Author: Starvision News Desk

New York, July 17 (IANS) Over 1,500 flights in and out of the US have been canceled as storms battered the country’s northeast over the weekend, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).Thunderstorms and heavy rain have caused massive flight disruptions and ground stops at major airports in New York and New Jersey, Xinhua news agency quoted the FAA as saying late Sunday.The Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey has experienced the most significant cancellations, with 362 flights canceled and 337 delayed as of Sunday night, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware.In New York, the JFK International Airport saw…

Beijing, July 17 (IANS) Authorities in China’s Hainan province on Monday temporarily suspended high-speed trains and flights due to the approaching typhoon Talim.All bullet train operations departing from Haikou Dong Railway Station in the provincial capital Haikou and Sanya Railway Station in the city of Sanya have been temporarily suspended starting from 5 p.m. Sunday, and the high-speed trains operating on the Hainan Roundabout Railway also suspended operations on Monday morning, reports Xinhua news agency.Regular trains in and out of the island province would remain suspended till July 21, railway departments said.The Haikou Meilan International Airport has also suspended flight…

Moscow, July 17 (IANS) Russian authorities on Monday confirmed that an emergency incident on the Kerch bridge that links the country to the occupied Crimean Peninsula left at least two people dead and another person injured.The governor of Krasnodar, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that an operational headquarter was set up in the Temryuk district of the Krasnodar Territory to coordinate the actions of all services and to assist the people who were stuck in traffic jams near the bridge, reports Xinhua news agency.Earlier in the day, Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the occupied Crimea, had announced that traffic on the…

Canberra, July 17 (IANS) The Crocodile Islands archipelago was added to the Australian government’s network of Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) on Monday.This means that local Indigenous groups will receive ongoing funding from the government to deliver management plans for threatened species, marine debris, weeds, feral animals and wildfires, reports Xinhua news agency.Lying off the coast of the Northern Territory (NT) more than 400 km east of Darwin, the islands are home to 28 threatened species and more than 40 migratory species including whales, dolphins, turtles and thousands of shorebirds.The designation takes the total size of the IPA network past 50,000…

Nicosia, July 17 (IANS) Cyprus medical authorities have reported the first heatstroke death of this year as a Sahara heat wave has persisted for a fourth day and the meteorology service predicted it will continue for at least one more week.The spokesman of the State Health Services Organization, Charalambos Charilaou said the victim was a 90-year-old man who died after collapsing at a care house, reports Xinhua news agency.Charilaou said that two more people aged 77 and 78 were also taken to hospital after developing heatstroke-like symptoms.The heat wave, which originated in the Sahara more than eight days ago, has…

Damascus, July 17 (IANS) Firefighters have been battling massive wildfires in central, western and northwestern Syria since July 12, local media reportedThe fires broke out in the countryside of the central province of Hama, the western coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia, and the northwestern province of Idlib, burning large swathes of agricultural and forest areas in the areas, with Hama and Latakia most affected, reports Xinhua news agency.In statements carried by Sham FM radio on Sunday, Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Mohammed Hassan Qatana said the fires in the countryside of Hama have been mostly extinguished, except for…

Tehran, July 17 (IANS) The number of people seeking medical treatment since July 12 because of health problems caused by sandstorms in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan has exceeded 1,000, state media reported.Of the 1,047 people seeking treatment for respiratory, heart or eye conditions triggered by the sandstorms, 92 were hospitalised, Xinhua news agency quoted Majid Mohebi, head of the province’s Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization, as saying to the state-run IRNA news as saying.The counties most affected by the sandstorms include Zabol, Zehak, Hamoun, Hirmand, and Nimrouz, according to Mohebi.Earlier in July, Mohebi stated that over…

Kiev, July 17 (IANS) A top official said on Monday that traffic on the Kerch bridge in Crimea was halted due to an unspecified emergency near its 145th support column.Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the occupied Crimea, made the statement on his Telegram channel, but did not reveal the cause of the incident, reports Xinhua news agency.”Traffic was halted on the Crimean bridge: an emergency happened near the 145th support from the Krasnodar Territory. Law enforcement agencies and all responsible services are working,” Aksyonov said in the statement.He added that they were taking measures to restore the situation.Aksyonov also…

Seoul, July 17 (IANS) North Korea has ramped up efforts to minimise damage to crops from the monsoon season, with its premier inspecting farms in several counties to call attention to grain protection, state media said on Monday.PremierKim Tok-hun called for “scientifically” managing crops and mobilising all means for weeding during his latest visits to farms in some regions, including South Hwanghae and South Pyongan provinces, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).He instructed officials to better manage drainage facilities and seawalls with “responsibility” to brace for abnormal weather, such as heavy rains and typhoons, Yonhap News…

Tehran, July 17 (IANS) Iranian state media has reported that the country’s morality police resumed patrols to ensure women obey dress codes and cover their hair in public, some 10 months after nationwide protests erupted following the death of a young woman in custody.Saeid Montazeralmahdi, spokesman for Faraja — Iran’s enforcement body — said the morality police restarted their vehicle and foot patrols across the country from Sunday, CNN reported citing the state-run Fars news agencyOfficers will first warn women who are not complying, while those who “insist on breaking the norms”, may face legal action, the spokesman added.In September…