Your trusted source

Aucklanders have been forced to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night due to flash flooding, after New Zealand’s largest city was hit by unexpectedly heavy rainfall. Floods came after unexpectedly heavy rains, with as much as 90mm per hour hitting the city through the night.

Source: theguardian.com

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa introduces emergency regulations to control prices of essential food items as private banks run out of foreign exchange to finance imports.

Source: aljazeera.com

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with the UAE's de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Erdogan's office said on Tuesday, in a fresh sign of improving ties between the regional rivals. Erdogan had said two weeks ago after a rare meeting with a senior UAE official that the two countries had made progress in improving relations, which could lead to significant UAE investment in Turkey.

Source: reuters.com

Toyota is resuming operations of its autonomous vehicles at the Paralympic Games village in Tokyo following an accident. Services of the e-Palette pods were halted after a vehicle hit a visually impaired athlete last week. The athlete was not seriously injured, but he had to pull out of an event due to cuts and bruises. The vehicles will now have more operator control and extra staff to ensure they do not hit any more people.

Source: bbc.com

The Japanese government is considering holding a general election on Oct. 17, Kyodo news said on Monday citing government sources, even as public support for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga hits record lows in two new opinion polls. If the general election plan is approved at a cabinet meeting, it would mean Suga will not call a snap election but instead allow the members of the lower house of parliament to serve out their full terms.

Source: reuters.com

Algerian authorities arrested on Sunday Tunisia's media mogul and former presidential candidate Nabil Karoui, after he entered Algeria secretly and illegally, Tunisian media said.

Source: france24.com

Online gamers under the age of 18 will only be allowed to play for an hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays, China's video game regulator has said. The National Press and Publication Administration told state-run news agency Xinhua that game-playing would be only allowed between 8pm to 9pm. It also instructed gaming companies to prevent children playing outside these times.

Source: bbc.com

Harvard University, originally founded with a mission to educate clergymen in order to minister to New England’s early Puritan colonists, has a new chief chaplain. His name is Greg Epstein – and he is an atheist. The 44-year-old, who was raised in a Jewish household, has been described as a “godfather to the [humanist] movement”, a secular, values-based philosophy that focuses on people’s relationships with each other instead of with God.

Source: theguardian.com

The boy was playing outside his home in Calabasas in the Santa Monica mountains, west of Los Angeles, when the lion pounced on him. The child was dragged across the front lawn, but his mother ran out and struck the mountain lion with her bare hands until it let go of her son. The animal was later found and shot dead by wildlife authorities. The boy suffered injuries to his head and torso, but is now in a stable condition at a hospital in Los Angeles, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Source: bbc.com

The blaze on Sunday started on the upper floors of the tower on the southern outskirts of the capital of the Lombardy region. The building houses about 70 families, who were being contacted in an effort to make sure no one was missing.  About 20 residents suffered slight smoke inhalation. Dozens of ambulances and fire engines were at the scene.

Source: theguardian.com

A Taliban spokesman said a U.S. drone strike targeting a suspected suicide bomber in Kabul on Sunday resulted in civilian casualties, and condemned the United States for failing to inform the Taliban before ordering the strike. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahidtold told China's state television CGTN on Monday that seven people were killed in the drone attack, describing the U.S. action on foreign soil as unlawful.

Source: reuters.com

Nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor in a "deeply troubling" development, the UN atomic agency has said, a possible sign Pyongyang is expanding its banned weapons programme. The development on the 5-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon -- North Korea's main nuclear complex -- comes with nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington at a standstill.

Source: france24.com

Estonia is gearing up for an unusual presidential election in parliament. There will be only one candidate in Monday’s vote, a situation unprecedented since the Baltic nation regained its independence 30 years ago. Lawmakers in the 101-seat Riigikogu parliament must elect a new head of state to replace her in the largely ceremonial post. As no further candidates registered by the late Saturday deadline, the director of the Estonian National Museum, Alar Karis, will be the sole contender. Karis, a former state auditor, is the only one who has managed to get support from the required minimum of 21 lawmakers.

Source: apnews.com

Ed Asner, the burly character actor who won seven Emmy Awards — five of them for playing the same character, the gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, introduced on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” — and later starred in film hits like “Up” and “Elf” — died on Sunday at his home in Tarzana, Calif. He was 91. His death was confirmed by his family via Twitter. No cause was specified.

Source: nytimes.com

Hurricane Ida has made landfall in the US state of Louisiana, with winds of 150mph (240km/h) and a potentially "catastrophic" storm surge, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. Thousands of people have fled. Those who stayed have been advised to shelter in place until the storm passes. Already, more than 300,000 households in Louisiana are without power.

Source: bbc.com

More than 20 people have died and about 50 remain missing in Bangladesh after a passenger boat carrying more than 100 people sank in a large pond. The accident occurred in the Bijoynagar area in the Brahmanbaria district on Friday evening, local police official Imranul Islam said.

Source: theguardian.com

The gun that killed American Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid sold for more than $6 million at auction on Friday in Los Angeles, more than double the pre-sale estimate. Billy the Kid was a wanted man in Arizona and New Mexico, killing eight men. After a monthslong pursuit, Garrett tracked him down to a ranch in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and shot and killed him on July 14, 1881.

Source: reuters.com

A greyhound who has donated his rare blood to help save up to 88 other dogs has retired after six years. Woodie, from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, first gave blood when he was three and the nine-year-old has since reached a total of 22 donations. Pet Blood Bank UK said each 450ml (16floz) donation can help up to four dogs and hailed Woodie a "superstar".

Source: bbc.com