Some 181 missiles were launched in the strike, according to Israeli officials
Jerusalem/Tehran (DT) — In a dramatic escalation of hostilities, tensions have surged in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile strike on Israel. The attack has sparked fears of a wider conflict, potentially drawing in other regional powers.
In response, Israel has mobilized additional troops to reinforce its military presence along its northern borders, particularly in southern Lebanon.
Analysts warn that this incident could destabilize the already fragile situation in the region, with implications for security and diplomacy moving forward. As both nations prepare for potential retaliatory actions, the international community is closely monitoring developments, urging restraint from all parties involved.
Iranians hold Iranian and Hezbollah flags as they celebrate after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, next to the British embassy, in Tehran, Iran, 01 October 2024. EFE-EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
The Middle East edged closer to a long-anticipated regional war following Iran’s missile barrage aimed at Israel. Earlier this week, Israel announced it had initiated limited ground incursions into Lebanon to target the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack
Soon after the attack, which was largely unsuccessful, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that it had made “a big mistake” and “will pay for it.”
Some 181 missiles were launched in the strike, according to Israeli officials. The Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted “a large number” of them.
Israel may respond to Iran’s major Tuesday ballistic missile attack by striking strategic infrastructure, such as gas or oil rigs, or by directly targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, media reports said on Wednesday, citing Israeli officials.
Axios reported that targeted assassinations and strikes on Iran’s air defense systems are potential responses.
An assault on Iranian oil facilities could severely impact the country’s economy, and any of these actions could escalate tensions further, nearly a year into the ongoing conflict that began when Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
Nairobi, Kenya (DT)— At least 45 migrants died after two boats carrying more than 300 people from Yemen capsized in the Red Sea off Djibouti’s coast, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM, via a message on X, confirmed its support for Djiboutian state emergency services in ongoing search and rescue operations. It initially reported 45 deaths and 32 survivors.
However, Djibouti’s coast guard updated the figures, saying that 115 people had been rescued and 44 confirmed dead.
The coast guard said 61 migrants remain missing, though the fate of other passengers aboard the boats remains unclear.
According to the IOM, the eastern migration route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Gulf States is among the most dangerous in the world. Nearly 400,000 migration movements were recorded along this route in 2023 alone.
In the same year, nearly 700 people, including women and children, died attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, with the ultimate goal of reaching Saudi Arabia. This brings the total number of deaths on the route to almost 1,000 since 2014, according to data from the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.
Migrants embark on these perilous journeys in search of better job opportunities, or to escape conflict, insecurity, and the devastating effects of climate change.
However, they often face life-threatening risks such as hunger, disease, and exploitation by human traffickers.
Many who fail in their attempt to reach their destination must endure these dangers again when trying to return home, primarily: to Ethiopia or Somalia.
Atlanta, USA (DT) — Nobel laureate Jimmy Carter, the longest-living U.S. president in history, celebrates his 100th birthday on Tuesday, October 1.
Carter, a Democrat, served one term in office from January 1977 to January 1981. Following his presidency, he dedicated himself to humanitarian efforts, focusing on human rights and poverty alleviation globally, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
“Reaching 100 years is a rare achievement, and when someone uses that time to do so much good for others, it’s truly worth celebrating,” said Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson and chair of The Carter Center governing board, in an interview.
His birthday, occurring 19 months after he entered hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, will be celebrated with a tribute concert featuring country, rock, and gospel music stars, recorded last month at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.
The concert raised over $1 million for the international programs of the Carter Center, which he founded with his wife, Rosalynn Carter.
According to his grandson, Jason Carter, the former president plans to watch the concert on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, hold hands as they walk from a state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married for 77 years. Rosalynn Carter passed away in November 2023, and the former president was last seen in public at her funeral, where he used a wheelchair and appeared frail.
In a birthday tribute, U.S. President Joe Biden described Jimmy Carter as “a moral force for our nation and the world.”
“Your hopeful vision for our country, your commitment to a better world, and your unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continue to guide us all,” the statement read.
The Carters have been involved with Habitat for Humanity International since the 1980s, with the former president regularly volunteering to help build homes for those affected by poverty or disasters.
To celebrate Carter’s birthday this week, numerous Habitat volunteers, including country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, will construct 30 homes in St. Paul, Minnesota, the organization announced.
Bangkok, Thailand (DT) — In a tragic incident in Thailand, a school bus caught fire this morning, leading to fears that at least 25 individuals may have lost their lives. The bus was transporting students back from a school trip when the fire erupted.
The bus was carrying 44 passengers from central Uthai Thani province for a school trip in Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi provinces, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene.
Videos posted on social media showed the entire bus engulfed in fire with huge plumes of black smoke pouring out as it stood on the side of the road. Bodies were still inside the bus hours after the fire.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said there were fatalities and offered condolences to the victims’ families. In a Facebook post on Tuesday evening, the prime minister also said that the government would cover medical expenses and provide compensation to the families of the deceased.
The burning school bus was carrying 44 students and teachers who were on a school trip, in Thailand on Oct 1, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Jack Board)
The students on the bus were reported to be in elementary and junior high school.
Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities because they had not finished investigating the scene. He said the driver survived but appeared to have fled and could not yet be found.
Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the fire, while local hospitals have been put on high alert to treat any survivors. This devastating event has shocked the community, with officials expressing their condolences to the families affected.
Washington, USA (AP) — The Biden administration said Monday it is making asylum restrictions at the southern border even tougher, as it’s increasingly eager to show voters uneasy over immigration that it is taking a hard stance on border security.
The new rules, which toughen restrictions announced in June, bar migrants from being granted asylum when U.S. officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed.
Under the previous rules, the U.S. could restrict asylum access when the number of migrants trying to enter the country between the official border crossings hit 2,500 per day. The daily numbers had to average below 1,500 per day for a week in order for the restrictions to be lifted.
The version rolled out Monday says the daily numbers will have to be below 1,500 for nearly a month before the restrictions can be lifted. And the administration is now counting all children toward that number, whereas previously only migrant children from Mexico were counted.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks with John Modlin, the chief patrol agent for the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, right, and Blaine Bennett, the U.S. Border Patrol Douglas Station border patrol agent in charge, as she visits the U.S. border with Mexico in Douglas, Ariz., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
These changes, which go into effect on Tuesday, will make it much more difficult to lift the restrictions and allow people entering the country between the official border crossings eventually to apply for asylum in the U.S.
But the restrictions implemented in June have never been lifted because the numbers of border encounters have never gotten low enough for long enough, raising the question of why the administration felt the need to make them even tougher now. The seven-day average has gotten down to about 1,800 migrant encounters per day, the Department of Homeland Security said.
A senior administration official said Monday that the longer timeline was necessary to make sure that drops in immigration are sustained and not due to a one-time event. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters about the tighter restrictions before they were made public.
Immigration advocates already had harshly criticized the restrictions announced in June, saying the administration was slashing away at vital protections for people fleeing persecution.
The administration has touted its asylum restrictions, saying they have led to serious drops in the number of migrants coming to the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that since the changes were announced in June, the daily number of people encountered by Border Patrol between the legal border crossings has fallen over 50%.
In a statement announcing the new rules, DHS called on Congress to do more to solve immigration problems.
Border security and immigration are a key weakness for the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and others from his party have hammered away at the high numbers of migrants who’ve come to the southern border under the Biden administration, saying the White House and Harris haven’t done enough to restrict migration and secure the border.
Harris visited a border region of Arizona on Friday, her first visit as the Democratic nominee. She walked along the tall metal fence separating the U.S. from Mexico and called for a tightening of asylum rules while pushing for a better way to welcome immigrants legally.
“I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose either between securing our border and creating a system that is orderly, safe and humane,” Harris said. “We can and we must do both.”
The restrictions do allow some exceptions. Victims of a severe form of trafficking, for example, would still be allowed to apply for asylum.
The administration also allows people using its CBP One appointment system to apply for asylum, but those people must schedule an appointment on the app to come to an official border crossing point.
The administration has tried to encourage migrants to use that app instead of crossing the border illegally.
But demand far exceeds the 1,450 appointments available daily, and the administration has not indicated that it will increase the number of appointments.
Asheille, N.C. (AP) — Widespread devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene came to light Monday across the South, revealing a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll topped 125.
A crisis was unfolding in western North Carolina, where residents stranded by washed-out roads and by a lack of power and cellular service lined up Monday for fresh water and a chance to message loved ones days after the storm that they were alive.
At least 128 deaths in six Southeastern states have been attributed to the storm — a number that climbed Monday as a clearer picture emerged of the damage it inflicted on an area stretching from Florida’s Gulf Coast northward to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.
North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reach areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. During a briefing Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested as many as 600 people hadn’t been accounted for as of Monday afternoon, saying some might be dead.
The Riverside RV park was flooded from the overflowing Catawba River after torrential rain from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Morganton, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
Government officials and aid groups were working to deliver basic supplies by air, truck and even mule to the hard-hit tourism hub of Asheville and its surrounding mountain towns. At least 40 people died in the county that includes Asheville.
The destruction and desperation were unimaginable. A flattened cargo container sat atop a bridge crossing a river with muddy brown water. Overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden docks and tree trunks covered the surface of a picturesque lake tucked between the mountains.
A woman cradled her child while people around her gathered on a hillside where they found cellphone service, many sending a simple text: “I’m OK.”
The North Carolina death toll included one horrific story after another of people who were trapped by floodwaters in their homes and vehicles or were killed by falling trees. A courthouse security officer died after being submerged inside his truck. A couple and a 6-year-old boy waiting to be rescued on a rooftop drowned when part of their home collapsed.
Rescuers did manage to save dozens, including an infant and two others stuck on the top of a car in Atlanta. More than 50 hospital patients and staff in Tennessee were plucked by helicopter from the hospital rooftop in a daring rescue operation.
How some of the worst-hit areas are coping
Several main routes into Asheville were washed away or blocked by mudslides, including Interstate 40, and the city’s water system was severely damaged, forcing residents to scoop creek water into buckets so they could flush toilets.
People shared food and water and comforted one another in one neighborhood where a wall of water ripped away all of the trees and left behind a muddy mess not far away. “That’s the blessing so far in this,” Sommerville Johnston said outside her home, which has been without power since Friday.
A vehicle sits outside of its garage after storm surge from Hurricane Helene, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Madeira Beach, Fla. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
She planned on treating the neighborhood to venison stew from her powerless freezer before it goes bad. “Just bring your bowl and spoon,” she said.
Others waited in a line for more than a block at Mountain Valley Water, a water seller, to fill up milk jugs and whatever other containers they could find.
Derek Farmer, who brought three gallon-sized apple juice containers, said he had been prepared for the storm but now was nervous after three days without water. “I just didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” Farmer said.
Officials warned that rebuilding from the widespread loss of homes and property would be lengthy and difficult. The storm upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.
Video showed a mass of debris, including overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden docks, covering the surface of Lake Lure, a picturesque spot tucked between the mountains outside Asheville.
Helene roared ashore in northern Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and quickly moved through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded waterways.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Monday that hundreds of roads were closed across western North Carolina and that shelters were housing more than 1,000 people.
Cooper implored area residents to avoid travel for their own safety and to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams spread throughout the region in search of stranded people.
Waiting for help and searching for a signal in North Carolina
Several dozen people gathered on high ground in Asheville, where they found one of the city’s hottest commodities — a cell signal.
“Is this day three or day four?” Colleen Burnet asked. “It’s all been a blur.”
The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. Rainfall estimates in some areas topped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) since Wednesday.
Sana’a, Yemen (DT/EFE) Five people were killed and 57 were wounded in an Israeli airstrike against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, a Houthi spokesman said Monday.
Israel struck Houthi rebels in the western Yemeni port city of Al Hodeida on Sunday night.
“Five people have been killed, including a child, and 57 others have been injured in the aerial bombardment by the Israeli occupation,” spokesman for the Houthi Ministry of Health, Anees al Asbahi, said.
Most of the wounded are in critical condition, the spokesman added.
Yemeni authorities “strongly condemned the brutal Zionist aggression against Yemen,” an attack “that targeted civilian sites and service facilities in Al Hodeida province, oil tanks, the power plant and the port of Al Hodeida.”
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed responsibility for the strike, in which it said that “dozens of air force aircraft” attacked Houthi military targets in Ras Issa and Al Hodeida in Yemen, where they targeted “power plants and the seaport”.
On Saturday, the Houthis said they had launched a ballistic missile targeting Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport “during the arrival of the criminal Benjamin Netanyahu”, Israel’s prime minister.
Tensions in the Middle East have further increased following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday in an Israeli bombing in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israel first attacked Yemen in July, with a similar strike that also targeted the port of Al Hodeida, killing six civilians and hitting more than two dozen tanks storing oil, as well as a power plant.
The Houthis have been attacking Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea since November and have launched projectiles against Israel, some of which have managed to hit Israeli territory. EFE
Kathmandu, Nepal (AP) — The number of people killed in Nepal by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall over the weekend reached 193 while recovery and rescue work stepped up on Monday.
Many of the deaths were in the capital, Kathmandu, which got heavy rainfall, and much of southern part of the city was flooded. Police said in a statement that 31 people were still reported missing and 96 people were injured across the Himalayan nation.
A landslide killed three dozen people on a blocked highway about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Kathmandu. The landslide buried at least three buses and other vehicles where people were sleeping because the highway was blocked.
Kathmandu had remained cut off all weekend as the three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Workers were able to temporarily open up the key Prithvi highway, removing rocks, mud and trees that had been washed from the mountains.
The home minister announced temporary shelters would be built for people who lost their homes and monetary help would be available for the families of those killed and to the people who were injured by the flooding and landslides.
Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli was returning home Monday from attending the U.N. General Assembly meeting and has called an emergency meeting, his office said.
Earthmovers remove mangled automobile debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sujan Gurung)
Improved weather has allowed rescue and recovery work to be stepped up.
Residents in the southern part of Kathmandu, which was inundated on Saturday, were cleaning up houses as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people were killed in Kathmandu, which was the hardest hit by flooding.
Police and soldiers were assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. The government announced it was closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.
The monsoon season began in June and usually ends by mid-September. Meanwhile, in northern Bangladesh, about 60,000 people were affected by flooding in low-lying areas because of rains and rising water from upstream India.
People have taken shelter on roads and flood protection embankments in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts, the English-language Daily Star reported.
The River Teesta that crosses the border was overflowing at some points and the Dharala and Dudhkumar rivers in the Rangpur region were rising but remained below danger levels, the Dhaka-based Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Monday. Waters could start receding in a day or two, it said.
Bangladesh is a low-lying delta nation crisscrossed by about 230 rivers, including more than 50 that cross borders.
Bangkok, Thailand (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google opens new tab said on Monday it would invest $1 billion in Thailand to build a data center and cloud region to meet growing cloud demand and support artificial intelligence adoption in Southeast Asia. The investment would create an average of 14,000 jobs annually until 2029, Google said, citing a study of the project by Deloitte.
In May, Microsoft opens new tab said it would launch its first regional data centre in Thailand as part of its efforts to boost cloud services.
“Google’s cloud and data centre infrastructure in Bangkok and Chonburi will help meet growing demand for Google Cloud capabilities and AI innovations, and the company’s popular digital services – such as Search, Maps, and Google Workspace,” the company said. Its data centre would be located in an industrial estate in Chonburi, while the Google cloud region, which consists of hardware and software dedicated to providing services to private and public sector entities, would be in the capital Bangkok.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Google’s investment was “perfectly aligned” with the country’s Cloud First Policy. (This story has been corrected to clarify that the cloud region provides services to organisations and not the data centre, in paragraph 5)
Valverde, Spain (EFE) — The bodies of nine migrants have been recovered by Spanish emergency services in El Hierro in the Canary Islands, officials said Saturday, while at least 50 are missing.
The migrants’ boat capsized on Friday night near the Spanish coast, emergency officials on El Hierro told EFE, adding that 27 people had been rescued.
The boat apparently capsized during the rescue operation, sources from the island’s emergency services told EFE, amid adverse weather conditions and wind gusts of around 37 kilometers per hour.
The officials also said that two of the 27 people who were rescued had been brought to hospital by helicopter. The remaining 25 have been transferred to La Restinga, on El Hierro.
All of the small boat’s occupants were male. One of the dead was an adolescent boy, aged between 12 to 15, officials said.
The boat had left Mauritania for the Canary Islands, a relative of one of the occupants told the NGO Caminando Fronteras (Spanish for ‘Walking Borders’).
The NGO, which was created in 2002 to defend migrants’ rights, were alerted on Friday night that several passengers aboard the small boat were calling their families to say that they could see the Spanish coast and that the engine of the boat had stopped.
According to the relative who called the NGO, there were at least four children between 7 and 11 years old aboard the boar, in addition to several teenagers.
Spain’s Civil Guard and Coast Guard were searching the area around Las Playas for more bodies.
Three boats arrived at El Hierro on Friday night, including the one that capsized. A search for a fourth boat is ongoing.
The first boat was carrying 131 people – 107 men and 15 women, as well as five children and four babies – El Hierro emergency workers said. The second boat was the one that capsized, while the third arrived on Saturday morning with 20 people aboard.
The Atlantic route from the west coast of Africa to the Canary Islands is considered by the United Nations to be the most dangerous in the world; 702 people died attempting the crossing in the first seven months of 2024. EFE
