News in Brief-(2024-03-14)

Gaza war death toll at least 31,272
GAZA STRIP, Mar 13: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday that at least 31,272 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The latest toll includes at least 88 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 73,024 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. —AFP
Colombia's island Tierra Bomba slowly sinking
CARTAGENA, Mar 13: A skeleton lies exposed to the elements as turquoise Caribbean waters lap the shores near a shattered tomb-a grisly reminder that the Colombian city of Cartagena is slowly being swallowed by the sea. With low-lying communities worldwide on the front lines of the climate crisis fight, Cartagena is conspicuously vulnerable. On Tierra Bomba, a small island in the bay of Cartagena, the cemetery once built at a safe distance from the shore has been devastated by repeated flooding, while houses have tumbled into the waves. Kelly Mendoza has seen two of her neighbors lose their homes, and at night the 31-year-old hears the surf crashing against her bedroom wall. —AFP
Nepal PM wins parliamentary vote of confidence
KATHMANDU, Mar 13: Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal won a parliamentary vote of confidence on Wednesday, a week after he formed his third coalition in just over a year to head a government which is dominated by the liberal communists. Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla leader in the Himalayan nation sandwiched between China and India, formed a coalition cabinet including the Nepali Congress party and other smaller groups last year. He changed allies this month saying he was not given a free hand. —Reuters
Boat capsize kills 12 Pak fishermen
KARACHI, Mar 13: Twelve Pakistani fishermen died after their boat capsized in the Arabian Sea, the military said Wednesday, as the navy searched for a pair still missing. The fishing vessel went down on March 5, prompting rescuers to comb waters off southern Sindh province with helicopters, ships and speedboats. "The bodies of 12 fishermen have been recovered," the army public relations wing said in a statement on Wednesday. "The search for the remaining two missing fishermen is still going on." —AFP