ADEN, Yemen – Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak submitted his resignation to the Presidential Leadership Council on Saturday, citing constitutional limitations and obstructions that hindered his work, according to an official statement.
XINHUA
ATHENS – A 38-year woman was killed after an explosion in northern Greek city of Thessaloniki early on Saturday, police officials said, adding that a criminal investigation is under way.
“It appears that she was carrying an explosive device and planned to plant it a bank’s ATM,” a senior police official told Reuters.
“Something went wrong and exploded in her hands,” the official added.
REUTERS
NEW DELHI – India said it has banned the import of goods originating from or transiting via Pakistan as diplomatic tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations flared in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in disputed Kashmir region.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a notification said the ban will take effect immediately.
“This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy,” it said.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 tourists in last week’s attack on a mountain destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and has been the site of multiple wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.
India has accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denies. Pakistan said it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action.
Pakistan also announced retaliatory measures that have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats.
It has also warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of river water promised under a decades-old treaty between the two nations would be considered an act of war.
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.
REUTERS
NEW DELHI – At least six people were killed and 55 were injured in a stampede at an Indian temple in the western coastal state of Goa where hundreds of devout Hindus had assembled, police official said on Saturday.
The stampede occurred on Friday night during the annual Shri Lairai Zatra festival in Shirgao village, which is popular for its events including fire-walking.
“Devotees were witnessing a religious ceremony and the frenzy caused during the rituals triggered a stampede,” said V.S. Chadonkar, a police officer in Goa’s state capital Panjim.
“Six people lost their lives and at least eight were critically injured,” he said.
Stampedes during large Hindu religious gatherings are routinely reported in India, as huge crowds gather in tight spaces often ignoring safety protocol.
REUTERS
SAN FRANCISCO – Five Chinese citizens were killed and eight others injured in a traffic accident near Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. state of Idaho Thursday evening, the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco confirmed on Friday.
The accident occurred on a highway near Henry’s Lake State Park, about 26 km west of Yellowstone National Park, the Idaho State Police said in a press release.
A pickup truck and a tour van collided and burst into fire, the police said.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, the consulate told Xinhua.
The consulate expressed deep condolences for the dead and sincere sympathy to the injured and the families of those affected.
It has promptly activated its consular protection emergency response mechanism to provide assistance and support to the injured and the families of the deceased.
The consulate is also working to ensure proper medical treatment for the injured and to help the families of the victims with follow-up arrangements. It pledged to continue doing its utmost in handling the aftermath of the incident.
The consulate has requested the U.S. authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, verify the situation, and formally report the findings to the Chinese side.
The Idaho State Police said the driver of the pickup truck died and there were casualties among the passengers in the tour van.
XINHUA
KABUL – At least five commuters were killed and seven others injured in a traffic accident in eastern Afghanistan’s Wardak province, state-run Bakhtar news agency reported Saturday.
Two vehicles collided in Wardak’s Saidabad district along the highway linking the capital Kabul with the southern Kandahar province on Friday evening, the report said.
According to the report, the injured, including women and children, have been taken to the provincial hospital for treatment, some of them in critical condition.
XINHUA
NANJING – One person was killed and four others were injured after a helicopter crashed on Friday in the city of Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, local authorities said Saturday.
At around 5 p.m., the Robinson R44 II helicopter crashed from a height of about 10 meters when returning from a flight, according to the local emergency management bureau.
One person on the ground was killed, while four personnel on board were injured. The injured personnel have been hospitalized, with none currently in life-threatening condition.
XINHUA
DAMASCUS – Israeli air activity intensified across Syria on Friday, with warplane strikes reported in capital Damascus as well as central and western provinces, and drone activities observed in several regions, according to Syrian media and a monitor group.
In rural Damascus, a drone strike attributed to the Israeli military killed four people in the town of Kanaker on Friday afternoon, Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported.
Besides, at least 10 airstrikes targeted the area surrounding the eastern suburb of Harasta, including a military post near the Harasta Military Hospital, Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Syria’s state broadcaster Al-Ikhbariyah reported that the airstrikes caused significant material damage but no confirmed fatalities as of Friday evening, and that ambulance and civil defense teams were dispatched to the scene.
In southern Syria, Israeli airstrikes hit the outskirts of the towns of Mothbeen and Izraa in Daraa province. In central Syria, an Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the village of Shahta, in the western countryside of Hama province, on Friday night, injuring four, local media reported.
Israeli reconnaissance aircraft also reportedly hovered over southern and central parts of Syria, including the provinces of Daraa, Homs, and Hama, in what appeared to be part of a coordinated campaign.
Israel’s national broadcaster KAN reported Friday that the Israeli government had approved additional targets in Syria, including military installations and sites affiliated with the new Syrian authorities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly authorized the new targets.
XINHUA
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of State has approved the possible sale of AIM-9X Block II Tactical Missiles to Norway for an estimated $370.9 million, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The principal contractor is RTX Corp, the Pentagon said in a statement.
REUTERS
NEW DELHI – At least four people died and one was injured when a huge tree fell on their house as heavy rains and thunderstorm hit the Indian capital city and its nearby areas on Friday.
The tree fell on the one-room house of the family in the southwest Kharkhadi Nahar village. The house was situated in an agriculture field. The deceased included a 28-year-old woman and her three children. The woman’s husband was injured and admitted to a local hospital.
The thunderstorm coupled with heavy rains caused water-logging and traffic disruptions due to falling trees in many parts of Delhi and other affected areas.
XINHUA
BERLIN – Eight people were injured, including three seriously, on Friday after a car drove into a group of pedestrians in the city center of Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, according to local police.
The incident occurred in the Olgaeck area of the Stuttgart-Mitte district. Both the police and the fire department were responding to the event.
Local police confirmed the victim figures in an update, adding that at least one person required resuscitation. Rescue operations were ongoing, the police stated.
According to the authorities, there is currently no indication of an attack or an intentional act. It was believed to be a tragic traffic accident.
The driver of the involved SUV was arrested, who is reported to be a 42-year-old man.
Police had assured the public that there was no further danger related to the incident.
XINHUA
GAZA – At least 32 Palestinians have been killed and many others injured in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Friday, the enclave’s Civil Defense reported.
XINHUA
WASHINGTON – An Illinois man was sentenced on Friday to 53 years in prison after a jury convicted him in the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and the severe wounding of his mother in an October 2023 hate crime stabbing, prosecutors said.
Joseph Czuba, 73, stabbed and killed Wadee Alfayoumi and knifed Hanan Shaheen days after U.S. ally Israel began its war on Gaza following an October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Prosecutors said the stabbing – one of the earliest and worst hate crime incidents in the U.S. since the start of the war – was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred. U.S. rights advocates have noted rising Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate and antisemitism.
The prison sentence by Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak included 30 years for the child’s murder, 20 years for the attempted murder of the mother and 3 years for hate crime, according to prosecutors.
Czuba, who was the landlord for Shaheen and her son, stabbed the boy 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) serrated blade, authorities said.
Shaheen suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack that occurred in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago.
Czuba was found guilty in February. Shaheen testified during the trial that Czuba told her “you, as a Muslim, must die.”
Czuba had earlier pleaded not guilty.
REUTERS
BOISE, Idaho – A pickup truck and a tour van collided on a highway leading to Yellowstone National Park, leaving seven people dead and eight others injured, Idaho State Police said.
The crash happened just before 7:15 p.m. Thursday near Henry’s Lake State Park in eastern Idaho, police said in a press release. The state park is roughly 16 miles (26 kilometers) west of Yellowstone National Park.
Authorities have not said what led up to the crash.
Both vehicles caught fire, the Idaho State Police said in a press release. The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup and six people inside the Mercedes passenger van died. The van was carrying a tour group of 14 people, and the surviving occupants were taken to hospitals with injuries, police spokesman Aaron Snell said.
Air ambulances and emergency paramedics responded to the collision, which remains under investigation.
The Fremont County coroner’s office had not released the names of those killed as of Friday morning. The Idaho State Police said officials were still working on notifying family members of those killed and injured, so the agency was not yet releasing the names, ages, hometowns or nationalities of the people involved.
Roger Merrill, 60, was driving home when he saw the flames engulfing the two vehicles as bystanders tried to care for survivors from the van on the side of the highway. Merrill said he often sees tourist vans on the highway that leads to Yellowstone National Park.
“It is a very dangerous highway because it leads to the main entrance of Yellowstone National Park,” he said. “It’s extremely busy.”
Merrill captured video of the wreckage with smoke blanketing the van. Due to the remote location, Merrill said he anxiously awaited the help of first responders.
“It took an unnervingly long time for help to arrive just because of the location,” he said.
The Idaho Transportation Department has identified the highway for safety improvements designed to reduce the severity of crashes, but the project is still in the research and planning phase. That portion of the highway had an average of about 10,500 vehicles traveling it daily in 2023, according to the agency.
AP
BERLIN – Several people were injured, some seriously, after a car drove into a crowd in the centre of the southwestern German city of Stuttgart on Friday, according to police and firefighters.
The driver of the car has been detained, added police.
The Bild newspaper cited eyewitnesses as saying a woman with a pram had been hit by the black Mercedes G-Class SUV.
Stuttgart firefighters described the incident as a traffic accident, while police said they would share new information as soon as it was available.
The area remains blocked off by police, who advised pedestrians and drivers to avoid the area if possible.
REUTERS
CHURANDA, India/CHAKOTHI, Pakistan – Nestled between mountains in Indian-administered Kashmir, teachers lead school children in the village of Churanda in morning prayers, asking that the sound of swaying walnut trees and cooing birds not be replaced by the roaring of artillery.
Though children attended class as usual, “fear among the parents is running high” said teacher Farooq Ahmad, following a deadly attack on tourists which many on both sides of the line of control that divides the region worry could lead to conflict.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, and countless clashes at the border over the decades. So residents have become used to watching and waiting with dread when tensions between the neighbours soar.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 tourists in last week’s attack on a mountain beauty spot. India has blamed Pakistan for involvement, which Islamabad denies. Pakistan said it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action soon.
From Churanda, both Pakistani and Indian soldiers can be seen at their outposts. Elders say at least 18 people have been killed in the village in firing between the two sides over the last few decades.
“There are six bunkers in the village for the population of 1500. Both sides are threatening each other. If there is border escalation, where will we go? Fear is there as this village is the worst hit,” said Abdul Aziz, a 25-year old resident.
SUPPLIES FOR TWO MONTHS
On the opposite, Pakistani administered side of the line that divides control of the region, residents of Chakothi village prepared fortified shelters that dot the hillsides near their homes.
“People have built bunkers in their homes. They go in the bunkers whenever there is some firing,” said Faizan Anayat, 22, who was visiting family on a trip back to Kashmir from the city of Rawalpindi where he works as an air conditioning technician.
One of his neighbours, Mohammad Nazir, 73, took a break from preparing the bunker to go to the mosque for Friday prayers as his family’s children played cricket near its entrance.
“We are not afraid of anything,” said Nazir. “Every one of our kids is ready.”
In the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, authorities say they have prepared a 1 billion Pakistani rupee ($3.5 million) emergency fund and sent enough food, water and health supplies to villages along the line of control to last for two months.
Authorities had closed all religious seminaries in the region for 10 days, officials said on Thursday, citing fears they would be targeted by Indian strikes.
They have also moved equipment to areas near the line of control to repair any damage to roads, and instructed rescue and civil defence authorities to be on high alert, the Pakistan-administered Kashmir prime minister’s office said.
The head of the Kashmir branch of the Pakistan Red Crescent, Gulzar Fatima, said as soon as the relief group saw tensions rise, they began to mobilise supplies and staff, including first aid providers.
In the event of Indian military action, they expect a large scale migration of people from around the line of control, and were preparing relief camps with tents, hygiene kits and cooking equipment for at least 500 families, she said.
REUTERS
SANTIAGO, Chile – An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off the southern coasts of Chile and Argentina on Friday, prompting the evacuation of the Chilean coastline throughout the Magallanes region and the suspension of water activities and navigation in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province.
No damage or casualties were initially reported.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was under the ocean 219 kilometers (173 miles) south of the Argentine city of Ushuaia.
Chilean authorities issued an evacuation alert for the entire coastal section of the Strait of Magellan, in the far south of the country.
Due to a “tsunami alert, evacuation to a safe zone is being ordered for the coastal sectors of the Magallanes region,” Chile’s National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response said in a message sent to the public.
It also requested that all beach areas in the Chilean Antarctic territory be abandoned.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric wrote on X that “all resources are available” to respond to potential emergencies.
“We are calling for the evacuation of the coastline throughout the Magallanes region,” Boric wrote. “Right now, our duty is to be prepared and heed the authorities.”
In Punta Arenas, located in Chilean Patagonia and on the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the streets quickly filled with residents searching for shelters, according to images broadcast on local television. Many of them were carrying bags.
The evacuation proceeded calmly and without panic. “We received the alert and we had to evacuate at work, but people are calm and well prepared,” Roberto Ramírez told the 24-hour channel.
The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy, or SHOA, reported that waves could reach Antarctica as early as next hour, while it could take up to 12 hours to reach more remote locations.
In the Argentine city of Ushuaia, considered the world’s southernmost, local authorities suspended all types of water activities and navigation in the Beagle Channel for at least three hours. No material damage or evacuations were reported.
“The earthquake was felt primarily in the city of Ushuaia and, to a lesser extent, in towns across the province,” the local government reported. “In the face of these types of events, it is important to remain calm.”
AP
DAMASCUS – An airstrike targeted a site west of the southern Syrian province of Sweida on Friday, killing three people, according to preliminary reports by a war monitor and Syrian media.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based watchdog group, said the airstrike, believed to have been carried out by an Israeli drone, struck an area near an electricity facility close to the Kanaker road.
Following the strike, a loud explosion was heard across the area, and plumes of smoke were sent into the sky, triggering a security alert in the vicinity. There has been no official confirmation of casualties, though Syria TV reported at least three fatalities.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the incident.
The strike could mark the latest in a series of intensified Israeli attacks on Syrian territory. According to the SOHR, Israel has conducted 48 attacks inside Syria since the start of 2025, including 40 airstrikes and eight ground operations, targeting 58 sites such as weapons depots, command centers, and military vehicles.
The latest strike comes amid heightened violence between Druze groups and government-aligned forces in Druze-majority areas in southern Syria, which has left more than 100 people dead over recent days, fueling concerns of further unrest.
Israel has recently warned of harsh responses against Syria if clashes with the Druze community continue in the country.
XINHUA
JUBA – At least 15 people were killed and 16 injured in Thursday’s clashes in Tonj South County of the restive Warrap State in northern South Sudan, a local official said Friday.
The clashes followed an attack on Manyangok Payam by members of the Apuk, Yar and Muok communities, said Ring Deng Ading, commissioner of Tonj South County.
He said the fighting, which erupted in Agama village, resulted in several houses being burnt to ashes, property looted, and families displaced.
XINHUA
VALLETTA – A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists heading for Gaza was bombed by drones while in international waters off Malta early on Friday, The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international NGO said.
It uploaded video footage showing a fire on one of its ships but did not indicate who could have been responsible for the attack. There was also no immediate indication whether anyone had been hurt.
“The drone attack appears to have specifically targeted the ship’s generator, and the vessel is now at risk of sinking with 30 international human rights activists on board,” the NGO said in a social media post.
The ship issued an SOS distress call after being hit 17 nautical miles (31.5 kilometres) east of Malta, to which Cyprus responded by dispatching a vessel, the charity said.
The coalition is campaigning to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
The Gaza war started after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza in the October 7, 2023 attacks, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s offensive on the enclave killed more than 52,000, according to Palestinian health officials.
Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, and nine activists died. Other ships have similarly been stopped and boarded, without loss of life.
REUTERS