1 dead, 12 missing in Italian landslide
MILAN -- Heavy rainfall triggered a landslide early Saturday on the southern Italian resort island of Ischia that destroyed buildings and swept parked cars into the sea, leaving at least one person dead and up to 12 missing.
The body of a woman was pulled from the mud, the Naples prefect, Claudio Palomba, told a news conference.
With raining continuing to fall, firefighters and coast guard rescuers were working with small bulldozers to pick through some 6 to 7 yards of mud and detritus in the search for possible victims. Reinforcements arrived by ferry, including teams of sniffer dogs to help the search efforts.
The force of the mud sliding down the mountainside just before dawn was strong enough to send cars and buses onto beaches and into the sea at the port of Casamicciola, on the north end of the island, which lies off Naples.
The island received nearly 5 inches of rain in six hours, the heaviest rainfall in 20 years, according to officials.
At least 100 people were reported stranded without electricity and water, and about 70 were housed in a community gymnasium.
ANSA reported that at least 10 buildings had collapsed.
Belarusian foreign minister dies at 64
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, a close ally of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, has died at age 64, the state news agency Belta reported Saturday.
No cause of death was given.
Before becoming foreign minister in 2012, Makei was Lukashenko's chief of staff.
During his tenure, Belarus came under repeated criticism from the West for an increasingly harsh suppression of the opposition, for dubious elections and for allowing Russian troops to be based there during the war in Ukraine.
In September, he defended Belarus' position to the United Nations Security Council.
"Belarus is referred to as an 'accomplice of the aggressor' or even a party to the conflict. ... We have allied commitments. And we are strictly following and will follow the spirit and letter of international treaties to which we are parties," he said.
Khan's party exits Pakistan assemblies
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's former premier Imran Khan said Saturday that his party was quitting the country's regional and national assemblies, as he made his first public appearance since being shot earlier this month.
Khan, a former cricket star turned politician, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April. He is now in the opposition and has been demanding early elections, claiming his ouster was illegal and orchestrated by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, with the U.S. government's help.
Sharif and Washington have dismissed the allegations and the current government says the next polls will be held as scheduled in 2023.
Khan launched a protest march late last month from the eastern city of Lahore toward Islamabad as part of his campaign for early polls, but stepped down from personally leading the convoy after he was wounded by a gunman who opened fire at his vehicle.
Khan rejoined the protest march Saturday night in Rawalpindi city near Islamabad.
He told tens of thousands of supporters that his Tehreek-e-Insaf party was leaving all regional and national assemblies and getting out of this "corrupt system."
Toward the end of his speech, he did a U-turn on his demand for snap elections, saying his party would win the polls scheduled for nine months time. He also said he would no longer march on the capital.
He said he will meet his chief ministers and parliamentary party and announce the timing of the exit.
India court to review same-sex marriage
India's Supreme Court has agreed to examine a petition that seeks legal recognition of same-sex marriage, in a development that could build on a string of rulings expanding protection for the LGBTQ community.
The petition, which was filed this month by a couple, evoked India's Special Marriage Act -- a law that originally legalized interfaith unions. The couple drew on earlier landmark rulings in India, including one declaring privacy a fundamental right and another that decriminalized gay sex in 2018.
The petitioners have argued that barring them from marriage violates their right to equality. They told the court that the ability to marry has implications for personal liberty, adoption and financial matters.
The Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, has given the government four weeks to take a stance on the issue.
The case isn't without precedent. The Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opposed legal recognition of same-sex marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act in a separate case that sought similar relief from a lower court. According to government lawyers, permitting same-sex marriages would go against cultural values in Indian society.
In 2018, however, the government didn't take a stand on decriminalizing gay sex, leaving the court to decide.
Mud and debris covers streets after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Rescuers remove mud from a street after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Rescuers walk past damaged vehicles after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
A rescuer walks next to vehicles carried away after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
Rescuers stand next to vehicles carried away after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Rescuers remove mud from a street after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Rescuers look at a bus covered by mud after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
Mud covers streets and cars after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Rescuers remove mud from a street after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missing, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)
Pakistan police commandos stand guard on a rooftop while they observe the area to ensure the security of the rally of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf” party Saturday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (AP/Anjum Naveed)