News in Brief

Date: 14 May 2021 - 21:44

News ID: ۹۰۱۷۶

PROVIDENCE (Reuters) -- Nine people were wounded, three of them critically, in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday in an exchange of gunfire between a home and the occupants of a car, police officials said. Col. Hugh Clements of the Providence Police Department said officers responded to emergency calls shortly before 7 p.m. eastern standard time. "Upon arrival we found evidence of a large amount of gunfire,” Clements said, adding that as many as five guns may have been involved and that police were "familiar with two groups involved.” No arrests had been made in the shooting as of about 10 p.m. local time.

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CARACAS (Reuters) -- Venezuelan Electoral Council President Pedro Calzadilla said on Thursday that the country would hold regional and local elections on Nov. 21, despite the opposition’s call this week for presidential and parliamentary votes as well. The mayoral and gubernatorial elections will be the first overseen by the new council, named earlier this month, which includes three members linked to President Nicolas Maduro’s ruling Socialist Party and two members close to the opposition.The naming of the new board prompted some opposition politicians to advocate for participating in the elections, after boycotting presidential and parliamentary elections in recent years on the grounds that the conditions were not free and fair. "This (electoral council) is the result of a national dialogue,” Calzadilla said. "It is with active and hopeful electoral participation that the Venezuelan people have expressed their clear mandate. Our differences should be resolved peacefully.”

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DUBLIN (Reuters) -- Ireland’s health service operator shut down all its IT systems on Friday to protect them from a "significant” ransomware attack, crippling diagnostic services, disrupting COVID-19 testing and forcing hospitals to cancel many appointments. An international cyber crime gang was behind the attack, Ireland’s minister responsible for e-government said, describing it as possibly the most significant cyber crime attempt against the Irish state. Ireland’s COVID-19 vaccination program was not directly affected, but the attack was affecting IT systems serving all other local and national health provision, the head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said. "This is not espionage. It was an international attack, but this is just a cyber criminal gang looking for money,” minister Ossian Smyth told the national broadcaster RTE, saying he was unable to share all the information he had. The HSE had not yet received a ransom demand, officials said. The gang exploited a previously unknown vulnerability, a so-called "zero-day” attack because the software maker has had zero days’ notice to fix the hole.

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SEOUL (Reuters) -- South Korean fisheries associations filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government at a local court on Thursday, seeking compensation for the planned release of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the Yonhap news agency reported. The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives of Jeju Island and a shipowners’ association told a news conference outside the Jeju District Court they were demanding about 10 million won ($8,800) per day from the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Yonhap said. Japan’s government said in April it would release more than 1 million tonnes of treated water from the Fukushima site in stages starting in about two years.

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BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombia’s Foreign Minister Claudia Blum has resigned, according to a letter from her shared by the ministry of foreign affairs on Thursday. "I am grateful for the enormous confidence you placed in me when you named me for this important role,” Blum said in her letter to President Ivan Duque. Blum’s resignation follows that of former Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, who resigned earlier this month after widespread protests against a now-cancelled tax reform. Demonstrations began on April 28 in the Andean country fueled by outrage at the reform, which included a plan to raise sales taxes. Protesters’ demands now include a basic income and the withdrawal of a long-debated health reform that opponents say is too vague to correct inequalities.

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MANILA (Reuters) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rebuffed a call from China to withdraw vessels from disputed areas of the South China Sea and said he would not bow to pressure, even if it jeopardizes his friendship with Beijing. The Philippines has boosted its presence in contested areas of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), including Thitu island, near to Chinese military installation, in defiance of the months-long presence of hundreds of Chinese boats it believes are manned by militia. Duterte’s remarks in a televised address aired on Friday come as pressure builds on him to abandon his pursuit of close ties with China and stand up to what his defence chiefs say are blatant provocations. China last month said the Philippines must "stop actions complicating the situation and escalating disputes” in response to a rare maritime exercise conducted by the Philippines. "I do not want a quarrel, I do not want trouble. I respect your position, and you respect mine. But we will not go to war,” Duterte said. There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Chinese embassy in Manila.