Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Ecuador coast

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Ecuador coast
A shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Ecuador early Friday, the US Geological Survey reported, and was felt as far away as the Andean capital Quito. (X/@AlertaMundoNews)
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Updated 25 April 2025
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Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Ecuador coast

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Ecuador coast
  • Monitors said the epicenter was near the Pacific coast of Esmeraldas

QUITO: A shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Ecuador early Friday, the US Geological Survey reported, and was felt as far away as the Andean capital Quito.
AFP reporters felt the shake before 7:00 am local time (1200 GMT).
Monitors said the epicenter was near the Pacific coast of Esmeraldas, at a depth of about 35 kilometers (22 miles).
There were no immediate reports of victims or severe damage and Ecuadoran authorities said there was no tsunami risk.
Ecuador sits on one of the most geologically active zones on Earth, and the fault between the Nazca and South American plates runs along its coast.


Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife

Updated 5 sec ago
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Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife

Macron’s office downplays plane incident with wife
HANOI: French President Emmanuel Macron’s office on Monday downplayed an incident in which his wife appeared to push his face away as he arrived in Vietnam to begin a Southeast Asian tour.
Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron’s plane door opening to reveal him.
His wife Brigitte’s arms emerge from the left of the open doorway, she places both hands on her husband’s face and gives it a shove.
The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language.
The couple proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband’s offered arm.
The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.
Macron’s office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine.
A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple’s harmless “squabble.”
Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident.
“It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around,” the second source told reporters.
“It’s a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,” the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident.
Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China.
He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry
Updated 27 min 39 sec ago
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Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

Finland summons Russian ambassador over suspected airspace violation: ministry

HELSINKI: Finland’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had summoned the Russian ambassador over suspicions that two Russian military aircraft violated its airspace last week.
Finland, which dropped decades of military non-alignment to join NATO in 2023, following Russia’s fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine, has a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia.
The defense ministry reported on Friday there had been a suspected airspace violation off the coast of Porvoo, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital, Helsinki.
It said an investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“The foreign ministry of Finland has today summoned the ambassador of Russia and requested an explanation regarding the suspected violation of airspace,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland of repercussions since it joined NATO.
Last week, Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told AFP that Finland was “closely monitoring and assessing Russia’s activities and intentions.”
He was commenting after the New York Times published satellite images appearing to show an expansion of Russian military infrastructure near the border.
Hakkanen said in an email that Russia’s moves “to strengthen its armed forces have not come as a surprise to Finland.”
Helsinki has increased its military investments and preparedness since joining NATO.
In April, it announced it would boost defense spending to at least three percent of GDP by 2029 and reform its defense forces to tackle security threats.


UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
Updated 49 min 5 sec ago
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UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender

UN experts urge release of Azerbaijani rights defender
  • Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus

GENEVA: Four UN special rapporteurs on Monday demanded the release of Azerbaijani rights defender and climate advocate Anar Mammadli, who has been in detention for more than a year.
Mammadli was detained on April 29, 2024. His arrest was one of a series which critics said undermined Azerbaijan’s credibility as a host of the United Nations COP29 climate change conference in November last year.
Mammadli chaired the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center, which reported irregularities during the February 2024 presidential elections in the tightly controlled, oil-rich nation.
His arrest also came after he participated in events at the UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteurs said in a statement.
“Defending human rights should never be considered a crime,” the experts said.
“There are serious concerns that Mammadli’s detention and prosecution may be in retaliation for his human rights work and his engagement with UN mechanisms,” they said.
Mammadli risks up to eight years behind bars on smuggling charges, which rights groups claim are bogus.
“Civic participation, independent election monitoring, and cooperation with international mechanisms are the foundation of democratic societies,” the experts said.
“Criminalizing these activities undermines the rule of law.”
The statement was issued by the special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, on freedom of peaceful assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and on health.
They called on Azerbaijan to respect due process, guarantee Mammadli’s fundamental rights and provide him with appropriate medical care.
They also urged Baku to end all forms of intimidation against rights activists.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak for the United Nations itself.


A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements
Updated 26 May 2025
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A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

A court has acquitted Austrian ex-leader Sebastian Kurz of making false statements

VIENNA: A court in Vienna on Monday acquitted former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into alleged corruption in his government, reversing a verdict from last year in which Kurz was given a suspended prison sentence.
A panel of judges at Vienna’s upper state court acquitted Kurz after a short appeal hearing, the Austria Press Agency reported.
The case centered on Kurz’s testimony to an inquiry that focused on the coalition he led from 2017, when his conservative Austrian People’s Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, until its collapse in 2019.
Prosecutors accused the 38-year-old of having given false evidence in June 2020 regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the state’s role in some companies, and the appointment of his former close confidant Thomas Schmid to its leadership.
In February 2024, Kurz was found guilty of making false statements about the appointment of the company’s supervisory board, though not about that of Schmid. He was given an eight-month suspended sentence.


India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early
Updated 26 May 2025
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India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

India’s monsoon lashes Mumbai as rains arrive early

MUMBAI: Lashing rains swamped India’s financial capital Mumbai on Monday as the annual monsoon rains arrived some two weeks earlier than usual, according to weather forecasters.
Heavy rains cooling temperatures — welcomed by farmers for their crops but which cause havoc each year in cities by flooding transport infrastructure — are normally expected in the southwestern state of Maharashtra in early June.
Mumbai weather chief Shubhangi Bhute, from the Indian Meteorological Department, said it was the earliest the rains had arrived since their records began in 2011.
“This is the earliest the monsoon has arrived in the state since then, so this is the earliest in 14 years,” Bhute said.
South Asia is getting hotter and in recent years has seen shifting weather patterns, but scientists are unclear on how exactly a warming planet is affecting the highly complex monsoon.
The southwest monsoon is a colossal sea breeze that brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall between June and September every year.
It occurs when summer heat warms the landmass of the subcontinent, causing the air to rise and sucking in cooler Indian Ocean winds which then produce enormous volumes of rain.
The monsoon is vital for agriculture and therefore for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and for food security.
But it brings destruction every year in landslides and floods.
In India, the southwest monsoon normally arrives on the southern tip at Kerala around June 1, and moves north to cover the country by early July. The rains typically reach Maharashtra around June 7.