Lebanon rocket fire draws Israeli requital
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory Wednesday, and the army responded with sustained artillery fire, Israel's military said. There was no immediate information on damages or casualties.
Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the army said, adding that it fired artillery back into Lebanon.
Channel 12 reported that one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israel's defense system, known as the Iron Dome.
The sirens went off near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.
A Lebanese army official said the military had no comment pending investigations. Other Lebanese security officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
However, several witnesses in the border area in south Lebanon said two rockets landed in an Israeli community across the border, followed by multiple artillery shells that were fired from Israel. The Israeli shells landed in an area between the Lebanese villages of Marjayoun and Khiam, they said, adding it was not clear where the rockets were fired from.
There have been several similar incidents in recent months.
The rocket fire is believed by Israeli authorities to have been launched by Palestinian groups based in Lebanon and not the militant Hezbollah group. However, it's unlikely that Palestinian groups could operate without Hezbollah's consent.
'17 Miss Nicaragua arrested after VP bid
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Nicaraguan police have arrested a former beauty queen two days after she registered as an antigovernment candidate in the Nov. 7 elections, the conservative Citizens for Liberty coalition said Wednesday.
The coalition said vice presidential candidate Berenice Quezada had been placed under house arrest and claimed she was being held incommunicado. Nicaragua's national police had yet to confirm the detention or the charges.
She was the eighth contender in the election to be arrested since May. The other seven candidates and about two dozen opposition leaders have been arrested on vague treason charges. Most of those arrested in the crackdown are being held incommunicado, at undisclosed locations and with no access to lawyers.
Quezada was crowned Miss Nicaragua in 2017 and had called on citizens to vote against "the dictatorship" of President Daniel Ortega, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term.
India ships aim to unify Indo-Pacific area
NEW DELHI -- India is sending four navy ships for exercises and port visits with the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, its navy said Wednesday, as China's maritime power grows in the area.
The Indian ships will spend more than two months in the region, the navy said in a statement.
Commander Vivek Madhwal, the Indian navy spokesman, said four ships will take part.
The ships will also participate in a multilateral exercise, MALABAR-21, along with the Japanese, Australian and U.S. navies, the statement said.
It said the exercises will enhance coordination with friendly countries, based on common maritime interests and a commitment to freedom of navigation.
Italy presses EU to open ports to migrants
ROME -- Italy stepped up pressure Wednesday on fellow EU nations to open their ports to migrants rescued by humanitarian ships as political tension simmers in the Italian government's coalition over a sharply rising number of arrivals this summer on the country's southern shores.
The office of Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said she had a long telephone conversation with the European Union's internal affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson.
Political and economic crises in Tunisia are feeding steadily increasing streams of migrants determined to reach Europe, many of whom set out in smugglers' boats from Libyan shores. The Italian interior ministry's statement said those factors figured in Lamorgese's request for "an urgent change of direction in the interventions of the Union's migratory policy."
In May and June, the number of migrants who reached Italian shores more than tripled compared to the previous year's figure, according to the ministry's count. In July, the year-to-year difference was less marked -- 8,600 in 2021 compared to 7,000 in 2020. But so far August has seen charity boats carrying the flags of France and Germany rescue hundreds of migrants from unseaworthy boats launched by human traffickers.
Currently some 800 rescued passengers are aboard charity vessels waiting permission from Italy or Malta to enter a safe port. Hundreds more in recent days, including from Tunisia, have reached Sardinia or the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa unaided.
