World

Mexican president blasts critics after deadly hurricane

By Quetzalli Nicte-Ha and Jose Cortes ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) -The death toll from a devastating hurricane this week in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco has risen to 39, the government said on Saturday, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused his opponents of exaggerating the scale of the disaster. Hurricane Otis pounded Acapulco with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 kmph) on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores and hotels, submerging vehicles, and severing communications as well as road and air connections. The government, which previously reported 27...

UN agency 'immensely worried' after losing contact to staff in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has lost contact with its staff in Gaza amid the Israeli bombardment of the coastal strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said he had lost contact with the "vast majority" of his team. "This makes me immensely worried for colleagues and their families."

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Israel Defense Forces continue expanding ground attacks in Gaza

After expanding its ground operations in Gaza, Israel's army said on Saturday it had identified and attacked several terror cells in the area.

"Since early Friday evening, combined combat forces of armour, combat engineers and infantry have been operating on the ground in the northern Gaza Strip," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. "As part of the operation, IDF soldiers identified terrorist cells attempting to launch anti-tank missiles and mortar shells and struck them. IDF soldiers also identified and destroyed a booby-trapped structure," it said.

At least 32 dead in major traffic accident in Egypt

A collision involving a passenger bus and several cars on a highway in Egypt killed 32 people on Saturday, the country's Health Ministry said.

Sixty-three others were injured in the accident that happened on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, the ministry added in an online statement.

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Bangladesh opposition calls strike for Sunday after violent clashes

Bangladesh’s main opposition party has called a nationwide strike for Sunday, after its planned mass rally to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was aborted after violent clashes in Dhaka. One policeman died and dozens more were wounded in the clashes in the capital. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), announced the day-long strike on Saturday to press home the party’s demand that Hasina resign, to pave the way for the next general election to be credibly held, under a non-partisan caretaker administration. Bangladesh is due ...

Israel claims killing of Hamas air expert amid wider Gaza offensive

Israel says it has killed the man in charge of air operations for the Islamist extremist group Hamas, describing him as one of the planners of the terrorist attacks on Israeli communities on October 7. Asem Abu Rakaba "directed the terrorists who infiltrated Israel on paragliders and was responsible for the drone attacks on IDF [Israel Defense Forces] posts," the military wrote on Telegram. The army posted a video showing the explosion of a building from the air. The brutal attacks on October 7 in areas of Israel near the Gaza Strip killed more than 1,400 people, the majority civilians. Milita...

Sarah Sanders mocked for 'I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I' meltdown at press

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) has spent weeks dogged by questions from reporters and even lawmakers in her own party about the suspicious use of state funds to purchase a $19,000 lectern that no one seems able to locate — and when asked about it at a news conference about a new missile factory in the state, she lost it at the press.

Her conduct was roundly mocked by Austin Bailey in an editorial for the Arkansas Times Friday.

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Dozens of elephants mysteriously dropped dead in Zimbabwe. Now, researchers know why.

Several years ago, dozens of elephants mysteriously dropped dead in Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in southern Africa.

Now, researchers finally know why.

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UN General Assembly overwhelmingly votes for immediate and sustained ‘humanitarian truce’ in Gaza

The U.N. General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to approve a measure calling for an immediate “humanitarian truce” in Gaza and demanding “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provisions to aid civilians trapped in the heavily bombarded Palestinian enclave. The resolution — which passed by a vote of 120-14, with 45 member-states abstaining— is nonbinding but carries political weight. The United States and Israel were among the 14 nations that voted against the resolution, which calls for a “durable and sustained truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.” It also condemns “all acts...

Former Colombian officer sentenced to life in prison over Haiti presidential assassination

MIAMI — A retired Colombian army officer who pleaded guilty to leading a group of commandos in the assassination of Haiti’s president was sentenced Friday to life in prison in Miami federal court, though he’s hoping for less severe punishment in a cooperation deal with federal prosecutors. Germán Alejandro Rivera Garcia, aka “Colonel Mike,” declined to say anything when asked by U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez if he wanted to comment before his sentencing. His defense attorney said he would not challenge the prosecutors’ recommendation for a life sentence at this stage — knowing that his cli...

Putin has no obvious successor, confrontation expected after his death - expert

There is currently no obvious candidate to replace the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin after his death. So there will be an internal confrontation, as a military and political analyst for the Information Resistance Group, Oleksandr Kovalenko, said in a comment to RBC-Ukraine. He says that doesn't see any obvious successor to Putin for now. "Putin intentionally attracted many unremarkable, second-rate, and gray personalities to his circle so that they would appear even more worthless against his backdrop. For example, Shoigu. He was once called "number 2", but he cannot even speak clearly," the...

Israel rebuffs allies’ calls to ‘pause’ Gaza assault in first open disagreement

By Dan Williams, Michelle Nichols and Andrew Gray (Reuters) - Israel is rejecting calls for respite in Gaza as its closest allies in the West have coalesced around the idea of "humanitarian pauses", or temporary stops to the bombardment. Growing international distress at the conditions for 2.3 million people trapped under the heaviest air strikes Israel has ever unleashed on the Mediterranean enclave led major powers this week to call on Israel to allow such pauses to get aid in and Israeli hostages held by Islamist militant group Hamas out. The issue has opened the first public split between ...

‘Powerless, halfway across the world’: Sacramento man calls for release of family kidnapped by Hamas

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Ryan Pessah’s nightmare began on a Saturday morning with a text message from his mom: “Yair and his family are missing.” Pessah immediately feared the worst for his cousin and family who lived in Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel two miles from Gaza. Just hours earlier, Pessah’s wife alerted him that Israel had been suddenly attacked. That day, nobody could reach Yair Yaakov, his girlfriend Meirav Tal or his two sons. The family’s fears were confirmed the following day. Pessah’s mother, who is Yaakov’s aunt, texted him a video sent to the family by an unknown number. I...