Wednesday, January 15, 2025

BIG Wrap

Kremlin says 20 dead after attack on Russian city

(BBC News) Moscow has accused Ukraine of deadly air strikes on southwest Russia — with 20 people killed and more than 100 injured in Belgorod, near the border. The regional governor said three children were among the dead in what was one of the deadliest attacks on Russia since it invaded Ukraine. A Ukrainian security source insisted that only military infrastructure had been targeted in Saturday's action. The attacks follow Russian strikes on Ukraine on Friday, which killed...

Top Maine election official defends taking Trump off ballot

(BBC News) Maine's top election official said her "sacred obligation" to uphold the law drove the ruling to remove Donald Trump from the state's 2024 election ballot. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows cited the US Constitution's insurrection clause to remove Trump, noting his role in the 2021 US Capitol riot. The Democrat told the BBC she was hopeful the US Supreme Court will settle the issue. The Trump campaign has vowed to appeal the controversial decision. Two states,...

IDF official acknowledges ‘extensive collateral damage’ in Gaza camp strike

(BBC News) The Israel Defense Forces tells the BBC that it "regrets the harm caused" to civilians in a strike on a refugee camp in Gaza on December 24. An IDF official told Israeli public broadcaster Kan news that the wrong weaponry was used in the attack, and "extensive collateral damage was caused." At least 86 people were reported killed in the Israeli air strike on the Maghazi camp, in the centre of the Gaza Strip,...

Michigan Supreme Court rejects Trump ballot disqualification bid

(BBC News) Michigan's Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by voters in the U.S. state to disqualify Donald Trump from next year's presidential primary. They sought to invoke a clause in the U.S. Constitution, barring anyone who has engaged in insurrection, over Trump's role in the 2021 Capitol riots. The decision comes days after Colorado became the first state to rule that Trump was not an eligible candidate. Michigan is considered a battleground state in the...

Houthis say they carried out drone attack on Israeli port of Eilat

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said that it carried out drone attacks targeting the Israeli port city of Eilat, as well as a commercial vessel in the Red Sea, as the Iran-backed group steps up attacks that it says are a means of pressuring Israel to end its war in Gaza. Speaking on Tuesday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group conducted drone attacks on Eilat and “other areas in...

U.S. strikes Iran-backed militias in Iraq after drone attack

(BBC News) The U.S. military has attacked Iranian-backed militant groups in Iraq, hours after U.S. personnel were injured in a drone strike on a U.S. airbase there. The U.S. defence chief said three sites used by Kataib Hezbollah and other groups were hit in response to attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. strikes were condemned by Iraq as a "clear hostile act." The U.S. has repeatedly targeted sites linked to militant groups in...

Netanyahu says Israel paying ‘heavy price’

(BBC News) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Gaza war has come at a "very heavy price" for his side. The military says more than a dozen soldiers have been killed in the territory since Friday, bringing the total of the ground assault to 154. Saturday was one of its deadliest days - but the Israeli PM there was "no choice" but to keep fighting. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza — run by Hamas — says...

Russia bars ex-journalist Duntsova from running in presidential election

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Former Russian television journalist Yekaterina Duntsova, who had put her name forward as an independent candidate in Russia’s upcoming presidential election, has been barred from running against President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission rejected Duntsova’s application – which had been filed on December 20 – citing “mistakes in documents,” according to Russian television reports. The commission’s chief, Ella Pamfilova, said the members unanimously rejected Duntsova’s bid to stand in the...

Yemen warring parties commit to ceasefire, UN-led peace process, says envoy

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The warring sides in the long-running conflict in Yemen have committed to steps toward a ceasefire and engage in a United Nations-led peace process, according to the UN special envoy for Yemen. The announcement by Hans Grundberg on Saturday marks the latest step to end a nine-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Following a series of meetings between the...

U.S. woman with rare double womb delivers two babies in two days

(BBC News) A U.S. woman with a rare double uterus has given birth twice in two days – after a "one in a million" pregnancy and a total of 20 hours in labour. Kelsey Hatcher, 32, delivered one daughter on Tuesday, and a second on Wednesday, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital. Announcing the arrival of her "miracle babies" on social media, Hatcher hailed the medics as "incredible". The girls are described as fraternal...