5.9 magnitude earthquake shakes Indonesia
Banda Aceh: A strong and shallow undersea earthquake shook part of Indonesia’s Aceh province Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.9 earthquake was centered 362 kilometers (225 miles) east of Sinabang, a coastal town in Aceh province at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency put a preliminary magnitude at 6.3. Variations in early measurements of quakes are common. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 270 million people, is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake on Nov. 21 killed at least 331 people and injured nearly 600 in West Java’s Cianjur city. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed about 4,340 people. In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
Flash floods kill 21 in South Africa
Johannesburg: Flash floods killed over a dozen people in the small town of Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal province, South African officials said on Saturday. “As of Friday, 29 December 2023, a total of 21 bodies have been recovered,” said police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda. The floods hit the town on Christmas Day, destroying about 1400 homes, with the death toll expected to rise as an unconfirmed number of people are still missing, he said. Search and rescue teams have been scouring rivers to recover bodies, Netshiunda added. The operation is expected to continue throughout the weekend. Tragedy hit one family in Ladysmith set to bury seven of its members who were killed when floods swept their vehicle into the river. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of Vincent Msimango, his wife, two children, brother and niece, and nephew earlier this week, local news outlet Eyewitness News reported on Saturday. KwaZulu-Nata province has witnessed devastating floods lately. In June, heavy rainfall triggered deluges that killed seven people, and another seven went missing, in and around the city of Durban.
Five terrorists killed in Pak’s Waziristan
Peshawar: At least five terrorists were killed in an intense exchange of fire during an operation by security forces in North Waziristan district of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a media report on Saturday. Weapons and ammunition were also recovered during the operation on Friday,” Dawn.com said quoting a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media affairs wing. The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Mir Ali area on the reported presence of terrorists. “An intense exchange of fire took place during the operation and five terrorists, including their commander, Rahzaib Khuray, were killed,” it said. The statement claimed that the slain terrorists had been actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and targeted killings of civilians.
Indian-origin couple, daughter found dead in US
New York: A wealthy Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were found dead in their USD 5 million mansion in the US state of Massachusetts in an apparent domestic violence incident, according to media reports. The bodies of Rakesh Kamal, 57, his wife, Teena, 54, and their 18-year-old daughter, Ariana, were found in their Dover mansion at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Norfolk District Attorney (DA) Michael Morrissey said. Dover is about 32 kilometres southwest of downtown Boston, the capital of Massachusetts. Teena and her husband, who also went by Rick, had previously run a now-defunct education systems company called EduNova. The district attorney, who described the “terrible tragedy” as a “domestic violence situation,” said a gun was found near the husband's body. He declined to say whether all three family members were shot dead — and by whom, the New York Post reported. Morrissey said he was waiting for the medical examiner’s ruling, which was expected soon, before deciding whether to refer to the incident as a murder-suicide. The district attorney refused to speculate on a motive for the slayings. The couple appeared to have faced financial problems in recent years, online records show. The grim discovery of their bodies was made after a relative had stopped by to check on the family members after not hearing from them in one or two days, the district attorney said.
