NewsTensions rise as global incidents spur international alarm: Overnight reports
Tensions rise as global incidents spur international alarm: Overnight reports
This happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported overnight, from Wednesday to Thursday.
ed. Paweł Buczkowski
- An investigation launched into stampede at Maha Kumbh Mela in India - Reuters reports that authorities in India have ordered an investigation into the panic at the Hindu festival Maha Kumbh Mela, where dozens were trampled to death. On Wednesday alone, over 76 million people gathered to bathe at the confluence of three holy rivers in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. At one point, panic ensued, leading to a stampede. The police reported that 30 people died and 90 were injured in the crowd.
- Air disaster in the USA: plane and helicopter collide - A passenger plane collided with a helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan Airport, just outside Washington.
- Israeli airstrike kills at least ten in the West Bank - The Palestinian health ministry reported on Wednesday evening that at least ten people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the village of Tammun in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army claims the target was an armed "terrorist cell." They announced that the raid was conducted based on intelligence from the Shin Bet security service.
- Cuban president criticizes Trump's plan to detain migrants at Guantanamo - The plan announced by US President Donald Trump to detain 30,000 migrants at the naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, is an "act of brutality," stated the president of the Caribbean country, Miguel Diaz-Canel, on Wednesday. Commenting on Trump's plans on platform X, the Cuban leader criticized that the base is "on illegally occupied Cuban territority," and the migrants are to be placed near "known prisons of torture and illegal detention."
- Russian drone attack injures nine in Sumy, Ukraine - In the Ukrainian city of Sumy, a Russian drone struck a residential building, injuring nine people.
- Serbian president grants pardons related to protests - The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, pardoned 13 individuals on Wednesday who were facing criminal proceedings for their participation in mass protests that have been ongoing for nearly three months, announced the president's office. The list includes six students, two university employees, four school directors, and one school employee. The pardons have been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice for further proceedings, as noted by the president's office. The statement did not specify the charges they faced.
- Romanian mercenaries surrender in Rwanda - Over 280 Romanian mercenaries fighting alongside Congolese forces surrendered in the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi, reported the Rwandan army. Rebels from the March 23 Movement, supported by Rwanda, have taken over a significant part of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, prompting thousands of residents to flee. The AFP agency reminds us that since the end of 2022, nearly 1,000 Western soldiers have been stationed in Goma, working for two private military companies.
