News in Brief

Date: 14 November 2021 - 21:16

News ID: ۹۶۵۸۱

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Western Australia’s emergency services issued a bushfire warning on Sunday for an out of control blaze east of the state capital Perth that was threatening homes and lives. “If the way is clear, leave now for a safer place,” Emergency Western Australia told residents in and around Mokine in the Shire of Northam, 71 km (44 miles) east of Perth. “Do not wait and see, leaving at the last minute is deadly.” Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia’s environment, with high temperatures, dry conditions and the combustible nature of many native plants contributing to fire occurrences. In the summer of 2019-2020, the country suffered an unprecedented season when blazes burned more than over 17 million hectares (65,630 square miles), or nearly half the size of Germany, according to government data. Thirty-three people died, including nine firefighters.

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SOFIA (AFP) – Bulgarians vote Sunday for the third time this year with little hope that the latest general election will finally bring a stable government to fight the country’s deadliest coronavirus wave. Just over 23 percent of Bulgaria’s population of 6.9 million people is fully vaccinated, the lowest rate across the European Union. The interim administration failed to impose stricter measures and stop new infections and deaths from spiraling. With around 200 people dying each day in short-staffed hospitals, Bulgaria’s death rate this week was among the highest in the world. Uncertainty coupled with rising electricity and gas prices has hit the economy, with the European Commission this week lowering its annual growth forecast for Bulgaria. The conservative GERB party of three-time premier Boyko Borisov “exploits this feeling very well” with election posters calling for “Order in the chaos”, Todorov said. But Borisov, who faced massive anti-graft protests last year and multiple revelations about alleged past misuse of public funds, is seen as an “unacceptable” partner by most other parties.

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CARACAS (Dispatches) – The Venezuelan government says it has foiled a new terrorist attack that aimed to disrupt the electoral process and provoke chaos in the Latin American country ahead of the regional and municipal elections next week.
Remigio Ceballos Ichaso, the Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace of Venezuela, announced on Saturday the dismantling of a terrorist group that had planned to target the facilities of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the capital, Caracas, prior to the regional and municipal vote set on November 21. “We have dismantled a new terrorist plan that intended to undermine the sovereignty and peace of our people, I will shortly be giving important statements for the whole country,” Ichaso wrote on his Twitter account. At a press conference later, Ichaso presented videos, audios and evidence about the group that had claimed a series of terrorist attacks during previous elections.

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VIENNA (AP) – The Austrian government ordered a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people starting midnight Sunday to slow the fast spread of the coronavirus in the country. The move prohibits unvaccinated individuals older than age 12 from leaving their homes except for basic activities such as working, grocery shopping, going for a walk — or getting vaccinated. Authorities are concerned about rising deaths and that hospital staff will no longer be able to handle the growing influx of COVID-19 patients. “It’s our job as the government of Austria to protect the people,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg told reporters in Vienna on Sunday. “Therefore we decided that starting Monday ... there will be a lockdown for the unvaccinated.” The lockdown affects about 2 million people in the Alpine country of 8.9 million people, news agency APA reported. It doesn’t apply to children under the age of 12 because they cannot yet officially get vaccinated.

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LONDON (Ruptly) – Protesters gathered outside the Saudi embassy in London on Saturday to demand an end to the Arab country’s military involvement that began in October after the civilian government was ousted. Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, had previously held good relations with Sudan, and have urged that a civilian government be reinstated. The protest followed an increase in tensions in the country after five people were killed in anti-coup protests in the capital Khartoum. On 25 October 2021, the Sudanese military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dissolved the transitional government and declared a state of emergency. Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, was detained and is now being held at his home.

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GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (Al Jazeera) – Dozens of inmates have been killed in fierce clashes in a prison in Ecuador’s largest city of Guayaquil, according to authorities. “According to preliminary information, some 68 prisoners were killed and another 25 were wounded,” the Ecuador Prosecutor’s Office wrote on Twitter, raising an earlier toll given by police of 58 people killed and 12 injured. The brawl at Penitenciaria del Litoral, on the outskirts of Guayaquil in Guayas province, was just one of several such incidents in the prison over the past few months. In September, a riot between rival gangs killed 119 prisoners. Nearly 300 inmates have been killed this year in Ecuador’s broken prison system, where thousands of inmates tied to drug gangs square off in violent clashes that often turn into riots. Residents living near the prison on Saturday reported hearing hours of sustained gunfire and explosions coming from inside the lockup. Outside, relatives of inmates gathered for news of their loved ones.