Category: NEWS

KYIV – Authorities in Ukraine’s Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday ordered the mandatory evacuation of 11 villages because of bombardments, as Kyiv feared a Russian offensive there.

“This decision takes into account the constant threat to civilian lives because of the bombardments of border communities,” Sumy’s administration said.

Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday said its forces had taken another Sumy village, Vodolagy, known as Vodolahy in Ukrainian.

Russia in recent weeks has claimed to have taken several villages in the northeastern region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Moscow was massing more than 50,000 soldiers nearby in a sign of a possible offensive.

AN-AFP

May 31 – Flooding in Nigeria’s Niger State this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes, an emergency official told Reuters on Saturday.

Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, provided the new death toll, which was previously reported at 117 on Friday.

He added that over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3,000 people displaced.

The flooding incident in the central town of Mokwa in Niger State occurred on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. Days later, rescuers were still picking through mud and debris in search of bodies.

Nigeria is prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April.

In 2022, the country’s worst wave of floods in more than a decade killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares (1.09 million acres) of farmland.

REUTERS

TOKYO, May 31 – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 struck off the coast of Kushiro in Japan’s Hokkaido on Saturday, local weather agency said.

The temblor occurred at 5:37 p.m. local time (0837 GMT), originating at a depth of approximately 20 km, said the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

While slight changes in sea level may be observed along Japan’s coastline, there is no concern for significant damage or a tsunami, the JMA said.

Emergency services are monitoring the situation closely, and no immediate reports of injury or structural damage have been issued.

XINHUA

JAKARTA, May 31 – The number of casualties of landslides at a quarry in Indonesia’s West Java province increased to 14, and 11 others are still missing, an official said on Saturday.

Search for the missing victims after the landslides on Friday in the Gunung Kuda mine located in Bobos village of Cirebon Regency is ongoing, said Hadi Rahmat Hardjasasmita, spokesperson for the Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency of West Java province.

“The number of casualties reached 14, and the number of persons being buried is predicted to be eleven,” he told Xinhua.

The search operation also involved soldiers, policemen, the personnel of the local Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, and those from other government institutions.

“However, large amounts of landslide materials and worries about further landslides during the evacuation are challenging the operation,” he said.

The authorities in the province had warned the firm operating in the mine of violating technical procedures in mining methods, said Vivi Silvia C., a press officer at the Administration Office of West Java province.

A state of emergency status has been applied after the disaster, she told Xinhua.

XINHUA

SYDNEY, May 31 – Police are searching for two attackers after three men were stabbed northwest of Sydney in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called to a street in the city of Dubbo, over 300 km northwest of Sydney, shortly after 3 a.m. local time on Saturday and found three men with stab wounds after they were reportedly attacked by two other men.

A police statement said that a 21-year-old man was treated for stab wounds to his head, back and lower body. Two other men, both aged 29, suffered stab wounds to their upper bodies.

All three were taken to a local hospital in a stable condition.

Police established a crime scene and have commenced inquiries into the cause of the incident and launched a search for the attackers.

XINHUA

SEOUL, May 31 – A fire broke out on a train of Subway Line 5 in South Korea’s capital Seoul at about 8:47 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to multiple media outlets.

According to police and witnesses, a man presumed to be in his 60s or 70s carried a torch and a jerrycan on the subway, and allegedly set fire between Yeouinaru and Mapo stations. The suspect of arson has been arrested by police, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Passengers in the train have been evacuated, with no casualties reported so far. The on-site fire-fighting operation has been completed.

Subway services between Yeouido and Aeogae stations have been suspended due to the incident, according to Seoul Metro.

XINHUA

JAKARTA, May 30 – At least 10 people in Indonesia’s West Java were killed and six injured on Friday following a rock collapse at a quarry, the disaster agency said, with search efforts ongoing to find people buried beneath the rubble.

The collapse took place in Cirebon in West Java, where television footage showed excavators working to move huge rocks and personnel moving bags containing bodies to an ambulance. Kompas TV earlier said about 10 people were missing.

The national disaster management agency said heavy machinery, including three excavators, were also buried under rocks and operations would continue on Saturday. It gave no estimate on the number of people missing.

West Java’s governor, Dedi Mulyadi, on his Instagram account said the site was dangerous and “does not meet safety standards for workers”.

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS, May 30 – The situation in Gaza is the worst since the war between Israel and Hamas militants began 19-months ago, the United Nations said on Friday, despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries in the Palestinian enclave where famine looms.

Under growing global pressure, Israel ended an 11-week long blockade on Gaza 12 days ago, allowing limited U.N.-led operations to resume. Then on Monday, a controversial new avenue for aid distribution was also launched – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the United States and Israel.

“Any aid that gets into the hands of people who need it is good,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. But, he added, the aid deliveries so far overall have had “very, very little impact.”

“The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began,” he said.

The U.N. and international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral and has a distribution model that forces the displacement of Palestinians.

Israel ultimately wants the U.N. to work through the GHF, which is using private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites.

However, Israel will allow aid deliveries “for the immediate future” via both the U.N. and the GHF operations, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said this week. GHF said on Friday that it has so far managed to distribute more than 2.1 million meals.

Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

LOOTING, ACCESS

The U.N. says that in the past 12 days it has only managed to transport some 200 truckloads of aid into Gaza, hindered by insecurity and Israeli access restrictions. It was not immediately clear how much of that aid reached those in need. It said some trucks and a World Food Programme warehouse have also been looted by desperate, hungry people.

U.N. officials have also criticized Israeli limitations on what kind of aid they can provide.

“Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn’t been, it wouldn’t amount to a complete diet for anyone,” said Eri Kaneko, U.N. humanitarian affairs spokesperson.

Some of recipients of GHF aid said the packages include some rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.

Under a complex process, Israel inspects and clears aid shipments, which are then transported to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. There the aid is offloaded and then reloaded on to other trucks for transport to warehouses in Gaza.

Several hundred more truckloads of aid currently await U.N. collection from the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom.

“More aid would actually get to the people if you would collect the aid waiting for you by the crossings,” COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said to the U.N. in a posting on X on Friday.

However, the U.N. said that on Tuesday the Israeli military denied all its requests to access Kerem Shalom to pick up the aid. And on Thursday, when 65 trucks of aid managed to leave the crossing, all but five turned back due to intense fighting.

Five trucks of medical aid managed to reach the warehouses of a field hospital, but “a group  ‎of armed individuals stormed the warehouses…  looting large quantities of ‎ medical equipment, supplies, medicines and nutritional supplements that was intended for  ‎malnourished children,” Dujarric said.

CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL

Israel says it has been facilitating all aid deliveries. COGAT said this week that since the war 1.8 million tonnes of aid, including 1.3 million tonnes of food, had reached Gaza.

A U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict – accepted by Israel and currently being considered by Hamas – would see humanitarian aid delivered by the United Nations, the Red Crescent and other agreed channels.

During a two-month ceasefire, which ended when Israel resumed its military operation in March, the U.N. said it got 600-700 trucks of aid a day into Gaza. It has stressed then when people know there is a steady flow of aid, the looting subsides.

“To prevent chaos, aid must flow in steadily,” Corinne Fleischer, the U.N. World Food Programme’s Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe director, posted on X on Thursday.

“When people know food is coming, desperation turns to calm.”

REUTERS

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM, May 30 – Israel carried out airstrikes late Friday on multiple military targets in Syria’s coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, including a former special forces headquarters and military positions near civilian areas, according to Syrian state media and a war monitor.

In Tartus, the airstrikes targeted a military facility formerly used by special forces, as well as sites in the al-Wuhaib industrial area and the al-Blata barracks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.

State-run al-Ikhbariya TV reported that Israeli warplanes hit the village of Zama in the Jableh countryside, as well as military sites in the Mina al-Bayda port area and the 107th Brigade base in neighboring Latakia province.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it attacked weapon storage facilities in Latakia on Friday night.

It added that the facilities contained missiles that posed a threat to international and Israeli maritime freedom of navigation.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, and Syrian defense authorities had not issued an official statement.

The strikes come amid heightened regional tensions and follow a series of Israeli raids across Syria in recent months, some of which have resulted in casualties and the destruction of air defense systems or weapons depots.

XINHUA

KHARTOUM, May 30 – At least 26 civilians were killed in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on three towns in Sudan’s western Kordofan region, the Sudanese government announced on Friday.

“In recent hours, the RSF militia has committed a series of horrific crimes, deliberately targeting civilian areas and claiming the lives of innocent people,” Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Today (Friday), the militia targeted Al-Daman Hospital in El-Obeid city, killing 16 patients who were receiving treatment and injuring several others,” the ministry said, adding, “On Wednesday, the militia also attacked a public market in the town of Al-Khiwai with drones, killing eight civilians.”

The RSF also targeted a residential area in the town of Al-Dibaibat, South Kordofan, killing two civilians, the statement said.

The ministry described the RSF attacks as part of a deliberate and systematic campaign targeting civilians, humanitarian organizations, critical infrastructure, and essential services, with the intent of inflicting maximum civilian harm.

It accused the RSF of bombing World Food Programme warehouses in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, on Thursday and setting them ablaze, destroying large quantities of food supplies.

Armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF have intensified across the Kordofan region, which includes North, West, and South Kordofan states.

On Thursday, the RSF claimed control of the towns of Al-Dibaibat in South Kordofan and Al-Khiwai in West Kordofan. The Sudanese army has not yet responded to the claim.

Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, both within Sudan and across its borders.

XINHUA

ABUJA, Nigeria – At least 111 people were confirmed dead in central Nigeria on Friday after floods submerged the market town of Mokwa in the country’s Niger State following torrential rains, officials said.

The heavy rains lasted for several hours Thursday, and media reports quoting local government officials said a dam collapse in a nearby town had worsened the situation. The flooding displaced large amounts of people, the reports said.

Rescuers continued to find more bodies into the afternoon Friday. Earlier reports said 88 people had died, but then at least 23 more bodies were found, Niger State emergency agency spokesman IIbrahim Audu Husseinit told The Associated Press in the afternoon.

That brought the toll to 111, but that could go higher as the search continued.

“More bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted, but we have at least 111 confirmed already,” Husseini told AP by telephone.

Mokwa, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) west of Abuja, is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy food from growers in the north.

AP

GAZA, May 30, 2025 – The death toll arising from the ongoing Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip surged to 54,321 people, medical sources said on Friday.

WAFA

MADRID, May 30, 2025 – The Spanish government on Friday condemned Israel’s recent approval of plans to build 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the move a blatant violation of international law and a serious threat to regional peace.

In a statement issued by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, the government expressed its “deep concern” over the Israeli decision, warning that such actions severely undermine the prospects of a two-state solution and escalate tensions in the region.

Spain also voiced alarm over the intensifying Israeli military aggression in the West Bank, particularly in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nour Shams refugee camps. The statement denounced the ongoing demolitions, increasing settler violence, and the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinians, describing these acts as violations of international humanitarian law.

The Spanish government reaffirmed its position that lasting peace in the Middle East requires the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

WAFA

GAZA, May 30, 2025 – Three Palestinian civilians were killed and several others injured on Friday in Israeli airstrikes targeting central areas of the Gaza Strip.

According to WAFA correspondent, one of the attacks struck a residential area in the city of Deir al-Balah, killing a man and his wife, who was nine months pregnant.

In a separate airstrike on Al-Bureij refugee camp, at least one more Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded, most of them critically. The target of the strike was reportedly a local barbershop.

WAFA

ABUJA, May 30 – The death toll from devastating floods triggered by heavy rainfall in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State has climbed to at least 88, local authorities said Friday.

Ibrahim Isah Hussaini, head of operations at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said at least 67 more bodies were recovered during ongoing rescue efforts in the Mokwa area, raising the death toll from 21 reported on Thursday.

“The number keeps rising. But at the last count, 88 bodies have been recovered,” Hussaini said during rescue operations, adding that more people remain missing.

XINHUA

ISTANBUL, May 30 – Turkish police detained 873 people in a large-scale security operation in Istanbul aimed at maintaining public order and apprehending criminal suspects, the city’s police department said on Friday.

The operation, carried out on Thursday, involved road checkpoints at 215 locations across the city, supported by a police helicopter and five patrol boats from the Marine Port Branch. Officers also conducted inspections at numerous public venues.

Police said they checked a total of 550,751 individuals. Among those detained were 539 people wanted for various offenses.

Security forces seized 27 unlicensed pistols, five rifles, five blank-firing guns and 299 rounds of ammunition. Authorities also confiscated 1,733 grams of narcotics and 1,300 drug pills.

The latest operation follows a similar sweep on May 8, during which police detained 982 suspects.

The Istanbul Police Department said such operations would continue.

XINHUA

KANO – The death toll in central Nigeria flash floods has risen to 36 after rescuers recovered more bodies, an emergency services spokesman told AFP Friday.

Flooding after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away more than 50 homes in the city of Mokwa in central Niger state, drowning residents with many missing, according to the Niger state emergency management agency (SEMA).

“As at this morning, 11 more bodies were recovered in addition to the 25 found earlier, which brings the number of fatalities to 36 so far,” Ibrahim Audu Husseini, SEMA spokesman said.

Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents into Friday.

“We expect the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations,” Husseini said.

Nigeria’s rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year.

Scientists warn that climate change is already fueling more extreme weather patterns.

Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country.

In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways, and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday.

In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, making it one of the country’s worst floods in decades, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

AN-AFP

BEIJING, May 30 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted southwest of Africa at 0536 GMT on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 53.31 degrees south latitude and 9.16 degrees east longitude.

XINHUA

SYDNEY, May 30 – Two men have been hospitalized with severe burns after an arson attack on a business in Brisbane, Australia.

The two men, aged 47 and 54, were seriously injured when the business in the southern Brisbane suburb of Browns Plains was engulfed in fire around 12:15 am on Friday.

The police service in the state of Queensland said in a statement that emergency services arrived at the scene and found the two men fleeing the property with severe burns.

Police were told that a separate group of unknown males had entered the premises and poured a substance inside before setting it on fire.

The two men who suffered burns were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Nine Network television reported that the business was a tobacco store and that the two men were sleeping in the premises to protect it.

The Queensland Police Service said that a crime scene has been established at the premises and investigations into the fire have begun.

XINHUA

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico – The bodies of five musicians, members of a Mexican regional music group who had gone missing, were found in the northern city of Reynosa along the Texas border, authorities said on Thursday.

The musicians from the band Grupo Fugitivo, which played at parties and local dances in the region, had been reported missing since Sunday.

Tamaulipas state prosecutors, who had been investigating their disappearance, said the men were kidnapped around 10 p.m. that night while traveling in a SUV on the way to a venue where they were hired to play. Their bodies were found on the fringes of Reynosa. Prosecutors said nine suspects believed to be part of a faction of the Gulf Cartel, which has strong presence in the city, have been arrested.

Authorities were not immediately able to say why the men were slain, and did not deny reports by local media that the bodies had been burned.

The genre they played – Mexican regional music, which encapsulates a wide range of styles including corridos and cumbia – has in recent years gained a spotlight as it’s entered a sort of international musical renaissance. Young artists sometimes pay homage to leaders of drug cartels, often portrayed as Robin Hood-type figures.

It was not immediately clear if the group played such songs or if the artists were simply victims of rampant cartel violence that has eclipsed the city. But other artists have faced death threats by cartels, while others have had their visas stripped by the United States under accusations by the Trump administration that they were glorifying criminal violence.

The last time the musicians were heard from was the night they were kidnapped, when they told family members they were on the way to the event. After that, nothing else was heard of them.

Their disappearance caused an uproar in Tamaulipas, a state long eclipsed by cartel warfare. Their families reported the disappearances, called on the public for support and people took to the streets in protest.

On Wednesday, protesters blocked the international bridge connecting Reynosa and Pharr, Texas, later going to a local cathedral to pray and make offerings to the disappeared.

Reynosa is a Mexican border city adjacent to the United States and has been plagued by escalating violence since 2017 due to internal disputes among groups vying for control of drug trafficking, human smuggling and fuel theft.

This case follows another that occurred in 2018, when armed men kidnapped two members of the musical group “Los Norteños de Río Bravo,” whose bodies were later found on the federal highway connecting Reynosa to Río Bravo, Tamaulipas.

AP