News in Brief

Date: 02 July 2021 - 21:46

News ID: ۹۱۹۵۶

LONDON (Dispatches) - A Boeing 737 cargo plane has crashed off the coast of Hawaii after reportedly experiencing engine trouble. According to the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), the Coast Guard rescued both people on board. The aircraft was en route from Honolulu to the island of Maui, but went down in the water soon after take off, just two miles (3km) from Kalaeloa Airport. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

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OTTAWA (Dispatches) - About 1,000 people were evacuated in western Canada, authorities said, as fires raged amid an unprecedented heat wave, charring most of at least one town. The province of British Columbia has recorded 62 new fires in the past 24 hours, premier John Horgan told a press conference. “I cannot stress enough how extreme the fire risk is at this time in almost every part of British Columbia,” Horgan said. The town of Lytton, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, “has sustained structural damage and 90 percent of the village is burned, including the centre of town,” local MP Brad Vis said.

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NEW DELHI (Dispatches) - India has reached the grim milestone of 400,000 deaths from the coronavirus, half of them during a second wave in the past few months that overwhelmed the healthcare system and crematoriums. India has recorded 30.45 million cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year and is the second-most affected country behind the United States, which has 33 million cases. The U.S. has at least 604,000 deaths and about 518,000 people have died in Brazil. India, the world’s second-most populous nation, recorded 853 deaths in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Friday. That took it past the 400,000 mark, with the last 100,000 being added in just 39 days, according to a Reuters news agency tally.

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TRIPOLI (Dispatches) - A non-profit sea rescue group on Thursday hit out at Libya’s coast guard after it released footage that it said showed authorities shooting at a refugee’s boat crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. German charity Sea-Watch said the video, filmed using a plane, also showed the Libyan coastguard trying to ram the refugee’s vessel. During the chase, which occurred in international waters under Malta’s search and rescue responsibility, men in uniform on the Libyan vessel can be seen firing twice towards the boat.

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BRUSSELS (Xinhua) -- A Belgian F-16 jet collided with a building at Leeuwarden Air Base in the Netherlands on Thursday morning, injuring two people, the Dutch and Belgian authorities said. “On Thursday morning an incident took place with an F-16 fighter aircraft at Leeuwarden Air Base,” the Dutch Air Force confirmed. “The pilot sustained a leg injury and was transferred to hospital for treatment. A member of the Belgian technical staff who was present during the incident was also taken to hospital as a precaution”, the Belgian Defense said in a statement.