NewsOvernight updates: Conflict in Syria, Yemeni tensions, tragedy in Norway
Overnight updates: Conflict in Syria, Yemeni tensions, tragedy in Norway
It happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported during the night from Thursday to Friday.
- At least four security service officers under the new authorities were killed in Syria during clashes with forces loyal to the ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) based in London reported on Thursday evening. It added that there are also casualties among Assad's supporters.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the "escalation" of tensions between Houthi rebels in Yemen and Israel following particularly alarming Israeli attacks targeting the airport in Sana'a, reported Guterres's spokesman in New York. According to media linked to the Houthis, six people were killed in the Israeli bombardment.
- In a bus accident involving 58 passengers on Thursday afternoon, three people died, and at least four were seriously injured. The vehicle skidded and slid off a slope into icy water. Police said the bus passengers are from India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Netherlands, France, and South Sudan. As cited by the VG newspaper, the Chinese embassy in Oslo confirmed that at least twenty passengers are Chinese citizens. There is no information on any Polish victims.
- Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who led the country to unprecedented economic growth and introduced social programs for the poorest rural residents, passed away on Thursday at 92, reported Reuters.
- On January 1, Milan will ban smoking tobacco in open public spaces, including on the street. The only exception will be if the smoker is at least 33 feet away from others. The ban does not apply to electronic cigarettes. For three years, smoking tobacco has been banned at bus stops, in parks, on squares, at cemeteries, and in sports areas in the capital of Lombardy.
