No fewer than 95 people have been confirmed dead even as another 220 are reported to have been injured following an earthquake in north-west China on Monday.
According to state media report, the quake struck in Gansu province sometime around midnight, damaging buildings both there and in the neighbouring province of Qinghai.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) claimed that the quake had a magnitude of 5.9 and a depth of 10km (six miles).Rescue efforts were under way early on Tuesday morning.
While we wait for updates on the earthquake in China, the United States is intervening in Gaza.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says the US has spoken to Israel about making the war in Gaza more ‘surgical’.
Speaking in Tel Aviv, Austin reiterated US support for Israel. But he discussed reducing harm to civilians, and moving to ‘lower intensity operations’.
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He was speaking after health officials in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli air strikes killed 110 people in Jabalia late on Sunday.
There’s been no specific comment from Israel, which insists it is targeting what it calls terrorist infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in a video released by Hamas, a group of three elderly men taken hostage call on Israel to secure their release.
In another report, the Chinese government has berated Britain and the United States accusing them of ‘malicious intentions’ after they condemned Hong Kong police for offering bounties for information leading to the capture of five overseas activists.
The city’s authorities had yesterday stated that the wanted individuals would be pursued “till the end” as they offered HK$1,000,000 ($128,000) bounties for help catching them.
The move was strongly condemned by Washington, while London called it “a threat to our democracy and fundamental human rights”.
However China said on Saturday morning that the Hong Kong police force’s desire to arrest the activists was “necessary and legitimate” on national security grounds and was in line with international law.