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Australia PM Says Government ‘Examining’ Claims against UN Palestinian Agency

A man wearing a jacket bearing the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), walks along a street devastated by the passage of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers during raids, in the refugee camp of Balata in the occupied West Bank on February 4, 2024, as battles continue between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
A man wearing a jacket bearing the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), walks along a street devastated by the passage of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers during raids, in the refugee camp of Balata in the occupied West Bank on February 4, 2024, as battles continue between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
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Australia PM Says Government ‘Examining’ Claims against UN Palestinian Agency

A man wearing a jacket bearing the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), walks along a street devastated by the passage of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers during raids, in the refugee camp of Balata in the occupied West Bank on February 4, 2024, as battles continue between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
A man wearing a jacket bearing the logo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), walks along a street devastated by the passage of Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers during raids, in the refugee camp of Balata in the occupied West Bank on February 4, 2024, as battles continue between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday his government was probing claims that some staff of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, after Australia paused funding to the aid agency last month.

Australia is one of several countries to have halted funding for UNRWA, a critical source of support in Gaza, after Israeli claims of UN employees' complicity with Hamas.

"We're examining it, along with other like-minded countries like Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. We want that to be resolved," Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp regarding the allegations, according to a transcript.

Albanese said his government wanted to make sure the accusations were "fully examined" so that all funding was "going to the purpose for which it is given".

The prime minister added that he did not want people "literally starving" in Gaza and "the only organization that can provide that support there is UNRWA".

Late last month, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding to the aid agency.

The agency has opened an investigation into several employees and has severed ties with those people, it has said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in January described UNRWA as "the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza" and has appealed to all countries to "guarantee the continuity of UNRWA's lifesaving work."

The agency, whose biggest donors in 2022 included the US, Germany and the European Union, has repeatedly said its capacity to render humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.

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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)

 A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China's Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried on stretchers by workers treading over the debris from collapsed homes.
At least 188 people were injured in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and sparsely populated region, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In video posted by the broadcaster, building debris littered streets and crushed cars.
According to The AP, people in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country's National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents move away to escape the cold.
The quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter — and sent them running into the streets.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China's Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
The epicenter was in Tibet's Tingri county, where the India and Eurasia plates grind against each other and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
About 150 aftershocks were recorded in the nine hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic area on the Chinese side was closed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue people, minimize casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, CCTV said.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the area to guide the work, and the government announced the allocation of 100 million yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.
About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said. The average altitude in the area is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), the Chinese earthquake center said in a social media post.
On the southwest edge of Kathmandu, a video showed water spilling out into the street from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It is a big earthquake," a woman can be heard saying. "People are all shaking.”