Spanish princess to study at Wales
Madrid, Feb 10: The heir to the Spanish throne, 15-year-old Princess Leonor, is going to study in Wales, the Spanish royal household announced Wednesday. Leonor de Borbon, the elder of two daughters of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, will attend UWC Atlantic College, based at the 12th-century St. Donat’s Castle on the southern Welsh coast, a statement said. Leonor will begin her two-year course at the boarding school this summer. She turns 16 at the end of October. Her parents will personally meet the course’s cost of 67,000 pounds ($92,700, 76,500 euros). (AP)
Argentina fire still not controlled
Buenos Aires, Feb 10: A forest fire raging for more than two weeks in Argentina’s Patagonia region is yet to be fully controlled, the country’s environmental authorities said. Deputy Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Sergio Federovisky told a local media outlet on Tuesday that the fire in the tourist area of El Bolson in the southern province of Rio Negro “is contained, but not controlled”, reports Xinhua news agency. The blaze erupted on January 24 after a family had a barbecue a few metres from a forest and did not put out the fire, which quickly spread through the area. Meanwhile, the Forest Fire Prevention and Fighting Service of Rio Negro indicated that the estimated area affected “is approximately 7,500 hectares, considering the fire’s new advances”. (IANS)
Global COVID cases top 106.8 m
Washington, Feb 10: The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 106.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.33 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 106,880,652 and 2,339,991, respectively. The US is the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 27,189,188 and 468,103, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 10,847,304. (IANS)
Earthquake shakes Indonesia
Jakarta, Feb 10: A strong undersea earthquake shook western Indonesia on Wednesday, but no injuries were immediately reported. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.2 quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) and was centered 217 kilometers (135 miles) south-southwest of Bengkulu city in Bengkulu province on the southwestern side of Sumatra island. No tsunami warning was issued by the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency and no casualties were immediately reported. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 271 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire.” (AP)