Category: NEWS

  • Sheikh Qassem: Hezbollah to keep fighting despite Israeli attacks

    TEHRAN — Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem says the resistance movement will continue to fight Israel and support Gaza despite the regime’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon.

    “Despite losing a number of commanders and attacks by the Zionist enemy against civilians across Lebanon, we will never back down an iota from our goals and positions and will continue to confront the Zionist regime and support the Gaza Strip”, the senior Hezbollah official said on Monday in his first public speech since the movement’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was martyred in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

    Sheikh Qassem added that Hezbollah has continued and intensified its attacks on Zionist cities and settlements after the martyrdom of Nasrallah and Hezbollah commanders.

    “After the martyrdom of the commanders and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, we continued and intensified our attacks on Zionist cities and settlements, including Tel Aviv and Haifa. Yesterday, Israel announced that Hezbollah had sent one million Zionists to shelters with a missile.”

    Qassem stressed that the Israeli regime will not achieve its goals and Hezbollah will emerge victorious in this battle, adding that the movement is large in terms of military might and manpower and is fully ready to continue fighting.

    “Israel has not been able to cause harm to our military power”, he noted, stressing that Lebanon will achieve victory as it did in its previous wars with Israel.

    He also said that Hezbollah is full ready in case that the regime launches a ground offensive against Lebanon.

    Sheikh Qassem further said that the Israeli regime has attacked civilians and health centers, killing the innocent people, adding that the US is complicit in these crimes as it gives its unlimited political and military support to the regime.

    The Hezbollah official hailed Nasrallah for taking the path of Supreme Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, saying that Nasrallah continued fighting until the last moment of his life.

    Sheikh Qassem also said that Hezbollah will choose a new secretary general within the shortest possible time.

    IRNA

  • Another journalist killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza

    TEHRAN — Another Palestinian journalist has been killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll to 175 since October 7, 2023.

    News sources reported on Monday that the Israeli army killed Wafa Aludaini, a female journalist in the Gaza Strip.

    Since October 7, 2023, the Zionist regime has been deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists to prevent them from covering the regime’s crimes.

    Humanitarian organizations have severely criticized the Zionist regime for attacking journalists.

    IRNA

  • Cuba condemns Israeli attacks on Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen

    TEHRAN — Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla has condemned the Israeli regime’s latest attacks on Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen.

    “We condemn military movements by Israel, with support of the US, and its bombings of Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen, which encourage large-scale war in [West Asia],” Rodríguez Parrilla said in a post on his X account in Spanish language on Monday.

    “We reiterate that the only solution to the conflict is to recognize an independent Palestinian State with borders prior to 1967,” he added.

    Israel’s military has struck more targets in Yemen and Lebanon, including a strike on central Beirut for the first time since 2006, in the wake of the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

    IRNA

  • Police arrest 2 for setting fire to girls’ school in Afghanistan

    KABUL — Police have arrested two individuals on the charge of setting fire to a girls’ school in eastern Afghanistan’s Panjshir province, local media reported Monday.

    Quoting provincial police spokesman Abidullah Aqab Farooqi, private media outlet Ariana News added that the arrested individuals admitted to their crime, confessing both jointly set fire to Bibi Amina Girls School on Sunday night.

    However, the firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within an hour, preventing extensive damage to the school building, the official added.

    Girls from grade seven to university cannot attend classes until further notice in Afghanistan.

    XINHUA

  • Death toll across Gaza Strip surges to 41,615, over 96,359 injured

    GAZA — Israeli occupation forces committed two massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 20 Palestinians and the injury of 108 others, according to medical sources.

    They said that the Palestinian death toll from the Israel’s ongoing aggression since October 7 has surged to 41,615 reported fatalities, with an additional 96,359individuals sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.

    Meanwhile, emergency services are still unable to reach many casualties and dead bodies trapped under the rubble or scattered on roads, as Israeli occupation forces continue to obstruct the movement of ambulance and civil defense crews.

    WAFA

  • Pekerja kilang wanita mengaku sokong, miliki bahan berkaitan kumpulan Daesh

    KUALA LUMPUR — Seorang pekerja kilang mengaku bersalah di Mahkamah Tinggi di sini hari ini atas tiga pertuduhan memiliki bahan dan memberi sokongan kepada kumpulan Daesh, empat bulan lalu.

    Suhaini Sarwan, 46, membuat pengakuan itu di hadapan Hakim Datuk Noorin Badaruddin yang menetapkan 16 Oktober ini untuk prosiding jatuh hukum bagi memberi masa kepada pembelaan mengemukakan rayuan.

    Bagi pertuduhan pertama, dia didakwa memiliki bahan berkaitan kumpulan Daesh dan perlakuan pengganas di dua telefon bimbit di Kawasan Perindustrian Kempas, Johor Bahru pada jam 1.15 tengah hari 30 Mei lalu, mengikut perenggan 130JB(1)(a) Kanun Keseksaan.

    Jika sabit kesalahan, Suhaini boleh dihukum mengikut Seksyen 130JB(1) kanun sama yang membawa hukuman maksimum penjara tujuh tahun atau denda manakala harta yang digunakan atau diniat untuk digunakan bagi melakukan kesalahan itu dirampas.

    Bagi pertuduhan kedua dan ketiga, dia didakwa memberi sokongan kepada Daesh di laman media sosial Facebook atas nama ‘Suhaini Sarwan’ dan ‘Enma Kenma’ di Bahagian E8 Cawangan Khas Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia Bukit Aman pada 5.50 petang 27 Mei lalu mengikut perenggan 130J(1)(a) Kanun Keseksaaan yang membawa hukuman maksimum penjara 40 tahun atau denda manakala harta yang digunakan atau diniat untuk digunakan bagi melakukan kesalahan itu dirampas.

    Terdahulu, Timbalan Pendakwa Raya Mohammad Fakhrurrazi Ahmad Salim memohon mahkamah menetapkan tarikh lain untuk prosiding jatuh hukum kerana peguam Jabatan Bantuan Guaman tidak hadir.

    “Selain kes ini, dia berdepan dua lagi pertuduhan dan kami akan membuat permohonan untuk memindahkan kes itu ke mahkamah ini,” katanya.

    BH ONLINE – BERNAMA

  • Sabari Baharom dicampak ke Sungai Padang Terap, mayat belum ditemui – Polis

    JITRA — Kehilangan Sabari Baharom, 62, pesara pegawai kewangan FELCRA di Baling sejak 4 September lalu, akhirnya terjawab apabila polis mengesahkan mangsa dicampak ke dalam Sungai Padang Terap.

    Persoalan itu terjawab selepas polis menahan dua lelaki tempatan yang disyaki terbabit melakukan perbuatan itu.

    Dalam kejadian itu, Sabari dipercayai dicampak ke dalam Sungai Padang Terap di Kampung Empa, Derang di Kubang Pasu dalam keadaan tangan diikat dan mulutnya ditutup dengan pita pelekat.

    Ketua Polis Kedah, Datuk Fisol Salleh berkata, kedua-dua suspek berusia 26 dan 38 tahun itu ditahan, Jumaat lalu.

    Beliau berkata, susulan perkembangan kes orang hilang, pihaknya berjaya mengesan dan menahan dua suspek lelaki yang disyaki dapat membantu siasatan kes berkenaan.

    “Hasil soal siasat dijalankan, pengakuan dibuat oleh kedua-dua suspek bahawa mangsa dicampak ke dalam Sungai Padang Terap.

    “Bagaimanapun, sehingga kini mangsa masih gagal ditemui dan usaha mencari masih dilakukan,” katanya dalam kenyataan hari ini.

    Susulan itu, Fisol berkata, siasatan yang dilakukan berkaitan kes orang hilang yang membabitkan mangsa dan dilanjutkan mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan (Akta 574).

    Beliau berkata, polis juga memaklumkan perkembangan siasatan kepada keluarga mangsa.

    “Semua pihak dinasihatkan tidak membuat sebarang spekulasi berkaitan kejadian dan menghormati serta menjaga sensitiviti keluarga mangsa.

    “Namun, orang ramai diminta membantu dengan menyalurkan sebarang maklumat berkaitan kejadian kepada pihak polis,” katanya.

    Media sebelum ini melaporkan Sabari hilang sejak 4 September lalu dan gagal dikesan sehingga kini.

    Kehilangan mangsa menjadi misteri oleh ahli keluarganya apabila kereta Proton Waja milik mangsa ditemui dibakar di kawasan pembuangan sampah di gaung Hutan Gubir, Sik, namun mangsa dilaporkan tiada di tempat kejadian.

    Berikutan itu, ahli keluarga mangsa mengesyaki Sabari dilarikan individu tidak dikenali berikutan berlaku beberapa transaksi pemindahan wang dari akaun Tabung Haji lelaki itu ke akaun bank orang lain dalam tempoh dua hari selepas kehilangannya.

    Pelbagai usaha mencari dilakukan oleh ahli keluarga namun Sabari masih gagal dikesan.

    BH ONLINE

  • 7 ditahan terbabit kes samun dan cederakan suami isteri

    MELAKA — Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (BSJD) Melaka Melaka Tengah bersama BSJD Jasin menangkap enam lelaki dan seorang wanita disyaki menyamun serta mencederakan sepasang suami isteri di Kampung Bukit Larang, Pernu, dekat sini, minggu lalu.

    Semua suspek ditahan di sebuah inap desa di Merlimau pada 26 dan 27 September lalu bersama barangan milik mangsa serta parang.

    Ketua Polis Daerah Melaka Tengah, Asisten Komisioner Christopher Patit berkata, tangkapan dilakukan hasil siasatan ekoran aduan dibuat anak perempuan mangsa berusia 19 tahun mengenai kejadian berlaku pada 26 September lalu, kira-kira jam 2.30 pagi.

    Menurutnya, berdasarkan laporan, pengadu mendakwa sebelum kejadian dia terdengar suara lelaki memberi salam, namun tidak membuka pintu.

    “Kemudian tiga lelaki menerpa masuk selepas memecahkan pintu kayu dan terus ke bilik ayah dan ibu pengadu.

    “Pengadu mengenali seorang daripada suspek adalah rakan bapanya yang bertindak memukul ayah pengadu di dahi menggunakan kayu cota serta merampas dompetnya.

    “Lelaki itu terus memukul pipi kiri dan belakang badan ayah pengadu yang berlari ke ruang tamu dan ibunya yang cuba menghalang mengalami cedera di tangan,” katanya dalam kenyataan di sini.

    Christopher berkata, seorang daripada suspek yang bersenjatakan parang kemudian menyerbu ke bilik pengadu dan suami serta mengarahkan mereka keluar.

    “Suami pengadu turut diacu parang di perut dan leher sebelum suspek menggeledah bilik dan mengambil jam tangan serta dompet.

    “Suspek mengumpulkan semua mangsa di ruang tamu dan mengarahkan mereka menyerahkan telefon bimbit sebelum beredar kira-kira jam 4.20 pagi.

    “Bapa mangsa cedera di dahi dan pipi kiri serta luka koyak di belakang badan manakala ibunya mengalami bengkak pada tangan kanan,” katanya.

    Beliau berkata, sebelum beredar suspek memulangkan semula telefon bimbit suami dan ibu pengadu serta memberitahu mereka mencari individu bernama ‘Black’ berkait satu kes rogol ketika disoal mangsa.

    Menurut Christopher, hasil siasatan sepasukan polis Bahagian D9 (Siasatan Khas) berjaya menahan lima lelaki dan seorang wanita menerusi serbuan pertama di inap desa berkenaan pada hari kejadian kira-kira jam 10 malam dan merampas sebuah telefon bimbit Iphone XS Max,

    “Suspek ketujuh ditahan keesokkan harinya jam 12.30 tengah malam.

    “Hasil ujian saringan air kencing, semua suspek berusia 25 hingga 37 tahun didapati positif syabu dan turut memiliki dua hingga lapan rekod jenayah.

    “Menerusi serbuan kedua, kita turut merampas sebuah kereta Proton X50, tiga bilah parang, kad pengenalan serta lesen memandu atas nama seorang individu,” katanya memaklumkan kes disiasat mengikut Seksyen 395/397 Kanun Keseksaan.

    BH ONLINE

  • Lima produk kosmetik mengandungi racun berjadual

    KUALA LUMPUR — L ima jenis produk kosmetik dikesan Bahagian Regulatori Farmasi Negara (NPRA), Kementerian Kesihatan mengandungi racun berjadual yang tidak dibenarkan.

    Lima produk itu adalah Karisma Aqua Birds Nest; 2 Skin Revolution – PAP – Blemish Control Serum; Skin Revolution -PAP – Blemish Fade Cream; Ufora Daily Treatment 10g dan Dnars Gold Debalen Cream (Night).

    KKM dalam satu kenyataan berkata, racun berjadual yang dikesan dalam produk terbabit termasuk hydroquinone, clindamycin, metronidazole, tretinoin dan betamethasone 17-valerate.

    “Semua jenis bahan ini adalah ubat yang perlu berdaftar dengan Pihak Berkuasa Kawalan Dadah dan hanya boleh digunakan dengan nasihat ahli profesional kesihatan.

    “Notifikasi produk kosmetik berkenaan sudah dibatalkan oleh Pengarah Perkhidmatan Farmasi, KKM dan tidak lagi dibenarkan untuk dijual di Malaysia,” katanya.

    KKM berkata, penjual dan pengedar produk kosmetik berkenaan perlu menghentikan penjualan dan pengedaran produk kosmetik berkenaan dengan serta-merta.

    “Penjualan dan pengedaran produk kosmetik ini adalah melanggar Peraturan-Peraturan Kawalan Dadah dan Kosmetik 1984.

    “Individu yang melakukan kesalahan di bawah peraturan-peraturan ini boleh dikenakan hukuman denda tidak melebihi RM25,000 atau penjara tidak melebihi tiga tahun atau kedua-duanya untuk kesalahan pertama dan denda tidak melebihi RM50,000 atau penjara tidak melebihi lima tahun atau kedua-duanya untuk kesalahan berikutnya.

    “Syarikat yang melakukan kesalahan boleh dikenakan denda sehingga RM50,000 untuk kesalahan pertama dan denda sehingga RM100,000 untuk kesalahan berikutnya,” katanya.

    Justeru, KKM menasihati orang awam yang sedang menggunakan produk-produk kosmetik ini untuk segera menghentikan penggunaannya dan mendapatkan nasihat daripada ahli profesional kesihatan jika mengalami sebarang ketidakselesaan atau kesan ‘advers’.

    “Orang awam digalakkan untuk menyemak status notifikasi sesuatu produk kosmetik dengan melayari laman sesawang rasmi NPRA www.npra.gov.my atau melalui aplikasi ‘NPRA Product Status’ yang boleh dimuat turun daripada Google Play Store,” katanya.

    BH ONLINE

  • More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says

    A displaced family from Syria seeks to be transferred to a safe place, after spending the night at Beirut’s central Martyrs’ square fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in southern Beirut, in Lebanon September 28, 2024. (Reuters)

    GENEVA — More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since a conflict between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militia escalated this month, the UN refugee agency chief said on Monday.

    Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals.

    The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.

    AN-REUTERS

  • Najib patut dibebaskan kerana semua saksi tak boleh dipercayai – Peguam bela

    KUALA LUMPUR — Bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak hendaklah dibebaskan daripada tuduhan penyelewengan dana 1Malaysia Development Sdn Bhd (1MDB) berjumlah RM2.3 bilion kerana semua keterangan saksi penting tidak boleh dipercayai, Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini, diberitahu.

    Saksi berkenaan ialah bekas Pegawai Khas Najib, Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin; bekas Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO), Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi dan Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman; bekas peguam 1MDB, Jasmine Loo Ai Swan; bekas Ketua Pegawai Kewangan, Azmi Tahir dan pegawai penyiasat, Penguasa Kanan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM), Nur Aida Arifin.

    Peguam bela, Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin yang mengemukakan hujahan pada akhir kes pendakwaan, berkata keterangan semua saksi berkenaan juga dipenuhi dengan percanggahan dan tidak konsisten.

    Beliau berkata, keterangan diberikan Amhari Efendi hanya untuk menyelamatkan dirinya daripada terpalit dengan skandal kewangan skala global yang didalangi ahli perniagaan dalam buruan, Low Taek Jho atau lebih dikenali dengan Jho Low.

    Peguam itu berkata, Nur Aida selaku pegawai penyiasat pula menjalankan siasatan terpilih dengan hanya menyasarkan saksi tertentu untuk mengalihkan kesalahan kepada Najib yang juga Menteri Kewangan ketika itu.

    Katanya, ia adalah pihak pembelaan yang mendedahkan bahawa Jho Low bermurah hati kepada Amhari dengan memberikannya wang berjumlah AS$200,000 dan ia adalah fakta yang tidak diendahkan oleh pegawai penyiasat.

    “Beliau (Nur Aida) tidak meneruskan dengan menjalankan siasatan menyeluruh terhadap tindakan atau motif Amhari.

    “Sebaliknya, beliau menerima keterangan Amhari dan dengan mudah mengalihkan kesalahan kepada Najib, tanpa mempersoalkan kemungkinan sifat mementingkan diri sendiri dalam kenyataan (Amhari) itu.

    “Keterangan Shahrol Azral pula dipenuhi dengan keterangan dengar cakap dan andaian. Beliau sering menyebut menerima arahan yang secara tidak langsung dikaitkan dengan Najib melalui Jho Low,” katanya.

    Wan Azwan Aiman berkata, Nur Aida bagaimanapun gagal menyiasat dengan lebih mendalam proses membuat keputusan oleh Shahrol Azral dan sama ada lelaki itu bertindak di bawah arahan yang jelas.

    Beliau berkata, siasatan Nur Aida jelas tidak melihat kepada kemungkinan senario alternatif di mana Shahrol Azral mungkin bersalah secara bebas dalam kes berkenaan.

    Sementara itu, Wan Azwan Aiman berkata, keterangan Mohd Hazem pula dipenuhi dengan percanggahan dan kekurangan bukti langsung.

    Beliau berkata, walaupun Mohd Hazem mendakwa Jho Low mempunyai pengaruh yang ketara dan arahan diberikan dengan persetujuan Najib, Nur Aida tidak berusaha untuk mengesahkan kebenaran kenyataan itu secara bebas.

    Katanya, keterangan Mohd Hazem sentiasa bergantung kepada dengar cakap dan tindakannya tidak diteliti dengan mendalam untuk menentukan sama ada dia bertindak sendiri atau di bawah pengaruh orang lain.

    Menurut peguam itu, Nur Aida juga gagal mempersoalkan kuasa autonomi Azmi dalam membuat keputusan kewangan penting atau potensinya untuk mengalihkan kesalahan.

    “Nur Aida juga gagal meneliti kemungkinan Ai Swan, yang digelar sebagai orang kanan JhoLow, boleh mendalangi atau memudahkan tindakan tanpa pembabitan langsung Najib,” katanya.

    Sementara itu, peguam utama Najib, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah berkata Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) sedar mengenai transaksi kontroversi AS$700 juta yang dipindah masuk kepada Good Star Limited, iaitu sebuah syarikat samaran yang dikaitkan dengan Jho Low.

    Beliau berkata, Najib mempunyai sebab untuk bergantung kepada BNM dan gabenornya ketika itu, kerana ia adalah benteng integriti kewangan.

    Najib menghadapi empat pertuduhan menggunakan kedudukannya memperoleh suapan berjumlah RM2.3 bilion dana 1MDB di cawangan AmIslamic Bank Berhad di Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, antara 24 Februari 2011 dan 19 Disember 2014.

    Beliau turut berdepan 21 pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram membabitkan jumlah sama di bank sama antara 22 Mac 2013 dan 30 Ogos 2013.

    Perbicaraan di hadapan Hakim Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah bersambung esok.

    BH ONLINE

  • Lima rentung termasuk bayi, kanak-kanak dalam kebakaran di Likas

    KOTA KINABALU — Lima termasuk seorang bayi dan tiga kanak-kanak rentung dalam kebakaran di perkampungan setinggan Jalan Lembaga Padi, Lorong Burung Keleto, Likas, di sini, tengah hari tadi.

    Berdasarkan maklumat awal, lima mangsa itu adalah anak dua keluarga yang berjiran.

    Tiga daripada mangsa adalah adik beradik dikenali sebagai dikenali Raina Adrian, 1, Raida, 3, dan Raisa, 4, manakala dua lagi anak keluarga jiran mereka yang juga adik beradik dikenali Siti Faridah Wahid, 3, dan kakaknya, Almidah, 14.

    Ketua Polis Kota Kinabalu, Asisten Komisioner Kasim Muda, berkata kebakaran dilaporkan membabitkan empat rumah dan sebuah gerai pada kira-kira jam 12.40 tengah hari.

    Katanya, semua mangsa ditemui rentung dalam bilik mandi salah sebuah rumah yang terbakar dalam kejadian itu.

    “Pihak bomba menjalankan kerja-kerja membawa keluar mayat mangsa yang rentung.

    “Polis mengklasifikasikan kes sebagai kematian mengejut,” katanya ketika ditemui di lokasi kejadian.

    Sementara itu, Timbalan Pengarah Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (JBPM) Sabah, Farhan Sufyan Borhan berkata pihaknya menerima panggilan kecemasan jam 12.47 tengah hari.

    Katanya, sepasukan 35 pegawai dan anggota bersama jentera serta Unit Bantuan Perkhidmatan Kecemasan (EMRS) terus dikerah ke lokasi kejadian.

    “Operasi pemadaman dijalankan Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat (BBP) Lintas dan dibantu BBP Kota Kinabalu, BBP Tuaran dan BBP Putatan.

    “Operasi terkawal pada jam 1.29 tengah hari dan pasukan bomba masih lagi memadam bara-bara api dan mendapatkan maklumat terperinci berkaitan dengan mangsa yang terlibat,” katanya.

    Farhan berkata semua mangsa sudah berjaya dikeluarkan dan diserahkan kepada pihak polis untuk tindakan selanjutnya.

    “Punca kebakaran dan jumlah kerugian masih dalam siasatan Pasukan Forensik JBPM,” katanya.

    BH ONLINE

  • 12 Tunisians dead as boat capsizes off Djerba: judiciary

    At least 12 people died, including three infants, and 10 others were missing after their boat sank on Monday off the Tunisian coast at Djerba as they sought to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, an official and local rights group told Reuters.

    The coast guard rescued 29 people who had been on board the crowded boat, the official said.

    AN-REUTERS

  • Three policemen killed in attacks in southeastern Iran

    File/AFP

    TEHRAN — At least three policemen were killed in separate attacks by militants and gunmen in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, state media reported Monday.

    One of Iran’s poorest regions, Sistan-Baluchistan on the border with Pakistan has long been plagued by unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremists.

    “A border guard was killed a few hours ago in a clash with gunmen in Hirmand in Sistan-Baluchistan province,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

    A separate attack on law enforcement in the same region Monday left another border guard killed and two others wounded, IRNA said.

    The news agency also reported that a member of the police special force was killed in the town of Khash, also in Sistan-Baluchistan.

    The Pakistan-based Sunni jihadist group Jaish Al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic) claimed responsibility for the last two attacks in a message on Telegram.

    The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months, including a Sunday raid that killed a policeman in the same region.

    AN-AFP

  • Two killed fighting wildfire in Greece

    Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident”. (AP)

    ATHENS — A forest fire in central Greece has killed two men who were helping firefighters tackle the blaze, authorities said Monday.

    The fire near Corinth, 140 kilometers (87 miles) west of Athens, has forced several villages to evacuate.

    Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident.”

    The men’s charred bodies were found near the village of Ellinikon, according to media reports.

    Two firefighters were slightly injured, fire services told AFP.

    The fire broke out on Sunday and spread rapidly due to strong winds, making it “difficult to control,” the fire services said.

    Five localities near the fire were told to evacuate, including Pyrgos, Elliniko and Kallithea.

    Fifteen vehicles, seven water bombers and three helicopters were deployed to fight the blaze on Sunday, according to the fire brigade.

    Numerous regions of Greece were placed under an orange fire alert on Sunday and Monday due to winds reaching speeds of 50 to 75 kilometers an hour.

    The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.

    In August, a massive blaze near Marathon, 40 kilometers northeast of Athens, killed one person and forced thousands to flee their homes.

    AN-AFP

  • Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in Israeli raid

    BEIRUT — The leader of the Hamas movement in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif, was killed along with his wife and two sons in an Israeli raid on his home in the center of the Rashidieh camp in southern Lebanon at dawn on Monday, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

    Lebanon’s National News Agency reported earlier that an Israeli raid targeted a Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Tyre, noting that this marks the first time the camp has been targeted since the onset of the strikes against Lebanon.

    In a statement, Hamas affirmed that Fateh Sherif joined “the leaders and martyrs that preceded him, after a lifetime and journey full of service to the people of Palestine, their legitimate struggle, and their just cause.”

    Confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have sharply escalated after the latter announced a shift in military focus from the Gaza Strip to the northern front.

    This has intensified the ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggering Israeli retaliatory fire and airstrikes in Lebanon.

    XINHUA

  • Hurricane Helene death toll tops 100 in U.S.

    NEW YORK — The United States has posted more than 100 deaths related to Hurricane Helene as of Sunday, according to CBS News.

    In particular, North Carolina reported 37 deaths while South Carolina registered 27 fatalities, reported The New York Times.

    Buncombe County in Western North Carolina had 30 people killed from the storm, with over 500 unaccounted for as of early Sunday afternoon, according to Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller.

    North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper encouraged people to donate to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund to help communities recover from catastrophic damage caused by the storm.

    “There is a massive effort underway to get help to the people of Western North Carolina, including state and federal relief, but we know there will be additional needs,” Cooper said.

    U.S. President Joe Biden declared that a “major disaster” exists in Florida and North Carolina on Saturday and ordered federal aid to assist local recovery from the hurricane’s impacts.

    The United States still had over 2 million electric customers without power supply as of Sunday night, according to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks and records power outages across the country.

    Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area Thursday night as a Category 4 and continued to wreak havoc though it weakened afterward.

    XINHUA

  • 8 killed in helicopter crash in eastern Colombia

    BOGOTA — Eight people were killed after a Colombian Air Force helicopter crashed Sunday morning during a humanitarian mission in the eastern department of Vichada, said President Gustavo Petro.

    Petro offered “a hug of solidarity” for the bereaved families as the country mourns the deceased in the tragedy, according to the president’s social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    Earlier, the Colombian Air Force said that the Huey II helicopter, with registration number FAC-4441, had lost contact while on a medical mission. Search and rescue operations were immediately launched after the crash.

    Local media reported that the victims included several officers and technicians. Preliminary investigations show that bad weather could be the primary cause of the crash.

    XINHUA

  • Leader of crime ring killed in Colombia

    BOGOTA — Colombian police have shot and killed Juan Carlos Rodriguez, alias “Zeus,” one of the country’s most dangerous criminals and the leader of the organized crime ring Clan del Golfo, the National Police of Colombia (PNC) confirmed Sunday.

    Rodriguez, an ex-military man and fugitive, was killed on Saturday along with seven of his men during a gunfight with police in the northwest Colombian department of Antioquia.

    “In the development of Operation Agamemnon, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, leader of the Magdalena Medio Block of the ‘Clan del Golfo’, died,” announced PNC General Director William Salamanca on X.

    The joint operation to capture Rodriguez involved the police, army, air force and the Attorney General’s Office.

    XINHUA

  • 1 dead, 31 injured in road accident in Russia

    MOSCOW — One person was killed and 31 others injured on Sunday after a truck collided with a bus in Krasnodar region of southern Russia, local media reported.

    According to the TASS news agency, the accident occurred on the Temryuk-Krasnodar-Stavropol border road. The truck lost control and swerved into the opposite lane, crashing into the bus transporting 49 handball fans.

    The truck driver died on the spot and the 31 injured people were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, said the report.

    XINHUA