Woman missing in the wilderness for nearly a week found alive suffering from snakebite
Saheed Khan via Getty Images
(LONDON) — A woman who went missing more than a week ago in the wilderness has been found alive suffering from a snakebite, officials said.
The 48-year-old female hiker, who hasn’t been publicly identified, went missing in the Snowy Mountains region in the southern part of New South Wales in Australia on Monday, Oct. 21.
Her disappearance was reported to officers attached to the Monaro Police District who “immediately commenced inquiries into her whereabouts,” according to a statement from New South Wales Police Force on Sunday.
“A command post was established at the Kiandra Courthouse, on the Snowy Mountains Highway, Kiandra and a search was launched,” authorities said. “The wide-scale search involved officers attached to Monaro Police District with assistance from the Mounted Unit, Dog Unit, SES, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Rural Fire Service and a Surf Life Saving Helicopter. Members of the public also assisted.”
After nearly a week surviving on her own in challenging and rugged bushland terrain, the missing and injured woman was found at approximately 4:50 p.m. local time on Sunday by a National Parks and Wildlife officer on the Nungar Creek Trail at Kiandra, NSW police said.
“She was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics for exposure and what is believed to be a snake bite, before she was taken to Cooma District Hospital in a stable condition,” police continued.
It was unclear if the woman was on her own or if she became separated from a group when she went missing.
“Police would like to thank those involved in the multi-agency search, members of the public and the media for their assistance.”
(LONDON) — Several people were killed in a “terrorist attack” at Turkish Aerospace Industries facilities near the capital of Ankara on Wednesday, according to Turkey’s interior minister.
At least four people were killed and 14 injured, including three who are in critical condition, in the attack, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
Two attackers — a man and a woman — were killed and Turkish authorities are working to identify them, he said.
“I condemn this heinous attack,” Yerlikaya said in a post on X. “Our struggle will continue with determination and resolve until the last terrorist is neutralized.”
Yerlikaya said they will be releasing which terrorist organization is allegedly behind the attack.
Security camera footage from the attack showed two armed attackers approaching the entrance of the facility carrying backpacks.
The Turkish Aerospace Industries site is about 25 miles outside Ankara.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called the incident “deeply concerning.”
“NATO stands with our Ally Turkey. We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and are monitoring developments closely,” he said in a statement on X.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian, Morgan Winsor and Trisha Mukherjee contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is replacing him with current Minister of Foreign Affairs Yisrael Katz.
The prime minister and defense minister must have “complete trust” during war, and “over the past few months this trust has been cracked between me and the Minister of Defense,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Netanyahu said he tried to bridge the gaps, but “they kept widening.”
“They also came to the attention of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse, they came to the attention of the enemy – our enemies were pleased with this and benefited greatly from it,” he said.
Netanyahu said Katz “has already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of Finance, as Minister of Intelligence for five years, and no less important than that, as a member of the political-security cabinet for many years.”
“He is known as a bulldozer in a combination of responsibility and firmness, quiet firmness,” Netanyahu said.
Families of hostages are critical of Netanyahu’s decision, saying it’s “unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor prioritization.”
“The dismissal of Defense Minister Gallant is a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal,” the families said in a statement. “We demand that the incoming Defense Minister express an explicit commitment to ending the war and implementing a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages immediately.”
Gallant said in a brief statement, “The security of the State of Israel was and will always remain the mission of my life.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Famine risk looming in north Gaza, health officials warn
Acute food insecurity is a concern across Gaza, but the issue is especially pressing in the northern part of the strip where the Israeli military’s ongoing assault has intensified in recent weeks.
Dr. Abu Safiyeh — who works at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya — said the besieged facility is running out of all food, collecting video footage of the deteriorating situation there.
Safiyeh’s warning followed a statement last week from the United Nations’ food assistance arm warning that “the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon escalate into a famine unless immediate action is taken.”
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Joe Simonetti
Gaza situation ‘has not significantly turned around,’ US says
The State Department said Monday that Israel has not done enough to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance.
The U.S. set out its conditions in a letter sent to Israeli officials last month and signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The letter gave Israel until Nov. 12 to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian territory.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
“We have seen an increase in some measurements,” Miller continued. “We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met.”
Miller did not say what steps the U.S. would take if the situation did not improve before the deadline. “I don’t want to forecast in any way what it is that we’ll do at the end of those 30 days,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Joe Simonetti
Deadly Israeli strikes continue in Gaza
Around 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to Palestinian health officials.
At least 20 people — including eight women and six children — were killed by an airstrike on a home sheltering several displaced families in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.
The town is at the heart of Israel’s most recent offensive in the northern part of the strip, which officials at the Hamas-run Health Ministry say has killed around 1,800 people and injured another 4,000.
Separate strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed at least 10 people, health officials said.
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Joe Simonetti
Death toll in Lebanon crosses 3,000: Health ministry
More than 3,000 have been killed since the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began over a year ago, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Sixteen people were killed in Lebanon on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 3,002, it said.
60 rockets fired into Israel, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said that at least 60 rockets were fired into Israel by Hezbollah on Monday.
Some of the rockets were intercepted and others fell “in open areas,” the IDF wrote on X.
The IDF also said it attacked one Hezbollah launcher suspected of firing up to 30 rockets, posting what it said was a video of the strike to its X page.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israeli strikes kill 31 in Gaza, health officials say
Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in Gaza on Sunday.
Almost half of the deaths occurred in northern areas, health officials said, where Israel Defense Forces troops are pressing an intense campaign intended to root out surviving Hamas fighters and stop its units from regrouping.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that around 1,800 people have been killed and 4,000 injured by Israel’s north Gaza campaign, with “widespread destruction of hospitals and infrastructure.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Guy Davies
IDF says 4 drones intercepted in north and east
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Monday that military aircraft intercepted four drones.
Some of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted after crossing into Israel from Lebanon, while the others were shot down before entering the east of the country from the direction of Syria and Iraq, the IDF said.
IDF claims killing of Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it killed Hezbollah’s commander of the Baraachit area of southern Lebanon in an airstrike.
The IDF said Abu Ali Rida was responsible for rocket and anti-tank missile attacks on Israeli forces and commanded Hezbollah units in the Nabatieh area.
Israel notifies UN of plans to terminate cooperation with UNRWA
The Israeli government notified the United Nations of its plans to terminate cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in a letter to the president of the U.N. General Assembly on Sunday.
UNRWA is the main U.N. agency operating in Gaza and is responsible for coordinating and supplying humanitarian aid. It also operates in the West Bank. The Israeli government has accused UNRWA of having ties to Hamas. After the initial accusations, the U.N. conducted an internal investigation, and some UNRWA staff members were fired.
Israel maintains that UNRWA still has ties to Hamas. But aid organizations warn if the agency stops operating in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis there will only worsen.
Israel’s termination of UNRWA in the country follows legislation passed by Israel’s parliament at the end of October severing the country’s ties with the organization.
Israel’s governmental body passed two bills — one banning UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem, and another prohibiting any Israeli state or government agency from working with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf.
The legislation has a three-month waiting period before it goes into effect. It is set to go into effect at the end of January.
Israeli Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jacob Blitshtein wrote in the letter released Sunday that Israel will “continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security.”
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Northern Gaza hospital says Israeli artillery fire injured children
The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza said Israeli artillery fire hit a floor of the hospital, injuring children who were being treated there.
The hospital also said there was heavy bombing overnight on the block where it is located, threatening the nearby Al Yemen al Saeed Hospital.
The hospital director said in a statement on Sunday the glass of the doors and windows of the facility were shattered by the force of the blasts.
Photo by Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON, D.C) — Federal security agencies are sounding the alarm about alleged hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans and communities perceived to be Muslim, according to a new report obtained by ABC News.
The new joint intelligence bulletin (JIB) – published a week after the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel that precipitated the ongoing Israel-Hamas war – notes that “these communities are more likely to be attacked during periods of heightened sociopolitical tensions and increased anti-immigrant sentiment,” and are “more likely when perceived as retribution after acts of international terrorism in the United States and abroad.”
The report from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center, comes nearly a year to the day after the Oct. 14, 2023 murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume. The 6-year-old Palestinian boy was fatally stabbed in Plainfield Township, Illinois, in an alleged hate crime linked to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. His 71-year-old landlord, Joseph Czuba, has been criminally charged for allegedly stabbing Wadea 26 times, and his mother a dozen times. Czuba has pleaded not guilty.
Czuba allegedly yelled “you Muslims must die!” during the attack, according to the JIB.
The JIB also cites a woman’s alleged attempt last month in Texas to drown a 3-year-old Palestinian American child at a community pool, a middle school teacher in Georgia allegedly threatening last December to slit a seventh-grade Muslim student’s throat, and the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in November 2023 while they were walking in Vermont, leaving one paralyzed from the waist down.
Amid ongoing news and debate concerning the Israel-Hamas war, the Jewish community has also seen a rise in hate crimes, as well as other bias incidents, according to reports.
A recent Anti-Defamation League analysis of FBI data found that reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crime incidents increased 63% in 2023 to 1,832, compared to the year before – the highest number ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data on such incidents in 1991.
“Bias incidents surged after the 7 October HAMAS attack on Israel and have since decreased to levels consistent with reporting prior to the conflict, a trend previously observed with other international conflicts or events,” the JIB further noted.
