Category World News

Two people have been killed in tornadoes in the Midwest region of the United States amid a spate of extreme weather, according to authorities.

At least four tornadoes touched down as intense “supercell” thunderstorms swept across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

“Supercells” are the rarest form of thunderstorms. They are known to be particularly devastating for their prolonged durations and their “high propensity to produce severe weather, including damaging winds, very large hail, and sometimes weak to violent tornadoes”, according to the NWS.

In Indiana, local officials said an elderly couple had been killed when a tornado hit their home in the town of Lake Village.

Several residents in the wider Newton County were rescued by emergency responders, as the storm knocked down at least 70 utility poles and left some roads impassable.

In a video posted to social media late Tuesday, Sheriff Shannon Cothran warned people about trying to access the damaged areas.

“Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now,” Cothran said, standing in front of the couple’s destroyed home.

Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio remained on tornado watch into the afternoon.

About 40km (25 miles) east of Lake Village, another tornado touched down in Kankakee County, Illinois, late Tuesday.

Officials said the tornado caused extensive damage as it travelled across the suburb of Aroma Park. At least nine people were injured, but no deaths were reported, according to local officials.

Cassidy Sinwelski, 23, told The Associated Press that the storm hit Kankakee harder than expected.

She and her husband took shelter in their home’s bathroom.

“We went into the bathroom, got a piece of plywood, and within minutes, I closed my eyes, the lights flickered, and we just — there was nothing,” Sinwelski said.

Then came loud rumbles and the sound of shattering glass.

“I just kept crying out for God, because I didn’t know what else to do,” she said.

Qatar has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take immediate steps to halt Iranian attacks on countries across the Middle East, warning that a failure to act sends a “dangerous signal”.

Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UN, on Wednesday condemned Iran’s missile and drone strikes on targets across the region as “a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter”.

“The continued targeting of our territory by the Islamic Republic of Iran does not reflect good faith, and impacts deeply the foundation of understanding upon which bilateral relations between our countries have been built,” she told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

“The Security Council must act [and] fulfil its responsibility. Failure to respond would send a dangerous signal that attacks against uninvolved neighbours carry no consequences,” she said.

Her comments came shortly before the Security Council voted in favour of a draft resolution denouncing the wave of Iranian attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Iranian forces began firing ballistic missiles and drones at what it said were United States and Israeli targets across the Middle East after the two countries launched a war against Iran on February 28.

But the Iranian strikes also have targeted civilian infrastructure, disrupting energy production and grounding flights for several days, particularly in hard-hit Gulf nations.

The US has confirmed its loss of eight US service members in the Iranian attacks since the war began, while deaths have also been reported by several regional countries, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

At least 1,255 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks across Iran, which Iranian officials say have targeted schools, hospitals and oil facilities, as well as thousands of residential buildings.

The escalating death toll has caused international concern and calls for de-escalation, but the war has so far shown no signs of abating.

Iranian drones hit, target Gulf oil facilities

Gulf leaders and their Western allies have increasingly voiced condemnation of the Iranian attacks, despite Tehran’s attempts to reassure countries in the region that it is only targeting US and Israeli interests.

On Wednesday, ⁠Oman’s ⁠Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ⁠condemned strikes on the country’s territory in a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the Omani state news agency.

The call came shortly after Omani authorities confirmed that drones had struck fuel tanks at the port in Salalah, leading to damage but no casualties.

Reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko said the Salalah attack caused a fire and a large plume of smoke.

But “the Omani state news agency, quoting energy ministry officials, said that no damage had been done to fuel-product flow in the country” or the continuity of oil supplies, Medvedenko noted.

Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said it intercepted and destroyed a drone flying towards the Shaybah oilfield while the Emirati authorities said they were responding to a new wave of Iranian strikes.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said in a social media post that its air defence systems were “intercepting ballistic missiles” while fighter jets were responding to “drones and loitering munitions”.

Qatar has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take immediate steps to halt Iranian attacks on countries across the Middle East, warning that a failure to act sends a “dangerous signal”.

Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UN, on Wednesday condemned Iran’s missile and drone strikes on targets across the region as “a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter”.

“The continued targeting of our territory by the Islamic Republic of Iran does not reflect good faith, and impacts deeply the foundation of understanding upon which bilateral relations between our countries have been built,” she told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

“The Security Council must act [and] fulfil its responsibility. Failure to respond would send a dangerous signal that attacks against uninvolved neighbours carry no consequences,” she said.

Her comments came shortly before the Security Council voted in favour of a draft resolution denouncing the wave of Iranian attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Iranian forces began firing ballistic missiles and drones at what it said were United States and Israeli targets across the Middle East after the two countries launched a war against Iran on February 28.

But the Iranian strikes also have targeted civilian infrastructure, disrupting energy production and grounding flights for several days, particularly in hard-hit Gulf nations.

The US has confirmed its loss of eight US service members in the Iranian attacks since the war began, while deaths have also been reported by several regional countries, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

At least 1,255 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks across Iran, which Iranian officials say have targeted schools, hospitals and oil facilities, as well as thousands of residential buildings.

The escalating death toll has caused international concern and calls for de-escalation, but the war has so far shown no signs of abating.

Iranian drones hit, target Gulf oil facilities

Gulf leaders and their Western allies have increasingly voiced condemnation of the Iranian attacks, despite Tehran’s attempts to reassure countries in the region that it is only targeting US and Israeli interests.

On Wednesday, ⁠Oman’s ⁠Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ⁠condemned strikes on the country’s territory in a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the Omani state news agency.

The call came shortly after Omani authorities confirmed that drones had struck fuel tanks at the port in Salalah, leading to damage but no casualties.

Reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko said the Salalah attack caused a fire and a large plume of smoke.

But “the Omani state news agency, quoting energy ministry officials, said that no damage had been done to fuel-product flow in the country” or the continuity of oil supplies, Medvedenko noted.

Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said it intercepted and destroyed a drone flying towards the Shaybah oilfield while the Emirati authorities said they were responding to a new wave of Iranian strikes.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said in a social media post that its air defence systems were “intercepting ballistic missiles” while fighter jets were responding to “drones and loitering munitions”.

Norwegian police say they have arrested three brothers suspected of carrying out Sunday’s “terror bombing” attack on the US embassy in Oslo.

The unnamed men, all Norwegian citizens in their 20s with Iraqi heritage, were taken into custody in the Norwegian capital on Wednesday afternoon.

Police lawyer Christian Hatlo told reporters the brothers were suspected of deliberately targeting the embassy with a powerful improvised explosive device (IED), with the intention of killing or causing serious harm.

None of the three had previously come to police attention.

Investigators believe one brother planted the bomb, while the other two played supporting roles in the plot. None had been questioned by the time of Wednesday’s news conference.

The blast struck in the early hours of Sunday morning, at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section in western Oslo.

A US official, speaking to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the investigation, said the device had been concealed inside a backpack.

Witnesses described the street filling with thick smoke following the explosion. There were no casualties. Police are examining whether the attack was carried out on behalf of a foreign government.

“We are still working from several hypotheses,” Hatlo said. “One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity; this is quite natural, given the target and the security situation the world is in today.”

A video uploaded to the embassy’s Google Maps page around the time of the blast, which was since removed, appeared to show Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, the person who posted it wrote in Farsi: “God is great. We are victorious.”

Police have opened a separate investigation into the video.

‘Singled out’

Alireza Jahangiri, Iran’s ambassador to Norway, on Tuesday denied any involvement, saying in an interview with Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang that it was “unacceptable” that Iran was “singled out”.

On Wednesday, Norway’s Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen welcomed the arrests, describing them as a breakthrough.

The country’s security service PST had warned as recently as last month that Iran, which it considers one of the principal threats to Norway, could use criminal networks as proxy actors to carry out operations on its behalf.

At least six people have died after a bus fire that authorities say may have been caused by a man who set himself on fire in a small Swiss town.

The incident, which also injured five people, took place on Tuesday near the centre of Kerzers, a town in the western canton of Fribourg, about 12 miles (20km) from the capital Bern, police said.

According to Fribourg canton’s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin, the man allegedly responsible for the fire was likely among those who died .

“A witness statement indicated that a man … of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying bags. At some point, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight,” Bourquin told a news conference on Wednesday.

“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act,” he said, adding that the family of the man, who was from Bern canton and in his sixties, had recently “reported his disappearance”, and “current evidence describes him as a marginalised and disturbed individual”.

According to Swiss authorities, the victims of the blaze were aged between 17 and 65.

In a statement, the cantonal police said three of the injured were taken to hospitals while two were treated at the scene. Two of those admitted to hospital remained in the hospital on Wednesday, while one was discharged on Tuesday.

According to the first findings of the police investigation, the statement said, a person boarded the bus in the nearby town of Duedingen at around 5.45 pm CET (16:45 GMT) and later set himself on fire in Kerzers at about 6.25 pm local time, causing the blaze to spread throughout the vehicle.

Police said initial hearings and witness testimony indicate that the incident was “a voluntary act without ideological motivation.”

Swiss President Guy Parmelin wrote on X on Tuesday night that the fire “distresses and saddens” him.

“The circumstances are being investigated. To the relatives of the deceased from Kerzers, I extend my condolences. And I think of the injured and the rescue workers,” he said.

Zeynel Teke, 61, who was working at his food stall opposite the bus when it was engulfed in flames, said that while he went to get his fire extinguisher to put out the flames, it was too hot to get close enough.

“It’s so sad to see people burning in front of your eyes. It could be my child, it could be yours,” he told the Reuters news agency.

Officials explained that investigators were reviewing social media footage and CCTV to understand the motives behind the man’s actions, and that interviews were expected to take place.

A hotline has also been opened for witnesses to come forward, and Fribourg police said that public prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation.

As missiles strike across Israel and Iran, what are we really allowed to see?

With strict censorship and limited access, journalists and the public are seeing only part of the story: Who decides what information gets out, and what does that mean for truth in a war affecting millions?

In this episode: 

• Diana Buttu (@dianabuttu), Human Rights Lawyer and Analyst

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé and Sarí el-Khalili with Spencer Cline, Chloe K. Li, Tuleen Barakat, Catherine Nouhan, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Alexandra Locke.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan.  Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. 

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