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'No-one feels safe now': Residents of Romanian city hit by drone share fears

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In some parts of Europe, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine can feel like a distant threat. But in Romania, that war is right next door and increasingly dangerous.

In Galati, there is an apartment block with a hole in the roof that proves it.

Residents have just begun returning to check on their homes, after an attack drone slammed into the building early on Friday as dozens of people slept.

We climbed 11 floors up to the roof on Saturday to see where the drone punched through the concrete. There's a jagged hole, a couple of metres wide, now covered with plastic.

The flat below was badly damaged, and a woman and her teenage son remain in hospital with bruises and minor burns.

But it's clear the consequences of this strike could have been far worse: the drone hit the lift shaft on the roof, which absorbed much of the blast.

"It was really very terrifying," says Costel Patrichi, a resident who's in charge of the building. "But if the drone had hit the side, it could have destroyed a whole floor or more."

He describes how his phone buzzed with an alert that morning just before 02:00, warning of the danger: a drone was approaching from the Ukrainian border a few miles away.

"They told us we are protected by Nato, not to worry. But look where we are now!" Costel tells me, frustrated like many that Romania's air force couldn't intercept the drone.

When a Ukrainian drone targeting northern Russia was recently knocked off course into Estonia, it was a Romanian fighter jet there that shot it down – part of Nato's quick reaction force.

Here, though, pilots only had moments to react before the weapon was over a built-up area. At that point, interception was too risky.

"Now I'm afraid. If go back to my flat tonight, I will sleep with fear. Because this could happen again," Costel admits.

It is the same fear that Ukrainians endure nightly as Russia launches ever more attack drones at its neighbour. Very often, they smash into residential areas, destroying homes and taking lives.

Now Romania, a member of both Nato and the EU, has been hit.

It is the most serious incident of its kind in this country since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.

True to form, Russian President Vladimir Putin claims there is no evidence this was a Russian drone.

But Romania has been very clear: it was a Geran-2, otherwise called a Shahed, and it was Russian.

"It's sure, because we had another one four or five weeks ago that didn't explode. We compared and they are completely identical," Romania's President Nicosur Dan told the BBC World Service.

The drones are used to target Ukrainian ports on the other side of the river Danube that are vitally important to Ukraine's grain exports.

On Friday, Romania tracked a swarm of 43 of them as they travelled from east to west.

"One hit by the Ukrainian army changed direction and passed to Romanian territory. That is sure," Dan said.

Romania's Nato allies have called Russia's conduct "reckless" and stressed that Moscow's war of aggression was to blame for what happened.

In Washington, though, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ignored reporters' requests to comment.

And there is clearly caution in the response, as well as condemnation.

No-one is accusing Moscow of mounting a deliberate attack on Romania.

And whilst government sources in Bucharest tell us they considered invoking Article 4 of the Nato treaty, which would trigger an emergency meeting, that idea was rejected to avoid creating panic.

The next potential step would have been Article 5: the mutual defence clause, under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Instead, Romania has shut down a Russian consulate in the port city of Constanta as a "warning", according to its president. Dan said the next move in the "diplomatic hierarchy of measures" would be to kick out the Russian ambassador.

Romania has called for Nato to move faster with a pledge to transfer more military equipment to this stretch of its eastern edge.

The government is already acquiring drones of its own and has plans to develop others in co-operation with Ukrainian companies.

The EU was already working on a new set of sanctions against Moscow.

But the risk of this war escalating and expanding has rarely felt greater – and the people we met in Galati feel very vulnerable.

"This was insane, it happened right in the middle of town," says Adrian, after checking his own family's flat in the building that was hit.

For that, he blames Russia and its president.

"But I don't think the sanctions are enough," Adrian adds. "Because they could take everything from Russia, and they would still attack."

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgzyp93jq1o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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Raheem Sterling arrested on suspicion of drug-driving

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Raheem Sterling made eight appearances for Feyenoord after joining the Dutch club in February

Raheem Sterling has been arrested on suspicion of drug-driving after he allegedly crashed his car into motorway barriers.

The former England winger, who most recently played for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie, is suspected of crashing his Lamborghini into barriers on the M3 in Hampshire on Thursday morning.

The 31-year-old has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

In a statement, Hampshire Police said: "Just before 9am on Thursday, we received reports that a Lamborghini was in collision with barriers on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange.

"No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.

"The driver, a 31-year-old man, from Berkshire, has been arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs, driving dangerously, possession of a Class C drug and failing to provide a specimen. He has been bailed while our enquiries continue."

A source close to Sterling confirmed the arrest but told BBC Sport there was "no proof" of drugs in his system.

The source added the player had faced "an extremely tough couple of years" and had been made to "feel worthless" and "forgotten about".

Sterling joined Feyenoord in February on a deal until the end of the season, having left Chelsea in January, but made just eight appearances in the Netherlands.

He left the Blues by mutual consent after agreeing a settlement package with the Stamford Bridge club over the final 18 months of his contract, worth in excess of £300,000-per-week.

In four years at Chelsea – including a season-long loan at Arsenal – he made just 59 league appearances after signing from Manchester City in 2022.

With City he won four Premier League titles, having started his senior career with Liverpool before moving to Manchester in 2015.

Sterling has 82 England caps, the last of which was won at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c1l212ez1m0o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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Girl, 15, dies after swimming at beach

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A 15-year-old girl who got into difficulty swimming in the sea at a beach has died.

Chiedza Nyanjowa, from Cheshire, was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in a critical condition after the swim at Formby beach on Bank Holiday Monday and died earlier on Saturday, Merseyside Police said.

In a tribute, Chiedza's family said she would be "greatly missed and remembered for her kind spirit".

There have been at least 14 water-related deaths during recent hot weather, including a 19-year-old man who died earlier after being rescued from a lake in Nottinghamshire. Meanwhile, a body has been found in the search for a man who got into difficulty in the water in the Norfolk Broads.

Emergency services were called to reports of a concern for safety at Formby beach on Albert Road at about 15:30 BST last Monday.

Members of the public had tried to help Chiedza, the force said.

Her family said they "would like to express their gratitude to everyone that helped" her and they were "glad that there were people around her to support her, their support shows that she was loved".

"This is a difficult time for the family, who would appreciate any form of prayer," they added.

They described Chiedza as "a bubbly person, she loved Christ and going to church.

"She loved cooking, she was a giver and wanted to be nurse when she grew up so she could give back."

A report into Chiedza's death has been passed to Sefton coroner's office.

Young people have died in lakes and rivers across the country, including a 12-year-old boy whose body was found in the River Ribble in Ribchester in Lancashire and a 17-year-old boy who went missing at Pick Mere lake in Cheshire.

There have also been water-related deaths in Kent, Oxford, Lincoln, Halifax, Rotherham, Warwickshire, Farnborough, Nottinghamshire and Scotland.

Meanwhile, a man in his 60s died in Cornwall and a woman in her 70s died in Wales.

'This is why rivers and lakes are so dangerous to swim in'

The Royal Life Saving Society issued a warning following the fatal incidents saying "warmer weather unfortunately sees an increase in accidental drownings".

RLSS warned water temperatures remained very cold despite increased air temperatures, and cold water shock can make swimming difficult and harder to get out of the water.

Anyone who sees someone in an emergency in the water should call 999, stay out of the water themselves and throw them something that floats, such as a plastic water bottle or football for them to hold on to, the RLSS added.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62rjmgmk55o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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Ebola spread in DR Congo 'alarming', charity warns, as WHO chief visits worst-hit area

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The rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has created a "deeply alarming" situation, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.

Speaking two weeks on from the outbreak being declared, MSF Deputy Director Dr Alan Gonzales said never before had "so many cases" been recorded so soon.

His comments came as the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrived in the eastern Congolese province of Ituri – the worst-hit area – to oversee virus containment efforts.

There are now more than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in the DR Congo, and at least 246 deaths. Neighbouring Uganda has reported nine confirmed cases and one death.

"Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola disease outbreak in Ituri Province, the situation is deeply alarming," Gonzalez said in a statement on Saturday.

"Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration," he said, stressing his teams on the ground were "witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic".

"The reality today is that nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak. New suspected cases are being reported daily, yet hundreds of samples remain untested."

Gonzalez added that containment efforts and humanitarian aid deliveries were being delayed by "major constraints", including border and airport closures.

The WHO has repeatedly warned that ongoing conflict in the DR Congo was also significantly hampering the Ebola outbreak response.

After arriving in Ituri's provincial capital of Bunia on Saturday, Tedros said he and his team were in the DR Congo "to see how the response is running and if there are challenges to help".

He urged communities in the centre of the outbreak to play a bigger role in fighting the disease, saying they "understand the problems better and they know the solution as well".

Tedros also said he understood how important it was for people to honour their dead at funerals – but warned that right now this was dangerous.

"Certain practices including touching of bodies of those who have died from Ebola, can spread the virus further. While we grieve for those we've lost, we must do everything we can so that we don't lose another, and get into a cycle of grief," he said.

In Bunia, daily life appears largely unchanged. People continue to move around, trade and go about their normal activities.

On arrival at the city's airport, passengers are directed to handwashing stations where they are required to clean their hands with soap and water.

Public health advisories are displayed in parts of the airport, while information is also being broadcast on radio and television. These messages are being delivered in local languages as well as in French, the DR Congo's official language.

One of the WHO head's first stops was the National Institute for Biomedical Research laboratory in Bunia, where samples from suspected Ebola patients are tested.

Local health officials say the facility is now able to return results within 24 hours, helping doctors quickly identify infections and begin treatment.

Until recently, samples had to be transported more than 1,500km (932 miles) to the DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, causing delays that health workers feared could cost lives and allow the virus to spread further.

The current outbreak, a rare strain of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected.

Ebola viruses normally infect animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, including blood, vomit, diarrhoea, saliva, urine, semen and sweat. It can also be transmitted by touching contaminated objects such as needles, bedding or clothing.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99ldxykz4zo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

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