RAMALLAH – The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 48,339, the majority of whom are women and children, since the start of the Israeli genocide in October 2023, medical sources announced today.
According to the same sources, the number of injuries has climbed to 111,753, while thousands remain trapped under the rubble as rescue efforts continue to face significant obstacles.
Over the past 24 hours, 10 more casualties were brought to hospitals across Gaza, whose bodies were recovered from beneath the debris. Medical teams have warned that many victims remain under collapsed buildings and on the streets, with emergency responders struggling to reach them due to the lack of equipment necessary for debris removal and retrieval of victims.
MADRID – Spanish police have smashed a human trafficking ring that lured more than 1,000 women to the country over the past year with false job offers before forcing them into sex work, police said on Sunday.
The women, who were mainly from Venezuela and Colombia, were told they would be working in the beauty or cleaning sectors, Spain’s National Police said in a statement.
“On arrival in Spain they were transferred to clubs where they were sexually exploited and forced to work all hours,” police said.
The women were only allowed out for two hours per day and were kept under video surveillance.
Three alleged ring leaders – two Colombian women and a Spaniard – were among 48 suspects arrested in raids in Alicante and Murcia, in southeastern Spain, and three strip clubs were closed as part of the operation.
Police also seized more than 150,000 euros ($157,000) in cash, blocked bank accounts containing 938,000 euros ($980,960) and seized 17 properties.
Six of the suspects were held in pre-trial detention, police said. The others were released on bail to face trial at a later date. ($1 = 0.9562 euros)
BEIRUT – Israel launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, despite an ongoing ceasefire that ended months of conflicts with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
At around 9:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike on the outskirts of Ansar, a village in Nabatieh Governorate, and conducted two airstrikes on the area between the towns of Qlayleh and Al-Sama’iya, as well as the valley near the village of Maaroub in Tyre District, according to the NNA.
Israeli warplanes also hit targets in Saida District in southern Lebanon, according to the NNA.
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon has been in effect since Nov. 27, 2024, ending more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which escalated following the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Although the agreement stipulated the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, Israel has maintained its presence in five key positions along the Lebanese border beyond the Feb. 18 deadline.
GAZA – Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Sunday condemned Israel’s decision to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners, calling it a deliberate attempt to evade its commitments under the agreed-upon deal.
In a press statement, al-Rishq dismissed Israel’s claim that the handover ceremony of Israeli hostages was humiliating, describing it as “a false claim and a flimsy pretext aimed at shirking its obligations.”
Al-Rishq further accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of intentionally disrupting the agreement, citing it as evidence of “Israel’s lack of reliability in fulfilling its commitments.”
He urged mediators and the international community to exert immediate pressure on Israel to ensure the agreement’s implementation and the prompt release of prisoners.
The Israeli government had postponed the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners, originally scheduled for Saturday, following Hamas’ release of six Israeli hostages as part of the seventh batch of the hostage-prisoner exchange under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
NAIROBI – At least 20 Kenyan fishermen were killed Saturday night by suspected Ethiopian militiamen in the Todonyang border area along Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya, government officials and witnesses confirmed Sunday.
The heavily armed militia from the Dassanech tribe in Ethiopia raided areas along the Kenya-Ethiopia border near the Omo River, spraying bullets indiscriminately at victims fishing during the attack that has since heightened tensions along the border between the two countries.
Turkana County Commissioner Julius Kavita confirmed the attack but could not establish the number of deaths.
“Yes, there was an attack. We have been told some people have lost lives, and we are rushing to ascertain facts from the ground before we make it public,” Kavita told Xinhua by telephone.
A local police reservist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he counted 20 bodies at the scene after responding to the attack.
“The bodies are littered along the Lake. Some other fishermen are also missing,” the reservist told Xinhua.
He said the incident is linked to a retaliatory attack after suspected Turkana bandits from Kenya shot dead three Dassanech fishermen from Ethiopia near the Omo River on Saturday morning.
Survivors said five boats used by Kenyan fishermen on a fishing expedition were attacked when the Dassanech tribesmen ambushed the Turkana fishermen.
“After the attack, the militia seized the boats and fishing gear and escaped to the Ethiopian side,” said Eric Ekal, a fisherman who survived the attack.
Kenyan marine security officers deployed to patrol Lake Turkana said darkness hampered the operation to pursue the attackers and recover the stolen boats and fishing gear.
Todonyang is one of the fertile fishing grounds along the border between the two countries, but remains a battleground for Kenyan and Ethiopian fishermen.
ZURICH, Feb 23 – Swiss police have arrested a 28-year-old Australian man suspected of stabbing and seriously injuring a 41-year-old man in a shop in central Zurich, authorities said.
The motive for the attack on Saturday is still under investigation, police said in a statement. The Australian was arrested at the scene and the victim taken to hospital.
Police declined to give further details on the identity of the victim and the perpetrator.
Prosecutors could provide more information on Monday, a police spokesperson said.
A number of stabbings have caused alarm in Europe in recent days, with an Algerian man arrested on Saturday in Mulhouse, France over a deadly knife attack, while a Syrian refugee was detained over a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.
On Thursday, a teenaged attacker killed two women with a knife in a shopping centre in the Czech city of Hradec Kralove.
Last Saturday, a Syrian asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of going on a stabbing rampage in southern Austria.
KANO – Fourteen people were killed on Saturday when a bus collided with a petrol tanker in central Nigerian Niger state, a road safety official told AFP Sunday.
The passenger bus rammed into the on-coming petrol tanker as the driver tried to overtake another bus outside Kusobogi village, 80 km from the state capital Minna, Kumar Tsukwan, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger state, said.
“Fourteen people died in the head-on collision while six others were injured and taken to hospital for medical attention,” Tsukwan said.
He blamed “speeding and wrongful overtaking” by the bus driver for the accident.
The bus was heading to the northern city of Kaduna from the Nigerian economic capital Lagos, Tsukwan said.
Road accidents are common on Nigeria’s poorly maintained roads due largely to speeding and disregard to traffic rules.
Last week 23 people died when a truck laden with goods and passengers overturned in northern city of Kano.
Last year Nigeria recorded 9,570 road accidents which resulted in 5,421 deaths, according FRSC data.
JERUSALEM – Israel announced early Sunday that it had postponed the release of Palestinian detainees, who were set to be freed Saturday under the ceasefire agreement until more hostages are released.
Israel was expected to release about 620 Palestinian detainees on Saturday after Hamas freed six hostages earlier in the day. The six were the final batch of living hostages scheduled to be released in the first phase of the three-phase deal.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that it had been decided to delay the release of Palestinian detainees scheduled for Saturday “until the release of the next hostages is secured, without the disgraceful ceremonies.”
The decision followed what the statement described as “Hamas’ repeated violations, including the disgraceful (hostage release) ceremonies that dishonor our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes.”
Both Hamas and Israel have been accused of using captives for propaganda, with Hamas parading hostages on stage and Israel attaching derogatory inscriptions to bracelets and T-shirts worn by Palestinian prisoners and photographing them in demeaning poses.
A total of 63 hostages remain in Gaza, with more than half presumed dead, according to Israeli data.
JERUSALEM – Hamas freed five hostages and was set to release one more from Gaza on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, after Israel confirmed that a body handed over hours earlier was that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, masked Hamas militants brought onto a stage Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23.
Cohen, Shem Tov, and Wenkert, all seized from the site of the Nova music festival in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, were handed over to the Red Cross to be transported to Israeli forces.
Dozens of masked militants stood guard in a crowd that had gathered to watch the handover, as Hamas men armed with automatic rifles stood on each side of the three hostages, who appeared thin and pale, as they were made to wave from the stage.
Tal Shoham, 40 and Avera Mengistu, 39, were released in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier.
A sixth hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was expected to be released in Gaza City.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been held by Hamas since they entered Gaza of their own accord around a decade ago.
Shoham was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri along with his wife and two children, who were freed in a brief truce in November 2023.
LIMA – At least three people are dead and around 74 injured after the roof of a food court at a busy shopping center collapsed in northern Peru, authorities said Friday.
“So far we have three deceased, two men and a woman,” fire department Commander Gelqui Gomez said on America TV.
The number injured had risen to 74, said local government health official Anibal Morillo, after the health ministry earlier reported 20 injured.
“We have evacuated 74 injured to hospitals and clinics, 10 of whom are children. There are 11 seriously injured,” Morillo told RPP radio.
Dozens of families were in the food court of the shopping mall when the roof collapsed, according to local media reports.
The collapse occurred at the Real Plaza shopping complex in Trujillo, the country’s third largest city, located about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the capital Lima.
The search for survivors was ongoing, with more than a hundred firefighters and police officers searching through the debris.
“There is a child trapped” under the roof’s metal structures, Morillo told broadcaster Panamericana.
Interior Minister Juan Jose Santivanez estimated the collapsed roof area was 700 to 800 square meters.
“We need hydraulic cranes to lift part of the roof that has not yet been removed because it is so heavy and to continue rescue operations for those who may be trapped,” the minister told Canal N television channel.
According to the Regional Emergency Operations Center, the collapse occurred at 8:41 pm, but was only reported about half an hour later.
LIMA – Sekurang-kurangnya tiga maut dan kira-kira 74 cedera selepas bumbung medan selera di pusat beli-belah yang sibuk runtuh di utara Peru, kata pihak berkuasa pada Jumaat.
“Setakat ini kami mempunyai tiga orang mati, dua lelaki dan seorang wanita,” kata Komander jabatan bomba Gelqui Gomez di America TV.
Jumlah yang cedera meningkat kepada 74, kata pegawai kesihatan kerajaan tempatan Anibal Morillo, selepas kementerian kesihatan sebelum ini melaporkan 20 cedera.
“Kami telah memindahkan 74 yang cedera ke hospital dan klinik, 10 daripadanya adalah kanak-kanak. Terdapat 11 cedera parah,” kata Morillo kepada radio RPP.
Berpuluh-puluh keluarga berada di medan selera pusat beli-belah itu apabila bumbung runtuh, menurut laporan media tempatan.
Runtuhan berlaku di kompleks beli-belah Real Plaza di Trujillo, bandar ketiga terbesar di negara itu, terletak kira-kira 500 kilometer (310 batu) di utara ibu kota Lima.
Pencarian mangsa yang terselamat sedang dijalankan, dengan lebih seratus anggota bomba dan pegawai polis mencari melalui serpihan.
“Ada kanak-kanak terperangkap” di bawah struktur logam bumbung, kata Morillo kepada penyiar Panamericana.
Menteri Dalam Negeri Juan Jose Santivanez menganggarkan kawasan bumbung yang runtuh adalah 700 hingga 800 meter persegi.
“Kami memerlukan kren hidraulik untuk mengangkat sebahagian bumbung yang masih belum dialihkan kerana ia sangat berat dan untuk meneruskan operasi menyelamat bagi mereka yang mungkin terperangkap,” kata menteri itu kepada saluran televisyen Canal N.
Menurut Pusat Operasi Kecemasan Wilayah, runtuhan berlaku pada 8:41 malam, tetapi hanya dilaporkan kira-kira setengah jam kemudian.
A person walks near pictures of Ariel Bibas, Shiri Bibas and Kfir Bibas, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in Jerusalem, February 19, 2025. REUTERS
JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Feb 21 – Hamas released a body on Friday it claimed to be that of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, whose misidentification in a handover this week threatened to derail the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israeli medical authorities said forensic teams were preparing to examine the body, which Hamas transferred via the Red Cross, and confirm its identity. The Palestinian militant group had agreed to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel along with the remains of a fourth hostage on Thursday under the ceasefire that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month.
Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the other hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed.
But Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said “unfortunate mistakes” could occur, especially as Israeli bombing had mixed the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians, thousands of whom were still buried in the rubble.
“We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign,” he said in a statement.
The failure to hand over the correct body and the staged public handover of the four coffins on Thursday caused outrage in Israel and drew a threat of retaliation from Netanyahu.
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he said in a video statement.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the children and their mother had been killed in an Israeli air strike. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Netanyahu “bears full responsibility for killing her and her children.”
But the Israeli military said intelligence assessments and forensic analysis of the bodies of the Bibas children indicated that they were deliberately killed by their captors. Chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the boys were killed by the militants “with their bare hands”, but gave no details.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said it had no information of its own on the hostage deaths and called for an effective investigation into the causes.
“The return of the remains of the deceased is a basic humanitarian goal,” the office said.
The incident underscored the fragility of the ceasefire agreement reached with U.S. backing and with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators last month.
SATURDAY EXCHANGE
Six living hostages were due for release on Saturday in exchange for 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, according to Hamas, and the start of negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire was expected in the coming days.
“Hamas must return the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire – the living and the deceased,” Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said in a statement on social media platform X. “They have to bring Shiri back, and they have to release the 6 living hostages expected tomorrow.”
Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had been officially informed of the names of the six hostages to be released, which Hamas sources said was expected at around 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT).
As the tension over the Gaza ceasefire rose, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify operations in another Palestinian territory, the occupied West Bank, after a number of explosions blew up buses standing empty in their depots near Tel Aviv.
No casualties were reported but the explosions were a reminder of the campaign of suicide attacks on public transport that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
‘THEY MAKE A JOKE OF US’
Both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused the other of ceasefire violations, with Hamas threatening to delay the release of hostages over what it said was Israel’s refusal to allow housing materials and other aid into Gaza, a charge Israel denied.
The Red Cross told Reuters it was “concerned and unsatisfied” that the handover of the bodies had not been conducted privately and in a dignified manner.
“It’s like they make a joke of us,” said 75-year-old Israeli Ilana Caspi. “We are so in grief and this is even more.”
One of the main groups representing hostage families said it was “horrified and devastated” by the news that Shiri Bibas’ body had not been returned, but called for the ceasefire to continue to bring back all 70 hostages still in Gaza.
“Save them from this nightmare,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Despite the outrage over Shiri Bibas, there was no indication that Israel would not take part in talks over a second phase of the ceasefire deal.
The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Israeli negotiators were considering seeking an extension of the 42-day ceasefire, to delay moving to a second phase, which would involve talks over hard-to-resolve issues including an end to the war and the future of Hamas in Gaza.
GENEVA – As Ukraine approaches the fourth year of the war, the UN humanitarian office stressed Friday that the humanitarian needs “remain acute” in the country.
“Going into the fourth year of the war, the humanitarian needs remain acute. Every single day, civilians are being killed and injured, homes and schools destroyed, and livelihoods shattered,” Matthias Schmale, the UN’s assistant secretary-general, resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, told a UN briefing in Geneva.
Underlining that 12.7 million people — 36% of the population — require urgent humanitarian aid in 2025, he warned of worsening conditions due to harsh winter weather and ongoing attacks on key infrastructure.
“Winter makes everything more dangerous. Attacks on energy infrastructure risk leaving hospitals and homes without electricity and heating during the coldest months,” he said.
He also outlined four main priorities for 2025.
First, delivering aid to front-line regions, where civilians endure daily bombardments, food shortages, and a lack of health care, he stated.
Second, he said, managing evacuations from war zones, particularly for older people and those with disabilities as many struggle to access transport or medical care.
Supporting emergency response teams dealing with attacks on civilian infrastructure and ensuring long-term solutions for internally displaced people in what he called “the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II” are among the remaining priorities, according to Schmale.
Schmale stressed the need for continued global support, warning that Ukraine’s crisis risks being overlooked.
The UN requires $2.6 billion in 2025 to assist six million people. “Every contribution matters,” he said.
Most schools in South Sudan have makeshift structures made with iron sheets and do not have electricity that could power cooling systems. (AFP file photo)
JUBA, South Sudan – South Sudan on Thursday announced the closure of all schools for two weeks due to an ongoing extreme heatwave that has caused some students to collapse.
This is the second time the country – which faces extreme effects from climate change, including flooding during the rainy season – has closed schools during a heatwave in February and March.
Deputy Education Minister Martin Tako Moi said Thursday “an average of 12 students had been collapsing in Juba city every day.”
Most schools in South Sudan have makeshift structures made with iron sheets and do not have electricity that could power cooling systems.
Environment Minister Josephine Napwon Cosmos on Thursday urged residents to stay indoors and drink water as temperatures were expected to rise as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Napwon proposed that government employees “work in shifts” to avoid heat strokes.
Education workers have urged the government to consider amending the school calendar so that schools close in February and resume in April when the temperatures decline.
Abraham Kuol Nyuon, the dean of the Graduate College at the University of Juba, told The Associated Press that the calendar should be localized based on the weather in the 10 states.
A civil society group, Integrity South Sudan, blamed the government for a lack of proper planning and contingency plans, saying that closing schools during heatwaves shows a “failure to prioritize the education of South Sudan’s children.”
The country’s health system is fragile due to political instability.
Nearly 400,000 people were killed between 2013 and 2018 when a peace agreement was signed by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-deputy, Riek Machar.
South Sudan’s elections, scheduled for last year, were postponed for two years due to a lack of funds.
The country has been facing an economic crisis due to an interruption of oil exports after a major pipeline was raptured in neighboring war-torn Sudan. The pipeline was later repaired.
Volcanic steam and ashes rise from Mount Etna, Italy, Feb. 12, 2025. (Reuters)
ROME – Tourists climbing Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano at night in sneakers and light clothing to get a close-up view of an ongoing eruption may be risking their lives, rescuers warned on Friday.
Europe’s highest and most active volcano erupted in spectacular fashion last week, lighting up the night sky with explosions and bright red molten lava.
“We had a number of people who got lost and could not find their way back because of the fog that suddenly appeared.
Spending a night out at these temperatures can be very risky,” Leonardo La Pica, regional president of the Sicilian Alpine Speleological Rescue Service, said on Friday.
Speaking to broadcaster Radio24, La Pica said that the lava flow had reached more accessible areas than usual, at around 1850 meters above sea level.
That has prompted many tourists to venture out at night when the flare is more scenic.
But some do not go properly equipped and often get too close to the lava, he said, with the risk of being hit by pieces of rock thrown out by the explosions.
“The ground is impervious, with ice and snow, it is cold and the weather can change abruptly,” La Pica added.
ISTANBUL – A snowstorm has battered Istanbul since Thursday, disrupting daily life, causing delays in air, sea, and land transportation, and forcing schools to close for a second day.
The storm brought a significant drop in temperature and heavy snowfall, peaking on Friday.
Disruptions were reported at Istanbul’s two major airports, namely Istanbul Airport on the European side and Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the Asian side.
Snow-covered runways caused some flights to circle in the air, with some aircraft reporting fuel emergencies.
Sabiha Gokcen Airport authorities said 45 percent of Friday’s flights were canceled, along with 30 percent on Saturday and 10 percent on Sunday. Turkish Airlines also reported cancellations at both Sabiha Gokcen and Istanbul Airports.
Local media reported minor accidents on icy roads, while ferry services experienced cancellations and delays.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul announced that all educational institutions in the city would remain closed on Friday. Motorcycle vehicles and couriers were also banned from traffic from Friday midnight until further notice.
The Istanbul Disaster Response Plan is in operation across all 39 districts, with efforts to salt roads and clear snow-covered areas ongoing, Gul said.
The Istanbul Governor’s Office said over 1,000 homeless people had been placed in shelters.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu urged citizens to avoid driving, use public transport, or refrain from going outside unless absolutely necessary.
Authorities forecast the snowstorm will last until Monday morning, with temperatures fluctuating below zero at night.
MOSCOW – Eight Russian citizens have been jailed for carrying out arson attacks and planning terrorist acts orchestrated by Ukrainian special services, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Friday.
They “carried out arson attacks on transport infrastructure facilities and volunteer organizations” and planned to commit terrorist acts on military deployment sites on orders from Ukrainian special services, FSB said in a statement.
The eight people received sentences from 16 to 22 years on treason and terrorism charges, it added.
COLOMBO – Two people were killed in a wild elephant attack in Aralaganwila in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province on Thursday night, local media reported on Friday, citing police.
The victims were identified as a 72-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman from the same family.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with a severe human-elephant conflict for years. Between 2015 and 2024, 3,477 wild elephants and 1,190 people have died as a result of the crisis, Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi told the parliament earlier this month.
The North Central Province has recorded the highest number of human-elephant conflict incidents in the country. Of the province’s 29 Divisional Secretariat Divisions, 27 have seen a sharp rise in such conflicts in recent years.
JERUSALEM – Israel said on Thursday that forensic analysis had confirmed that the body it received from Hamas was not that of hostage Shiri Bibas, whose remains were supposed to be handed over along with those of her two children and another Israeli man earlier in the day.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the identification process conducted by the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine revealed that the body was not that of any known hostage. “This is an anonymous and unidentified body,” it said.
The military accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire agreement by failing to return the remains of four hostages.
The remains of Bibas’ two sons were identified. Ariel was four years old when he was killed, and Kfir Bibas was 10 months old.
The military said that “based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.”
The children were kidnapped alongside their mother from their home in kibbutz Nir Oz. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately but was released under the ceasefire agreement on Feb. 1.
Besides, the body of another hostage, Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist and peace activist, was identified earlier on Thursday.
SYDNEY – Authorities in the Australian state of Queensland have reported a fifth death from melioidosis linked to heavy rainfall.
An elderly person from the city of Townsville, over 1,000 km northwest of Brisbane, has become the fifth person in the state’s tropical northern region to die of melioidosis in the current wet season, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) quoted Queensland Health as saying on Friday.
Melioidosis is a rare tropical disease associated with the wet season that is spread through contact with contaminated water, soil and air.
Townsville and its surrounding regions were hit by catastrophic damaging flooding earlier in February.
Queensland Health on Feb. 12 said that there had been two deaths from melioidosis in the state’s far north since the start of the wet season in November.
On Wednesday it confirmed two more deaths, both in the city of Cairns north of Townsville, and reported that there had been 41 cases of melioidosis since Jan. 1.
Steven Donohue, director of the Townsville Public Health Unit, said on Friday that more than 20 cases have been recorded in the local area in February.
He told the ABC that people cleaning up from the floods should wear boots, long pants and long sleeves and wear a mask when using hoses.
JERUSALEM – Israeli police on Thursday reported a series of explosions on buses in central Israel in what they said appeared to be a militant attack. No injuries were reported.
Police spokesman Asi Aharoni told Channel 13 TV that explosives were found on two other buses. He called on the public to be alert and report any suspicious objects to authorities.
The explosions took place just hours after Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza — the first of eight hostages that Israel believes are dead and to be returned during the current phase of the ceasefire.
Police rushed forces to the scene in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, as they searched for suspects. Police spokesman Haim Sargrof says drivers have scanned all buses and trains, and those scans are complete.
“We need to determine if a single suspect placed explosives on a number of buses, or if there were multiple suspects,” he said.
Tzvika Brot, mayor of Bat Yam, said it was a miracle that no one was hurt. He said the buses had finished their routes and were in a parking lot. He said one of the unexploded bombs was being defused in the nearby town of Holon.
Sargrof said the explosives matched explosives used in the West Bank, but he declined to elaborate.
Israel has repeatedly carried out army raids on suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. As part of that crackdown, it has greatly restricted entry into Israel for Palestinians from the occupied territory.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Jan. 19, Israel has been conducting a broad military offensive against Palestinian militants in the West Bank. In the past, militants have entered Israel and carried out shootings and bombings in Israeli cities.
BEIRUT – Israel said Friday it struck crossings on the Lebanon-Syria border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, with a Syria war monitor reporting an unspecified number of people wounded in the attack.
The Israeli military said its air forces “struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border” used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group “in attempts to smuggle weapons into Lebanese territory.”
“These activities constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the statement added.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been in place since November 27, after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war. Both sides have accused the other of violating the deal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the overnight strikes put an “illegal crossing” near Lebanon’s frontier town of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria’s Homs province, “out of service” and wounded a number of people.
The raids came “after a convoy of smugglers’ vehicles was observed headed from Syria toward Lebanon,” added the Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman reported “heavy material damage to buildings and vehicles.”
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported “enemy aircraft flying at low altitude over the city of Hermel” and villages in the Bekaa Valley in the country’s northeast near the Syrian border.
Under the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in south Lebanon alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to February 18.
Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel announced just before the latest deadline that it would temporarily keep troops in “five strategic points” near the border.
Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it carried out an air strike targeting a tunnel on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
In January, Israel carried out air strikes in Lebanon targeting areas in the east and south according to Lebanese state media, with the Israeli military saying it hit Hezbollah targets including smuggling routes along the border with Syria.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation.
Hezbollah lost a supply route when opposition forces in December ousted Bashar Assad in Syria, where Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes since war broke out in 2011.
Hezbollah holds sway in large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border region, and had fought alongside Assad’s troops during the war.
BEIRUT – Seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed Thursday when leftover munitions exploded inside a house in northwest Syrian Arab Republic, a war monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deadly blast a day after another organization said two-thirds of Syrians risked being killed or wounded by unexploded ordnance.
“Seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed when leftover munitions stored inside a house” in Idlib province exploded, said the Observatory, adding the toll was provisional.
An AFP correspondent saw civil defense personnel working to remove rubble and pull victims from the destroyed house.
Mohammed Ibrahim, from the civil defense in Idlib, said they received a report “of an explosion of unknown provenance in Nayrab, and when teams headed to the site, they found unexploded ordnance.”
Syria’s conflict has killed more than half a million people and forced millions from their homes since erupting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Non-governmental organization Humanity and Inclusion said Wednesday that of the around one million munitions that have landed or been planted across Syria since then, experts estimate that 100,000 to 300,000 had never detonated.
It’s “an absolute disaster,” said HI’s Syria program director Danila Zizi, noting “more than 15 million people (are) at risk” out of the country’s estimated population of some 23 million.
As hundreds of thousands of Syrians return to their homes after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December, “urgent action is needed to mitigate the risk of accident,” HI said.
HRADEE KRALOVE, Czech Republic – A 16-year-old boy killed two women in a knife attack at a discount shop in the Czech Republic on Thursday, police said, adding the motive remained unclear.
Police arrested the teenager, a Czech national, minutes after the attack at an Action branch on the outskirts of Hradec Kralove, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Prague.
“Both of those attacked suffered injuries which were so serious that they could not be saved despite all efforts of the rescuers,” police said on X.
Police spokeswoman Iva Kormosova said the teenager attacked a shop assistant at the counter and another worker in a service area of the store.
The attacker’s motive was unclear but that there was nothing to indicate a terror attack, police said. “The information we have for now seems to suggest he chose the victims randomly,” they added.
Rescuers received the first call about 0730 GMT, half an hour after the shop had opened.
“When we arrived, we found two people stabbed,” Anatolij Truhlar, head doctor of the local air rescue service, told the private CNN Prima News TV channel.
“Unfortunately, despite 40 minutes of resuscitation efforts, both persons died,” he added. Police were deployed outside the Action discount store where a lone candle flickered, and a part of an adjacent car park was closed with police tape until Thursday afternoon.
“I think you’re not safe anywhere, given what’s going on around us,” passer-by Adela Ptackova told AFP.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed condolences to the families of the victims, calling the murders “an incomprehensible, horrendous act.”
Terror attacks are rare in the Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.9 million people, but in 2023 a student killed 14 people and wounded 25 in a shooting rampage at a Prague university.
The Czech Republic’s southern neighbor Austria is reeling from the murder of a teenager in a knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker in the city of Villach at the weekend.
