Category: News

SYDNEY — Emergency flood warnings were issued for communities in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland on Thursday.

Authorities issued Watch and Act alerts for communities along the Jandowae Creek and in the South Burnett region, both approximately 180 km northwest of Brisbane, with residents in low-lying areas urged to leave.

“Warn neighbors, secure belongings and enact your emergency plan,” the alert said.

Intense rainfall over several days in Queensland’s populous southeast triggered flash flooding and power outages in the area.

Over 2,000 properties in the area were without power on Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, power had been restored to most of the affected properties.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) had 12 flood warnings in places across the state on Thursday, including a major warning for the Logan River south of Brisbane.

The State Emergency Service said it received 145 calls for assistance in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, mostly in the state’s southeast and connected to the heavy rain.

The region’s biggest dam at Wivenhoe, west of Brisbane, on Tuesday began releasing water after reaching 90 percent capacity. It marked the first release of water from the dam since severe flooding in 2022.

The BoM said that conditions would ease in Queensland’s southeast on Thursday, with storms set to hit the state’s north and west.

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BUENOS AIRES — A pilot and copilot were killed Wednesday when a private business jet crashed after overshooting the runway at a small airport near Buenos Aires, local media reported.

The jet, owned by the family of Jorge Brito, president of football club River Plate and head of Banco Macro, one of the country’s largest banks, had only the two-man crew on board, said the country’s transportation safety authorities.

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LONDON — Britain on Thursday unveiled a package of £225 million ($286 million) in new military aid to Ukraine for next year, including drones, boats and air defense systems.

The move came after the UK’s Defense Secretary John Healey visited Kyiv on Wednesday, holding talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov and vowing to step up British support to Ukraine in 2025.

Three years since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine “the depths of his miscalculation are clearer than ever, as the brave people of Ukraine continue to defy all expectations with their unbreakable spirit,” Healey said.

“But they cannot go it alone,” Healey added, vowing the UK’s support for Kyiv was “ironclad” and Britain would always stand “shoulder to shoulder to ensure Putin cannot win.”

In July, the new Labour government vowed to commit £3 billion a year in military aid to Ukraine until 2030-2031.

The new package will include £92 million for equipment to bolster Ukraine’s navy, including small boats, reconnaissance drones and uncrewed surface vessels, the defense ministry said in a statement.

A further £68 million will be used for air defense equipment including radars, and 1,000 counter-drone electronic warfare systems at a cost of £39 million would be supplied to the Ukrainian army.

Healey said the UK would also boost a training program for Ukrainian soldiers run with key allies on British soil known as Operation Interflex, under which 51,000 recruits have been trained since mid-2022.

“With Putin resorting to sending as many as 2,000 Russian soldiers to their deaths on the battlefield each day, it is critical that Ukraine is supported with a supply of properly trained and equipped soldiers,” the ministry statement said.

Umerov thanked the UK for its support and said in a statement that the “stable delivery of ammunition, especially for artillery, is critically important for our defense efforts.”

AN-AFP

GAZA — At least 16 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday night by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least 10 people were killed and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.

Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.

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NEW DELHI — At least 13 people were killed Wednesday after a speedboat belonging to the Indian Navy crashed into a passenger ferry off Mumbai.

According to the Indian Navy, the speedboat was undergoing engine trials in the sea when it lost control and collided with the passenger ferry.

A statement issued by Indian Navy said that an Indian Navy craft “lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai Harbour due to engine malfunction.”

“As a result, the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized. 13 fatalities have been reported so far,” it added.

Officials said 99 survivors have been sent to different hospitals.

“Survivors rescued from the incident site are being shifted to nearby hospitals. Search and rescue efforts have been immediately launched wherein four naval helicopters, 11 naval crafts, one Coast Guard boat and three marine police crafts have been pressed in action for recovering the survivors. 99 survivors have been rescued when reports last came in,” Navy further said.

A video aired on television shows the speedboat carrying four men zig-zagging in the water before ramming into the ferry carrying passengers.

The boat was sailing from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island, which houses famous Gharpuri caves, a tourist destination.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has expressed grief over the loss of precious lives in the collision between passenger ferry and the Indian Navy craft.

“Deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives in the collision between passenger ferry and Indian Navy craft in Mumbai Harbour. Injured personnel, including naval personnel and civilians from both vessels, are receiving urgent medical care,” Singh said in a statement. “My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Extensive search and rescue efforts are ongoing by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, deploying multiple assets, to locate missing persons.”

Indian President Droupadi Murmu has also condoled the deaths of passengers and Navy personnel in the accident.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said during a press briefing that the incident took place at around 3:55 p.m. (1025 GMT).

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ANKARA — At least 38 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, taking the overall death toll since last year to 45,097, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement added that some 107,244 others were injured in the ongoing assault.

“Israeli forces killed 38 people and injured 203 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

ANADOLU, Dec 18, 2024

TUNIS — Tunisia’s coast guard has recovered the bodies of 20 migrants after the boat they were in sank, on Wednesday, in the second migrant drowning tragedy within one week off the Tunisian coast.

Last Thursday, the Tunisian coast guard also recovered the bodies of nine migrants, while six others are still missing, after their boat sank while they were sailing toward Europe.

The coast guard, on Wednesday, rescued five others, from the latest tragedy, and search operations were underway for anyone still missing.

The boat sank off the coast of Sfax city, a major departure point especially for sub-Saharan African migrants.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as the major departure point for both Tunisians and people from elsewhere in Africa, who are seeking a better life in Europe.

AN-REUTERS/Dec 18, 2024
19:38

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Syria war monitor said 21 pro-Turkiye fighters were killed Wednesday after they attacked a Kurdish-held position near a flashpoint northern town despite a US-brokered ceasefire extension in the area.

The fighting between Turkish-backed factions and US-backed Kurdish-led forces comes more than a week after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria’s longtime strongman Bashar Assad.

“At least 21 members of pro-Turkiye factions were killed and others wounded by fire from the Manbij Military Council after pro-Turkiye factions attacked” a position at the Tishreen Dam, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the town of Manbij, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The United States said on Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkiye.

The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria, said Wednesday’s attack included “support from Turkish reconnaissance aircraft” and was followed by “heavy clashes with heavy and medium weapons.”

The monitor also reported unspecified casualties among the Manbij Military Council, which is affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as among SDF fighters.

The SDF said in a statement that its forces “successfully repelled” the pro-Turkiye fighters and that “after thwarting the attacks, Manbij Military Council forces initiated a combing operation in the vicinity of the Tishreen Dam and the surrounding area.”

Swathes of north and northeast Syria are controlled by a Kurdish administration whose de facto army, the SDF, spearheaded the fight that defeated Daesh group extremists in Syria in 2019.

Turkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a “terrorist” group.

Ankara has staged multiple operations against the SDF since 2016, and Turkish-backed groups have captured several Kurdish-held towns in the north in recent weeks.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday that the Manbij truce, which had recently expired, had been “extended through the end of the week, and we will, obviously, look to see that ceasefire extended as far as possible into the future.”

The extension comes amid fears of an assault by Turkiye on the Kurdish-held border town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Manbij.

SDF leader Mazloum Abdi on Tuesday proposed a “demilitarised zone” in Kobani.

The military chief of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the Islamist militant group that led the offensive that ousted Assad, said Tuesday that Kurdish-held areas of Syria would be integrated under the country’s new leadership.

While the Kurdish administration has extended a hand to the new authorities, the long-oppressed community fears it could lose hard-won gains it made during the war, including limited self-rule.

AN-AFP/Dec 18, 2024
19:30

NEW DELHI — At least six people, including a three-year-old child, were killed and four others injured on Wednesday after a residential house caught fire in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The fire broke out in Kathua, about 284 km south of Srinagar, the capital city of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“Early today at around 2:30 a.m. (local time), locals noticed the house on fire and raised the alarm to rescue its occupants. Due to the fire, the house was filled with thick smoke that had suffocated the occupants in their sleep,” a local police official said.

The injured are undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Kathua, he added.

India’s federal junior minister in Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh condoled the deaths in a statement.

“My sincere condolences to the bereaved family and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. I am in constant touch with the district administration,” Singh said.

Officials said it took several hours for the firefighters to douse the flame and bring it under control.

An investigation is underway to examine the cause of the fire.

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MOSCOW — Russian authorities have detained an Uzbek citizen in connection with the deaths of a senior military official and his assistant, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old suspect, accused of carrying out a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian armed forces’ radiological, chemical and biological defense troops, and his assistant, has been detained.

According to the committee, the suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services and given a homemade explosive device after he arrived in Moscow. He allegedly placed the device on an electric scooter parked near the entrance of the building where Kirillov resided.

The suspect is said to have rented a car to monitor the general’s residence, installing a camera that transmitted live footage to the attack’s organizers in Dnipro, Ukraine. Once the two officials left the building, the suspect remotely detonated the explosive device.

In exchange for carrying out the attack, the detainee was promised a reward of 100,000 U.S. dollars and relocation to a European country, the committee said.

Kirillov and his assistant were killed on Tuesday when the explosive device, concealed on the scooter, detonated outside the residential building.

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