17/04/2026

FRIDAY | APR 17, 2026

READ OUR

HERE

8

Malaysian Paper

/thesun

Three dead in drug boat strike by US WASHINGTON: The US military said on Wednesday it struck a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing three individuals, in the Trump administration’s latest strikes that have been condemned by human rights advocates. The US Southern Command alleges that the vessel was operated by “designated terrorist organisations”that it did not identify. It added that no US military forces were harmed. It described those killed as “male narco-terrorists“, without offering details. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,“ the US Southern Command said. The strike comes a day after the US military said another of its strikes in the Eastern Pacific killed four people while a separate strike on Monday in the region killed two. President Donald Trump’s administration has been striking vessels that it accuses of transporting narcotics. The US military’s strikes on such vessels have killed more than 170 people since September. Experts and human rights advocates, both in the United States and globally, have questioned the legality of the strikes. – Reuters Dominican Republic floods displace 30,000 SANTO DOMINGO: Heavy rains and flooding in the Dominican Republic have killed seven people and displaced more than 30,000 since last week, officials told AFP on Wednesday. Powerful storms that began on April 7 have continued dumping rain on the Caribbean nation, where authorities are staying vigilant. “Five bodies have been recovered,“ Civil Defence director Juan Salas told AFP, adding to two deaths last week. Emergency officials said at least 30,500 people have been displaced and forced out of their homes, and at least 6,500 homes have been damaged and dozens of communities have been cut off. Rains are battering the entire island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti, where at least 12 people have died since Saturday, according to officials there. – AFP

Turkiye arrests 160 netizens after school shootings

KAHRAMANMARAS: Turkish authorities have detained more than 160 people on charges ranging from spreading misleading information to praising two school shootings this week online, said Justice Minister Akin Gurlek yesterday. He said 95 people have been taken into custody, 35 suspects are being sought, and access to 1,104 social media accounts have been blocked. He also said investigators have identified accounts that targeted schools and suggested potential attacks, adding that 67 users linked to such posts directed at 54 schools have been detained. A 14-year-old armed with five guns opened fire at a Turkish school on Wednesday, killing nine people, wounding 13 and sparking scenes of mayhem as students jumped out of windows to escape.

o Social media accounts suggesting attacks identified, 67 users linked to such posts directed at 54 schools detained: Minister

Rodger, a 22-year-old American, murdered six people and then killed himself in California in 2014, and had professed frustration over his virginity and women rejecting him. Footage released by Turkiye’s private news agency DHA showed a victim in a body bag, as well as parents of students rushing to the scene, some in tears. The Interior and Education ministers travelled to the city while Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors have launched an investigation into the shooting. “My child witnessed the scene and said: ‘Dad, my friend got hurt.’ He did not see the other children. There was a lot of blood inside. Thank God, I managed to get my child out of there,” said Omer Erdag. “How am I going to bring my kids to this school again?” “My God, help us. It is terrible,” said local resident Zuleyha Bosca. “Do these violent video games cause psychological problems in children? What exactly is the issue? We do not know.” Dozens of teacher unions members rallied outside the Education Ministry in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, carrying banners that said: “We will not surrender our schools to violence.” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “In this tragic attack, we unfortunately lost our bright young children and a devoted educator.” He said the incident would be “clarified in all its aspects”, adding that the pain from this attack should “not be politicised”. The shooting comes a day after an ex-student opened fire with a shotgun at his former high school in Siverek district of Sanliurfa province, in the southeast of the country. That gunman wounded 16 people before killing himself in a showdown with police. Ten students were among the injured. Police detained one suspect after Tuesday’s attack and suspended four officials from duty. The school was ordered closed for four days. Main opposition CHP leader Ozgur Ozel called for broader security measures. “It is evident that violence in schools can no longer be explained by isolated incidents. This issue has turned into a growing and deepening security vulnerability.” Measures such as ensuring full control at school entrances and exits, increasing the number of security personnel, strengthening camera systems, intensifying police patrols around schools and keeping emergency crisis plans ready are now essential, he added. “The security of schools is entrusted to our state. No negligence or deficiency in this regard can be excused anymore.” In May 2024, a former student killed a private high school principal in Istanbul with a firearm five months after he was expelled. – AFP

He said the attacker was the son of a former police officer, armed with five guns and seven magazines, adding that he died during the incident. “He shot himself. It is not yet clear whether this was suicide or happened amid the chaos.” Police detained the shooter’s father Ugur Mersinli and his mother, the official Anadolu news agency reported. Police said the teenager had referenced US mass killer Elliot Rodger in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.

The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras was Turkiye’s second such incident in as many days, shocking a country where school shootings are rare. Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci confirmed nine deaths, with 13 wounded and six in intensive care, three of them in a critical condition. “A student came to school with guns that we believe belonged to his father in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly, causing injuries and deaths,” Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters.

Dozens of teacher unions members rallying outside the Education Ministry in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, carrying banners that said: “We will not surrender our schools to violence.” – AFPPIC

Two held over London synagogue arson attempt LONDON: Police in London arrested two individuals on Wednesday over an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in the north of the city, amid an upsurge in antisemitic incidents in Britain. Manchester in October 2025. The latest incident, which police said is being treated as an “antisemitic hate crime”, is being investigated with support from counter-terrorism detectives. Force said. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya claimed responsibility for the attack, SITE Intelligence Group reported. The Islamist group previously claimed similar attacks in Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands.

ambulances run by volunteer organisation Hatzola were destroyed. Hatzola provides free medical transport and emergency response to those living in north London. On Oct 2, 2025, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the attack on the synagogue in Manchester killed two people and seriously injured three, prompting increased anxiety among Jewish communities. In February, a court jailed two men for life after police foiled a separate plot to carry out an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester. Two Iranians also appeared in court in London in March, accused of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Tehran. – AFP

“I hope the swift action by officers today to identify and arrest two people provides some reassurance and demonstrates how seriously we take attacks of this nature,“ said detective chief superintendent Luke Williams. Describing the attack in an earlier statement, police said two individuals wearing dark clothing and balaclavas approached the synagogue in Finchley and “threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol”, which did not ignite, the Metropolitan Police

The 47-year-old woman and 46-year-old man were detained in Watford, north of the capital, and are being held in custody, police said. An Islamist group with possible links to Iran claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity. The attack shortly after midnight on Wednesday comes after an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity in London last month and a deadly attack on a synagogue in

Monitoring groups have reported an upsurge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the United Kingdom last year, a 4% rise from 2024, but down from 2023. Two men and a boy have been charged over the ambulance attack on March 23, in which four