International

US launches strikes to ‘punish’ Iran after troops killed

Published

3 months ago

July 19, 2026

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The United States said airstrikes on Sunday aimed to “punish” Iran over the first US military deaths since renewed hostilities with the Islamic republic.

Iran rapidly announced its own retaliation, saying two US bases in Kuwait were targeted in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks — which Tehran said included strikes on an airport, a railway station and bridges.

A preliminary deal aimed at ending the war has collapsed as the foes fight to break the deadlock over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway key to the world’s oil supply.

The Iranian ar on Sunday it targeted two US bases in Kuwait with drones, hitting an ammunition depot at Camp Udairi and Patriot radar and air surveillance systems at the Ali Al Salem Air Base.

Tehran had also launched fresh strikes in Jordan, where the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said two service members were killed Friday as they “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.”

It said another service member was still missing in action.

Those deaths brought to 16 the confirmed number of US military fatalities since US-Israeli strikes started the war on February 28.

The US military said that it carried out an eighth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, with targets including units behind the attack that killed two American troops in Jordan.

The attacks aimed to “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night”, said US Central Command.

The Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim simultaneously reported US attacks on Sirik, a port located on the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

‘Unforgettable lesson’

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over from his father after he was killed in the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes, vowed to teach the Americans an “unforgettable lesson”, in a statement carried by state TV.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Khamenei, warned that Tehran would resume “full-scale offensive operations” if US strikes continued in the coming days.

And Iran’s central military commander, Ali Abdollahi, warned that further US aggression would face a “decisive and devastating response”, according to a statement carried by state television on Sunday.

The renewed violence was initially sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran closed the strait after the war broke out, and control over the route has become leverage in negotiations with Washington, which reimposed on Tuesday its own blockade of Iran’s ports.

The health ministry said Friday that 50 people had been killed since the renewed fighting broke out and more than 500 hurt.

Demand for water

Kuwait accused Tehran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure, with residents voicing worry that the renewed hostilities might drag on.

“The demand for water and canned goods has increased since this morning amid fears that services or supply chains will be affected,” Kuwait resident Hassan Rayan, 61, said Saturday.

Fellow resident Ali Mahmoud, 46, noted that “the streets and beaches were almost empty, even though it is a holiday.”

The Iranian army said it had targeted an air base used by American forces in Bahrain, another US ally in the Gulf, according to the state broadcaster.

And in Jordan, the Iranian state broadcaster reported that fuel tanks at Al-Azraq US base were targeted. The day before, the Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked US aircraft stationed in the country with missiles and drones.

The Jordanian army said it had shot down 10 missiles Saturday, and at least three the day before.

Hope for a political settlement to the war has fallen by the wayside, though mediators have attempted to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure, although there has been no confirmation from Washington since then that US forces have begun to do so.

– Power facilities –

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Saturday that US attacks killed three people and wounded eight in the southern province of Hormozgan.

In Khuzestan province, the deputy provincial governor said eight people had been killed over the past 10 days, according to Iran’s Tasnim.

Iran also said the supply of drinking water to several southern villages had been cut off, accusing the US of striking power facilities and desalination plants in the village of Bonji, according to Tasnim.

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International

Six people missing as plane vanishes from Bermuda to Boston

Published

1 week ago

October 4, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Six people are missing after a private jet vanished, sparking a major search off the coast of Nantucket in the US. Picture: X

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There are grave fears for the passengers of a private plane that suddenly vanished mid-flight, sparking a major search off the coast of the US.

US authorities say the Gulfstream G100 lost contact with air traffic control about 2am local time on Saturday (4pm Saturday AET) while flying from L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda to Boston Logan International Airport.

The US Coast Guard said the Federal Aviation Administration alerted it after contact was lost with the aircraft – which plummeted from 23,500 feet to 11,000 feet in just three minutes, according to FlightAware data.

“We are praying for a safe outcome,” a spokesperson for Latitude Air Ambulance, which operates the missing plane, told City News.

A search is now under way off Nantucket in the air and on water as crews work to locate the missing jet, the Coast Guard said. Data from FlightRadar24 showed a number of aircraft searching south of the island.

Six people are missing after a private jet vanished, sparking a major search off the coast of Nantucket in the US.

The plane was en route from Bermuda to Boston when it vanished.

“Air & surface crews have launched in search of the aircraft. Updates will be provided here as info becomes available,” the Coast Guard Northeast District said on X.

The plane was carrying out a medical evacuation in Bermuda – a British overseas territory in the north Atlantic Ocean, according to Clarence Togeretz, Director of Flight Operations at Latitude Air Ambulance.

“We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner,” he told NBC News.

“But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened.”

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International

27 feared dead after two mass shootings in South Africa

Published

2 weeks ago

September 27, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

People gather at the store in Lwandle, near Cape Town, where 10 people were killed. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters

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Twenty-seven people have been killed in two mass shootings hours apart in South Africa, the latest gun violence to hit the country.

Seventeen people were killed when eight gunmen stormed a bar close to Johannesburg on Saturday evening, with 15 more injured.

In a separate shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning, 10 people were killed outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town and a further 11 were injured.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and has struggled to contain gang-related gun violence in recent years. Police have not indicated a motive for either of the latest attacks.

In Johannesburg, gunmen opened fire on customers outside the bar before continuing the attack inside and torching two vehicles before fleeing.

Police said thirteen men and four women were killed.

Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the attack may have been a retaliation for an incident last month, in which one person was killed and another wounded, according to AFP news agency.

Speaking at the scene, he said police had clear pictures and in some cases names for the suspects.

In Cape Town, five victims died at the scene and a further five people died in hospital.

No arrests had been made in either case on Sunday morning.

The two mass shootings came days after 11 people were killed in the city of Duban when gunmen stormed a house in the KwaMakhutha township.

Reuters An armed guard walking down a road with people looking on from behind police tape — Armed security forces were deployed to the scene of a mass shooting in Cape Town on Sunday morning

Illegal weapons are prevalent in South Africa and gun violence has been a persistent problem for decades, with about 60 murders recorded every day in the country of 62 million.

But a recent spate of mass shootings has raised fears that the problem is deepening, with violence often linked to turf wars between gangs engaged in drug trafficking and illegal mining.

In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa called organised crime “the most immediate threat to our democracy, our society and our economic development”.

Earlier this year the military was deployed alongside police in areas with the highest murder rates in an effort to reduce armed violence.

On Saturday a tenth woman’s body was found in Ekurhuleni, to the east of Johannesburg, with local police saying they were unable to rule out a serial killer operating in the area with similarities between the deaths. (BBC)

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International

US has deported 25,000 to third countries under secretive deals – Report

Published

3 weeks ago

September 21, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

U.S. President Donald Trump

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The United States has deported more than 25,000 people under secretive agreements with 35 countries to take migrants with no ties to those nations, according to an investigation published Monday.

Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Washington has been signing deals with developing countries to take migrants who cannot legally be sent home.

The investigation by Forbidden Stories found the administration has earmarked $410 million to be paid directly to the receiving countries, or to UN agencies to facilitate the returns.

At least 25,447 people had already been deported to third countries by August 31, 2026, according to data compiled by Forbidden Stories with a consortium of international journalists.

The vast majority — around 20,000 — were sent to Mexico, but the rest were dispersed to 27 other countries across Latin America, Africa, and the Pacific, and agreements have been finalised with seven more.

The deals vary, including over which nationalities can be deported and whether people with criminal records can be accepted.

An AFP investigation earlier this year found Washington is using visa bans and restrictions on African countries to strongarm them into accepting deportees.

Lawyers told AFP that deportees were being thrown into a “legal black hole”, held without charge in countries where they have no ties and few if any rights.

Forbidden Stories said 49 of Africa’s 54 countries had been approached about accepting third-country deportees.

A little-known State Department division called the Office of Remigration, created in May 2025, has handled most of the negotiations and payments, according to Forbidden Stories.

The office is headed by Christian Jove Ehrhardt, a 41-year-old diplomat who previously worked as a security officer.

The report details his visits to Cameroon, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the US in December on accepting deportees. A week later, it also signed a five-year health assistance programme worth nearly $400 million.

The following month, the State Department said it would provide a further $30 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Cameroon to “facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and combat illegal immigration.”

The first plane carrying deportees arrived in Cameroon on January 14.

– Payments –

Other agreements have involved direct payments to governments.

Palau, a small Pacific island nation with a population of under 18,000, signed an agreement in December 2025 to accept up to 75 third-country nationals in return for $7.5 million.

However, only three people have so far been sent under the agreement.

In Eswatini, 32 people have arrived since July 2025 out of a possible 160 under an agreement worth more than $5 million. It has accepted deportees with criminal records, the investigation found.

Of the $410 million planned for the agreements, internal State Department records showed that $81 million was earmarked for signatory governments.

The rest was intended for aid organisations, including more than $178 million for the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, and $123 million for UNHCR.

The agencies have faced criticism over their involvement, although UNHCR told Forbidden Stories that it was not party to the bilateral agreements and that US funding was being used in line with its mandate to strengthen asylum systems.

An IOM spokesperson told Forbidden Stories that the agency’s decisions to accept funding rested “on a single question: whether our engagement will improve the lives of the migrants affected. In these instances, we believe strongly it does.”