NEWS

  • Cholera outbreak kills over 110 people in Angola

    LUANDA – Angola has recorded 3,402 cholera cases and 114 deaths since the outbreak began in early January, according to the Health Ministry’s daily press release on Tuesday.

    Since Feb. 1, Angola has been reporting more than 100 new cholera cases daily, peaking at 295 on Feb. 8. However, laboratory testing to confirm infections remains limited, with only about 20 samples analyzed per day.

    Since the outbreak on Jan. 7, the disease has spread to multiple provinces, with Luanda and the neighboring Bengo province the most affected.

    More than 925,000 people have been vaccinated against cholera, covering 86 percent of the target population, according to the Health Ministry’s epidemiological bulletin on Monday.

    XINHUA

  • 20 killed, dozens injured in road accident in northern Rwanda

    KIGALI – Twenty people were killed and several others injured in a road accident in Rwanda’s Northern Province on Tuesday afternoon.

    The accident occurred in Rusiga Sector of Rulindo District when the driver of a bus with more than 50 passengers lost control of the vehicle while attempting to navigate a corner. The bus veered off the road and tumbled downhill into a valley.

    According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office late Tuesday evening, the injured are receiving treatment in local hospitals. The government has pledged to provide the necessary support to both the bereaved and the injured.

    The government urged all road users, especially drivers, to adhere to traffic laws and regulations to prevent future accidents.

    Over the past five years, the Rwanda National Police (RNP) has conducted a campaign dubbed “Gerayo Amahoro,” which means “Arrive Safe,” to educate and promote safer road usage among all road users while increasing visibility and enforcement of traffic laws.

    According to the RNP, Rwanda recorded about 9,600 road accidents between January and December 2024, resulting in 350 deaths, a 50 percent decline in road-related fatalities compared to the previous year.

    Accidents involving cyclists, a particularly vulnerable group, also saw a 17 percent reduction.

    XINHUA

  • Two nurses in Australia suspended for reportedly making antisemitic comments

    SYDNEY – Two nurses in a Sydney hospital have been suspended from work for threatening to kill Jewish patients and refusing to treat them in a video on TikTok, triggering an investigation by police, authorities said on Wednesday.

    The video was shared by a TikTok user named Max Veifer, who says he is from Israel, and shows him talking to a man and woman wearing medical scrubs.

    “I’m so upset that you’re Israeli … eventually you’re going to get killed and go to (hell)”, the man in medical scrubs said, after Veifer mentioned he is from Israel in a video chat.

    When asked why he would be killed, the woman in medical scrubs said: “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country” and used an obscenity.

    The woman said she would not treat any Jewish patients and instead kill them. The man, with a threatening gesture, said he had already send many Israelis, who visited the hospital, to “Jahannam”, the term for Islamic hell in Arabic.

    Reuters could not independently verify the footage and it was not immediately clear if the full video of the conversation had been uploaded by the user.

    Some of the woman’s words have been beeped out in the video.

    Reuters could not immediately contact the two nurses.

    New South Wales state Health Minister Ryan Park said the nurses have been “stood down immediately”, pending an investigation.

    “Obviously, the investigative process now takes place. I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again,” Park told reporters.

    New South Wales state police said its antisemitic taskforce is investigating a social media video depicting alleged health workers making antisemitic threats. Police said the individuals involved were now assisting detectives.

    Max Veifer, who regularly posts videos mostly about the Middle East on TikTok, has 102,000 followers and his videos have been liked by 4.2 million users.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian federal police has offered “whatever assistance” to New South Wales state police.

    “I have seen this antisemitic video. It’s driven by hate and it’s disgusting. The comments are vile, the footage is sickening and it is shameful,” Albanese said in parliament.

    Australia has seen an escalating series of attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, sparking fear among Australia’s nearly 115,000 Jewish people.

    REUTERS

  • Russia claims control of new settlement in eastern Ukraine: defense ministry

    MOSCOW – Russian forces have seized control of the Yasenove settlement in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

    It said the center group of forces had “liberated” Yasenove, claiming that Ukraine lost about 505 soldiers, one tank, one armored vehicle, four artillery pieces and seven vehicles in the area.

    “Overnight, the Russian armed forces launched a group strike with high-precision long-range land, air and sea-based weapons as well as unmanned aerial vehicles,” the defense ministry said.

    The attack targeted gas and energy facilities supporting the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, along with sites used for the preparation and storage of strike drones.

    Russian forces are continuing their advance in Yasenove, it added.

    Since its special military operation, Russia has destroyed Ukrainian weapons including 653 aircraft, 42,979 drones and 592 anti-aircraft missile systems, the defense ministry said.

    XINHUA

  • 92 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since truce begins: health authorities

    GAZA – The Israeli army has killed 92 Palestinians and wounded 822 others in direct strikes on the Gaza Strip since its truce with Hamas began on Jan. 19, Gaza-based health authorities reported on Tuesday.

    Health workers have also recovered 641 bodies, with about 197 of them unidentified, since the truce went into effect, Munir al-Barash, director general of the health authorities, said in a statement.

    Since the beginning of the conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas in early October 2023, the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 48,219, with 111,665 others injured, the health authorities said in a separate statement on Tuesday.

    XINHUA

  • Italy arrests 130 people in large-scale raid on Sicilian Mafia

    ROME – Around 130 people were arrested on Tuesday in a large-scale sting against the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, indicating that it has remained a significant criminal force despite setbacks in recent decades.

    “Cosa Nostra”, the mafia syndicate based in and around Palermo, terrorised Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since been overtaken as Europe’s most powerful mob by the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta.

    The suspects apprehended on Tuesday were charged with various crimes, including drug trafficking, attempted murder, extortion, illegal online gambling and illegal possession of firearms, Carabinieri police said in a statement.

    Additional arrest warrants were issued for 33 suspects who were already in prison for other crimes.

    Investigations revealed that Palermo’s mafia families coordinate their activities across the city and its province, like they used to in the golden days of Cosa Nostra, especially as regards drug trafficking, police said.

    They said inner city families had regained authority compared to the years in which they were dominated by a faction from Corleone – a town outside Palermo that was the birthplace of notorious bosses Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.

    Modern-day bosses use modern technology to conduct their business, using encrypted mobile phones that are smuggled into prisons to allow jailed bosses to continue exercising their command, investigators said.

    Despite being weakened by law enforcement activities, Cosa Nostra continues to attract young people, the Carabinieri said, noting they documented one instance of a new recruit given “mafia lessons” by an older associate.

    The would-be mentor gave the young man “specific instructions, inviting him to take as an example his conduct towards people to be subjected to extortion, and advising him on how to relate with mafia leaders,” the police statement said.

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, writing on X, hailed Tuesday’s arrests as inflicting “a very hard blow to Cosa Nostra”, and giving a clear signal that “the fight against the mafia has not stopped and will not stop”.

    REUTERS

  • One dead, four injured after business jets collide at Arizona airport

    Emergency crews respond after a midsize business jet skidded off the runway while landing and collided with another jet that was parked at the municipal airport in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. February 10, 2025. REUTERS

    At least one person was killed on Monday after a midsize business jet skidded off the runway while landing at the Scottsdale, Arizona, municipal airport and collided with another jet that was parked, authorities said.

    Dave Folio, a spokesperson with the Scottsdale Fire Department, said at a press conference that at least four other people were injured in the crash.

    One person remains trapped inside one of the planes and first responders were working to free them, he said, while three other people were taken to area hospitals.

    Folio provided no other details and it was not immediately clear what caused the jet to skid off the runway.

    The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it was investigating the crash, which it said involved a Learjet 35A that skidded off the runway, which then collided with a Gulfstream 200 jet.

    The incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of U.S. air safety.

    National Transportation Safety Board investigators are probing three deadly crashes in recent weeks: the midair collision of a passenger jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, a medical jet crash in Philadelphia that killed seven people and a plane crash in Alaska that killed 10 people.

    REUTERS

  • Trump: Gaza ceasefire should end Saturday if hostages not released

    WASHINGTON, Feb 10 – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that if all the hostages held in Gaza are not returned by Saturday at noon he would propose canceling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and letting “all hell break loose.”

    Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump also said he might withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if they don’t take Palestinian refugees being relocated from Gaza.

    REUTERS

  • Dozens of Palestinian families flee Israeli operation in West Bank

    NUR SHAMS, Palestinian Territories – Dozens of Palestinian families fled on Monday from the Nur Shams refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, as Israel pushed on with a sweeping military operation.

    “We hear explosions and bombings as well as bulldozers. It’s a tragedy. They are doing here what they did in Gaza,” said Ahmed Ezza, a resident.

    Ahmed Abu Zahra, another resident of the camp which is on the outskirts of Tulkarem, said he was forced to leave his home.

    “The (Israeli) army came and we were forced to leave after they started destroying our homes.”

    Three Palestinians, including two women and a young man, were killed on Sunday in Nur Shams, the health ministry in the territory said.

    Israel said its military police had opened an investigation into the death of one of them, a woman who was eight months pregnant.

    It said on Saturday it had launched an operation in Nur Shams, part of a much larger campaign that began in January in Tulkarem and Jenin, which it said had “targeted several terrorists.”

    In the streets of Nur Shams camp, under a light rain, residents were fleeing.

    An AFP photographer saw dozens of families hastily leaving the camp, while bulldozers carried out large-scale demolitions amid gunfire and explosions.

    According to Murad Alyan, from the camp’s popular committee, “more than half of the 13,000 inhabitants have fled out of fear for their lives.”

    Since January 21, the Israeli military has been conducting a major operation in the “triangle” of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem, where half a million Palestinians live.

    Israel says it is targeting “terrorist infrastructure.”

    Jenin in particular is a bastion of armed Palestinian militant groups.

    “The objective of these operations is not security-related, but political,” said Abdallah Kamil, the governor of Tulkarem.

    “They destroy everything,” he said of the Israeli military. “They are trying to change the demographics of the region.”

    Israel insists that its operations are targeted at Palestinians suspected of preparing attacks against Israeli citizens.

    The Palestinian foreign ministry accused Israel of applying “the same policy of destruction” in the West Bank as in Gaza.

    Violence has exploded in the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

    At least 887 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by the Israeli military or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

    At least 32 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

    AN-AFP

  • At least 50 die in Guatemala after bus plunges off bridge

    GUATEMALA CITY, Feb 10 – A bus veered off a highway bridge into a polluted ravine in Guatemala City early on Monday, killing at least 51 people and trapping survivors, a spokesperson for the city’s fire department said.

    The densely packed bus was traveling into the capital from the town of San Agustin Acasaguastlan on a busy route into the city from when it plunged approximately 20 meters from Puente Belice, a highway bridge that crosses over a road and creek.

    The spokesman, Carlos Hernandez, said the bodies of 36 men and 15 women had been sent to a provincial morgue set up for the accident.

    Images shared by the fire department on social media showed the bus partially submerged in wastewater surrounded by victims’ bodies.

    Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo declared three days of national mourning and deployed the country’s army and disaster agency to assist response efforts.

    REUTERS

  • Trump says Palestinians would not have a right to return to Gaza

    Palestinians, who were displaced to the south at Israel’s order during the war, make their way back to their homes in northern Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip, January 27, 2025. REUTERS/File Photo

    WASHINGTON, Feb 10 – U.S. President Donald Trump said Palestinians would not have the right of return to the Gaza Strip under his proposal to redevelop the enclave, contradicting his own officials who had suggested Gazans would only be relocated temporarily.

    In an excerpt of a Fox News interview released on Monday, Trump added that he thought he could make a deal with Jordan and Egypt to take the displaced Palestinians, saying the U.S. gives the two countries “billions and billions of dollars a year.”

    Asked if Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza, Trump told Fox News: “No, they wouldn’t because they’re going to have much better housing.”

    “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them,” he said, adding it would take years for Gaza to be habitable again.

    In a shock announcement on Feb. 4 after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump proposed resettling Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians and the U.S. taking control of the seaside enclave, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

    Residents of Gaza have broadly rejected any suggestion of moving from the strip, as has the Palestinian Authority and the militant group Hamas that administers Gaza.

    Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump’s statement that Palestinians would not be able to return to Gaza was “irresponsible.”

    “We affirm that such plans are capable of igniting the region,” he told Reuters on Monday.

    Netanyahu, who praised the proposal, suggested Palestinians would be allowed to return.

    “They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” he said the day after Trump’s announcement.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who will depart later this week for his first visit to the Middle East in the job, said on Thursday that Palestinians would have to “live somewhere else in the interim,” during reconstruction, although he declined to explicitly rule out their permanent displacement.

    The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the disparity between Rubio and Trump’s most recent remarks on the plan.

    Trump’s comments come as a fragile ceasefire reached last month between Israel and Hamas is at risk of collapse after Hamas announced on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages over alleged Israeli violations of the agreement.

    Israel’s Arab neighbors, including Egypt and Jordan, have said any plan to transfer Palestinians from their land would destabilize the region.

    Rubio met Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Washington on Monday. Egypt’s foreign ministry said Abdelatty told Rubio that Arab countries support Palestinians in rejecting Trump’s plan. Cairo fears Palestinians could be forced across Egypt’s border with Gaza.

    Trump is set to host Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House on Tuesday.

    Trump said in the Fox News interview that between two and six communities could be built for the Palestinians “a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is.”

    “I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent,” he told Fox.

    REUTERS

  • 31 killed after bus plunges into ravine in Guatemala: rescue workers

    GUATEMALA CITY – At least 31 people were killed and several others were trapped under the wreckage in a river after a bus carrying 75 people plunged into a ravine in Guatemala City on Monday, rescue workers said.

    XINHUA

  • Scholz criticizes Trump’s Gaza plan as “scandal” in TV debate

    BERLIN – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday evening criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, calling it “a scandal.”

    Scholz and Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), engaged in the first televised debate ahead of Bundestag elections on Feb. 23.

    One of the key topics discussed was how Germany should engage with the United States under Trump’s administration. Addressing the Middle East issue, Scholz reaffirmed his opposition to Trump’s Gaza proposal.

    Speaking at a campaign event on Friday, Scholz had voiced his disapproval, stating, “We must not resettle the population of Gaza to Egypt,” and expressing his “complete rejection” of the plan.

    During Sunday’s debate, Scholz described his strategy for dealing with Trump as involving “clear words and friendly conversations.” Merz, while also expressed concerns over Trump’s proposal, described it as “part of a series of irritating proposals from the American Administration.” However, he suggested that Germany should wait to see which plans the U.S. government intends to pursue “seriously.”

    On the issue of potential U.S. tariffs, Scholz affirmed that the European Union is prepared to “act within an hour” if necessary.

    Merz, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of European unity, including cooperation with Britain despite Brexit, called for “a common European strategy” to tackle challenges.

    Their debate also covered key domestic issues, including the economy, immigration, and the impact of ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

    The upcoming snap elections are seen as a crucial test for Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), which currently polls at 16 percent. The conservative CDU and its Bavarian sister party, Christian Social Union (CSU), lead the polls with stable support of around 30 percent.

    XINHUA

  • ‘No-one has the power’ to remove Palestinians from Gaza: Turkiye’s Erdogan

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (REUTERS)

    ISTANBUL – Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday no one had the power to remove Gazans from their war-devastated homeland, dismissing Donald Trump’s plan to expel the Palestinians and let the US take control.

    “No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland that has been around for thousands of years,” he told a late-night news conference at Istanbul airport before flying to Malaysia.

    “Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem belong to the Palestinians.”

    Trump’s proposal to oust more than two million Palestinians living in Gaza and redevelop it prompted a global backlash that has enraged the Arab and Muslim world.

    The US president announced his proposal on Tuesday at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hailed it as “the first good idea that I’ve heard” on what to do with the tiny war-torn territory.

    But Erdogan appeared to dismiss it as worthless.

    “The proposals on Gaza put forward by the new US administration under pressure from the Zionist leadership have nothing worth discussing from our point of view,” he said.

    In an interview with Palestinian television earlier on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan ruled out the idea of forcing out the Palestinians from Gaza.

    “The displacement of Palestinians is unacceptable,” he told the station in remarks quoted by Turkish state news agency Anadolu, describing Trump’s proposal as historically ignorant.

    The billionaire businessman said he would make the war-battered territory “unbelievable” by removing unexploded bombs and rubble and economically redeveloping it.

    But he has not said how he envisaged removing its inhabitants.

    “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said.

    AN-AFP, Feb 9, 2025

  • Israel says strikes Syria-Lebanon border tunnel used by Hezbollah for arms smuggling

    JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said it carried out an air strike on Sunday targeting a tunnel on the border between Syria and Lebanon used by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.

    Israeli “aircraft conducted a precise intelligence based strike on an underground tunnel crossing from Syrian territory into Lebanese territory that was used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons,” the military said in a statement, explaining it additionally struck “several other Hezbollah sites” in Lebanon.

    AN-AFP, Feb 9, 2025

  • 25 civilians killed in an attack by gunmen in Mali

    BAMAKO – Gunmen have attacked a convoy of vehicles escorted by Mali’s army, killing 25 civilians mostly gold miners, a military spokesman said Sunday.

    The attack took place Friday about 30 kilometers from Gao, the largest city in the country’s northeast where armed groups hostile to the ruling junta operate. It was the deadliest attack on civilians this year.

    The assailants targeted a convoy of some 60 vehicles escorted by the army, military spokesman Col. Maj. Souleymane Dembele said. He said soldiers assisted the victims and transferred 13 wounded to the Gao hospital.

    He said four of the attackers were wounded and declined to comment on any army casualties.

    Several groups operate in the area, including Daesh, the Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM, and others from the Azawad region hostile to Mali’s military regime.

    Mali has been in a crisis for more than 10 years.

    The military seized power in 2020, capitalizing on the unpopularity of the former democratically elected government, but the new rulers have struggled with deadly militant attacks.

    AN-AP, Feb 9, 2025

  • Israel has become ‘laughingstock of Middle East,’ says Ben-Gvir

    Israel has become ‘laughingstock of Middle East,’ says Ben-Gvir

    JERUSALEM – Former Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies on the Gaza Strip, saying Israel has become “the laughingstock of the Middle East.”

    In an interview with local radio station Kol BaRama, the far-right politician denounced the government’s handling of the war in Gaza.

    “We have become the laughingstock of the Middle East, and I’m not sure we even realize it yet,” Ben-Gvir said.

    Ben-Gvir said he was “the only one in the government” who opposed providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, claiming that his stance could have “completely changed the situation.”

    Criticizing Netanyahu’s response to US pressure, Ben-Gvir said, “You cannot govern solely based on external pressure.”

    He argued that Israel should never have allowed fuel and humanitarian aid into Gaza, alleging that it benefits Hamas.

    The former minister went on to call for an immediate implementation of what he called “a “voluntary migration program” for Palestinians in Gaza.

    “We need to launch an initiative to encourage voluntary migration today. President Trump says there is time, but for Israel’s interests, we have no time to waste,” he said.

    Ben-Gvir said that he would not return to the government “until they commit to destroying Hamas.”

    In January, Ben Gvir resigned from the government in opposition to a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. He has since advocated for what he calls “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza.

    On Tuesday, his Otzma Yehudit Party submitted a bill to the Knesset proposing financial incentives for Gaza residents who choose to leave.

    According to Israel’s Channel 14, the bill stipulates that “any Gaza resident who opts to emigrate will receive a financial aid package determined by the Israeli Ministry of Finance.”

    On Feb. 4, US President Donald Trump said Washington would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

    His proposal was met with wide condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.

    ANADOLU, Feb 9, 2025

  • 4 Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire in Gaza despite ceasefire

    Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday despite a ceasefire agreement in the enclave, a medical source said.

    The source said the bodies of three people were transferred to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians east of the city.

    Witnesses said Israeli forces stationed east of Gaza City opened fire on a group of Palestinians while returning to their areas east of Kuwait Roundabout near the city.

    According to witnesses, the returning Palestinians were trying to check their areas after the army withdrew from the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from the south.

    An elderly Palestinian woman was also killed by Israeli army fire in Al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the medical source said.

    The Israeli army confirmed that its forces had opened fire on what it called “suspects” approaching their location near Nahal Oz east of Gaza City.

    The new deaths came despite a ceasefire agreement that has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 48,200 people and left the enclave in ruins.

    The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

    ANADOLU, Feb 9, 2025

  • Fishing vessel sinks off South Korean coast, leaving 9 dead or missing

    SEOUL – A 139-ton fishing vessel sank off the coast near South Korea’s Yeosu on Sunday, leaving four dead and five missing, according to Yonhap news agency.

    It was reported that the fishing trawler from the country’s southeastern port city of Busan disappeared from radar in waters off Yeosu, some 380 km south of the capital Seoul, at about 1:41 a.m. local time (1641 GMT Saturday).

    Of the 14 crew members on board, including eight South Koreans, three Vietnamese and three Indonesians, only four have survived so far.

    Among the rest of the ten people, four were confirmed dead including the captain, one was found unconscious and the remaining five are presumed missing.

    All resources and facilities available, including patrol ships, navy vessels, aircraft and civilian and agency ships, have been deployed to continue to carry out rescue efforts at night, despite bad weather conditions.

    This is the second fishing boat accident in South Korea within less than 10 days, raising concerns about the country’s maritime safety management.

    Statistics show that in 2024 alone, the number of deaths and missing persons from such accidents reached 119, a 52 percent increase compared to the previous year. This has also marked the highest record in the past decade.

    XINHUA

  • 7 militants killed in counterterrorism operations in NW Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD – Seven militants were killed when the Pakistani army conducted two operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement on Sunday.

    The operations were launched Saturday night and Sunday morning on tip-offs, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army said in the statement.

    In the operation in Dera Ismail Khan, three militants, including a key operative, were killed, and two others were wounded.

    In the separate operation in the North Waziristan district, security forces killed four more militants during an exchange of fire, with three others sustaining injuries, the ISPR said.

    The statement added that the security forces are conducting further search and clearance operations in the areas to eliminate any remaining militants.

    XINHUA