Brave young girls foil kidnap attempt; Fire in Croatia threatens homes

Here’s what the world’s agencies noted during the night from Thursday to Friday.

• Three 11-year-old girls from Kent in Washington State showed immense bravery. The children were walking towards an ice cream truck when they noticed their six-year-old neighbour being held by an unknown man. She looked terrified and was screaming for the stranger to let her go. The 11-year-olds approached the man and started recording him. He lifted the six-year-old and tried to escape with her. Fortunately, he did not succeed. Later, the child’s parents confirmed to the police that they did not know the man. The suspect, a 40-year-old Kent resident, was arrested on kidnapping charges and placed in King County Jail. "-We are impressed beyond words at the maturity and protectiveness displayed by these preteen girls," said the Kent police.

• Around the coastal city of Split in Croatia, a forest fire broke out that threatened residential buildings and tourists in the vicinity, who evacuated the area, local media reported late Thursday evening. To extinguish the fire, which broke out around the town of Trogir—about 20 km from Split—all fire departments from this part of Dalmatia were engaged, informed the “Jutarnji list” newspaper. 130 firefighters fought the fire, supported by three firefighting aircraft. The cause of the fire is not yet determined.

• Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, decided on Thursday to cancel Defence Minister Yoav Galant’s decision to establish a field hospital in Israel for children from the Gaza Strip. Galant announced the construction of the facility the day before, arguing that it was necessary because children suffering from various illnesses cannot be evacuated from Gaza.

• Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, in a national address on Thursday, declared a state of emergency for 14 districts of the country terrorized by armed gangs. The aim is to restore security in the entire country of 11 million people. He admitted that it would not be "an easy task.” The operation announced by the Haitian Prime Minister involves, as the main force, a contingent of several hundred well-trained police officers from Kenya, which is expected to number around one thousand people eventually. The operation is supported by eight armoured vehicles that the Haitian forces received from abroad. At the same time, Prime Minister Conille called on members of Haitian gangs to “drop your weapons and recognize the authority of the state.”

• An Air India plane flying from Delhi to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The cockpit crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold. According to the airline, 225 passengers and 19 crew members were on board. Everyone was transported to the terminal building, awaiting a replacement flight to San Francisco.

• On Thursday, the Albanian Parliament adopted a declaration calling on neighbouring Greece to repeal the law that declared a state of war between the countries in 1940, reported the newspaper "Gazeta Shqiptare." Albanian parliamentarians unanimously supported the motion, calling on Greece to annul the 84-year-old law that declared a state of war with their country. The Justice and Integration Party initiated the declaration, representing in parliament the Cham community—ethnic Albanians expelled from northern Greece after World War II. Tirana and Athens agreed in 2016 to formally end the state of war, which has remained in effect since World War II, but have yet to take any concrete steps.