BAHAMAS
Storm death toll rises to 43
The death toll from Hurricane Dorian has risen to 43, media reported late on Friday, and was expected to grow “significantly.” US network CNN and local newspaper the Tribune cited Minister of Health Duane Sands as confirming the new toll, up from 30. “Forty-three is the official count, many missing and this number is expected to grow significantly,” Erica Wells Cox, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, told NBC News. Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane — the highest on the five-level wind scale — when it slammed into northern areas on Sunday last week, leaving a trail of immense destruction. UN relief officials said that more than 70,000 people are in need of assistance after the storm reduced homes to matchsticks and destroyed people’s livelihoods. Hundreds are missing and officials have said that the final toll could be “staggering.”
CANADA
People protest Chick-fil-A
Dozens of protesters on Friday crowded a Toronto sidewalk to voice their opposition to the opening of the first franchised Chick-fil-A restaurant in the nation because of the owner’s record on LGBTQ issues. The company has funded anti-LGBTQ initiatives, while CEO Dan Cathy has voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage, the protesters said. The company promotes hate and is not welcome in Toronto, protester Justin Khan said. Chick-fil-A operator Wilson Yang said in an e-mailed statement that everyone is welcome at the restaurant. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company has faced opposition in the US as well, but disputes the characterization of the 2017 donations, saying that it donated US$1.6 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a group that is overtly against gay marriage, for sports camps for inner-city youth.
PHILIPPINES
Market blast wounds seven
An explosion at a public market in the south early yesterday wounded at least seven people, the fourth blast in that area in 13 months, the military said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but a militant group operating in the mostly Christian city of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat Province was among the suspects, military said. The latest blast came amid heightened tensions in the volatile region after three incidents in the past year that authorities said were suicide bombings by militants linked to the Islamic State. Video footage showed that yesterday’s blast occurred in a parking space for motorcycles. A suspected improvised explosive device was placed beside a parked motorcycle, regional military spokesman Major Arvin Encinas told reporters.
UNITED STATES
Lombard could be tolled
Thousands of tourists could soon be forced to make reservations and pay to drive famed, crooked Lombard Street in San Francisco. California lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill granting San Francisco the power to establish a toll and reservation system for Lombard Street. The bill still needs California Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority has recommended US$5 per vehicle on weekdays and US$10 on weekends and holidays. Residents have said that the scenic street has become more like an overcrowded amusement park than a neighborhood street. They have been calling for years for officials to address traffic jams, trash and trespassing. Tourism officials have estimated that 6,000 people daily visit the 183m-long street in the summer, creating lines of vehicles stretching for blocks.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
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