Headline

5 Missing As Six-storey Building Collapses In US

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2023

At least two people were missing and the whereabouts of three more were unknown after rescue efforts were made to pull out survivors at an apartment building that partially collapsed in eastern Iowa over the weekend, officials said on Wednesday

More than a dozen people were initially escorted out of the six-storey building when part of it collapsed in Davenport on Sunday afternoon, and seven others were rescued in the first hour of a search, Chief Michael Carlsten of the Davenport Fire Department, said at a news conference on Tuesday. An eighth person was found in a secondary search, he said, and a ninth on Monday night.

Mayor Mike Matson said that five people were still missing on Tuesday morning, including two who were thought to still be in the building. Officials did not specify where the three other people could be. There have been no reported fatalities. The cause of the collapse was still under investigation.

Dozens of people protested outside the building on Tuesday morning amid concerns that the structure would be demolished before the missing people were found.

Officials said that they were trying to find them while also trying to keep emergency medical workers safe because the building could collapse at any time.

Davenport’s fire marshal, James Morris, became emotional as he talked about how two people could still be inside the unstable building.

“It’s extremely difficult when you can’t run up to a pile of bricks and rocks, and just start throwing things off,” he said. “As much as we want to. We want to get everyone out and we want to do it right now.”

Officials said they were constantly evaluating whether the building would need to come down in a controlled demolition and how to make the area safe for another search by emergency medical workers.

On Monday, after city officials said at a news conference that they did not know of any remaining people in the building, a woman was found alive later that day. She had been hiding under a couch in a portion of the building that appeared to still be intact, according to NBC News.

The mayor said on Monday that firefighters and emergency medical workers saved lives by rushing into the building, which has 84 residential and commercial units.

Firefighters discovered a large natural gas leak and a water leak at the building, but the cause of the collapse was not immediately known, Chief Carlsten said on Monday.

Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, said at the news conference on Tuesday that a structural engineer had provided a report to the city in January and last week to show that the building was “structurally sound.”

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

19 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

Headline

Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

19 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

Headline

Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

19 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.