Foreign News
Cyclone Alfred lashes parts of eastern Australia, bringing rains, waves
Tropical storm Alfred has begun to lash Australia’s eastern coast, bringing large amounts of rain and record-breaking waves to a heavily populated region rarely hit by such storms and prompting evacuation orders in some areas.
Schools have been closed and public transport suspended as the region braces for the first cyclone in eastern Australia since 1974.
Alfred was 250km (155 miles) east of Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, but government forecasts warned its “erratic” crawl towards the mainland was growing difficult to predict.
Alfred was initially forecast to strike land late on Thursday. But the slow-moving storm – churning towards the coast at just 7 kilometres per hour (4 miles per hour) – was now more likely to make landfall late on Friday or early on Saturday.
The cyclone has already caused some damage with the power company Essential Energy reporting about 10,000 homes and businesses in the northern part of the state of New South Wales (NSW) have lost power after strong winds knocked down trees and damaged power lines on Thursday afternoon.
The NSW State Emergency Service has also issued evacuation orders for parts of the state due to possible flooding by 9pm (11:00 GMT) on Thursday.
More than four million people are in the firing line of the storm along a 400km (250-mile) stretch of coast expected to see the worst of the storm.
“We’re already seeing gales developing on the coastal fringe,” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Sarah Scully told the AFP news agency.
“There have been very large waves and powerful swells. That’s generated by Alfred lingering in the Coral Sea and creating a whole lot of wave energy.”
A 12.4-metre (40ft) wave was recorded on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane, the largest swell ever picked up by that monitoring station.
Daring surfers paddled out to catch the supercharged waves, ignoring the threat of US$10,000 fines for “reckless behaviour”.
“I am just staggered that people would be so stupid. It is a huge act of stupidity,” acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates said.
Alfred is expected to make landfall near Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, the weather bureau said.
“There’s a lot of people in harm’s way here. We’re talking about something like four and a half million Australians,” federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
While cyclones are common in the tropical waters lapping Australia’s northern coast, it is rare for them to form in cooler waters farther south.
Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
[Aljazeera]
A strong magnitude 7.5 earthquake has struck off northern Japan, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning for waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet).
The quake hit on Monday at 4:53pm local time (07:53 GMT) in waters off Iwate prefecture on Japan’s Pacific coast, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). It was felt across a wide area, shaking buildings in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres (miles) to the south.
The JMA warned that the first tsunami waves could reach parts of the northern coastline immediately. “Evacuate immediately from coastal regions and riverside areas to a safer place such as high ground or an evacuation building,” the agency said.
“Tsunami waves are expected to hit repeatedly. Do not leave safe ground until the warning is lifted.”
Live footage from public broadcaster NHK showed no immediate signs of damage at several ports in Iwate.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government had set up a crisis management team and was working to assess the impact of the earthquake.
“For those of you who live in areas for which the warnings have been issued, please evacuate to higher, safer places such as higher ground,” Takaichi told reporters.
[Aljazeera]
Thousands of prisoners in Myanmar have been granted amnesty or had their sentences reduced. The pardon order by Min Aung Hlaing is one of his first official acts since the coup leader became president this month.
The move comes as the lawyer for jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi told the Reuters news agency that her sentence has been reduced. Former president Win Myint, detained since the 2021 coup, was also pardoned of his convictions, a statement from the presidency said.
Min Aung Hlaing approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, Myanmar’s state television MRTV reported.
A communique on behalf of Min Aung Hlaing said “those serving death sentences shall have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment”, without naming specific prisoners.
“The President has pardoned Win Myint,” said another statement from Min Aung Hlaing’s office. Win Myint was “granted a pardon and the reduction of his remaining sentences under specified conditions”, MRTV said.
Suu Kyi, 80, is serving a 27-year sentence on charges her allies describe as politically motivated. Her sentence was cut by one-sixth, her lawyer told Reuters, but it remains unclear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest. Min Aung Hlaing placed Suu Kyi under arrest after the coup.
Amnesties typically happen as Myanmar marks Independence Day in January and its New Year in April.
Among those to be released are 179 foreign nationals, who will be deported. The amnesty also includes the commutation of all death sentences to life imprisonment, life sentences reduced to 40 years, and a one-sixth reduction in term lengths for all other prisoners.
[Aljazeera]
Several armed men robbed a bank in broad daylight in Naples, holding 25 people hostage before making their escape via a tunnel.
Police surrounded a branch of Crédit Agricole in the southern Italian city shortly after the robbery began around midday local time (10:00 GMT).
Local outlets reported that they negotiated with the robbers before the hostages could be released, about two hours into the robbery.
Firemen could be seen smashing in a window with battering rams and helping people climb out from inside in videos shared on social media.
Some hostages simply shook off the shards of glass and walked on.
But others looked visibly shaken, crying and hugging their relatives. Six people, who were in a state of shock, were offered medical assistance.
One man later told local news site Fanpage.it that the robbers had locked them into a room and that, while they were armed, “they did not use violence”.
Nobody was seriously injured. “Thanks to the swift response… all the hostages were freed shortly after 13:30 without serious injuries,” regional official Michele di Bari said in a statement.
A large crowd of bystanders, local residents and firefighters gathered in the square waiting for developments, while ten of thousands of people tuned into a livestream from the scene of the crime.
Members of the special forces of the carabinieri armed police were urgently flown in from Tuscany.
It was not until several hours later that they stormed the bank by breaking a window.
Several shots and the loud noises of stun grenades could be heard on the live feed shortly after.
But by then, the robbers had reportedly escaped through a tunnel, local media reported. It was thought they could have vanished into the sewer system.
The video feed later showed a number of carabinieri and firefighters peering into a manhole nearby as a crowd continued to mill about the square.
Fanpage.it reported that it was not yet possibly to quantify the value of the loot taken because the robbers had seized personal safety deposit boxes rather than cash.
(BBC)
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