7.7 magnitude earthquake triggers tsunami warnings across South Pacific - The Independent

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A magnitude-7.7 earthquake has hit the South Pacific east of Australia, leading to tsunami warnings for Vanuatu, Fiji, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Kiribati.

The earthquake struck near the Loyalty Islands at a depth of about 38 km (24 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

A warning of tsunami waves of up to 1m (3ft) was issued for Vanuatu. This was revised down much lower than an initial forecast, from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which had said 3m waves could hit the island nation.

It said “hazardous tsunami waves” were possible on all coasts within 1,000km of the epicentre.

Smaller waves could hit Fiji, New Caledonia, Kiribati and New Zealand.

The tsunami warning prompted authorities in New Caledonia to order the evacuation of coastal areas on Friday, a government official said, according to AFP, with at least one beach evacuated.

The seismic activity triggered warning sirens and people were ordered to immediately leave areas near the island’s coastline, Colonel Marchi Leccia, a security official, told a local radio station.

Small tsunami waves were observed in Vanuatu shortly after the warnings were issued, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Tsunami waves less than 0.5m (1.5ft) were measured off Lenakel, a port town in the island nation, while smaller waves were measured elsewhere off Vanuatu and off New Caledonia.

New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it was still assessing the potential for a tsunami.

Its civil defence agency issued an advisory stating that New Zealand’s coastal communities could experience “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable” surges at the shore.

The NEMA said the first tsunami activity could reach New Zealand’s shores by 5pm local time in the areas around North Cape. It warned people against wandering in the water, off beaches and shores.

“People on boats, liveboards and at marinas should leave their boats/vessels and move onto shore. Do not return to boats unless instructed by officials,’ NEMA said.

The epicentre of the powerful earthquake was southwest of Fiji, north of New Zealand and east of Australia where the Coral Sea meets the Pacific.

Australia’s Bureau of Metrology has issued a marine tsunami warning for Lord Howe Island, which lies between New Zealand and Australia and is part of the Australian state of New South Wales.

“For the marine environment of Lord Howe Island, there is the possibility of dangerous rips, waves, and strong ocean currents, as well as some localised overflow onto the immediate foreshore,” the Bureau of Metrology said.

“These conditions are expected to commence after 4.15 pm (local time) on Friday and persist for several hours. It is important to exercise caution and be aware of these potential hazards if you plan to engage in any activities in the marine environment during that time.”

Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency said no tsunami threat to Hawaii is expected from the quake yet.

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2023-05-19 05:19:28Z
2046220930

‘We’re not going away’: Rishi Sunak arrives for G7 as UK unveils new Russia sanctions - The Guardian

The UK has unveiled a swathe of new sanctions against Russia, as Rishi Sunak arrived at the G7 summit in Japan with a self-declared mission to push India into showing greater support for Ukraine.

Flying into Hiroshima for the three-day gathering of world leaders – and becoming the first British prime minister to visit the city destroyed by a US atomic bomb in 1945 – Sunak announced a UK ban on imports of Russian diamonds and Russian-origin copper, nickel and aluminium, with other G7 members expected to follow suit.

Speaking ahead of the summit opening, Sunak said the message from G7 leaders to Vladimir Putin is: “We’re not going away.”

At a tea house in Hiroshima’s Shukkeien garden on Friday, he told Sky: “Russia needs to know that we and other countries remain steadfast in our resolve to support Ukraine, not just in the here and now with the resources it needs to protect itself, but for the long term as well.

“They can’t just outlast us in this conflict,” he added to ITV. “One of the common topics of conversation I’ll be having and have been having with my fellow leaders is about the longer term security agreements that we put in place in Ukraine, to deter future Russian aggression.”

Seeking to push his credentials on the global stage after a bruising few weeks of domestic politics, Sunak also set out sanctions targeting another 86 individuals and firms linked to Vladimir Putin, taking the total UK sanctions list to over 1,500.

Those newly sanctioned are described as being from the Russian president’s “military industrial complex”, as well as some who are involved in key economic areas including energy, metals and shipping.

The US has also promised fresh sanctions aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to get materials it needs for the battlefield, close loopholes used to evade sanctions, further reduce international reliance on Russian energy, and narrow Moscow’s access to the international financial system, an official told the Reuters news agency.

US sanctions would “cut off roughly 70 entities from Russia, and other countries, from receiving US exports by adding them to the commerce blacklist. And there will be upwards of 300 new sanctions against individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft,” the official added.

A key task for Sunak will be to put pressure on leaders who have maintained a more neutral stance over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, notably the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Before landing in Hiroshima along with his wife, Akshata Murty, her first attendance on an official No 10 trip, Sunak said he hoped to stress the extent of Russian war crimes to leaders from non-G7 nations including Modi and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president.

“One thing we have to keep doing is talking to countries like India and also Brazil. That is going to be in that second part of the summit which is a good thing,” Sunak said.

“One of my three things is talking to countries around the world and making sure they realise what is going on, the war crimes Russia is committing inside Ukraine and why everyone should support bringing about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“That’s what [Ukraine’s] President Zelenskiy wants, that’s what we want, and putting pressure on Russia to withdraw their forces so we can get to that outcome, that’s the consistent message that I will be taking to countries all around the world.”

Sunak and Modi will meet, but it is not yet confirmed that this will be a formal bilateral meeting.

Given the UK imposed punishing tariffs of 35% on diamonds and metals from Russia last year, massively reducing trade, the outright ban could prove largely symbolic unless it takes place in conjunction with other nations.

The EU has previously stopped short of banning diamonds owing to the importance of the sector to Antwerp in Belgium. It is expected to instead call for better tracing technology for Russian diamonds, a commodity that earned Russia €4.5bn (£3.9bn) in 2021.

Iron, steel, gas, oil and coal imports to the UK from Russia are already banned.

As well as discussing Ukraine, the assembled world leaders, among them the US president, Joe Biden, will hold talks on Indo-Pacific security in light of China’s threat to Taiwan, as well as nuclear disarmament, a key subject for Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, who is hosting the summit in the first city ever targeted by an atomic bomb.

The leaders are expected to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Museum on Saturday. It details the destruction on 6 August 1945, which led to 140,000 deaths by the end of that year.

In comments released before the summit, Sunak explicitly linked Hiroshima’s past with Russia’s actions in Ukraine. “For the sake of global peace and security, we must show that brutal violence and coercion does not reap rewards,” he said.

“As today’s sanctions announcements demonstrate, the G7 remains unified in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in our support for Ukraine. We are meeting today in Hiroshima, a city that exemplifies both the horrors of war and the dividends of peace.”

The summit, which follows Sunak’s address to the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, is a chance for the prime minister to look beyond domestic woes following the Conservatives’ terrible results in this month’s local elections, in which the party exceeded even its deliberately gloomy pre-poll forecast of 1,000 losses.

Even heading to the G7, however, he has not been immune, facing criticism for being out of touch after telling reporters on the flight to Japan that people’s household incomes were “hugely outperforming” expectations and there were “lots of signs that things are moving in the right direction” with the economy.

Sunak met Kishida for dinner on Thursday night after signing a defence pact agreeing to consult each other on major military decisions. The summit is set to discuss the Chinese threat towards Taiwan, amid increasing belligerence from Beijing since the invasion of Ukraine.

The prime minister also held a business reception for UK and Japanese companies, with Sunak claiming about £18bn of investment had been pledged.

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2023-05-19 05:03:45Z
2014894706

95-year-old woman using walking frame tasered by police at care home in Australia - Sky News

A 95-year-old grandmother is in a critical condition after being tasered by police in Australia.

Officers were called to a care home after staff discovered Clare Nowland outside her room holding a steak knife.

They talked to her for several minutes - but when she failed to drop the knife and began approaching the officers, one of them fired a taser, knocking her to the ground.

She was using a walking frame at the time and suffers from dementia.

Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter said: "At the time she was tasered she was approaching police but it is fair to say at a slow pace."

Ms Nowland has since been taken to hospital and is said to be fading in and out of consciousness, with her family by her bedside.

It happened at the Yallambee care home in Cooma, which is about 186 miles (300km) southwest of Sydney.

More from World

The officer who fired the taser has been taken off duty, and the homicide squad is now involved.

Although body cameras recorded the incident, New South Wales Police said it isn't the public interest to release the footage because an investigation is ongoing.

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2023-05-19 04:13:38Z
2036922150

UK unveils new sanctions against Russia as Rishi Sunak arrives at G7 talks - The Guardian

The UK has unveiled a swathe of new sanctions against Russia, as Rishi Sunak arrived at the G7 summit in Japan with a self-declared mission to push India into showing greater support for Ukraine.

Flying into Hiroshima for the three-day gathering of world leaders – and becoming the first British prime minister to visit the city destroyed by a US atomic bomb in 1945, Sunak announced a UK ban on imports of Russian diamonds and Russian-origin copper, nickel and aluminium, with other G7 members expected to follow suit.

Seeking to push his credentials on the global stage after a bruising few weeks of domestic politics, Sunak also set out sanctions targeting another 86 individuals and firms linked to Vladimir Putin, taking the total UK sanctions list to over 1,500.

Those newly sanctioned are described as being from the Russian president’s “military industrial complex”, as well as some who are involved in key economic areas including energy, metals and shipping.

The US has also promised fresh sanctions aimed at disrupting Russia’s ability to get materials it needs for the battlefield, close loopholes used to evade sanctions, further reduce international reliance on Russian energy, and narrow Moscow’s access to the international financial system, an official told the Reuters news agency.

US sanctions would “cut off roughly 70 entities from Russia, and other countries, from receiving US exports by adding them to the commerce blacklist. And there will be upwards of 300 new sanctions against individuals, entities, vessels and aircraft,” the official added.

A key task for Sunak will be to put pressure on leaders who have maintained a more neutral stance over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, notably the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Before landing in Hiroshima along with his wife, Akshata Murty, her first attendance on an official No 10 trip, Sunak said he hoped to stress the extent of Russian war crimes to leaders from non-G7 nations including Modi and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president.

“One thing we have to keep doing is talking to countries like India and also Brazil. That is going to be in that second part of the summit which is a good thing,” Sunak said.

“One of my three things is talking to countries around the world and making sure they realise what is going on, the war crimes Russia is committing inside Ukraine and why everyone should support bringing about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“That’s what [Ukraine’s] President Zelenskiy wants, that’s what we want, and putting pressure on Russia to withdraw their forces so we can get to that outcome, that’s the consistent message that I will be taking to countries all around the world.”

Sunak and Modi will meet, but it is not yet confirmed that this will be a formal bilateral meeting.

Given the UK imposed punishing tariffs of 35% on diamonds and metals from Russia last year, massively reducing trade, the outright ban could prove largely symbolic unless it takes place in conjunction with other nations.

The EU has previously stopped short of banning diamonds owing to the importance of the sector to Antwerp in Belgium. It is expected to instead call for better tracing technology for Russian diamonds, a commodity that earned Russia €4.5bn (£3.9bn) in 2021.

Iron, steel, gas, oil and coal imports to the UK from Russia are already banned.

As well as discussing Ukraine, the assembled world leaders, among them the US president, Joe Biden, will hold talks on Indo-Pacific security in light of China’s threat to Taiwan, as well as nuclear disarmament, a key subject for Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, who is hosting the summit in the first city ever targeted by an atomic bomb.

The leaders are expected to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Museum on Saturday. It details the destruction on 6 August 1945, which led to 140,000 deaths by the end of that year.

In comments released before the summit, Sunak explicitly linked Hiroshima’s past with Russia’s actions in Ukraine. “For the sake of global peace and security, we must show that brutal violence and coercion does not reap rewards,” he said.

“As today’s sanctions announcements demonstrate, the G7 remains unified in the face of the threat from Russia and steadfast in our support for Ukraine. We are meeting today in Hiroshima, a city that exemplifies both the horrors of war and the dividends of peace.”

The summit, which follows Sunak’s address to the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, is a chance for the prime minister to look beyond domestic woes following the Conservatives’ terrible results in this month’s local elections, in which the party exceeded even its deliberately gloomy pre-poll forecast of 1,000 losses.

Even heading to the G7, however, he has not been immune, facing criticism for being out of touch after telling reporters on the flight to Japan that people’s household incomes were “hugely outperforming” expectations and there were “lots of signs that things are moving in the right direction” with the economy.

Sunak met Kishida for dinner on Thursday night after signing a defence pact agreeing to consult each other on major military decisions. The summit is set to discuss the Chinese threat towards Taiwan, amid increasing belligerence from Beijing since the invasion of Ukraine.

The prime minister also held a business reception for UK and Japanese companies, with Sunak claiming about £18bn of investment had been pledged.

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2023-05-19 00:56:15Z
2014894706

Ukraine war: Kyiv says 29 of 30 Russian missiles shot down - The Independent

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Ukraine said it had repelled a day of Russian attacks in and around the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut on Thursday, making small gains while buying time for other “planned actions”.

While Russia boosted its forces in the city and attacked suburbs to the north and south, Ukraine's forces advanced up to one 1km, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on her Telegram channel.

“The defence of Bakhmut and its outskirts is meeting its military objectives,” she said. “As of now, we control the southwestern part of Bakhmut.”

It came after Russia unleashed another round of overnight strikes on the capital, in the latest test of Kyiv’s air defences.

Ukraine claimed it managed to shoot down 29 of 30 missiles fired across the country in the early hours of Thursday. The single missile that evaded Ukraine’s defences – striking an industrial building in the southern region of Odesa – killed one person and injured two more, according to Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the region’s military administration.

Loud explosions bellowed throughout Kyiv as Vladimir Putin’s forces hammered the capital for the ninth time this month, in a move marking a stark escalation after weeks of lull. Debris also fell on two Kyiv districts, starting a fire at a garage complex.

Smoke rises after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv

The missiles were launched from Russian sea, air and ground bases, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, wrote on Telegram. Several waves of missiles were aimed at areas of Ukraine between 2100 local time [GMT 1800] on Wednesday and 0530 [GMT 0230] on Thursday, he added.

Russian forces used strategic bombers from the Caspian region and apparently fired X-101 and X-55-type missiles developed during Soviet times, Kyiv authorities said. Russia then deployed reconnaissance drones over the capital.

In the last major air attack on Kyiv, on Tuesday, Ukrainian air defenses bolstered by complex Western-supplied systems shot down all the incoming missiles, officials said.

That attack used hypersonic missiles, which repeatedly have been touted by the Russian president as providing a key strategic advantage. The missiles, which are among the most advanced weapons in Russia’s arsenal, are difficult to detect and intercept because of their hypersonic speed and manoeuvrability.

An industrial building damaged after a Russian missile strike in Odesa

In another blow to the Russian advance on Thursday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group – often referred to as Putin’s private army – accused regular Russian army units of pulling back 570m north of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, leaving his own fighters’ flanks exposed. He said his forces has advanced about 400m.

Wagner forces have been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the war, with some support from the regular army in recent months. Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly 15 months ago, as a stepping stone toward capturing the rest of the eastern Donbas region.

A missile explodes over Kyiv on Thursday

Mr Prigozhin asked Moscow to do all it could to protect its territory in Bakhmut after what he alleged was a withdrawal.

“I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defence – publicly – because my letters are not being read,” Mr Prigozhin said in a voice message

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut

Ukrainian officials have signalled that the advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv to push back the Russian forces.

With Mr Prigozhin repeatedly accusing Russia’s top military brass of not doing enough to back his men, and reports of disquiet among the rest of the Russian leader’s inner circle, appears to be cause for concern for the Kremlin.

A Russian cruise missile shot down by Ukrainian air defence units in Kyiv

(National Police of Ukraine/AFP )

According to a recent update from the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), Russia has banned its own top officials from resigning to avoid “any impression of defeatism”.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report

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2023-05-18 19:43:06Z
2014934408

Ukraine war: Russia launches ninth wave of missile attacks on Kyiv this month - BBC

Reuters

By Adam Durbin in London and James Landale in Kyiv

BBC News

Ukraine's capital Kyiv has been attacked from the air by Russia for the ninth time this month.

One person has been killed and two more wounded in a missile strike on Odesa, a Black Sea port city in the south west, officials say.

Blasts were also heard in central regions of Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Zhytomyr.

Kyiv's military administration said preliminary information indicated all incoming missiles had been destroyed.

This is the ninth time Russia has launched aerial strikes on the city this month. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had shot down six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as part of an "exceptionally dense" attack.

Speaking before the all-clear was given, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a fire had broken out in a garage in the Darnytsya area of Kyiv, but added no one had been injured.

The head of Kyiv's civilian military administration said a heavy missile attack had been launched from Russian strategic bombers over the Caspian sea.

Serhiy Popko said the attack probably included cruise missiles, adding that Russia had deployed reconnaissance drones over Kyiv after unleashing its wave of air strikes.

He said a second fire had broken out in a non-residential building in Kyiv's eastern Desnyansky district, but did not give an update on if anyone was hurt.

At least eight people were reportedly killed - including a five-year-old boy near Kherson - and 17 were injured by shelling on Wednesday, as both sides traded accusations of striking civilian areas.

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Slowly but surely Ukraine is getting ready to launch a huge assault on Russia's invading forces.

Western officials say Ukraine's army is at "an increased state of readiness" ahead of a long-awaited counter- offensive against Russia's invasion.

The officials said many of Kyiv's military capabilities were now "coming together" - including its ability to deploy tanks, fighting vehicles and combat engineers, as well as clearing mines, bridging rivers and striking long-range targets.

They said Russian troops were in a parlous state but warned that Moscow's defensive lines in Ukraine were "potentially formidable" and guarded by "extensive minefields".

So the officials argued the success of any Ukrainian offensive should be measured not just by territorial gains but also by whether it convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to rethink his strategy.

The "cognitive effect on the Kremlin", they claimed, was more important than Ukrainian forces cleaving through Russian lines all the way to the border.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba met with a Chinese diplomat in Kyiv and rejected any peace plan which would involve them giving up territory to Russia.

But an agreement allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain through the Black Sea has been extended for two months, the day before it was due to expire.

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Kyiv
• Russia
• Ukraine

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2023-05-18 04:36:18Z
2014934408

Ukraine war: Russian launches ninth missile attack on Kyiv this month - BBC

Reuters

By Adam Durbin & James Landale

BBC News

Ukraine's capital Kyiv has been attacked from the air by Russia for the ninth time this month.

Speaking before the all-clear was given, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a fire in one district had been caused by falling debris.

Blasts were also heard in central Ukraine in the regions of Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr.

Kyiv's military administration said preliminary information indicated all incoming missiles had been destroyed.

This is the ninth time Russia has launched aerial strikes on the city this month. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had shot down six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as part of an "exceptionally dense" attack.

Writing on Telegram, Mr Klitschko said the fire had broken out in a garage in the Darnitsya area of Kyiv, but added no one had been injured.

The head of Kyiv's civilian military administration said a heavy missile attack had been launched from Russian strategic bombers over the Caspian sea.

Serhiy Popko said the attack probably included cruise missiles, adding that Russia had deployed reconnaissance drones over Kyiv after unleashing its wave of air strikes.

He said a second fire had broken out in a non-residential building in the Desnyansky district to the east of Kyiv, but did not give an update on if anyone was hurt.

On Wednesday, at least eight people were reportedly killed - including a five-year-old boy near Kherson - and 17 were injured by shelling in Ukraine, as both sides traded accusations of striking civilian areas.

Slowly but surely Ukraine is getting ready to launch a huge assault on Russia's invading forces.

Western officials say Ukraine's army is at "an increased state of readiness" ahead of a long-awaited counter- offensive against Russia's invasion.

The officials said many of Kyiv's military capabilities were now "coming together" - including its ability to deploy tanks, fighting vehicles and combat engineers, as well as clearing mines, bridging rivers and striking long-range targets.

They said Russian troops were in a parlous state but warned that Moscow's defensive lines in Ukraine were "potentially formidable" and guarded by "extensive minefields".

So the officials argued the success of any Ukrainian offensive should be measured not just by territorial gains but also by whether it convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to rethink his strategy.

The "cognitive effect on the Kremlin", they claimed, was more important than Ukrainian forces cleaving through Russian lines all the way to the border.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba met with a Chinese diplomat in Kyiv and rejected any peace plan which would involve them giving up territory to Russia.

But an agreement allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain through the Black Sea has been extended for two months, the day before it was due to expire.

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Kyiv
• Russia
• Ukraine

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2023-05-18 03:24:12Z
2014934408