World

  FILE - Former England cricketer Ian Botham casts his line on Loch Tay at Kenmore, on the opening day of the salmon season, Jan. 15, 2001. SYDNEY — England cricketing great Ian Botham was saved by his former Ashes rival Merv Hughes after a fall into crocodile-infested waters while on a fishing trip in northern Australia. Botham, along with Hughes and a group of friends, was on a boat when the accident happened, resulting in some heavy bruising to his torso but no serious injuries for the former England all-rounder. FILE - Former England cricketer Ian Botham in 2007. The 68-year-old Botham reportedly got tangled in some ropes while moving to another boat, causing him to slip headfirst into the Moyle River, 200 kilometers southwe...

  Yemen DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A soldier for Yemen\'s exiled government opened fire on Saudi troops as they exercised in eastern Yemen, killing two of them and wounding another in a rare insider attack during the kingdom\'s nearly decadelong war there, officials said Saturday. The assault in eastern Hadramawt province comes as a yearslong cease-fire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen\'s Houthi rebels largely has held despite the militants\' ongoing attacks against shipping in the Red Sea corridor. While the Houthis did not claim the attack, at least one Houthi official praised it as being "the beginning and an indication of a harsh future awaiting the invaders." Meanwhile, U.S. warplanes carried out new strikes targeting Hout...

  Michael Woods, 100-year-old World War II veteran, speaks during an interview in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, Nov. 5, 2024. LONDON — Michael Woods has visited his wife, Mary, every day since she moved into a nursing home two years ago. But on Sunday, the 100-year-old Royal Air Force veteran will skip the daily get-together so he can fulfill another duty — honoring the men he served with during World War II. For the first time since he left the RAF in 1947, Woods will take part in Britain\'s national Remembrance Day service, joining thousands of veterans as they march past the Cenotaph war memorial in central London to honor those who died during the world wars and all the conflicts that followed. "It\'s a great privilege for me...

  People march in a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 9, 2024 against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. Tel Aviv, Israel — Israeli protesters expressed concern for the hostages in Gaza on Saturday, after Qatar said it was pausing as a key mediator for a cease-fire that would help bring the captives home. Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv holding signs reading "400," the number of days since the hostages were taken when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Efforts to broker a truce in the ensuing war between Hamas and Israel have proven fruitless, and on Sa...

  Demonstrators gather for a protest organized by social and civic groups, denouncing the handling of recent flooding under the slogan "Mazon, Resign," aimed at the president of the regional government Carlos Mazon, in Valencia, Spain, Nov. 9, 2024. VALENCIA, Spain — Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in the eastern city of Valencia on Saturday to demand the resignation of the regional president in charge of the emergency response to last week\'s floods that left more than 200 dead and others missing. A group of protestors clashed with riot police in front of Valencia\'s city hall, where the protestors started their march to the seat of the regional government. Police used batons to beat them back. Regional leader Carlos ...

  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Two Saudi military personnel have been killed in an attack in Yemen, Saudi state media said Saturday, reporting that the assailant was affiliated with Yemen\'s defense ministry. "An officer and a non-commissioned officer were martyred, and an officer was injured as a result of a treacherous and cowardly attack" Friday inside a military camp in the city of Seiyun, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said, citing defense ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki. Saudi Arabia mobilized an international coalition to intervene in Yemen to support the internationally recognized government in 2015, after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa the previous year. Seiyun is in the go...

  FILE - Mauritius' Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth arrives at 10 Downing Street in London, March 18, 2019. port louis — Mauritius holds a parliamentary election Sunday with incumbent Prime Minister and his main rivals all promising to tackle a cost-of-living crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago. The country of about 1.3 million people markets itself as a link between Africa and Asia, deriving most of its revenues from a flourishing offshore financial sector, tourism and textiles. It has forecast 6.5% economic growth this year compared with 7.0% last year but many voters are not feeling the benefits. Jugnauth\'s Alliance Lepep coalition has promised to raise minimum wages, increase pensions and reduce value added tax on s...

  Abidjan, Ivory Coast — Burkina Faso\'s military regime wants to reinstate the death penalty after the West African country abolished it in 2018, a government source told AFP on Saturday. The latest execution in Burkina Faso was in 1988, according to Amnesty International. Reintroducing capital punishment to the penal code "is being considered. It\'s up to the government to discuss it, then make the proposal to the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT) for adoption," the source said, adding that the date had not been chosen. Justice Minister Rodrigue Bayala said Friday — after parliament passed a bill introducing community service — that "the issue of death penalty, which is being discussed, will be implemented in the ...

  A resident checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Nov. 9, 2024. Beirut — Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last day have killed more than 20 people including several children, Lebanese authorities said on Saturday, after heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight. At least seven people were killed in the coastal city of Tyre late on Friday, Lebanon\'s health ministry said. The Israeli military has previously ordered swathes of the city to evacuate but there were no orders published by the Israeli military spokesperson on social media platform X ahead of Friday\'s strikes. The ministry said two children were among the dead. Rescue operations were ongoing and ...

  Beirut, Lebanon — Four pro-Iran fighters were among five people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in north and northwest Syria, a war monitor said on Saturday. "Four Syrian pro-Iran fighters were killed in Israeli air strikes on the scientific research center and warehouses near Safira east of Aleppo," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitor said two other raids further west targeting Saraqeb in Idlib province killed a fifth person. Israeli authorities rarely comment on such strikes but have repeatedly said they will not allow archenemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria. The Observatory said the strikes targeted two headquarters of Syrian regime forces frequented by members of the Iran-b...