Three people were injured and hospitalized Friday, early Christmas morning, in a massive explosion in downtown Nashville in the US southern state of Tennessee in what is believed to be an intentional act, according to authorities. 

Police officers were responding to reports of fired shots near 2nd Ave and Commerce Street before 6 a.m. (1230GMT) local time when they saw a suspicious vehicle outside a nearby building.

As the officers alerted the bomb squad, around 30 minutes later a significant explosion happened, Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) spokesperson Don Aaron said. 

The police told local media earlier that a parked recreational vehicle (RV) had exploded and caused damage to several buildings. 

Before the explosion, the parked RV was playing a recorded message, "If you can hear this message evacuate now," saying a bomb would detonate within 15 minutes, according to the police. 

"Officers, upon hearing that, decided to evacuate the buildings nearby. So they began knocking on doors, making announcements, having emergency communications with everyone to get people safe," Nashville Police Chief John Drake told the press. 

"Shortly after that, the RV exploded. We had one officer that was knocked to the ground. Another officer is fine," Drake added. 

Nashville Mayor John Cooper said on Twitter MNPD confirmed that the source of the explosion came from a vehicle, adding the force of the explosion knocked an officer to the ground, damaging at least 20 buildings.

"MNPD, FBI & ATF investigating the 6:30 a.m. explosion on 2nd Ave N linked to a vehicle. This appears to have been an intentional act. Law enforcement is closing downtown streets as investigation continues," MNPD said on Twitter.

It added that canine teams are doing protective sweeps in the downtown area where traffic is restricted.

The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation, and it will be working in conjunction with state and local authorities, its spokesman Joel Siskovic said. /aa

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, was involved in the mysterious death of Turkish politician Muhsin Yazicioglu in 2009, prosecutors said Friday.

According to a statement by the prosecutor’s office in the southeastern Kahramanmaras province, a legal investigation into Yazicioglu’s death along with five other people in a helicopter crash was re-opened in April 2018.

It was understood that FETO, both during the search and rescue efforts and the investigation, attempted to manipulate the Turkish public with a misinformation campaign through its affiliates press and social media accounts, the statement said.

FETO with a fake letter and forged signature tried to pin the blame on some officers and general of the Turkish Air Force, who they thought were a danger to their clandestine mission, the statement noted.

In doing so, FETO also intended to discredit state authorities in the eyes of the public to pave the way for their persecution.

Criminal cases were initiated and are presently being heard against those who overlooked Yazicioglu’s death or deliberately took part in FETO’s plot.

Yazicioglu, a well-known figure of the Turkish right-wing politics and the founder of the Great Unity Party (BBP), died on March 25, 2009 when a helicopter taking him to a local election rally crashed in a mountain in the southern province of Kahramanmaras.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary./aa

A sit-in by families whose children have been kidnapped by YPG/PKK terrorists entered its 480th day on Friday.

The protest began on Sept. 3 last year in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, when Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun, and Aysegul Bicer said their children had been forcibly recruited by YPG/PKK terrorists.

The sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- which the government accuses of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group -- has been growing every day.

Fadime Aksu, whose son was abducted by the terror group seven years ago, said they were determined to continue the protest.

Aksu, who came from the northwestern province of Kocaeli to join the protest, said: "You deceived my son, you took him away. I won't leave here. I won't go without my child. The HDP can't discourage me."

She also urged her son to surrender to the Turkish security forces.

Salih Gokce, another protesting parent whose son was kidnapped by the terror group four years ago, said he had not heard from his son since then.

"The HDP took my son. I won't leave here before the HDP gives my son back."

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and infants./aa

Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Basel Al-Sabah said that no new coronavirus species were found in Kuwait until now. His remarks came in a statement to reporters, after launching the coronavirus vaccination campaign at Kuwait International Fair on Thursday.

The campaign was launched with the presence of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al- Sabah and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh. He added that the Ministry of Health is waiting for more information from international organizations on the new species of coronavirus appearing in the UK, Australia, Denmark and South Africa, reported by the media.

Meanwhile, he hailed the efforts of all workers in the vaccination campaign, noting that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled are following in the footsteps of His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in wisely dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Kuwait signed contracts with several companies for the vaccine, said the minister, adding that they will keep an eye on any new vaccines that will be produced in the coming months.

He called on both citizens and expats to take the vaccine in order to achieve major immunity against the virus. Sheikh Basel also noted that the priority is for old people aged 65 years and above, as well as for frontline workers.

On his part, Chairman of the Board of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Dr. Hilal Al-Sayer said that the society’s volunteers are also working side by side with the campaign’s staff. He added that KRCS is also providing masks, gloves, and wheelchairs for people coming for the vaccination. Meanwhile, health ministry official spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al- Sanad said the ministry understands some people’s fear or doubt towards the vaccination, adding that the ministry is ready to answer their questions regarding the vaccination’s safety. Kuwait only approved using the Pfizer vaccine currently, which was certified by many international organizations.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said on Thursday that the (Pfizer/BioNTech) coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine was “safe to use” and it was approved by several international bodies. Speaking to the press at the vaccination center in Kuwait international fairs ground, His Highness the Prime Minister affirmed that the vaccination campaign would continue for several months in the country.

He added that the vaccine had been administrated to around 2.1 million people worldwide as a measure to curb the spread of the notorious virus. His Highness the Prime Minister thanked specialized committees at the cabinet and the Health Ministry for their tremendous efforts in the last six months covering all aspects of the campaign.

He urged the population to continue social distancing measures, wearing masks and washing hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Prior to his vaccination, His Highness the Prime Minister was briefed about the campaign’s measures to safeguard the health of medical staff and citizens during the process. His Highness was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh and Minister of Health Dr. Basel Al-Sabah.

He urged the population to continue social distancing measures, wearing masks and washing hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Prior to his vaccination, His Highness the Prime Minister was briefed about the campaign’s measures to safeguard the health of medical staff and citizens during the process. His Highness was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh and Minister of Health Dr. Basel Al-Sabah. (KUNA)

Around 2,000 kidnapped Nigerians and foreigners have been rescued and over 1,000 weapons have been recovered from bandits in Nigeria's northeastern state of Zamfara since May 2019, local media reported Thursday, citing its governor.

“We have recovered a lot of dangerous weapons which were given to the security agencies of Nigeria and we have rescued about 2,000 kidnap victims, including some foreign nationals,” The Nation website quoted Bello Matawalle, who assumed office in late May of last year, as saying.

The rescued foreigners include “people from China, Korea, Niger Republic, Burkina Faso and even Central Africa who were kidnapped and taken to Zamfara state,” Matawalle said.

“All we are concerned with is to see our people go to sleep with their eyes closed, and that is the responsibility of every government to provide security for the lives and properties of which we are doing.”

Matawalle’s remarks come amid intensive reporting regarding insecurity in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, particularly in its northeastern region.

The governor urged his counterparts in other Nigerian states to set aside their political differences for the sake of putting up a united front to rid Nigeria of all criminal elements and actions, especially banditry, warning against the politicizing of security and hunger which, according to him, knows no party, according to The Nation.

Matawalle assured that no ransom was paid in the rescuing of abducted victims in the state, noting that logic and dialogue had always been deployed, according to the report.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was adequately briefed on every security action or measure embraced to secure lives and properties, Matawalle said.

Matawalle went on to express his resolve to back security agencies in Zamfara to win the war against insecurity, saying it is why he decided to operate an open-door policy with the agencies to improve the free flow of communication, according to the report./aa

Portugal has opened an investigation into the mass killing of 540 wild animals – mostly deer and wild boars – thought to be carried out by Spanish hunters. 

The deputy mayor of Azambuja, the district of Lisbon where the hunt took place, told Portuguese broadcaster TVI24 that the animals were in a fenced-off area and had “nowhere to run.”

“What happened was a massacre,” said Silvino Lúcio.

A group of Spaniards who paid as much as €8,000 ($9,745) each to hunt in the area on Dec. 17 and 18 are thought to be behind the mass slaughter.

One of the hunters posted photos of himself and 15 other hunters posing next to the pile of dead animals, triggering outrage across Iberia.

Portuguese Environment Minister João Pedro Matos Fernandes called the hunt “a vile and hateful act” and ordered an investigation to be opened into what he described as an “environmental crime.”

The Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) suspended the Torrebela Tourist Hunting Zone’s license and has launched a probe into what happened.

“There is strong evidence of a crime against the preservation of fauna,” said the organization in a statement.

Portugal’s Environmental Ministry also ordered on Tuesday the “immediate halt” of an environmental impact study of a large solar power plant in the area

Portuguese media suggested that the slaughter may have been related to the green energy project, as it could have been more difficult to get construction approval if there was abundant wildlife in the area.

Yet Matos Fernandes told the media that he did not suspect a link between the slaughter and the solar power plant and was suspending the environmental impact study because the area is clearly home to large animals.

The environment minister also said he would call for the National Hunting Council to review whether Portugal’s laws need to be changed to prevent events like this from happening again.

The European Union has a number of regulations related to hunting, but specific legislation within each EU country differs./aa