BAKU – Fifteen people have died from ethanol poisoning in Baku, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan said on Monday.
The case is under criminal investigation for negligence resulting in multiple fatalities, it said.
A preliminary forensic report confirmed that the victims were poisoned by industrial ethanol, and investigators have seized evidence, including empty hygiene product bottles containing alcohol along with food remnants, it added.
XINHUA
PARIS – An explosion occurred Monday morning near the Russian Consulate General in Marseille, southern France, French public television channel TF1 reported.
According to TF1, the explosion took place in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille, near the Russian diplomatic facility, before 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).
About 30 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, TF1 said, adding that police are currently “analyzing” a suspicious bottle.
Reports by Russia Today said that unknown persons threw containers with incendiary mixture into the premises of the Russian consulate, and Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the explosion had “all the signs of a terrorist attack.”
XINHUA
NANNING – Six people were killed and three others injured in a traffic accident on Monday in the county of Zhongshan in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to local authorities.
A minivan traveling along a section of a national highway collided with a truck at around 7 a.m. this morning. Four died at the scene and two passed later despite emergency rescue efforts.
XINHUA
SYDNEY – An emergency search by sea and air is underway for a fisherman believed to have been taken by a shark off Australia’s east coast.
Paul Barning was participating in a game fishing tournament off the coast of the city of Newcastle, about 120 km north of Sydney, on Sunday when he fell overboard from a boat at 1 p.m. local time.
Authorities said that Barning became tangled in a fishing line on the boat after hooking a tiger shark, causing him to fall.
Luke Wiseman from the ambulance service in the state of New South Wales (NSW) told Seven Network television on Monday that three men who were also on the boat tried unsuccessfully to rescue him.
The men pulled the tiger shark onto the boat but there was no sign of Barning.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that witnesses saw him dragged underwater by a great white shark.
A multi-agency search by sea and air was launched on Sunday afternoon before being suspended due to bad light. The search resumed on Monday morning.
The incident occurred about 50 km offshore.
Steve Lamond, president of the NSW Game Fishing Association, said that Barning was a “highly experienced” game fisherman and described the incident as “the most unlikely” of circumstances.
More than 80 boats were participating in the annual competition.
Competitors in a separate tournament earlier in February reported encountering several great white sharks in the same waters off the coast of Newcastle.
XINHUA
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Hezbollah’s leader said “resistance” was not over as hundreds of thousands mourned slain chief Hassan Nasrallah Sunday at a Beirut funeral, demonstrating continued support for the group after a devastating war with Israel.
During the funeral, women wailed as a truck carrying the coffins of Nasrallah and his chosen successor Hashem Safieddine — both killed in Israeli strikes — slowly moved through the crowd, topped with two black turbans and draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag.
A procession headed toward Nasrallah’s burial site near the airport, where a stampede erupted. A live broadcast by Al-Manar TV showed Hezbollah members in military uniform pushing crowds away from the coffin after it was unloaded from the truck before the burial.
Safieddine will be interred in his southern hometown of Deir Qanun Al-Nahr on Monday.
The September killing of the charismatic leader who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, in a massive Israeli strike, dealt a heavy blow to the Iran-backed group.
But Hezbollah, which dominated Lebanon’s politics for decades, has long had a support base in the country’s Shiite Muslim community.
As the funeral began at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut in what Defense Minister Israel Katz said was a “clear message” to anyone who threatens Israel.
“You will specialize in funerals — and we in victories,” Katz said.
In a televised address at the ceremony, Nasrallah’s successor Naim Qassem said Hezbollah would keep following his “path,” and rejected any control by the “tyrant America” over Lebanon.
“The resistance is not over, the resistance is still present and ready” to face Israel, he said.
Nasrallah speeches were blasted as the mourners raised their fists in the air and chanted: “We are at your service, Nasrallah.”
Two Hezbollah sources told AFP that the estimated number of participants is “around 800,000” people.
Men, women and children walked in the biting cold to reach the site of the ceremony, which was delayed for months over security concerns.
“When I saw the coffin, reality dawned upon me,” said Lara, 26, adding that she had a hard time coming to terms with his killing.
“The pain is great… words cannot describe how I feel,” she added.
AFP correspondents said the stadium, which can accommodate roughly 78,000 people according to organizers, was fully packed.
As crowds gathered, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s south — including one that wounded a Syrian girl — and in the east.
Israel’s military said it had struck “sites containing rocket launchers and weapons” in those areas.
Israel has carried out multiple strikes in Lebanon since a November 27 ceasefire deal with Hezbollah ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
The funeral comes days after the deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon’s south, with Israeli troops pulling out from all but five locations. Both sides have accused each other of violating the truce.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam delegated officials to attend the ceremony on their behalf.
Speaking to Iran’s delegation ahead of the funeral, Aoun said: “Lebanon has grown tired of the wars of others on its land.”
Hezbollah’s weakening in the war has contributed to the election of Aoun, seen as a favorite among Western governments, after a two-year power vacuum. He named Salam as his premier last month.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “resistance” against Israel as Hezbollah held the funeral.
He praised Nasrallah as “a great mujahid (fighter) and prominent leader” and Safieddine as “a close confidant and an inseparable part of the leadership.”
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in attendance at the funeral.
Sam Heller of the Century Foundation think-tank said it was important for Hezbollah “to demonstrate that it remains a major social and political force, despite some of the setbacks it’s been dealt.”
Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of supporters traveling in from Hezbollah’s other power centers in south and east Lebanon.
Khouloud Hamieh, 36, came from the east to mourn the leader who she said was “dearest to our souls.”
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said the movement deployed 25,000 members for crowd control. A security source said 4,000 troops and security personnel were on duty.
Civil aviation authorities said Beirut airport would close exceptionally for four hours.
A founding member of Hezbollah in 1982, Nasrallah won renown around the Arab world in May 2000 when Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon following relentless attacks by the group under his leadership.
In the decades since, Lebanese have been divided over Hezbollah, with many criticizing the group for initiating more recent hostilities with Israel in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
AN-AFP
CAIRO – Hamas will not hold talks with Israel through mediators on any further steps in the fragile, phased ceasefire agreement unless Palestinian prisoners are released as agreed, group official Basem Naim told Reuters on Sunday.
Israel said on Sunday it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until militant group Hamas met its conditions.
AN-REUTERS
DUBAI – Inspired by LeBron James and Roger Federer, Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva wrapped up a fairytale week in Dubai by becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion with victory over Clara Tauson on Saturday.
After ousting three Grand Slam winners, including second-seeded Iga Swiatek, en route to the final, Andreeva ended Tauson’s own dream run at the tournament with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 victory against the Dane.
It was a performance that didn’t just earn Andreeva a maiden WTA 1000 trophy, but also secured her top-10 debut with the Russian expected to rise to No. 9 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Andreeva admitted she did not feel her best on court during the final, but drew inspiration from interviews she watched of NBA legend James talking about how champions can find ways to win even without their A-game.
“I just told myself, ‘You can either let that negativity come into your head and kill you, or you can choose to be 100 percent mentally and fight for every point and if something doesn’t go your way, well okay fine, you forget about it and you play one point at a time’,” said Andreeva.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of LeBron James interviews, and he said that, ‘It’s easy to be confident and to play good when everything goes your way, but what makes you a champion is when you’re giving your best when you don’t feel great’. So that’s what I tried to do today.”
Andreeva also revealed she has been watching highlights from Roger Federer’s 2017 Australian Open final victory over Rafael Nadal before her matches this week, taking cues from the Swiss great.
“I was watching some highlights. I was like, ‘Damn, how can he play like this? This is something extraordinary’,” she said.
Tauson had been a giant-slayer herself in Dubai, knocking out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on her way to the biggest final of her career.
The 22-year-old entered the clash with Andreeva leading the tour with 15 match-wins so far this season.
She was looking to add a second title to her tally in 2025, and fourth overall, but Andreeva had other ideas, as she overcame her big-hitting opponent in one hour and 46 minutes of all-court prowess.
In the youngest WTA 1000 final since the category was introduced in 2009, Andreeva played a near-perfect opening-set tiebreak to take the lead after 60 minutes of play.
She upped the ante in the second set, breaking twice for a 5-1 advantage and served out the win at the first time of asking.
On Monday, Andreeva will become the first 17-year-old to be ranked in the top 10 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.
During the trophy ceremony, Andreeva congratulated Tauson and thanked her coach Conchita Martinez and her family for their support. The affable teenager then surprised the crowd by paying credit to herself.
“Last but not least, I would like to thank me. I know what I have been dealing with so I want to thank me for always believing in me, I want to thank me for never quitting and always dealing with the pressure,” said Andreeva.
“Today it was not easy but I chose to be there 100 percent, so I thank myself for that.”
Besides the 1,000 ranking points she received for winning the Dubai crown, Andreeva pocketed $597,000 in prize money, which she says she will hand over to her father, given she is still 17 and doesn’t manage her own finances.
The Russian had set a goal for herself before the start of the season to finish the year ranked in the top 10 — a target she has now checked off her list in just the second month of her campaign.
Tauson confessed she ran out of steam at the end of a taxing week, and revealed she had been spending almost three hours each day with the tournament physios to deal with various physical issues.
“I can’t tell you where it doesn’t hurt right now,” said the Dane.
AN-AFP, 23 Feb 2025
JENIN – Israel said on Sunday its forces would remain for many months in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there have been displaced by an intensifying military operation.
The military began a major raid against Palestinian militants in the West Bank’s north a month ago, just after a truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.
The West Bank offensive has gradually expanded, spanning multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.
Three of the camps, Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams, “are now empty of residents,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive has so far killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers.
Katz said he had instructed troops “to prepare for a prolonged presence in the cleared camps for the coming year and to prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism.”
Also on Sunday, Israel’s military announced tank deployments in Jenin, where it was “expanding” operations.
This is the first time tanks have operated in the West Bank since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a military ceremony on Sunday, said the deployment showed that “we are fighting terror with all means, everywhere.”
Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at security and risk management consultancy Le Beck International, told AFP there was “no real military logic to using tanks in the West Bank at this stage.”
“Unless it is to send a message, and potentially to stay more permanently in areas that have been targeted by Israeli raids,” he added.
AFPTV footage showed Israeli tanks advancing and bulldozers operating in the Jenin area on Sunday.
“The occupation’s army destroyed Palestinian shops and infrastructure,” said Jenin resident Fayez Al-Sayyed.
“This is a way to execute their policy of displacing the Palestinian people from their land,” he told AFP.
“We are here, and we will not leave our country,” he added.
Analyst Horowitz said “the Israeli government has been devoting a lot more attention to the West Bank” since a shaky ceasefire deal with Hamas group took hold in Gaza on January 19.
In both Tulkarem and Jenin, the Israeli army has demolished dozens of homes with explosives, opening up new access routes into the densely built camps.
Armored bulldozers have wreaked havoc, upturning tarmac, cutting water pipes, and tearing down roadside facades.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many militants, in the territory since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
AN-AFP, 23 Feb 2025
KYIV – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was willing to give up his position if it meant peace in Ukraine, adding that he could exchange his departure for his country’s entry into the NATO military alliance.
“If (it means) peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready,” an irritated-looking Zelensky said when asked during a press conference whether he was ready to leave his post if it meant securing peace.
“I can exchange this for NATO (membership), if that condition is there, immediately,” the president added.
US President Donald Trump has pushed for elections to take place in Ukraine, having branded Zelensky a “dictator,” an apparent reference to the Ukrainian leader’s official five-year term running out in 2024.
Russia has cited this in the past to assert that he is an illegitimate leader.
Ukrainian legislation prohibits holding elections during a state of martial law, which Ukraine declared the day Russia invaded in February 2022. Trump also falsely claimed that Zelensky has an approval rating of four percent.
“I am not going to be in power for decades, but we will not allow Putin to be in power over the territories of Ukraine either,” Zelensky said on Sunday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A poll released this week put Zelensky’s approval ratings at 63 percent, and he made reference to this when talking about Trump’s claims on Sunday, calling his false statements “dangerous.”
“I believe it’s not a mistake, it’s misinformation that has an impact,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky said earlier this week Trump was in a “disinformation bubble,” angering the US President and his team. On Sunday, he sought to justify the earlier comments.
“(The information) about four percent of Ukrainians supporting me is one of the signals spread by the Russians, that’s why I said it was a disinformation attack, I didn’t say it was President Trump,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
Trump’s criticism of Zelensky came as relations between the two leaders deteriorated sharply in recent weeks.
Zelensky opposes the idea of elections in a full-scale war, a position backed by his major domestic political opponents.
The Ukrainian president also said he wanted to see Trump as a partner for Ukraine and more than a simply a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.
“I really want it to be more than just mediation… that’s not enough,” he told a press conference in Kyiv.
AN-REUTERS, 23 Feb 2025
LONDON – A British couple in their seventies were arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan earlier this month, it was reported on Sunday.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, who have spent 18 years running training projects in the country, were detained on Feb. 1 while returning to their home in Bamiyan.
Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks. Initially, they were able to send text messages from detention, with Afghan authorities assuring the family that they were “fine.”
However, communication ended three days later, leaving their children in the dark about their well-being since.
Speaking from Daventry in Northamptonshire, Entwistle said: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped and they were taken into custody. We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”
The couple, who met at the University of Bath and married in Kabul in 1970, have been running educational initiatives in Afghanistan since 2009.
Their work included training programs in five schools in Kabul and a project for mothers and children in Bamiyan, reportedly approved by local authorities despite the Taliban’s restrictions on female education and employment.
Entwistle told The Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need. They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”
She also expressed concern for her father’s health: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and (he) needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”
Entwistle and her three brothers have written to the Taliban, pleading for their parents’ release.
“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they said in the letter.
“They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”
They also distanced their parents from any potential prisoner exchange.
“Our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded,” they said.
Taliban sources told the BBC that British nationals had been arrested in Bamiyan province for allegedly working for a nongovernmental organization and using a plane without notifying local authorities. The Taliban has imposed strict regulations on NGOs, banning women from working for them in 2022 and threatening closures for non-compliance.
The UK Foreign Office has acknowledged the detention of two British nationals in Afghanistan but has limited capacity to assist, as Britain does not recognize the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.
AN, 23 Feb 2025
JAKARTA – Six people were found dead, and nine others remain missing after a truck carrying 32 people, including several children, plunged into a river in Indonesia’s Riau province, a top rescuer said on Sunday.
The fatal accident occurred in a river in Pelalawan Regency late Saturday, according to Budi Cahyadi, head of the provincial search and rescue office.
“Three of the six casualties were discovered on Sunday, while the others were found on Saturday,” he said.
“The death toll stands at six, and nine people are still missing. 17 people survived the incident,” Cahyadi told Xinhua by phone. All survivors were taken to a health clinic for medical treatment, he added.
The search and rescue operation for the nine missing persons will resume on Monday, he said. A drowsy driver is suspected to have caused the fatal accident.
The truck was lifted from the river on Sunday, but no bodies were found inside the vehicle, he said.
XINHUA
ISTANBUL – A snowstorm has battered Istanbul since Thursday, disrupting daily life, causing delays in air, sea, and land transportation, and forcing schools to close for a second day.
The storm brought a significant drop in temperature and heavy snowfall, peaking on Friday.
Disruptions were reported at Istanbul’s two major airports, namely Istanbul Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the Asian side.
Snow-covered runways caused some flights to circle in the air, with some aircraft reporting fuel emergencies.
Sabiha Gokcen Airport authorities said 45 percent of Friday’s flights were canceled, along with 30 percent on Saturday and 10 percent on Sunday. Turkish Airlines also reported cancellations at both Sabiha Gokcen and Istanbul Airports.
Local media reported minor accidents on icy roads, while ferry services experienced cancellations and delays.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul announced that all educational institutions in the city would remain closed on Friday. Motorcycle vehicles and couriers were also banned from traffic from Friday midnight until further notice.
The Istanbul Disaster Response Plan is in operation across all 39 districts, with efforts to salt roads and clear snow-covered areas ongoing, Gul said.
The Istanbul Governor’s Office said over 1,000 homeless people had been placed in shelters.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu urged citizens to avoid driving, use public transport, or refrain from going outside unless absolutely necessary.
Authorities forecast the snowstorm will last until Monday morning, with temperatures fluctuating below zero at night.
XINHUA
COLOMBO – Two people were killed in a wild elephant attack in Aralaganwila in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province on Thursday night, local media reported on Friday, citing police.
The victims were identified as a 72-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman from the same family.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with a severe human-elephant conflict for years. Between 2015 and 2024, 3,477 wild elephants and 1,190 people have died as a result of the crisis, Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi told the parliament earlier this month.
The North Central Province has recorded the highest number of human-elephant conflict incidents in the country. Of the province’s 29 Divisional Secretariat Divisions, 27 have seen a sharp rise in such conflicts in recent years.
XINHUA
MOSCOW – Lapan warga Rusia dipenjarakan kerana melakukan serangan pembakaran dan merancang tindakan pengganas didalangi oleh perkhidmatan khas Ukraine, kata Perkhidmatan Keselamatan Persekutuan Rusia (FSB) pada Jumaat.
Mereka “melakukan serangan pembakaran ke atas kemudahan infrastruktur pengangkutan dan organisasi sukarelawan” dan merancang untuk melakukan tindakan pengganas di tapak penempatan tentera atas arahan daripada perkhidmatan khas Ukraine, kata FSB dalam satu kenyataan.
Lapan orang itu menerima hukuman dari 16 hingga 22 tahun atas tuduhan pengkhianatan dan keganasan, tambahnya.
XINHUA
MOSCOW – Eight Russian citizens have been jailed for carrying out arson attacks and planning terrorist acts orchestrated by Ukrainian special services, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday.
They “carried out arson attacks on transport infrastructure facilities and volunteer organizations” and planned to commit terrorist acts on military deployment sites on orders from Ukrainian special services, FSB said in a statement.
The eight people received sentences from 16 to 22 years on treason and terrorism charges, it added.
XINHUA
JERUSALEM – Israel said on Thursday that forensic analysis had confirmed that the body it received from Hamas was not that of hostage Shiri Bibas, whose remains were supposed to be handed over along with those of her two children and another Israeli man earlier in the day.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the identification process conducted by the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine revealed that the body was not that of any known hostage. “This is an anonymous and unidentified body,” it said.
The military accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire agreement by failing to return the remains of four hostages.
The remains of Bibas’ two sons were identified. Ariel was four years old when he was killed, and Kfir Bibas was 10 months old.
The military said that “based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.”
The children were kidnapped alongside their mother from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately but was released under the ceasefire agreement on Feb. 1.
Besides, the body of another hostage, Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist and peace activist, was identified earlier on Thursday.
XINHUA
SYDNEY – Authorities in the Australian state of Queensland have reported a fifth death from melioidosis linked to heavy rainfall.
An elderly person from the city of Townsville, over 1,000 km northwest of Brisbane, has become the fifth person in the state’s tropical northern region to die of melioidosis in the current wet season, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted Queensland Health as saying on Friday.
Melioidosis is a rare tropical disease associated with the wet season that is spread through contact with contaminated water, soil and air.
Townsville and its surrounding regions were hit by catastrophic damaging flooding earlier in February.
Queensland Health on Feb. 12 said that there had been two deaths from melioidosis in the state’s far north since the start of the wet season in November.
On Wednesday it confirmed two more deaths, both in the city of Cairns north of Townsville, and reported that there had been 41 cases of melioidosis since Jan. 1.
Steven Donohue, director of the Townsville Public Health Unit, said on Friday that more than 20 cases have been recorded in the local area in February.
He told the ABC that people cleaning up from the floods should wear boots, long pants and long sleeves and wear a mask when using hoses.
XINHUA
JERUSALEM – Israeli police on Thursday reported a series of explosions on buses in central Israel in what they said appeared to be a militant attack. No injuries were reported.
Police spokesman Asi Aharoni told Channel 13 TV that explosives were found on two other buses. He called on the public to be alert and report any suspicious objects to authorities.
The explosions took place just hours after Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza — the first of eight hostages that Israel believes are dead and to be returned during the current phase of the ceasefire.
Police rushed forces to the scene in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, as they searched for suspects. Police spokesman Haim Sargrof says drivers have scanned all buses and trains, and those scans are complete.
“We need to determine if a single suspect placed explosives on a number of buses, or if there were multiple suspects,” he said.
Tzvika Brot, mayor of Bat Yam, said it was a miracle that no one was hurt. He said the buses had finished their routes and were in a parking lot. He said one of the unexploded bombs was being defused in the nearby town of Holon.
Sargrof said the explosives matched explosives used in the West Bank, but he declined to elaborate.
Israel has repeatedly carried out army raids on suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. As part of that crackdown, it has greatly restricted entry into Israel for Palestinians from the occupied territory.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Jan. 19, Israel has been conducting a broad military offensive against Palestinian militants in the West Bank. In the past, militants have entered Israel and carried out shootings and bombings in Israeli cities.
AN-AP/Feb 20, 2025
BEIRUT – Israel said Friday it struck crossings on the Lebanon-Syria border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, with a Syria war monitor reporting an unspecified number of people wounded in the attack.
The Israeli military said its air forces “struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border” used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group “in attempts to smuggle weapons into Lebanese territory.”
“These activities constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the statement added.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been in place since November 27, after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war. Both sides have accused the other of violating the deal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the overnight strikes put an “illegal crossing” near Lebanon’s frontier town of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria’s Homs province, “out of service” and wounded a number of people.
The raids came “after a convoy of smugglers’ vehicles was observed headed from Syria toward Lebanon,” added the Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman reported “heavy material damage to buildings and vehicles.”
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported “enemy aircraft flying at low altitude over the city of Hermel” and villages in the Bekaa Valley in the country’s northeast near the Syrian border.
Under the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in south Lebanon alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to February 18.
Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel announced just before the latest deadline that it would temporarily keep troops in “five strategic points” near the border.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it carried out an air strike targeting a tunnel on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
In January, Israel carried out air strikes in Lebanon targeting areas in the east and south according to Lebanese state media, with the Israeli military saying it hit Hezbollah targets including smuggling routes along the border with Syria.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation.
Hezbollah lost a supply route when opposition forces in December ousted Bashar Assad in Syria, where Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes since war broke out in 2011.
Hezbollah holds sway in large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border region, and had fought alongside Assad’s troops during the war.
AN-AFP
BEIRUT – Seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed Thursday when leftover munitions exploded inside a house in northwest Syrian Arab Republic, a war monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deadly blast a day after another organization said two-thirds of Syrians risked being killed or wounded by unexploded ordnance.
“Seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed when leftover munitions stored inside a house” in Idlib province exploded, said the Observatory, adding the toll was provisional.
An AFP correspondent saw civil defense personnel working to remove rubble and pull victims from the destroyed house.
Mohammed Ibrahim, from the civil defense in Idlib, said they received a report “of an explosion of unknown provenance in Nayrab, and when teams headed to the site, they found unexploded ordnance.”
Syria’s conflict has killed more than half a million people and forced millions from their homes since erupting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Non-governmental organization Humanity and Inclusion said Wednesday that of the around one million munitions that have landed or been planted across Syria since then, experts estimate that 100,000 to 300,000 had never detonated.
It’s “an absolute disaster,” said HI’s Syria program director Danila Zizi, noting “more than 15 million people (are) at risk” out of the country’s estimated population of some 23 million.
As hundreds of thousands of Syrians return to their homes after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December, “urgent action is needed to mitigate the risk of accident,” HI said.
AN-AFP/Feb 20, 2025
HRADEE KRALOVE, Czech Republic – A 16-year-old boy killed two women in a knife attack at a discount shop in the Czech Republic on Thursday, police said, adding the motive remained unclear.
Police arrested the teenager, a Czech national, minutes after the attack at an Action branch on the outskirts of Hradec Kralove, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Prague.
“Both of those attacked suffered injuries which were so serious that they could not be saved despite all efforts of the rescuers,” police said on X.
Police spokeswoman Iva Kormosova said the teenager attacked a shop assistant at the counter and another worker in a service area of the store.
The attacker’s motive was unclear but that there was nothing to indicate a terror attack, police said.
“The information we have for now seems to suggest he chose the victims randomly,” they added.
Rescuers received the first call about 0730 GMT, half an hour after the shop had opened.
“When we arrived, we found two people stabbed,” Anatolij Truhlar, head doctor of the local air rescue service, told the private CNN Prima News TV channel.
“Unfortunately, despite 40 minutes of resuscitation efforts, both persons died,” he added.
Police were deployed outside the Action discount store where a lone candle flickered, and a part of an adjacent car park was closed with police tape until Thursday afternoon.
“I think you’re not safe anywhere, given what’s going on around us,” passer-by Adela Ptackova told AFP.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed condolences to the families of the victims, calling the murders “an incomprehensible, horrendous act.”
Terror attacks are rare in the Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.9 million people, but in 2023 a student killed 14 people and wounded 25 in a shooting rampage at a Prague university.
The Czech Republic’s southern neighbor Austria is reeling from the murder of a teenager in a knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker in the city of Villach at the weekend.
AN-AFP/Feb 20, 2025
RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed Wednesday that Palestine is not for sale and that no part of its land, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or Jerusalem, will be abandoned.
In a statement following a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee in Ramallah, Abbas rejected any attempts to displace the Palestinian people and stressed adherence to international law and the Arab Peace Initiative as the basis for any political solution.
The Fatah Central Committee also reiterated its rejection of any displacement attempts and stressed that Palestinians would resist such efforts through their commitment to their national cause under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The committee praised Jordan and Egypt for rejecting calls for displacement and emphasized the importance of the upcoming emergency Arab summit to address this issue and approve a reconstruction plan for Gaza.
It also highlighted the need for unity behind the PLO to counter Israeli policies and ensure the realization of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
XINHUA
MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday said she does not fear U.S. President Donald Trump and his threats of mass deportations, steep trade tariffs and military “intervention” to combat the drug cartels, as she has the backing of the Mexican people.
During a daily press conference, when asked if the Mexican president feared Trump’s threats, Sheinbaum responded, “No. I have the support of the people. When one has certainty and conviction and knows what one’s principles are, why would one be afraid?”
She allayed concerns over Trump’s measures, noting there is ongoing dialogue between the two governments.
The president said she would never allow Mexico’s sovereignty to be violated, but “if it were to be violated, there is an entire country to defend the homeland.”
Sheinbaum’s statements come one day after Trump said Mexico “is run by drug cartels,” criminal organizations the U.S. government has designated as terrorists.
Trump also accused Mexican authorities of “allowing millions of people” to enter the United States illegally and offered his “help” to stem the flow of immigration.
Officials from both countries will meet in Washington this week to negotiate the suspension of tariffs on Mexican products and strategies to combat drug trafficking, particularly the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Sheinbaum affirmed that her government does not defend drug cartels or organized crime, saying, “What we defend is sovereignty.”
Mexico will not accept any “extraterritorial measures” that arise from designating the cartels as terrorist organizations, she stated.
XINHUA
BOGOTA – An explosion in downtown Bogota, Colombia’s capital, killed one person and injured seven others on Tuesday night, the city’s mayor, Carlos Fernando Galan, confirmed Wednesday.
“We are supporting @PoliciaBogota to find those responsible for activating, at about 10 pm (Tuesday), an explosive device in the San Bernardo neighborhood. Eight people were injured and were transferred to the Santa Clara Hospital, where one, unfortunately, died,” Galan posted on social media platform X.
The commander of the Metropolitan Police of Bogota, William Lara, said from the scene of the explosion that investigators were looking into the incident.
“Our Judicial Police and Anti-Explosives technicians are verifying whether it corresponds to an improvised device or an industrial explosive device,” he said, adding authorities had begun reviewing security cameras in the area.
Police are also gathering eyewitness accounts of the explosion to quickly identify those responsible, said the police chief.
XINHUA
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said it killed three “wanted terrorists” in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, and a Palestinian official reported that Israeli forces were holding the bodies of three people.
Soldiers “eliminated three wanted terrorists in the area of Al Faraa, who sold weapons for terror purposes,” the military said in a statement.
“Two additional wanted individuals were apprehended.”
A Palestinian official confirmed that three people had been killed by Israeli forces.
“Three people were assassinated, and their bodies are being held” by the Israeli forces, Tubas governor Ahmad Al-Asaad told AFP.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has escalated since the October 2023 outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.
At least 897 Palestinians including militants have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, according to an AFP tally based on figures provided by the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.
At least 32 Israelis, including some soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or confrontations during Israeli operations in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
AN-AFP
MADRID – Spanish police said Wednesday they had discovered a tunnel running from Moroccan territory to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta as part of an operation targeting suspected trafficking of hashish.
The police stated the underground gallery, several dozen meters long and 12 meters deep, was uncovered during a search of a warehouse in an industrial zone of Ceuta, a small territory located on Morocco’s northern Mediterranean coast opposite mainland Spain.
“It is a narrow construction, reinforced with wood which could have been used to transport drugs between Morocco and Spain,” said a statement from the Civil Guard police force.
Spanish media reported the tunnel as measuring at least 50 meters long, running just inside Moroccan territory.
It could, however, prove even longer, with authorities yet to determine where it ends.
The discovery came during an operation targeting a number of criminal gangs accused of smuggling hashish into Spain in lorries.
The police said the crackdown, dubbed Operation Hades, has led to the arrest of 14 people over the past three weeks, including two policemen, and the discovery of 6,000 kilos of the drug.
AN-AFP
MARANA, Ariz. — A midair collision involving two small planes in southern Arizona killed at least two people Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Federal air-safety investigators said two people were on board each plane as they collided near Marana Regional Airport on the outskirts of Tucson.
One plane landed uneventfully with the other hit the ground near a runway and catching fire, the National Transportation Safety Board said, based on preliminary information before its investigators had arrived.
The Marana Police Department confirmed two deaths after responding to the crash. The Associated Press left a message with a police spokesperson seeking additional details.
Last week in Arizona, one of two pilots died on a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil after the aircraft veered off a runway in Scottsdale and hit a business jet.
Four major aviation disasters have occurred in North America in the last month. The most recent involved a Delta jet that flipped on its roof while landing in Toronto and the deadly crash of a commuter plane in Alaska.
In late January, 67 people aboard an American Airlines passenger were killed when an Army helicopter collided with it in Washington, D.C., marking the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster since 2001. Just a day later, a medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood on Jan. 31, exploding in a fireball that engulfed several homes. That crash killed seven people, including all those aboard, and injured 19 others.
The airport in Marana has two intersecting runways but operates without an air traffic control tower.
A multimillion-dollar project was underway to build a tower but delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back construction. Tens of thousands of flights arrive and depart from the airport annually.
AP
WASHINGTON – The United States on Wednesday designated Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa Cartel and other drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, according to a Federal Register notice, a move that comes as President Donald Trump steps up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members in the U.S.
The notice issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the groups pose a risk to U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic interests.
Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order after taking office on January 20 that called on officials to evaluate whether any criminal cartels or transnational gangs should be designated as terrorism groups.
Trump earlier this month delayed a move to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada over what he said was insufficient cooperation to thwart illegal immigration and trafficking of illicit fentanyl.
CNN reported this week that the CIA was using drones to carry out surveillance in Mexico. The covert operations had not been previously disclosed and Reuters was unable to verify the report.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that U.S. drone flights over Mexican territory were part of a collaboration with the U.S., adding that there was nothing illegal about it.
During Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency, he considered terrorism designations for cartels but ultimately shelved the plans. Some top U.S. officials at the time had privately expressed misgivings that the measure could damage relations with Mexico and hinder the fight against drug trafficking. Another concern was that the designations could make it easier for migrants to win U.S. asylum by claiming they were fleeing terrorism.
Some analysts have said the terrorism designations could expose asylum seekers who pay cartels to be smuggled to the possibility of prosecution or being barred from the U.S.
Designating a group as a foreign terrorist organization, or FTO, is aimed at disrupting its finances through sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on its members and associates. The scope of the designation announced on Wednesday was not immediately clear.
The terrorism designation notice will formally be published in the Federal Register on Thursday. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment, saying the agency was notifying key stakeholders before the designations take effect.
After taking office, Trump also ordered his administration to prepare for the possibility of invoking a 1798 wartime law that could allow him to deport alleged gang members without court hearings, although he has not yet taken that step.
REUTERS
ISTANBUL – Six migrants drowned while another 27 were rescued by the coast guard when their boat started sinking off the western coast of Turkiye, the interior minister said on Wednesday.
The incident took place before dawn just south of the seaside resort of Izmir in the waters separating the Turkish coast from the Greek island of Samos, which lies just 15 kilometers (nine miles) away.
“The bodies of six lifeless illegal immigrants were fished out of the water,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, adding that the coast guard had rescued 27 others, one of whom was detained on suspicion of smuggling.
Last month, seven migrants drowned in the same stretch of water.
Shipwrecks are very common on the short but perilous route between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands of Samos, Rhodes and Lesbos that serve as entry points to the European Union.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2,333 migrants disappeared or died in the Mediterranean last year.
AN-AFP/Feb 19, 2025
SAO PAULO, Feb 19 – A British journalist has been missing in Brazil for more than 10 days, a foreign correspondents’ association said late on Tuesday, urging authorities to step up their search efforts.
Charlotte Alice Peet, 32, was reported missing after a trip to Sao Paulo, according to a statement from the Rio de Janeiro-based Association of Foreign Press Correspondents.
The group said she contacted a friend in Rio on February 8 about her plans to visit the coastal city and find a place to stay, but the friend “replied that unfortunately she could not host her.”
“Days later, Charlotte’s family in Britain contacted this friend saying they had lost contact with the journalist,” ACIE added.
Peet had previously worked as a freelancer in Brazil, reporting for Al Jazeera and British news outlets.
ACIE said Sao Paulo police were handling the case, based on her last known whereabouts, adding that her family had shared with local authorities information about her flight to Brazil, as well as a copy of her passport.
Sao Paulo’s public security office confirmed in a separate statement that “the case is being investigated by the 5th Missing Persons Unit, which is taking steps to locate the missing person and clarify the facts.”
REUTERS