6 Americans among 8 peacekeepers killed in Egypt copter crash
JERUSALEM — The international force that monitors the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement said Thursday that eight peacekeepers, including six Americans, were killed when one of its helicopters crashed during a routine mission in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. A ninth peacekeeper was badly injured.
The Multinational Force and Observers said a French peacekeeper and Czech member of the force were also killed. It did not release the names of the dead, pending notification of their families. It said the injured peace-keeper was American.
The MFO said the helicopter crashed during a routine mission near Sharm el-Sheikh, a popular Egyptian resort city on the Red Sea, and that an investigation was underway. It did not give a precise location of the crash or say whether the helicopter went down on land or into the sea.
An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity per regulations, said the helicopter crashed over Red Seawaters outside Egyptian territorial boundaries.
Islamic militant groups and a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group are known to be active in Sinai. But the MFO said there were no signs of an attack. “At this point, there is no information to indicate the crash was anything except an accident,” it said.
An Israeli official said the injured peacekeeper was airlifted by the peacekeeping force to the Israeli border city of Eilat. From there, he was flown to an Israeli hospital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
Record budget deficit:
The U.S. is starting the 2021 budget year the way the old year ended, with soaring deficits.
The Treasury Department reported Thursday that the federal government ran up a record October deficit of $284.1 billion, more than double the red ink for the same month a year ago, as revenues declined while spending to deal with the impact of the coronavirus soared.
The October deficit was over twice the $134.5 billion deficit logged in October 2019. It smashed the previous October record of a $176 billion deficit set in 2009, when the government was spending heavily to lift the country out of a deep recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.
The deficit for the 2020 budget year, which ended Sept. 30, totaled a record $3.1 trillion, breaking the old mark for an annual deficit of $1.4 trillion set in 2009.
Cruise outbreak:
One of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after at least five passengers tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday.
The SeaDream I is carrying 66 crew members and more than 50 passengers, with the majority of passengers hailing from the U.S., according to Sue Bryant, who is aboard the ship and is a cruise editor for The Times and The Sunday Times in Britain.
She told The Associated Press that one passenger became sick Wednesday and forced the ship to turn back to Barbados, where it had departed from on Saturday.
However, the ship had yet to dock in Barbados as local authorities tested those on board. The captain announced that at least five passengers have tested positive, Bryant said.
The incident marked the first time Sea Dream had resumed its West Indies voyages since the pandemic, with the ship originally scheduled to return to Barbados on Saturday, according to an online itinerary. The ship had made several stops in St. Vincent and the Grenadines before turning back.
Migrants drown:
At least 74 migrants drowned after their Europe-bound ship capsized Thursday off the coast of Libya, on the U.N.’s migration agency said, in the latest in a series of at least eight shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean since last month.
The boat was carrying over 120 migrants, including women and children, when it capsized off the coast of the Libyan port of al-Khums, said the International Organization for Migration. Only 47 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and fishermen and brought to shore.
So far, 31 bodies were retrieved as the search for the remaining victims continued, added the IOM.
In the years since the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, wartorn Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants hoping to get to Europe from Africa and the Middle East. Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route. At least 20,000 people have died in those waters since 2014, according to the IOM.
Measles cases spike:
The number of children sickened by measles in 2019was the highest in 23 years, according to new data published by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a study published Thursday, WHO and CDC said there were nearly 870,000 cases of measles last year, and the number of deaths — about 207,500 — increased by almost 50% since 2016. Officials blamed the record number of cases on a significant drop in vaccination; children must receive two doses of the measles vaccine to avoid being sickenedby the highly contagious disease.
“These data send a clear message that we are failing to protect children from measles in every region of the world,” said WHO DirectorTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
To prevent measles outbreaks, WHO estimates about95% of the population must be immunized. Vaccination coverage using two measles vaccines has stalled between about 70% and 85% globally.
WHO and CDC warned that the global efforts to stop the coronavirus pandemic have also complicated measles vaccination campaigns, allowing the disease to spread further.
Quarantine before recount: As Georgia counties prepare for a hand tally of ballots in the presidential race, the state’s top elections official plans to quarantine after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Thursday.
The count stems from an audit required by a new state law, not because there are any questions about the integrity of the election in Georgia or the results. Democrat Joe Biden leads Republican President Donald Trump by 14,000 votes. There are no examples of similar recounts that have overturned leads of that magnitude.
“The point of the audit is to show the machines counted the ballots fairly,” said Gabriel Sterling, who oversaw the implementationof the state’s new voting system for the secretary of state’s office.
County election officials must begin the hand tally by 9 a.m. Friday and complete it by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, state officials said. The state certification deadline is Nov. 20.