Briefly

CANADA

Terror charges added in truck attack case

Canada is pressing terrorism charges against a man accused of mowing down a Muslim family with a pickup truck, prosecutors said on Monday, in an attack denounced as "terrorist" by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Five members of the Afzaal family－a man and his wife, their two children and his mother－were out for a walk in London, Ontario, on June 6, when the truck driver struck them on purpose, according to authorities. One of the children, a boy aged 9, survived. Prosecutors revealed in a brief hearing that they were adding terrorism charges to the four counts of premeditated murder and one of attempted murder leveled last week against Nathaniel Veltman, 20.

INDIA

City crowds worry doctors on virus risks

In India's capital, New Delhi, thousands of commuters crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls on Tuesday, prompting some doctors to warn it could lead to a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. Major Indian cities have begun lifting strict lockdowns as the nationwide tally of new infections drops to its lowest level in more than two months. But disease experts and doctors have cautioned that a race toward resuming business as usual would compromise vaccination efforts as only about 5 percent of all 950 million eligible adults have been inoculated.

SOMALIA

15 soldiers killed in suicide bombing

At least 15 soldiers were killed and dozens more injured in a suicide bombing targeting a military training camp, south of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, on Tuesday, police and witnesses said. A police officer who did not want to be named said that a suicide bomber blew himself up at General Dhagobadan military training camp. Witnesses said they saw injured people being taken to hospitals. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the militant group al-Shabab has conducted similar attacks in the past.

AUSTRALIA

Surging waves pose new coastline threat

Ocean waves in the Southern Hemisphere are becoming more powerful, adding to Australia's coastal erosion, according to an international oceanographic team. Tom Mortlock, an environmental scientist with Australia's Macquarie University, said the team plotted the trajectory of stronger waves and found the coasts of South Australia and Western Australia along with Pacific and Caribbean Islands were experiencing more powerful waves because of global warming. He said that, although rising sea levels were a long-term environmental problem, the impact of more powerful waves was more immediate.

Agencies - Xinhua