Migrant van crashes in Croatia

ZAGREB: An overloaded van carrying migrants crashed Saturday in central Croatia, killing two people and injuring several others, police said. Officers spotted a “visibly overloaded van” with German numberplates in the small city of Novska and tailed it “without using audible or visual signals”, a police statement said. After noticing the police, the driver accelerated and veered off the road. The van overturned, crashing into a house. The driver and a passenger died. — AFP

Honduras arrests murderer

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: Honduran authorities said Friday they had arrested the alleged murderer of an environmental activist whose death drew international condemnation. Juan Lopez, who campaigned against open-pit iron ore mining, was shot dead on September 14 after leaving church in the northeastern town of Tocoa. “We’ve captured the material author of the death of environmental activist Juan Lopez. An accomplice was also arrested,” Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez wrote on social media platform X, without giving their identities. — AFP

Bolivian ex-ministers sentenced

LA PAZ, Bolivia: A Bolivian court sentenced two former ministers on Friday to eight years in prison for the irregular purchase of tear gas and riot equipment used to quell demonstrations launched by supporters of ex-president Evo Morales in late 2019. Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Morales was extremely popular after taking power in 2006 - until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term in office in 2019. He won the vote but the right-wing opposition accused him of electoral fraud, and he was forced to resign amid huge and deadly protests and fled the country. – AFP

Mexican cartel violence kills 150

CULIACÁN, Mexico: A wave of violence in a Mexican cartel stronghold shaken by gang infighting has left around 150 people dead over the past month, according to the state prosecutor’s office. They include five men whose bodies were found with gunshot wounds Thursday night on a main avenue in Culiacan, authorities said. A turf war broke out on September 9 between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations. Some local police suspected of involvement have been disarmed by the military.

‘Serial killer’ charged in Canada

OTTAWA: A woman described by police as a serial killer was arrested and charged on Friday with three murders this week in Toronto, Niagara Falls and another Canadian city. The grisly attacks spanned three days from Tuesday to Thursday. “She is a serial killer,” Niagara Police Chief Bill Fordy told reporters when asked if the label was fitting. Sabrina Kauldhar, 30, was arrested at a suburban Toronto hotel after police linked the killings, determining the suspect’s description matched in each case. - AFP

Chad sounds flood alarm

N’DJAMENA, Chad: Chad’s authorities were on alert Friday after heavy rains swelled two major rivers, as the country struggles to recover from deadly floods that have already killed 503 people. The waters of the Chari river had risen by more than eight meters (26 feet) in the last 10 days or so, Prime Minister Allamaye Halina said. N’Djamena, Chad’s capital, is located where the Logone and Chari rivers flow into each other, and both rivers had been swollen by the heavy rains, Halina said. - AFP