World

DARWIN, Australia — Three US Marines were killed on Sunday when an Osprey aircraft crashed on a remote tropical island during war games north of the Australian mainland, US military officials said.

Rescue workers toiled in fading light to evacuate survivors from the isolated crash site, with US officials saying five crew members had been flown to Royal Darwin Hospital in a “serious condition”.

The US Marine Rotational Force in Darwin said there were “a total of 23 personnel on board” at the time of the crash and Australia’s military said only Americans were involved.

Rescue efforts were complicated by the location of the crash — the remote and sparsely populated Melville Island about 60 kilometres  north of the nearest city, Darwin.

The Osprey — a mix between a helicopter and a plane — was taking part in the Predators Run exercises, a series of warfighting drills involving thousands of soldiers from the US and Australia, as well as other militaries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles extended their “deepest condolences” to the US military.

“This incident is a reminder of the significance of the service undertaken by our personnel and those of our partner nations,” they said in a joint statement.

Albanese earlier described the crash as “tragic” and “regrettable” but stressed that authorities were still trying to piece together what had happened.

“We want to make sure that any information that is provided is absolutely accurate,” he told reporters.

“This is a difficult incident, we are responding fully, and our priority is on providing every assistance possible.”

Local authorities said Royal Darwin Hospital had activated its highest emergency alert as intensive care staff braced for the influx of injured crew.

Northern Australia has become an important staging ground for the US military in recent years, as Washington and Canberra work together to counter China’s growing clout in the Asia-Pacific region.

Troubled aircraft 

Investigators will now begin piecing together what led to the crash on Melville Island, known for coral reefs, pristine beaches, and the vibrant culture of its Indigenous-Australian inhabitants.

The Osprey aircraft has a troubled history, blighted by a string of fatal crashes over the years.

Four US Marines were killed in Norway last year when their V-22B Osprey aircraft went down during NATO training exercises.

Three Marines were killed in 2017 when an Osprey crashed after clipping the back of a transport ship while trying to land at sea off Australia’s north coast.

And 19 Marines died in 2000 when their Osprey crashed during drills in Arizona.

The US army earlier this year temporarily grounded all pilots who were not involved in critical missions, forcing them to complete further training after a series of safety incidents.

Ospreys are rapidly quick tilt-rotor aircraft that combine the features of both helicopters and turboprop planes, according to the US Air Force.

The hybrid aircraft has two swivelling engines positioned on fixed wingtips that allow it to land and take off vertically, but also travel much faster than a conventional helicopter.

Sunday’s incident follows a fatal training crash last month, in which four Australians died when their Taipan helicopter plunged into the sea during a series of multinational war games in Queensland.

The Taipan had been taking part in the large-scale Talisman Sabre exercise, which brought together 30,000 military personnel from Australia, the United States and several other nations.

It crashed near the Whitsunday Islands while taking part in a nighttime operation.

MARSEILLE — Rescue ship Ocean Viking has saved 438 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean over the last two days, the organisation that runs it, SOS Mediterranee, said on Friday.

The rescues took place in international waters off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia, the France-based NGO said.

Earlier in the day, the NGO said that on Thursday it had "rescued 272 people" of 23 different nationalities from three boats in the central Mediterranean, the most perilous maritime crossing in the world for the migrants.

Those rescued included "32 unaccompanied minors, nine babies and five people with disabilities", said the organisation, which is based in Marseille, on the French Mediterranean.

Later Friday, it said it had rescued another 166 people when it "went to the aid of a number of boats in distress".

Those onboard were evacuated "in coordination with the Italian coast guards in the search and rescue area between Tunisia and Lampedusa".

The tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, located just 145 kilometres from Tunisia, is the first port of call for many migrants seeking to make the treacherous sea journey to Europe from North Africa.

In total, "438 rescued people are currently on board", SOS Mediteranee said.

The Ocean Viking was "heading towards Genoa" in northern Italy because the Italian authorities had ordered them to go to the distant port to disembark the migrants, the group added.

At least 2,013 people have died or gone missing so far this year attempting to cross the central Mediterranean, according to the United Nations migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration.

That is significantly higher than its figure for the whole of 2022, which was 1,417.

In June, one sinking alone in the western Mediterranean cost the lives of at least 82 people, one of the deadliest incidents involving migrants in the area.

In July, the Italian authorities detained the Ocean Viking for 10 days at Civitavecchia, after questioning the vessel’s safety standards, before finally releasing it.

OTTAWA — Another town in Canada’s Northwest Territories was forced to evacuate on Saturday as strong winds and rising temperatures gave new life to vast wildfires.

The threat to Hay River, a town of about 4,000, was so great that even firefighters and essential workers were ordered to leave, authorities said.

The territorial government ordered everyone still in the town to travel to the local airport and await instructions.

“Anyone who remains in Hay River is doing so at their own risk,” a government statement said. “There will be no emergency services or response available.”

At this point, some two-thirds of the entire population of the Northwest Territories — a vast but lightly populated area — has been evacuated to neighbouring provinces, sometimes 2,000 kilometres away.

“Extreme southwest winds have pushed the fire closer to town along the highway, forcing crews and aircraft to pull back and regroup at a safe distance,” said Shane Thompson, the region’s environmental minister, calling the situation “very serious”.

Fire crews are fighting a wall of flames several kilometres long, the authorities said.

Canada is suffering through its worst forest fire season in recorded history, with much of the country hit by high temperatures and serious drought.

A total area of 15 million hectares has now burned, an area larger than Greece. That is more than double the previous record, and the 2023 wildfire season is not yet over.

In all, 200,000 people have been evacuated, and fires have claimed four lives.

Experts say global warming has aggravated the conditions that favor wildfires.

UNITED NATIONS, United States — The United States on Friday accused China and Russia of blocking a unified UN Security Council response to North Korea’s missile launches, including Thursday’s attempt by Pyongyang to put a spy satellite in space.

During an emergency Security Council meeting, 13 of the 15 members — all but Moscow and Beijing — condemned Pyongyang’s second spy satellite test in three months, which used ballistic missile technology.

“This should be an issue that unifies us... But since the beginning of 2022, this Council has failed to live up to its commitments because of China and Russia’s obstructionism,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

“The DPRK’s nuclear threat is growing, and Russia and China are not living up to their responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” she added, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

Thomas-Greenfield also denounced the presence of Russian and Chinese officials at a North Korean military parade last month that showed off new drones and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“They are celebrating — celebrating — violations of Security Council resolutions and continuing to block Council action,” Thomas-Greenfield said of Moscow and Beijing.

In May 2022, China and Russia vetoed a resolution imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang, and no resolution or declaration by the Security Council on North Korea has been adopted since.

The last unified Security Council action on North Korea took place in 2017.

Chinese and Russian representatives said Washington was to blame for North Korea’s aggressive stance, pointing to ongoing US military drills with South Korea.

North Korea has long maintained its nuclear programme is pursued in self-defence, and said the same applies to its satellite programme.

“Our launch of the reconnaissance satellite is an exercise of the legitimate right to self defense to deter ever-increasing hostile military acts of the United States,” said North Korean Ambassador Kim Song, adding that his country has never recognised UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea anyway.

Thomas-Greenfield rejected that position.

“We all know the truth: The DPRK puts its paranoia and selfish interests over the dire needs of the North Korean people,” she said.

“The DPRK’s war machine is fuelled by repression and cruelty,” Thomas-Greenfield added. “It’s shameful, and it’s a grave threat to global peace.”

JOHANNESBURG — BRICS leaders announced on Thursday the "historic" admission of six new countries from next year as the club of large and populous emerging economies seeks to reshape the global order.

The BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, agreed at their annual summit to make Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates full members from January 1.

"This membership expansion is historic," said Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose nation is the most powerful in the group of non-Western states that represents a quarter of the world's economy.

"The expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigour to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development".

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed what he called "a great moment" for his country, the second-most populous in Africa.

"Ethiopia stands ready to cooperate with all for an inclusive and prosperous global order," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In Iran, senior presidential adviser Mohammad Jamshidi described the move as a "historic development and a strategic success" for Tehran's foreign policy.

Calls to enlarge the BRICS had dominated the agenda at its three-day summit in Johannesburg and exposed divisions among the bloc over how quickly new members should be admitted, and how many.

But the group, which makes decisions by consensus, had agreed on the criteria for admission, said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, paving the way for the bloc to expand even further.

Nearly two dozen countries had formally applied to join and about the same number have expressed interest from across the “Global South”, a broad term referring to non-Western nations.

Some 50 other heads of state and government attended the summit, underscoring what BRICS leaders say is the attractiveness of its message and growing relevance on the world stage.

US officials have played down the likelihood of BRICS emerging as a geopolitical rival, describing the bloc as a highly diverse collection of countries containing both friends and rivals.

The bloc is a disparate mix of big and small economies, democratic and authoritarian states, and the candidates seeking membership and those admitted to the club also reflect this variety.

But despite differences, BRICS leaders expressed a common belief that the global system was dominated by Western states and institutions that did not serve the interests of developing nations.

“Our diversity strengthens the fight for a new international order,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has strongly promoted the BRICS development bank as a counter to the Washington DC-based International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

‘New dimensions’ 

Lula said with the admission of six new members, the BRICS now represented nearly half the world’s population and an even greater share of its economic output.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country enjoyed “deep” ties with the new members and “with the help of BRICS, new dimensions will be added to our bilateral cooperation”.

The bloc, founded in 2009 and expanded the following year to include South Africa, has risen to prominence at a time of intense geopolitical rivalry and analysts said its 15th summit in Johannesburg could be pivotal.

China had been campaigning to rapidly grow the BRICS into a counterweight to the G7 group of wealthy democracies and other Western-led institutions amid rising competition with the United States.

South Africa also supported expansion as did Russia, whose leader Vladimir Putin is the subject of an international arrest warrant, and addressed the summit via video link.

The summit in Johannesburg underlined divisions with the West over the war in Ukraine, and the support Russia enjoys from its BRICS partners despite its global isolation.

South Africa, China and India have not condemned Russia’s invasion while Brazil has refused to join Western nations in sending arms to Ukraine or imposing sanctions on Moscow.

AMMAN — India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully soft-landed on the Moon's south pole on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, becoming only the fourth country to achieve the feat of soft landing on the moon and the first ever country to reach the lunar south pole.

The Lunar south pole is considered an area of key scientific interest for spacefaring nations, as scientists believe the region could hold vital reserves of frozen water. India’s lunar mission, which was launched on July 14, 2023 from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), consists of a lander, a rover, and an orbiter.

The rover is expected to explore the lunar surface for up to 14 days, providing vital data to the scientific community on various properties of Lunar soil and rocks, including chemical and elemental composition, according to a statement from the Indian Embassy in Amman.

In a statement, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the successful mission, stressing that science and technology are the foundation of a bright future for India. He noted that the historic achievement was not India’s alone, and instead represents a shared success which belongs to all of humanity. Modi noted that the achievement will help future moon missions by other countries, including those from the global south.

ATHENS — Greek firefighters on Wednesday struggled to contain uncontrolled fires throughout the country for a fifth day, several of them bordering an acrid, smoke-filled Athens.

In the last two days, 19 people believed to be migrants, including two children, have been killed in forest blazes.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling on two major fronts, one near Athens and the other in northeastern Greece, in addition to several other smaller fires.

One fire fanned by strong winds ripped through the foothills of Mount Parnitha, the largest forest adjoining the capital, burning near the outskirts of a national park.

"The situation in Parnitha is extremely critical," Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias told a news conference.

The European Commission said 246 firefighters, 40 vehicles and eight aircraft from eight member states had been sent to help.

Evacuations were ordered on Wednesday morning for several settlements on the outskirts of the capital, including three nursing homes.

The blaze damaged homes in the northwestern Athens district of Menidi, and briefly threatened an army camp.

"Many people don't want to leave their homes," Nikos Kountromichalis, a Hellenic Red Cross organiser, told state TV ERT in Menidi.

'Fainted in their yards' 

"We found some elderly people who had fainted in their own yards," he said, adding that his team had treated several residents for burns and respiratory problems.

Fires have already destroyed homes and properties in the nearby suburbs of Hasia and Fyli.

A migrant detention centre in Amygdaleza, north of Athens, was also evacuated.

Another fire in Boeotia, north of Athens, came perilously close to a UNESCO-listed Byzantine monastery.

Greek firefighters have battled over 350 fires over the last five days, including over 200 in the last 48 hours, Kikilias said.

Nearly a hundred were currently unchecked, the fire service said.

Fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said 140 people had been arrested on suspicion of arson, most of it accidental.

Most cases were related to welding and agricultural work that ignored high-risk weather warnings.

“It’s an unprecedented situation, this is not a figure of speech,” he said.

Kikilias said the country was going through the worst summer of fires since fire-risk maps were introduced in 2009.

He noted that the number of fire emergency warnings issued this year were “twice as many as in 2021, four times those of 2019 and seven times those of 2012”.

In 32 years of service “I’ve never seen such extreme conditions,” Greek fire department chief Yiorgos Pournaras told reporters, noting that even during the night winds remained high.

The Parnitha fire had spread even though water bombers were on-site in minutes, Pournaras said.

Athens district evacuated 

The Greek capital woke up on Wednesday to the smell of scorched earth and thick black smoke covering the sky.

“Unfortunately, the wind does not help at all,” Stathis Topalidis, deputy mayor of Menidi, told state TV ERT.

On Tuesday, authorities ordered the evacuation of Ano Liosia in northwest Athens — a district of over 25,000 people — although several stayed at their houses to try and protect their properties.

Flames continued to spread unchecked for a fifth day in the northeastern region of Evros, close to the Turkish border in Alexandroupolis and the Dadia forest, and home to rare birds of prey.

More evacuations were ordered in the region overnight.

 Online rumours 

Unfounded rumours and allegations have also been spreading rapidly on social media blaming migrants for responsibility for the outbreak of the fires.

Greece’s supreme court prosecutor on Wednesday ordered local officials to investigate both the causes of the catastrophic fire and alleged claims of racism towards migrants.

Greek authorities on Tuesday arrested three people in northern Greece who had forced undocumented migrants into a cargo trailer, accusing them of being responsible for the fires.

Twenty people have been killed in this week’s wildfire wave.

Eighteen people including two children were found dead on Tuesday in a forest fire near the Turkish border, north of Alexandroupolis.

As no local residents had been reported missing “the possibility that they are people who entered our country illegally is under investigation”, fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said in a televised address.

Another person believed to be a migrant was found dead in a nearby forest on Monday. An elderly shepherd had been found earlier Monday in central Greece.

Over 40,000 hectares were destroyed in wildfires in just three days from August 19 to 21, according to a report by the National Observatory of Athens.

The very hot and dry conditions which increase the fire risk will persist until Friday, according to meteorologists.