlier.

☆ Passengers stranded as pilots at Kenya Airways strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A woman pushes her luggage after her flight was cancelled during a strike by Kenya Airways pilots, organised by Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA), at the Jomo Kenyatta International airport in Nairobi, Kenya. REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaNAIROBI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of flights were disrupted and passengers stranded as pilots at Kenya Airways PLC (KQNA.NR), one of Africa's biggest carriers, began a strike on Saturday, despite the government urging them to call it off. The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) said the carrier's management declined to listen to their proposals on how resolve their grievances. In last-minute talks to avert a strike, Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen had issued a plea to the pilots union not to go ahead with the industrial action. One of Africa's largest airlines, Kenya Airways carried over 8,000 passengers daily in the first half of this year, according to the airline.

☆ China's cbank deputy under probe for suspected violations - anticorruption body
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHENZHEN, China, Nov 5 (Reuters) - China's top anti-corruption watchdog said on Saturday it is investigating Fan Yifei, one of six deputy governors of China's central bank, over "suspected serious violations of discipline and law". Fan, 58, has held the deputy governor position since early 2015, before which he had held senior roles with China Construction Bank (601939.SS) and China Investment Corporation. Chinese President Xi Jinping has stepped up efforts in recent years to weed out corrupt Communist Party officials in the financial sector. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced the investigation in a statement but did not give any details. In May, the CCDI said it was investigating Sun Guofeng, the former head of the central bank's monetary policy department, for suspected violations.

☆ North Korea fires four ballistic missiles as U.S., Seoul end drills
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Cynthia Kim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Nov 5 (Reuters) - North Korea fired four short-range ballistic missiles into the western sea on Saturday, South Korea's military said, as Seoul and Washington ended a high-profile six-day military exercise. South Korea said it scrambled warplanes in response to 180 North Korean military flights near the countries' shared border on Friday. On Wednesday, North Korea fired a daily record 23 missiles, with one landing off the coast of South Korea for the first time, after Pyongyang threatened to take powerful measures unless Washington halts allied air exercises with South Korea. In recent years the Security Council has been split on how to deal with North Korea. In May China and Russia vetoed a U.S. attempt to impose more U.N. sanctions in response to North Korean missile launches.

☆ India's Delhi shuts primary schools as air quality deteriorates
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Primary schools in India's New Delhi will be shut from Saturday and restriction on road traffic will be considered, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday as the capital continued to be engulfed by high levels of air pollution. "We're shutting down all primary schools in Delhi from tomorrow ... Also shutting down outdoor activities for all classes above class 5," Kejriwal told a press conference. The decision to shut some schools came after concerned parents and environmentalists took to social media, urging the authorities to consider the impact of pollution on children. District officials in Noida, a satellite city of New Delhi, on Thursday directed all schools to conduct online classes for students up to the eighth grade. India's federal pollution control board on Thursday evening banned the entry of diesel trucks carrying non-essential goods into the capital.

☆ India's Gujarat state suspends senior local administrator for bridge collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Sumit Khanna | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The state government has suspended Sandeepsinh Zala, chief officer of Morbi municipality in view of the bridge collapse," Pankaj Joshi, secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, told Reuters. The bridge - 233 metres in length and 1.25 metres wide - was originally built in 1877 and had been closed for six months for repairs until last week. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hails from the state and was its chief minister for close to 13 years, has called for a detailed and extensive inquiry into the cause of the disaster. The government in the Western Indian state, where legislative elections are due to be held next month, called off the search operation for survivors on Thursday. Local fire brigade, state and national disaster teams will be kept on standby, a government statement said.

☆ Exclusive: Former U.S. military pilot arrested in Australia listed same Beijing address as Chinese hacker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The Beijing address is listed in Australian company filings for the pilot and a U.S. blacklisting for the Chinese businessman, however, it was unclear whether they used the Beijing address at the same time. Another aviation source said Duggan went to Beijing to work with Stephen Su, also known as Su Bin in China. When Reuters visited the Beijing address this week the reporter was told it was a residential building and denied entry. Under Australia's extradition treaty with the United States, an extradition request must be made within 60 days of arrest. Robert Anello, the lawyer who represented Su Bin in the 2014 hacking case, declined to comment and Su Bin could not be reached for comment.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Former U.S. military pilot arrested in Australia listed same Beijing address as Chinese hacker -documents
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

☆ Sakkari wins group to reach semis of WTA Finals, Sabalenka also advances
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sakkari broke twice for a 5-1 cushion en route to capturing the first set, which meant Tunisian world number two Jabeur had no mathematical chance of advancing even if she had rallied back to victory. By winning her group, Sakkari will face either Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia or Russian Daria Kasatkina in the semis while Sabalenka will face world number one Iga Swiatek. In the day's first match, Belarusian world number seven Sabalenka eliminated Jessica Pegula from the WTA Finals with a 6-3 7-5 victory to improve to 2-1. Sabalenka made a blistering start, breaking Pegula to open the match and again for a 5-2 lead. World number three Pegula then fought off four set points to break straight back but Sabalenka broke to love in the next game to wrap up the set.

☆ New Delhi wrestles with 'hazardous' air pollution, primary schools shut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Tanvi Mehta | Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Authorities in New Delhi ordered primary schools to shut from Saturday, and told schools to stop outdoor activities for older children as air in the world's most polluted capital had become a severe risk to health. The chart below shows the daily maximum PM 2.5 concentration at the U.S. Embassy New Delhi since 2015. Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said going forward 50% of Delhi government employees would be told to work from home, and he urged private firms to take similar steps. School girls walk towards a school as they reopened after remaining closed for nearly 15 days due to a spike in air pollution, on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 29, 2021. According to data compiled by the Swiss group IQAir, New Delhi has been the world's most polluted capital for the past four years.

☆ Former U.S. military pilot arrived in Australia from China weeks before arrest - lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Nov 4 (Reuters) - A former United States military pilot arrested in Australia and facing likely extradition to the United States on undisclosed charges had arrived from China weeks before and interacted with Australian intelligence agencies, his lawyer said on Friday. Consequently Reuters was unable to determine the specifics of Duggan's case, or why he may have interacted with Australian intelligence. "He denies having breached any U.S. law, any Australian law, any international law," Miralis said outside the court. He said the United States should not make an extradition request to Australia until this complaint was resolved. Under Australia's extradition treaty with the United States, an extradition request must be made within 60 days of arrest.

read moreIt also shows Woolworths' grocery dominance being challenged: its September quarter sales showed higher inflation than at Coles, which reported results on Oct. 26, while Woolworths food sales went backwards compared to higher supermarket sales at Coles. In the same period, Australian food prices for Woolworths rose 7.3%, compared to 7.1% at Coles. Woolworths food sales were below consensus forecasts and Coles "appears to have closed the sales gap somewhat", Jefferies analysts said in a research note. Australian food sales "did not improve ... despite rising inflation", UBS analysts noted. Including all divisions such as discount department store and its business-to-business unit, group sales rose 1.8% to A$16.4 billion, Woolworths said, roughly in line with analyst forecasts.

☆ Many young Iranians lose their fear in struggle for "freedom"
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Her sentiment was echoed by a dozen young Iranians from across the country interviewed by Reuters by phone. As a young woman, her death sparked anger among Iranians who do not want their daughters arrested because of how they dress. Many young Iranians have long called for the lifting of social restrictions, such as internet censorship and strict dress codes. With student numbers swelling in Iran's young population, such signs of growing dissent cannot be easily ignored by the authorities, a former moderate official said. By defying state warnings to end protests, students have paid a heavy price.

SYDNEY, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday urged its multi-billion dollar mining industry to support the government's plans for a referendum to give the country's Indigenous people a voice in parliament. The proposal to enshrine an Indigenous voice in parliament was a pledge Albanese's Labor party took to the May general election where it ended almost a decade of conservative Liberal-National coalition government. "I urge the resources sector to play a positive and energetic role in ensuring voice campaign is a success. After all, First Nations people of Australia were the first to inherit the extraordinary natural endowment this continent and the resources sector owes First Nations people so very much." A successful referendum would bring Australia in line with Canada, New Zealand and the United States in formally recognising indigenous populations.

TAIPEI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit Taiwan this week, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan said on Wednesday, the latest senior official from the country to visit the island. Carr will meet with "Taiwan interlocutors" to discuss issues including telecommunications and cybersecurity from November 2-4, the American Institute in Taiwan said in a statement to Reuters. China has stepped up military activities near democratically governed Taiwan since August when it conducted blockade drills around the island following a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Taiwan's government says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and so its sovereignty claims are void. Reporting By Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Flags at half-mast as India's Gujarat mourns deadly bridge collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Shivam Patel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man sits at the site of a damaged suspension bridge after it collapsed on Sunday, in Morbi town in the western state of Gujarat, India, November 1, 2022. Rescue workers would continue their search for any unaccounted persons for a fourth day, a government control room said, though local officials said on Tuesday that only one person was believed to be missing still. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has appealed to people in his state to pray for the departed souls and their families. A senior police official told Reuters this week that about 200 people were on the bridge when it collapsed. Local municipality officials said tickets for about 400 people had been sold, although not necessarily to be on the bridge at the same time.

☆ China pledges high-tech support for climate, environmental problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - China will seek high-tech solutions to resolve its complex environmental challenges and make use of innovations in big data, biotech and artificial intelligence to tackle pollution, habitat loss and climate change, it said on Wednesday. The system will be backed by tax incentives and new "green technology banks", and China will also encourage enterprises and financial institutions to provide more support to innovative green technologies, the plan said. China has cut CO2 emissions per unit of economic growth by a third in the last decade, but overall volumes continue to rise. It promised more research to support large-scale demonstration projects and the use of aquifers and oil-bearing formations to contain sequestered CO2. The government will also support research into "deep decarbonisation technologies" in a variety of industrial sectors, including steel, cement, thermal power and agriculture, it said.

☆ Matthew Perry book on rehab and addiction shows the importance of keeping at it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Keith Humphreys | Keith Humphreys Is The Esther Ting Memorial Professor Of Psychiatry At Stanford University School Of Medicine. He Is On Twitter At | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“Friends” star Matthew Perry startled many of his fans by announcing that he had been to drug rehab 15 times and spent some $9 million on getting into recovery. And if you’ve tried to beat an addiction 14 times, does a 15th try really make sense? From left, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, and Matthew Perry in a scene from "Friends". If recovery attempts involve seeking professionally provided addiction treatment, especially those delivered in high-end residential programs, repeated attempts can be financially ruinous. Some other good news: Because of federal legal reforms enacted over the past 15 years, health insurance is much more likely today to pay for some or all of addiction treatment.

☆ At Pixar, Steve Jobs hired a director who'd 'just made a big flop'—the result was an Oscar-winning success
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fresh off the career-threatening flop, Bird was hired by Jobs and Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull to write and direct a movie called "The Incredibles." "They were feeling like, 'We're in danger of falling into certain habits because we have the same group that are doing things ... but we want to shake things up.'" Jobs and Catmull told Bird they hired him because "The Iron Giant" showed a determination to find new ways to tell stories, Bird recalled. "I want people who are disgruntled because they have a better way of doing things and they're having trouble finding an avenue," Bird said. If you're doing it right, you are kind of an underdog," Bird said.

☆ President Aoun leaves office as Lebanon's crisis worsens
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A billboard depicting Lebanon's President Michel Aoun, whose term is expected to end on October 31, is placed in Jdeideh, Lebanon October 27, 2022. In his final week in the palace, he signed onto a U.S.-mediated deal delineating Lebanon's southern maritime border with Israel. "Aoun's was the strongest era in all of Lebanon's history,” said Lama Nohra, a 32-year-old supporter and mother of three young children. "He was by far the worst president in Lebanon’s history" said Michel Meouchi, a lawyer and father. In 2006, his Free Patriotic Movement formed an alliance with Hezbollah, which lent important Christian backing to the armed group.

☆ A timeline of threats against Nancy Pelosi — from the January 6 death threats to a claim about beheading her 'jihadist style' — that preceded the attack on her husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A man who violently attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, may have been looking for her. Nancy Pelosi has faced several threats, including some that resulted in charges or conviction. "Nancy Pelosi is apart [sic] of a satanic cult and so are the people who work closely with her. A relative had informed her of a text Meredith sent in which he threatened Pelosi, prosecutors said. "The attacker who injured Paul Pelosi was looking for Nancy Pelosi, likely wanting to finish the job."

☆ Summer heat and 'flash drought' dried up the Mississippi River, choking a crucial shipping corridor. It could devastate America's agricultural exports.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Drought has driven the Mississippi River to historic low levels, choking US agricultural exports. The Mississippi River basin produces about 92% of US agricultural exports, including 60% of US grain exports, which travel down the river to the Gulf to ship across the world. Coal is in high demand right now, Calhoun said, and the low water levels present a challenge to ship it out of the country. He said higher food prices at the grocery store are just the first way consumers will start feeling the impact of low water levels. A barge tow passes under the Mississippi River bridges in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on October 11, 2022.

☆ Analysis: 'The Surreal Life' reboot brings together another wild group of celebrity roommates
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

No judgment if Halloween is your thing, but I don’t like to be scared so I don’t indulge. Three things to watch‘The Surreal Life’The new cast of "The Surreal Life" sit down for dinner -- and some heated conversation -- in a scene from the VH1 show. From VH1/YouTubeI should probably start by mentioning that Dennis Rodman likes to walk around the house in which he filmed the new season of “The Surreal Life” naked. ‘The White Lotus’ Season 2(From left) Will Sharpe, Aubrey Plaza, Meghann Fahy and Theo James in a scene from season 2 of "The White Lotus" on HBO. And not to give too much away, but there’s a cool scene in season two which addresses binge-watch culture.

☆ Biden's student-debt relief plans aren't enough to restore the value of a college degree as more young people decide to skip it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

College enrollment has fallen in recent years, part of a broader trend over the past decade. President Joe Biden's student-debt reforms could make college more attractive to some but not all. College enrollment has fallen over 1% since last fall, according to a recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse. While Democratic lawmakers have pushed back on the idea that Biden's student-debt relief will cause tuition to spike, GOP lawmakers have latched onto that criticism. While there are few signs of a significant tuition decline on the horizon, the American Enterprise Institute's Mark Perry previously told Insider there had been a flicker of relief.

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