Vadodara IOCL refinery fire: Death toll rises to 2; probe underway
Two persons — Dhimant Makwana and Shailesh Makwana — died in the fire. An IOCL official received injuries and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, Jawahar Nagar police station inspector AB Mori said.
Delhi reports record high chikungunya, malaria cases in 5 years
The number of chikungunya cases in 2020 stood at 111, in 2021, there were 89 cases, in 2022, 48 cases, and in 2023, 65 cases.
Chennai Rains: IMD issues yellow alert, predicts showers in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh
A low-pressure area is anticipated to form over the southwest Bay of Bengal within the next 24 hours, potentially leading to isolated heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu from November 11 to 17
Dem Rep Ruben Gallego beats Kari Lake in battle for Arizona Senate seat
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has won the race for Arizona’s open Senate seat, beating out Republican Kari Lake, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, according to The Associated Press Monday night. Gallego has served in the House of Representatives since 2015, representing the 7th and 3rd congressional districts in Arizona. ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFICE SHARED WITH HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN SHOT AT FOR THIRD TIME IN LESS THAN A MONTH Lake ran unsuccessfully for Arizona governor in 2022 and was defeated by Gov. Katie Hobbs, D-Ariz. Prior to her gubernatorial run, she was a news anchor for a local Arizona television station and worked in the media for 27 years. After the 2022 loss, she challenged the results, citing fraud concerns in the state. Lake still contends that there were significant irregularities in 2020 and 2022, echoing claims that Trump and many of his supporters have made. The concerns have led to the Republican National Committee devoting significant resources to election integrity efforts. SWING STATE GOP CHAIR SLAMS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH ON KEY ISSUE: ‘ABANDONED THIS COUNTRY’ Lake faced off against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb in the Republican Senate primary, while Gallego had an advantage, running in the Democratic primary unopposed. The Fox News Power Rankings in September rated the Arizona Senate race as “Leans Democrat.” Similarly, the Cook Political Report, a top political handicapper, also considered the race “Lean Democrat.” TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE CANDIDATE RIPS BIDEN’S ‘JOKE’ BORDER POLICY FOR INVITING GANG VIOLENCE TO SWING STATE The Senate seat is currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who was elected as a Democrat. She still caucuses with Democrats in the Senate but officially registered as an independent years ago after opposing her fellow Senate Democrats on the legislative filibuster. Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., are credited with going against the Democrats to uphold the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold. Both senators decided not to run for re-election. NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION HAS TO ‘GET SERIOUS’ ABOUT IMMIGRATION, SAY VOTERS IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE Before she announced that she was not going to seek another term, Sinema’s potential run as a third-party candidate threatened to upend the Senate race, with strategists unsure how her supporters would break. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In polling leading up to the Senate election, Gallego frequently led Lake by single digits. He had even managed to lead his opponent in surveys that saw Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris. Experts speculated that his connection with Latino voters could have fueled split-ticket voting in the state, despite the practice becoming relatively rare. While Lake often played up her relationship with Trump, who had polled higher than her in the state, Gallego did not often do the same with Harris during his campaign. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Trump expected to name Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State
President-elect Trump is expected to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as Secretary of State, a source familiar tells Fox News. The source noted that while Trump could still change his mind at the last minute, as of now he’s planning on offering the job to Rubio, the three-term senator whom the former president considered as his running mate this summer before naming Sen. JD Vance as the GOP vice presidential nominee. Spokespeople for the Trump transition didn’t immediately comment. The news was first reported by the New York Times earlier this evening. HERE’S WHO TRUMP NAMED TO STEER THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, was first elected to the Senate in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave. He is known on Capitol Hill as a foreign policy hawk who favors maintaining U.S. alliances overseas, including NATO. But Rubio, who sits on both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee, has taken similar positions to Trump on international conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war with Hamas. HERE’S WHAT TRUMP’S INCOMING BORDER CZAR TOLD FOX NEWS In April, the 53-year-old senator voted against the $95 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine and has urged the eastern European nation to negotiate an end to its war with Russia. Rubio was a rival to Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle [with Trump deriding him as ‘Little Marco’] but over the years has become a strong Trump ally in the Senate.. Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, would become the first Latino Secretary of State in the nation’s history. The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), a major backer of Trump this year, applauded the news. RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement that “we know that with Senator Rubio leading the State Department, America will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and confront our enemies.” “In these extraordinarily dangerous times, Senator Rubio is an outspoken defender of Israel who has always had the Jewish state’s back,” they added. GET THE FOX NEWS APP BY CLICKING HERE Less than a week after winning a second term in the White House, Trump has already begun to shape his cabinet. In the past 24 hours, Trump has selected Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations, Tom Homan as the new “border czar,” Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida to be his national security advisor, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to steer the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.
In Australia’s outback, youth crime stymies efforts to get tourism on track
Alice Springs, Australia – For Ben Hall, the CEO of tour bus operator AAT Kings, business lately has been tough. He says visitors are not booking tours to Uluru, a huge sandstone monolith that is the most famous attraction in Australia’s vast Northern Territory, in the numbers they used to. “We’ve certainly seen the trips from Alice Springs to Uluru have been a little bit softer,” Hall, who operates a fleet of about 30 buses focusing on tours to Uluru, told Al Jazeera. “We’ve added a couple of new short break itineraries for this year into the region…but certainly it’s been tough trading.” Tour and car rental companies across Australia’s Red Centre, as the country’s vast outback region is often called, have reported a similar drop-off in business. While tourism operators attribute the decline to a number of factors, most agree that part of the cause is escalating youth crime in Alice Springs, a remote town of some 40,000 people that serves as a base for visitors to outback attractions such as Uluru. In the past two years, youth crime in the town has captured national media attention and stoked political turmoil at the both federal and state government levels, even though crimes by minors have also risen nationwide. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who leads the centre-left Labor Party, has made several visits to the town to highlight his government’s efforts to tackle the issue. In March, and again in July, the Northern Territory government implemented curfews banning minors from the town centre at night following a series of violent attacks. Uluru is a major attraction in the Northern Territory [Wing Kuang/Al Jazeera] The rise in crime has drawn particular attention to Alice Springs in the media as it came after the Northern Territory government ended a 15-year alcohol ban in remote Aboriginal communities in late 2022. In 2007, Australia’s federal government implemented a series of interventions in the Northern Territory, where about one-third of the population is Indigenous, in response to a territory government report that found evidence of widespread child sexual abuse in remote Aboriginal communities. The federal interventions, which some rights groups criticised as racist and discriminatory, included a blanket ban on alcohol in remote Aboriginal communities that was extended by successive territory governments. After the alcohol ban was lifted, a series of high-profile violent incidents in Alice Springs, including teenagers stealing vehicles and attacking police cars, made headlines across the country. In the year ending November 2023, violent offences by youths rose to 1,182, a 50 percent rise compared to 2019-20, according to the Northern Territory’s Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. After accounting for population change, the overall youth offender rate decreased from 2,855 to 2,819 offenders per 100,000 persons in 2022–23, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, although part of that decrease can be explained by the government’s decision in August 2023 to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. Local police warned residents to avoid visiting the town centre, and the Northern Territory government reintroduced a ban on alcohol sales in January 2023. While the uptick in crime has prompted politicians to action, some community leaders and legal experts have criticised the territory government for implementing “draconian” policies, such as curfews, that could further stigmatise Indigenous communities. Human rights groups have also accused police of targeting Indigenous people in the territory, which has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world. Last month, the newly elected Northern Territory government lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10, prompting concern among community leaders that Indigenous teenagers will be locked up at even higher rates. North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, a not-for-profit legal service, noted that between 2018 and 2023, the number of prisoners in the territory rose 22 percent, which it claimed was a result of young Aboriginal people being targeted by law enforcement. Jared Sharp, a legal officer for the non-profit, said in a press release that while the public perceives a rise in youth crime in the Northern Territory, “youth justice court lodgements territory-wide have fallen for three years running”. The focus on youth crime and subsequent crackdown have been keenly felt by tourism operators, who typically see an uptick in tourism during the dry season between April and October. In April, tourism industry figures called for “urgent” financial support from the government after the announcement of the first curfew prompted a wave of customer cancellations. In September, Ross River Resort, a popular stop for travellers en route to Alice Springs, announced that it would close its doors to the general public from the following month. Martin Ansell, co-director of resort operator Grollo Group, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that tourism had dropped “50 to 60 per cent” from the previous year. Kirsten Holmgren, who runs tours of the East MacDonnell Ranges, said she has had a “very, very quiet” season. “This year I haven’t had more than six people on a 16-seater bus, so I do have to fill in between working for other companies,” Holmgren told Al Jazeera. Kirsten Holmgren says her customers have sharply declined [Wing Kuang/Al Jazeera] While Holmgren acknowledges the issue of youth crime in Alice Springs, she believes the media have given the issue outsized attention, discouraging visitors. “So break-ins and car thefts have definitely been on the rise. This in no way affects tourism at all. It only affects the locals,” Holmgren said. Danial Rochford, CEO of Tourism Central Australia, said crime is not the only reason tourism has been suffering, pointing to cost-of-living pressures as well as reduced flights to Alice Springs. Tourism in the region “has come under enormous challenge”, Rochford told Al Jazeera. While tour companies have reported a drop-off in visitors passing through or basing themselves in Alice Springs and its surrounds, operators are more sanguine about the number of visitors to Uluru itself. A spokesperson for Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, an Indigenous-owned business that runs the local Ayers Rock Resort, said
New Zealand’s Luxon apologises to victims of abuse in state and church care
New Zealand Prime Minister says government must take responsibility for ‘horrific’ abuse of some 200,000 people in care. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has issued a landmark apology to survivors of abuse in state and church care. “It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” Luxon said on Tuesday in remarks to parliament. “For many of you, it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility.” The rare apology comes after an independent inquiry in July reported its finding that New Zealand’s state and faith-based institutions had presided over the abuse of some 200,000 children, young people and vulnerable adults over the span of seven decades. New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that nearly one in three people in state or religious care between 1950 and 2019 experienced abuse in what amounted to a “national disgrace”. Sexual abuse was “commonplace”, while physical abuse was “prevalent across all settings”, the inquiry found, with some staff going to “extremes to inflict as much pain as possible using weapons and electric shocks”. The inquiry also found that Maori and Pacific Islander people were targeted because of their ethnicity, such as by being prevented from engaging with their cultural heritage and practices. The inquiry made 138 recommendations, including calling for public apologies from New Zealand’s government and the heads of the Catholic and Anglican churches. Other recommendations included legislative changes to make it easier to hold abusers accountable and the establishment of a Ministry for the Care System that would be independent from other government agencies involved in the care system. “You deserved so much better. And I am deeply sorry that New Zealand did not do better by you,” Luxon said. “I am sorry you were not believed when you came forward to report your abuse. I am sorry that many bystanders – staff, volunteers and carers – turned a blind eye and failed to stop or report abuse.” Adblock test (Why?)
US military says strikes in Syria targeted ‘Iranian backed groups’
US Central Command said nine targets were hit at two locations in Syria in response to an attack on US forces over the previous 24 hours. The US military has carried out strikes against targets in Syria in what the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a response to recent attacks on US forces by “Iranian-aligned targets” in the country. CENTCOM’s commander General Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement early on Tuesday that the US military action sent a “clear” message to armed groups backed by Iran and operating in Syria. “Attacks against US and coalition partners in the region will not be tolerated,” Kurilla said, describing attacks on US military personnel in Syria over the past 24 hours as “reckless”. “These strikes will degrade the Iranian-backed groups’ ability to plan and launch future attacks,” CENTCOM said, adding that nine targets in two locations were hit in the US attacks. The US has about 900 soldiers based in the eastern part of Syria and 2,500 more in neighbouring Iraq, whose stated mission is to advise and assist local forces battling to prevent a resurgence of the group known as ISIL (ISIS), which in 2014 seized large swaths of both Syria and Iraq but was later defeated in fierce fighting. No US personnel were reported injured in the attacks that CENTCOM said had been carried out over the previous 24 hours by Iranian-backed groups. The US military also did not specify which armed groups were targeted in Syria or whether the strikes were thought to have resulted in casualties. pic.twitter.com/Hnw4dW6LEe — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 11, 2024 United Kingdom-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that four Syrian members of Iranian-backed armed groups were killed on Monday and 10 others were severely injured when fighter jets of the “international coalition” attacked a “headquarters” in the Al Mayadeen area of eastern Syria’s Deir Az Zor countryside. Syria state media reported earlier on Monday that Israel’s Air Force had attacked an aid convoy in the Shamsin area, located approximately 20km (12 miles) from the border with Lebanon, forcing the closure of Syria’s main north-south highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo. There were no immediate reports of casualties and state television did not provide details about the convoy that was attacked, though the area is known as a gathering point for refugees fleeing from Israeli attacks on Lebanon. On Sunday, an Israeli air strike also hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, killing seven civilians, including women and children, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Twenty others were wounded in the attack, SANA said. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years but rarely acknowledges the attacks on its neighbour, which it claims target Iranian-supported armed groups that threaten Israel’s security. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump’s granddaughter Kai shares vlog of family celebration on election night: ‘Extremely proud’
President-elect Trump’s 17-year-old granddaughter shared a vlog of her experience on election night on Monday, capturing her thoughts and emotions as her grandfather clinched the presidency. Kai Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump, Jr., posted the video on YouTube Monday afternoon. The vlog – which is short for a video blog – begins with the teenage girl getting her makeup professionally done and expressing her thoughts about the election. “I am here in my house getting ready for the election night at Mar-a-Lago and the convention center,” Kai Trump says as she sits in a makeup chair. “I think today we’re going with straight hair. Jessica’s going to do my amazing makeup…I am still trying to pick a dress out.” The teenager casually shares her plans in the video, including having dinner with her grandfather hours before he was elected president. FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR KELLY LOEFFLER TO SERVE ON TRUMP’S INAUGURAL COMMITTEE “I’m going to see my grandpa, have family dinner with him, just, like, spend time with them,” Kai Trump says. “And then I think I’m going to head over to the convention center after… just see my friends and like, close family that have supported me and my grandpa over time.” Kai Trump also discusses a recent golf competition she had and details about her life. The teenager is also seen singing along to songs with her friends in the car. “I haven’t seen my grandpa in a while because he’s been campaigning,” she says in the video. “I’m super excited to see him again. He’s called me almost every other day.” The vlog also depicts the 17-year-old’s emotions shifting from anxious to optimistic as the electoral votes were announced in her grandfather’s favor. NEW YORK DEMOCRAT RIPS ‘FAR LEFT’ FOR TRUMP VICTORY: ‘IVORY-TOWERED NONSENSE’ “I’m a little nervous,” Kai Trump says at the beginning of the night. “Actually, that’s an understatement. I’m very nervous. The past five days I have been so nervous…I feel like I’ve had butterflies in my stomach for so long, and I really hope we find out [the results] soon.” At the end of the video, the teenager described Nov. 5 as a “special night” and gushed about her grandpa. “I’m extremely proud of him,” Kai Trump says. “I think he deserves it more than anyone in the whole world. And he really has worked his butt off every single day for the past really eight years or more.” “He’s such an incredible person and such a unique person,” the granddaughter continues. “And he just fights every single day for America over and over and over again. And he’ll never give up.” The teenager has been candidly sharing facets of her life on social media in recent days. On Sunday, Kai Trump posted a collection of photos and videos on Instagram of her golfing with her grandfather.
Harris fundraiser page says portion of donations will be directed to ‘recount account’
A portion of donations to a fundraising committee associated with the Harris-Walz campaign will be directed toward a recount effort. Those who want to donate on ActBlue, a nonprofit fundraising platform, will see a fine print that warns them that the campaign could launch a recount effort. The push to beef up the “recount account” comes as the Harris campaign is reportedly $20 million in debt. The donations are made to the Harris Victory Fund, which is part of a joint fundraising committee authorized by the Harris campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties. “The first $41,300/$15,000 from a person/multicandidate committee (“PAC”) will be allocated to the DNC. The next $3,300/$5,000 from a person/PAC will be allocated to Harris for President’s Recount Account,” the fundraising page states. DEMOCRATS LOOKING TO POINT FINGERS AFTER ‘HUMILIATING’ ELECTION DEFEAT SHOULD START WITH MEDIA: WSJ COLUMNIST There was no indication that Harris was seeking a recount for herself after having lost to President-elect Trump in a decisive victory in which he swept all the battleground states as well as the popular vote. The Harris-Walz campaign reportedly spent $1 billion during its failed run. “With a handful of key Senate and House races still too close to call, we are keeping our organizers and volunteers on the ground in those states to see the election across the finish line,” the Harris campaign’s website says. “If you are able, please donate to the Harris Fight Fund today to ensure we have the resources to elect Democrats down the ticket ready to hold the Trump administration accountable,” it said. TRUMP VICTORY PROVES IMPORTANCE OF CANDID, LONGFORM PODCASTS AS PLATFORM SHOWED ‘HUMAN SIDE’ OF ONE CANDIDATE Over the weekend, Trump called for people to chip in and donate to help Harris pay off her campaign debts. “I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant fight in the 2020 (sic) Presidential Election, raising a record amount of money, didn’t have lots of $’s left over,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Now they are being squeezed by vendors and others. Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do,” he added. “We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was ‘Earned Media,’ and that doesn’t cost very much. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign and ActBlue.