Foreign News
Scores of whales to be euthanised after mass stranding in Australia
Australian authorities are euthanising about 90 false killer whales which survived a mass stranding on a remote beach in Tasmania.
A team of experts at the site said complex conditions have made it impossible to save them.
They are part of a pod of 157 whales that had beached near Arthur River, in the island’s north west. The rest had died shortly after the stranding.
Tasmania has seen a series of mass whale strandings in recent years – including the country’s worst-ever in 2020 – but false killer whales haven’t mass stranded there in over 50 years.
False killer whales are technically one of world’s largest dolphin species, like their orca namesakes. They can grow up to 6m (19ft) and weigh 1.5 tonnes.
Authorities on Wednesday said the pod had been stranded at the site for 24 to 48 hours, and the surviving animals were already under extreme stress.
Local resident Jocelyn Flint told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she had travelled to the site on Wednesday morning after her son noticed the pod while out shark fishing overnight.
“There are babies… There’s just families of them. Their eyes are open, they’re looking at me, like ‘help’.”
“It’s just absolutely horrific.”
The site – about 300km (186 miles) from the city of Launceston – is extremely difficult to access and transport any rescue equipment to, marine biologist Kris Carlyon told media.
“This is possibly the trickiest location I’ve seen in 16 years of doing this role in Tasmania,” he said.
“We’re talking a very rough, steep, single lane road into the site. We can get four-wheel drives in there, but not a lot else.”
Rough conditions meant returning the animals to the sea at the location they stranded was impossible, so an expert team tried to relocate two and refloat them, but were unsuccessful.
“The animals just can’t get past the break to get out. They just keep turning around and coming back towards the beach,” said Shelley Graham, from Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service.
With conditions for the next two days forecast to be similar, expert wildlife veterinarians made the “tough” and “confronting” decision to euthanise the remaining whales.
“The longer these animals are out stranded, the longer they are suffering. All alternative options have been unsuccessful, euthanasia is always a last resort,” Dr Carlyon said.
That grim task – which involves shooting the animals – is expected to begin on Wednesday but continue on Thursday.
Authorities are still working out how to dispose of the carcasses. The site has important cultural heritage for Aboriginal people so a department spokesperson earlier suggested “it may be a case of… letting nature run its course”.
Authorities have asked members of the public to avoid the site, with bushfires burning nearby and limited road access.
More than 80% of Australian whale strandings take place in Tasmania – often on its west coast.
Around 40 pilot whales were stranded further south at Macquarie Harbour in 2020 and about 350 of them died despite rescue efforts. Another 200 became standed in the same harbour in 2022.
Whales are highly social mammals and are well known for stranding in groups because they travel in large, close-knit communities which rely on constant communication.
There are a range of theories for why beachings occur. Some experts say the animals can become disoriented after following fish they hunt to the shore.
Others believe that one individual can mistakenly lead whole groups to shore.
[BBC]
India and Pakistan have accused each other of “violations” hours after the two nations said they had agreed to a ceasefire following days of cross-border military strikes.
After sounds of explosions were heard in Indian-administered Kashmir, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said there had been “repeated violations of the understanding we arrived at”.
A short while later, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it remained “committed to faithful implementation of a ceasefire…notwithstanding the violations being committed by India in some areas”.
The fighting between India and Pakistan over the last four days has been the worst military confrontation between the two rivals in decades.
The use of drones, missiles and artillery started when India struck targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in response to a deadly militant attack in Pahalgam last month. Pakistan had denied any involvement.
After four days of cross-border strikes, India and Pakistan said they had agreed on a full and immediate ceasfire.
US President Donald Trump announced the news on his Truth Social Platform on Saturday morning. He said it had been brokered by the US.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister later confirmed the agreement had been reached by the two countries, adding that “three dozen countries” were involved in the diplomacy.
But hours after the announcement, residents – and BBC reporters – in the main Indian-administered Kashmiri cities of Srinagar and Jammu reported hearing the sounds of explosions and seeing flashes in the sky.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said: “For the last few hours, there have been repeated violations of the understanding we arrived at earlier this evening.
“This is a breach of the understanding arrived at earlier today.”
Misri said India’s armed forces was “giving an appropriate response” and he concluded his briefing by “calling upon Pakistan to address these violations”.
In response, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Pakistan remains committed to faithful implementation of ceasefire between Pakistan and India, announced earlier today.
“Notwithstanding the violations being committed by India in some areas, our forces are handling the situation with responsibility and restraint.
“We believe that any issues in smooth implementation of the ceasefire should be addressed through communication at appropriate levels.
“The troops on ground should also exercise restraint.”
Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan, but administered only in part by each since they were partitioned following independence from Britain in 1947.
It has been a flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations and they have fought two wars over it.
Confirming the ceasefire, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar said the two nations had “worked out an understanding on stoppage of firing and military action”.
“India has consistently maintained a firm and uncompromising stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It will continue to do so,” he added.
Later, in an address to the nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the ceasefire had been reached “for the benefit of everybody”.
Speaking after the ceasefire announcement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and Pakistan had agreed to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.
He said he and US Vice-President JD Vance had spent 48 hours with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including their respective Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he welcomed “all efforts to de-escalate the conflict”.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Britain has been “engaged” in talks for “some days”, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaking to both sides.
“I’m pleased to see today that there’s a ceasefire,” Sir Keir said. “The task now is to make sure that that is enduring and is lasting.”
The recent fighting came after two weeks of tension following the killing of 26 tourists in the resort town of Pahalgam.
Survivors of the 22 April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 25 Indians and one Nepali national, said the militants were singling out Hindu men.
The Indian defence ministry said its strikes this week were part of a “commitment” to hold “accountable” those responsible for the attack. Pakistan described them as “unprovoked”.
Pakistan said Indian air strikes and cross-border fire since Wednesday had killed 36 people in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while India’s army reported at least 21 civilians deaths from Pakistani shelling.
Fighting intensified overnight on Friday, with both countries accusing each other of targeting airbases and other military sites.
[BBC]
A diver has died during preliminary operations to recover British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht from the waters off the coast of northern Sicily, local police said.
The accident happened on Friday while the diver was underwater in Porticello, police said, adding the precise cause of death was still unknown.
According to local Italian media, the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch national who worked for a specialist salvage company.
It comes as salvage ships arrived earlier this month to waters off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, where the Bayesian vessel sank during freak weather last August.
Seven of the 22 people onboard the Bayesian last summer were killed, including Lynch 59, and his 18 year old daughter Hannah..
Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy, 71, US lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo and the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas who was originally from Antigua, also died in the sinking on 19 August.
Fifteen people managed to escape on a lifeboat including a one-year-old and Mike Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares.
The cause of the sinking is still under investigation with naval experts saying a yacht of Bayesian’s calibre should have been able to withstand the storm and certainly should not have sunk as rapidly as it did.
The salvage operation is being overseen by British marine consultancy TMC Marine and led by Dutch-based companies Hebo, a maritime services company from Rotterdam, and SMIT Salvage, with support from Italian specialists.
About 70 specialist personnel have been deployed to Sicily from across Europe to work on the recovery operation
On Thursday, the team said on-site preparations were on schedule and “significant progress” had been made over the past five days.
Analysis of the yacht and the surrounding seabed confirmed there had been no change to its condition since the last inspection, meaning plans to raise the vessel can now go ahead.
Work to move the Bayesian into an upright position and lift it to the surface was scheduled to begin later this month – subject to suitable weather and sea conditions.
Before the vessel is transported to port, sea water will be pumped out of it.
Before the Bayesian is raised it will be held in position by steel slings, as salvage workers detach the vessel’s extensive rigging and 72m (236ft) mast, thought to be one of the tallest in the world.
These will then be stored on the seabed and recovered after the team has recovered the ship’s hull, which investigators say is a primary source of evidence.
There has not been any pollution from the yacht reported, with conditions being monitored and efforts made to secure its tank vents and openings.
Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived in the vicinity of London, and the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.
The tycoon founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.
[BBC]
Russia has marked the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II with a massive military parade on Red Square in Moscow.
Attended by President Vladimir Putin, alongside foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the “Victory Day” spectacle, celebrated on May 9, is Russia’s most important secular holiday.
The parade and other ceremonies underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that has dragged into a fourth year.
The fight against the Nazis in World War II – known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War – is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under communist rule that is revered by all political groups. Putin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people as it fought Germany’s forces in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.
Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory”.
The event featured at least 11,500 soldiers and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armoured infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might, launchers for the Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled across Red Square.
Fighter jets from the air force’s aerobatic team flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colours of the national flag.
After the show, Putin shook hands with Russian military officers. He also talked to a group of medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.
Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed their deployment for the first time.
Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting on May 8 to coincide with the Victory Day celebration, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks.
The events were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot on Wednesday morning cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed at least 140 others as the military repelled repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.
Russian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and mobile phone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling further drone attacks.
Military vehicles roll into Red Square during the parade.[Aljazeera]
Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov is driven along Red Square in an Aurus car [Aljazeera]
[Alljazeera]
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