MORBI, India: At least 132 people were killed after a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river Sunday evening in the western Indian state of Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging in the water in one of the worst accidents in the country over the past decade, officials said.
Authorities said the 19th-century, colonial-era pedestrian bridge over the Machchu river in the state’s Morbi district collapsed because it could not handle the weight of the large crowd, as the Hindu festival season drew hundreds of people to the recently opened tourist attraction. The bridge had been closed for renovation for almost six months and was reopened just four days ago.
It was not immediately clear exactly how many people were on the 232-meter (761-foot) -long bridge, but officials fear the death toll could rise. State minister Harsh Sanghvi told reporters that 132 people have died so far and many were admitted to hospitals in critical condition.
Sanghvi said emergency responders and rescuers worked overnight to search for the survivors and those killed and injured were mostly teens, women and older people. Teams from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force were also dispatched to help with the rescue.
Videos on social media showed people clinging onto the metal cables of the partly submerged bridge in distress as emergency teams and rescuers used boats and inflatable tires to reach them. Some people were seen swimming ashore to safety. Others, who were fished from the waters, were carried away and transported to the hospitals in private vehicles and ambulances.
Local news channels ran pictures of the missing shared by concerned relatives in search of their loved ones. Many relatives raced overnight to overcrowded hospitals looking for their kin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in his home state of Gujarat on a three-day visit, said he was “deeply saddened by the tragedy.” His office announced compensation to the families of the dead and urged for speedy rescue efforts.
A vote for Gujarat’s state government — led by Modi’s party — is expected in the coming months and opposition parties have demanded an investigation into the collapse, saying that the bridge was reopened without getting safety clearance from the city’s civic body. The claim could not be independently verified, but the state government said it has formed a special team to investigate the disaster.
Modi ruled the state as the top elected official for 12 years before becoming India’s prime minister in 2014.
India’s infrastructure has long been marred by safety concerns, sometimes leading to major disasters on its highways and bridges.
The bridge collapse is Asia’s third major disaster involving large crowds in a month.
On Saturday, a Halloween crowd surge killed more than 150 mostly young people who attended festivities in Itaewon, a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea. On Oct. 1, police in Indonesia fired tear gas at a soccer match, causing a crush that killed 132 people as spectators attempted to flee.
India bridge collapse death toll reaches 132
https://arab.news/wuef7
India bridge collapse death toll reaches 132
- The bridge over the Machchhu river around 200 kilometers west of Gujarat’s main city, Ahmedabad had only re-opened several days earlier
- The suspension bridge was inaugurated in 1880 by the British colonial authorities and made with materials shipped over from England
UK court to rule on Prince Harry security appeal
- Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him
- Harry’s fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations he and Meghan made against the royals
King Charles III’s youngest son has been embroiled in the years-long legal saga – one of many – since the UK government downgraded his security when he stepped down from royal life and left to live abroad with his wife, Meghan.
Since moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have had a second child, Lilibet, a sister to Archie born in 2019, and rarely engage with the British royals.
But the prince says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him.
The government committee which handles protection for royals and public figures in 2020 decided he would not receive the “same degree” of publicly funded protection when in Britain.
After initially losing a case in the High Court challenging the decision last year, the Duke of Sussex, as he is formally known, was allowed to launch an appeal against the interior ministry.
His lawyers argue Harry was “singled out” for “unjustified and inferior treatment,” and that the committee did not fully assess the security threats when downgrading his protection.
Harry, whose older brother is heir-to-the-throne Prince William, has long been haunted by the 1997 death of his mother Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash as she tried to escape paparazzi photographers.
The prince has blamed the press for the tragedy, and cited intense media scrutiny as one of the reasons he and Meghan took a step back five years ago.
In the two-day appeal hearing last month, Harry’s lawyers said the Sussexes had been threatened by Al-Qaeda and involved in a “dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi” in New York City, as an example of the security dangers he faces.
“There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake,” the prince’s lawyer Shaheed Fatima said in concluding statements.
In a 2023 High Court hearing, Harry, a former British army captain who served in Afghanistan, said it was too dangerous to bring his family to the UK without bolstered security.
“The UK is my home,” he said. “The UK is central to the heritage of my children. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe.”
However, the High Court concluded that the government had acted lawfully in its decision.
In the appeal hearing, government lawyers said Harry’s security was meant to be “bespoke” to his “revised circumstances,” adding it was a result of his decision to spend less time in the UK.
Harry’s fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations he and Meghan made against the royals.
Harry and his brother William are barely on speaking terms, according to UK media.
He has also hardly seen his father King Charles – who has been receiving treatment for an unspecified type of cancer – for over a year.
While Harry has maintained a relatively low-profile since 2020, Meghan has been boosting her online presence this year, having already launched a podcast and Netflix series as well as making a return to social media.
Truck driver’s body recovered from huge Japan sinkhole after three months
- A road in the city of Yashio caved in during morning rush hour in late January while the man was driving his lorry on it
- The sinkhole, which was caused by corroded sewerage pipes, was reportedly 16 meters deep in February
TOKYO: Japanese rescuers have recovered the body of a truck driver who was swallowed by a huge sinkhole near Tokyo three months ago, an official said on Friday.
A road in the city of Yashio caved in during morning rush hour in late January while the 74-year-old man was driving his lorry on it.
The sinkhole, which was caused by corroded sewerage pipes, was reportedly 16 meters (52 feet) deep in February.
The search operation was hindered by unstable ground, which raised the risk of the chasm collapsing further and prevented rescuers from approaching the area where the driver was believed to be buried.
Since then the hole has grown to at least 40 meters across, almost the length of an Olympic swimming pool.
A slope later allowed rescuers to send heavy equipment into the hole while 1.2 million residents were asked to temporarily cut back on showers and laundry to prevent leaking sewage from hindering the operation.
Walls were built to ensure safety, regional officials said.
“We discovered a man inside the truck cabin and confirmed his death, then passed the incident to police,” a spokesman for the local fire department said Friday.
A police spokesman said investigations were under way, including officially confirming the body’s identity.
“Until the very end of his life, my father, who had a strong heart, must have been hoping to come home alive – fighting fear and pain – which makes me feel a tightening in my heart,” a family member of the unnamed driver said in a statement to Japanese media.
“I can’t believe or accept the fact that my father, who was loved by everyone, suddenly disappeared,” the statement said.
The number of sinkholes in Japan is rising, topping 10,000 in fiscal 2022. Many of these are sewerage-related in urban areas, a land ministry probe shows.
In 2016 a giant sinkhole around 30 meters wide and 15 meters deep appeared on a busy street in Fukuoka city, triggered by nearby subway construction.
No one was hurt and the street reopened a week after workers toiled around the clock.
China says evaluating US offer of tariff talks but wants ‘sincerity’
- China demands that the US “correct its wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs”
- Attempting coercion and blackmail under the guise of talks will not work, says commerce ministry
BEIJING: China said Friday it is evaluating a US offer for negotiations on tariffs but wanted Washington to show “sincerity” and be ready to scrap levies that have roiled global markets and supply chains.
Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145 percent on many Chinese products came into force in April while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 percent duties on imports from the United States.
High-end tech goods such as smartphones, semiconductors and computers have received a temporary reprieve from US tariffs.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs, and this week said he believed there was a “very good chance we’re going to make a deal.”
Beijing’s commerce ministry on Friday confirmed the US had reached out and that it was “currently evaluating” the offer.
But, it said, any talks would first require sincerity from the US side.
“If the US wants to talk, it should show its sincerity to do so, be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel unilateral tariffs,” the ministry said.
“In any possible dialogue or talks, if the US side does not correct its wrong unilateral tariff measures, it just means the US side is completely insincere and will further damage the mutual trust between the two sides,” it added.
“Saying one thing and doing another, or even attempting coercion and blackmail under the guise of talks will not work,” the commerce ministry said.
Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.
But Beijing had vowed to fight a trade war to the bitter end if needed, with a video posted on social media this week by its foreign ministry vowing to “never kneel down!“
But it has acknowledged global economic vicissitudes have strained its economy, long dependent on exports, with officials admitting that foreign-facing firms are facing difficulties.
Data this week showed factory activity shrank in April, with Beijing blaming a “sharp shift” in the global economy.
Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent in March as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swingeing tariffs.
Hegseth orders Army to cut costs by merging some commands and slashing jobs
WASHINGTON: The Army is planning a sweeping transformation that will merge or close headquarters, dump outdated vehicles and aircraft, slash as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shift personnel to units in the field, according to a new memo and US officials familiar with the changes.
In a memo released Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the transformation to “build a leaner, more lethal force.” Discussions about the changes have been going on for weeks, including decisions to combine a number of Army commands.
Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said the potential savings over five years would be nearly $40 billion.
US officials said as many as 40 general officer slots could be cut as a result of the restructuring. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.
The changes come as the Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader federal government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
In his memo, Hegseth said the Army must eliminate wasteful spending and prioritize improvements to air and missile defense, long-range fires, cyber, electronic warfare and counter-space capabilities.
Specifically, he said the Army must merge Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command into one entity and merge Forces Command, Army North and Army South into a single headquarters “focused on homeland defense and partnership with our Western Hemisphere allies.”
In addition, he called for the Army to consolidate units, including Joint Munitions Command and Sustainment Command, as well as operations at various depots and arsenals.
Officials said that while the mergers will result in fewer staff positions, there won’t be a decrease in the Army’s overall size. Instead, soldiers would be shifted to other posts.
On the chopping block would be legacy weapons and equipment programs, such as the Humvee and some helicopter formations, along with a number of armor and aviation units across the active duty forces, National Guard and Reserve. The units were not identified.
A key issue, however, will be Congress.
For years, lawmakers have rejected Army and Pentagon efforts to kill a wide range of programs, often because they are located in members’ home districts.
Defense Department and service leaders learned long ago to spread headquarters, depots, troops and installations across the country to maximize congressional support. But those efforts also have stymied later moves to chop programs.
It’s unclear whether the House and Senate will allow all of the cuts or simply add money back to the budget to keep some intact.
US Supreme Court asked to strip protected status from Venezuelans
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Thursday to back its bid to end the temporary protected status (TPS) shielding more than 350,000 Venezuelans from deportation.
A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on plans by Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem to end deportation protections for the Venezuelan nationals.
US District Judge Edward Chen said the plan to end TPS “smacks of racism” and mischaracterizes Venezuelans as criminals.
“Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,” Chen wrote.
Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application with the conservative-majority Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to stay the judge’s order.
“So long as the order is in effect, the secretary must permit hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to remain in the country, notwithstanding her reasoned determination that doing so is ‘contrary to the national interest,’” Sauer said.
In addition, “the district court’s decision undermines the executive branch’s inherent powers as to immigration and foreign affairs,” he added.
Former president Joe Biden extended TPS for another 18 months just days before Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
The United States grants TPS to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
Trump campaigned for the White House promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants.
A number of his executive orders around immigration have encountered pushback from judges across the country.
A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that Trump’s use of an obscure wartime law to summarily deport alleged Venezuelan gang members was “unlawful.”
District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, blocked any deportations from his southern Texas district of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
Trump invoked the little-known AEA, which was last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II, on March 15 and flew two planeloads of alleged TdA members to El Salvador’s notorious maximum security CECOT prison.
The Supreme Court and several district courts have temporarily halted removals under the AEA citing a lack of due process, but Rodriguez was the first federal judge to find that its use is unlawful.
