World

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON,  (Reuters) – Significant damage was reported along the western coast of Tonga’s main island yesterday following the weekend’s massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, but a closed airport and downed communications are hampering international relief efforts.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka is facing its most serious financial crisis in years, raising doubts about its ability to pay its creditors.

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand sent surveillance flights today to assess damage in Tonga, isolated from the rest of the world after the eruption of a volcano that triggered a tsunami and blanketed the Pacific island with ash.

AMSTERDAM,  (Reuters) – A six-year cold case investigation into the betrayal of Anne Frank has identified a surprising suspect in the death of the famous diarist, who was discovered in her canal side hideout and died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A major winter storm slammed much of the eastern United States with snow, ice and high winds yesterday, causing widespread travel disruptions and power outages on a holiday weekend.

(Reuters) – A gunman who took four people hostage at a Dallas-area synagogue and was himself killed as federal agents stormed the temple was identified yesterday as a British citizen, while police in England said they had detained two teenagers for questioning in the investigation.

WELLINGTON, (Reuters) – Tsunami-hit Tonga remained largely uncontactable today with telephone and internet links severed, leaving relatives in faraway New Zealand praying for their families on the Pacific islands as casualty reports had yet to come through.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic flew out of Australia today after a court upheld the government’s decision to cancel his visa, capping days of drama over the country’s COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.

BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The COVAX global vaccine-sharing programme has delivered 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, one of the organisations which manages it said today.

(Reuters) – An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted yesterday, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in Japan and causing large waves in several South Pacific islands, where footage on social media showed waves crashing into coastal homes.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A week of diplomacy by U.S. President Joe Biden failed to defuse tensions between Russia and Ukraine, but has maintained unity with European allies against Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to expose cracks, foreign policy analysts say.

(Reuters) – The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday struck down the state’s new congressional map for illegally favouring Republicans over Democrats and ordered new lines drawn, a decision that could have a significant impact on the battle for control of Congress in November’s elections.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office apologised to Queen Elizabeth yesterday after it emerged that staff partied late into the night in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, when mixing indoors was banned.

BUENOS AIRES,  (Reuters) – Cities and towns in Argentina and neighbouring countries in South America have been setting record high temperatures as the region swelters during a historic heat wave.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office apologised to Queen Elizabeth today after it emerged that staff had partied late into the night in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, at a time when mixing indoors was banned.

KYIV/MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Ukraine was hit by a massive cyberattack warning its citizens to “be afraid and expect the worst”, and Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops on its neighbour’s frontier, released TV pictures today of more forces deploying in a drill.

(Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s attempt to rally Democrats yesterday to alter Senate rules and pass voting-rights laws was stymied, even before he arrived at the U.S.

VIENNA/MOSCOW,  (Reuters) – Poland’s foreign minister said yesterday that Europe was at risk of plunging into war as Russia said it was not yet giving up on diplomacy but that military experts were preparing options in case tensions over Ukraine could not be defused.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses – a policy the conservative justices deemed an improper imposition on the lives and health of many Americans – while endorsing a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities.

AMSTERDAM/LONDON, (Reuters) – The Dutch wing of environmental group Friends of the Earth, which won a landmark court case against Royal Dutch Shell last year, demanded 30 corporations publish plans for big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in a campaign launched yesterday.