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Over 150 whales stranded on remote Australian beach

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More than 60 false killer whales have died and authorities are trying to save dozens more after a mass stranding on a remote Australian beach

Tasmania’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said a pod of 157 had beached near Arthur River, in the island’s north west.

About 90 of the animals – which witnesses say include juveniles – are still alive, with conservation experts and veterinarians at the site evaluating whether any can be returned to the sea.

Tasmania has seen a series of mass whale strandings in recent years – including the country’s worst-ever in 2020 – but false killer whales haven’t mass stranded there in over 50 years.

False killer whales are technically one of the largest dolphin species, like their orca namesakes, and can grow up to 6m and 1.5t.

Authorities says the pod has been stranded at the site – about 300km from the city of Launceston – for 24 to 48 hours, and it will be an uphill battle to save any of them.

“Initial assessments indicate that refloating the whales will be difficult due to the inaccessibility of the site, ocean conditions and the challenges of getting specialised equipment to the remote area,” department spokesman Brendon Clarke told media.

While rescuers have successfully saved whales at other recent stranding events on the west coast, the complexity of this incident means the same techniques can’t be used.

Teams on site are triaging the whales with the best chance of survival and trying to keep them alive and comfortable while rescue options are discussed.

Animal welfare is a priority, but there are concerns about the safety and wellbeing of rescue teams to consider too.

“We have… surging tidal waters and breaking surf, and so to try and refloat the animals directly back into that surf would be challenging, and then, of course, that would also present some enormous safety risk for our staff and personnel.”

“Because the fact that these are large animals, potentially in their death throes, and they could be writhing and moving around on beaches, [there’s a] likelihood of somebody being injured.”

Sharks are also a concern.

Authorities have asked members of the public to avoid the site, with bushfires burning nearby and limited road access.

Local resident Jocelyn Flint told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she had travelled to the site on Wednesday morning after her son noticed the pod while out shark fishing overnight.

“There are babies… There’s just families of them. Their eyes are open, they’re looking at me, like ‘help’.”

“It’s just absolutely horrific. They’re all struggling.”

More than 80% of Australian whale strandings take place in Tasmania – often on its west coast.

Around 470 pilot whales were stranded further south at Macquarie Harbour in 2020 and about 350 of them died despite rescue efforts. Another 200 become stranded in the same harbour in 2022.

Whales are highly social mammals and are well known for stranding in groups because they travel in large, close-knit communities which rely on constant communication.

There are a range of theories for why beachings occur. Some experts say the animals can become disoriented after following fish they hunt to the shore.

Others believe that one individual can mistakenly lead whole groups to shore.

(BBC News)

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India refuses to sign joint statement at defence summit over Kashmir

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India has refused to sign a joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China as it did not reflect the country’s concerns on terrorism, India’s foreign ministry has said.
Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that India’s desire for its concerns to be reflected was “not acceptable to one particular country”.

While he did not share more details, Indian media reported that Delhi refused to sign the statement after it omitted the Pahalgam attack, a deadly militant attack that killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir.

India has blamed its neighbour Pakistan for sheltering a militant group it blames for the attack. Pakistan has rejected the allegations.

China, Russia and four Central Asian countries formed the SCO in 2001 as a countermeasure to limit the influence of the West in the region. India and Pakistan joined in 2017.

The latest signing ceremony took place during the SCO defence ministers’ meeting in China, held ahead of the leaders’ annual summit this autumn.

According to media reports, India perceived the joint statement as being “pro-Pakistan” after it omitted the Pahalgam attack but mentioned militant activities in Balochistan.

Pakistan has accused India of backing the Balochistan freedom movement, which India denies.

After the meeting, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the SCO to hold the perpetrators of cross-border terrorism accountable, though he didn’t explicitly mention Pakistan.

“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations,” he said in a statement.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir, which they claim to own in full but administer in parts.

The Pahalgam attack in April brought the two nuclear-armed countries to the brink of another war.

In May, India launched a series of airstrikes, targeting sites it called “terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir”.

Pakistan denied the claim that these were terror camps and also responded by firing missiles and deploying drones into Indian territory.

The hostilities between the two countries continued until 10 May when US President Donald Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire”, brokered by the US.

India has, however, consistently denied any intervention by the US.

(BBC News)

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Over 80,000 evacuated amid serious flooding in SW China

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Continuous heavy rainfall and upstream inflows have triggered severe flooding in two counties of Guizhou Province in southwest China, prompting mass evacuations.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, 48,900 residents were temporarily evacuated in Rongjiang County and 32,000 in Congjiang County. The flood control emergency response has been escalated to Level I, the highest, in both counties.

Rongjiang, a county known for Cun Chao — a rural football league covering over 100 village teams and drawing numerous fans across the country, saw heavy rainstorms from 8 p.m. Monday, with a venue at the Duliu River exceeding the warning level by 6.68 meters as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The football field at the Cun Chao stadium was submerged under three meters of water.

Long Tian, a resident near the stadium, recalled that when he woke up at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the water downstairs was already thigh-deep.

“The water rose very quickly, so I stayed on the third floor waiting for rescue. By the afternoon, I had been transferred to safety,” Long said.

Rescue teams, including firefighters and volunteers, deployed boats and other equipment for the rescue work in the two counties.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the provincial emergency department had allocated disaster relief items, including 30,000 bottles of drinking water and 10,000 bowls of instant noodles, to the two counties via high-speed rail and road transport.

Also in Guizhou, rain-triggered landslides caused the collapse of part of a bridge on an expressway in the county of Sandu. No casualties have been reported so far.

(Xinhua)

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Israel agrees to ceasefire proposal

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The Israeli government has said it agreed to the ceasefire proposal after “achieving the objectives” of its attacks on Iran.
According to the statement, Israel has removed Iran’s “dual immediate existential threat” from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

It also says Israel has “inflicted severe damage on the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central Iranian government targets”.

The statement goes on to say that Israeli forces, in the last day, have “severely struck government targets in the heart of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” – a militia the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests – and “eliminating another senior nuclear scientist”.

“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement adds.

Earlier, Iran state TV news channel IRINN says a ceasefire has been “imposed” on Israel following the “successful” Iranian attack on the US base in Qatar.

State TV said in a statement that Trump “begged” for a ceasefire following Iran’s attack. The statement was read aloud by the presenter.

The statement also hailed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army and praised the “resistance” of Iranians.

The statement also called Iran’s attack on the US base in Qatar as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “successful” response to the US attacking three Iranian nuclear sites, while Qatar said all missiles were intercepted.

(Excerpts : BBC News)

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