NEWS IN BRIEF

Retired high-school teacher suspected of committing suicide

ST JAMES:

Sixty-year-old Andrea McKenzie-Allen, a retired teacher of Cooper’s Hill in St James, is suspected to have committed suicide at her home on Friday.

The Montego Bay police report that about 5:30 p.m., her husband returned home, saw the body and alerted them.

On their arrival, the body was seen hanging by its neck tied to a piece of rope. The rope was attached to the ceiling fan in a bedroom, the police said in a statement yesterday.

The scene was processed and the body was removed to the morgue.

McKenzie-Allen taught at St James High School for over 30 years. She retired last year and had been working in a family-owned business.

Data released by the Government over the summer showed that more Jamaicans are committing suicide. The 2022 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica revealed that 64 suicides were recorded in 2022, a 26 per cent increase over the 51 cases documented in 2021.

But the country’s rate of just over two suicides per 100,000 of the population remains well below the global average of 9.2 per 100,000.

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Man killed, two students among four injured in shooting at JDF Kingston checkpoint

KINGSTON:

A man was killed and at least four other persons, including two female students, injured during a shooting involving members of the security forces in the vicinity of an army checkpoint in downtown Kingston on Friday night.

The incident happened along Oxford and Beeston streets at approximately 11 p.m., the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) said. It has launched an investigation.

INDECOM, which is the state oversight body for the security forces, said members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) confirmed that they fired shots in response to being shot at by men travelling on motorcycles, according to a statement issued yesterday.

INDECOM named the deceased as 23-year-old Marvin Cummings.

It said two of the injured persons are female students under the age of 18 years old. Their condition was not known up to press time.

INDECOM said its enquiries will seek to “identify and clarify” the circumstances of the incident.

“The incident scene, which was processed by INDECOM and the JCF Scene of Crime, is extensive, as it includes both a marked JCF service vehicle pursuit as well as an alleged exchange of gunfire at the checkpoint,” the agency said.

Over 50 spent casings were recovered.

No firearms have been reported as recovered during the shooting.

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Policeman shot and injured in Central Village ambush

ST CATHERINE:

A policeman was shot and injured in a section of Central Village, St Catherine, where he had reportedly gone to visit a friend on Friday night.

The incident happened about 11 o’clock in the area commonly called Compound.

It is reported that the cop heard explosions and attempted to leave the community.

On reaching his vehicle, a group of gunmen allegedly started shooting at him.

He reportedly returned fire, forcing his attackers to retreat.

The cop then realised he received injuries to his back.

A police team responded to the shooting and found him.

The injured cop, who is attached to the St Catherine North police division, was taken to the Spanish Town Hospital where he has been admitted.

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Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes kill dozens and injure many more in western Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP):

Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, the country’s national disaster authority said.

The United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified. Local authorities gave an estimate of 100 people killed and 500 injured, according to the same update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Mohammad Abdullah Jan said four villages in the Zenda Jan district in Herat province bore the brunt of the quakes and aftershocks. Dozens of houses have been damaged.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported the 6.3 magnitude tremblors. It said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) northwest of Herat city. There was an aftershock with a 5.5 magnitude.

A map on the USGS website indicates seven earthquakes in the area. At least five powerful earthquakes struck the city around noon, Herat city resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan said it dispatched 12 ambulance cars to Zenda Jan to evacuate casualties to hospitals.

“As deaths and casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded and assessing additional needs,” the UN agency said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”

Telephone connections went down in Herat, making it hard to get details from affected areas. Videos on social media showed hundreds of people in the streets outside their homes and offices in Herat city.

Herat province borders Iran. The quake also was felt in the nearby Afghan provinces of Farah and Badghis, according to local media reports.

In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes. The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring about 1,500.

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Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza stuns Israel and leaves hundreds dead

JERUSALEM (AP):

Backed by a barrage of rockets, dozens of Hamas militants broke out of the blockaded Gaza Strip and into nearby Israeli towns, killing dozens and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise early morning attack during a major Jewish holiday yesterday. A stunned Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, with its prime minister saying the country is now at war with Hamas and vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price”.

In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles (24 kilometres) from the Gaza border. In some places, they roamed for hours, gunning down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response. Gun battles continued well after nightfall, and militants held hostages in standoffs in two towns and occupied a police station in a third.

Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 250 people were killed and 1,500 wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades. At least 232 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed and at least 1,700 wounded in Israeli strikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Hamas fighters took an unknown number of civilians and soldiers captive into Gaza, a deeply sensitive issue for Israel, in harrowing scenes posted on social media videos.

The conflict threatened to escalate to an even deadlier stage with Israel’s vows of greater retaliation. Previous conflicts between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers brought widespread death and destruction in Gaza and days of rocket fire on Israeli towns. The situation is potentially more volatile now, with Israel’s far-right government stung by the security breach and with Palestinians in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Hamas “will pay an unprecedented price”. Declaring Israel to be at war, he said the military will use all of its strength to destroy Hamas’ capabilities and “take revenge for this black day”. But he warned, “This war will take time. It will be difficult.”

“All the places that Hamas hides in, operates from, we will turn them into ruins,” he added. “Get out of there now,” he told Gaza residents, who have no way to leave the tiny, overcrowded Mediterranean territory of 2.3 million people.

The shadowy leader of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, violence at Al Aqsa – the disputed Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount – increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinians and growth of settlements.

“Enough is enough,” Deif, who does not appear in public, said in the recorded message. He said the attack was only the start of what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” and called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. “Today the people are regaining their revolution.”