News in Brief -2024-11-09

France raises bird flu risk to
high as EU cases spread
PARIS, Nov 08: France has stepped up its bird flu risk assessment to 'high' from 'moderate', it said on Friday in a decree that will trigger reinforced security measures around poultry farms. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has been spreading faster among poultry in the European Union this season than in 2023, raising concerns of a repeat of previous crises that led to poultry deaths in the tens of millions and fears it could lead to human-to-human transmission. — Reuters
Prince William says royal family's double cancer diagnosis 'brutal'
LONDON, Nov 08: Prince William has described the past year in which his wife Catherine and his father, Britain's head of state King Charles III, each battled cancer as "brutal" and probably the "hardest" of his life. The heir to the British throne was speaking to reporters on Thursday at the end of a four-day visit to South Africa for his Earthshot prize initiative. Buckingham Palace in February announced that Charles, 75, had been diagnosed with an undisclosed cancer and would withdraw from public life to undergo treatment. — AFP
Notre Dame bells ring out in Paris for first time since 2019 fire
PARIS, Nov 08: The bells of Notre Dame in Paris rang out together on Friday for the first time since a 2019 fire that devastated the historic cathedral, AFP reporters said. The sound of the eight bells in Notre Dame's northern belfry came a month before the cathedral is to reopen following five years of painstaking restoration work in the wake of the blaze. — Arab News
Thousands told to flee wildfire
near Los Angeles
CAMARILLO, Nov 08: Thousands of people were urged to flee an out-of-control wildfire burning around communities near Los Angeles on Thursday, with dozens of homes already lost to the fast-moving flames. Fierce seasonal winds were casting embers up to three miles from the seat of the fire around Camarillo. — AFP