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On a tree-lined beach in Australia’s rugged island state of Tasmania, locals discovered popcorn-sized bits of dead salmon washed up along the sand.When the stinky remains landed in Verona Sands, population 131, they stirred up a festering environment-versus-industry row shortly before Saturday’s general elections.The fish remnants found in February were traced to a mass die-off …

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Global stocks were steady on Monday as investors welcomed the absence of further trade war escalation over the weekend and as countries seek to temper US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.Major bourses avoided big swings on a comparatively news-light day ahead of heavily anticipated economic releases and earnings later in the week.Both the Dow and S&P …

Global stocks mixed amid trade hopes as markets await tech earnings Read More »

A multi-million-dollar US warplane fell off the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier into the Red Sea on Monday in an accident that injured one sailor, the Navy said.A tractor that was towing the fighter plane — a model that cost $67 million in 2021 — also slipped off the ship into the sea.”The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” the Navy said in a statement.”Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard,” it said. “All personnel are accounted for, with one sailor sustaining a minor injury.”The carrier and its other planes remain in action and the incident is under investigation, the Navy added. No details of recovery work were released.It is the second F/A-18 operating off the Truman to be lost in less than six months, after another was mistakenly shot down by the USS Gettysburg guided missile cruiser late last year in incident that both pilots survived.The Truman is one of two US aircraft carriers operating in the Middle East, where US forces have been hammering Yemen’s Huthi rebels with strikes since mid-March in an attempt to end the threat they pose to ships in the region.

The United Nations expressed deep alarm on Monday at reports that US strikes on Yemen killed scores of people at a migrant detention centre in a stronghold of the Huthi rebels.The US military has hammered the Iran-backed Huthis with near-daily strikes since March 15 in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider”, seeking to end their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.Huthi-controlled media said the latest strikes on the movement’s stronghold of Saada killed at least 68 people, all Africans being held at a “centre for illegal migrants”.A US defence official said the military was looking into the reports.UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body was “deeply alarmed” by the reported strikes and urged “all parties” to protect civilians.”We are saddened by the tragic loss of life where many of these migrants are believed to have been killed and injured,” Dujarric added in a statement, without mentioning the United States.He said that according to preliminary information, 68 migrants had been killed and another 48 injured in the overnight strikes.AFP could not independently confirm the toll or the claim that the strikes had hit a migrant centre.The US defence official said that the military was “aware of the claims of civilian casualties related to the US strikes in Yemen, and we take those claims very seriously”.”We are currently conducting our battle-damage assessment and inquiry into those claims,” the official added on condition of anonymity.On Sunday, the US said it had hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since mid-March, killing hundreds including Huthi leaders.Hours later, Huthi media said the latest barrage by US forces had hit the migrant detention centre.The Huthis’ Al-Masirah TV showed footage of bodies stuck under the rubble and of rescuers working to help the casualties.- ‘Avoid civilian casualties’ -After the strikes, the International Committee of the Red Cross called on parties to “take every feasible precaution to avoid civilian casualties”.”It is unthinkable that while people are detained and have nowhere to escape, they can also be caught in the line of fire,” said Christine Cipolla, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Yemen.The UN migration agency, the IOM, said it was closely monitoring the situation, but noted the facility in question was not managed by their personnel.Each year, tens of thousands of migrants brave the Red Sea route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters and poor economic prospects by sailing towards the oil-rich Gulf.Many hope for employment as labourers or domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries, though they face a perilous journey through war-torn Yemen.The US strikes are in response to attacks by the Huthis targeting Israeli and Western vessels in the Red Sea in what the rebels describe as solidarity with the Palestinians, starting shortly after Hamas conducted the worst-ever attack on Israel in October 2023.The Huthi attacks have forced many shipping companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa, instead of passing through the Suez Canal — a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.In a statement that provided its most detailed accounting of the operation so far, the US military command responsible for the Middle East said it had “struck over 800 targets” in Yemen, killing “hundreds of Huthi fighters and numerous Huthi leaders”.”The strikes have destroyed multiple command-and-control facilities, air defence systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities, and advanced weapons storage locations,” CENTCOM said.- ‘We will continue’ -Despite the strikes, the Huthis, who control large swaths of Yemen, have continued to claim attacks against both US vessels and Israel.In a statement on Monday, the Huthis said they had responded to the latest “attacks and massacres against civilians” by targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier with “several cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones”.Iran, which backs the Huthis, condemned the US strikes, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei calling attacks “on civilian targets… a war crime”.The United States first began conducting strikes against the Huthis under former president Joe Biden’s administration, but they have intensified under his successor Donald Trump.CENTCOM said that “our operations have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks” which are only possible “with the backing of the Iranian regime”.”We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” it added.The US Navy said Monday that a warplane went overboard into the Red Sea as a result of an accident on the USS Harry S. Truman, adding that the incident was under investigation.

A US warplane went overboard into the Red Sea as a result of a Monday accident on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, the country’s Navy said.”The F/A-18E was actively under tow in the hangar bay when the move crew lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft and tow tractor were lost overboard,” the Navy said in a statement.”All personnel are accounted for, with one sailor sustaining a minor injury,” it said, adding that the carrier and its air wing remain mission capable and that the incident is under investigation.The F/A-18E reached initial operating capability in the early 2000s and had a unit cost of more than $67 million as of fiscal year 2021, according to a Navy fact sheet.The Truman is one of two US aircraft carriers currently operating in the Middle East, where Washington’s forces have been hammering Yemen’s Huthi rebels with strikes since mid-March in an attempt to end the threat they pose to ships in the region.

Iran’s interior minister on Monday blamed “negligence” for a massive explosion that killed 70 people at the country’s largest commercial port, with firefighters still battling a blaze at the facility two days later.The blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s south, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.”Unfortunately, the death toll has reached 70, and the firefighting effort is almost in its final stages,” Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the crisis management director of Hormozgan province where the port is located, told state TV.Officials have said more than 1,000 people were injured, with Hassanzadeh noting most had already been released from hospital after treatment.On Monday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni told state TV that “culprits have been identified and summoned”, and that the blast was caused by “shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence”.The committee investigating the causes of the blast also made similar remarks.Momeni, who has been in the area since hours after the blast, said the “investigation is still underway”.State TV showed images of firefighters still dousing the flames Monday, and said the damage would be assessed after the fire was fully brought under control.Heavy charcoal-black smoke continued to billow over low flames at part of the site, above which a firefighting helicopter flew, pictures from the Iranian Red Crescent showed.- Smoke, then a fireball -It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. CCTV images on social media showed it began gradually, with a small fire belching orange-brown smoke among a few containers stacked outside, across from a warehouse.A small forklift truck drives past the area and men can be seen walking nearby.About one minute after the small fire and smoke become visible, a fireball erupts as vehicles pass nearby, with men running for their lives.President Masoud Pezeshkian visited hospitals treating the wounded on Sunday in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas. Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed, and have urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.Defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area”.Iran’s ally Russia has dispatched specialists to help battle the blazes.Authorities declared Monday a national day of mourning, while three days of mourning began Sunday in Hormozgan province.The blast occurred as Iranian and US delegations were meeting in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme.While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.According to The Washington Post, Israel launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port in 2020.