Sydney / AFP South Australia braced for a second night of severe weather on Thursday, with tens of thousands of homes still without power after “catastrophic” storms knocked out supply to the entire population. The total blackout caused chaos and widespread damage was reported, as authorities warned of more wild conditions to come including floods, high winds, heavy rain …

  Geneva / AFP The United Nations described on Thursday a desperate situation in Syria’s rebel-held eastern Aleppo, warning “hundreds” needed medical evacuation and that there was only enough food aid left for a quarter of the city’s population. “Utmost on our mind is the need to address the very concerning medical situation” in the east of Aleppo, UN deputy envoy …

  Ankara / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested on Thursday it may be necessary to keep the state of emergency imposed after the July coup bid in place for at least a year. His comments came a day after he chaired Turkey’s top national security body which called for the current state of emergency to be extended when it …