At least nine dead in Brazil plane crash: authorities By: AFP on December 23, 2024At least nine people died when a small plane crashed on Sunday morning in Gramado, in southern Brazil, authorities said, slamming into a commercial area of the tourist city. The aircraft crashed into the chimney of a building, struck the second floor of a house and then “fell on a furniture store,” the Rio Grande […]
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe aims to fly closer to the sun like never before By: AP on December 23, 2024A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun’s corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse. The next milestone: closest approach […]
Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh By: AFP on December 23, 2024For generations, the small Hindu temple outside the capital in Muslim-majority Bangladesh was a quiet place to pray — before arsonists ripped open its roof this month in the latest post-revolution unrest. It is only one of a string of attacks targeting religious minorities since a student-led uprising toppled long-time autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina in […]
In ruined homes, Palestinians recall Assad’s torture By: AFP on December 23, 2024School lessons ended in Syria’s biggest Palestinian refugee camp on October 18, 2012, judging by the date still chalked up on the board more than a decade later. “I am playing football”; “She is eating an apple”; “The boys are flying a kite” are written in English. Outside, the remaining children in the Damascus suburb […]
Venancio Mondlane, leading Mozambique’s vote dispute from exile By: AFP on December 23, 2024Charismatic, dramatic and determined, Mozambican opposition leader Venancio Mondlane has directed from abroad waves of protests that pose the biggest threat to the ruling Frelimo party since it took power nearly 50 years ago. Known simply by his first name, the ambitious 50-year-old claims to have won the October presidential vote, rejecting as rigged the […]
Two US Navy pilots shot down in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident By: AFP on December 23, 2024Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor […]
Large earthquake hits battered Vanuatu By: AFP on December 23, 2024A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu’s main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people. The nation’s most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from the deadly 7.3-magnitude temblor on Tuesday, which toppled concrete buildings and set […]
India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests By: AFP on December 23, 2024A crackdown on illegal child marriages in India’s northeast has resulted in nearly 5,000 arrests, after 416 people were detained in the latest police sweep, a minister said Sunday. “We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam state, said in a statement. “Assam continues […]
Two-thirds of French already unhappy with new PM: poll By: AFP on December 23, 2024France’s new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who is still scrambling to name his government before Christmas, faced a fresh challenge Sunday: a historically low poll rating. Even before he has properly started his job, a new poll carried out by Ifop for the French weekly Journal du Dimanche found 66 percent of respondents were unhappy […]
Four killed in helicopter crash at Turkish hospital By: Reuters on December 23, 2024Four people were killed in southwest Turkey on Sunday when an ambulance helicopter collided with a hospital building and crashed into the ground. The helicopter was taking off from the Mugla Training and Research Hospital, carrying two pilots, a doctor and another medical worker, the health ministry said in a statement. Mugla’s regional governor, Idris […]