Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut

Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut
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Updated 10 October 2024
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Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut

Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut

Beirut - LBN

Beirut, Lebanon, Oct 10, 2024 (AFP) -State media said two Israeli strikes hit the central area of Lebanon's capital on Thursday, the third such attacks on Beirut since Israel escalated its air campaign last month.

Israel has repeatedly pounded southern Beirut suburbs, the bastion of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, for more than two weeks but strikes have rarely hit in the city's centre.

"The Israeli enemy launched a strike in Beirut, targeting a building near the Khatam al-Anbiya complex in Nweiri, with another strike targeting the Ras al-Nabaa area near the al-Amiliyah building," the National News Agency said.

It earlier said ambulances had rushed to the targeted sites.

An AFP journalist in Beirut heard three loud explosions.

AFP live footage showed two plumes of smoke billowing in between densely-packed buildings where lights were still on in the windows.

Earlier this month, Israel carried out a deadly air raid in Beirut, hitting an emergency services rescue facility run by Hezbollah, killing seven workers, the service said.

On September 30, an Israeli drone strike on a building in Beirut's busy Cola district killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the leftist armed group said.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for nearly a year in fallout from the Gaza war.

But since September 23, Israel has escalated its air strikes on targets in Lebanon, killing more than 1,200 people and forced more than one million to flee their homes, according to official figures.

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Niemann, Grace, Meronk tied for individual lead at LIV Golf UK

Niemann, Grace, Meronk tied for individual lead at LIV Golf UK
Updated 3 min 38 sec ago
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Niemann, Grace, Meronk tied for individual lead at LIV Golf UK

Niemann, Grace, Meronk tied for individual lead at LIV Golf UK
  • Team leaderboard sees defending UK champions Legion XIII tied with Stinger, Torque

ROCESTER: Similar to last season, Joaquin Niemann entered this week’s LIV Golf UK by JCB as the season-long points leader, with Jon Rahm in hot pursuit. The Torque GC captain is determined to write a different ending this time.

Niemann, a four-time winner this season, shot a bogey-free 65 on Friday at JCB Golf & Country Club to grab a share of the first-round lead with Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk and Stinger GC’s Branden Grace.

The trio are one shot ahead of Majesticks’ co-captain Lee Westwood, RangeGoats’ captain Bubba Watson, and Niemann’s Torque teammate Carlos Ortiz.

The team leaderboard is also tightly bunched at the top with defending UK champions Legion XIII tied with Stinger and Torque at 11 under. Six other teams are within five shots of the lead.

Rahm won the individual UK trophy for his first career LIV Golf victory a year ago, using it as a springboard to catch Niemann for the season-long Individual Championship in the regular-season finale.

Niemann entered this week with a 15-point lead over Rahm and is now in a great position to build on his advantage, as Rahm shot an even-par 71 and is tied for 32nd. Crushers’ captain Bryson DeChambeau, who is in third place in the standings, is tied for 11th after a 68.

Based on projections after Friday’s first round, Niemann would leave England with a 44-point lead, which would mean he would be guaranteed pole position in the standings going into the regular-season finale, LIV Golf Indianapolis, to determine the Individual Championship next month.

Niemann, who birdied four of his first six holes, said: “I’m in a really privileged situation to be on top of the rankings and being chased by Jon and Bryson. It just makes me a better athlete. I like that pressure.”

Unlike Niemann, the other two players who share the lead are fighting different battles.

Grace has spent most of the season in the drop zone (49th and below in points) and facing relegation while battling wrist problems, but the South African has found his form recently. He tied for fourth earlier this month in Andalucia, a result that moved him out of the drop zone, and he continued his fine play with a round that started hot (three birdies in his first four holes) and ended the same way.

Meronk, meanwhile, returned to the kind of form on Friday that secured him the season-opening tournament in Riyadh. His 65 was his best score, relative to par, in his last 25 LIV Golf rounds.

The Polish star, who finished with four birdies in his last five holes, said: “Finally, I’m enjoying myself on the course and playing good golf again, which is quite exciting.

“It’s great to be back in this position, and I’m really looking forward to this weekend and to three more tournaments this year.”

Of the top eight players on the leaderboard, three are from England, led by the resurgent Westwood, the 52-year-old legend who tied an Open Championship record last week at Royal Portrush by shooting a back-nine 29.

Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton and the Crushers’ Paul Casey, the other two Englishmen on the front page of the leaderboard, are tied for seventh after shooting 67s.

All six English players on the LIV Golf roster received huge support from a packed and enthusiastic gallery at JCB, which is hosting the tournament for the second successive year and will return as a host course next season.

“It feels like our home event, and it’s always nice to perform in front of home fans,” said Westwood, who played with fellow Englishmen and Majesticks’ teammates Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield on Friday.

The crowd was especially vocal at the par-3 14th. “It’s a fun atmosphere,” said Hatton, who tied for second last year to his captain Rahm. “There were a lot of people there, and the music was good too. I think most of us probably enjoyed a singalong down that hole.”

 

TEAM SCORES

LIV Golf’s new scoring format this season now involves all four scores counting in every round in the team competition (click here for more on the new format). Here are the results and scores for each team after Friday’s round one of LIV Golf UK by JCB.

 

T1. LEGION XIII -11 (Hatton 67, Surratt 67, McKibbin 68, Rahm 71)

 

T1. STINGER GC -11 (Grace 65, Schwartzel 68, Burmester 69, Oosthuizen 71)

 

T1. TORQUE GC -11 (Niemann 65, Ortiz 66, Muñoz 71, Pereira 71)

 

4. RIPPER GC -10 (Leishman 67, Smith 68, Herbert 69, Jones 70)

 

5. MAJESTICKS GC -9 (Westwood 66, Horsfield 68, Stenson 70, Poulter 71)

 

6. HYFLYERS GC -6 (Tringale 68, Ogletree 69, Mickelson 70, Steele 71)

 

T7. CLEEKS GC -5 (Meronk 65, Bland 71, Kaymer 71, Kjettrup 72)

 

T7. RANGEGOATS GC -5 (Watson 66, Campbell 70. Wolff 71, Uihlein 72)

 

T7. CRUSHERS GC -5 (Casey 67, DeChambeau 68, Howell III 68, Lahiri 76)

 

10. FIREBALLS GC -3 (Puig 68, Ballester 70, Garcia 71, Ancer 72)

 

T11. 4ACES GC E (Reed 68, Pieters 70, Varner III 72, Johnson 74)

 

T11. SMASH GC E (Gooch 70, Kokrak 70, Koepka 72, McDowell 72)

 

13. IRON HEADS GC +2 (Jang 69, Kozuma 72, Lee 72, Na 73)

 

Wildcards: Kim 72, C. Lee 75


Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says

Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says
Updated 5 min 4 sec ago
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Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says

Russian attack kills 3 in Ukraine’s city of Dnipro, governor says
  • “A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app

KYIV: Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack that killed three people in Ukraine’s Dnipro and the nearby region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow’s troops launched 235 drones and 27 missiles, damaging residential and commercial buildings and causing fires, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said in a statement that 10 missiles and 25 attack drones hit nine sites. The rest of the drones and missiles were brought down, the Air Force said.

“A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region,” Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app.

He said three people were killed in the attacks and six others wounded in the city of Dnipro and the nearby region.

Lysak posted pictures showing firefighters battling fires, a residential building with smashed windows, and charred cars.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retaliatory strikes.

“Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia’s own war is now hitting them back with real consequences,” Zelensky said on the Telegram app.

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia have heated up in recent months, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging swarms of drones and fierce fighting raging along more than 1,000 kilometers of the frontline.


Excited Marchand relishing reduced schedule in pursuit of medley record

Excited Marchand relishing reduced schedule in pursuit of medley record
Updated 23 min 8 sec ago
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Excited Marchand relishing reduced schedule in pursuit of medley record

Excited Marchand relishing reduced schedule in pursuit of medley record
  • Marchand will not participate in the butterfly or breaststroke events, leaving the 23-year-old better rested to potentially break Lochte’s 14-year-old record

Leon Marchand is hoping a scaled-back schedule will give him a shot at taking out Ryan Lochte’s long-standing world record in the 200 meters individual medley when the world championships begin in Singapore on Sunday.

The Frenchman was the standout performer in the pool at last year’s Olympics, winning the 200 meters and 400 meters individual medley plus the 200 meters butterfly and 200 meters breaststroke in Paris, but will be swimming a reduced program over the coming eight days of competition.

Marchand will not participate in the butterfly or breaststroke events, leaving the 23-year-old better rested to potentially break Lochte’s 14-year-old record.

“I think this is a transition year for me so I wanted to have a lighter schedule than usual,” Marchand told the media on Saturday. “I wanted to focus on the 200 IM and the 400 IM and the relays with the French team.

“I’m really excited to do less than usual, just to see how far can I go, how fast can I go in the 200 IM.

“I’ve always done the 200 IM as a race before, the same as the rest, so it’ll be fun (to have) a lighter schedule.

“I’m just not used to starting on the Wednesday instead of the first day, which is good because I can finally cheer for my teammates.”

Marchand won gold in the 200 meters and 400 meters IM events at the 2022 and 2023 world championships and is the current world record holder in the longer of the medley events.

Lochte’s world record in the 200 meters individual medley has stood since July 2011, with Marchand swimming just six-hundredths of a second slower than the American’s 1 minute 54.00 second mark when he won Olympic gold last year.

“I’m excited for the Worlds. I want to be close to my (personal bests) in every single one of my races,” said Marchand.

“Of course, I want to break world records in the next few years. I don’t know when that’s going to happen. I still have a lot to do in the swimming world.”


Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
Updated 28 min 37 sec ago
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Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
  • Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations ‘like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia’
  • The suspect allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders

NEW DELHI: Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment.

Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an “illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house” in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said.

Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations “like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia.”

He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.

“His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,” the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week.

He is also accused of money laundering.

During a raid on Jain’s property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India’s foreign ministry.

AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment.

Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit “dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region” of Western Antarctica.

In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its “Honorary Consul to India” after he had made a “generous donation.”

“He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,” it added.


Pakistan arrests five suspects involved in human smuggling, defrauding citizens

Pakistan arrests five suspects involved in human smuggling, defrauding citizens
Updated 51 min 2 sec ago
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Pakistan arrests five suspects involved in human smuggling, defrauding citizens

Pakistan arrests five suspects involved in human smuggling, defrauding citizens
  • The development comes amid a crackdown against agents involved in sending impoverished Pakistanis abroad through dangerous routes
  • A record 10,457 migrants died trying to reach Spain in 2024, mostly attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested five suspects involved in human smuggling and defrauding citizens, it said on Saturday.

The development comes amid a crackdown against agents involved in sending impoverished Pakistanis abroad through dangerous routes, luring them with a chance at a better life in Europe.

The latest arrests were made by the FIA in different areas of Gujranwala and Gujrat districts for swindling citizens out of millions of rupees by offering fake visas and jobs abroad.

“The suspects were found involved in illegally sending innocent citizens abroad,” the FIA said in a statement, identifying the suspects as Rifaqat, Shabraiz, Muhammad Siddique, Muhammad Yasin and Qasim Shaheen.

Rafaqat and Shabraiz took Rs2.4 million from a citizen for employment in Italy, but sent him to Kyrgyzstan from where he was deported, according to the agency.

Siddique took over Rs2 million from a citizen for employment in Spain, while Yasin received more than Rs645,000 promising to find overseas employment to a citizen. Shaheen duped another man into paying Rs4 million for a job in the United Kingdom (UK).

“The accused had gone into hiding after receiving huge sums of money,” the FIA said, adding that an investigation has been launched against them.

Earlier this month, the FIA said it had arrested an agent involved in the Morocco boat tragedy, in which dozens of Pakistanis attempting to travel illegally to Europe had drowned near the African country’s coast.

The boat had set off from Mauritania in January with 86 migrants on board, among them 66 Pakistanis, for the Canary Islands administered by Spain, international rights group Walking Borders had said. Moroccan authorities said on January 16 that 36 people were rescued from the vessel, while Pakistan confirmed survivors of the tragedy included 22 of its nationals.

A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024. Most of them died while attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Pakistani government has ramped up efforts in recent months to combat human smugglers facilitating dangerous journeys for illegal immigrants to Europe, resulting in several arrests.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also urged increased collaboration with international agencies like Interpol to ensure swift action against human trafficking networks.