2 Dead after Quake Strikes Italy Holiday Island

People remove debris after an earthquake hit Ischia island, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, August 21, 2017. (AP)
People remove debris after an earthquake hit Ischia island, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, August 21, 2017. (AP)
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2 Dead after Quake Strikes Italy Holiday Island

People remove debris after an earthquake hit Ischia island, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, August 21, 2017. (AP)
People remove debris after an earthquake hit Ischia island, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, August 21, 2017. (AP)

At least two people were killed and dozens injured in an earthquake that struck the tourist-packed Italian holiday island of Ischia on Monday.

Residents and tourists on the island off the coast of Naples ran out onto the narrow streets from homes and hotels. Fearing aftershocks, many decided to leave the island early.

Television images showed about six buildings in the town of Casamicciola including a church had collapsed in the quake, which hit at 8:57 p.m. (1857 GMT).

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology put the magnitude of Monday's quake at 4.0, revising it up from an initial 3.6, but both the US Geological Survey and the European quake agency estimated the magnitude at 4.3.

The director of the island's hospital said two women were killed and about 40 injured. One of victims was killed when she was hit by falling masonry from the church of Santa Maria del Suffragio, the Civil Protection Department in Rome said.

The church was rebuilt after it, like most of Casamicciola was destroyed by an earthquake that killed some 2,000 people in 1883.

Emergency crews found a baby boy called Pasquale alive in the wreckage of a collapsed building hours after the quake, and said they had located his seven and 11-year-old brothers stuck under a bed nearby.

They pulled out the seven-month-old infant early on Tuesday and pushed a tube through to get water to the older boys, said the fire service. The parents were both safe, said officials.

A doctor at the Rizzoli hospital, Roberto Allocca, told Sky TG24 that some 26 people were being treated for minor injuries at a makeshift emergency room set up on the hospital grounds. He said the situation was calm and under control.

The earthquake hit three days before the first anniversary of a major quake that killed nearly 300 people in central Italy, most of them in the town of Amatrice.

Most of the damage from Monday’s quake was in the high part of the volcanic island. Hotels and residences on the coast did not appear to suffer serious damage but fire brigades were checking to see if they could still be used.

The island has a year-round population of about 63,000, which swells to more than 200,000 in summer, with many people from the mainland owning holiday homes.

Civil Protection Department head Angelo Borrelli said about 2,600 people could not re-enter their homes, pending checks.

Helicopters and a ferry boat brought in more rescue workers from the mainland.

Three extra ferries were provided during the night for about 1,000 residents and tourists who wanted to leave. As daylight broke, dozens of people went to the island's four ports, having decided to end their vacations early.

Many who were due to take ferries from Naples on the mainland to start their vacations canceled their plans, local officials said.

Some civil protection squads were already on the island because of brushfires.

Together with the nearby island of Capri, Ischia is a favorite island getaway for the European jet set, famed in particular for its thermal waters.

The volcanic island is about a one-hour ferry ride from Naples.



UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
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UK Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters as Authorities Toughen Hate Speech Law Enforcement

Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)
Police officers carry a protester during a protest to support Palestine Action in London, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/ Joanna Chan)

Police in London arrested two people who called for “intifada” during a pro-Palestinian protest, which followed a decision by authorities to toughen enforcement of hate speech laws after a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

The arrests Wednesday came hours after police in London and Manchester, England, announced a crackdown on protesters using slogans such as “globalize the intifada.” The Arabic word intifada is generally translated as “uprising.”

While pro-Palestinian demonstrators say the slogan describes the worldwide protests against the war in Gaza, Jewish leaders say it inflames tensions and encourages attacks on Jews, including the attack that killed 15 people on Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney, The Associated Press said.

London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said they decided to take a tougher stance after Bondi Beach and an Oct. 2 attack on a Manchester synagogue that left two people dead.

“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as `globalize the intifada,’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” they said in a joint statement released Wednesday. “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence.”

In the hours before Wednesday night’s demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group that was banned as a terrorist organization earlier this year, London police warned protesters to be aware of the earlier announcement.

Two protesters were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offenses” after they shouted slogans calling for intifada during the protest outside the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Police Service said on social media. A third person was arrested for trying to interfere with the initial arrests.

The term “intifada” is used to describe two major Palestinian uprisings against Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the first beginning in 1987 and the second beginning in 2000. During the recent conflict in Gaza, the slogan “globalize the intifada” has been widely used by pro-Palestinian protesters around the world.

The debate over such language comes after antisemitic hate crime and online abuse soared in Britain following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza that followed.

Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the initial attack on Israel. More than 70,660 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing Israeli campaign in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.


Russia Says It Hopes Trump Does Not Make 'a Fatal Mistake' on Venezuela

Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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Russia Says It Hopes Trump Does Not Make 'a Fatal Mistake' on Venezuela

Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro wave a Venezuelan flag during a rally demanding peace in Caracas on December 15, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it hoped that US President Donald Trump's administration did not make a fatal mistake over Venezuela and said that Moscow was concerned about US decisions that threatened international navigation.

Trump on Tuesday ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela as Washington tried to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government.

There has been an effective embargo in place after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.

"We hope that the D. Trump administration, which is characterized by a rational and pragmatic approach, will not make a fatal mistake," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that Venezuela was a friendly country to Russia, and that Moscow hoped the US would not wade into a situation that would have "unpredictable consequences for the entire Western Hemisphere".

Russia quoted Simon Bolivar, a brilliant Venezuelan military tactician who liberated much of South America from centuries of Spanish rule, as saying that every nation had the right to choose its own rulers and that other countries should respect this.

Russia, the ministry said, wanted a normalization of dialogue between Washington and Caracas, and reaffirmed Russia's "solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of the trials they are going through."

Russia supports "the Maduro government's course aimed at protecting the national interests and sovereignty of the Motherland."


Cambodia Says Thailand Bombs Casino Hub on Border

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
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Cambodia Says Thailand Bombs Casino Hub on Border

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File
Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino hub Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP/File

Cambodia said Thailand's military on Thursday bombed the casino town of Poipet, a major crossing between the two nations, as foreign powers pressured them to halt reignited border clashes.

Thai forces "dropped two bombs in the area of Poipet Municipality, Banteay Meanchey Province" at around 11:00 am (0400 GMT) Thursday, the Cambodian defense ministry said in a statement.

Thailand has not yet confirmed any strike on Poipet -- a bustling casino hub popular with Thai gamblers.

The renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors this month has killed at least 21 people in Thailand and 17 in Cambodia, while displacing around 800,000, officials said.

The conflict stems from a territorial dispute over the colonial-era demarcation of their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border and a smattering of ancient temple ruins situated on the frontier.

Each side has blamed the other for instigating the fresh fighting and traded accusations of attacks on civilians.

Thailand said Tuesday that between 5,000 and 6,000 Thai nationals remained stranded in Poipet after Cambodia closed its land border crossings with its neighbor.

Cambodia's interior ministry said the border closures were a "necessary measure" to reduce risks to civilians amid the ongoing combat, adding that air travel remained an option for those seeking to leave.

At least four casinos in Cambodia have been damaged by Thai strikes, the interior ministry said this week.

'Shuttle-diplomacy'

Five days of fighting between Cambodia and Thailand in July killed dozens of people before a truce was brokered by the United States, China and Malaysia, and then broken within months.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly intervened in the long-standing conflict this year, claimed last week that the two countries had agreed to a new ceasefire.

But Bangkok denied any truce had been agreed, and fighting with artillery, tanks, drones and jets has continued daily since a border skirmish earlier this month sparked the latest round of conflict.

China said it was sending its special envoy for Asian affairs to Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday for a "shuttle-diplomacy trip" to help bridge the gaps and "rebuild peace".

"Through its own way, China has been working actively for deescalation," Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.

Foreign ministers from ASEAN regional bloc nations are due to meet on Monday in Malaysia for emergency talks aimed at finding a diplomatic solution.

"Our duty is to present the facts but more important is to press upon them that it is imperative for them to secure peace," Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told journalists late Wednesday.

"We are appealing to them to immediately stop this frontline offensive and if possible, an immediate ceasefire," Anwar said at his official residence in Putrajaya, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the talks.

European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas said in a statement that she had spoken with the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand on Wednesday, offering the European Union's support for ceasefire monitoring with satellite imagery.

"The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia must not be allowed to spiral further. That's why the ceasefire needs to be immediately restored," Kallas said.