Several injured passengers on turbulence-hit Singapore flight need spinal surgery, hospital says

By: Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

BANGKOK (AP) — Several of the more seriously injured people who were on the Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence earlier this week will need spinal surgery, a Bangkok hospital said Thursday. 

Twenty people remained in intensive care and a 73-year-old British man died after the Boeing 777, which was flying from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore on Tuesday, ran into bad turbulence over the Andaman Sea, hurling items and passengers and crew members around the cabin.

Hospital director Adinun Kittiratanapaibool said at a news conference Thursday that none of the 20 patients in ICU were in life-threatening condition. They include six Britons, six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines. 

Tornadoes killed 5 and injured dozens in Iowa. Here’s what they found after the storm

By: Hannah Fingerhut And Margery A. Beck

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A deadly tornado that wreaked havoc in the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, left four people dead and nearly three dozen injured, officials said, while a fifth person was killed elsewhere.

The twister that tore through the city on Tuesday was rated at least an EF-3 by the National Weather Service and was so destructive that it took authorities more than a day to account for the area’s residents.

It’s believed that the number of people injured is likely higher, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said.

The fifth person was killed about 25 miles (40 kilometres) from Greenfield when her car was blown off the road in a tornado, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Monica Zamarron, 46, died in the crash Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Officials haven’t yet released the names of the other victims.

Doctors treat hundreds of victims of heatstroke in Pakistan after heatwave hits the country

By Munir Ahmed

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Doctors treated hundreds of victims of heatstroke at hospitals across Pakistan on Thursday after an intense heatwave sent temperatures above normal levels due to climate change, officials said.

Temperatures soared as high as 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) the previous day in Mohenjo Daro. The city, known for its archaeological sites, is in southern Sindh province, which was badly hit by climate-induced monsoon rains and devastating floods in 2022. The heatwave is forecast to continue for at least a week.

Authorities have urged people to stay indoors, hydrate and avoid unnecessary travel. But labourers say they don’t have a choice because they need to work to feed their families.

“Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to the impact of climate change. We have witnessed above normal rains, floods,” Rubina Khursheed Alam, the prime minister’s coordinator on climate, said at a news conference in the capital, Islamabad.

Missile splashes into the Red Sea, causing no damage in latest suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A missile splashed down in the waters of the Red Sea on Thursday, but caused no damage to a passing commercial vessel in an attack likely carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said. 

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take hours or even days for them to acknowledge their assaults. 

The attack happened in the southern Red Sea near the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. 

The private security firm Ambrey similarly reported the attack.