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A blast in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia killed at least 10 people on Saturday, state media reported, adding that it was triggered by a scrap dealer mishandling unexploded ordnance.SANA news agency earlier reported that “the death toll from the explosion at a hardware store” in Latakia’s southern neighbourhood of Al-Rimal had been eight.The news agency said three children and a woman were among the victims of the blast at the store inside a four-storey building.”Fourteen civilians were also injured, including four children,” SANA said.It said the detonation occurred when the scrap dealer mishandled an unexploded munition in an attempt to recover the metal.SANA said late Saturday search and rescue operations were ongoing “to extract those trapped under the rubble of the destroyed residential building”.Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also called the explosion an “accident” resulting from a resident’s attempt to dismantle unexploded ordnance.One Latakia resident, Ward Jammoul, 32, told AFP she heard a “loud blast”, adding that she “headed to the site and found a completely destroyed building”.She said civil defence personnel and ambulances were at the scene, along with “a large number of people who had gathered to look for those trapped under the rubble”.An image carried by the news agency showed a large plume of smoke over a populated neighbourhood.A report by non-governmental organisation Humanity and Inclusion had warned last month of the dangers posed by unexploded munitions left over from Syria’s civil war that erupted in 2011.It said experts estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the war had never detonated.

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration will not eject fast-fashion juggernaut Shein from the US market, its executive chairman Donald Tang has told AFP.The head of the online platform, which has come in for scrutiny over its environmental footprint and allegations of human rights violations, also insisted that the company does not use forced labour.- …

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The United States has launched “decisive and powerful military action” to end the threat posed to Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Huthi rebels, President Donald Trump said Saturday.In a social media post that came after Huthi media reported strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, Trump also warned that Iran must “immediately” cut support to the rebels. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” he said.In Huthi-held Sanaa, AFP correspondents reported hearing distant explosions and al-Masirah TV said “an American-British aggression raided a residential neighborhood in the Shuub district.”The new US strikes came shortly after the Huthis announced that they would target all Israeli ships in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Baba al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.Their threat came in protest at Israel’s blockade of aid into the Palestinian territory of Gaza.Trump’s statement did not reference the dispute over Israel, but focused on previous Huthi attacks on US and international warships and commercial tankers.”To all Huthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” he said.In addition to announcing action against the Huthis, who regularly harass international shipping off Yemen’s coast, Trump issued a stern warning to the group’s backer.”To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY!” he said.”Do NOT threaten the American People, their President… or Worldwide shipping lanes. If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”Since November 2023, a month into the war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Huthis have waged a campaign against shipping that they say is in solidarity with Palestinians.They have attacked ships in the key waterways of the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea with drones and missiles, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the United States and Britain.In January, after the ceasefire was declared in Gaza, the Huthis said they would limit their attacks to vessels linked to Israel.The attacks have disrupted commercial shipping in a zone vital for trade, and dealt huge losses to cash-strapped Egypt, which depends on the Suez Canal for foreign currency.Earlier this month, the United States re-classified the Huthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization,” banning any US interaction with the group that controls swaths of Yemen.

A blast in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia killed at least eight people on Saturday, state media reported, adding that it was triggered by a scrap dealer mishandling unexploded ordnance.SANA news agency reported that “the death toll from the explosion at a hardware store” in Latakia’s southern neighbourhood of Al-Rimal had risen to eight from an earlier toll of four dead.The news agency said three children and a woman were among the victims of the blast at the store inside a four-storey building.”Fourteen civilians were also injured, including four children,” SANA said.It said the detonation occurred when the scrap dealer mishandled an unexploded munition in an attempt to recover the metal.Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also called the explosion an “accident” resulting from a resident’s attempt to dismantle unexploded ordnance.One Latakia resident, Ward Jammoul, 32, told AFP she heard a “loud blast”, adding that she “headed to the site and found a completely destroyed building”.She said civil defence personnel and ambulances were at the scene, along with “a large number of people who had gathered to look for those trapped under the rubble”.SANA said search and rescue operations were ongoing.An image carried by the news agency showed a large plume of smoke over a populated neighbourhood.A report by non-governmental organisation Humanity and Inclusion had warned last month of the dangers posed by unexploded munitions left over from Syria’s civil war that erupted in 2011.It said experts estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the war had never detonated.

Syrians gathered on Saturday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising with a public demonstration in Damascus for the first time since president Bashar al-Assad was toppled.The rally in Damascus’s Umayyad Square was the first in the capital after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of the ousted president’s supporters.Activists called on people to hold similar demonstrations in the major cities of Homs, Idlib and Hama under the slogan “Syria is victorious”.Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani hailed the anniversary, saying on X: “We will remain indebted to the first cry of freedom, which erupted in Daraa, the cradle of the Syrian revolution, and spread to all cities. We will remain loyal to the great sacrifices made by our people over more than 14 years.”By the afternoon, dozens of people had gathered in Umayyad Square, amid a heavy security presence and with military helicopters overhead dropping leaflets bearing the slogan “there is no room for hate among us”.Security forces were stationed at all entrances to the square, with some of them handing out flowers to demonstrators while speakers blared revolutionary and Islamic songs.Many of the demonstrators waved the Syrian flag — officially changed from one used under Assad to the design from the independence era — and held signs reading “the revolution has triumphed”.”What is happening now is a dream we never dared to imagine,” said one of the demonstrators, Hanaa al-Daghri, 32.”I left Damascus 12 years ago because I was wanted, and I would have never had any hope of returning were it not for the liberation,” she told AFP.”We are missing many friends who are no longer with us, but their bloodshed brought us to where we are today.”Abdul Moneim Nimr, 41, was with a group of friends singing and dancing in the sunshine.”We used to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution in northern Syria and today we are celebrating in Umayyad Square. This is a blessed victory,” he said.The celebrations were expected to pick up again in the evening, following the iftar meal that breaks the daytime fast observed during Ramadan.- ‘Justice, dignity and peace’ -The Syrian conflict began with peaceful demonstrations against Assad’s government on March 15, 2011, in which thousands took part. It later spiralled into civil war after he bloodily suppressed the protests.Ahmed al-Sharaa, who headed the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the lightning offensive that toppled on December 8, has since been named interim president.Hundreds gathered in the rebels’ longtime stronghold of Idlib to mark the anniversary, an AFP journalist reported.”This revolution endured very difficult days, we felt hopeless and disappointed, but thankfully God blessed us with this victory after 14 years,” demonstrator Anas Khatib told AFP. On Thursday, Sharaa signed into law a temporary constitution regulating a five-year transition before a permanent constitution is promulgated.Analysts have criticised the declaration, saying it grants too much power to Sharaa and fails to provide sufficient protection to the country’s minorities. Its adoption came a week after Syria’s Mediterranean coast, the heartland of Assad’s Alawite minority, was gripped by the worst wave of violence since his overthrow.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, security forces and allied groups killed at least 1,500 civilians, mainly Alawites, in the violence that began on March 6.The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Friday: “It is fourteen years since Syrians took to the streets in peaceful protest, demanding dignity, freedom and a better future.”And they now deserve a transition that is worthy of this.”Pedersen called for “an immediate end to all violence and for protection of civilians”.In a statement marking the anniversary, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council in the northeast renewed its objections to the interim constitution, saying it “did not adequately reflect the aspirations of the Syrian people to build a just and democratic state”.

A blast in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia killed at least three people on Saturday, state media reported, with a war monitor saying it was triggered by unexploded ordnance.”The blast in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Latakia city has so far resulted in three deaths and 12 injured,” state news agency SANA said citing provincial authorities.It added that “civil defence teams and residents are still searching for others injured and missing”.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor later described the blast as an “accident” resulting from a resident’s attempt to dismantle unexploded ordnance in the building.A resident of the city, Ward Jammoul, 32, told AFP that she heard a “loud blast”, adding that she “headed to the site and found a completely destroyed building”.She said civil defence personnel and ambulances were present at the site, alongside “a large number of people who had gathered to look for those trapped under the rubble”.An image carried by SANA showed a large plume of smoke rising over a populated neighbourhood.A report by non-governmental organisation Humanity and Inclusion had warned last month of the dangers posed by unexploded munitions left over from the devastating civil war that erupted in 2011.It said experts estimated that between 100,000 and 300,000 of the roughly one million munitions used during the war had never detonated.