Hamas hands over bodies of two Israeli hostages
Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over two bodies it said were of deceased Israeli hostages on Thursday, a day after the tenuous Gaza ceasefire ...
At least five people were killed and 19 injured Tuesday after a powerful explosion ripped through a chemical plant in eastern China’s Shandong province, according to local emergency officials. Six others remain missing.
The blast occurred around noon at Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co. in the city of Weifang. The company produces pesticides and chemicals for medical use and employs over 500 people, according to corporate filings.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the explosion.
The force of the blast shattered windows more than three kilometers away, a resident told local media. State broadcaster CCTV said over 230 emergency responders were deployed to the site.
A student at a nearby school, roughly 900 meters from the plant, reported hearing the explosion and seeing dirt-yellow smoke tinged with red. Students were instructed to wear masks due to a strong odor in the air.
Local environmental officials dispatched a team to monitor for possible contamination, though no results have been released yet.
The incident comes less than two weeks after Beijing urged tighter oversight of hazardous materials at chemical industrial parks. Gaomi Youdao had been cited twice for safety risks in 2024 but was later praised for addressing over 800 hazards that year, according to the city’s emergency management bureau.
Workplace safety remains a challenge in China. In 2024, the government recorded nearly 22,000 workplace incidents and over 19,000 deaths. Previous high-profile disasters include a 2015 blast in Tianjin that killed 173 and a 2019 explosion in Jiangsu that left 78 dead
Nokia announced on Tuesday that chipmaker Nvidia will acquire a $1 billion stake in the company.
The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history killed at least 132 people, officials said on Wednesday, after Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses collected overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city.
Centrist liberal party D66, led by 38-year-old Rob Jetten, has made sweeping gains in the Dutch election, emerging neck and neck with Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) in early results — a stunning reversal just two years after D66 ranked sixth.
Reliable sources have confirmed to AnewZ that the United States has asked Azerbaijan to join a Stabilisation Force in Gaza, as part of a proposed international mission to secure the territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade, Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed legislation extending martial law and general mobilisation until 3 February 2026.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Ankara as both countries explored new pathways for bilateral economic relations.
Ukraine has introduced nationwide restrictions on electricity use, enforcing eight-hour daily limits following severe damage to power infrastructure.
Russia launched a wave of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, prompting nationwide electricity restrictions and killing one person in the city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said on Thursday.
Israeli forces crossed into southern Lebanon overnight, killing a municipal employee in a border town raid that prompted Lebanon’s president to order the army to confront any future incursions, state media said on Thursday.
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