Category: World

Typhoon Kalmaegi hits Vietnam after killing at least 114 in Philippines8 hours agoShareSaveLucy Clarke-Billings and Jonathan Head,South East Asia correspondentShareSaveAFP via Getty ImagesTrees came down in high winds near Quy Nhon beach in Gia Lai, central Vietnam, as Kalmaegi approached on ThursdayTyphoon Kalmaegi made landfall in Vietnam on Thursday after killing at least 114 people and flooding entire towns in the Philippines.
More than 260,000 soldiers are on standby for rescue efforts as winds of up to 92mph (149km/h) hit the country's coastline, according to Vietnamese media and the government's online portal.
Six airports in the country have been forced to close and hundreds of flights are expected to be affected, the government warned.
The country, which has already been battling record rains and floods, is now facing one of Asia's strongest typhoons this year.
The country's environment ministry said on Thursday that “the storm is on land, in the province..

Hamas hands over another coffin containing remains to Israel4 hours agoShareSaveKathryn ArmstrongShareSaveReutersHamas agreed to return all hostages it was holding in Gaza, living and dead, as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with IsraelHamas has handed over to the Red Cross a coffin containing what it says is the body of another deceased hostage, the Israeli military has said.
The remains have been transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.
Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel, which started nearly a month ago, Hamas agreed to return all 20 living and 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages it was holding within 72 hours.
Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages' bodies, while Hamas has insisted it is struggling to find them under rubble.
If the latest remains are confirmed as those of a dead hostage, it will mean six other..

Inside Gaza, BBC sees total devastation after two years of war5 hours agoShareSaveLucy WilliamsonMiddle East correspondent, GazaShareSaveWatch: BBC's Lucy Williamson taken to east of Gaza City in IDF-led visitFrom an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done.
The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees, from Beit Hanoun on one side to Gaza City on the other.
Beyond the distant shapes of buildings still standing inside Gaza City, there's almost nothing left to orient you here, or identify the neighbourhoods that once held tens of thousands of people.
This was one of the first areas Israeli ground troops entered in the early weeks of the war. Since then they have been back multiple times, as Hamas regrouped around its strongholds in the area.
Israel does not allow news organisations to report independently from Gaza. Today it took a group of journalists, inclu..

Dick Cheney's death a loss to the nation, says George W Bush2 hours agoShareSaveAnthony Zurcher,North America correspondent, George Wright and Alex SmithShareSaveBrooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty ImagesDick Cheney was one of the most powerful US vice-presidents in history under George W BushFormer US President George W Bush has led tributes to Dick Cheney, saying his death is “a loss to the nation and a sorrow to his friends”.
Cheney died from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease on Monday night at the age of 84, his family said in a statement.
He became one of the most powerful US vice-presidents in history under Bush, and leaves behind a controversial legacy as a key architect of the “war on terror”, and an early advocate of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“History will remember him as among the finest public servants of his generation,” Bush said in a statement.
Cheney was “a patriot who brought integrity, high intelligence, and seriousness of purpose to every..

Israel receives coffin Hamas says contains Gaza hostage's body4 hours agoShareSaveDavid GrittenJerusalemShareSaveReutersHamas's armed wing said it recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in the Shejaiya area on TuesdayIsrael has received via the Red Cross in Gaza a coffin which the Palestinian armed group Hamas says contains the body of a deceased hostage, according to the Israeli prime minister's office.
Israeli forces will now transfer the remains to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.
Earlier, Hamas's military wing said it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in the eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Israel had allowed members of the group and Red Cross staff to search for the remains in the area, which is inside territory still controlled by Israeli forces.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages since a US-brokered ceasefire deal took effect on 10..