News in Brief

Date: 28 August 2022 - 21:32

News ID: ۱۰۶۲۵۵

THE HAGUE (AFP) – Dutch police on Sunday raised the death toll to six with seven other people hurt after a horse-and-trailer truck ran off a dike road, ploughing into ac crowd. The accident happened around six pm (1600 GMT) on Saturday when the Spanish-registered truck left the road on the narrow Zuidzijdsedijk, 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Rotterdam. Police had first confirmed at least two dead after the vehicle drove into a community barbecue, which Dutch news reports said was being hosted by an ice-skating club. “We now have six people killed and seven injured, one seriously after yesterday’s accident,” police spokeswoman Mirjam Boers told AFP. “We are still investigating what exactly happened,” she said. Photographs from the scene identified the truck as belonging to the El Mosca company, based in Spain. Boers confirmed the driver had been arrested “and was not under the influence of alcohol,” at the time of the accident.

***

AMSTERDAM (AP) – Three Dutch commandos in the United States for training exercises were wounded in a shooting outside their hotel in Indianapolis on Friday night, the Dutch Defense Ministry said. One of them was in critical condition, a statement published on Saturday said. The men were in the state of Indiana for training, it said, adding that local police were investigating the incident. No arrests have been made. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), which is handling the investigation, was not immediately available for comment. An IMPD officer told FOX 59 it appeared an altercation took place earlier at a different location from the Hampton Inn in downtown Indianapolis. “Right now the information we’re willing to disclose is that it was not something that occurred inside the hotel,” the officer told the news channel. “It was a previous altercation we believe at another location. It did not happen inside the Hampton, the actual occurrence was outside.” Asked who the commandos were training with and whether any U.S. personnel were involved in the incident, a Pentagon spokesperson referred questions to local civilian authorities, adding the situation remains under investigation.

***

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Supporters of Argentine Vice President Cristina Kirchner -- on trial for alleged corruption -- gathered across the country, with police using tear gas and water cannon in the capital Buenos Aires. Kirchner, 69, is accused of fraudulently awarding public works contracts in her stronghold in Patagonia, and prosecutors have asked that she face 12 years in jail and a lifetime ban from politics. Thousands responded to a social media campaign and gathered peacefully in town squares across Argentina, though in Buenos Aires some supporters breached police barricades to reach Kirchner’s home. “There has been too much blood in Argentina for them to continue threatening those who think differently with gunfire, bullets, tear gas and pepper spray,” Kirchner told supporters.

***

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. intelligence community will assess the potential risk to national security of disclosure of materials recovered during the Aug. 8 search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter from National Intelligence Director (DNI) Avril Haines to House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff and Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney also said the Justice Department and DNI “are working together to facilitate a classification review” of materials including those recovered during the search. Schiff and Maloney said in a joint statement they were pleased the government was “assessing the damage caused by the improper storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.” Politico reported the letter earlier. The Justice Department on Friday disclosed that it was investigating Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources — among America’s most closely held secrets.

***

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkey on Sunday alleged fellow NATO member Greece has used a Russian-made air defense system to harass Turkish jets on a reconnaissance mission, calling it a “hostile action.” The incident took place on August 23 when Greece’s S-300 missile system deployed on the island of Crete put a lock on Turkish F-16 jets flying at 10,000 feet west of Rhodes, Turkish defense ministry sources said. That was “incompatible with the spirit of (NATO) alliance” and amounted to “hostile acts” under the NATO rules of engagement, the sources added. “Despite this hostile action, (Turkish) jets completed their planned missions and returned to their base safely.” Turkey has in recent months complained of what it calls provocative actions by Greece, saying such moves undermine peace efforts. The two uneasy NATO neighbors have long-standing sea and air boundary disputes which lead to near-daily air force patrols and interception missions mostly around Greek islands near Turkey’s coastline.

***

MANILA (AP) – Philippine officials have successfully rescued all 85 passengers and crew of an inter-island ferry that caught fire off a port near Manila, the coast guard said, as authorities shifted focus toward investigating the blaze. The boat, M/V Asia Philippines, which was listed as carrying 49 passengers and 38 crew members, had been partially engulfed near the port of Batangas, located south of the capital. The fire was brought under control hours later, with the Philippine Coast Guard reporting about 80 percent and 90 percent damage on the vessel’s second and third decks, respectively. Officials concluded search and rescue operations on Saturday afternoon, after confirming that two of the remaining passengers on the list were not onboard and had taken a later ferry.