By Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, Dec 27, 2023 (AFP) – A man who crashed his truck under an Indiana bridge and was pinned for nearly a week in the wreckage — unable even to reach his cellphone — has been found alive in what was described as a miracle. Two men scouting for fishing holes Tuesday in Salt Creek, near the town of Portage, were hailed for discovering the gravely injured man, who told them he’d […]
International
UPDATE: Nine dead after storms pound eastern Australia
SYDNEY, Dec 27, 2023 (AFP) – Nine people have died after Christmas storms pounded Australia’s eastern seaboard, authorities said Wednesday, including two women who were washed through a stormwater drain. Thunderstorms and destructive winds have in recent days battered the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland — capsizing boats, sparking flash floods, and tearing down concrete powerlines. The government weather bureau has warned that coastal regions in Queensland were still at risk of “dangerous” storms, […]
India police probe blast report near Israeli embassy
NEW DELHI, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – Indian police were investigating reports of a blast near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday that did not cause any casualties. Officers cordoned off the embassy as they combed through the surrounding areas following the report of the late afternoon blast. Israel’s foreign ministry in a statement reported “an explosion” near the embassy. “This evening… an explosion occurred in close proximity to the embassy,” Ohad Nakash […]
US says it downs many drones, missiles fired by Huthis over Red Sea
DUBAI, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – US military forces shot down more than a dozen attack drones and several missiles fired by Yemen-based Huthi rebels at shipping in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “There was no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,” the Pentagon’s Central Command said in a social media post, describing a barrage of 12 drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land-attack missiles over a period […]
Israel PM says no peace until Hamas destroyed
By Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted peace can only be achieved in Gaza if Hamas is destroyed, the territory demilitarised and Palestinian society “deradicalised”, after warning the war is set to intensify. The declarations came as the World Health Organization on Monday reported “harrowing” accounts of entire families killed from Christmas Eve strikes on a refugee […]
Indonesia nickel plant explosion death toll rises to 18
JAKARTA, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – The death toll after an explosion at a Chinese-funded nickel-processing plant in eastern Indonesia over the weekend has risen to 18 with dozens still being treated in hospital, a police official said Tuesday. The island of Sulawesi is a hub for the mineral-rich country’s production of nickel, a base metal used for electric vehicle batteries and stainless steel, and Beijing’s growing investment has stoked unrest over working conditions at […]
Attacks kill at least 160 people in central Nigeria
BOKKOS, Nigeria, Dec 25, 2023 (AFP) – Armed groups have killed at least 160 people in central Nigeria in a series of attacks on villages, local government officials said on Monday. The toll marked a sharp rise from the initial figure reported by the army Sunday evening of just 16 dead in a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions. “As many as 113 persons have been confirmed killed as Saturday hostilities […]
Five bodies found in apartment near Paris: prosecutors
BOBIGNY, France, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – Five dead bodies were found on Christmas Day in an apartment in the town of Meaux to the east of Paris, the local prosecutor told AFP, adding that a homicide inquiry had been opened. According to news website Actu17, which first reported the discovery, the victims were a woman and her four young children. It added that police were looking for the 33-year-old father, who was “on the […]
Plane held for days in France on trafficking concerns lands in India
MUMBAI, Dec 25, 2023 (AFP) – A plane that had been grounded in France for days over concerns its nearly 300 mostly Indian passengers were part of a human trafficking scheme has landed in Mumbai, flight tracking data showed early Tuesday. The Airbus A340 initially had been bound for Nicaragua when it was detained last Thursday at Vatry airport, east of Paris, where it had stopped for refuelling. It had arrived from Dubai and there […]
Kremlin critic Navalny moved to Arctic penal colony: allies
MOSCOW, Dec 25, 2023 (AFP) – Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in the Arctic, allies said on Monday after over two weeks during which his whereabouts were unknown. Authorities transferred Russia’s most prominent opposition politician to an isolated penal colony three months before a presidential vote expected to easily hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term. “We have found Alexei Navalny,” his ally, Kira Yarmysh, said on social […]
Catastrophic storm rages in eastern Australia, leaving thousands without power, one dead
SYDNEY, Dec 26, 2023 (AFP) – Thunderstorms and strong winds cut power to 110,000 homes in eastern Australia and toppled a tree that killed one woman, officials said Tuesday. People lost electricity as the storm wrought “catastrophic” damage, downing power lines in Queensland’s capital Brisbane and the Gold Coast area, energy company Energex said. “There is no easy way to say this but some customers will not have power for days — we’re looking at […]
Israeli strike in Syria kills senior general with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Tehran vows retribution
TEHRAN, Dec 25, 2023 (AFP) – An Israeli strike in Syria has killed a senior general with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the military force said, with Tehran vowing retribution. The incident further raises tension in the Middle East where Iran-aligned groups have escalated attacks since Iran-backed Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering a war with Israel. Iranian state media also reported the death of Razi Moussavi, describing him as “one of the most […]
