FRANKFURT — German airline group Lufthansa said Monday it was extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman and Irbil through to August 21 because of continued tensions in the region.
It said it would also avoid using Iranian and Iraqi airspace until August 21, an extension from a previous date of August 13.
Affected passengers can rebook or cancel their journeys free of charge, Lufthansa said, adding that it regretted the inconvenience caused “due to the current situation.”
Also on Monday, Air France and its subsidiary Transavia France again extended the suspension of their flights to Beirut, through Wednesday August 14.
The flights have been suspended since July 29 and their resumption “will be subject to a new assessment of the situation on the ground,” Air France said in a statement. The French carrier continues to serve Tel Aviv’s airport. Other airlines have also modified their flight schedules in the region recently.
Tensions have soared as Iran and its allies vowed revenge for the high-profile killings of Hezbollah’s top military commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran late last month, both blamed on Israel.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces across the border between Lebanon and Israel.
BATU PAHAT — Pelajar sebuah madrasah mengaku bersalah di Mahkamah Majistret di sini, hari ini atas pertuduhan meliwat junior dalam sebuah stor, bulan lalu.
Tertuduh berusia 15 tahun membuat pengakuan itu selepas pertuduhan dibaca oleh jurubahasa di hadapan Majistret Suhaila Shafi’uddin.
Mengikut pertuduhan, dia didakwa melakukan persetubuhan bertentangan aturan tabii tanpa kerelaan mangsa berusia 13 tahun di sebuah madrasah dalam daerah ini, antara jam 12 tengah malam hingga 1 pagi, 8 Julai lalu.
Oleh itu, tertuduh didakwa melakukan kesalahan dan boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 377C Kanun Keseksaan yang memperuntukkan penjara sehingga 20 tahun dan sebatan.
Berdasarkan laporan dibuat, mangsa ketika itu sedang tidur dalam bilik sebelum didatangi tertuduh sambil membawa sebilah pisau.
Mangsa terjaga dan mendapati pisau berada di lehernya dengan tertuduh memintanya mengikuti arahan termasuk ke sebuah stor.
Bimbang sesuatu berlaku, mangsa akur dengan arahan itu dan sebaik tiba di stor, tertuduh bertindak melakukan perbuatan terkutuk.
Selepas kejadian itu, mangsa memberitahu pihak pengurusan madrasah yang kemudiannya menghubungi bapanya.
Susulan itu, bapa mangsa membuat laporan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Batu Pahat pada keesokan hari dengan tertuduh ditahan hari ini.
Pendakwaan dikendalikan Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Farah Wahidah Mohd Sharip manakala tertuduh diwakili peguam, Azlan Bohari.
Dengan pengakuan bersalah tertuduh, mahkamah menetapkan 25 September depan untuk Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) menyediakan laporan akhlak serta fakta dan perintah dikenakan terhadap tertuduh kelak.
Pada masa sama, mahkamah juga membenarkan tertuduh diikat jamin RM1,000 dengan seorang penjamin.
JERTIH — Tiga remaja lelaki direman enam hari bermula semalam, bagi membantu siasatan kes rogol dan cabul seorang remaja perempuan bawah umur di daerah ini.
Pemangku Ketua Polis Daerah Besut, Deputi Superintendan Azrol Anuar Nor, berkata tiga suspek berusia 16 tahun yang juga kenalan mangsa itu ditahan di sekitar daerah ini semalam.
Beliau berkata, penahanan tiga suspek dibuat susulan laporan dibuat bapa mangsa mengenai kejadian rogol menimpa remaja perempuan berusia 15 tahun itu.
“Menerusi laporan itu, mangsa mendakwa dirogol seorang kenalan lelaki yang juga pelajar di sekolah sama berumur 16 tahun pada Februari lalu.
“Ketika soal siasat, mangsa turut mendedahkan dicabul dua kenalan lelaki lain berusia 16 tahun yang juga rakan sekolah mereka dalam kejadian berasingan.
“Tiga suspek kini direman sehingga Jumaat ini untuk siasatan lanjut mengikut Seksyen 376 Kanun Keseksaan dan Seksyen 14(a) Akta Kesalahan-Kesalahan Seksual Terhadap Kanak-kanak 2017” katanya ketika dihubungi, hari ini.
Media pada pada 10 Ogos lalu melaporkan polis memburu tiga remaja lelaki bagi membantu siasatan berhubung kes rogol serta cabul rakan sekolah di daerah ini.
This photo taken on November 19, 2019 shows the US Navy’s aircraft carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The carrier group is on its way to the Middle East again to relieve another carrier group. (AFP/File)
WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.
Austin issued the order after speaking with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who told him Iran’s military preparations suggest Iran is getting ready for a large-scale attack on Israel, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing a source with knowledge of the call.
The moves come as the US and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
While the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine, was already in the Mediterranean Sea in July, according to a US military post on social media, it was a rare move to publicly announce the deployment of a submarine.
In a statement after Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, the Pentagon said the defense chief had ordered the Abraham Lincoln strike group to accelerate its deployment to the region.
“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.
Ryder said Austin had reiterated to Gallant America’s commitment “to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”
The US military had already said it will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as Washington seeks to bolster Israeli defenses.
Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the US has been beefing up its presence in the region.
The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which is scheduled to begin heading home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area by the end of the month.
It wasn’t clear Sunday what his latest order means, or how much more quickly the Lincoln will steam to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers.
Ryder said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm.
The call comes a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks of the 10-month Israel-Hamas war.
The US military had already said it will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as Washington seeks to bolster Israeli defenses.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, an attack that drew threats of revenge by Iran against Israel, which is fighting the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
The assassination and the killing of the senior military commander of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, by Israel in a strike on Beirut, have fueled concern the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war.
Iran has said the US bears responsibility in the assassination of Haniyeh because of its support for Israel.
Several US and coalition personnel were wounded in a drone attack on Friday in Syria, in the second major attack in recent days against US forces amid soaring tensions in the Middle East.
NANJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Six people had been confirmed dead and 10 others injured as of 2 a.m. Monday after a lightning strike caused a park pavilion to collapse in the city of Changzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, local authorities said.
The lightning struck Hengshanqiao Township in Changzhou Economic Development Zone at 8:36 p.m. Sunday, causing the pavilion collapse and trapping some people who were sheltering from the rain, according to the economic development zone.
Search and rescue concluded late Sunday, and all 16 people were rushed to the hospital. Six of them suffered severe injuries and later died despite extensive medical efforts. The other 10 are in stable condition.
An investigation is currently underway, and the local authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of public facilities to ensure safety.
MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — The infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has sustained serious damage for the first time since the start of the ongoing shelling and attacks by Ukrainian forces, ZNPP Director of Communications Yevgenia Yashina said on Sunday.
“The infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has for the first time suffered serious damage as a result of a strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Yashina was quoted by Russia’s TASS News Agency as saying.
She added that the Ukrainian forces carried out the attack using a kamikaze drone. Despite the damage and subsequent fire at the cooling system facilities, Yashina said that the plant’s operations have not been affected.
“The cooling tower is used for cooling, but currently, the reactor units are shut down, so the tower is not in use. The sprinkler pools are sufficient for cooling at this time,” she said.
Earlier, Yevgeny Balitsky, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said that the cooling systems of the ZNPP caught fire as a result of the Ukrainian strike. He assured that all six reactor units of the plant are in a cold shutdown, eliminating any risk of a steam explosion.
While the Russian side accused Kiev of deliberately attempting to destroy the plant and incite “nuclear terror,” Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said Russia’s “negligence” or arson could have sparked the fire.
Energoatom also claimed, without providing evidence, that Russia has been using the plant’s cooling towers to store military equipment and explosives.
KUALA KANGSAR — Seorang lelaki mengaku bersalah ketika dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Sesyen di sini hari ini, atas tuduhan mencabul budak perempuan berusia enam tahun yang juga cucu saudaranya.
Lelaki berusia 54 tahun itu mengangguk faham sebelum mengaku melakukan perbuatan itu sejurus pertuduhan dibaca di hadapan Hakim, Rohaida Ishak.
Berdasarkan pertuduhan, lelaki yang difahamkan bekerja sendiri itu melakukan amang seksual fizikal bagi maksud seksual dengan cara memegang kemaluan mangsa berusia enam tahun itu.
Perbuatan itu dilakukan di sebuah pondok di hadapan sebuah rumah di Kampung Kenayat, Gerik pada waktu pagi dalam pertengahan tahun 2024.
Perbuatan itu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 14(a) Akta Kesalahan-Kesalahan Seksual Terhadap Kanak-Kanak 2017 yang jika sabit kesalahan memperuntukkan hukuman penjara maksimum 20 tahun dan boleh juga dihukum sebat.
Pendakwaan dikendalikan oleh Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Muhammad Firdaus Nor Azlan manakala tertuduh tidak diwakili peguam.
Muhammad Firdaus kemudiannya memohon kepada mahkamah suatu tarikh untuk hukuman dijatuhkan sementara menunggu laporan perubatan mangsa.
Selain itu, pendakwaan turut menawarkan jaminan sebanyak RM10,000 dengan dua penjamin beserta syarat tambahan iaitu tertuduh tidak boleh mengganggu mangsa sehingga kes selesai.
“Mangsa adalah cucu saudara tertuduh tetapi mereka tidak tinggal bersama. Kami mohon untuk ditangguhkan kerana laporan perubatan masih tak dapat,” kata Muhammad Firdaus.
Ketika mitigasi jaminan, tertuduh menyatakan bahawa dia bekerja sendiri dan tiada tanggungan, namun menghidapi penyakit batu karang yang memerlukan rawatan, selain menyatakan tiada orang yang akan menjaminnya.
Rohaida kemudiannya menetapkan jaminan sebanyak RM5,000 dengan seorang penjamin serta menetapkan 12 September depan untuk hukuman dijatuhi sementara menunggu laporan perubatan, selain membenarkan syarat tambahan yang dimohon oleh pendakwaan.
Terdahulu, akhbar ini melaporkan lelaki itu direman seminggu kerana disyaki melakukan amang seksual terhadap kanak-kanak perempuan berumur enam tahun yang juga cucu saudaranya dalam kejadian di perkarangan sebuah rumah Kampung Kenayat, Gerik.
Ketua Polis Perak, Datuk Azizi Mat Aris, dilaporkan berkata, kejadian berlaku di sebuah pondok dalam kawasan kediaman kakak suspek yang juga adalah nenek mangsa di Kampung Kenayat.
Suspek, ketika kejadian dikatakan menggunakan alasan mengurut mangsa bagi membuang angin dalam badan, hanya ditahan pada 5 Ogos lalu selepas ibu mangsa membuat laporan polis pada sehari sebelumnya iaitu pada 4 Ogos lalu.
KUALA LUMPUR — Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara (PAC) meminta kerajaan menetapkan garis siling bagi gaji ketua eksekutif atau pengarah urusan Badan Berkanun Persekutuan (BBP) supaya tidak keterlaluan.
Pengerusinya, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, berkata setakat ini, pihaknya difahamkan tiada garis siling bagi gaji jawatan ketua BBP dan jumlah diterima juga berbeza-beza.
“PAC mahu kerajaan, khususnya Kementerian Kewangan menetapkan garis siling gaji ini supaya tidak keterlaluan sehingga ada BBP yang gagal membayar dividen kepada kerajaan, tetapi sebaliknya mampu membayar tinggi gaji pengurusan tertinggi,” katanya kepada BH.
Beliau berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas Garis Panduan Mengenai Pengurusan dan Tatakelola BBP yang dilancarkan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Jumaat lalu.
Ia bagi memastikan pengurusan BBP di negara ini lebih telus, berintegriti dan mempunyai kebertanggungjawaban.
Mengikut Akta Badan-Badan Berkanun (Akaun dan Laporan Tahunan) 1980 (Akta 240), Badan Berkanun Persekutuan ialah mana-mana pertubuhan perbadanan, yang diperbadankan menurut peruntukan Undang-Undang Persekutuan dan yang menjadi pihak berkuasa awam atau agensi Kerajaan Malaysia.
Matlamat penubuhan BBP adalah bagi membolehkan kerajaan bertindak lebih cekap tanpa terikat dengan peraturan pentadbiran kerajaan melalui suatu badan yang boleh bergerak lebih pantas, seiring dengan syarikat swasta.
Antara BBP ialah Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan (FELDA), Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), Perbadanan Pembangunan Perdagangan Luar Malaysia (MATRADE), Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara (LPPKN), Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM), Lembaga Pemasaran Pertanian Persekutuan (FAMA) dan Lembaga Penggalak Pelancongan Malaysia (LPPM).
Mengulas lanjut, Mas Ermieyati bagaimanapun berkata, pihaknya tidak mempunyai maklumat mengenai julat gaji pengurusan tertinggi dalam BBP itu.
Pada 2018, Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pernah mengarahkan gaji dan elaun pengerusi badan berkanun, suruhanjaya dan juga syarikat berkaitan kerajaan (GLC) disemak semula.
Menteri Pengangkutan, Anthony Loke Siew Fook dilaporkan berkata, arahan itu dikeluarkan susulan isu gaji dan elaun Pengerusi Eksekutif Suruhanjaya Penerbangan Malaysia (MAVCOM) ketika itu, yang mencecah RM85,000 sebulan.
Mengenai Garis Panduan Mengenai Pengurusan dan Tatakelola BBP, Mas Ermieyati berkata, PAC berpandangan, ia perlu dibaca bersekali dengan undang-undang berkaitan, termasuk akta tubuh BBP, yang mungkin bercanggah dan boleh menolak terma yang digariskan dalam garis panduan itu.
“Justeru, amat penting dan kritikal bagi kementerian dan menteri untuk sentiasa mengemaskini dan melihat semula akta tubuh serta undang-undang yang berkaitan BBP supaya sentiasa mendokong dasar kerajaan dan mengikut ketetapan amalan terbaik terkini.
“Pada masa sama, PAC juga mahu kerajaan mengambil langkah proaktif dengan menyemak semula memorandum dan artikel (M&A) BBP yang dilihat kurang berkesan dalam memastikan tadbir urus yang baik serta campur tangan kerajaan sehingga mengakibatkan berlaku penyalahgunaan kuasa serta ketirisan,” katanya.
Garis Panduan Mengenai Pengurusan dan Tatakelola BBP yang mula dikuatkuasakan kerajaan menerusi arahan pekeliling yang dikeluarkan pada 30 April lalu itu bertujuan memberi panduan kepada kementerian, agensi pengawal dalam pelaksanaan peraturan dan prosedur berkaitan pengurusan serta tatakelola BBP.
ALOR GAJAH — Kenalan lelaki ketika sama-sama belajar di universiti, disyaki mendalangi pembunuhan cikgu, Istiqomah Ahmad Rozi, yang mayatnya ditemui tanpa kepala dalam tong sampah di longkang tepi Jalan Alor-Gajah-Tampin berhampiran Kampung Rimau, Pulau Sebang di sini pada 31 Disember lalu.
Lelaki terbabit juga juga bekas guru sebelum berhenti menjadi pedagang mata wang asing (Forex), dipercayai mempunyai urusan berkaitan pelaburan Forex dengan mangsa yang bertugas di Sekolah Kota Masai 3 dekat Pasir Gudang, Johor, yang dilaporkan hilang keluarganya sejak 26 Disember 2023.
Kereta milik mangsa yang juga ibu kepada tiga cahaya mata itu, dijumpai di kawasan pasar raya Lotus Kota Masai, Pasir Gudang, kira-kira 2 petang pada 27 Disember tahun lalu.
Hasil siasatan polis secara berterusan sejak penemuan tanpa kepala pada 31 Disember lalu, membawa kepada penahanan sepasang suami isteri di Chemor, Perak sebelum ditahan reman pada 6 Ogos lalu.
Ketua Polis Daerah Alor Gajah, Superintendan Ashari Abu Samah, berkata identiti mayat wanita ditemui tanpa kepala dalam tong sampah di longkang tepi Jalan Alor-Gajah-Tampin, berhampiran Kampung Rimau, Pulau Sebang, di sini, dikenal pasti sebagai Istiqomah Ahmad Rozi, 33.
Beliau berkata, penemuan itu hasil siasatan dan ujian deoxyribonucleic asid (DNA) yang dijalankan Bahagian Data Bank/DNA (D13), Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah, Bukit Aman, ke atas ibu mangsa.
Katanya, mayat tidak lengkap anggota badan termasuk kedua-dua tangan dan kaki itu ditemui orang awam pada 31 Disember 2023.
“Hasil ujian yang dijalankan pada 2 Ogos lalu, mendapati DNA wanita terbabit adalah sepadan dengan sampel diambil daripada mayat tidak lengkap dan tanpa identiti itu,” katanya.
Ashari berkata, bertindak atas maklumat itu, Bahagian Siasatan Khas (D9), Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah (JSJ) Melaka dengan kerjasama JSJ Johor serta Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah Ibu Pejabat Poli Daerah Alor Gajah menjalankan risikan.
Beliau berkata, susulan itu polis berjaya menahan sepasang suami isteri berusia 36 dan 37 tahun di Chemor, Perak pada 5 Ogos lalu dan direman selama enam hari bermula 6 Ogos lalu hingga hari ini.
“Menerusi siasatan lanjut dijalankan ke atas suspek membawa kepada penemuan sebahagian lagi anggota badan mangsa termasuk tengkorak dan tulang jari kira-kira enam kilometer dari kawasan tempat mayat mangsa dijumpai,” katanya.
Mengulas lanjut Ashari berkata, suspek lelaki adalah kenalan mangsa dan mereka turut berhubung berkaitan pelaburan mata wang Forex.
“Reman ke atas suspek lelaki disambung selama tujuh hari lagi bermula hari ini hingga 18 Ogos bagi melengkapkan siasatan manakala isterinya dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis selepas didapati tiada kaitan dengan kes.
“Polis membuka kertas siasatan mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan kerana kesalahan membunuh,” katanya.
Katanya orang ramai yang mempunyai sebarang maklumat berkaitan kes ini boleh menyalurkannya ke BSJ IPD Alor Gajah menerusi talian 06-5562222 atau menghubungi pegawai penyiasat kes, Asisten Superintendan Norehan Omar di talian 010-4064003.
Terdahulu, kedua-dua suspek dibawa ke Kompleks Mahkamah Alor Gajah pada jam 9.10 pagi sebelum dihadapkan ke hadapan Majistret Teoh Shu Yee.
MELAKA — Kehilangan seorang guru wanita di Johor Bahru sejak lapan bulan lalu, akhirnya terjawab selepas polis mengesahkan mayat tidak lengkap ditemui di sini pada 31 Disember tahun lalu, dikenal pasti sebagai Istiqomah Ahmad Rozi, 33.
Ketua Polis Daerah Alor Gajah, Superintendan Ashari Abu Samah, berkata pengesahan itu dibuat hasil ujian asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) yang dilakukan, mendapati ia sepadan dengan mangsa yang dilaporkan hilang sejak 27 Disember tahun lalu.
Beliau berkata, risikan Bahagian Siasatan Khas (D9) Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah (JSJ) Polis Melaka dengan kerjasama JSJ Johor serta Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah Polis Alor Gajah berjaya menahan sepasang suami isteri, berusia 36 dan 37 tahun.
“Pasangan yang ditahan di Chemor, Perak telah dibenarkan reman selama tujuh hari bermula 6 Ogos lalu dan polis akan mohon sambung reman hari ini terhadap suspek lelaki yang ditahan,
“Siasatan terhadap kedua-dua suspek membawa penemuan sebahagian anggota badan termasuk tulang jari dan bahagian kepala tidak jauh dari lokasi penemuan anggota badan dalam jarak kira-kira lima hingga enam kilometer (KM) dari tempat pertama mayat mangsa ditemukan,” katanya dalam kenyataan hari ini.
Ashari berkata, guru wanita yang mempunyai tiga anak itu, dipercayai mengenali suspek lelaki dan terbabit dalam urusan pelaburan, manakala isterinya tidak mengenali mangsa.
“Kedua-dua individu yang ditahan telah dibenarkan reman selama tujuh hari bermula 6 Ogos lalu dan pihak polis akan mohon sambung reman hari ini terhadap suspek lelaki yang ditahan,” katanya lagi.
Beliau berkata, kes disiasat mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan kerana membunuh dan orang ramai yang mempunyai sebarang maklumat boleh menghubungi Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Alor Gajah di talian 06-5562222.
Pada 31 Disember tahun lalu, mayat seorang wanita ditemukan tanpa kepala, kedua-dua tangan dan kaki dalam tong sampah di longkang tepi jalan Alor-Gajah-Tampin, berhampiran Kampung Rimau, Pulau Sebang kira-kira jam 2 petang.
Ketika itu, siasatan awal mendapati mangsa dipercayai dibunuh dengan anggota badannya iaitu kepala, tangan dan kaki dipotong sebelum disumbat dalam tong sampah dan dibuang ke longkang di tepi jalan berkenaan.
Bertindak atas maklumat itu, sepasukan anggota polis menjalankan siasatan di lokasi kejadian dan mayat dihantar ke Jabatan Forensik Hospital Melaka untuk bedah siasat bagi mengetahui punca kematiannya
Ketika itu, hanya bahagian badan ditemukan dengan kepala, kedua-dua tangan dan kaki dari paras lutut ke bawah dipercayai dipotong, selain terdapat sehelai kain merah di bawah mayat.
Selain itu, tiada juga identiti ditemukan pada mayat dianggarkan berusia 20 hingga 30-an itu, namun pakar patalogi mengesahkan mangsa seorang wanita.
Mayat mangsa ditemui dalam keadaan mula mereput dan sudah kering serta disyaki meninggal dunia antara tempoh tujuh hingga 10 hari ketika ditemui.
Ketika itu, polis turut menjalankan ujian asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) ke atas dua kes orang hilang dalam tempoh sebulan lalu, namun keputusannya negatif.
Residents who evacuated due to shelling from villages that are close to the border with Russia gather in an evacuation center in Sumy, on August 11, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
SUMY, Ukraine — The roar of artillery fire was deafening as Tetyana conferred with neighbors in her small village, which hugs the Russian border, over whether they should hold tight or flee.
The days were relatively calm in Myropillya, she said, but the nightly bombardments had become so unbearable that even sheltering in basements no longer felt safe.
“You know what they say, it’s only when we start to feel the burning ourselves that we leave,” the 59-year-old told AFP.
Finally prompted to flee after Ukraine’s shock border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, she was at a gathering point for evacuees in the eastern city of Sumy.
The offensive has been one of Ukraine’s speediest operations since Moscow invaded in February 2022. Analysts say it is the most significant ground operation by a foreign army inside Russia since World War II.
Moscow has been forced to redeploy troops and carry out mass civilian evacuations as it struggles to stem the advance.
For Ukraine, it has been a morale boost at an otherwise perilous moment in the war.
But Russia has also responded by pounding Ukrainian border areas — where it says troops and equipment are stationed — prompting Ukrainian officials to order the evacuation of some 20,000 people on its side of the new frontline.
Sitting alone and disoriented at the Sumy evacuation center, 80-year-old Anna was tearful as she described the intensifying artillery fire in her village of Yunakivka, near the border.
“I was about to hang myself. But God saved me,” she told AFP.
“But I don’t know what to do now,” she added, perched on a temporary bed next to the few plastic bags of belongings she had been able to bring with her.
Overseeing efforts to help those who fled, aid worker Vitaliy Kaporukhin said the Ukrainian attack — planned in secret and launched without warning — had caught border residents off guard.
“People are upset,” said Kaporukhin, who works with the aid organization, Pluriton. “They’re having to leave their homes. They’re having to leave everything behind.
“Fortunately, it’s an operation from our side, and Russian forces didn’t come here. That would have been worse.”
AFP journalists saw dozens of Ukrainian military vehicles daubed with white triangles, the insignia apparently used to identify forces involved in Kursk operation, kicking up dust on roads in the Sumy border territory.
Kyiv has been tight-lipped about the operation but a top Ukrainian official told AFP its aim was to destabilize Russia by showing up its weaknesses.
In one frontier village, servicemen who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said they had been deployed inside Russia. They described intensive Russian bombardments along the border and in the Kursk region.
Another group preparing to cross into Kursk voiced confidence they could hold ground there, citing weak Russian resistance — for now.
Ukrainian troops have carved rows of new defensive lines into the Sumy region’s landscape.
Closer to the Russian border, smoke trails from Ukrainian projectiles could be seen marking the sky above sweeping fields of bright sunflowers.
The fresh scrutiny on Sumy represents a dramatic shift for a region that, compared with other eastern regions, has been spared the brunt of more than two years of devastating fighting with Russia.
But windows covered by plywood and gutted carcases of Soviet-era buildings point to frequent and deadly aerial attacks on Sumy and the surrounding area.
Air raid sirens and explosions rang out over the city, itself just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border, at regular intervals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army stormed into the surrounding region when he ordered the invasion in February 2022, but within several weeks had been pushed by an unexpectedly resolute Ukrainian resistance.
This weekend the Ukrainian army said it was the region most heavily targeted by Russian aerial attacks, retaliatory strikes for the ongoing offensive.
“The border villages have already been wiped out,” said Tetyana, whose first regret was having to leave behind the pickles she had spent the summer preparing. “There is nothing left there.”
Despite the evacuations and the looming threat of Russian retaliation, life has seemed relatively normal in the region’s main civilian hub in recent days.
Shouting children played in a water fountain in the center of the Sumy, which had a population of around 250,000 before the war. Residents enjoyed evening meals on restaurant terraces dotting the historic center.
At the evacuation center, residents who had fled reported that Moscow had stepped up attacks, using devastating glide bombs on border areas.
Retired metal worker Mykola, who left his village of Khotyn some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Russia, admitted it had pained him to have to leave his home.
But he found some consolation from Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk.
“Let’s let them find out what it’s like,” the 70-year-old said. “They don’t understand what war is.
In this photo provided by Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, debris is seen in a street after an apparent house explosion in Harford County, Maryland, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024. AP
BEL AIR, Md. (AP) — Two people were killed and 12 families displaced after a Maryland house exploded Sunday amid reports of a possible gas leak, fire officials said.
Neighbors described feeling and hearing the early morning blast that damaged a number of surrounding houses in Bel Air, a town about about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore.
Firefighters were called to the area around 6:40 a.m. for a report of a gas leak and an outdoor odor of gas, said Oliver Alkire, a master deputy with the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Alkire said that as firefighters were approaching, they began receiving calls that the house had exploded. First responders pronounced one person dead at the scene, and a second body was later found in the rubble.
Alkire said that a home next door to the explosion was heavily damaged, and a woman in that house was treated for injuries on the scene. Two utility workers were in the area to work on a reported electrical issue, but authorities didn’t immediately say if that was related to the explosion.
The first victim found was later identified as a contractor for the utility BGE, according to a statement released by Harford County Fire and EMS.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office said late Sunday that the second body was found in the rubble of the home at the center of the blast. The person is believed to be the home’s 73-year-old owner, but positive identification was pending, according to the fire officials’ statement.
Investigators were also working to establish how many houses were damaged and how far the blast radius was. Harford County fire officials said that at least 12 families have been displaced due to damage to neighboring houses. Authorities said there was no ongoing threat to the public.
“I’ve been on the job for nearly 18 years, and this is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen,” Alkire said.
A photo posted by county officials showed several firefighters around the rubble of the home with another damaged home in the background. Charred pieces of wood were heaped on the property, and insulation and splintered wood spilled out into the street. Small pieces of debris hung from nearby trees. Later in the morning, emergency workers were seen using heavy equipment to search through the rubble.
More than 60 first responders came to the scene from multiple agencies. The state fire marshal, sheriff and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were assisting with the probe, as is standard procedure.
Lisa Czawlytko, who lives in a nearby condominium, said the explosion woke her and her three children and knocked a pet bird to the ground.
She said the roof structure on four condominium buildings buckled and sent aluminum siding from the roof down to the ground. She attended a news conference at a nearby library to ask officials if it was safe to be in the building.
She said she felt the force of the explosion.
“The whole building shook like a major earthquake,” she said in an interview.
Her 8-year-old daughter described it as scary, when her mother asked her how she felt when it happened .
“I thought a bomb dropped,” Myca said.
The blast woke up Greg Clifford from a heavy sleep inside his townhouse about a block away. He first thought that a tree had fallen on his deck, or that a lightning strike caused the loud noise.
“It just shook the whole thing,” Clifford said. “It was crazy loud.”
He also noted some damage to his home.
“The window in my bedroom is pulled away from the framing of the house,” Clifford said. “I mean, I can look straight down to my deck. My basement door — the glass — it didn’t shatter, but it blew in, and my frame’s all cracked out.”
SYDNEY, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — Up to 400 people have been evacuated after a helicopter crashed into the roof of a hotel in Australia’s Far North Queensland early Monday morning, local media reported.
It’s unknown how many people were in the helicopter, or their condition, after it crashed into the roof of the DoubleTree by Hilton on Cairns Esplanade, according to the Australian ABC News broadcaster.
KABUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — One person was confirmed dead and 11 others sustained injuries as an explosion rocked Dasht-e-Barchi area on the western edge of the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said.
“A sticky mine ripped through a mini-bus in Dasht-e-Barchi area. According to preliminary information, one person lost his life and 11 others were injured,” Zadran confirmed on his X account hours after the incident.
Security personnel reached the area and began investigation, the police officer said, without providing more details.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack.
KHARTOUM, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — At least 28 civilians were killed and 46 others injured in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State in western Sudan, on Saturday, Al-Hafiz Bakheet, the state’s acting governor, said on Sunday.
“The RSF militia resorted to new massacres after the systematic shelling of markets and civilian facilities, and storming homes of citizens and liquidating them,” he said.
According to the governor, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the joint force of the armed movements in the Darfur region had managed to repulse the RSF attack and inflicted heavy losses on them.
“El Fasher will remain resilient and steadfast and soon will be free of any rebels,” the governor said.
The RSF has not issued any comments regarding the attack.
Since May 10, fierce clashes between the SAF and the RSF have been raging in El Fasher.
Sudan has been witnessing a deadly conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 15, 2023, resulting in the loss of at least 16,650 lives. An estimated 10.7 million people are now internally displaced in Sudan, with approximately 2.2 million others seeking refuge in neighboring countries, according to recent UN data.
TEHRAN — Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that double standards implemented by the US and some other Western countries have emboldened the Israeli regime to commit crimes in Gaza and regional countries, which has endangered peace and security in West Asia and beyond.
Pezeshkian made the comment on Sunday as he spoke with European Council President Charles Michel on the phone.
The Iranian president said that his country supports peace and security for all countries across the globe, while maintaining that any move threatening peace in any part of the world should be halted.
But, he added, double standards implemented by the US and some other Western countries have emboldened the Israeli regime to commit “terror and crimes” in Gaza and regional countries, which has endangered peace and security in the region and beyond.
Pezeshkian also criticized the US for putting pressure on countries like Iran and denying them their rights, saying that such attempts by Washington are aimed at preventing a multipolar world order.
The European official, on his part, called for an immediate stop to Israeli attacks in Gaza and the establishment of a ceasefire there, saying that an independent Palestinian state should be recognized as well.
Also in their phone talk, Pezeshkian and Michel discussed, among other issues, Iran-Europe relations and explored ways to resume talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Varnava, near Athens, August 11, 2024. Michalis Karagiannis/Eurokinissi via REUTERS
VARNAVA/ATHENS, Aug 11 (Reuters) — Residents fled their homes in the village of Varnava near Athens on Sunday as fire crews struggled to contain a fast-moving wildfire fuelled by hot, windy weather that sent smoke clouds over the Greek capital.
More than 250 firefighters backed by 12 water-bombing planes and seven helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3 p.m and quickly reached the village 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens.
“The village was surrounded in no time, in no time. It’s really windy,” resident Katerina Fylaktou told Reuters. “It started from one point and suddenly the whole village was surrounded,” she said.
Authorities sent evacuation alerts for five nearby areas. By early evening, thick brown smoke hung over much of Athens and reached the island of Aegina to its south.
Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece this summer, which has recorded its hottest June and July after its warmest winter.
Like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, scientists have linked the fires to increasingly hot, dry weather driven by global climate change.
A European Commission report in April said the 2023 wildfire season in the Europe was among the worst this century. Just this month, fires burned amid extreme heat in Spain and the Balkans as well as Greece.
Greek fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said the Varnava blaze spread due to gale force winds.
Flames as high as 25 metres swallowed up trees and shrubland.
Another blaze in a forested area near the town of Megara, west of Athens, had been contained by Sunday afternoon, the fire brigade said.
Several other regions across Greece were on high alert for fire risk on Sunday and Monday.
“We are expecting a very difficult week,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, research director of the Athens Observatory.
“If the Varnava blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow,” he said.
Fire-fighting aircraft cease operations at dusk.
On Saturday, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to deal with forest fires until Aug. 15.
“Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he said.
“Half of Greece will be in the red.”
In June and July, above-normal temperatures were registered on 57 out of 61 days, Lagouvardos said. Greece is forecast to record its hottest ever summer.
PARIS, Aug 11 (Reuters) —Two people were found dead after a boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Channel from near the French port of Calais to Britain ran into difficulties early on Sunday, French authorities said.
Fifty-three other people were rescued.
Tackling illegal immigration has been a priority for both the British and French governments. Thousands have arrived in Britain this year in small, overloaded boats.
Last month, at least five migrants died while trying to cross the Channel from France.
People gather as volunteers search to retrieve the bodies of residents killed by a landslide due to heavy rainfall in a landfill known as Kiteezi that serves as garbage dumping site, in the Lusanja village, outside Kampala, Uganda August 10, 2024. REUTERS
KAMPALA, Aug 11 (Reuters) — The death toll from a landslide at a vast garbage dump in Uganda’s capital Kampala has risen to 21, police said on Sunday, as rescue workers continued to dig for survivors.
After torrential rain in recent weeks, a huge mound of garbage at the city’s only landfill site collapsed late on Friday, crushing and burying homes on the edge of the site as residents slept.
President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement he had directed the prime minister to coordinate the removal of all those living near the garbage dump.
The government has also started investigations into the landslide’s cause and will take action against any officials found to have been negligent, the Inspectorate of Government said on X.
At least 14 people have been rescued so far, police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said, adding that more could still be trapped but the number was unknown.
Tents have been set up nearby for those displaced by the landslide, the Red Cross said.
The landfill site, known as Kiteezi, has served as Kampala’s sole garbage dump for decades and had turned into a big hill. Residents have long complained of hazardous waste polluting the environment and posing a danger to residents.
Efforts by the city authority to procure a new landfill site have dragged on for years.
There have been similar tragedies elsewhere in Africa from poorly managed mountains of municipal garbage.
In 2017 at least 115 people were killed in Ethiopia, crushed by a garbage landslide in Addis Ababa. In Mozambique, at least 17 people died in a similar 2018 disaster in Maputo.
JERUSALEM, Sunday, August 11, 2024 (WAFA) — The Israeli occupation forces deported two journalists from the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
Journalist Ahmad Jalajel said that the occupation forces stopped him along with journalist Rose Al-Zaro while they were working in the Old City for several hours, and interrogated them, before handing them a decision to deport them from the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week, subject to renewal.
