At least 46 people have been killed when a strong earthquake struck southwestern China, state media reported, as violent tremors in a remote region damaged homes and left some areas without electricity.

Monday's 6.6 magnitude quake hit about 43 kilometres southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that 17 people died in Ya'an city, while 29 deaths were reported in neighbouring Ganzi Prefecture.

"Another 16 people were missing and 50 were injured," CCTV said late Monday.

Initial surveys after the quake showed that a number of towns in Sichuan province had sustained "serious damage to housing due to mountain landslides" while telecommunication lines had been cut off in some areas, according to CCTV.

Tremors were felt in the nearby provincial capital Chengdu, where a Covid-19 lockdown has confined millions of residents to their homes, and the megacity of Chongqing, residents told AFP news agency. 

A video posted online by the China Earthquake Networks Center showed boulders thundering down mountainsides in stricken Luding county, kicking up clouds of dust as tremors swayed roadside telephone wires.

Summer of extremes

State media reported that several aftershocks were recorded in nearby areas. A smaller magnitude 4.6 tremor hit eastern Tibet less than an hour after the initial quake, according to the USGS.

More than 500 rescue personnel have been dispatched to the epicentre while workers attempt to clear roads blocked by landslides triggered by the tremors, according to state broadcaster CGTN.

Photos published by state media showed officials in military fatigues heaving shovels and other equipment along a highway – all while wearing face masks against Covid-19.

Earthquakes are fairly common in China, especially in the country's seismically active southwest.

An 8.0-magnitude quake in 2008 in Sichuan's Wenchuan county left tens of thousands dead and caused enormous damage.

At least four people were killed and dozens more injured after two earthquakes in southwestern China in June.

That month a shallow 6.1-magnitude quake hit a sparsely populated area about 100 kilometres west of Chengdu. It was followed three minutes later by a second quake of magnitude 4.5 in a nearby county, where the deaths and injuries occurred.

The region has also suffered a summer of extreme weather, with a record-breaking heatwave noticeably drying rivers in Chongqing.

Source: agencies

A Brazil Supreme Court judge has temporarily suspended several provisions implemented by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that allowed people to buy weapons, citing a "risk of political violence" during the electoral campaign.

"The start of the election campaign exacerbates the risk of political violence," which "makes the need to restrict access to weapons and ammunition extremely and exceptionally urgent," Justice Edson Fachin wrote on Monday.

Fachin said he made the decision "in light of recent and unfortunate episodes of political violence."

He did not specify whether he was referring to local events, such as the July shooting of a Workers' Party (PT) treasurer by a Bolsonaro-supporting police officer, or the attempted assassination in neighboring Argentina on Thursday of Vice President Cristina Kirchner.

According to the court, Fachin's decision establishes that only "people who concretely demonstrate an effective need" can have weapons, one of the rules that Bolsonaro, an enthusiastic backer of gun ownership, had relaxed by decree.

It also determines that purchasing restricted-use firearms should only be allowed for reasons of "public security or national defense, not based on personal interest," as for hunters, sports shooters and collectors, who can buy assault rifles.

That category of gun buyers, which jumped from 117,000 registrations to more than 673,000 under the Bolsonaro administration, is of particular concern to security experts, who fear episodes of violence as the polarised election on October 2 approaches.

Presidential race

The vote pits Bolsonaro against leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula lead over Bolsonaro ahead of the October election rose to 13 percentage points and widened from 13 to 16 points in an expected second-round run-off, according to a poll published on Monday.

The survey by IPEC showed Lula with 44 percent of voter support against 31 percent for Bolsonaro in the first round of the election scheduled for October 2, compared to 44 percent and 32 percent respectively in the previous poll.

Bolsonaro's constant questioning of the electronic voting system has raised fears that his followers will reject any eventual defeat and could replicate scenes such as the assault on the US Capitol in 2021 after former president Donald Trump lost at the polls.

Monday's decision comes into immediate effect until the full federal Supreme Court concludes its deliberations on the constitutionality of the decrees, which have been suspended for the past year.

Lawyer Bruno Langeani, a member of the NGO Instituto Sou da Paz, told AFP the decision was an "important" one that "indicates an understanding on the part of the Supreme Court that weapons can be a destabilising element in the elections."

Brazil's Superior Electoral Court last week restricted the carrying of weapons in polling stations, in another sign of concern about possible episodes of violence.

Source: agencies

United Nations humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has warned that Somalia is on the brink of famine following the worst drought in four decades.

During a news conference in Mogadishu, Griffiths said he has “concrete indications” that famine may occur in the southern Bay region by the end of the year.

Griffiths was in Somalia over the past week to assess the impact of the drought and speak with affected individuals.

His visit to Mogadishu, where most of the drought-affected Somalians live, was followed by a visit to Baidoa, one of two southern towns where many people are at risk of starvation.

During his stay in Baidoa, Griffiths visited camps for internally displaced people and hospitals treating malnourished children.

"I have been shocked to my core these past few days by the level of pain and suffering we see so many Somalis enduring," he said. "Famine is at the door and today we are sending the final warning."

Griffiths warned that Baidoa and nearby Burhakaba will be at the epicenter of famine if no action is taken to prevent it.

"The Somalia Food Security and Nutrition analysis report, being released today, shows concrete indications that famine will occur in two areas in the Bay region in South-Central Somalia between October and December of this year," he said. "The impending famine is similar to the famine that occurred in the country from 2010 to 2011.”

The famine that struck Somalia in 2011 resulted in the deaths of nearly 260,000 Somalis, half of whom were children.

Currently, the situation in the Bay region falls just short of a formal declaration of famine. But thousands there are under threat of starvation.

Overall, the United Nations and Somali government say 7.8 million people nationwide are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as the drought drags on and the food situation gets worse.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has contributed to the crisis in Somalia, which is suffering from a shortage of humanitarian aid as international donors focus on Europe.

Somalia received at least 90% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine before the war and has been hit hard by scarcity and the sharp rise in food prices.

The death toll from a measles outbreak in Zimbabwe has risen to almost 700 children, the country's health ministry has said.

Some are calling for the enactment of legislation to make vaccination mandatory in a country where anti-modern medicine religious sects hold sway on large swathes of the population of 15 million people.

The southern African country's health ministry announced at the weekend that 698 children have died from measles since the outbreak started in April.

The ministry said 37 of the deaths occurred on a single day on Sept. 1. The health ministry said it had recorded 6,291 cases by Sept. 4.

The latest figures are more than four times the number of deaths announced about two weeks ago when the ministry said 157 children, most of whom were unvaccinated due to their family's religious beliefs, had succumbed to the disease.

Dr. Johannes Marisa, the president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association, told The Associated Press on Monday that the government should escalate an ongoing mass vaccination campaign and embark on awareness programs targeted especially at anti-vaccine religious groups.

"Because of the resistance, education may not be enough so the government should also consider using coercive measures to ensure that no one is allowed to refuse vaccination for their children," said Marisa. He urged the government to "consider enacting legislation that makes vaccination against killer diseases such as measles mandatory."

UNICEF on Monday said it "is deeply concerned" with the number of cases and deaths among children due to measles. The agency said it is assisting the government to combat the outbreak through immunization programs.

The measles outbreak was first reported in the eastern Manicaland province in early April and has since spread to all parts of the country.

Many of the deaths have been of children who were not vaccinated, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said in August.

Zimbabwe's Cabinet has invoked a law used to respond to disasters to deal with the outbreak.

The government has embarked on a mass vaccination campaign targeting children aged between 6 months and 15 years old and is engaging traditional and faith leaders to support the drive.

Zimbabwe continued vaccinating children against measles even during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but the drive has been hampered by religious groups that preach against vaccines.

The Christian sects are against modern medicine and tell their members to rely on self-proclaimed prophets for healing.

Church gatherings that have resumed following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions have "led to the spread of measles to previously unaffected areas," said the health ministry in a statement last week.

Measles is among the most infectious diseases in the world and mostly spreads in the air by coughing, sneezing or close contact.

Symptoms include coughing, fever and a skin rash, while the risk of severe measles or dying from complications is high among unvaccinated children.

Outbreaks in unvaccinated and malnourished populations have been known to kill thousands. Scientists estimate that more than 90% of the population needs to be immunized to prevent measles outbreaks.

The World Health Organization in April warned of an increase in measles in vulnerable countries as a result of a disruption of services due to COVID-19.

In July, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said about 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common childhood diseases, calling it a "red alert" for child health.

• Associated Press

The British government’s controversial Rwanda plan was taken to court on Monday, with lawyers on behalf of asylum seekers arguing that the British government ignored evidence that the Central African country violates human rights. 

On behalf of some of the asylum seekers, lawyer Raza Husain said the Rwanda policy was “unlawful under the Human Rights Act and the common law.”

Husain added: “Rwanda is a one-party authoritarian state that does not tolerate political opposition. It is a regime that repeatedly imprisons, tortures and murders those it thinks (are) its political opponents.

“Those who protest or dissent from government directives, including refugees, are faced with police violence. All of those observations are drawn from our own government officials.”

Speakers against the plan also said that the government “including the Foreign Office and No 10 (prime ministry) were themselves aware of, and appear to have had serious concerns, over Rwanda’s present and historic human rights record.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said Rwanda is a “fundamentally safe and secure country, with a track record of supporting asylum seekers.”

The Rwanda plan would see asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats deported to Rwanda, where their claims would be processed. It was suspended amid a slew of legal challenges.

Today was day one of the court hearing, which will last five days. In October, a separate hearing will take place, brought by the Asylum Aid charity. The decisions on both hearings will be released at the same time, local media reported.

Liz Truss, the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party who will become prime minister tomorrow, has already said she backs the plan.

AA

Germany will keep the country’s last two nuclear plants on standby until next April due to the worsening energy crisis, the government announced on Monday.

Energy Minister Robert Habeck told a news conference in Berlin that the government is not stepping back from its nuclear exit plans, but will keep the last two of the three remaining nuclear plants in reserve.

“We will do everything that is necessary. Keeping nuclear power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim as operational reserves will be among the measures,” he stressed.

Habeck said a comprehensive study commissioned by his ministry has concluded that amid ongoing tensions with Russia over Ukraine, a crisis situation in winter cannot be completely ruled out.

“Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim will be put on standby until mid-April 2023 and will generate power if it becomes necessary during the winter months,” he said, adding that new fuel rods would not be loaded, and this emergency reserve would not be used afterwards.

Germany decided to stop nuclear energy in 2011, following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The country’s last three nuclear power plants were scheduled to be shut down by the end of this year.

AA

Eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have helped Türkiye’s Directorate General of Forestry around the clock both across the country and in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Combing an area of 12.5 million hectares per minute, they serve as early warning systems against forest fires.

Bekir Karacabey, head of the directorate, said they also facilitate their job with live, close-up video feeds of burning areas inaccessible to firefighters.

With the increase in temperatures, the government has increased measures against the possibility of forest fires. The latest technologies are used for early warning, which is the main principle of firefighting. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used in many risky areas, perform important tasks in protecting the green homeland thanks to their thermal cameras. With the thermal cameras on the UAVs, areas with the high possibility of fire are detected and an intervention plan is prepared by integrating them with the data from meteorology. With the guidance of fire experts, rapid intervention is carried out at these points.

Drones can reach an altitude of 23,000 feet, giving a broad view of the burning area and “heat points” where the fire is at its worst and points where intervention is possible.

Karacabey told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Monday that their directorate employs advanced technology among other public agencies and drones were both used against fires and for other forestry services. “Türkiye is the first country after the United States to use UAVs in the fight against forest fires. They feed the footage they obtain to our headquarters and mobile crews observing forests under risk. The footage helps us to better respond, as we can clearly see the roads and our available vehicles in areas near fires,” he said.

Karacabey added that they were also working on a project for use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fire behavior modeling for response to forest fires.

Apart from this, smart fire watchtowers also contribute to the fight. Unmanned towers using artificial intelligence detect fires remotely and transfer the information to the management center. In light of this data, the teams quickly move to that point and extinguish the fire. In this way, the response time to fires has shortened.

The average first response time was 15 minutes in 410 forest fires, 213 in June and 197 between July 1-21. Around 124 aircraft, 301 helicopters, 688 first response vehicles, 1,613 water sprinklers and 146 dozers were used to fight these fires.

Wildfires, aggravated by the fallout from climate change, threaten Türkiye's evergreen land. The country saw 226,845 hectares of forests damaged or completely burned between 2012 and 2021, with more than 61% of this loss taking place in 2021 alone. Data from the Directorate General of Forestry shows that 27,150 forest fires occurred across the country in the past decade. Fires, though not uncommon, appear to have increased in intensity, something blamed on strong winds spreading them and searing temperatures further aggravating the situation. Though last year may seem the worst in terms of the size of the forests that succumbed, the highest number of fires occurred in 2013, at 3,755, one year before the country recorded its least fires in a decade at 2,149.

Though last year was worst in terms of the number and size of forest fires, Türkiye ended the summer with no major fires except a three-day blaze in Marmaris, a southwestern town that also suffered in the 2021 fires. Yet, experts warn that the risk continues even in September. Professor Ömer Küçük, deputy rector of Kastamonu University and an expert in the preservation of forests, says the autumn was a time of strong winds and fire risk would prevail especially in Aegean and Mediterranean regions up until mid-October. "This year was better compared to the past two years and the main reason (for lack of major fires) is the absence of unusual meteorological conditions. Fast response to the fires compared to the past also contributes to the absence of major fires," he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday. "Some European countries suffered from major fires this year, especially in times of very high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. Türkiye usually has fires in July and August. "Especially the first two weeks of September can have extreme weather conditions," he warned.

Agencies