(WASHINGTON) — Seven U.S. personnel were injured following a suspected rocket attack Monday against U.S. and Coalition forces at Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq, U.S. officials said.
Five U.S. service members and two U.S. contractors were injured in the attack, according to a defense official. All are in stable condition, officials said Tuesday.
Five of the injured personnel are receiving care at the air base and two have been evacuated for further care, the defense official said.
Post-strike assessments are still ongoing, according to the defense official.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News on Monday that two rockets were launched at the base.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed Monday on the attack, according to a White House readout of a Situation Room meeting on Monday amid the ongoing tension in the Middle East.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, killing at least five in Lebanon and injuring two in Israel
Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets and drones toward northern Israel on Tuesday morning and afternoon, injuring at least two people, after an earlier Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities on both sides.
The Lebanese militant group said in separate statements that Tuesday’s attacks against Israel — at least four so far — were carried out both in support of the Palestinian people in the war-torn Gaza Strip and in response to recent Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
One of those drones was intercepted by Israeli air defense and the falling shrapnel injured “several civilians” south of Nahariya, the northernmost coastal city of Israel, according to the IDF.
Israel’s Magen David Adam rescue service said its first responders were deployed to the scene and treated a 30-year-old man in serious condition and a 30-year-old woman in mild-to-moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to the lower limbs. Both patients were transported to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.
“We saw the male unconscious in the car with a severe head injury from shrapnel. A female who was fully conscious with shrapnel injuries to her lower limbs was in a parking lot nearby,” paramedic Roi Vishna and senior EMT Noam Levi said in a joint statement released by MDA.” We treated the male including ventilating him and providing medications, and evacuated him by MICU in very serious condition to hospital. The female casualty was evacuated in mild to moderate condition.”
Hezbollah launched the counterattacks after an Israeli airstrike on the town of Mifdoun in southern Lebanon killed at least five people on Tuesday morning, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the casualties.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid the ongoing war in Gaza. But regional tensions have soared following last week’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon’s capital.
Israel kills another Hezbollah commander
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday they had killed another Hezbollah commander in a strike on Lebanon. Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was killed in the strike.
The death was also confirmed by Hezbollah.
“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF said.
Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah official in Beirut, Fuad Shukr, and a Hamas official in Iran, Ismail Haniyeh, has pushed the Middle East to the brink of further war.
Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF
The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.
A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.
“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz
9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.
For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.
“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.
There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.
At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday
In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.
The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”
The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”
“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
In this aerial view melting icebergs crowd the Ilulissat Icefjord near the mouth to Disko Bay on July 16, 2024 near Ilulissat, Greenland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Scientists are warning of a catastrophic sea level rise if the ice in the Arctic melts — a very real possibility.
The Arctic is the front line for climate change and the melting could have catastrophic effects on the rest of the world, experts say.
Researchers recently analyzed fossils taken from the center of the Greenland ice sheet, widely considered to be the largest annual contributor of water into the ocean. The fossils were found to have organic matter, indicating an ice-free period during the Pleistocene Epoch, about 400,000 years ago, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The soil samples contained fragments of willow and wood, as well as insect parts, spike moss megaspores, fungi and poppy seeds, Halley Mastro, a graduate research assistant at the University of Vermont and co-author of the paper, told ABC News.
Paul Bierman, professor of natural resources and environmental science at the University of Vermont and lead author of the study, added: “There’s just no way around the fact that the ice must have been gone or otherwise you couldn’t have had these plants.”
If the Arctic can become ice-free without human interference, it certainly can do so again in the presence of anthropogenic, or human-caused, warming, Bierman said.
He noted that the fossil samples were derived from a drilling expedition in 1993, extracted from 2 miles beneath the ice shelf in Northwest Greenland, about 100 miles from the ice margin.
The fossilized plants suggest temperatures at Summit, Greenland, were likely about 37 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit when the ice disappeared, Mastro said. The ice was then replaced by a tundra ecosystem about 400,000 years ago. Carbon dioxide levels at that time are estimated to have been about 280 parts per million, compared to about 420 parts per million today, Bierman said.
The vast increase in carbon dioxide levels offer an explanation for current heat trends, Bierman added.
“The best thing we can do is to stop and is to get that carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere,” Bierman said. “That’s why we’re breaking heat records. It’s simply as though you’ve thrown a blanket over the Earth.”
Bierman and Mastro are part of a team of about 40 international researchers funded by the U.S. National Science foundation to look at materials from the bottom of ice cores.
Past marine sediment samples did not offer complete reconstructions of the ice sheet, which is why the analysis of the Arctic fossils is even more valuable, the researchers said. Moreover, the “remarkable preservation” of the macrofossils suggests that the ice sheet was completely ice-free during the Pleistocene period.
Data from NASA’s Grace satellite shows a drastic reduction in the mass of the Greenland ice sheet over the last two decades.
Not only is the ice sheet more unstable than previously thought, a paper published last year in PNAS found that it is also melting faster than scientists predicted — a combination that could quickly accelerate the disappearance of the ice sheet, Bierman said.
A 2019 paper published in Nature found that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could expose 400 million people to flooding risk. The potential melting in Greenland will have impacts all over the world — coastal cities like Mumbai, Cape Town, New York, Boston and Miami could disappear, Bierman said.
Greenland’s three largest glaciers — Jakobshavn Isbræ, Kangerlussuaq and Helheimcould — could lose more ice than previously predicted if emissions continue as “business as usual,” a 2020 study published in Nature found. These glaciers make up about 12% of the entire ice sheet and hold enough ice to raise sea levels by about 4.3 feet.
(WASHINGTON) — Several U.S. personnel were injured following a suspected rocket attack Monday against U.S. and Coalition forces at Al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq, a Department of Defense spokesperson told ABC News.
“Initial indications are that several U.S. personnel were injured,” the spokesperson said. “Base personnel are conducting a post-attack damage assessment. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that two rockets were launched at the base.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the attack, according to a White House readout of a Situation Room meeting on Monday amid the ongoing tension in the Middle East.
(WASHINGTON) — As the Middle East braces for potential escalation of hostilities, diplomats at the State Department are trying to rally allies and partners to pressure Tehran into containing the scope of its retaliation against Israel that U.S. officials now view as inevitable.
During a call with G7 foreign ministers on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts that a response from Iran and Hezbollah to the recent assassinations of a high-ranking official from the Lebanese militant group and Hamas’ top political leader could begin in the next 24 to 48 hours, according to two officials familiar with the matter.
However, they added that the U.S. doesn’t have a clear picture of Iran’s plan and that an attack could happen outside that window, as well.
Fouad Shukr, a Hezbollah commander, and Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas political leader, were killed last week in separate incidents. Israel took responsibility for the strike that killed Shukr but has not said if it was also behind the attack that killed Haniyeh in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel.
Officials said the driving agenda behind the call on Sunday, which was organized at the request of the U.S., was to encourage the G7 countries to use any tactic available to them to push Iran and Hezbollah to limit the size of any strike — minimizing the possibility of overwhelming Israel’s aerial defense networks and inflicting mass damage that could ignite an all-out regional war.
Blinken has been working the phones Monday, as well, calling counterparts in the Middle East with a similar message — building off of President Joe Biden’s call with King Abdullah II of Jordan, one official said.
In the wake of Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile strike on Israel last April, officials assessed that Iran showed an interest in toeing the line — launching a massive salvo directly at Israel that could have caused major escalation if defenses failed, but also previewing details of its attack plan and later declaring the issue was “closed” without inflicting large-scale damage or loss of life.
The U.S. is also trying to bring together a similar coalition to back Israel as it did ahead of Iran’s April attack, but American diplomats are facing a steeper hurdle this time because many international partners see some of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions — particularly the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran — as unnecessarily provocative, according to the two officials familiar with the matter.
Blinken also stressed on the call with the G7 that countries would need to encourage restraint from Israel following action from Iran and Hezbollah, and to continue working toward a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza, according to the officials.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF
The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.
A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.
“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz
9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.
For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.
“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.
There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.
At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday
In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.
The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”
The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”
“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel kills another Hezbollah commander
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday they had killed another Hezbollah commander in a strike on Lebanon. Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was killed in the strike.
The death was also confirmed by Hezbollah.
“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF said.
Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah official in Beirut, Fuad Shukr, and a Hamas official in Iran, Ismail Haniyeh, has pushed the Middle East to the brink of further war.
Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF
The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.
A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.
“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz
9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.
For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.
“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.
There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.
At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday
In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.
The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”
The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”
“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
Riot police officers push back anti-migration protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express Hotel which is housing asylum seekers, on August 4, 2024, in Rotherham, U.K. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Violence has shaken the U.K. as riots led by far-right groups have gripped multiple cities across the country, leading to nearly 150 arrests, according to officials.
The disorder spread from Islamophobic and anti-immigrant riots on Saturday called for by far-right groups seeking to exploit the knife attack that killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party on July 29 in the town of Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, authorities said.
The protests that quickly turned violent have been fueled by disinformation circulated online by right-wing commentators falsely claiming the suspect in the stabbing attack was a Muslim illegal immigrant.
Since Friday, the riots have hit most major northern cities, including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sunderland, but also Bristol in southern England, and Belfast in Northern Ireland, the worst outbreak of public disorder in more than a decade. The U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday condemned the violence as “far-right thuggery,” pledging swift prosecution of those involved.
Hundreds of extremist demonstrators have attacked police and set fire to mosques and shops, with hundreds of masked individuals rampaging through city centers.
In the northern English town of Rotherham on Sunday, a mob of hundreds of people attacked a hotel that was housing asylum seekers. The rioters assaulted police protecting the hotel, smashing windows and then trying to set it on fire. At least 10 police officers were injured, South Yorkshire Police said, calling the violence “deplorable.”
“We absolutely condemn the scenes of disorder we witnessed, with a total of around 700 people in attendance,” the police added.
Several small fires were started, but South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services “worked to extinguish these quickly,” according to officials.
A heavy police presence was expected to stay outside the hotel and the surrounding area for the rest of Sunday evening and into Monday, according to the police.
South of Rotherham, another hotel in Tamworth, England, was targeted by rioters. Police in the area urged the public to stay away while they worked on controlling the situation. One officer was injured, the police said Sunday night.
“We’re urging members of the public to avoid the area around the Holiday Inn, Tamworth, as specialist officers continue to deal with violent acts of thuggery,” Tamworth Police said in an update Sunday evening local time.
On Saturday, police said they rescued a Black man in Manchester who was being kicked and punched as dozens of men surrounded him. In Sunderland, hundreds of Muslim men gathered to protect a local mosque as groups of individuals targeted the religious building.
Starmer held crisis talks on Saturday with his government discussing measures to shut down the violence.
The prime minister released a statement Sunday condemning the violence and vowing to “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice.”
“I utterly condemn the far-right thuggery we have seen this weekend,” Starmer said.
“Be in no doubt: those who have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law,” he added.
“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves,” Starmer said. “This is not a protest, it is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.”
Starmer said more arrests would follow and prosecutions would be swift. The government is moving to have courts open 24 hours a day to rapidly process the arrested. The government has also offered increased protection for mosques.
U.K. authorities have accused far-right groups of coordinating the violence. Following the deadly knife attack in Southport, far-right groups and commentators quickly spread false claims on social media, particularly X, that the attacker was a Muslim migrant who crossed illegally on the so-called “small boats” from Europe.
However, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said. The suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
Bangladesh army personnel stand guard during a curfew following clashes between police and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement activists amid anti-government protests in Dhaka on August 5, 2024. (Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday, as anti-government protesters marched on the capital to demand she step down after a weekend of violence that left dozens of people dead.
The Bangladeshi military facilitated Hasina’s “safe passage” out of the country and the army chief is expected to make a speech on Monday.
Broadband internet and mobile data services were cut off and then restored across Bangladesh earlier on Monday.
The demonstrations began with students seeking to end a quota system for government jobs, but clashes with police and pro-government activists escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead last month.
The deadly demonstrations triggered more protests from citizens demanding accountability from their government, which grew into calls for Hasina to step down.
At least 95 people, including at least 14 police officers, died in clashes in the capital on Sunday, according to the country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
