Latest News - WFMZ-TV 69News (2024)

The Israeli military released photos on Thursday that it says show a staffer with the aid group Doctors Without Borders wearing military fatigues at a gathering of Gaza militants. The military says that Fadi al-Wadiya, who was killed in an airstrike earlier this week, was a “significant operative” in the Islamic Jihad group and was involved in its rocket program. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, did not respond to a request for comment on the photos, which were released late Wednesday. The aid group said earlier that it had no indication he was a militant. Read moreThe Latest | Israeli military releases photos it says prove slain charity worker was a militant

A ship traveling through the Red Sea has reported being hit in an attack likely carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the latest in the campaign targeting shipping over the Israel-Hamas war. The ship issued a radio call off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, saying it had been struck. That's according to the private security firm Ambrey, which added that a warship in the area was responding to the attack. It wasn’t clear if anyone was hurt or if the ship was damaged in the assault on the vessel. Neither the British nor U.S. militaries immediately reported the attack. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take hours or even days for them to acknowledge their assaults. Read moreShip attacked in Red Sea in latest maritime assault likely carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels

Thousands of doctors in England are staging their 11th walkout in a long-running dispute with the government over pay and working conditions. The five-day strike by junior doctors in the early years of their careers comes just a week before the U.K. general election and shines a spotlight on the troubles besetting the National Health Service. Waiting lists for patients are at record highs. Polls show that the woeful state of public health is a top concern for voters. Junior doctors have been locked in the pay dispute with the government since late 2022. The latest strike begins Thursday and ends on Tuesday. That's just two days before voters go to the polls to choose a new House of Commons. Read moreThousands of doctors go on strike in England a week before the UK general election

Critics say British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is dutiful, managerial and a bit dull. The 61-year-old Labour leader is the favorite to win the country’s July 4 election. Starmer has dragged his social democratic party from the left towards the political middle ground. His message to voters is that a Labour government will bring much-needed change. He says “a vote for Labour is a vote for stability — economic and political.” Starmer rose from working-class roots to become a lawyer and leader of the country’s Crown Prosecution Service. He was elected to Parliament in 2015 and has led Labour since 2020. If he wins the election he will become the first Labour prime minister since 2010. Read moreWho is Keir Starmer, the Labour leader favored to win Britain’s July 4 election?

A Russian state-run railway company says a passenger train derailment in northern Russia has killed at least two people and left one other person missing. Russian Railways said in a statement on Thursday morning that the derailment of the 14-carriage train occurred Wednesday night in the northern republic of Komi with nine carriages running off the rails. Russia’s news agency Interfax cited emergency officials as saying that up to 50 people were injured. Russian Railways said the train was headed to the southern city of Novorossiysk from Vorkuta and was carrying 232 passengers. It said that heavy rainfall washing out parts of the track was the likely cause of the derailment. Read more2 dead, 1 missing and dozens injured in northern Russia after a passenger train derailment

Three bodies were found at the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous mountain, with one of them already brought down from the slopes. Police said Thursday the identities of the people, including gender or age, are still unclear. An effort to bring back the two other bodies will continue Friday or later, depending on weather conditions. A search was called off for Thursday because of forecasts for heavy rainfall. It’s unclear whether the three people were climbing the 3,776-meter, or 12,388-foot, mountain together, as they were found several meters apart. The official climbing season has not yet started. Read moreRescuers seek to bring down bodies found on Japan's Mount Fuji

America’s auto industry has grown concerned that Chinese carmakers may be preparing to set up shop in Mexico to exploit North American trade rules. The Chinese could then send ultra-low-priced electric vehicles streaming into the United States, devastating the U.S. auto industry, which envisions American EVs as the core of their business in the coming decades. To defuse the threat, the U.S. does have a range of options that it might be forced to deploy. Whatever steps the U.S. government might take, though, would likely face legal challenges from companies that want to import the Chinese EVs. Read moreProspect of low-priced Chinese EVs reaching US from Mexico poses threat to automakers

Shares have fallen in most Asian markets ahead of a key U.S. inflation report due Friday. Benchmarks dipped than 1% in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney. Oil prices and U.S. futures also declined. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 index edged up 0.2% and most of its component stocks fell. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1%. The markets’ big focus this week is on a U.S. government inflation report due Friday. The personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE, is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, and analysts said investors were in a wait-and-see posture after recent mixed data. Read moreStock market today: Asian shares are mostly lower ahead of key US inflation report

Stella Assange has thanked the spectrum of lawmakers who campaigned for her husband, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, to be freed. She did so on a visit Thursday to Australia’s Parliament House, where political leaders differed over how welcome the convicted felon was in his homeland. Stella Assange said: “Julian is overjoyed and so grateful to the Australian people, to the members of Parliament and to the government and also the opposition who came together to voice the need for his release." Assange has made no public comment since he arrived in Australia on Wednesday after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets. The plea spared him more prison time. Read moreStella Assange thanks Australian lawmakers for WikiLeaks founder's freedom

Maui officials are highlighting some steps toward rebuilding nearly a year after a deadly wildfire destroyed much of Lahaina. That includes residential building permits being issued, construction underway to rebuild one home and new growth on a giant, 151-year-old banyan tree along the town's historic Front Street. Maui officials invited a group of Hawaii journalists to visit certain fire-ravaged sites to show what progress is being made. The deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century destroyed thousands of homes and killed 102 people in Lahaina. Read moreMaui officials highlight steps toward rebuilding as 1-year mark of deadly wildfire approaches

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has portrayed himself as thorough and evidence-led throughout his relatively brief political career but there’s always been a nagging question over the keenness of his politcal antenna. The general election campaign has clearly shown that he hasn’t got the instinctive touch of some of his predecessors. From announcing the election for July 4 in the pouring rain, to leaving D-Day commemorations early, Sunak’s campaign has seen a series of missteps. As a result, he hasn’t been able to lift the poll ratings for his Conservative Party, which is widely tipped to lose the election on July 4. Read moreBritain's Rishi Sunak struggles with missteps while trying to lift Conservatives ahead of elections

Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup and urged people to mobilize. He called for “democracy to be respected” in a message on his X account. Hours later, Arce announced new heads of the army, navy and air force amid the roar of supporters. The new army head ordered soldiers back to their barracks, and soon after troops and armored vehicles pulled back. Hours later, the Bolivian general who appeared to be behind the rebellion, Juan José Zúñiga, was arrested after the attorney general opened an investigation. Read moreBolivian general arrested after apparent failed coup attempt as government faces new crisis

Francisco Alvarez went 3 for 3 with a homer and three RBIs, Tyrone Taylor added a three-run drive and the surging New York Mets routed the Yankees 12-2 for a two-game Subway Series sweep. Harrison Bader also went deep and delivered an RBI double for the Mets, who chased Luis Gil in the fifth inning. They pounded Yankees pitching for seven homers and 21 runs over two nights at Citi Field. With their 15th victory in 19 games, the Mets climbed back to .500 for the first time since May 9. The struggling Yankees, who lead the AL East, have lost four consecutive series and eight of 10 games overall. Following an 87-minute rain delay, Aaron Judge launched a two-run homer with the Yankees trailing 7-0 in the sixth. Read moreMets pound Yankees pitching again as Alvarez leads 12-2 blowout for Subway Series sweep

Kenya’s president came to power by appealing to the common people, describing himself as a “hustler” and vowing relief from economic pain. But when he was forced to give up on a controversial tax hike that led to deadly chaos in the capital, Nairobi, it was a clear sign that support for him has turned. Protesters who opposed a law that would have raised taxes stormed parliament on Tuesday, burning part of the building as lawmakers fled. Bodies lay in the streets, and medical workers and watchdogs said police had opened fire. The military was deployed. On Wednesday, President William Ruto conceded that the plan had caused “widespread dissatisfaction” and said he would not sign the bill. Read moreHere's what led Kenyans to burn part of parliament and call for the president's resignation

The president of Bolivia is a 60-year-old leftist whom many see as an opponent of Washington-backed free-market and neoliberal policies. Luis Arce was the target of a failed coup Wednesday when the general commander of the army led rebels to Bolivia's government palace. Arce named a new army commander, and the rebellion ended after just three hours. Arce studied economics in London and was economy minister under President Evo Morales, whose time in office from 2006 to 2019 made him an icon of the Latin American left. Arce became president in 2020 and his career has mirrored Bolivia’s economic trajectory from boom to bust. Read morePresident Luis Arce's career has mirrored Bolivia's economic trajectory from boom to bust