AFP, Paris
Gale-force winds battered France’s southwestern Atlantic coast on Saturday, leaving more than quarter of million homes without power, the national electricity grid Enedis said.
National weather agency Meteo France said winds reaching speeds of up to 148 kilometres per hour (92 miles per hour) had battered the coast and warned that in some places they could even reach 160 kph.
Three western regions were put on red alert as the storm felled trees and brought down powerlines, cutting off roads although there were no immediate reports of casualties.
US Navy sends destroyer to Yemen
AFP, Washington
The US Navy has sent a destroyer to waters off Yemen in response to an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a Saudi frigate, a defense official said Friday.
The USS Cole, which had been conducting operations in the Gulf, is now stationed in the Bab al-Mandab Strait off southwestern Yemen, the official said.
Indian govt plays down video protests by soldiers
Dawn.com, New Delhi
A string of videos posted on the internet by disgruntled Indian soldiers were acts by individuals and did not represent a wider malaise, the government told the Lok Sabha on Friday.
A number of videos were uploaded online recently by members of the army, air force and central police forces complaining about the conditions they worked in, “poor” quality of food and alleged ill-treatment meted out to them by seniors, Indian Express said.
Nine more killed in Ukraine fighting
AFP, Avdiivka
Clashes between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed rebels left two more dead in a flashpoint town Friday and seven others elsewhere in bloodshed that has prompted the US to condemn Russia’s “aggressive” stance.
The latest reports from both sides take the death toll in fighting since Sunday in the eastern war zone to 34 — a level not seen since the height of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.
