Headline
Hot Air Balloon Crashes, Leaves Eight Dead In Brazil
Published
2 months agoon
By
Editor
At least eight people were killed Saturday when a hot-air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, a state governor said.
It was the second fatal balloon accident in the vast South American country in less than a week.
“Eight fatalities and 13 survivors,” Santa Catarina state governor Jorginho Mello said on X.
Videos taken by bystanders and carried on Brazilian television showed the moment when the balloon erupted in flames above a rural area outside the Atlantic coast town of Praia Grande, a tourist hotspot popular for hot-air ballooning.
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The basket carrying the passengers plummeted dozens of meters to the ground in flames. Other images showed some of the passengers jumping.
The 13 survivors were treated at hospitals, firefighters said.
Officials at Our Lady of Fatima hospital said of the five survivors treated there, three were in stable condition with minor injuries and two had already been discharged.
Information about the other survivors was not immediately available.
An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the accident. Weather conditions were clear at the time.
READ ALSO:Brazil’s Lula Presses Putin To Join Peace talks With Zelensky
“I want to express my solidarity with the families of the victims,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a statement.
The pilot told officials the fire was sparked by a blowtorch — used to ignite the balloon’s main flame — in the basket, Tiago Luiz Lemos, a police official in Praia Grande, told local media.
The pilot tried to bring the balloon down as soon as the fire erupted, “and once it was close to the ground, he told the passengers to jump from the basket. But some of them couldn’t do it and the fire grew,” the official said.
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Four people were burned to death and four others died from injuries sustained in the fall, fire department official Zevir Cipriano Junior told reporters.
One witness told the Razao newspaper that he saw “two people falling, they were on fire, the basket broke off and the balloon fell.”
Less than a week ago, a woman died during a balloon ride in southeastern Sao Paulo state.
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Headline
Leader Of UK Christian Group Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Women
Published
10 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Chris Brain, 68, the leader of a UK Christian group once backed by the Church of England, has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation.
A jury delivered the final verdicts on Thursday.
Brain led the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The group was known for its nightclub-style worship, held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, which included live music and drew large crowds of young people.
Prosecutors said Brain used his authority to control members of the congregation, isolating them from family and friends, and used his position to commit sexual assaults. He also maintained a group of young women known as the “lycra nuns” who assisted him, his wife, and his daughter at home, prosecutor Tim Clark told the court.
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The leader of the UK Christian group was charged with 36 counts of indecent assault and one count of rape involving 13 women between 1981 and 1995. He denied the charges, claiming any sexual contact was consensual.
Following a trial at Inner London Crown Court, he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. He was acquitted of 15 other charges, while the jury could not reach a verdict on four additional indecent assault charges and the rape allegation. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would “carefully consider” whether to seek a retrial.
The Nine O’Clock Service had received approval from the Church of England. In 1990, the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect George Carey met with Brain to discuss his methods, and his ordination was expedited. Prosecutors said the group even spent heavily to purchase the costume worn by Robert De Niro in the 1986 film The Mission for his ceremony.
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Brain resigned shortly before a BBC documentary aired in 1995, accusing him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Carey later said he was “crushed and let down” when the allegations became public.
In court, Brain admitted to receiving massages from congregation members that sometimes became sexual but denied manipulating or controlling them.
Bishop of Sheffield Pete Wilcox said in a statement: “What happened was an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred. Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures, I offer an unreserved apology.”
Headline
Russia Claims More Ukraine Land As Hopes For Summit Fade
Published
10 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
Russia on Saturday said its forces had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, increasing the military pressure as world leaders struggle to broker an end to the conflict.
South Africa added its voice to those calling for a summit between Ukraine and Russia.
Russian forces are slowly advancing in the embattled eastern region of Donetsk, grinding closer to Kyiv’s key defensive line in costly metre-for-metre battles.
Moscow’s defence ministry said on Telegram that its forces had captured the villages of Sredneye and Kleban-Byk.
The taking of Kleban-Byk would mark a further advance towards Kostiantynivka — a key fortified town on the road to Kramatorsk, where a major Ukrainian logistics base is located.
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On Friday, Russia said its troops had captured three villages in the Donetsk region it claimed to have annexed in September 2022.
On Saturday, Ukrainian military officials said its forces had stopped a Russian advance and recaptured the village of Zeleny Gai in the Donetsk region in a post to Telegram.
In July, Russia claimed the capture of the village, on the border with Dnipropetrovsk, adding that it was an important stronghold used by Ukraine to protect the area.
– Ramaphosa backs summit –
The latest Russian advances come as hopes dim for a summit between Russian and Ukrainian presidents — a solution championed by US President Donald Trump as part of his efforts to end the conflict.
READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday added his voice to calls for a Russia-Ukraine summit during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“President Ramaphosa stressed the urgency of holding bilateral and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and the United States as key to signal a firm commitment to ending the war,” said a statement from his office.
Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20, also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the statement added. He will speak with other European leaders in the coming weeks.
Ramaphosa spoke on Monday with Vladimir Putin, whom he described in October at the BRICS summit as a “dear ally” and a “valued friend”.
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However, for the first time since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, South Africa earlier this year backed a UN resolution declaring that Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky said he had told Ramaphosa he was ready for any kind of meeting with Putin.
“However, we see that Moscow is once again trying to drag everything out even further,” he said on X.
He called on the Global South to send “relevant signals and (push) Russia toward peace”.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “no meeting” was planned as Trump’s mediation efforts appeared to stall, while Zelensky accused Russia of trying to prolong the offensive.
AFP
Headline
US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers
Published
23 hours agoon
August 23, 2025By
Editor
The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.
According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.
READ ALSO:JUST IN: US Visa Restrictions On ECOWAS Countries Threaten Regional Prosperity — FG
“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.
READ ALSO:US Visa Adjudication Sparks Concerns Over Diplomatic Relations
As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.
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