All posts tagged: Southern

Israel and Lebanon trial ‘safe zones’ in southern Lebanon as part of deal

Israel and Lebanon trial ‘safe zones’ in southern Lebanon as part of deal

Published by Sam Flores

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is in Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump in the first official visit by a Lebanese head of state since 2009. It comes at a moment of high stakes for the country. Israeli forces are now occupying a significant portion of southern Lebanon following rocket attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel. Tel Aviv insists that the Iran-backed militia be disarmed before it withdraws, something the Lebanese army is likely unable to accomplish. As a result, Israel has launched a ‘”pilot programme’” for “safe zones”, which effectively sees Israel hand control of three Lebanese villages to the Lebanese Army, as Beirut tries to assert its authority. Keywords for this article Source link

Fast-moving wildfire in southern France forces evacuations, burns homes in Var region

Fast-moving wildfire in southern France forces evacuations, burns homes in Var region

Published by Sam Flores

A fast-moving wildfire in southern France forced the evacuation of dozens of homes on Sunday as more than 600 firefighters and a fleet of water-bombing aircraft battled to contain the blaze, authorities said. Fanned by strong winds and dry vegetation after days of extreme heat, the fire broke out near the town of Draguignan in the Mediterranean Var region. The blaze burned 10 homes, damaged nine others and left one firefighter with minor injuries, according to the prefecture. The wildfire comes as southern France endures another heatwave, with temperatures having passed 40C in parts of the Var region on Saturday. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again Cover image: Un bombero trabaja para extinguir las llamas en el bosque de Fontainebleau durante un incendio forestal en Le Vaudoue, en el marco de una ola de …

US Strikes Take Out 116 Telecoms Towers In Southern Iran

US Strikes Take Out 116 Telecoms Towers In Southern Iran

Published by Jenni Sidey

Communications and even the supply of drinking water has been severely impacted in some places of southern Iran, amid continuing US airstrikes on civic and national infrastructure, amid the seventh consecutive day of war. “Hormozgan’s chief of communications and information technology says the US’s overnight attacks disrupted telecommunications in Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad, in the northern part of the province,” Al Jazeera reports Authorities there have tallied at least 116 telecommunication towers which were taken out of service due to the US onslaught. This has resulted in outages and disruptions of fixed-line, mobile, and internet services, per Tasnim news agency. via Fars This suggests the US is returning to a strategy which seeks to create destabilization within, targeting the ability of the public to communicate and access information, returning the situation to the early weeks of the war, which saw Tehran authorities themselves curb internet and some telecoms access for the citizenry. It might also be that the US simply perceives infrastructure like telecommunications towers as utilized chiefly by the government and military, in a dual-use way, …

Israeli army destroys three schools in southern Lebanon, minister says | Child Rights News

Israeli army destroys three schools in southern Lebanon, minister says | Child Rights News

Published by Sam Flores

At least 20 schools have now been completely destroyed in Southern Lebanon, with 100 more damaged. Published On 18 Jul 202618 Jul 2026 The Israeli military has looted and destroyed three schools in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s education minister. Israel “looted” the schools before using explosives to reduce them into “piles of ashes”, Education and Higher Education Minister Rima Karami said in a statement carried by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Karami said the schools had been added to the growing list of educational institutions destroyed during the conflict. The fighting in Lebanon escalated into a full-scale war in March after months of cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah following the start of the Gaza genocide in October 2023. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in June that 17 schools in Lebanon had been destroyed in Lebanon and more than 100 damaged. The latest demolitions bring the number of destroyed schools to …

Southern Iran Takes the Brunt of Conflict, Again

Southern Iran Takes the Brunt of Conflict, Again

Published by Daniella Wilson

An adviser to Iran’s negotiating team recently said that Tehran should ready itself for years of “neither war, nor peace.” The phrase has become popular among Iranian political analysts trying to make sense of an ostensibly ambiguous situation: The conflict is supposedly over, but Iran’s military keeps striking ships and U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, and the United States keeps bombing Iran. The people of Bandar Abbas, a port city of about half a million on Iran’s southern coast, do not find this to be an ambiguous situation at all. “For days, we haven’t been able to sleep due to constant explosions,” a 45-year-old resident, whom I will call Omid, told me (all of the Iranians in this article asked for their name to be withheld for their safety). “Is it only called war if they hit Tehran?” Dozens of U.S. strikes in the past two weeks have hit the 1,120-mile Iranian coastline, as well as islands in the Persian Gulf, and they have killed more than 30 civilians, according to official Iranian sources. …

Proposed Muslim cemetery splits Southern California residents

Proposed Muslim cemetery splits Southern California residents

Published by Sam Flores

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. (RNS) — When Abdul Wahab talks about the proposed Crescent Gardens Cemetery, a dedicated Muslim burial site, he often returns to a simple reality. “People are going to leave this world anyway,” he said. “We don’t have a choice. We need the graves.” Wahab is a board member of the Muslim Mortuary & Cemetery Committee, the nonprofit that has for years tried to move the cemetery plan forward against some local opposition primarily concerned with groundwater contamination.  Traditional Islamic burials generally involve ritually washing and burying the body in a shrouded white cloth as soon as practical after death, often within 24 hours. This tradition of burying the body without a casket has led some neighboring residents to raise concerns over water pollution. However, the Muslim Mortuary & Cemetery Committee told RNS all burials it oversees require the deceased to be placed in a covered cement box. “We don’t require caskets, but we require cement boxes for everyone,” Wahab said, citing California burial regulations The cemetery project has required years of environmental …

11 enchanting places to see outdoor theater in Southern California

11 enchanting places to see outdoor theater in Southern California

Published by Sam Flores

There are few places that can generate as much Southern California bliss as outdoor theater. The convergence of climate, culture and community is an intoxicating mix, especially when a gentle evening breeze carrying the scent of jasmine envelops an audience reliving a classic drama. This particular enchantment is a staple of the Getty Villa’s Outdoor Theater, where the fragrance of nearby Roman-inspired gardens lends the annual production of an ancient classic a timeless grace note. Few summer Shakespeare festivals can compete with the expert level of work at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, the Old Globe’s outdoor venue situated amid the beauty of San Diego’s Balboa Park. Under the care of artistic director Barry Edelstein, one of the preeminent Shakespeare experts in the American theater, the theater has completed the cycle of Shakespeare plays and keeps building on its vast experience. The prospect of attending the plays in a manner not unlike Elizabethans at Shakespeare’s Globe is part of the fun at both the Old Globe and the New Swan Theatre on the UC Irvine …

A Boat Capsizes in Southern Vietnam and Kills 15 Indian Tourists Not Far From Shore

A Boat Capsizes in Southern Vietnam and Kills 15 Indian Tourists Not Far From Shore

Published by Sam Flores

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A boat returning from an island trip in southern Vietnam capsized on Saturday, killing 15 Indian tourists less than half a kilometer (0.30 mile) from shore, as passengers shouted for help, officials and a witness said. The speedboat was carrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members when it overturned Saturday afternoon shortly after leaving Hon May Rut Ngoai Island, which is near Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island, authorities were quoted as saying. “The boat had not even gone half a kilometer when it just tipped over,” Ashish Kumar, an Indian who witnessed the accident, told The Associated Press over the phone. “We screamed, ‘Help! Help!’” He said nearby boats immediately rushed to the rescue. “But by then it was too late,” he said. Kumar said that there was no emergency medical care available at the shore when survivors were brought back. He said that at least some of the passengers were on a company tour organized by their employer, which makes smartphones and other electronics. Three of his friends were …