Sayidina

Category: NEWS

  • Nine Palestinian civilians killed in latest Israeli bombardment in Gaza

    Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, May 26, 2025. REUTERS

    GAZA, May 26, 2025 – At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Monday, as Israeli airstrikes targeted multiple sites in the Khan Younis and Jabalia areas of the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.

    In eastern Khan Younis, two civilians were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a group of people in the town of Abasan al-Kabira. Another strike, carried out by an Israeli drone, targeted a gathering in Al-Mawasi, west of the city, killing at least one person.

    In northern Gaza, an airstrike hit a residential building belonging to the Abed Rabbo family in eastern Jabalia, killing at least six people and injuring others.

    The attacks came hours after Israeli forces launched two massive strikes earlier in the day. A school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City’s Al-Daraj neighborhood — the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School — was bombed, killing at least 36 people, including six children.

    In a separate incident, 19 people were killed when a residential home was targeted in Jabalia al-Balad, also in northern Gaza.

    WAFA

  • 7 dead in building collapse in central Senegal

    DAKAR, May 26 – Seven people were killed and seven others injured when a three-story building under construction collapsed on Sunday in central Senegal, authorities said.

    The number of people killed and injured may rise as search and rescue efforts continue in Darou Khoudoss, a locality in central Senegal, Mame Diene Ndiaye, commander of Fire and Rescue Group No. 2, said on Monday.

    “In the afternoon, rescue teams from the Touba company were alerted to the weakening of a three-story building under construction, with several victims inside. After hours of search and rescue operations, we recorded 14 victims, including seven deaths,” Ndiaye told a press briefing.

    The rescue operation mobilized significant human and logistical resources, including 35 firefighters, a specialized search-and-clearance team, and seven emergency vehicles and equipment, Ndiaye said.

    XINHUA

  • 4 U.S. servicemen arrested in Japan’s Okinawa in separate incidents

    TOKYO, May 26 – Four U.S. servicemen have been arrested in Japan’s Okinawa between May 23 and May 26 in connection with separate incidents, local media reported.

    In the latest case, a 23-year-old U.S. Marine corporal was arrested on a city road in Okinawa on suspicion of driving under the influence.

    While on patrol, officers noticed a car swerving and pulled it over. A breathalyzer test was conducted, which revealed a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit, national broadcaster NHK reported.

    On May 25, another U.S. Marine, a 20-year-old, was also arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run in Okinawa. A breath test also indicated a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.

    Earlier on May 25, a 26-year-old U.S. Navy was arrested in Okinawa City for allegedly trespassing on a private residence’s balcony.

    On the night of May 23, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine was arrested in Chatan Town on suspicion of public indecency after allegedly exposing his lower body in public.

    Crimes involving U.S. military personnel in Okinawa have been a longstanding issue. According to Okinawa Prefecture’s statistics, approximately 6,200 criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel and their dependents have occurred in the prefecture between 1972 and 2023, including serious offenses such as murder, rape, and robbery.

    XINHUA

  • Israeli strikes kill 52 in Gaza, including 36 in a school-turned shelter, medics say

    The aftermath of the Israeli air attack on Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City. ALJAZEERA

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials.

    The military said it targeted militants operating from the school.

    Rescuers recover charred remains

    The strike on the school in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City also wounded dozens of people, said Fahmy Awad, head of the ministry’s emergency service.

    He said a father and his five children were among the dead.

    The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City confirmed the overall toll.

    Awad said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting their belongings ablaze.
    Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains.

    The military said it targeted a militant command and control center inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks.

    Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas.

    A separate strike on a home in Jabalya in northern Gaza killed 16 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.

    Source – AP

  • Mass shooting in South Carolina leaves at least 11 hospitalized

    NEW YORK, May 26 – A mass shooting in South Carolina led to at least 11 people hospitalized on Sunday night, according to local police.

    The Horry County Police Department said it was responding to “an apparent shooting incident” in the town of Little River.

    As of 10:20 p.m. Eastern time (0220 GMT Monday), 11 individuals had been transported to area hospitals by Horry County Fire Rescue, and there had been reports that others arrived at area hospitals via personal vehicles, the department wrote on social media.

    “This is believed to be an isolated incident. There is no risk to the community at this time,” the department said.

    The shooting reportedly took place around 9:30 p.m. Eastern time (0130 GMT Monday).

    XINHUA

  • Malta to recognize State of Palestine next month, says Prime Minister of Malta

    Pro-Palestinian protesters gather along the route of the United Jewish Appeal’s annual Walk With Israel march in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday, May 25, 2025. AP

    VALLETTA, May 25, 2025 – Malta’s Prime Minister, Robert Abela, announced that Malta will recognize the State of Palestine during the coming month, marking the end of a 45-year national debate on the issue.

    Abela described the situation in Gaza as an escalating human tragedy, stating, “We cannot close our eyes to this human tragedy that is getting worse every day.” He highlighted that more than 50,000 people have been killed due to the Israeli aggression.

    The announcement was made during a political event on Sunday, where Abela addressed both local and international issues, placing particular emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    The recognition of Palestine will take place following the peace conference on 20 June, said the German Prime Minister. Abela stated the move is a moral responsibility, considering the worsening humanitarian situation in the region.

    WAFA, 25.5.2025

  • Five skiers found dead on Swiss mountain near Zermatt

    An empty gondola goes up in Zermatt, Switzerland, Dec. 3, 2020. AP Photo/File

    May 25 – Five skiers have been found dead on a Swiss mountain close to the luxury ski resort of Zermatt, after emergency services were alerted to some abandoned skis at 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), the prosecutors’ office in Canton Valais said on Sunday.

    Skiers notified the authorities on Saturday afternoon about the skis found on the slopes of the Rimpfischhorn mountain, east of Zermatt and south of the village of Saas Fee.

    Rescue workers found the bodies near the Adlergletscher glacier after air and ground searches in the area in southwest Switzerland near the border with Italy, the prosecutor’s office said.

    Local airline Air Zermatt said that three of the bodies were found on the debris of an avalanche a few hundred metres below where the skis were spotted. The other two were discovered higher up the 4,199 metre-high mountain, it added.

    The airline’s aircraft are deployed for search missions and other emergencies.

    The identities of the five have not been established yet, and an investigation has been launched into what caused the accident, Valais prosecutors said in a statement.

    Zermatt is one of Switzerland’s premier Alpine resorts, visited by affluent British and other European skiers.

    REUTERS

  • 34 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza: civil defense

    GAZA, May 25 – At least 34 Palestinians, including a journalist and an official of the Civil Defense in Gaza, were killed on Sunday in Israeli attacks across Gaza, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense.

    Ten people, including journalist Hassan Abu Warda, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on homes and gatherings in Jabalia and Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, and 14 people were killed in Israeli attacks on homes, a gathering, and a motorcycle in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Basal told Xinhua.

    In central Gaza, five people were killed in an Israeli attack on a tent housing displaced people in the city of Deir al-Balah. Ashraf Abu Nar, director of operations at the Civil Defense, and his wife were killed in an Israeli bombing at his home. And a pregnant woman was killed in an Israeli attack on a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Basal said.

    One person was killed by Israeli drones targeting a gathering of Palestinians in the al-Karama neighborhood, north of Gaza City, and another was killed in an Israeli attack on a vehicle in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, west of the city, Basal said.

    Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that two of its Palestinian staff members were killed in Israeli attacks on their homes in Khan Younis on Saturday.

    Also on Sunday, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its members carried out a complex operation targeting an army force that had taken refuge inside a house east of the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis.

    The Israeli army said in a statement that a tank commander from its 52nd Battalion was seriously wounded during a clash with Hamas in northern Gaza.

    Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the expiration of the first phase of a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, which have so far killed 3,785 people and injured 10,756, Gaza-based health authorities said Sunday.

    According to a statement issued Sunday by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 has risen to 220.

    XINHUA

  • Over 20 injured in Czech car-bus collision

    PRAGUE, May 25 – More than 20 people were injured in a collision between a car and a bus in the eastern Czech region of Olomouc on Sunday.

    The accident happened near Velky Tynec in the afternoon. The regional emergency rescue service said on the social media platform X that medical rescuers treated and transported 22 people.

    The car driver sustained moderate injuries and was airlifted to the University Hospital in Olomouc, while the others suffered minor injuries, it said.

    According to local media, the car driver was drunk as his breath test was positive. The bus, reportedly en route to a theater performance, was carrying about 30 passengers.

    The circumstances surrounding the accident are under investigation.

    XINHUA

  • 9 terrorists killed in separate operations in NW Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD, May 25 – Nine terrorists were killed in three separate operations in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Sunday.

    The security forces conducted intelligence-based operations in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Khyber districts of KP, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.

    During the operation in Dera Ismail Khan, four terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces, said the ISPR statement.

    In another operation, another two terrorists were neutralized in the Tank district, the ISPR said.

    In the third encounter that took place in the Khyber district of the province, three terrorists were killed, the ISPR said.

    Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas, it added.

    Sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate the presence of other terrorists from the area.

    The military said the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.

    XINHUA

  • Death toll rises to 6 in south China mountain torrent

    NANNING, May 25 – Rescue teams have found three more bodies, bringing the death toll to six following the mountain torrent that struck a village in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said on Sunday.

    The disaster hit Sanshe Village in Longsheng county, Guilin City, early Friday morning. Nine search and rescue teams have been deployed to carry out the rescue operations. As of 6 p.m. Sunday, two people remain missing.

    The search efforts remain intense and orderly, with all parties continuing high-intensity sweeps, according to local authorities.

    XINHUA

  • Swiss authorities exploring probe into US-backed Gaza aid group

    Displaced Palestinian children wait to receive free food at a tent camp, amid food shortages, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 27, 2024. REUTERS

    GENEVA, May 25 – Swiss authorities said on Sunday they were exploring whether to open a legal investigation into the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organisation that plans to oversee aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave.

    The move comes after a Swiss NGO submitted a request for a probe into GHF’s aid plan, which the United Nations has opposed, saying it is not impartial or neutral and forces further displacement and exposes thousands of people to harm.

    The GHF, which has said it hopes to start work in Gaza by the end of May, told Reuters it “strictly adheres” to humanitarian principles, and that it would not support any form of forced relocation of civilians.

    Israel has allowed limited aid deliveries to resume this week after having stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2.

    TRIAL International, a Switzerland-based NGO, on Friday said it had filed two legal submissions asking Swiss authorities to investigate whether the Swiss-registered GHF complies with Swiss law and international humanitarian law.

    The submissions were made to the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on May 20 and 21.

    The FDFA on Sunday confirmed to Reuters that both authorities had received the submissions.

    TRIAL International said it asked the Swiss FDFA to explain if the GHF had submitted a declaration, in accordance with Swiss law, to use private security companies to distribute aid, and if it had been approved by Swiss authorities.

    The FDFA told Reuters it is investigating whether such a declaration would be required for the foundation.

    It said that the Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations cannot review whether foundations comply with their statutes until they start their activities.

    The GHF told Reuters that though using private security firms represents a change from prior aid delivery frameworks, it would ensure aid is not diverted to Hamas or criminal organizations.

    REUTERS

  • Gaza death toll surges to 53,939 amid ongoing Israeli genocide

    Smoke rises from North Gaza after an explosion, near the Israel-Gaza border as seen from Israel, May 24, 2025 REUTERS

    GAZA, May 25, 2025 – At least 38 Palestinians were killed and 204 others were injured in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours as a result of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the region, according to medical sources.

    Local health authorities confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 2023 has risen to 53,939 fatalities, with an additional 122,797 people sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.

    According to the same sources, the death toll since Israel’s resumption of the genocide on March 18 after a two-month truce has also climbed to 3,785, in addition to 10,756 others injured.

    Emergency services are still unable to reach many casualties and dead bodies trapped under the rubble or scattered on roads across the war-torn enclave, as Israeli occupation forces continue to target ambulance and civil defense crews, according to the health authorities.

    WAFA

  • 6 killed in shophouse fire in Indonesia’s Aceh province

    JAKARTA, May 25 – Six people were killed as shophouses caught fire in Indonesia’s western Aceh province on Sunday, according to a senior official.

    The fire broke out after dawn in the Manyak Payek sub-district of Aceh Tamiang Regency, said Sri Wahyuni, a senior official of the provincial Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency.

    Several firefighters, residents, and policemen struggled to extinguish the fire, Wahyuni said.

    “The fire engulfed five shophouses, killing six people in one of the shophouses,” the official told Xinhua.

    “One baby and a child were among the casualties,” Wahyuni noted.

    The fire was stopped about two hours later, she added.

    XINHUA

  • 3 dead, 6 injured in western Germany car accident

    FRANKFURT, May 25 – Three people were killed and six others were injured Sunday in a car accident on a highway in western Germany.

    A nine-seat minibus crashed and overturned early Sunday morning on the highway near the western German town of Bassenheim, according to the fire brigade.

    Rescue teams arrived at the site of the accident and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, it said.

    Local media reported that the accident occurred at around 3:05 a.m. local time (0105 GMT) and the cause remains unclear.

    Some of the passengers involved are foreign nationals, police said.

    XINHUA

  • 6.0-magnitude quake hits Tonga

    SUVA, May 25 – A 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted 178 km SSW of ‘Ohonua, Tonga at 23:49 local time on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

    There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

    The epicenter, with a depth of 11.6 km, was initially determined to be at 22.788 degrees south latitude and 175.725 degrees west longitude, according to the USGS.

    The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not immediately issue a tsunami warning based on the quake.

    Pacific island countries such as Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu lie on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones where continental plates collide, producing frequent seismic activities.

    XINHUA

  • 1 killed, 2 injured after New York sewage boat explodes on Hudson River

    New York, May 24 – One worker was killed and two others injured on Saturday in an explosion on a boat carrying sewage that was docked on the Hudson River in New York, local authorities said.

    The explosion, which occurred near the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant, happened at about 10:30 a.m. local time (1430 GMT) on a motorized city vessel that transports raw sewage, New York Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief David Simms said at a press conference Saturday.

    First responders found a 59-year-old man unconscious in the river, New York police said, and he was declared dead at the scene.

    The man was identified as a “dedicated” worker from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, ABC News reported, citing a statement from the department.

    Another employee was taken to the hospital and a third refused medical treatment at the scene, according to Simms.

    The cause of the explosion is under investigation but New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement there is “no suspicion of criminality.”

    The boat explosion occurred one week after a Mexican Navy ship crashed into New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge on May 17. Two people were killed and more than a dozen others injured in the accident.

    XINHUA

  • Israeli strikes kill 23 in Gaza, including a journalist and rescue service official

    A rescuer walks over rubble to assess damage and look for survivors, in Khan Younis, Gaza, May 23, 2025, in this screengrab taken from video. Palestinian Civil Defence/Handout via REUTERS

    CAIRO, May 25 – Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a local journalist and a senior rescue service official, local health authorities said.

    The latest deaths in the Israeli campaign resulted from separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

    In Jabalia, they said local journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed by an airstrike that hit his house earlier on Sunday.

    Another airstrike in Nuseirat killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior official in the territory’s civil emergency service, and his wife in their house, medics added.

    Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as people look towards Gaza from a viewpoint, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, May 24, 2025 REUTERS

    There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military.

    REUTERS

  • At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave

    Men transporting an air cooler in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (AFP)

    LAHORE – “Destructive” windstorms that raged across central and northern Pakistan after an intense heatwave have killed at least 14 people and injured over 100 more, officials said Sunday.

    Fierce winds, thunder and lightning swept across eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces as well as the capital Islamabad on Saturday afternoon and evening, uprooting trees and downing electric poles.

    While the majority of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and roofs, at least two people died after being hit by solar panels dislodged by the whipping gusts.

    One man was killed and three others were injured by lightning strikes.

    Mazhar Hussain, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial disaster management authority, told AFP that such windstorms develop because of excessive heat, which reached above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.

    “There were three to four days in the recent heatwave where temperatures went up quite a lot,” he said, announcing 14 deaths in Punjab and 100 injured.

    “This windstorm was particularly destructive. The wind speed was very high. There was so much dust in it that visibility was greatly reduced.”

    The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted more storms on Sunday.

    Social media was replete on Saturday evening with videos of the damage the windstorms had unleashed.

    A clip filmed inside a plane about to land in Punjab’s city of Lahore showed passengers screaming in terror as the aircraft was tossed about by turbulence.

    The plane was later diverted to Karachi.

    Other videos show cars crushed by falling trees and roads blocked by debris.

    Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, is grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

    Islamabad experienced several usually rare hail storms throughout April and May that damaged vehicles, smashing window panes and shattering solar panels.

    Soaring temperatures in April and May are becoming more common in Pakistan, which usually sees summer begin in early June.

    Temperatures reached near-record levels in April, as high as 46.5C (115.7F) in parts of Punjab.

    Schools in Punjab and Balochistan have announced early summer vacations because of the heat.

    AN-AFP

  • Man killed by automatic gunfire in French city of Dijon

    Taxis gather in a street, next to French Republican Security Corps (CRS – Compagnies Republicaines de Securite) police officers, in Paris early on May 19, 2025. AN-AFP

    LYON – A 29-year-old man was fatally shot overnight in the eastern French city of Dijon, the local prosecutor said on Sunday, adding that a gangland killing was suspected.

    The southern Chenove district where the killing occurred was known for drug trafficking, the prosecutor, Olivier Caracotch, said in a statement.

    “A dozen shell casings used by an automatic weapon” were found in the street where the killing took place, he said.

    Nearby vehicles and a third-floor apartment were hit by some of the shots, but there were no other casualties, he said.

    The police criminal investigation unit determined the shooter had approached a group that included the victim around midnight, opened fire, then escaped by car, Caracotch said.

    The man killed lived in the city and had no police record for drug-related crimes, he said, adding that the investigation opened was for organized gang murder and criminal association.

    AN-REUTERS