CALIF. HIT BY RAIN, SNOW
Thousands take part in new Greece protest over train crash
ATHENS, Greece – Thousands of people protested on Sunday against safety deficiencies in Greece’s railway network nearly two weeks after dozens were killed in the country’s deadliest train crash.
The demonstrators also demanded punishment for those responsible for the head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train that killed 57 people on Feb. 28. Police said that more than 8,000 people in Athens gathered outside Parliament to protest on Sunday.
The protesters later marched to the offices of privatized train operator Hellenic Train. The company, which has been owned by Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane since 2017, isn’t responsible for the maintenance of the railway network. State-owned Hellenic Railways is in charge of upkeep.
Much of Florida Keys loses water pressure after main break
KEY WEST, Fla. – Much of the Florida Keys lost water pressure after a water main broke, blocking traffic along the main roadway on the chain of islands and forcing businesses to close early. It was the third time a water main broke in the past week in the Florida Keys.
The water leak was first reported Saturday night in an area between Tavernier and Islamorada and was finished being repaired less than 12 hours later, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority said in a tweet.
As a precautionary measure, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority issued a boil water alert through Wednesday once water returned for residents and businesses impacted by the outage.
As atmospheric river exits, another awaits to hit California
WATSONVILLE, Calif. – Wet, miserable weather continued across huge swaths of California on Sunday as an atmospheric river that caused major flooding flowed eastward and makes way for another onslaught of rain and snow – accompanied by strong gusts – that could yet again pummel the beleaguered region as soon as Monday night.
The National Weather Service said the next torrent could exacerbate the severe flooding that overwhelmed the area in the past few days, including a levee failure that prompted widespread evacuations Saturday in farming communities near the state’s Central Coast.
The next weather system is not expected to bring as much rain, but weather officials nevertheless cautioned that “considerable flooding” could occur in lower elevations from additional rain and snowmelt that could swell creeks and streams.
The rain and snow are expected to extend from Central California to Oregon, as well as northern Nevada.
Iran says deal with Saudi Arabia will help end Yemen’s war
CAIRO – Iran’s mission to the United Nations says a breakthrough agreement with Saudi Arabia restoring bilateral relations will help bring a political settlement to Yemen’s yearslong war, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies after seven years of tensions that brought the two regional powerhouses to the brink of conflict and fueled tensions across the region.
Soon after exploding in 2014, Yemen’s conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government, and Iran, which has aided the country’s Houthi rebels.
Iran has long been accused by western governments and U.N. experts of providing weapons to the Houthis. Western militaries have repeatedly intercepted Yemen-bound ships carrying Iranian weapons in the Red Sea. Tehran has denied the accusations of arming the Houthis.
2 foreign tourists die in Kenya nature reserve crash
NAIROBI, Kenya – Two foreign tourists, German and Swiss nationals, have died after the vehicle they were traveling in veered off the road and overturned in Kenya’s Maasai Mara national reserve, police said Sunday.
The crash happened after the vehicle car got stuck in the mud and veered off the road on Saturday, police said.
One other tourist was injured and two others, a German and a Swiss national, escaped unhurt. They were part of a tour group, but it wasn’t immediately clear who was driving the vehicle.
Maasai Mara national reserve is a popular tourist destination and features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Government: Gunmen in north Nigeria kill at least 16 people
ABUJA, Nigeria – Gunmen killed at least 16 people during an attack in northwest Nigeria, the government said Sunday.
The assailants stormed the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area in Kaduna state and opened fire Saturday after a confrontation with police at a checkpoint, Yabo Ephraim, a spokesperson for the local government told The Associated Press.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the area after the attack.
The attackers were ethnic Fulani, a group of mostly nomadic pastoralists who have been embroiled in a long conflict with farmers over limited access to water and land, Ephraim said.