World
Colombia military plane crash kills 66, four still missing
A Colombian military plane crashed in a takeoff disaster on Monday, killing 66 people as rescuers shuttled dozens of survivors to nearby hospitals and searched for four who were still missing, according to a top official.
The Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 transport plane was carrying 128 people, including 11 Air Force members, 115 army personnel and two national police officers, according to Hugo Alejandro Lopez, head of the nation’s armed forces, Reuters reported.
The death toll was nearly double that of the previous figure given by authorities, who continued search and recovery efforts at the site of the deadly crash.
The accident occurred as the plane was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, on the border with Peru, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.
The plane was believed to have suffered an impact near the end of the runway as it was taking off, firefighter Eduardo San Juan Callejas told Caracol, with a wing of the plane later clipping a tree as it was plummeting.
The crash caused the plane to catch fire and detonate some sort of explosive devices on board, he added.
Residents of the remote area were the first to pull out survivors, with videos showing men speeding down a dirt road with wounded soldiers on the back of their motorcycles.
Military vehicles later arrived, though authorities said the crash site was difficult to reach, impeding rescue efforts.
Lopez said that 57 of the survivors had been hospitalized, with 30 of them in non-serious condition at a military clinic.
MODERNIZING THE MILITARY
President Gustavo Petro, in the twilight of his administration, on Monday criticized bureaucratic obstacles for delaying his plans to modernize the military.
“I will grant no further delays; it is the lives of our young people that are at stake,” he said in a post on X. “If civilian or military administrative officials are not up to this challenge, they must be removed.”
Several candidates in Colombia’s upcoming May 31 presidential election offered condolences and called for an investigation.
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin said the company was committed to helping Colombia as it investigates the incident.
Hercules C-130 planes were first launched in the 1950s and Colombia acquired its first models in the late 1960s. It has more recently modernized some older C-130s with newer models sent from the U.S. under a provision that allows for the transfer of used or surplus military equipment.
Hercules C-130s are frequently used in Colombia to transport troops as part of the military’s operations amid a six-decade-long internal conflict that has claimed more than 450,000 lives.
The tail number of the plane that crashed on Monday matches that of the first of three planes delivered by the U.S. to Colombia in recent years.
At the end of February, another Hercules C-130 belonging to the Bolivian Air Force crashed in the populous city of El Alto, barely missing a residential block.
More than 20 people died in that incident and another 30 were injured, and banknotes from the plane’s cargo scattered around the crash site, prompting clashes between residents and security forces.
World
Israel’s Netanyahu says Iran tried to kill one of his sons
It was not immediately clear which of his sons he was referring to. Netanyahu’s elder son, Yair, lives in Miami.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons, but gave no details about when the alleged plot took place, which son was targeted or how close it came to being carried out, Reuters reported.
Netanyahu’s allegation underscores the heightened tensions since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in February, during which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders were killed.
Netanyahu, whose coalition is trailing in opinion polls two months before an October 27 general election, made the claim in a telephone interview with Israel’s Channel 14. He was responding to reports that one of Israel’s security agencies had refused to provide protection for a political rival ahead of the nationwide vote.
“As for my sons. Here, I think there is something quite unbelievable, yes. Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons,” Netanyahu told the conservative channel known for its favourable coverage of the government.
“Iran tried to murder one of my sons, and therefore this security protection is not a luxury,” he said, without providing any further details about the alleged plot or how close it came to being carried out.
It was not immediately clear which of his sons he was referring to. Netanyahu’s elder son, Yair, lives in Miami.
Iran’s mission at the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accusation.
Netanyahu also said he had told the Shin Bet security agency chief David Zini that appropriate security should be provided for any prime ministerial candidate.
Israeli media had reported earlier that Zini declined to provide security for Gadi Eisenkot and told the country’s election authority there was no plot to harm him, read the report.
Eisenkot’s party is projected to win the largest number of seats in the election, although Israeli governments are usually formed through coalitions among multiple parties rather than by a single party winning a parliamentary majority outright.
World
Norway to give over $9 billion to Ukraine in 2027
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Norway plans to give another 85 billion Norwegian crowns ($9.2 billion) in financial support to Ukraine in the 2027 fiscal year, in line with the amount given in 2026, the Nordic country’s government said in a statement on Sunday.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and leaders from across the Nordic and Baltic region are visiting Kyiv on Sunday in a show of support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Russia and Ukraine are both ramping up drone campaigns aiming to cripple each other’s economic infrastructure, often striking targets far beyond the frontlines of the war started by Moscow, as fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-1/2-year mark.
World
Israel strikes southern Syria; Damascus condemns attack
Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Israel said it targeted a “terrorist” in southern Syria on Saturday in what Syria’s foreign ministry said was a drone strike on a civilian vehicle on the outskirts of Damascus in a “blatant” violation of its territory.
The Syrian foreign ministry said the drone had hit a civilian car on a road near Beit Jinn village in the countryside west of the capital, which caused injuries amongst civilians.
Syrian state TV reported one person was injured.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it fired in southern Syria toward what it described as a terrorist, whose activity posed an immediate threat to its soldiers. It did not say how it fired.
Tensions between Israel and Syria flared up this week after Israel bombed an airbase in the northwest on Tuesday, an escalation U.S. special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called “unnecessary.”
Syria’s foreign ministry said the strike was part of a pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, and was a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty. It held Israel accountable for the consequences of such actions.
Israeli troops continue to operate in southern Syria, and Israel occupies territory in southwest Syria it seized after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
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