Month: January 2023

Four people were killed and nine injured after militants fired at three houses in Rajouri district on Sunday evening.

On Monday, a child died and four people were hurt after a blast took place near the same houses.

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

Top police officials have started an investigation into the incidents.

Sunday’s attack has triggered protests and strikes in Rajouri as people blamed the local administration for the security lapse.

Manoj Sinha, the administrative head of the region, has condemned “the cowardly terror attack in Rajouri” and announced financial assistance for the families of the victims.

“I assure the people that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished,” he tweeted on Monday.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is hotly contested by both India and Pakistan, who both claim it in full but rule it in parts. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars and a limited conflict over Kashmir since 1947, when India was partitioned and Pakistan was created.

For more than three decades, an armed revolt has been waged against India’s rule in the region, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

India blames Pakistan for stirring the unrest by backing separatist militants in Kashmir – a charge Islamabad denies.

Jammu and Kashmir was India’s only Muslim-majority state until August 2019, when the federal government revoked its autonomy and divided it into two separate territories.

The four people who were killed on Sunday were from the minority Hindu community in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Over the past year, several Hindus in Kashmir have been killed in targeted attacks by militants, sparking fear in the community.

Abbey Musinguzi, also known as Abitex, is a much sought-after promoter.

The crush occurred as the crowd rushed to the venue’s parking lot to watch a fireworks display at midnight in the capital, Kampala.

Only one of the four exits at the Freedom City mall was open at the time, police spokesman Fred Enanga said.

“The revellers had one point of entry and exit. Therefore several victims were trapped and trampled upon through the narrow passage which became a bottleneck for many, mostly juveniles,” he said.

He added they were investigating if “negligence” was to blame for the loss of life.

An estimated 500 people were at the venue along the Kampala-Entebbe highway when the crush happened.

The mall, which has an indoor children’s play area and a swimming pool, is a popular venue for family events.

The mother of two of the children who died said she started heading out of the venue at 23:00 local time, but the people manning the only exit leading to the parking lot closed it and ordered them back inside, trapping people in a narrow alley, local Daily Monitor news site reports.

“Many people started fainting and children started crying. My older children were holding each other and got separated from me… I then started looking for the younger children but I couldn’t move. I was also struggling to stay alive. Some people fell down.”

She managed to get out of the crowd and started looking for her children, but found their bodies at different hospitals.

Some people died on the spot from suffocation while others died later in local clinics.

Local media report that the event organisers had closed the other three exit gates to prevent people who didn’t have tickets from using them to enter the venue.

The event organisers have not made any public comment.

A spokesman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, Patrick Onyango, told the BBC on Sunday that seven children were among the dead.

Police said on Monday that the investigations were ongoing and they are looking for other people who were involved in organising the event.

Other businesses in the shopping centre are operating as usual but a police tape has been put around the scene of the crush.

Vice-President Jessica Alupo met parents of the bereaved and announced that the government would give them five million Ugandan shillings ($1,300; £1,100) to cover funeral expenses for each person who died.

Ugandans have been enjoying the December holiday celebrations for the first time since 2020 when the government banned public gatherings as a health measure to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Queensland Police say initial investigations suggest the crash happened as one aircraft was taking off and the other was landing.

Those who died were travelling in the same helicopter. Three other passengers are in a critical condition.

Two UK citizens were among those killed in the crash, a foreign office spokesperson told the BBC.

They added that officials were supporting the families of the two victims – who have not been named – and would remain “in contact with the local authorities”.

Five of the six people on the other aircraft, which made an emergency landing, suffered minor injuries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country had been left shocked by the “terrible and tragic incident”.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, including first responders, and my deepest sympathies are with those who are grieving,” he said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the collision, which happened at about 14:00 local time (04:00 GMT).

The two aircraft came down near a tourist strip known as Main Beach, about 75km (47 miles) south of Brisbane.

Gary Worrell of the Queensland Police Service said: “It’s a difficult scene, Due to the area it’s located, on the sand bank, it was difficult to gain access, to get our emergency services to the scene to manage it appropriately.”

Images from the site show debris strewn around the area and a mangled helicopter apparently lying upside down opposite the Sea World resort.

The other helicopter has the popular marine park’s logo on its fuselage and appears to have made an emergency landing after the collision.

Mr Worrell said members of the public and police had tried to remove passengers from the aircraft and performed first aid on the injured.

According to the Sea World website the park offers sightseeing helicopter flights for tourists, as well as carrying out other charter operations.

The resort’s owner, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, offered its condolences to all those impacted and said Sea World Helicopters is an independent operator.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell asked eyewitnesses who saw the collision or the helicopters in flight to contact investigators.

A preliminary report will be made public in the next six to eight weeks, with a final report to follow once the investigation is complete, he added.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called the incident an “unthinkable tragedy” and said her “deepest sympathies are with each of the families and everyone affected by this terrible accident”.

The Gold Coast region is currently in its peak tourist season, with children on their summer breaks.

The walkouts by RMT members on 3-4 and 6-7 January, and by Aslef drivers on 5 January, will “significantly impact” services, said Network Rail.

RMT union members have rejected offers in a dispute over pay, job security and working conditions.

Train drivers at 15 rail companies, in the Aslef union, are striking over pay.

Network Rail – which maintains the rails, signals and stations – said the combination of strikes will result in only about 20% of services running, with many areas not seeing any trains at all.

Services across England, Scotland and Wales could be affected by the strikes.

“We’re sorry to have to, once again, ask passengers to avoid using the railway this week,” a spokesperson from Network Rail said.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train operating companies, also urged people only to travel if “absolutely necessary”.

Trains that do run will start later and finish much earlier than usual, with services typically running between 7:30am and 6.30pm on the days of the strike.

There may also be some knock-on disruption to services on 8 January.

Passengers are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys and to check before they travel.

It is the latest in a series of strikes across the rail network, which have caused major disruption.

The two 48-hour walkouts on Tuesday and Friday involve around 40,000 RMT members on Network Rail and 14 train operators.

The RMT’s general secretary Mick Lynch insisted that his members wanted a settlement, not further disruption.

“There’s been too much disruption on the railway caused by government policy and if we can get sensible proposals we can work up towards a solution,” Mr Lynch told the BBC.

He accused government ministers of “sitting on their hands” and failing to help secure a deal.

“They keep saying that they’re facilitating a deal. And I think it’s absolutely the opposite to that.”

However, a Department for Transport spokesperson rejected this, saying: “The government has demonstrated it is being reasonable and stands ready to facilitate a resolution to rail disputes.

“It’s time the unions came to the table and played their part as well.”

Meanwhile, Network Rail said the deal it has put forward to the RMT is “fair and reasonable”, and urged the union to “sit down with us” and revisit it.

Separately, the Aslef strike involves train drivers across 15 rail companies.

The one-day strike will result in even fewer services running, with some operators expected to run “very significantly reduced timetables”, the RDG warned.

The Aslef union said it had been pushed into taking action because the train companies had not put forward an offer.

“Six months after we had the temerity to ask for a pay rise for train drivers who have, now, not had an increase for nearly four years, we have still not had an offer from the train companies which employ us,” Keith Richmond, Aslef’s spokesman, told the BBC.

“The companies, or the government which stands behind them, could end this dispute now by making a serious and sensible pay offer. It is up to them.”

Daniel Mann, director of industry operations at the RDG, said no-one wanted to see the strikes go ahead.

“This dispute will only be resolved by agreeing the long-overdue reforms to working arrangements needed to put the industry on a sustainable footing, rather than unions condemning their members to losing more pay in the new year.”

The rail industry is under pressure to save money after the pandemic left a hole in its finances. Bosses say reforms need to be agreed to afford pay increases and modernise the railway.

But unions say salaries should increase to reflect the rising cost of living.

The rail strikes come at a time of widespread industry walkouts across the country.

Ambulance drivers, nurses, driving examiners, highway workers and postal workers have all gone on strike in recent weeks.

The veteran left-wing politician, known widely as Lula, also led the country between 2003 and 2010 – and defeated Jair Bolsonaro in October’s poll.

In his first speech, Lula vowed to rebuild a country in “terrible ruins”.

He decried the policies of his predecessor, who went to the US on Friday to avoid the handover ceremony.

A sea of Lula supporters gathered in front of Congress since early in the morning – decked out in the red colour of his Workers’ Party. They travelled to see their leader sworn in – but also for a celebration.

More than 60 artists – including Samba legend Martinho da Vila – were booked to perform on two giant stages decorated in the national flag as part of a music festival dubbed “Lulapalooza”.

“Love has won over hate,” read one banner carried by a man dressed as Lula – complete with a presidential sash.

“Brazil needed this change, this transformation,” said another backer of the incoming leader as she queued for Sunday’s festivities.

Juliana Barreto – who is from Lula’s home state Pernambuco – told the BBC that her country was “a disaster” previously.

Lula and incoming Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin paraded through the city on an open-top convertible before proceeding to the Congress building – where the swearing-in occurred at the start of the formal inauguration ceremony.

The men have spent the past days selecting their cabinet and appointing supporters to key state-owned businesses.

Shortly after being sworn in, Lula sought to instil a sense of hope in the people of Brazil and promised to “rebuild the nation and make a Brazil of all, for all”.

There were several instances when he got out his hanky. His most emotional moment came when speaking to the Brazilian people after the swearing-in ceremony – he started sobbing when talking about those who beg at traffic lights, desperate for food.

Probably not even Lula thought this day would ever come – a return to the top job after two decades, despite a spell in prison after being convicted of corruption. The convictions were subsequently annulled in 2021.

Much of his speech to Congress was about unity and reconstruction. The two words are crucial in such a deeply divided country, hit hard by the pandemic and hugely polarised politically.

Lula knows that his ultimate challenge will be to convince those who feel he is a corrupt politician who belongs in jail that he does now belong in the presidential palace again and can be their leader too.

He pledged to undo the legacy of his predecessor’s government, which he said involved depleting funding for education, health and the conservation of the Amazon rainforest.

To huge cheers from those watching in Congress, he also promised to revoke Mr Bolsonaro’s controversial gun laws immediately.

Lula went on to state that his government would not be motivated by “a spirit of revenge”, but that those who had made mistakes would answer for their errors.

In particular, he singled out Mr Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 policies, accusing him of causing a “genocide” of deaths in Brazil during the pandemic, which would need to be fully investigated.

In another noted change of policy from the Bolsonaro administration, Marina Silva – one of Brazil’s best known climate activists – was re-appointed to head the environment and climate ministry. She will be expected to achieve Lula’s pledge – which was repeated during his speech – to reach “zero deforestation” in the Amazon by 2030.

The atmosphere in Brasilia couldn’t be more different than when Mr Bolsonaro was in power. Lots of people were waving banners or wearing T-shirts with the words “Love conquers hate,” a reference to the narrative many felt came from Mr Bolsonaro.

But diversity and inclusion too was a big part of today’s inauguration. With Mr Bolsonaro abandoning his final official duty of passing on the presidential sash, it was left to Eni Souza, a rubbish picker, to do the honours. And standing next to Lula was an indigenous leader, a black boy and a disabled influencer. In this country where racism is all too common, it was an important image that will endure.

The state of Brasilia deployed “100%” of its police force – around 8,000 officers – to the city amid fears that some supporters of Mr Bolsonaro could seek to disrupt proceedings.

One man was arrested trying to enter the area of the inauguration carrying a knife and fireworks earlier on Sunday, Brazil’s military police said.

Last week, authorities arrested a supporter of Mr Bolsonaro who had allegedly placed explosives on a fuel truck near an airport in the capital on Christmas Eve. The man said he hoped to “sow chaos” ahead of Lula’s inauguration.

And other supporters of the former leader have remained camped outside army headquarters, where they have been urging the army to launch a coup. Police attempted to remove the demonstrators on Thursday, but withdrew after they reacted violently.

However, Mr Bolsonaro has condemned the protests against his defeat, urging his supporters to “show we are different from the other side, that we respect the norms and the Constitution”.

The men arrived outside the Chihuahua state prison shortly after 07:00 (14:00 GMT) in armoured vehicles and began firing on the guards, authorities say.

Ten were killed, along with four prisoners, during the audacious and brutal attack in the border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Police say some 24 inmates escaped.

Fighting within the prison, where inmates from differing criminal bands and drug cartels are housed in separate cellblocks, also left 13 people injured. Four of them are being treated in hospital, prison authorities said.

Outside, relatives gathered, hugging each other and crying as they waited for news.

One woman said the attackers were dressed in black, were better armed than the police, and were shooting at any vehicles that passed by.

The army and the national guard have been called in to support local authorities in the aftermath.

The city has seen years of violent clashes between the rival Sinaloa and Juarez drug cartels, killing thousands of people in the past decade.

The prison was also the site of an uprising last August in which a riot inside the jail spilled over into the streets, killing 11 people.

Both incidents underline the strength which the drug cartels still exert on the prison system.

Prosecutors in the city, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, have promised an investigation into the latest attack.

Minutes before the escape, armed men fired on police on a nearby street, setting off a car chase that ended up with four men being detained.

In a different area of the city, two more drivers died after what officials called armed aggression.

Authorities have not yet said whether the incidents are believed to be linked.