Taiwan hit by strongest quake in 25 years

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan on Wednesday, the strongest tremor to hit the island in at least 25 years, killing one person, injuring dozens and sparking a tsunami warning for southern Japan and the Philippines that was later lifted.

Taiwan’s fire department said one person is suspected to have been crushed to death by falling rocks in the mountainous, sparsely populated eastern county of Hualien where the epicentre was, with more than 50 injured.

At least 26 buildings have collapsed, more than half in Hualien, with about 20 people trapped and rescue work on-going, it said.

Taiwan television stations showed footage of buildings at precarious angles in Hualien, where the quake struck just offshore around 8am (0000GMT) as people were going to work and school.

The quake had a depth of 15.5km (9.6 miles), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.

Japan’s weather agency said several small tsunami waves reached parts of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, and later downgraded the earlier tsunami warning to an advisory. It put the earthquake’s magnitude at 7.7.

The Philippines Seismology Agency also issued a warning for residents in coastal areas of several provinces, urging them to evacuate to higher ground.

Taiwan also issued a tsunami warning, but reported no damage from that, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii later said the risk of damaging tsunami waves had now largely passed.

Aftershocks could still be felt in Taipei, according to a Reuters witness, with more than 25 aftershocks registered so far, according to Taiwan’s central weather administration.

Chinese state media said the quake was felt in China’s Fujian province, while a Reuters witness said it was also felt in Shanghai.

A view from behind a window as debris falls from a building, during an earthquake off the eastern coast of Taiwan, in New Taipei City

The Taipei city government said it had not received any reports of major damage and the city’s MRT was up and running soon after the tremor, while electricity operator Taipower said more than 87,000 households in Taiwan were still without power.

Taiwan’s two nuclear power stations were not affected by the temblor, Taipower added.

Taiwan’s high speed rail operator said no damage or injuries were reported on its trains, but noted trains will be delayed while it carries out inspections.

Semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), opens new tab said it had evacuated some fabrication plants and its safety systems were operating normally.

“To ensure the safety of personnel, some fabs were evacuated according to company procedure. We are currently confirming the details of the impact,” according to the company.

Damaged apartment following earthquake, in New Taipei City

Shares of TSMC were down 1.4% in early trade, while Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab supplier Foxconn’s stock fell more than 2% and shares of flat panel maker Au Optronics dropped 1.7%.

Taiwan’s official central news agency said the quake was the biggest to hit the island since 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude tremor killed around 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings in one of Taiwan’s worst-recorded quakes.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the earthquake registered the second-highest intensity of an “Upper 6” in Hualien county, on the 1-7 intensity scale.

In an Upper 6 earthquake, most unreinforced concrete-block walls collapse and people find it impossible to remain standing or move without crawling, the Japan Meteorological Agency says.

Iran president says Israel’s Syria attack ‘will not go unanswered’

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday condemned Israel’s attack on his country’s consular annex in Damascus, saying the “cowardly crime will not go unanswered”.

“After repeated defeats and failures against the faith and will of the Resistance Front fighters, the Zionist regime has put blind assassinations on its agenda in the struggle to save itself,” Raisi said on his office’s website.

Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus on Monday, Syrian and Iranian officials said, with a top Revolutionary Guard commander among seven members the force said were killed.

Israel said it would not comment on the attack, but Iranian officials vowed a stiff response, with fears of even further violence between Israel and Iran’s allies amid the Gaza war.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps named Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and another high-ranking officer, Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, as among seven of its members killed.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 people, including several Guards members, were killed when “Israeli missiles… destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy”.

The toll includes “eight Iranians, two Syrians and one Lebanese — all of them fighters, none of them civilians,” Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory with a network of sources in Syria, told media.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, told Iranian state TV that the attack “was carried out by F-35 fighter jets” that fired six missiles at the building.

Violence flares again in Haiti as PM questions promised political solution

Violence has flared again in Haiti, with gangs engaging in running gun battles with police, as the effort to push forward with a political solution to the crisis drags on.

Gangs launched an armed attack overnight on Monday, clashing with police in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The violence came as Prime Minister Ariel Henry appeared to question the promised establishment of a transitional council, planned to oversee the instalment of a new government.

According to international media reports, witnesses said gunfire broke out in the area of Champ de Mars, a big public park near the national palace, which is the presidential residence. The renewed violence, following weeks of chaos, ignited panic among residents.

At least five people were reported to have been killed around the city overnight, while scores were trapped for hours in the city centre.

At least four police officers were reported to have been wounded. Local media reports said police were forced to flee an armoured vehicle, which was then set on fire by the gangs.

The violence flared as outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry cast doubt upon the promised formation of a broad transitional council.

Racked for decades by poverty, natural disasters, political instability and gang violence, Haiti has had no president since the assassination of Jovenel Moise in 2021 and it has no sitting parliament. Its last election was held in 2016.

It descended into chaos in late February, when the country’s powerful armed gangs launched a campaign of violence, attacking police stations, prisons, and the airport.

More than 1,500 people were killed in the first three months of this year and about 60 were lynched by vigilante groups operating where police presence was lacking, according to a United Nations report.

The gangs demanded that Henry, who took power without being elected following Moise’s death, step down.

Henry, who remains stranded outside Haiti, announced on March 11 that he would do so once a transitional council, which would name a new prime minister, had been established.

However, its formation has been mired in disagreement among political parties and other stakeholders since.

Further raising the stakes, in a statement on Monday, Henry’s office suggested that the council has not yet been formed because Haiti’s constitution does not allow for such a body.

Henry is seeking advice from CARICOM, the Caribbean regional body overseeing this urgent transition process, the statement said.

In the meantime, as the gang violence continues, Haitians are ensnared in a severe humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, medicine and other basics.

The new US ambassador to Haiti, Dennis Hankins, arrived in the country on Monday, as the United States and other nations continue evacuating their citizens.

Mexico evacuated 34 of its nationals the same day, including seven minors and four diplomatic officials, on board a military ship.

TikTok launches science feed to inspire young minds

TikTok is launching a new feed of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in an effort to engage young people.

The new feature, exclusively showcasing videos related to STEM topics, will be available to users in the UK and Ireland from Tuesday and will include fact-checked videos with subtitles for wider audiences.

Over the past three years, nearly 15 million STEM-related videos have been shared globally on TikTok.

Among these experts is Dr Clara Nellist, a 36-year-old particle physicist at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva.

Dr Nellist uses her TikTok platform to share her research experiences with the TikTok users.

"The launch of the STEM feed is really exciting," Dr. Nellist says. "It will help students see that science can be fun and accessible, and maybe inspire them to pursue a career in STEM."

“Personally, I want us to be able to reach people who haven’t been exposed to it before and the Stem feed will mean that people who perhaps didn’t think that science was for them might see some videos, see the jokes, see the content being accessible for them, and have a change a heart," she added.

“It’s a really nice way of helping students project themselves into different careers in the future and I hope lots of students get inspired by the content there.”

Similarly, Eleonora Svanberg, a PhD student in theoretical physics at Oxford University, sees the STEM feed as a means to address the lack of diversity and representation in STEM fields.

“For me, (the Stem feed) means a lot, not only will my passion for Stem reach a wider audience, we’ll also be able to present more diverse people doing Stem and hopefully reach more people that could see themselves doing Stem,” Svanberg said.

“Most of the time during my studies, I’ve been the only girl in my class and I acknowledge that the lack of role models to me has been really challenging and challenging for other girls out there.”

If you are under 18, you will automatically have the new STEM feed turned on. However, you can choose to turn it off. Users over 18 can activate the science feed in their app settings.

Additionally, the feed will feature English content with auto-translated subtitles, which will be verified by two independent organisations.

Israel airstrike on Gaza kills foreign aid workers, Hamas says

At least five employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) non-governmental organisation, including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said.

Those killed in the incident in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah included citizens of Poland, Australia and Britain, as well as one Palestinian, a spokesperson for the media office said.

"We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza," WCK posted on X. "This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be a target ever."

In a statement, Hamas said the attack aimed to "terrorise" workers of international humanitarian agencies and deter them from pursuing their missions.

Commenting on the reports, the Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident.

"The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," the military statement said.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday confirmed that aid worker Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom had been killed in an air strike in Gaza and demanded accountability for her death.

At least 32,845 Palestinians have been killed and 75,392 injured in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct 7, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Monday.

There have been 63 Palestinians killed and 94 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry statement added.

Erdogan concedes defeat in Turkiye local polls

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded defeat on Sunday in the country’s local elections, saying the vote was a “turning point” for his party after two decades in power.

Partial results from across the nation of 85 million people showed major advances for the Republican People’s Party (CHP) at the expense of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Istanbul’s mayor, the opposition’s Ekrem Imamoglu, claimed re-election with nearly all ballot boxes opened, telling a euphoric crowd of supporters: “Tomorrow is a new spring day for our country.”

Final results are expected to be released on Monday (today) by the country’s electoral commission.

Erdogan, 70, had launched an all-out personal campaign to win back Istanbul, the economic powerhouse where he was once mayor. Rampant inflation and an economic crisis have, however, hit confidence in the ruling party.

Large crowds filled the square outside the opposition party’s Istanbul city headquarters waving Turkish flags and lighting torches to celebrate the result.

After casting his vote, Imamoglu emerged to applause and chants of “Everything will be fine”, the slogan he used when he first took the city hall from the AKP in 2019.

The 52-year-old is increasingly seen as the biggest rival to Erdogan’s AKP ahead of the next presidential election in 2028.

In Ankara, mayor Mansur Yavas — also of the CHP — claimed victory in front of large crowds of supporters, declaring “the elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara”.

“Those who have been ignored have sent a clear message to those who rule this country,” he added.

Yavas led with 58.6 per cent of the vote to 33.5pc for his AKP opponent, with 46.4pc of ballot boxes opened.

Opposition supporters celebrated victory in Izmir, Turkiye’s third-largest city, as well as in the southern city of Antalya.

Some AKP stronghold towns were at risk of being lost, results indicated. “Voters have chosen to change the face of Turkiye,” said CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel as the results emerged.

WhatsApp's all-new search bar makes another appearance

WhatsApp is among the most popular messaging apps in the world right now, with developers constantly rolling out new and upcoming features through the beta channel.

We touched on one such feature a couple of weeks ago when the app got a search bar for the Chats tab, helping users search for a specific message from a long list of conversations. While the new search bar was added with WhatsApp beta version 2.24.7.1, it hasn't yet made its wider appearance for all users. But that's changing now, with one of our devices showing a prominent search bar in the Chats tab.

We managed to spot this under-development search bar in WhatsApp beta for Android version 2.24.6.77, which first debuted in early March. This makes it clear that the search bar is being tested across multiple app versions, indicating that it's here to stay.

A side-by-side comparison with the search bar that first appeared in version 2.24.7.1 of WhatsApp beta reveals that the new implementation still needs some work. The fact that a portion of the search bar is absorbed by the dark green header tells us that it's not fully optimized just yet.

Meanwhile, my Android smartphone on WhatsApp beta v2.24.8.2 still doesn't have the search bar in any form, so to say it's a slow rollout would be an understatement. But since we've already seen it appear on a couple of occasions already, we can safely say that it is going to be a big part of WhatsApp in the future.

WhatsApp will soon put your favorite stickers front and center

In a separate development, Android app sleuth AssembleDebug has revealed that version 2.24.7.26 of WhatsApp beta contains a "Move to top" button, as shown above. This is designed to put your favorite or frequently used stickers at the top of the list, thus saving the trouble of manually finding them from an exhaustive list. It's a relatively minor feature but one that will benefit users who routinely send stickers to their WhatsApp contacts.