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Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille says the government stands in solidarity with the victims and their families. (File photo) Photo: Clarens SIFFROY / AFP More than 15 people in western Haiti have been killed after a gas tank truck exploded on Saturday, Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille said in a post on social media. Another 40 people were left with serious burns from the incident near Miragoane in the department of Nippes, he said. He noted the figures were still preliminary, and said the government was planning evacuations by helicopter. "The government stands in solidarity with all the victims and their families," Conille said. A similar fuel truck explosion in 2021 in the city of Cap-Haitien killed at least 60 people. In recent months, violent gangs have taken over much of the cap...

A man walks past rubble and damaged buildings along a street in the Tuffah district east of Gaza City on 8 July, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Photo: OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP At least 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian media reported, and the Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander. The strike hit a residential housing unit in the Al Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Israeli military said it "struck the commander of a Hamas terrorist cell... who was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist activities." It said it was aware of reports that several civilians were killed in the strike. Two others were ...

A pair of huia being auctioned by Roseberys in London. Photo: Supplied / Roseberys A pair of taxidermied huia are expected to fetch up to NZ$128,000 when they are auctioned in London in October. The birds - a male and a female - date to the late 1800s, auctioneer Roseberys said. "Specimens of these striking songbirds are rarely seen on the market and displays showcasing both a male and female bird are even harder to come by." Huia were once widespread throughout the North Island, but populations declined swiftly following human settlement and the last confirmed sighting was in 1907. The birds had a special place in Māori culture, with their highly prized tail feathers often being worn to denote status. Male huia, pictured, had shorter, straighter beaks than the females. Photo: Suppl...

By Iris Zhao and Jenny Cai, ABC News Capybaras at a zoo in Shenyang City in northeast China. Photo: Imaginechina / AFP After years of following them online, Li Jing finally met her spirit animal - the capybara - at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. "I first fell in love with capybaras when I saw their videos online. They were taking a bath in a Japanese zoo," Li said. The 31-year-old, who works in the pet industry, said she adored them because they were "so cute, so quiet, and so chill". "When I realised Taronga Zoo had them, I got really excited and immediately went to see them. "Only four people can interact with the capybaras every day. People were lining up half an hour before tickets started to sell. "Luckily, we got in. I fed them bamboo and they are just as cute as they are on video!" The...

By Phil Stewart, Jonathan Landay and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden in June. Photo: Mandel NGAN / AFP As the U.S. and Britain discuss allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike deep within Russia, some U.S. officials are deeply sceptical that doing so would make a significant difference in Kyiv's battle against Russian invaders. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Washington on Friday to discuss with U.S. President Joe Biden whether to give Ukraine approval to use NATO-supplied weapons to hit targets far beyond Ukraine's borders, something the U.S. administration has so far not been willing to allow in the two-and-a-half-year-old conflict. U.S. officials noted that Ukraine already has the capability to h...

Photo: Jianfeng Dai American photographer Ryan Imperio has been named overall winner in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Imperio's work, Distorted Shadows of the Moon's Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, was shot in Texas during a solar eclipse last year. It is a composite of more than 30 separate images of the Sun and captures the optical illusion - known as Baily's beads - when sunlight shines through mountains and other topographical features of the Moon. Distorted Shadows of the Moon's Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, by Ryan Imperio, has won the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Photo: Ryan Imperio New Zealand teenager Tom Rae was one of the finalists with his image of the Milky Way over the Alps. Starlight Highway by New Zealand t...