Kategori: NEWS

KILLEEN, Texas — A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said.

The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles (109 kilometers) north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening news briefing.

Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.

The chase began around 5 p.m. on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said.

The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall.

“The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” Washko said. “The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards.”

Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.

One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said.

Washko did not have information about the suspect’s identity at the time of the briefing.
Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.

AN-AP

MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday its air defense systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.

Twenty drones were shot down over the Oryol region, eight drones each were destroyed in the Rostov and Bryansk regions, five in the Kursk region and one over Krasnodar Krai, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

One attack triggered a fire at a fuel infrastructure facility in the village of Stalnoi Kon, said Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol.

“Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, the consequences of the attack were avoided — the fire was promptly localized and is now fully extinguished. There were no casualties or significant damage,” he said.

It was the second week in a row where fuel infrastructure facilities in Oryol have been attacked.

The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

AN-REUTERS

ISTANBUL — Four people on board were killed when an air ambulance helicopter crashed after colliding with a hospital building in Türkiye’s Aegean province of Mugla on Sunday.

The helicopter, owned by the health ministry, lost control due to heavy fog before colliding with the building of the state hospital, the NTV broadcaster reported.

Onboard the helicopter were one pilot, a technical staff member, a doctor, and a healthcare worker. Preliminary reports indicated that all four were killed, said the report.

The accident occurred during the takeoff, said Mugla Governor Idris Akbiyik.

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ABUJA — At least 22 people were killed in a stampede during a philanthropic initiative to distribute food items and vegetable oil to locals ahead of Christmas celebrations in Okija, a town in Nigeria’s southeastern state of Anambra, Saturday, the police said Sunday.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the spokesperson for the police in Anambra, said in a statement that “there were injured casualties receiving treatment at local hospitals” but did not give an exact figure, following the fatal incident Saturday morning. He said an investigation was underway on the incident.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s national police chief Kayode Egbetokun has issued a stern warning against the unorganized “distribution of palliatives and funfairs,” which have recently led to stampedes and fatalities among vulnerable citizens in the country.

Egbetokun said in a statement Saturday that the warning came in response to the increasing number of stampedes resulting in injuries and deaths, particularly during palliative distributions ahead of the Christmas celebration, describing them as “uncoordinated.”

On Wednesday, at least 35 people were killed and six critically injured in an earlier stampede during a children’s carnival in the southwestern city of Ibadan. At least 10 people, including four children, were killed, while eight others sustained injuries in a separate stampede during a relief item distribution at a local church in the Maitama district of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Saturday.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Saturday called on state and local authorities to implement strict crowd control measures nationwide, following the fatal incidents.

“Local and state authorities should no longer tolerate operational lapses by organizations and corporate bodies involved in charitable and humanitarian activities,” Tinubu said.

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GAZA — At least 23 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

At least nine people, including three children and two women, were killed, and some others were injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Musa bin Nusayr School, which houses displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, WAFA said.

Four more people were killed when the Israeli army bombed a vehicle on the Al-Jalaa Street in Gaza City, it added.

Five citizens, including four children, were killed on Sunday morning in Israel’s shelling of the Jabalia town, north of Gaza City, WAFA said in a separate report.

In the southern Gaza Strip, two people were killed when the Israeli army bombed their apartment west of Khan Yunis, and three others died in the Israeli bombing of the city of Rafah, WAFA said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday that with the direction of intelligence, the air force conducted a “precise strike” on Hamas militants who were operating inside a command-and-control center in the Gaza Strip.

The command-and-control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the Musa bin Nusayr School, was used by the militants to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel, it added.

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GAZA — A mother and her three daughters were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Saturday evening in northern Gaza. The attack targeted the Felfel family home near Sheikh Zayed Mosque in the region, according to local sources.

The bombing resulted in the murder of the mother, along with her three children, as their house was destroyed in the strike. The identities of the victims have not yet been confirmed.

The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023 has so far resulted in at least 45,227 documented Palestinian fatalities, with over 107,573 others injured.

WAFA/06:07 PM

ABUJA — At least 10 people, including children, were killed in a stampede during a relief item distribution at a local church in the Maitama district of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Saturday, local authorities said.

A church official said that an unspecified number of individuals were also injured when the distribution of relief items, including food and clothing ahead of Christmas celebrations, turned chaotic Saturday morning at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama.

Padre Mike Nsikak Umoh, spokesperson for the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, said the event attracted more than 3,000 people from nearby villages and low-income suburbs. Following the “tragic incident,” the “palliative distribution” was suspended, he said.

According to witnesses, at least seven women and children were among the victims recovered from the scene. Many attendees had reportedly arrived as early as 4:00 a.m. local time, despite the event being scheduled to start between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Saturday.

In the aftermath of the stampede, security operatives, including secret police and military personnel, were deployed to restore order, disperse the crowd, and secure the area.

Neither the government nor security agencies have yet commented on the tragedy.

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BERLIN — At least five people were killed and over 200 others injured after a car rammed into a large crowd at a German Christmas market in the central German city of Magdeburg Friday evening, German news agency dpa reported Saturday, citing State Premier Reiner Haseloff.

“We have five deaths and over 200 injuries, many of them serious and severe,” Haseloff said, noting that the toll was far worse than initially thought when the incident occurred.

A car plowed through a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening. German authorities are investigating a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who has been living in Germany since 2006 and worked in a nearby town. Police searched his home overnight.

The identities of the fatalities have not been revealed. A memorial service is to be held in Magdeburg’s cathedral at 7 p.m. (1800 GMT) Saturday night.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other top officials, including Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, have arrived in Magdeburg on Saturday.

Faeser ordered Saturday morning that all flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-mast nationwide.

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KUNMING — Three people have been confirmed dead in a coal mine accident in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, local authorities said on Saturday.

The accident occurred at around 10:42 a.m. on Friday at the Hengda coal mine, located in Fuyuan County of Qujing City, according to the Yunnan bureau of the National Mine Safety Administration.

Initial investigation suggests that the incident resulted from the collapse of a coal bunker within the mine’s second mining area. Currently, all underground operations have been halted, and further investigation is under way.

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ISTANBUL — Five athletes were injured on Saturday when an avalanche hit a ski resort in Türkiye’s eastern province of Erzurum, the Health Ministry announced.

One of the injured is in critical condition, said the ministry via its social media account.

The incident occurred at Palandoken Ski Resort at 10:22 a.m. local time (0722 GMT) when athletes of the National Judo Team were hiking in an area specialized for extreme sports outside the skiing slopes, according to Erzurum Governor Mustafa Ciftci.

Search and rescue teams, along with medical units, have been dispatched to the area. These teams have taken precautionary measures to ensure safety amid potential risks of further avalanches, local broadcaster NTV reported.

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JERUSALEM — A missile launched from Yemen early Saturday morning struck a playground and a building in the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv, causing minor injuries to 16 people, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service.

The strike caused a crater in the playground and damage to the residential building, video footage released by the MDA, the army, and Israeli media showed.

Following the missile launch, sirens were activated across large areas of central Israel.

The IDF said it identified the projectile but failed to intercept it.

Earlier in the day, Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was launched “in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and in response to the latest Israeli aggression on Yemen,” as announced by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea in a statement, aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

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HAVANA — Around 700,000 people marched outside the U.S. Embassy in Havana on Friday, demanding an end to Washington’s decades-long blockade of Cuba and calling for the removal of the island from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel led the march, joined by former president Raul Castro. Diaz-Canel condemned the United States for maintaining the terrorist label on Cuba, calling it both “false and immoral.” He also accused the United States of training paramilitary groups to target Cuba’s infrastructure and slashed the Biden administration for continuing harsh economic measures from the Trump era.

Diaz-Canel also denounced the United States for intensifying the blockade, calling it “ruthless.”

Cubans hold no hostility toward the American people, he said, vowing to stand firm against any attempts to undermine its sovereignty or socialist system.

“If the United States persists in its efforts to break our resolve, they will only find rebellion and unwavering determination,” he said.

The crowd, waving Cuban flags and chanting “Down with the blockade,” was a diverse mix of supporters. Among them was Yanquiel Cardoso, wearing a shirt reading “Cuba sponsors peace, love, and unity,” marching with his son, who wore a shirt wishing to “grow up without a blockade.” Cardoso decried the “cruel and inhumane” blockade, which he said hinders Cuba’s development.

Many healthcare workers joined the protest, including Colombian medical student Silvia Juliana Casadiego, who praised Cuba’s global solidarity and condemned U.S. sanctions.

“Despite its limitations, Cuba always extends a helping hand — not just to Colombia, but all of Latin America,” she said.

Cuban medical student Kevin Perez highlighted the toll U.S. policies have taken on Cuba’s healthcare system. “Healthcare has been one of the most affected sectors, but we will always stand to defend our homeland.”

This march was the first major protest in years outside the U.S. diplomatic mission to denounce the blockade.

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DUBAI — Syrian Al-Jazeera presenter Ahmad Fakhouri received an overwhelming welcome from crowds of hundreds of people as he returned to his hometown Hama after 12 years in exile.

In a video posted on his social media channels, Fakhouri is seen waving at huge crowds who gathered in the streets in a collective moment of celebration after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime.

“Come to us, Fakhouri,” people were seen cheering and chanting in the video which Fakhouri captioned “The people of Hama. None but you are my family and my support.”

Fakhouri, a former presenter at the Syrian TV station, fled the country in 2012 after tight censorship was placed on the media during the days of the revolution.

During a 2013 interview with Al Jazeera, Fakhouri said he was not allowed to cover the protests, then later was asked to use derogatory terms, such as “terrorists, infiltrators, and enemies of the homeland,” to describe the demonstrators.

“I was naive enough to ask Bouthaina Shaaban (media advisor to the Syrian Presidency) during high-level meetings to allow us to conduct interviews with the opposition, thinking that Syrian television belonged to the people and not to a specific faction,” Fakhouri had told Al Jazeera at the time.

He also reported being under constant surveillance from security and intelligence officers as a presenter.

Rejecting the regime’s policies that insisted on denying the protests, Fakhouri said he refrained from presenting live news, limiting his work to the weekly news bulletin. When he first decided to leave Syria, he discovered he was banned from travelling.

Shortly afterwards, he was summoned for an interrogation at the State Security Department, facing charges of inciting sectarian divisions and cooperating with foreign entities to disrupt public security. He was also accused of receiving money from his expatriate brother “to fund armed terrorists.”

He reported being blindfolded, and hearing “sounds of torture” and insults directed at detainees across from his interrogation room.

When he was released at the request of the media minister, Fakhouri decided to head to Aleppo where he hid for several months before the Free Syrian Army facilitated his escape.

“I do not need to mention why I decided to leave the regime’s grip as everyone is aware of Assad’s crimes against the Syrian people,” said Fakhouri, noting that several of his media colleagues were detained over extended periods, including some who were died under torture.

“I can confirm that most of those working in Syrian media are looking for an opportunity to escape like I did.”

Fakhouri begun his journey in the media at the state radio in 2004 before moving to become a presenter in the Syrian TV.

After he left Syria, he became known for hosting the “Trending” news bulletin at BBC Arabic until he joined Al Jazeera as a presenter and documentary maker in 2022.

Fakhouri was among many Syrian expats who returned to a nation where jubilation took over since Assad’s iron-fisted regime was toppled by a lightning 11-day rebel offensive spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group on Dec. 8.

Since the fall of Assad’s five-decade dynastic rule, harrowing accounts of torture and executions of political prisoners, activists, and regime critics in state prisons — most notably the infamous Sednaya — have emerged publicly.

AN/Dec 20, 2024/21:31

ATHENS — Greece’s Coast Guard on Friday said at least eight people drowned during the pursuit of a speedboat carrying migrants that sank in the Aegean Sea.

The Coast Guard said the boat capsized as it attempted to flee, adding that another 26 people had been rescued.

Public broadcaster ERT said that 17 of those were taken to hospital.

A Coast Guard statement said the boat driver had “lost control” while attempting to evade a Greek patrol vessel.

The incident struck near the island of Rhodes, opposite the Turkish coast, on a route frequently used by migrant smugglers.

Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter were looking for more survivors.

Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of migrants arriving, with a 30 percent increase to Rhodes and the southeast Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.

Several similar accidents have struck in recent weeks.

In late November, nine migrants, including six minors and two women, died after two boats sank in separate incidents near the islands of Samos and Lesbos.

Another five people died in a sinking near the island of Crete last weekend.

Greece, at the southern tip of the EU, has long been a favored gateway to Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

In 2015, nearly 1 million people landed on its islands.

The number of migrants traveling illegally to Greece is expected to top 60,000 this year, with Syrians making up the largest number, followed by Afghans, Egyptians, Eritreans, and Palestinians, according to government data.

AN-AFP/AP, Dec 20, 2024 / 21:25

GAZA – The Israeli occupation committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of 77 civilians and the injury of 174 others, according to medical sources.

The number of people killed since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th, 2023, has risen to 45,206. Some 107,512 have been wounded.

Thousands of victims remain missing; either buried under the rubble or scattered on the roads, as rescue teams face tremendous difficulties in reaching them due to the continued Israeli attacks and the massive amount of debris.

WAFA/04:10 PM

GAZA — Seven civilians, including two children, were killed on Friday evening in an Israeli airstrike targeting an apartment in al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip, local sources reported.

WAFA/04:46 PM

GAZA – A man, his wife, and two daughters were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday morning, which targeted the Al-Azza neighborhood in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza.

WAFA correspondent reported that the Israeli aircraft launched an airstrike on the area, resulting in the murder of the man, his wife, and their two daughters. Several others were also reported to have been injured in the attack.

Local sources also reported that Israeli forces carried out demolition operations targeting residential buildings in Beit Lahiya, a town in the northern Gaza Strip.

The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023 has so far resulted in at least 45,129 documented Palestinian fatalities, with over 107,338 others injured.

Thousands of victims are feared trapped under rubble, inaccessible to emergency and civil defense teams due to Israeli attacks.

Israel’s genocidal attacks continue unabated despite calls from the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

WAFA/12:25 PM

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country would support Syria’s transition process, and contribute to the country’s recovery and stability.

“We are supporting the Syrian people in managing the transition process smoothly, without any setbacks along the way,” the state-run TRT broadcaster quoted Erdogan as saying.

“Drafting a constitution is one critical step in rebuilding the state,” Erdogan told journalists on his return flight from Cairo, where he attended the 11th Summit of the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation.

“For this, we have initiated communication with key figures in Syria’s new administration.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to visit Syria soon to discuss creating a “collaborative framework” for Syria’s future, he said, adding, “If Syria establishes a truly stable structure with this new formation, in my view, it will hold a very strong position in the Islamic world.”

He noted that Türkiye and Syria would collaborate on multiple sectors, including defense, education, and energy.

“Currently, Syria is facing serious challenges in energy, but we aim to resolve these issues swiftly,” Erdogan said.

With years of conflict devastating Syria’s infrastructure and cities, Erdogan underscored the importance of reconstruction. “To mend the wounds, it is essential to rebuild cities and create sustainable livelihoods,” he said, pointing to plans for new housing, energy facilities, and initiatives in agriculture and livestock as priorities.

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