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Israeli Army on High Alert in Anticipation of Iranian Drone Attack

IRGC drones in an underground base (Tasnim)
IRGC drones in an underground base (Tasnim)
    Tel Aviv - Nazir Magali
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Israeli Army on High Alert in Anticipation of Iranian Drone Attack

IRGC drones in an underground base (Tasnim)
IRGC drones in an underground base (Tasnim)

The Israeli army increased its alert level on the Syrian and Lebanese borders in anticipation of Iranian attacks, according to security sources in Tel Aviv.

The sources said that Tehran took a clear escalatory step when it announced its responsibility for the bombing of an "Israeli" site in Erbil with 12 ballistic missiles.

The sources stressed that the recent Israeli strikes were very harsh on Iran, especially the recent attack when Israel destroyed about 600 drones on Iranian territory and the attack on Syrian territory earlier this week, which killed two senior fighters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria.

Israel announced its alert status in the Israeli diplomatic headquarters in Azerbaijan, Iran's northern neighbor.

US sources revealed that the Israeli airstrike on an Iranian drone factory last month took off from an Israeli site in Azerbaijan.

Israeli sources condemned the United States' disclosure that the Iranian bombing in April targeted Israeli training sites, warning that it only brings harm.

The drone war between Israel and Iran escalated in recent years.

In February 2018, the first significant event occurred when Iran launched a drone into the occupied territories in response to the airstrikes in Syria.

The drone was shot down, and the Israeli army responded by attacking targets in Syria, including the car that launched the drone.

The Iranian drone was carrying many explosives and was on a mission above military sites in the Syrian Golan Heights.

In August 2019, Israel thwarted two explosive drones sent to Israeli positions on Jabal al-Sheikh in the northern Golan. The army killed the cell members who launched the drone, who were Lebanese of the IRGC's Special Task Force.

It led to security tension and the exchange of strikes on the border with Lebanon that lasted for several months.

In recent years, Israel has been accused of launching various explosive drone operations against nuclear facilities in Iran.

During the last war on the Gaza Strip, in May 2021, Iran launched a drone that penetrated the Jordan Valley and was shot down.

Last week, the Israeli army revealed that two drones sent from Iran had been intercepted and shot down over the skies of other countries in the Middle East using F-35 stealth aircraft.

Israel is running an international campaign against Iranian activity, stressing that Tehran's stockpile of lethal drones and ballistic missiles threatens all regional and Western countries, not only Israel.

The commander of the US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, said before the Senate Armed Forces Services Committee that Iran has over 3000 ballistic missiles of various types, some of which can reach Tel Aviv.

"None of them can reach Europe yet, but over the last five to seven years … they have invested heavily in their ballistic missile program," McKenzie said.

"Their missiles have significantly greater range and significantly enhanced accuracy," he added, saying it is a "remarkable" advancement.

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World

Rescuers Search for Survivors as Indonesian Quake Toll Rises

A house damaged by a tsunami following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake is seen in Mbay, Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 15 August 2026. EPA/IGNASIUS KUNDA
A house damaged by a tsunami following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake is seen in Mbay, Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 15 August 2026. EPA/IGNASIUS KUNDA
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Rescuers Search for Survivors as Indonesian Quake Toll Rises

A house damaged by a tsunami following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake is seen in Mbay, Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 15 August 2026. EPA/IGNASIUS KUNDA
A house damaged by a tsunami following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake is seen in Mbay, Nagekeo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 15 August 2026. EPA/IGNASIUS KUNDA

Rescuers combed through debris for survivors on Saturday after a powerful earthquake struck off Indonesia's eastern Flores island, killing at least 47 people, according to disaster officials.

The national disaster management agency (BNPB) raised the death toll from 40 late Saturday, and rescue official Fathur Rahman said 50 people were injured in the 7.7-magnitude quake.

Suharyanto, who leads the BNPB, said earlier that people were trapped in several buildings.

"These will be the initial targets of the disaster response teams," said Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses one name.

Nearly 160 houses, dozens of educational and health facilities and other public buildings were damaged when the earthquake struck the popular tourist island in Indonesia's east, the BNPB reported.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said preparations were underway to bring aid to some 2,000 people in temporary shelters.

The government sent 50,000 aid packages weighing a total of 275 tons to the area, and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen offered help from the bloc's Copernicus Earth observation satellites.

"Europe stands ready to deploy Copernicus, our eyes in the sky, to support search and rescue efforts. Indonesia, we stand with you," she wrote on X.

"I have never felt an earthquake this big," Yulian Juita Ekalia, who lives in Ruteng city more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the epicenter, told AFP by telephone hours after the tremor.

"It felt like we were on a trampoline; it was really scary," said the 37-year-old university lecturer, who was jolted awake at around 5:30 am (2130 GMT on Friday).

"As I rushed to get outside, everything in the house fell down: the television, my son's trophies, the dish racks, suitcases on top of the wardrobes. When I got outside, my son and neighbors were already there, screaming in fear."

A handout photo made available by the National Search and Rescue Agency of Indonesia (BASARNAS) shows rescuers evacuating a victim after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, 15 August 2026. EPA/BASARNAS / HANDOUT

Rescue official Fathur told AFP the focus was on locating victims who may be buried under rubble, but rescue efforts have been complicated by landslides cutting off roads.

Many Flores inhabitants were left without electricity and telecommunications.

Residents in Nagekeo, an area close to the epicenter, raced for higher ground as the sea retreated early Saturday -- a possible sign of an approaching tsunami, AFP journalists witnessed.

While a tsunami warning was lifted, authorities urged people not to return to damaged buildings for fear that aftershocks may bring them down.

Hundreds remained outside hours later as dozens of aftershocks shook the island, the strongest measured at a magnitude of 6.1.

Waves of up to 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) were reported in some coastal regions of Flores, according to Indonesia's BMKG geological agency.

Yulian said she had dragged her stove outside and was cooking there, fearing further tremors.

She said she saw patients being treated under emergency tents outside a nearby hospital.

Nagekeo resident Yohanes Babo, 56, said he was at a market when the earth started shaking in the early morning hours.

"The shaking was strong. Thankfully, we were already outside the house," he told AFP.

"People were panicking, running here and there. We're evacuating for the time being... and trying to get to the hills," he said.

The epicenter of the shallow quake was located just off the north coast of the island, US and Indonesian authorities said.

The affected areas have few, if any, high-rise buildings.

A second, deep onland quake was measured at a magnitude of 6.9 near Pematangsiantar on Sumatra island -- thousands of kilometers away -- some 12 hours after the Flores tremor.

There were no initial reports of damage or casualties, and no tsunami alert was issued.

Indonesia experiences frequent earthquakes due to its location in the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Flores was struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in 1992, which triggered a tsunami and resulted in around 2,500 deaths.

A devastating 9.1-magnitude tremor in 2004 struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, about 170,000 of them in Indonesia, in one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.

World

5 People Shot at Virginia State University as Police Investigate Multiple Shooters

Virginia State Police vehicles line the edge of Highway I-66 in Fauquier County, Virginia - File photo/Reuters
Virginia State Police vehicles line the edge of Highway I-66 in Fauquier County, Virginia - File photo/Reuters
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5 People Shot at Virginia State University as Police Investigate Multiple Shooters

Virginia State Police vehicles line the edge of Highway I-66 in Fauquier County, Virginia - File photo/Reuters
Virginia State Police vehicles line the edge of Highway I-66 in Fauquier County, Virginia - File photo/Reuters

A shooting involving multiple suspects and five people shot at Virginia State University prompted a campus lockdown early Saturday.

It happened near the university's Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers discovered five people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. Officers responded just before 1:30 a.m. and the lockdown was lifted at about 9 a.m., county police said.

The five were transported to hospitals, and one initially listed as having life-threatening injuries has been upgraded to critical condition, county police said. The others sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said, The AP news reported.

The university said in a statement that the shooting involves “multiple suspects.” The statement asked people to avoid the immediate area.

“A significant law enforcement presence remains on campus as the investigation into this morning's shooting continues,” the university said after the lockdown was lifted.

The campus had a large law enforcement presence on Saturday morning. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hanover County Sheriff's Office were assisting, county police said.

Virginia State Police deferred questions to local police, who they said are leading the investigation. County police and campus officials said there would be more information later in the day.

Virginia State University is a historically Black university located in Ettrick, Virginia, about 24 miles south of the state capital of Richmond. The public university has about 5,700 students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans. Most of its students are undergraduates.

The shootings happened just before the start of the academic year at Virginia State. According to the university's website, residence halls opened for students a week ago, and classes are set to begin on Monday. Many students had just completed the university's “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students.

World

EU Sends Aircraft as Belgium Fights Record Wildfire

Washington state Department of Natural Resources South Puget Sound region firefighter Kayla Tolbert assists in wildfire suppression efforts in Spokane County, Washington, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS
Washington state Department of Natural Resources South Puget Sound region firefighter Kayla Tolbert assists in wildfire suppression efforts in Spokane County, Washington, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS
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EU Sends Aircraft as Belgium Fights Record Wildfire

Washington state Department of Natural Resources South Puget Sound region firefighter Kayla Tolbert assists in wildfire suppression efforts in Spokane County, Washington, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS
Washington state Department of Natural Resources South Puget Sound region firefighter Kayla Tolbert assists in wildfire suppression efforts in Spokane County, Washington, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS

The European Union deployed three helicopters and two water bomber aircraft to tackle a record wildfire in eastern Belgium, the bloc's crisis commissioner said on Saturday, after Belgium requested emergency reinforcements.

The blaze in the High Fens, Belgium's largest nature reserve, has been burning since Friday and local firefighters, farmers and the army have sought to contain it.

By early Saturday afternoon, it had burned 1,600 hectares, a spokesperson for the administration of the Wallonia region in Belgium told Reuters.

That makes the fire the biggest on record in Belgium, surpassing a blaze in 2011 that burned nearly 1,400 hectares, data from the European Forest Fire Information System showed.

Local authorities on Saturday told residents in the village of Sourbrodt to prepare for a possible evacuation. A children's summer camp in the region was already being evacuated, Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said in a post on X. European countries including Belgium suffered their fifth heatwave of the summer this week. Scientists say human-caused climate change has increased the likelihood of the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to spread faster and burn longer.

The EU coordinates the deployment of extra resources pooled from European countries, when a country requests emergency help. The aircraft sent to Belgium on Saturday were from the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Netherlands, EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbib said in a post on X.