عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
TT
TT

7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Kurdish Rebels Say Ready to Resist Iran, Await Uprising

A Kurdish fighter from the Iranian Kurdish armed faction Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) stands with his rifle at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 8, 2026. (AFP)
A Kurdish fighter from the Iranian Kurdish armed faction Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) stands with his rifle at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 8, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Kurdish Rebels Say Ready to Resist Iran, Await Uprising

A Kurdish fighter from the Iranian Kurdish armed faction Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) stands with his rifle at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 8, 2026. (AFP)
A Kurdish fighter from the Iranian Kurdish armed faction Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) stands with his rifle at a site near the Iraqi border with Iran in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on March 8, 2026. (AFP)

From their hideouts in the Iraqi mountains near Iran, leftist Kurdish rebels say they are ready to fight the country, but hope for an uprising before they intervene, with or without US support.

After saying that he would be "all for" a Kurdish offensive on Iran, US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack Saturday, saying he did not want such an attack.

Senior commander Roken Nerada of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) told AFP: "If there is an attack on the Kurdish people... then with every means... we are ready to resist as we always have."

"I think we can achieve our rights without the help of the US or any other country," said Nerada, 39, who joined the rebels 17 years ago.

Like other Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, PJAK has bases in the mountains of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region, but it also maintains hideouts in majority-Kurdish areas inside Iran.

Iran has designated Kurdish rebels groups as terrorist organizations, and many have previously fought its security forces in Kurdish-majority areas along the border.

But in recent years, under political pressure mostly from their Iraqi hosts, they have largely refrained from armed activity -- raising questions about their current capacity to lead an armed offensive against Iran.

AFP journalists met 30 PJAK fighters in a bunker adorned with photos of fallen comrades, with a television inside showing war coverage with smoke rising from Tehran and Beirut.

Since the Middle East war began late last month with a wave of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran has repeatedly struck Kurdish militants' positions in Iraq, accusing them of serving Western or Israeli interests.

- Ground attack, not yet -

Just before the war, and after anti-government protests in Iran, PJAK joined a coalition of Kurdish rebel parties seeking to overthrow the Tehran regime and secure self-determination.

"We are ready to fight, especially after what they did 50 days ago," PJAK fighter Shwan said, referring to the crackdown on the protests in Iran that left thousands dead.

Amid reports that rebels might collaborate with the US, Tehran threatened to target "all facilities" in Iraq's Kurdistan if Kurdish militants cross the border.

But on Saturday, Trump said "we're not looking to the Kurds going in".

"We don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is," he added.

Amir Karimi, another commander in PJAK, told AFP last week that the "Americans are already in the area, and we have had a dialogue".

It was "a political exchange... to get to know each other," Karimi said, adding that "a ground attack is not on the table at this stage".

"From a strategic and tactical point of view, we believe it wouldn't be a good idea," he added, warning that Iranian forces have reinforced the borders.

"The most important thing is that the population itself becomes a driving force. There must be a popular uprising" in Iran, Karimi said.

"We are not waiting for Iran or the United States to give us the green light. But the population needs support from the outside," he added.

The Kurds will need guarantees to secure a democratic Iran, he said.

"Who can say that, tomorrow, they won't support another dictator and bring him to power," Karimi said, referring to the US.

Commander Nerada said: "What is important... is to change this current darkness into a democratic Iran."

World

Macron Arrives in Cyprus to Discuss Security Amid Middle East War

French President Emmanuel Macron is greeted by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, as he arrives at the Paphos military airport, during a visit showing France's solidarity after recent drone attacks amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and aimed at reinforcing European security in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Paphos, Cyprus, March 9, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron is greeted by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, as he arrives at the Paphos military airport, during a visit showing France's solidarity after recent drone attacks amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and aimed at reinforcing European security in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Paphos, Cyprus, March 9, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Macron Arrives in Cyprus to Discuss Security Amid Middle East War

French President Emmanuel Macron is greeted by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, as he arrives at the Paphos military airport, during a visit showing France's solidarity after recent drone attacks amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and aimed at reinforcing European security in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Paphos, Cyprus, March 9, 2026. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron is greeted by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, as he arrives at the Paphos military airport, during a visit showing France's solidarity after recent drone attacks amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, and aimed at reinforcing European security in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Paphos, Cyprus, March 9, 2026. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Cyprus on Monday to discuss regional security, while Paris deployed warships to the Mediterranean and the US-Israeli war on Iran stretched into a second week.

Macron, who landed in Paphos earlier on Monday, met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for talks.

European Union member Cyprus was targeted last week by Iranian-made drones, leading Macron to order France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, as well as a frigate and air defense units to the island nation.

Macron was scheduled to visit the Charles de Gaulle on Monday afternoon. France's flagship is currently stationed off the coast of Crete, according to the Elysee.

The Elysee has said the visit aims to show "solidarity" and detail moves to "strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean".

Macron said he had spoken to his US and Iranian counterparts on Sunday ahead of the trip.

Macron also spoke on Monday morning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in the Middle East and Lebanon, the Elysee said.

He had already spoken with Netanyahu last week for the first time since the summer of 2025.

During his visit to Cyprus, the French leader was also to discuss freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

There have been numerous attacks targeting the key waterway in the Gulf since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.

A government spokesman for Cyprus, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, has said Macron's visit will allow the leaders of Cyprus, Greece and France to assess the "high level of coordination" between their nations.

World

Iran War’s Effects Already a Reality in Europe, Says EU Chief

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Iran War’s Effects Already a Reality in Europe, Says EU Chief

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP)

The ripples from war in the Middle East are already being felt in Europe, with rising energy prices and NATO allies targeted, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

Oil prices soared Monday peaking just short of $120 a barrel as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week, with Tehran launching fresh retaliatory strikes in the Gulf.

"We are now seeing a regional conflict with unintended consequences. And the spillover is already a reality today," the European Commission president told EU ambassadors, ahead of a midday call with Middle Eastern leaders.

"Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked," she said, citing an Iranian-made drone hitting a British base on EU-member Cyprus, trade disruptions and the "displacement of people".

While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of the world's crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas run -- shipping through the critical waterway has all but dried up.

European gas prices also jumped as much as 30 percent Monday, albeit remaining well below the peaks reached in the aftermath of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Von der Leyen stressed that "there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime".

"The people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future -- even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war."

The "longer-term impact" of the war posed "existential questions" on the future of an international rules-based system and the 27-nation's bloc place in the world, she told the annual gathering of European Union diplomats in Brussels.

"The idea that we can simply retrench and withdraw from this chaotic world is simply a fallacy," she said.

Von der Leyen also addressed the Ukraine conflict and assured the gathering that Brussels will see through a vital 90-billion-euro ($104 billion) loan to Kyiv that is being blocked by Hungary.

"We will deliver on our commitments, because our credibility -- and more importantly, our security -- is at stake," she said.