International
JUST IN: At least 95 dead as earthquake strikes Tibet
At least 95 people have been confirmed dead and 130 are injured after a major earthquake struck a remote region of mountainous Tibet near Mount Everest, Chinese state media say.
The earthquake, which hit Tibet’s holy Shigatse city around 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday morning, had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), according to data from the US Geological Survey, which also showed a series of aftershocks in the area.
Tremors were also felt in Nepal and parts of India, which neighbour Tibet. Earthquakes are common in the region, which lies on a major geological fault line, but Tuesday’s was one of the deadliest China has experienced in recent years.
Videos published by China’s state broadcaster CCTV showed destroyed houses and collapsed buildings, with rescue workers wading through debris and handing out thick blankets to locals.
The footage also shows survivors receiving medical treatment. Temperatures in Tingri county, near the earthquake’s epicentre in the northern foothills of the Himalayas, are around -8C (17.6F), and will drop to -18C by evening, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Both power and water in the region have been disrupted. There were more than 40 aftershocks in the first few hours following the quake.
Shigatse is considered one of the holiest cities of Tibet, which was annexed by China in the 1950s and has been under tight control ever since, including media and internet access.
Chinese state media reported the earthquake as having a slightly lesser magnitude of 6.8, causing “obvious” tremors and leading to the damage of more than 1,000 houses.
Jiang Haikun, a researcher at the China Earthquake Networks Center, told CCTV that while another earthquake of around magnitude 5 may still occur, “the likelihood of a larger earthquake is low”.
A hotel resident in Shigatse told Chinese media outlet Fengmian News that he was jolted awake by a wave of shaking. He said he grabbed his socks and rushed out onto the street, where he saw helicopters circling above.
“It felt like even the bed was being lifted,” he said, adding that he immediately knew it was an earthquake because Tibet recently experienced multiple smaller quakes.
International
Zimbabwe Wins UN Security Council Seat for 2027-2028
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Zimbabwe has been elected to a non-permanent, two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, the third time the country will be represented on the body mandated to maintain international peace and security.
Voice of Nigeria reports that the other countries that secured seats around the iconic horseshoe table are Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Kyrgyzstan.
The five countries were elected by the 193-member General Assembly to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on January 1, 2027.
Austria and Portugal won the two seats allocated to the Western European and other States (WEOG) Group, while Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe were elected from the Latin American and Caribbean Group and the African Group, respectively.
Kyrgyzstan secured the Asia-Pacific seat after defeating the Philippines in four rounds of voting.
International
Finland’s president says EU should expand to 40 states — including Canada
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
• Finland’s president Alexander Stubb
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has stressed the need for a much larger European Union, saying the 27-nation bloc should increase its membership to 40 states and named the U.K., Canada, Turkey, Norway and Iceland as potential candidates to join.
Stubb made the call at an energy conference in the Finnish capital on Wednesday.
His comments come as the Trump administration’s actions, alongside Russia’s war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership.
Stubb told the Eurelectric Power Summit that “the window of opportunity” for EU enlargement “is quite short because when the war in Ukraine ends and perhaps when the U.S. administration changes, I don’t know, then people are going to take their foot off the gas pedal and start heckling about unnecessary stuff again.”
Stubb added that “European strategic autonomy or European geopolitical power” is “often based on size and scale and I think the best European policy ever has been European enlargement.”
“In this moment, we need to think big and geographically, we need to enlarge or at least create memberships which are flexible enough to bring in a sum total of 40 European states — or even non-European,” Stubb said.
Finland’s president said the EU should look to its western flank and bring the U.K., which left the bloc in 2020, back into the fold, or at least “as close as possible
.”Canada should be considered as another option, Stubb said. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States?”
International
Iran Kuwait’s airport attack injures 63
Health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that “63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals.
Today Wednesday June 3: Kuwait International Airport was hit by Iranian drones.
An Iranian attack on Kuwait’s airport wounded at least 63 people on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with authorities earlier reporting one person killed.
Health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that “63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals.
This includes serious injuries… including head wounds, cerebral hemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions.”
An airport source told AFP that the death in Kuwait was an Indian national at the airport.
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