The Kenyan Red Cross said 271 people had been taken to “health facilities” across the capital, and a further 27 people were assessed at the scene.
Gas cylinders were being refilled at a plant in Embakasi district when the blast happened just before midnight (21:00 GMT), the government said. Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has injured scores of people with fears of at least several deaths.
US officials have confirmed to CBS News that plans have been approved for a series of strikes over a number of days against targets — including Iranian personnel and facilities — inside Iraq and Syria. The strikes will come in response to drone and rocket attacks targeting U.S. forces in the region, including the drone attack on Sunday that killed three U.S. service members at the Tower 22 base inside Jordan, near the Syrian border.
Weather will be a major factor in the timing of the strikes, the officials told CBS News, as the U.S. has the capability to carry out strikes in bad weather but prefers to have better visibility of selected targets as a safeguard against inadvertently hitting civilians who That group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, is believed to contain multiple militias that have been armed, funded and trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards force. It has said it was resThat group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, is believed to contain multiple militias that have been armed, funded and trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards force. It has said it was responsible for Sunday’s strike.
Ethan Roots and Fraser Dingwall will make their England debuts against Italy on Saturday in Rome on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.
Dingwall is named at inside centre alongside the returning Henry Slade and Roots will start at blind-side flanker.
The experienced George Ford will steer England’s attack from fly-half.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has also named the uncapped trio of Chandler Cunningham-South, Fin Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on the bench.
MIDDLE EAST
Israel said Thursday its troops battled Hamas militants across the Gaza Strip, including killing dozens of fighters in central and northern Gaza, while Israeli airstrikes hit Khan Younis in the southern part of the strip.
The fighting went on as the negotiators of a proposed new cease-fire waited to hear of progress in securing agreement between Israel and Hamas that would bring a short-term halt in fighting and the release of prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza.
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Mr Steele compiled the dossier which contained unproven allegations about bribing officials and sex parties.
It was leaked to the media just before Mr Trump was sworn in as president.
In bringing the lawsuit against Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd, he said the dossier contained allegations that were inaccurate and breached his data protection rights.
In Thursday’s ruling in London, Mrs Justice Steyn DBE said she did not make any judgement on the allegations themselves but found Mr Trump’s claim had not been brought within the six-year limitation period.
“There are no compelling reasons to allow the claim to proceed to trial,” she wrote.
A statement is expected from Mr Steele later today.
The case stems from 2016, when a US political consultancy asked Mr Steele’s company to produce a report into potential Russian interference in that year’s US general election.
The project was paid for by Hillary Clinton’s Democrats and other political opponents of Mr Trump.
European Union leaders reached on Thursday morning a deal to establish a €50-billion plan for Ukraine after Viktor Orbán lifted his veto.
The decision was taken surprisingly fast at the beginning of an extraordinary summit in Brussels, where financial aid for Kyiv was at the very top of the agenda.
The special fund, known as the Ukraine Facility, combines €33 billion in loans and €17 in grants and will be gradually disbursed between 2024 and 2027. The Facility is tied to a wider review of the bloc’s common budget that includes top-ups for migration, border control, cutting-edge technologies and crisis management.
“All 27 leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine within the EU budget,” Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, announced in a short message on social media.
EU leaders are in Brussels for confrontation wth Hungary’s Viktor Orbán over his dissent to sanction a new €50bn assistance package for Ukraine.
There is a robust frustration among the leaders that they are back to square one on the issue.
Mostly members beleive they should go ahead with or without Orban however, much will depend upon the President.
All other member states have agreed the budget, so it could be a brief summit.
Other topics on the agenda include the Middle East and strategic technologies to make Europe more competitive.
Although gradually Israel and Hamas are moving towards a deal without publically admitting it.
But it remains to be seen how long the three pauses in the war may last without Iran benefitting from it.
Meanwhile, there was no let-up in fighting or aerial bombardment, with the current focus of combat in the main southern city Khan Yunis, where Israel says leading Hamas militants are hiding.
Overnight, witnesses said several Israeli air strikes hit the city, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was due in Cairo on Thursday to discuss a truce proposal thrashed out in Paris last weekend with CIA chief William Burns. and health workers have for days reported heavy fighting, particularly around two hospitals.
According to VOA and other sources familiar with the developments
The United States imposed sanctions on three entities and one individual based in Turkey and Lebanon on Wednesday for giving “critical financial support” to a financial network used by Iran’s Quds Force, or IRGC-QF, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
“These entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
An American naval destroyer shot down three Iranian drones along with an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis rebels Wednesday, the US military said.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a strike on a Houthi surface-to-air missile it said posed an “imminent threat” to American aircraft — a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international shipping. (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a