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Turkish Military Helicopter Crashes in Malatya, Killing 4 Soldiers

By
Omonigho Daibo
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A Turkish military helicopter crashed on the outskirts of the city of Malatya on Thursday evening, killing all four service members aboard, the Defense Ministry said. Officials said the cause had not been determined.

The S-70 helicopter came down in Samanköy, a neighborhood in Malatya’s Yeşilyurt district on the southern edge of the provincial capital, The Associated Press noted. The Associated Press described the location as southern Turkey, while the Turkish daily Daily Sabah placed it in the country’s east. Malatya lies in eastern Anatolia.

“As a result of an accident involving our S-70 helicopter in Malatya, for a reason not yet determined, 4 of our heroic comrades-in-arms aboard the helicopter were martyred,” the ministry said in a post on social media, in the AP’s translation.

“We pray that God will have mercy on our martyrs and offer our condolences and prayers for strength to their grieving families, our Turkish Armed Forces, and our noble nation,” the ministry added.

The ministry did not immediately release the names or ranks of those killed or say what mission the helicopter was flying.

Fire spreads to nearby home

Television footage showed the helicopter’s wreckage burning near a cluster of buildings on an otherwise open stretch of land.

The Demirören News Agency said flames spread to a nearby house but reported no casualties on the ground. Daily Sabah said emergency crews put out the fire, and that search-and-rescue teams began work as soon as they reached the wreckage.

Police, firefighters and medical teams were sent to the scene.

Early reports from Daily Sabah said there was no immediate official word on casualties, before the ministry confirmed the four deaths.

A workhorse aircraft

The Sikorsky S-70 is one of the world’s most widely used military transport helicopters. Its variants include the Black Hawk, which can carry up to 11 troops in addition to its flight crew, The Independent noted.

The Turkish Air Force operates a major installation, the 7th Main Jet Base, north of Malatya. The ministry did not say whether the helicopter was connected to the base or where it had departed from.

An investigation into the cause is expected, as is standard following military aviation accidents in Turkey.

Questions over cause and the toll on Turkey’s military

With the ministry saying the cause remains “not yet determined,” investigators will likely examine the usual range of factors in helicopter crashes: mechanical or technical failure, weather and visibility, pilot error and maintenance history. The fact that the aircraft went down during an evening flight could make conditions such as fading light part of the inquiry, though officials have offered no details.

The S-70 platform has a long service record worldwide, and Turkey has relied heavily on the type for troop transport, logistics and support missions. Because the military operates a large S-70 fleet, any evidence of a systemic technical issue would carry implications beyond this single aircraft. Investigators’ findings may therefore be closely watched within the armed forces.

The crash also adds to a list of deadly military helicopter accidents in Turkey’s mountainous east, where challenging terrain and weather have long complicated flight operations. In one of the most serious recent incidents, a military helicopter crash in Bitlis province in 2021 killed 11 personnel, including a senior commander.

The location of Thursday’s crash, close to homes on the edge of a city, raises a separate concern. That flames spread to a house without causing civilian injuries suggests residents narrowly avoided a far worse outcome. The proximity to populated areas is likely to feature in public discussion as details emerge.

The ministry’s language, describing the dead as martyrs and offering prayers for their families and the nation, reflects how military losses are honored in Turkey, where service members killed on duty are typically commemorated with state ceremonies. Funerals for the four are expected in the coming days, and their identities will likely be announced once families have been notified.

For now, the key unanswered question is why the helicopter went down. The answer will determine whether the crash is treated as an isolated accident or as a signal of broader safety issues requiring attention.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); The Independent; Daily Sabah; Demirören News Agency (DHA).

DC Gym Shooting Leaves Building Manager Dead, 4 Wounded

By
Emmanuel Paul
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A doctor embroiled in a long-running fight with his DC condominium building over mold and water damage shot and killed the building’s manager inside a crowded gym Thursday morning, then opened fire on four more people from his penthouse patio before taking his own life during a standoff with police, authorities said.

The violence unfolded around 8 a.m. in the Logan Circle neighborhood, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the White House, bringing a busy residential and commercial district to a halt as heavily armed officers flooded the streets.

Jeffery Carroll, interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, identified the gunman as Matt Lambert, 55, a physician. Lambert fatally shot himself inside his seventh-floor apartment while speaking by phone with police negotiators, Carroll said, as reported by The Associated Press.

The man killed was James Stuart, 46, the building’s manager, who was shot inside the VIDA Fitness gym on the ground floor, Carroll said.

“There has been an ongoing dispute between the suspect” and building management, the chief said. “We believe it’s related to that.”

Gunfire from a penthouse patio

The first officers reached the scene within 30 seconds of the initial call and found at least one victim, Carroll told reporters, Reuters said. While clearing an adjacent residential building, officers came under fire from the seventh floor, where Lambert had barricaded himself.

Carroll said Lambert shot four people from his condo patio. One was in critical condition, and the other three appeared to have injuries that were not life-threatening, police told CNN.

Negotiators reached Lambert by phone, a law enforcement official told Reuters. During the conversations, he complained about the building’s homeowners association. When negotiators heard a gunshot, officers forced their way inside and found him dead of a self-inflicted wound, the official said.

Years of complaints over mold

Court records show Lambert had been locked in a dispute with building management over mold and moisture in his unit. In a lawsuit filed last year, he alleged that he had been unable to enjoy his penthouse since 2024 because of mold, moisture and water intrusion that he said began after a contractor worked on the building’s exterior.

The case was still pending, with mediation scheduled for next March, court filings show. Lambert appeared to document his grievances, including photos and an engineering report, on an X account titled OfMiceandMold, the AP said.

‘He was instantly dead’

James Spellman, who was in the gym, said about 50 people were inside when the shooting started.

“Within seconds there was a man who fell to the ground, and a pool of blood came out,” he said. “One gym member rushed to help him. He was instantly dead. He had been shot in the neck.”

Anthony Mirones was in the cardio area when he heard a loud bang and initially thought something had fallen off a wall. As someone tried to help the wounded man, a fire alarm sounded and people fled. “The people in cardio had to step over the body,” he said.

Another witness told Reuters he saw a man run to the victim. “Blood was pouring immediately, and he said, ‘He’s dead,'” the witness said. “We didn’t know if the gunman was still on the premises, so we just ran frantically.”

Residents of apartments above the gym evacuated when an alarm sounded, assuming it was a fire drill until they heard gunshots. “From there, we just started sprinting,” resident Max Smith told CNN affiliate WUSA. He said about 10 people hid in the bathroom of a nearby coffee shop. “I’m very shaken up,” Smith said. “You don’t expect it.”

Ryan Dubicki, an AP employee who lives nearby, said he heard about five widely spaced bangs and assumed it was construction. Soon, “there were cops everywhere.”

Neighborhood locked down

Police sealed off much of the block on 15th Street Northwest, home to the gym, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, apartments and a Whole Foods store. Nearby schools were locked down. SWAT officers took positions on rooftops with weapons drawn as helicopters circled overhead and dozens of police vehicles lined the streets. “There’s an active shooter,” one officer shouted to pedestrians heading to work, CNN said.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was “devastated” by the loss of life in a “senseless act of gun violence.” She praised the rapid police response and said the White House had been briefed.

Logan Circle drew national attention in August 2025, when a former member of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted there by teenagers allegedly attempting a carjacking. Days later, Trump placed the city’s policing under federal control and deployed hundreds of National Guard troops, a deployment that continues.

A private dispute that turned deadly in public

Thursday’s shooting stands apart from many high-profile attacks because, according to police, it grew out of a personal grievance rather than ideology or random violence. Court filings and Lambert’s online postings depict a man consumed by a property dispute that had dragged on for at least two years. That trajectory is likely to draw attention to how long-running conflicts, especially those involving housing and litigation, can escalate, and whether warning signs were visible.

The setting magnified the danger. A ground-floor gym at the start of the workday, beneath residential units and beside a church and grocery store, meant dozens of bystanders were in the line of fire. The decision to shoot from an elevated patio, police said, turned a targeted killing into a wider threat to people on the street below.

The police response, with officers on scene within half a minute and negotiators engaged quickly, likely limited further harm. The incident is nonetheless certain to feed the ongoing debate over public safety in the capital. Supporters of the federal deployment may cite the event as evidence of persistent risks, while critics may argue it shows that targeted violence of this kind is difficult to prevent through broader policing strategies alone.

Investigators are expected to focus on how Lambert obtained his weapon, whether he had made threats before and whether the building or courts had received prior warnings. For Logan Circle residents, the attack shatters a morning routine in one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods and leaves a building manager dead over a dispute that was still working its way through the courts.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); CNN; CNN affiliate WUSA; Reuters

Israeli Strike on Gaza’s Hospital Kills 6, Including a Surgeon

By
Zipporah Njoki
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An Israeli airstrike slammed into the surgical wing of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza early Thursday, killing six people, including a surgeon, and wounding many others, Palestinian health officials said, in an attack the Israeli military said was aimed at a senior Hamas commander operating inside the complex.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the dead included medical staff, patients and people accompanying them, Al Jazeera noted. Among them was a surgeon whose name was transliterated variously as Rizk Abu Shaira, Rizq Abu Shuaira and Rezik Abushira by different news outlets. Al Jazeera said a child was also among those killed.

Figures for the wounded varied. The Associated Press, citing the Health Ministry, said at least a dozen people were hurt. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defense service, told Reuters that 20 people were wounded.

Israel says Hamas used hospital as headquarters

The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike and said it targeted Muhammad Abu Ismail, commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, “along with additional terrorists who were hiding at Nasser Hospital,” Al Jazeera said.

“In his role, Muhammad Abu Ismail was responsible for managing the brigade’s terrorists’ activities and directing them to plan and carry out terrorist plots against Israel,” the military said, adding that he was “also responsible for holding many hostages captive throughout the war.”

In a separate statement cited by the AP, the military said Hamas had “established a presence within the hospital complex” and that the commander had turned it “into a headquarters.” The military told Reuters that Hamas used the complex for weapons storage, command-and-control rooms, observation posts and shelter for fighters.

The military did not provide evidence, and neither the AP nor Reuters could independently verify the allegations. The military did not say whether Abu Ismail was killed.

Hamas rejected the accusations, calling Israel’s initial claim that it used the hospital for military purposes a “blatant attempt to cover up a new war crime,” Al Jazeera said. A Hamas spokesperson told Reuters the strike was a “fully-fledged war crime.”

The Health Ministry described the attack as a “flagrant violation” of international laws that protect medical facilities, staff and patients, and urged the international community and U.N. agencies to intervene and hold those responsible to account.

Destruction inside surgical wing

Inside the surgical building, sections of several floors were heavily damaged or destroyed, the AP said. Debris covered hospital beds and equipment, and steel reinforcing bars hung from the ceiling where the munition struck.

Reuters video showed rubble and furniture scattered through rooms and wires dangling from shattered ceilings. People carried injured patients on stretchers through debris-strewn corridors and helped others limp through the wreckage, while bodies were carried away and firefighters worked outside.

One of Gaza’s last functioning hospitals

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is one of the few medical facilities still operating in Gaza, whose health system has been devastated by more than three years of war.

Israeli forces have raided or besieged hospitals across the territory, accusing Hamas of using them as command centers and to hide fighters. Israeli operations have also destroyed medical equipment and supplies and killed or detained hundreds of health workers, the AP said.

Under international humanitarian law, hospitals and their staff are protected during armed conflict, though a hospital can lose that protection if it is used for military purposes.

Nasser Hospital has been struck before. In 2025, an Israeli strike on a gathering point for journalists at the complex killed five reporters, including AP contributor Mariam Dagga.

Strikes continue despite ceasefire

The strike occurred despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire that took effect in October 2025. Israel controls at least 60% of the territory and has continued to carry out strikes, saying Hamas is trying to regroup and rearm. Hamas says it remains committed to the truce and accuses Israel of undermining it.

Health authorities say Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians since the ceasefire began. The AP put the figure at 1,622. Israel says four soldiers have been killed in that period, according to Reuters, while the AP put the number at five.

The war began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 74,600 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government but whose figures are generally regarded as reliable by international organizations.

A hospital strike tests the fragile truce

The Nasser Hospital strike brings into sharp focus one of the most contested issues of the Gaza war: when, if ever, a hospital becomes a legitimate military target. Israel’s case rests on the claim that Hamas turned the complex into a headquarters and that a senior commander was present. 

Palestinian officials and Hamas insist the hospital was a civilian facility and the strike a grave violation of international law. Without independent verification of the military’s claims, the dispute is likely to remain unresolved, though international legal experts generally hold that even where a hospital loses protection, attacking forces must still weigh harm to patients and staff.

The human cost is especially significant given Nasser’s role. As one of the few hospitals still functioning, damage to its surgical wing further erodes Gaza’s capacity to treat trauma and chronic illness, compounding a health crisis that aid agencies have long described as catastrophic. The death of a surgeon removes scarce expertise from a system already stripped of personnel.

The strike also raises questions about the durability of the ceasefire. More than 1,600 Palestinian deaths since the truce began, alongside Israeli military losses, indicate that the agreement has reduced but not halted the violence. 

Israel frames its continuing operations as necessary to prevent Hamas from rebuilding; Hamas portrays them as efforts to unravel the deal. Each high-profile strike, particularly on a protected facility, adds strain to an arrangement that the United States has backed as a path toward a longer-term settlement.

The targeting of a brigade commander suggests Israel remains focused on dismantling Hamas’ leadership structure in southern Gaza. Whether that campaign can coexist with a ceasefire that both sides say they support is likely to be a central question for mediators in the weeks ahead.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); Reuters; Al Jazeera

Scott Colom Elected Mississippi’s First Black U.S. Senator Since 1874

By
Omonigho Daibo
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Democrat Scott Colom defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s razor-close U.S. Senate race, media outlets projected Wednesday, making him the state’s first Black senator since the Reconstruction era and handing Democrats one of the most striking victories of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Associated Press called the race for Colom after local election officials spent days processing absentee ballots and affidavit ballots, as provisional ballots are known in Mississippi. Reuters said the latest tallies showed Colom ahead by more than 4,500 votes, or about half a percentage point, in a contest so tight that at times he led by only a few dozen votes.

Colom, a 43-year-old district attorney, becomes the first Mississippi Democrat to win a Senate race since John Stennis in 1982, Reuters noted. The last time the state sent a new Democrat to the Senate was 1947, when it elected a staunch segregationist, the AP said. The last Black senator from Mississippi was Blanche Bruce, a formerly enslaved man elected in 1874.

Hyde-Smith concedes

Hyde-Smith, 67, conceded in a brief video posted online.

“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”

A spokesman said she telephoned Colom to concede before releasing the video. Colom planned a victory celebration with supporters Wednesday night in Jackson.

A bigger Democratic majority

The result widens Democrats’ Senate advantage to 55-44, with the Alaska race still undecided, Reuters said. In the House, Democrats have flipped 41 seats so far and lead 254-168, with 13 races yet to be called.

Having lost both chambers in the Nov. 3 elections, President Donald Trump will face a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time in either of his terms, giving the opposition the power to block legislation and launch investigations into his administration.

Hyde-Smith, first appointed to the Senate in 2018, had consistently led in polls in a state Trump carried by nearly 23 points in 2024. Trump rallied for her in Corinth late in the campaign.

Grassroots strategy

Colom told Reuters in October that Mississippians felt betrayed by Trump administration policies, including the war with Iran, which has pushed up fuel prices. He also criticized tariffs he said hit the state’s farmers especially hard, while avoiding personal attacks on Trump or his voters.

Instead, he focused his fire on Hyde-Smith, casting her as ineffective in Washington, an argument aimed at voters accustomed to influential senators such as Stennis, Thad Cochran and Trent Lott, who rose to powerful posts and steered federal money home.

He campaigned through town halls and visits to public housing complexes, festivals and food trucks. “We did it the hard way, the grassroots way,” he said.

One of his campaign’s most widely shared ads followed a remark by Hyde-Smith that appeared to brush aside high beef prices by suggesting consumers choose other proteins. Colom’s 30-second response showed incredulous voters saying they would “pick another senator instead.”

When Trump came to Corinth for the late-October rally, Colom walked along the line of supporters waiting outside, introducing himself and asking about their concerns. Inside, Hyde-Smith spoke only briefly when called to the stage. “Is this not the best president in our lifetime?” she asked, before stepping back.

Colom closed his campaign with an ad filmed at the Jackson home of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in his driveway by a white supremacist in 1963. “He was killed for helping Mississippians vote,” Colom said. “On Tuesday, use your vote and honor everyone who died for that right.”

He received campaign help from Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Cory Booker of New Jersey, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris, along with fundraising support from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

A history with Hyde-Smith

The two candidates had crossed paths before. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as a federal judge in the Northern District of Mississippi. The nomination was backed by Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and former Gov. Haley Barbour, but Hyde-Smith blocked it, citing Colom’s positions on transgender issues. Colom said his campaign was never about settling scores.

Reaction

“Scott Colom is the only person who could’ve gotten this done,” Schumer posted online, saying Colom “re-imagined what’s possible for Democrats in the South.”

Clinton told Colom on social media that he won “because you believe in the promise of your state’s people. And they believed in you right back.”

NAACP President Derrick Johnson, a Mississippi resident, said voters “made history because they refused to be intimidated, discouraged, or counted out.”

Colom said he hoped his success would open doors for others. “My job is to do well enough as the next United States senator that the next time some young Black boy or girl has the work ethic, the vision, and the values,” he said, “and they want to be United States senator, that nobody says because of anything I’ve done that they shouldn’t get a chance.”

What Mississippi’s upset may and may not signal

Colom’s victory carries both historic and political weight. Historically, it closes a gap of more than 150 years since Mississippi last sent a Black senator to Washington, in a state that has the largest share of Black voters in the nation and a long history of struggles over voting rights. That context helps explain why the result resonated so quickly beyond the state.

Politically, the reading of the outcome is likely to divide along familiar lines. Democrats, as Schumer’s comments suggest, see evidence that the South is becoming more competitive, pointing to upsets from North Carolina to Texas. 

Results showed strong turnout in the majority-Black Mississippi Delta, but also leftward shifts across nearly all of the state compared with 2024, suggesting Colom drew support beyond his party’s base.

Republicans may counter that the race turned on circumstances unlikely to repeat: a national environment shaped by the Iran war and rising fuel prices, candidate-specific missteps such as the beef remark, and a challenger who ran an unusually disciplined campaign. The margin of roughly half a percentage point, in a state Trump won by nearly 23 points two years earlier, indicates Mississippi remains closely divided rather than newly Democratic. 

The state’s 2023 governor’s race, which Republican Tate Reeves won by about 3 points, also showed statewide contests there can be competitive under the right conditions.

Colom’s approach may be studied by strategists in both parties. He critiqued policies rather than the president personally, made a localized argument about effectiveness in Washington and invested heavily in in-person outreach. Whether that model can be replicated elsewhere, or depended on this year’s unusual climate, will be tested in future elections.

In the Senate, Colom will join a Democratic majority with greater leverage over Trump’s agenda, judicial nominations and oversight. His campaign pledge to represent rural, suburban and urban Mississippians alike will soon be measured against his votes in a chamber where his party now holds a firm advantage.

Sources: Reuters; The Associated Press (AP)

US Army Officer Assigned to NATO Unit Arrested in England on Suspicion of Spying for Russia

By
Emmanuel Paul
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A U.S. Army officer serving with a NATO rapid-response force was arrested Tuesday in England on suspicion of espionage tied to Russia, British counterterrorism police and other officials said, a case that lands amid rising alarm over Moscow’s covert activities in Europe and threats to American troops based in Britain.

The 41-year-old man, whose name was not released, was detained near Gloucester on suspicion of breaching two provisions of Britain’s National Security Act 2023: assisting a foreign intelligence service and obtaining or disclosing protected information, The Associated Press said.

He was assigned to NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps at Imjin Barracks near Gloucester, a U.S. official, a senior NATO official and a British government official told the AP. The U.S. official identified him as an officer. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is a multinational land force designed to deploy quickly in response to crises or short-notice operations. According to its website, the corps draws on forces from 20 nations and is led by Britain from its headquarters in Gloucester.

‘Utmost concern’ for allies

Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon, commanding general of the Army’s Counterintelligence Command, described the suspect in a news release as a senior soldier but gave no further details about his identity. Officials released little additional information about the case.

The Metropolitan Police said its counterterrorism officers worked closely with the FBI and the U.S. military on the investigation. In the release, FBI Director Kash Patel described the detention as an “important arrest” involving espionage allegations of “utmost concern” to the United States and its allies.

“This FBI has no tolerance for anyone who breaks their oath to the United States and whose actions endanger our national security and that of our partners,” Patel said.

The suspect was being held at a London police station, officials said. Investigators searched two properties in Gloucestershire, a county roughly 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of London.

Separate from Iran-linked threats

Police said the arrest was unrelated to other counterterrorism investigations, signaling it was not connected to a suspected Iran-linked terror plot in September targeting RAF Fairford, a U.S.-operated base near Gloucester.

Following that threat, the U.S. Air Force pulled bombers used in strikes on Iran from RAF Fairford. This week, the Air Force also moved aircraft from RAF Mildenhall, another base in Britain, because of a threat that The Wall Street Journal said was linked to Iran.

Authorities said Tuesday’s case involved Russia, setting it apart from those incidents.

Europe on alert over Russian activity

Several European governments have recently warned of a growing threat from Russian covert operations, including sabotage, espionage and drone incursions.

Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service has assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin might launch military attacks against NATO only if he judged the alliance would not respond collectively, “especially if Russia assesses that the United States cannot or will not support the European NATO countries in a potential war against Russia.”

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, said last month in Poland that the alliance stands ready to fight if attacked, as he laid out how NATO would defend itself against Russian aggression.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the AP has documented more than 210 incidents of sabotage and malign activity across Europe that Western officials have attributed to Moscow. They include plots to torch warehouses, drone launches, assassination attempts against perceived enemies abroad, theft of defense technology and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

Among the most recent was an attempted drone attack on a German airport in August that officials blamed on Russia, prompting Berlin to close a Russian consulate.

A breach at the heart of NATO’s rapid-response force

If the allegations are proven, the case would be especially damaging because of where the suspect served. The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is built to move first in a crisis, and its planning, readiness levels and deployment options are precisely the kind of information an adversary would value. A senior officer embedded in a multinational headquarters could potentially have access not only to U.S. material but also to plans and assessments shared by allies.

That multinational dimension raises the stakes. NATO depends on trust among members to share sensitive information, and an espionage case involving an American officer in a British-led corps is likely to prompt reviews of access controls and vetting across allied headquarters, regardless of the outcome of the case.

The swift joint statement from the FBI and the Army’s counterintelligence arm, alongside British police, appears intended to signal unity and resolve at a time when Denmark’s intelligence assessment explicitly identifies doubts about U.S. commitment as a factor in Moscow’s calculations. Demonstrating close transatlantic cooperation in rooting out a suspected spy sends a message that runs counter to that narrative.

The arrest also adds to a crowded security picture for U.S. forces in Britain. With Iran-linked threats already forcing the relocation of aircraft from two bases, American personnel now face concern from two directions. Officials’ emphasis that the cases are unrelated suggests they are working to prevent confusion over the nature of the threats.

The broader pattern documented across Europe, from arson plots to drone incursions, indicates that Russia’s alleged shadow campaign is wide-ranging. An insider recruited from within NATO’s ranks would represent a more direct form of penetration than sabotage carried out by hired proxies.

As with any criminal case, the suspect has not been charged, and the allegations remain unproven. Investigators are expected to examine what information, if any, may have been passed on and for how long.

Source: The Associated Press (AP)

12 Dead, Dozens Injured After Massive 86-Car Pileup Rocks Bulgaria Motorway

By
Emmanuel Paul
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Thick fog blanketing a key motorway in eastern Bulgaria set off a chain of crashes involving 86 vehicles on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, officials said, in one of the country’s worst road disasters in recent memory.

The collisions on the Trakia motorway, which connects the capital, Sofia, with the Black Sea port of Burgas, produced two separate pileups near the village of Zimnitsa and forced authorities to shut the road in both directions, Health Minister Katya Ivkova said, as quoted by The Associated Press.

Ivkova said 10 people “died on the spot” and two more died after being taken to hospitals in Yambol and Sliven. She said 46 injured people were taken to medical facilities across the country.

Casualty figures shifted throughout the day. Prime Minister Rumen Radev initially put the toll at 11 dead and 48 injured, the Sofia News Agency’s Novinite.com said. The Express Tribune and The Charlotte Observer, citing Reuters, also cited 11 deaths, with the Interior Ministry saying 50 injured people were taken to hospitals. Law enforcement later said the injured were spread across three regions: 28 in Sliven, 16 in Yambol and six in Burgas.

Visibility collapsed to 10 meters

Authorities said 86 vehicles were caught up in the crashes, 63 in the lanes toward Burgas and 23 in the opposite direction, Novinite.com said. Images in local media showed crushed and overturned cars and trucks strewn across six lanes, with some pushed off the roadway.

Lyubomir Nikolov, acting chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, said fog was the likely cause. Witnesses told investigators visibility was initially 70 to 80 meters before plunging suddenly to about 10 meters.

Nikolov said the first crash occurred in the Burgas-bound lanes when a truck blocked a passenger bus. A second truck carrying grain was then struck, and a passenger car slammed into its rear. All of those killed were traveling toward Burgas, he said, and no children were among the dead or injured.

Officials believe the crash on the Sofia-bound side followed soon after. “We assume that the accident in the direction of Sofia occurred in the same manner. The fact that both incidents happened in the same location is likely linked to drivers becoming distracted after noticing the major pile-up in the lanes heading toward Burgas,” Nikolov said.

Sliven Regional Governor Mihail Kasherov, who was at the scene, offered a different account of how the chain began, saying the first collision involved two cars that crashed and caught fire. He said more than 70 vehicles were involved and that no vehicle crossed the central barrier into oncoming traffic.

Chief Inspector Todor Mishinev of the Yambol regional police told Nova TV that some people were still trapped in their vehicles. “Right now, the priority is rescue operations. Once they are completed, the procedural and investigative actions will be carried out,” he said.

Rescue from a burning truck

An eyewitness described the chaos to Nova TV. “There was very thick fog. The crash happened up ahead. Suddenly, everything went black. I got out of my vehicle and headed forward. Using a car jack, I smashed the window of a burning cab and pulled a person out,” the witness said, adding that vehicles in the opposite lanes then began colliding.

Military aircraft deployed; EU visit cut short

The disaster struck during a visit to Bulgaria by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Radev, who learned of the crashes aboard the government plane en route to Varna, called the accident a “tragedy,” canceled his remaining engagements and a scheduled Council of Ministers meeting, and said he would visit the affected areas.

“I would like to thank Ms. von der Leyen for her understanding regarding the curtailment of our scheduled agenda today,” Radev said.

He sent the government aircraft to Burgas to ferry injured people to Sofia if needed. Two Spartan military transport planes carrying medical teams and stretchers were also dispatched and later moved to Bezmer Air Base near Yambol, closer to the hospitals receiving most of the wounded.

Von der Leyen shortened her visit. “I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to the entire Bulgarian people. My respect goes to the rescue teams!” she said, Novinite.com said.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Pulev said the state had mobilized every available resource and set up a crisis task force. “Everything with wings is in the air; everything with wheels is on the road,” he said. The BG-ALERT emergency warning system was activated.

Fifteen fire engines, hundreds of police officers and medical teams were sent to the scene, along with more than 20 soldiers from the 42nd Mechanized Battalion in Yambol, the Defense Ministry told the BTA news agency.

Hospitals strained, blood appeal issued

Ivkova said 18 patients were brought to the hospital in Sliven, with others taken to Yambol, Burgas and the Military Medical Academy. Hospitals in Sofia, Plovdiv, Kazanlak and Stara Zagora were placed on standby.

Sliven’s Dr. Ivan Seliminski hospital suspended scheduled operations and issued an urgent appeal for blood donations, saying some patients needed emergency transfusions. In Burgas, a 42-year-old man being treated at Deva Maria Hospital was in very critical condition, officials said.

The Road Infrastructure Agency said the motorway would remain closed for an extended period in the Yambol area because of poor visibility, the large number of heavy trucks involved and the ongoing investigation. It set up detours through surrounding towns including Karnobat, Sliven and Straldzha and urged motorists to check conditions at traffic.api.bg.

Fog, speed and a motorway’s vulnerabilities

The scale of the disaster points to a familiar but deadly combination: sudden fog, high-speed traffic and insufficient following distance. A drop in visibility from roughly 80 meters to 10 leaves drivers traveling at motorway speeds almost no time to react, and once heavy trucks and a bus collided, the chain reaction became nearly impossible to stop.

Nikolov’s comments suggest investigators will focus partly on driver behavior. He said damp roads demanded greater distance and adherence to speed limits, a message likely to fuel debate over enforcement on the Trakia motorway, one of Bulgaria’s busiest routes.

His suggestion that highly reflective road markings, used elsewhere in Europe, could replace ordinary white paint in fog-prone stretches signals that infrastructure may also come under review. The fact that the Sofia-bound crash appears linked to drivers distracted by the first pileup raises questions about warning systems capable of alerting motorists in real time.

The government’s rapid response, including military aircraft and a crisis task force, reflected the gravity of the moment. The shifting death and injury counts, however, show the difficulty of coordinating information across multiple regions and hospitals. As investigations proceed, pressure is likely to grow for concrete safety measures before the next season of heavy fog.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); Reuters; The Express Tribune; The Charlotte Observer; Sofia News Agency’s Novinite.com; Nova TV; BTA

Nigerian-Born Shirley Emehelu Sworn In as New Jersey’s First Immigrant Lieutenant Governor

By
Omonigho Daibo
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0

Shirley Emehelu, who left Nigeria for the United States as a toddler, took the oath Monday as New Jersey’s lieutenant governor, becoming the first immigrant to serve as the state’s second-ranking official and putting a Nigerian American in line to act as governor of one of the nation’s most populous states.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill formally announced the appointment of Emehelu, 48, a veteran prosecutor who had been serving as acting secretary of state, at a Statehouse news conference. State Supreme Court Justice Stuart Rabner administered the oath during the event, NJ.com said.

Emehelu placed her heritage at the center of the moment.

Shirley Emehelu

“As a Black woman and a Nigerian American, I’m proud of what this appointment represents for our state, and especially for the communities that share my heritage,” she said. “This is a milestone we can celebrate together.”

The appointment also marks the first time New Jersey’s governor and lieutenant governor are both women. Emehelu — whose surname is pronounced “Emma-hel-loo” — is the fifth person to hold the office since it was created.

A journey from Nigeria to Trenton

Born in Nigeria to parents who were both physicians, Emehelu immigrated to the United States at age 3, according to her Wikipedia biography. Her family lived first in Chicago and later in Pittsburgh.

She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Yale University and a law degree from Yale Law School, launching a career in law enforcement that would eventually bring her to the top tier of state government.

From 2010 to 2019, Emehelu worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey, prosecuting complex financial fraud and public corruption cases. Politico noted that her work there also included white-collar crime and anti-money laundering efforts. It was in that office in Newark that she worked alongside Sherrill, who later left to run for Congress in 2018.

Emehelu later joined CSG Law, one of New Jersey’s leading law firms, where a resume reviewed by Politico showed she advised clients on “complex financial fraud matters,” including money laundering and securities fraud.

In 2022, she returned to public service as executive assistant attorney general, the third-highest post in the state attorney general’s office, supervising more than 500 lawyers under Attorney General Matt Platkin during Gov. Phil Murphy’s second term. When Sherrill took office in January, she named Emehelu acting state comptroller, then tapped her as acting secretary of state in September.

She has never run for elected office.

“What a profound honor it is to make history with Gov. Sherrill,” Emehelu said, flanked by relatives and Cabinet colleagues. “Through our work, I hope we can inspire the next generation to find their own ways to serve and make a little history of their own, too.”

Emehelu becomes the fourth Black lieutenant governor in state history, after Sheila Oliver, Tahesha Way and Dale Caldwell, and the fourth in a row to hold the post, Politico observed.

Immigrant identity shaped the choice

Shirley Emehelu

Sherrill pointed to Emehelu’s immigrant roots as part of her appeal. Black community leaders and advocacy groups had pressed the governor to choose a person of color to replace Caldwell, who had suggested race played a role in the allegations against him.

“I think Shirley, with her experience in the Black community and her experience as from the immigrant community, represents a lot of different voices,” Sherrill said.

The governor also invoked New Jersey’s history as a destination for newcomers. “I’m incredibly proud of our state’s history as the gateway to America, and the beating heart of social progress,” Sherrill said Friday. “And I’m even prouder to build an administration whose leaders embody that legacy.”

Sherrill said gender was not a deciding factor. “I didn’t have a preconceived notion that I needed to have another woman serving here. I felt like as governor, you know, I had that handled,” she said with a smile.

The two women share a long friendship that extends beyond the courtroom. Sherrill described them as fellow “working moms” whose children attended Watchung Elementary School in Montclair.

Replacing Caldwell

Emehelu succeeds Caldwell, who resigned Sept. 25, eight months into the administration, after an investigation commissioned by the governor’s office found he had committed ethics violations and sexual harassment. Caldwell has denied any wrongdoing. The New Jersey Globe first disclosed Emehelu’s pending selection, and Monday was Sherrill’s deadline to name a replacement.

“Back in September, I said I wanted a partner in government who would represent my administration and the people of New Jersey with honor and integrity,” Sherrill said. “I found that partner in Shirley — a leader with an exceptional track record of doing right by people.”

Because Caldwell was elected on Sherrill’s ticket, state law allows the governor to appoint his successor without Senate confirmation. Emehelu can serve through the end of Sherrill’s term and will keep her role as secretary of state, overseeing elections and serving as a liaison to businesses. She will also serve as acting governor whenever Sherrill is out of state, which has been often as the governor campaigns for Democrats nationwide.

Sherrill praised her handling of the Nov. 3 elections, which Emehelu oversaw weeks after taking charge amid efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to obtain state voter rolls and fallout over noncitizens erroneously added to the rolls years earlier. “Many leaders would have run the other way, but Shirley ran toward the fight,” Sherrill said.

Emehelu said she wants to “make life more affordable” and expand opportunity. “Good government is about prioritizing the people we serve. It’s about honesty, integrity, and transparency,” she said.

Caldwell told NJ.com he wished her “the best of luck.” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said Emehelu “brings with her an impressive background,” while state Democratic Party Chairman LeRoy Jones called her “a champion for people’s rights and a fighter against injustice.”

An immigrant milestone with national resonance

Emehelu’s swearing-in carries significance well beyond New Jersey’s borders. Nigerian Americans form one of the most professionally accomplished immigrant communities in the United States, heavily represented in medicine, law and academia, a pattern reflected in her own family of physicians and her Ivy League education. 

Political representation at the highest levels of state government, however, has been rarer. A Nigerian-born official empowered to act as governor offers the diaspora a prominent new figure in American public life.

Her story is also likely to draw attention in Nigeria, where the achievements of citizens and descendants abroad are closely followed and often celebrated as points of national pride.

For Sherrill, the choice serves several purposes. It addresses pressure from Black leaders, highlights the state’s immigrant identity and replaces a relatively unknown running mate with a trusted longtime colleague. The contrast with Caldwell, who came from outside Sherrill’s circle, suggests the governor prioritized familiarity and loyalty after a damaging scandal.

Emehelu’s biggest test is yet to come. Having never faced voters, her standing will rest on her performance as acting governor during Sherrill’s travels and on her stewardship of future elections. Her smooth handling of the Nov. 3 vote under federal scrutiny gives her an early record to build on, and her unique profile ensures she will draw attention far exceeding the limited formal powers of the office.

Sources: NJ.com; Politico; New Jersey Globe; Wikipedia

‘I Don’t Want to Go to Hell’: Donald Trump Speaks on Death in New 60 Minutes Interview

By
Omonigho Daibo
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0

President Donald Trump, pressed to contemplate his own mortality in a nationally televised interview, said he hopes he will be remembered fondly, hopes he will go to heaven and does not want to go to hell.

The exchange came during Trump’s first major interview since Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate in last week’s midterm elections. The conversation with correspondent Ross Douthat aired Sunday night on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and had been recorded Friday.

‘Let’s talk about death’

After a long discussion of the election and policy, Douthat, a conservative Catholic who recently joined the program, abruptly changed course. “Let’s talk about death,” he said, as described by The Independent.

Douthat pointed to Trump’s several close calls in recent years, most notably the July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a sniper’s bullet clipped the president’s right ear. He suggested such moments must have had “some kind of effect” on Trump’s outlook and asked: “What do you think happens when you die?”

Trump initially answered in terms of legacy. “Well, I hope I’m missed,” he said with a chuckle. “I hope I’m missed, I don’t know… I think I’ve done a good job as…”

Douthat pressed further. “What do you think happens to Donald Trump when you die? Not your memory, yourself.”

“You mean where I go?” the president replied. “Well, I’m a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven.”

“Do you think you are going to heaven?” Douthat asked.

“I hope so. I don’t want to go to hell,” Trump said.

Jokes, hatred and forgiveness

Douthat then raised remarks Trump made last year at a memorial in Arizona for slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, when the president said of his opponents: “I hate my opponents and I don’t want the best for them.”

Douthat acknowledged that Trump had been joking at the time but observed, “I think that facts come through jokes.” Trump agreed.

Asked directly whether he could forgive his enemies, Trump said it would be easy to answer yes. But he said: “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies, and I always will,” The Associated Press noted.

Election losses and policy

The spiritual exchange followed a broader discussion of the midterm results. Trump conceded that inflation and high gas prices linked to the war with Iran contributed to Republican losses, The Independent said, while also blaming the media, some GOP candidates and low voter turnout.

He also acknowledged his immigration crackdown may have hurt his party. “I think it might be too tough, yeah,” he said of his deportation policy, according to the AP, and said he believed a deal with the new Democratic majorities was “actually doable.” Shortly after the taping, he named Stephen Miller, the chief architect of his hard-line immigration agenda, as his new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the move “not a course correction” but “a promotion.”

Trump signaled possible Cabinet changes but said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would stay. In the 2028 race, he said he may not endorse a successor. “Maybe I’m better off not getting involved,” he said.

Asked about the $3 billion rise in his net worth since returning to office, Trump said: “I devote almost no time to my net worth. I don’t care.”

A rare moment of reflection

Questions about faith and mortality are uncommon in interviews with sitting presidents, and Trump has seldom spoken publicly about what he believes awaits him after death. His answer, a hopeful but hedged expectation of heaven, framed with the phrase “in theory,” offered a glimpse of a side of the president that rarely surfaces in political settings.

Douthat’s line of questioning was notable for linking Trump’s brushes with death to his inner life. The Butler shooting remains one of the defining images of Trump’s political career, and Trump and many of his supporters have described his survival in spiritual terms. Asking the president to reflect on that experience directly invited him to connect those public narratives to private belief.

The pivot to forgiveness gave the segment its sharpest edge. Forgiving one’s enemies is a central teaching of Christianity, and Douthat, himself a prominent Catholic writer, appeared to be drawing an implicit link between Trump’s stated hope of heaven and his openly expressed animosity toward opponents. Trump’s candid refusal to say he could forgive them was consistent with his past remarks.

How audiences interpret that candor is likely to follow familiar lines. Admirers often value Trump’s refusal to offer polished or expected answers and may see honesty in his admission. Critics may view it as an extension of the confrontational politics they believe contributed to division and to his party’s losses at the polls.

The timing also gives the exchange added weight. Coming days after a significant electoral setback, with staffing changes underway and talk of a 2028 race in which he may stay neutral, Trump’s reflections on how he hopes to be remembered arrived at a moment when questions about his legacy are already moving to the fore in Washington.

Sources: CBS News’ “60 Minutes”; The Independent; The Associated Press (AP)

Houthi Airstrikes Kill 44 After Attack Damages Saudi Aramco Tower

By
Omonigho Daibo
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0

 The number of people killed in airstrikes on a village near Yemen’s capital has risen to 44, most of them women and children, health officials with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels said late Sunday, as the rebels pressed their own attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia, damaging the Riyadh headquarters building of oil giant Aramco.

The strikes Saturday on al-Shariya, a village east of Sanaa, also wounded 40 people, including eight children and nine women, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry. Among the dead were 21 children and 10 women, he said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the latest wave of fighting in Yemen, The Associated Press noted.

Al-Asbahi said rescue crews were still combing the area for missing people, raising concern that the toll could climb further.

He blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes. Saudi authorities said they were investigating, Reuters said. The figures could not be independently verified.

The attack comes amid a sharp escalation between the Houthis and the kingdom that has killed hundreds of people in Yemen and dozens in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco tower hit in Riyadh

Hours after the Houthi death toll was raised, windows were blown out across several floors of Aramco’s corporate office in the heart of Riyadh’s financial district on Sunday, Reuters said. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry attributed the damage to debris from an attempted attack on the building.

The ministry said the damage to the Aramco Tower was limited and that no one was killed or injured. It did not say who was responsible. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said Saudi air defenses had intercepted Houthi missiles over the capital in the early morning hours.

The Houthis claimed responsibility. Their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said Riyadh’s international airport was also targeted Sunday, though Saudi authorities did not confirm that. A strike on the airport in October killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

The coalition said its air defenses also intercepted a Houthi missile over the Eastern Province, home to most of the oil and gas reserves of the world’s largest crude exporter. In two separate statements, it said it had destroyed ballistic missile launchers in Saada and Sanaa used in Sunday’s attacks on Riyadh and the Eastern Province.

The rebels have intensified strikes on Aramco facilities in recent weeks, including the company’s headquarters in Dhahran.

The attack came on the same day many Saudi schools reopened for in-person classes after weeks of remote learning, and several government agencies returned to their offices after work had been suspended following earlier Houthi attacks.

A new front in a wider war

Fighting between the Houthis and the coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government escalated after the rebels advanced in September toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic shipping chokepoint on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have since stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi ports and airports, turning the conflict into another front in the broader U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Reuters said. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen.

The kingdom, a key U.S. ally, has sought both defensive and offensive help from the United States and several countries in Europe and the Middle East. Britain said in October it would deploy fighter jets on defensive missions to help shield Saudi cities from Houthi attacks.

Riyadh has also pursued diplomacy. Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, the countries of the so-called Mecca defense pact, met with Iranian officials in Tehran last month. Iran later said talks with Riyadh were continuing on new regional security arrangements that would exclude foreign military involvement.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected remarks made over the weekend by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who described Tehran’s demands for ending the war as “ridiculous,” the AP said.

Civilian toll mounts as both sides widen their targets

The al-Shariya strike and the attack on the Aramco Tower illustrate how quickly the Yemen front has expanded in scope. The Houthis are now reaching Saudi Arabia’s political and financial core, while airstrikes in Yemen are increasingly falling on residential areas, with women and children making up the majority of the dead in Saturday’s attack, according to Houthi health officials.

The casualty figures come from a party to the conflict, and Saudi authorities have said only that they are investigating. That leaves the central question of responsibility unresolved for now. But if the toll and its composition are confirmed, the strike would rank among the most serious civilian losses of the current escalation and is likely to draw international scrutiny of the coalition’s targeting.

The Riyadh attack carries a different kind of significance. Even with limited damage and no casualties, debris shattering windows at Aramco’s headquarters in the capital’s financial district is a symbolic blow. It came as Saudi schools and offices were returning to normal routines, a sign that the kingdom’s efforts to project stability remain vulnerable to Houthi strikes.

The broader picture points to a conflict increasingly tied to the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran. The Houthi push toward the Bab el-Mandeb threatens one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, while repeated strikes on Aramco target the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s economy and global energy supplies.

Riyadh appears to be pursuing two tracks at once: seeking more military backing from allies while talking with Tehran about a regional security framework without foreign forces. The exchange between Rubio and Iran’s Foreign Ministry over terms for ending the war suggests that a wider diplomatic settlement remains distant, leaving Yemeni civilians and Saudi cities exposed as the fighting intensifies.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); Reuters

Explosion at Steel Plant in Western Turkey Kills 6, Many Injured

By
Emmanuel Paul
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0

 A massive explosion ripped through an iron and steel plant in western Turkey on Monday, killing six people and setting off a fire as rescue teams dug through rubble in search of workers still trapped inside, officials said.

The blast at the HABAŞ plant in the Aliağa district of Izmir province also injured 13 people, two of them critically, the Izmir Governor’s Office said. The office revised its earlier figures after one injured person died in a hospital and two more bodies were recovered from the debris, The Associated Press noted.

The governor’s office said eight people remained trapped under the wreckage. Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper, citing the same office, put the number of people trapped at 10. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.

Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay cautioned that the final casualty count would not be known until the debris was cleared.

Crane plunged into furnace

The explosion occurred at about noon local time (0900 GMT) during the casting of molten steel, when an overhead crane collapsed into a furnace, the governor’s office said. Preliminary findings indicated the crane broke loose and fell into an electric arc furnace, setting off the blast, according to Daily Sabah. Authorities have opened an investigation.

Footage aired by broadcaster NTV showed flames engulfing part of the facility and a towering column of smoke rising over the site. Firefighters, medical crews and search-and-rescue teams were deployed, and the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said emergency crews were battling the fire while searching for victims. “Our injured compatriots have been taken to hospitals and their health is being closely monitored,” he wrote on social media.

‘I thought it was an earthquake’

Witnesses described a blast powerful enough to shake the ground and send thick black smoke billowing from the factory.

“The ground shook. It was very intense,” witness Nuri Ali Ülker told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Another witness, Deniz Ülker, told Anadolu the explosion “felt like the earth’s crust was shifting beneath us. I thought it was an earthquake.”

A major industrial hub

The HABAŞ plant opened in 1987 and has the capacity to produce 4.5 million tons of steel a year, according to the company’s website.

Aliağa is home to a large port and a major shipbreaking industry. Critics say the shipbreaking yards have caused significant environmental damage, and there have been calls to strike the district’s facility from the European Union’s list of approved ship recycling sites.

The disaster struck as world leaders and environmental campaigners gathered in Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, for international climate talks.

Questions over industrial safety

The cause cited by the governor’s office, an overhead crane falling into a furnace of molten steel, points to one of the most dangerous scenarios in steelmaking. Electric arc furnaces hold metal at extreme temperatures, and any sudden intrusion of heavy equipment can trigger violent explosions and fires. That makes the investigation’s central questions straightforward but consequential: whether the crane failed mechanically, whether it was overloaded or poorly maintained, and whether safety protocols for lifting operations over molten metal were followed.

The answers will matter well beyond Aliağa. Turkey is one of the world’s leading steel producers, and its heavy industry employs large numbers of workers in high-risk environments. Workplace safety has been a recurring concern in the country, with labor groups long arguing that oversight and enforcement lag behind industrial growth. A deadly accident at a major producer is likely to intensify those calls and draw scrutiny of inspection regimes across the sector.

The conflicting figures on the number of people trapped, eight according to the governor’s office update cited by the AP and 10 according to Daily Sabah, reflect the confusion typical in the first hours of an industrial disaster. Mayor Tugay’s warning that the true toll will only emerge once rubble is cleared suggests the death count could rise.

The timing adds a further dimension. The explosion occurred as Turkey hosts global climate talks in Antalya, placing the country’s industrial and environmental record in an unusually bright spotlight. Aliağa already carries a reputation shaped by its shipbreaking industry and the environmental criticism surrounding it. A fatal blast at one of its largest steelworks is likely to sharpen questions about how Turkey balances rapid industrial expansion with worker protection and environmental standards, questions that delegates and activists in Antalya may be quick to raise.

For now, the immediate focus remains on the rescue effort and the families waiting for word on missing workers.

Sources: The Associated Press (AP); Daily Sabah; Anadolu Agency (AA); NTV

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