Indian security force personnel patrol near the site of a gun battle with suspected militants in a forest area in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, March 28, 2025. REUTERS
SRINAGAR – At least four police personnel and two militants were killed in a gun battle in India’s restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said on Friday, as troops searched for heavily armed men who local residents had spotted in the area on Sunday.
Militants have for decades fought security forces in the region, known for its scenic lakes, lush meadows, and snow-topped mountains, resulting in the death of thousands of people, though violence has tapered off in recent years.
Government data show 14 security personnel were killed in such violence in the first half of 2024, and 30 died in 2023.
Kashmir has also been at the heart of over 70 years of hostility between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in full but rule it in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
The encounter this week took place in a forested part of the Kathua area, near India’s border with Pakistan, where the men were spotted last week.
“We have recovered bodies of three police men and have also spotted the body of another cop and two militants lying in the forest,” the official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters.
Arms and ammunition, including two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, empty shells and some magazines of assault rifles were also recovered from the area, the official said.
Police and the army are yet to reveal the number of those killed in the operation, but the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, said in a post on X that “several terrorists” had been “neutralised” in the encounter.
“I bow to the valorous martyrs of J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) Police, who laid down their lives for our motherland…Operation in progress,” he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had, in 2019, revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir – India’s only Muslim-majority region – and split it into two federally administered territories.
“No power in the world” could restore the region’s special status, Modi said in November.
Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs following Israeli strike after issuing an evacuation warning for the area, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, March 28, 2025. REUTERS
Israel’s air force conducted a large strike on a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Friday, a Reuters reporter said, the first heavy bombardment there since a truce deal in November ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel’s military said it hit a drone storage facility in the area belonging to Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
The strike, which was heard across Beirut and produced a large column of black smoke, followed an evacuation order by the Israeli military for the neighbourhood and three smaller targeted drone strikes on the building intended as warning shots, security sources told Reuters.
The evacuation order sent residents of the area into a panic, rushing to escape on foot as traffic clogged the streets out of the area, Reuters reporters in the area said.
Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh, were pounded last year by Israeli strikes that killed many of the group’s top leaders, including its powerful chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a September air attack.
A U.S.-brokered truce in November put an end to the fighting and mandated that southern Lebanon be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, that Lebanese troops deploy to the area and that Israeli ground troops withdraw from the zone.
But the truce has been shaken over the last week by two cases of outgoing fire from southern Lebanon – several rockets fired on March 22 and another set fired on Friday morning.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Lebanese government bore direct responsibility for the attack and said that as long as there was no peace in Galilee “there will be no peace in Beirut either.”
Israeli ministers have vowed to ensure that the tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated their homes in border areas when Hezbollah began bombarding the area in 2023 would be able to return safely.
But with more Israeli units deployed around Gaza, where a separate ceasefire has also broken down, it remained unclear whether Israel was prepared for any wider intervention.
Hezbollah denied links to either attack. No other group has claimed responsibility.
But Israel’s statement confirming its raid on Dahiyeh said that the Friday morning rocket fire “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
It added that the Lebanese state bears responsibility for upholding the agreement.
Israel also bombarded Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Friday after intercepting the incoming rocket fire, the Israeli military said.
Israel has vowed a strong response to any threats to its security, prompting fears that last year’s conflict – which displaced more than 1.3 million people in Lebanon and destroyed much of the country’s south – could resume.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in Paris to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, said in a written statement from France that the onus was on the international community to “put an end to these attacks and force Israel to abide by the agreement, just as Lebanon is committed to it.”
KUNMING – Two people were reported injured in southwest China’s Yunnan Province after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar Friday, according to the provincial earthquake agency.
Many residents in the provincial capital of Kunming, some 776 km from the China-Myanmar border, went or stayed outdoors to escape danger upon feeling the quake tremor.
Strong tremors were felt in several prefectures and cities across Yunnan, including Xishuangbanna, Baoshan, Dehong and Pu’er, local sources told Xinhua.
Ceiling lamps were seen swaying and windows trembling in residents’ homes, and flower pots fell from their balconies in Tengchong and Ruili. The injured people were in Ruili.
A total of 646 rescuers and 14 dogs of the provincial fire and rescue authority have been mobilized for rescue operations.
As of 3:30 p.m., local traffic, telecommunication, and internet services functioned normally.
ANKARA – Six people were killed and three others injured on Friday in a head-on collision between two cars in the Haymana district of Ankara Province, local Ihlas News Agency reported.
The accident occurred in the Karahoca area, the report said. Emergency teams, including police, gendarmerie, medical personnel, and firefighters, were dispatched to the scene.
Among the dead were a 6-year-old child and a 9-month-old baby. Authorities have identified all victims. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.
Traffic accidents have claimed 2,713 lives across Türkiye in 2024, according to the General Directorate of Security. The highest number of accidents occurred in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, with Istanbul alone recording 97,354 incidents.
Speeding was identified as the leading cause of fatal crashes last year.
WASHINGTON – US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday many of the judges who have recently ruled against the administration of President Donald Trump need to be removed.
“These judges obviously cannot be impartial. They cannot be objective,” Bondi said during an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” show.
“They are district judges trying to control our entire country, our entire country, and they are trying to obstruct Donald Trump’s agenda.”
LA PAZ, March 27 – Five people were killed and two others injured after a mine collapsed in the Bolivian province of Larecaja, the western department of La Paz, police said Thursday.
The collapse occurred on Wednesday night at the mine about 149 kilometers from the city of La Paz, said the local police commander, Colonel Gunther Agudo.
Medical staff stand in the area where five people were wounded during a stabbing attack near the central Dam Square in Amsterdam, Mar. 27, 2025. (AFP)
AMSTERDAM – A knife-wielding assailant in Amsterdam seriously wounded five people — including two from the United States, one from Belgium and one from Poland — in a stabbing attack Thursday on a busy shopping street, Dutch police said.
The attack lasted several minutes before the assailant was stopped by a passerby near the city’s Dam Square in the late afternoon. Police cordoned off the area and several ambulances and a trauma helicopter were called to the scene.
Authorities said in a statement that no motive had been established for the attack, but that police were considering a scenario where the man targeted victims at random.
The victims were identified as a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year old man from the United States, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, a 26-year-old man from Poland and a 19-year old Dutch woman from Amsterdam.
“The police investigation is in full swing and has full priority at the moment. We hope to soon get more clarity about the background of this horrible stabbing,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and loved ones.”
The assailant was injured when he was overpowered by a bystander.
“The suspect was detained with the help of a civilian,” police spokesperson Eline Roovers told The Associated Press.
Last year, the city experienced several stabbings attributed to people with mental health issues. Amsterdam set up a hotline last month for residents to report concerns about irrational behavior. The reporting mechanism was recommended after an investigation showed that a man was stabbed to death by his neighbor.
AMSTERDAM, March 27 – A man stabbed at least four people and was arrested near Amsterdam’s central Dam square on Thursday, Dutch police said.
“The suspect was overpowered with the help of a citizen … As his leg was injured, he was taken to a hospital,” police said in a post on social media platform X.
They said they had no further information on the condition of the victims. The motive of the assailant was unclear and remained under investigation, police added.
This contributed photo shows Rumeysa Ozturk on an apple-picking trip in 2021. (AP)
BOSTON – A lawyer for a Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained by US Department of Homeland Security agents filed an emergency motion Thursday requesting that the government produce her.
The request was made a day after Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was stopped by masked federal agents after she left her home in Somerville, Massachusetts. A federal judge presiding over her case ordered lawyers representing the government to respond to the motion Thursday morning.
Video obtained by The Associated Press appears to show six people, their faces covered, taking away Ozturk’s phone as she yells and is handcuffed on Wednesday.
“We’re the police,” members of the group are heard saying in the video.
A bystander is heard asking, “Why are you hiding your faces?” US District Judge Indira Talwani initially issued an order giving the government until Friday to answer why Ozturk was being detained.
Talwani also ordered that Ozturk not be moved outside the District of Massachusetts without 48 hours advance notice.
The US Immigration and Custom Enforcement said Thursday that Ozturk was being held at a detention center in Basile, Louisiana, and has spoken to her lawyer. A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson also confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her visa.
“DHS and (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans. A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is common sense security,” the spokesperson told the AP.
The DHS did not provide examples of Ozturk’s support of Hamas, which is designated by the US government as a terrorist organization.
The arrest appears to be part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport students who, he said, engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity,” applying it broadly to those who criticize Israel and protest its military campaign in Gaza.
Hamas’ invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
Hundreds of people gather in Somerville, on Mar. 26, 2025, to demand the release of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night. (AP)
Ozturk, who is Muslim, was meeting friends for iftar, a meal that breaks a fast at sunset during Ramadan, her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai said. She said no charges have been filed against Ozturk.
“We are in touch with local, state, and federal elected officials and hope that Rumeysa is provided the opportunity to avail herself of her due process rights,” Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said in a statement Wednesday night. “The university is actively working to support the Tufts community as it mobilizes its collective resources and contacts to ensure our students’ safety and wellbeing.”
Ozturk was one of four students last March who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily criticizing the university’s response to student demands that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
After the op-ed was published, Ozturk’s name, photograph and work history were published on the website Canary Mission, a website that describes itself as documenting people who “promote hatred of the USA., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.”
Friends of Ozturk’s say she did not play a prominent role in campus protests that erupted last spring against the Israel’s military in Gaza.
“There’s a very important distinction between writing a letter supporting the student senate and taking the kind of action they’re accusing her of, which I’ve seen no evidence of,” said Jennifer Hoyden, a friend and former classmate of Ozturk’s at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
“She came to this country seeking to expand her knowledge and contribute to a peaceful society,” Hoyden added. “I cannot stress enough how peaceful and kind and gentle she is as a human being.”
ISTANBUL – A fire at a closed ski resort hotel in northwestern Türkiye earlier Thursday killed four people, including a champion skier and his instructor father, two months after a major ski resort fire killed 78 in the country.
According to a statement by the Bursa Governor’s Office, the incident, which occurred in the Uludag ski resort in Bursa province around 5:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT), killed Yahya Usta, President of the Turkish Ski and Snowboard Instructors Association, his 24-year-old son Berkin Usta, a national skier and World Alpine Champion, and two staff members of the hotel.
The office said 12 staff members were inside the hotel when the fire broke out, two of whom were killed, and one was in critical condition.
The Turkish Ski Federation issued a condolence message and stated that Yahya Usta’s wife was injured.
Multiple media reports said that the fire, which started in the cafe-restaurant section of the hotel, quickly spread to all floors and engulfed the entire building.
Earlier in the day, Bursa Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said in a live broadcast on NTV that preliminary reports indicated four people were inside the hotel during the fire.
One of them was killed, and three others, reportedly a ski instructor, his wife and their son, were affected by the thick smoke and later taken to the hospital in an unconscious state, said Bozbey.
The hotel had been closed and previously evacuated due to the expiration of its accommodation certificate, which had not been renewed.
The fire has been brought under control, and an investigation has been launched, according to NTV.
This incident followed a major hotel fire in January at Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province, which killed 78 people and injured over 50. Since then, authorities have intensified inspections of hotels nationwide.
An “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Yohmor al-Shaqeef led to the death of three people,” said a health ministry statement reported by the National News Agency. (X/@abouhadi80)
BEIRUT – Lebanon said Thursday that Israeli strikes killed four people in the country’s south, with Israel saying it struck Hezbollah operatives.
The strikes were the latest in a series on south Lebanon, despite a November ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah after more than a year of hostilities.
An “Israeli enemy strike on a car in Yohmor Al-Shaqeef led to the death of three people,” said a health ministry statement reported by the National News Agency.
The agency said a drone targeted a vehicle near the town, in a strike that came at the same time as artillery shelling.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several Hezbollah terrorists were identified transferring weapons in the area of Yohmor in southern Lebanon,” adding that the army “struck the terrorists.”
The NNA earlier Thursday reported that “one person was killed and another wounded in the Israeli drone targeting… of a car in the town Maaroub,” also in south Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that overnight, the air force “struck and eliminated… a battalion commander” in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in the Derdghaiya area, near Maaroub.
It accused him of having “advanced and directed numerous terror attacks against Israeli civilians” and troops during the war, and of also directing “terror attacks against Israel’s Home Front” in recent months.
Israel has continued to carry out raids in Lebanon since the November 27 ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the truce agreement.
Last weekend saw the most intense escalation since the truce, with Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killing eight people, according to Lebanese officials.
Israel’s raids were in response to rocket fire, the first to hit its territory since the ceasefire.
No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said originated north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire deal. Hezbollah, heavily weakened by the war, denied involvement.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel was to withdraw its forces across the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, but still holds five positions in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.
A helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire at a national park in Cheongsong, South Korea on March 27, 2025. (Newsis via AP)
ANDONG, South Korea – Wildfires raging in South Korea doubled in size on Thursday from a day earlier, as authorities called the blazes the country’s worst natural fire disaster with at least 28 people killed and historic temples incinerated.
More than 38,000 hectares (93,900 acres) have been charred or were still burning in the largest of the fires that began in the central Uiseong county, making it the biggest single forest fire in South Korea’s history. The previous record was 24,000 hectares (59,000 acres) in a March 2000 fire.
“We are nationally in a critical situation with numerous casualties because of the unprecedented rapid spread of forest fires,” Acting President Han Duck-soo told a government response meeting.
The military has released stocks of aviation fuel to help keep firefighting helicopters flying to douse flames across mountainous regions in the southeast of the country where fires have been burning now for nearly a week.
More than 120 helicopters have been deployed in three regions battling the blazes, the safety ministry said. South Korea relies on helicopters to fight forest fires because of its mountainous terrain.
A helicopter pilot died on Wednesday after crashing while trying to tackle a blaze.
The wildfires that originated in Uiseong have been moving rapidly eastward, spreading almost to the coast, carried by gusty winds and with dry conditions aggravating the situation.
The Uiseong fire began spreading quickly on Wednesday, reaching the coastal county of Yeongdeok about 50 km (30 miles) away in just 12 hours, said Won Myung-soo, director of satellite imagery analysis for the national forestry service.
On Thursday evening, it rained briefly in some parts of the affected region. Precipitation of around one millimeter was too little to extinguish the main fire, but will help contain it, officials said.
About the same amount of rain is expected for some areas on Friday.
Experts have said the Uiseong fire showed extremely unusual spread in terms of its scale and speed, and that climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and deadly globally.
Higher temperatures amplified by human-caused climate change contributed to the existing seasonally dry conditions, “turning dry landscapes into dangerous fire fuel” in the region, the Climate Central group, an independent body made up of scientists and researchers, said in a report.
The wildfires have carved a trail of devastation through an area equivalent to about half of Singapore, ravaging everything in their path including historic temples and homes in the mountainous forest regions of North Gyeongsang province.
Teams of firefighters are on standby to protect the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Hahoe Village and the Byeongsan Confucian Academy in the city of Andong, if a blaze jumps the stream that flows around them.
The picturesque folk village has traditional Korean houses, many with thatched roofs, while the Confucian academy dates back more than 450 years.
The fires have already badly damaged other historic sites, including much of Gounsa Temple in Uiseong, which was built in 681.
“The buildings and remains of what Buddhist monks have left over 1,300 years are now all gone,” said Deungwoon, the head of the Gounsa Temple.
CAIRO – At least six people were killed and nine others injured on Thursday when a tourist submarine sank in Egypt’s Red Sea during a trip in the resort city of Hurghada, an official source at the Red Sea Governorate told Xinhua.
SANAA – Yemen’s Houthi group said in a statement on Thursday that it has launched a fresh ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel.
JERUSALEM – A missile launched from Yemen triggered air raid sirens in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas as well as other locations in Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said.
BEIJING – A mainland spokesperson on Thursday reaffirmed the Chinese military’s resolve and capability to thwart any separatist attempt for “Taiwan independence.”
Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to recent separatist statements by Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te.
Wu noted that the recent drill of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in areas around Taiwan was a legitimate and necessary measure, serving as both punishment and deterrence against “Taiwan independence” separatists and a stern warning to external interfering forces.
The PLA’s naval and air forces carried out combat-readiness patrols and joint exercises to test and enhance their operational capabilities, Wu said.
In response to Lai’s separatist rhetoric — claiming that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are “not subordinate to each other” and referring to the mainland as a “foreign hostile force” — Wu cited a Chinese saying: “When the heavens are about to destroy someone, they first make them delusional.”
The PLA remains ready and able to fight and win at all times, and will take resolute measures to thwart any separatist attempts, the spokesperson said.
“Taiwan is a part of China. It has never been a nation; neither in the past, nor in the present, nor will it ever be in the future,” he added.
LOS ANGELES – The Donald Trump administration plans to cut funding for GAVI, a global health organization with the goal of increasing vaccine access in developing countries, The New York Times (NYT) reported.
The decision was included in a 281-page spreadsheet that the United States Agency for International Development sent to Congress on Monday night, according to The NYT, which obtained a copy of the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet listed international aid programs that will be dismantled by the Trump administration as well as those to be retained.
“The documents provide a sweeping overview of the extraordinary scale of the administration’s retreat from a half-century-long effort to present the United States to the developing world as a compassionate ally and to lead the fight against infectious diseases that kill millions of people annually,” read the NYT report.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that the terminations on the list were accurate and said that “each award terminated was reviewed individually for alignment with agency and administration priorities, and terminations were executed where Secretary (Marco) Rubio determined the award was inconsistent with the national interest or agency policy priorities,” read the report.
Since its inception in 2000, GAVI has helped vaccinate more than 1.1 billion children in 78 countries, preventing over 18.8 million future deaths.
LA PAZ, March 26 – Bolivia declared a national emergency on Wednesday as weeks of torrential rains and flooding have left dozens dead and affected more than 378,000 families across the country.
President Luis Arce said at a press conference that the severe weather is the worst Bolivia has seen in four decades, prompting urgent action to speed up aid and coordinate disaster response with regional authorities.
At least 51 people have died and over 2,500 homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to civil defense officials.
The declaration will allow the government to fast-track emergency funding, aid deliveries, and reconstruction plans once conditions stabilize.
“We won’t leave anyone behind,” Arce said.
In recent week, heavy rainfall has caused many rivers to overflow across Bolivia, and many municipalities have declared a state of disaster to seek immediate assistance and activate emergency resources for the affected communities.
NEW YORK, March 26 – Wildfires sweeping through the U.S. states of North and South Carolina have forced evacuations and prompted a state of emergency as of Wednesday.
In North Carolina’s Polk County, the hardest-hit area, about 250 households have been evacuated, and at least 20 homes and outbuildings destroyed, according to Kellie Cannon, public information officer of the county.
The fires, fueled by dry conditions, strong winds, and downed trees from Hurricane Helene, continue to spread. The hurricane, which struck North Carolina in late September 2024, left a trail of destruction and claimed hundreds of lives.
Many people in the region still haven’t recovered from the hurricanes, said Bo Dorsett, spokesman for the North Carolina Forest Service.
Evacuations remain ongoing, as dry weather on Wednesday sparked more fires in western North Carolina.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein urged residents to stay alert, saying, “Please continue to pay attention to emergency alerts and evacuation orders if you need to leave your homes.”
The wildfire has led the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to issue an Unhealthy Air Quality Warning, cautioning that smog and particulate matter pose serious health risks, particularly to children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions.
In response to the escalating danger, the North Carolina Division of Forestry has implemented a statewide ban on open burning and revoked all burning permits.
Meteorologists have a pessimistic forecast for the wildfire. Ashley Lehmberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, South Carolina, said there will be rain over the weekend, but not enough to put out the fires.
CAIRO, March 27 – Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, Hamas-affiliated media said early on Thursday, marking the latest group figure to be killed since Israel resumed its operations in the enclave.
Al-Qanoua was killed when his tent was targeted in Jabalia, the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television said. The same strike wounded several people, medical sources said.
Earlier this week, Israel killed Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political office, and Salah al-Bardaweel, another senior leader.
Both Bardaweel and Barhoum were members of the 20-member Hamas decision-making body, the political office, 11 of whom have been killed since the start of the war in late 2023, according to Hamas sources.
Last week, Israel ended a two-month-old ceasefire by resuming bombing and ground operations, increasing pressure on Hamas to free the remaining hostages in its captivity.
At least 830 people, over half of them children and women, have been killed since Israel resumed major military strikes in Gaza on March 18, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Russian forces launched a mass drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, late on Wednesday, injuring nine people and causing considerable damage, emergency services and officials said.
Emergency services, posting on the Telegram messaging app, said the attacks started four fires in the city center and posted pictures of firefighters battling flames alongside piles of rubble. The strikes, it said, caused serious damage to buildings.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov said there had been at least 12 drone strikes on the city, a frequent target of Russia’s military, located some 30 km (18 miles) from the border.
Kharkiv resisted capture in the early weeks of Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but has been repeatedly hit by drones and missiles and Russian forces changed the focus of their campaign to Ukraine’s east.
A drone attack also triggered fires in the central city of Dnipro, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram. Pictures posted online showed smoke and flames drifting skyward.
No casualties were immediately reported in the city.
GENEVA – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday confirmed that four American soldiers who went missing during training in Lithuania on Tuesday have been killed.
“Whilst I was speaking, the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania,” Rutte told reporters in Warsaw.
He added that the details of the incident, which he called “terrible news,” are still unclear.
“Our thoughts are with families and loved ones,” he added.
Earlier, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said a report was received on Tuesday about four US soldiers and one tracked vehicle missing during a training exercise in eastern Lithuania.
Lithuanian and foreign troops, as well as helicopters, were deployed to search for the missing.
ISTANBUL – The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening as Israeli authorities restrict access to water by cutting electricity and blocking fuel supplies, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
“In Gaza, Palestine, in the midst of a shattered ceasefire and more deaths, another tactic of war is playing out as Israeli authorities essentially block access to water by cutting electricity and fuel from entering Gaza,” warns MSF in a statement on Tuesday.
It calls for an immediate restoration of the ceasefire and the unimpeded entry of essential aid to prevent further civilian suffering.
“With a new onslaught of bombings that have killed hundreds of people in just a few short days, Israeli forces continue to deprive people in Gaza of water by shutting off electricity and blocking fuel from entering—resources that are necessary for water infrastructure, including the running of water pumps,” said Paula Navarro, MSF water and sanitation coordinator in Gaza.
“For those who have endured relentless bombings, the suffering is made worse by a water crisis—many are forced to drink unsafe water, while others don’t have enough,” the statement added.
MSF warns that the complete collapse of Gaza’s water system is imminent if fuel supplies are not restored. Millions of residents already face dire conditions, with doctors reporting a surge in preventable illnesses linked to water shortages.
DISEASES RISING SHARPLY DUE TO LACK OF CLEAN WATER
At MSF-run healthcare centers in Al-Mawasi and Khan Younis, cases of jaundice, diarrhea, and scabies are rising sharply due to the lack of clean water.
“The sheer number of children with skin conditions is a direct result of Gaza’s destruction and blockade,” said Chiara Lodi, MSF medical team coordinator in Gaza.
“In addition to treating adults and children who have severe war injuries, our staff are treating an increasing number of children with entirely preventable skin diseases like scabies, which is not only uncomfortable but, in severe cases, sees them scratch their skin until it bleeds, which can lead to infection.”
“This is a result of children being unable to bathe, spreading scabies and other infections, and leaving lasting scars,” Lodi added.
The situation has been exacerbated by Israeli-imposed restrictions on humanitarian aid. Even before the latest surge in violence, Israeli authorities had barred the entry of essential water and sanitation supplies under its stringent “dual-use” pre-clearance system, the statement said.
Items such as chlorine, desalination unit spare parts, borehole pumps, and water tanks require Israeli approval, creating delays that have left Gaza’s infrastructure in ruins, it added.
“Restrictions by Israeli authorities have made it near impossible to restore a functioning water system,” Navarro stated.
ANKARA – At least 39 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, pushing up the death toll since October 2023 to 50,183, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
A ministry statement said that 124 more injured people were also transferred to hospitals, taking the number of injuries to 113,828 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing 830 people and injuring nearly 1,800 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
