At least three die as tropical storm hits Nicaragua

Puerto Cabezas: At least three people have died in landslides after Tropical Storm Eta hit northern Nicaragua.

The storm had weakened yesterday from the Category 4 hurricane that battered the coast, but was moving so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central America is on high alert.

Eta went ashore on Tuesday south of Puerto Cabezas . The city of 60,000 had been without power since Monday evening. Corrugated metal roofing and uprooted trees were scattered through its streets, and 20,000 residents were in shelters.

About 100 miles west of where Eta made landfall, two gold miners were killed when a mountainside unleashed tons of mud, said Cesar Malespin of Bonanza Fire Department.

The storm also hit neighbouring Honduras where a 12-year-old girl died in a mudslide in San Pedro Sula, said Marvin Aparicio of the emergency management agency.

Ariha: The Syrian government shelled the last rebel enclave in the country’s north-west, killing at least seven people, including four children, rescuers and activists reported.

The attack targeted the city of Idlib and two towns to the north and south.

A child was killed when a shell landed near a market in Idlib, according to the Syrian Civil Defence, the White Helmets volunteer rescue team, and the Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The shelling in Idlib and surrounding areas wounded 17, according to a spokesman for the White Helmets.

In the town of Ariha, to the south, four people were killed, including a four-year old child, he said. And in Kefraya, to the north, two children were killed, the Observatory and the

White Helmets said.

The shelling came as an eight-month truce negotiated between Turkey and Russia is unravelling.

The international community is calling for a nationwide ceasefire and resumption of peace talks.

Rio de Janeiro:

Prosecutors in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state have charged a son of President Jair Bolsonaro with commanding a criminal organisation and laundering money when he was a state legislator between 2007 and 2018.

The charges were levelled against senator Flavio Bolsonaro and 16 others on October 19, according to a statement by the public prosecutors’ office yesterday.

Prosecutors allege the senator had people on his government-funded payroll who were not required to work but had to return part of their salaries to him.

He denied having committed any crime, according to a message he posted to his Instagram account.

Buenos Aires:

Diego Maradona underwent successful surgery on Tuesday for possible bleeding on his brain less than a week after his 60th birthday, his public relations team has said.

“It was all successful and it happened as expected,” Maradona’s PR spokesman said in a statement.

Maradona had a subdural hematoma, which is an accumulation of blood between a membrane and his brain, his personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque, said.

The surgery came after the 1986 World Cup champion was admitted to the Ipensa Clinic with signs of depression on Monday.