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US moves warships closer to Israel after Hamas attack
The US says it is moving an aircraft carrier, ships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean and will also give Israel additional equipment and ammunition.
It follows the Hamas attack on southern Israel, which President Biden called an “unprecedented and appalling assault”.
The US was also working to verify reports its citizens were among those killed and taken captive, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Israel says more than 600 people have been killed and 100 kidnapped.
In Gaza, at least 313 people have been killed following retaliatory Israeli air strikes, according to Palestinian officials.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, a missile cruiser and four missile destroyers were heading to the region. US fighter jets would also be sent. Further military aid to Israel would be sent in the coming days, the White House said, adding that the US was working to to ensure that Israel’s enemies would not try to seek advantage from the situation.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has expressed support for the Hamas attack, saying Israel needed to be held to account for endangering the region.
Hamas has said assistance from Iran helped it carry out its attack, which involved rockets, drones and militants on para-gliders and saw hundreds of fighters break through Israeli border fortifications around the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had not seen evidence of direct Iranian involvement, but that Iran had been helping the Gaza-based group for years. “Hamas wouldn’t be Hamas without the support that it’s gotten over many years from Iran. We haven’t yet seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack or involved. But the support over many years is clear,” he told US TV.
Mr Blinken also said officials were looking at reports that US citizens had been caught up in the attack. “We’ve got reports that several Americans are among the dead. We’re working very actively to verify those reports,” he told US TV on Sunday. Other countries including the UK, France, Ukraine and Thailand have also reported deaths.
Hundreds of people are still reported missing. Among them is 23-year-old American-Israeli Hersh Golberg-Polin, who was at a music festival in the desert which was stormed by militants. His parents told the Jerusalem post they received two messages from him reading: “I love you” and “I’m sorry.”
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, told CBS News that he understood Americans were among the soldiers and civilians abducted in southern Israel but did not have details.
The US sends billions of dollars of military aid to Israel, a close ally, each year. Since World War Two, Israel has been the largest overall recipient of US foreign aid.
The UN Security Council is due to meet in New York shortly to discuss the violence in Israel and Gaza.
(BBC)
New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Matt Henry (calf strain), seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith (side strain) and spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner (groin injury) have all been ruled out of the rest of the home Test series against West Indies.
Glenn Phillips, who joined the squad in Christchurch early as a substitute fielder, has officially been added to the Test squad for the remainder of the series, New Zealand Cricket confirmed. This after he proved his match fitness in the Plunket Shield before joining the squad for the first Test, and he could be in contention to be selected in the XI for the second Test.
In another bit of good news for New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell, who put in a long shift as a substitute fielder in the first Test, is set to be available for the second and slot back in as their middle-order mainstay.
Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell had already been sidelined from the second Test in Wellington after suffering a hamstring injury while batting on day one in Christchurch. Mitchell Hay has been added to the squad and could make his Test debut.
Also, a day after uncapped seamer Michael Rae was called up to the Test squad, Kristan Clarke, a seam-bowling allrounder from Northern Districts, was added to it. With Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke managing “return to play” protocols, New Zealand were left scrambling for last-minute replacements, with the Wellington Test set to begin on November 10.
Both Rae and Clarke were pulled out of the third round of the Plunket Shield. Clarke didn’t bowl for ND in the final innings against Otago in Hamilton, with rookie James Naylor stepping in as his replacement.
Clarke, 24, is uncapped in Test cricket, but was recently part of the ODI series against England as a replacement player after Henry had suffered a separate calf injury. He has now earned his maiden Test call-up as a like-for-like replacement for Smith.
“On the cricket field, I’m a bowling allrounder, you know, and I pride myself on trying to offer as much as I can in the game,” Clarke said in October after breaking into the ODI side. “I just want to be a good person around the group also and just offer as much as I can.”
Clarke has played 27 first-class games so far, taking 77 wickets at an average of 33 and scoring 893 runs at an average of 23.50. He was also part of a New Zealand A tour to Bangladesh during the winter. Though bowling is his primary skill, Kristian is also a capable batter and had notched up his maiden century in senior cricket, against Central Districts in the one-day Ford Trophy, in October.
Clarke hails from Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato region and played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup before rising up the ranks in New Zealand cricket. His brother Matti Clarke has also played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup.
“Yeah, so [I was] born and raised in Te Awamutu, [and I] still live in Te Awamutu, still at home,” Clarke said. “I hold Te Amuru very dear to my heart – it’s a cool little town and yeah, quiet little place. Just sort of grew up through the cricket system there and then yeah, sort of just went from there.”
While Blair Tickner, who was the reserve seamer at Hagley Oval, comes into the selection frame for Wellington, there might be a toss-up between Rae and Clarke for a potential Test debut at Basin Reserve.
The first Test was drawn after West Indies, faced with a 530-run deficit in the fourth innings, held on for 163.3 overs to pull off a draw, with Justin Greaves (202 not out) and Shai Hope (140) their main men with the bat
New Zealand squad for second Test vs West Indies :
Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Michael Rae, Kristian Clarke
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
Level III landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale extended till 1600 hrs on Tuesday [09]
The Level III RED landslide warnings issued to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale by the landslide early warning center of the National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] have been extended till 1600 hrs on 09th December 2025.
Accordingly,
The LEVEL III RED warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Hatharaliyadda, Yatinuwara, Ududumbara, Pathahewaheta, Medadumbara, Pasbage Korale, Deltota, Poojapitiya, Ganga Ihala Korale, Panvila, Gangawata Korale, Udapalatha, Harispattuwa, Kundasale, Minipe, Doluwa, Thumpane, Akurana, Udunuwara and Pathadumbara in the Kandy district, Kegalle, Galigamuwa, Mawanella, Bulathkohupitiya, Aranayaka, Yatiyanthota, Rambukkana and Warakapola in the Kegalle district, Mawathagama, Mallawapitiya and Rideegama in the Kurunegala district, and Naula, Wilgamuwa, Pallepola, Ambanganga Korale, Laggala Pallegama, Ukuwela, Rattota, Matale and Yatawatta in the Matale district have been extended.
In the meantime,
LEVEL II AMBER warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Uva Paranagama, Meegahakivula, Badulla, Kandeketiya, Bandarawela, Soranathota, Hali_Ela, Ella, Lunugala, Welimada, Haputhale, Passara and Haldummulla in the Badulla district, Dehiowita, Ruwanwella and Deraniyagala in the Kegalle district, Alawwa and Polgahawela in the Kurunegala district, Ambagamuwa Korale, Hanguranketha, Mathurata, Norwood, Kothmale West, Nuwara Eliya, Thalawakele, Nildandahinna, Walapane and Kothmale East in the Nuwara Eliya district, and Kahawatta, Godakawela and Kolonne in the Ratnapura district.
LEVEL I YELLOW warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Yakkalamulla and Elpitiya in the Galle district, Attanagalla, Mirigama and Divulapitiya in the Gampaha district, Narammala in the Kurunegala district, and Eheliyagoda, Opanayake, Kalawana, Imbulpe, Kaltota, Kiriella, Kuruwita, Nivithigala, Ayagama, Pelmadulla, Balangoda, Elapatha and Ratnapura in the Ratnapura district
A special District Coordinating Committee meeting, convened to review the damage caused to the agricultural sector in the Nuwara Eliya District due to Cyclone Ditwah and to discuss the urgent measures required, was held this morning (08) at the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with the participation of the relevant responsible officials.
Due to adverse weather conditions, 1,421 hectares of vegetable cultivation in the Nuwara Eliya District has been damaged. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake instructed the relevant officials to take the necessary measures to provide compensation to farmers without delay.
Officials stated that although there has been crop damage, the reduction in the vegetable harvest in the Nuwara Eliya District would be around 25%. They added that Nuwara Eliya district would be able to meet the daily demand, but a decrease in the daily demand has been observed.
Officials further pointed out to the President that the reason for this decline is the spread of false information claiming a vegetable shortage in the Nuwara Eliya District and that prices have excessively increased.
Henry, Santner, Nathan Smith ruled out of rest of West Indies Test series
Level III landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale extended till 1600 hrs on Tuesday [09]
President chairs Nuwara Eliya District Special Coordinating Committee Meeting
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