reported

Nov. 4 (UPI) — Bomb threats have shut down polling stations throughout New Jersey Tuesday, and officials have moved several to new election sites.

Officials have said the threats, which were sent via email, were not credible.

“Early this morning, law enforcement responded to threats that were received by email involving certain polling places in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Passaic counties,” the state Office of the Attorney General said in a statement Tuesday, NJ.com reported. “Law enforcement officers have responded at each affected polling place, and they have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter. Some of these polling locations have already re-opened to the public. At others, voters will be directed to a nearby polling location to cast their ballot.”

The threats appear to have come from out of the country, said Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, PIX11 reported.

“We are doing everything in our power to protect voters and poll workers and coordinate closely with state, local and federal partners to ensure a smooth and safe election,” said Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who also serves as the New Jersey secretary of state.

The election Tuesday focuses on the New Jersey governor’s race. PIX11 New York said Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli and Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill are tied in polling.

“Voters should continue to have confidence that they can cast their ballot without fear of intimidation, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a free, fair, and secure election,” said State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.

Oct. 8 (UPI) — Flight delays have been reported throughout the United States for a second day due to staffing issues at airports as the government shutdown continues.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association called on its 20,000 members on Tuesday to remain on the job.

“We’re asking America’s air traffic controllers, who get 45,000 U.S. flights safely to their destinations every day, to work without pay,” it said in a statement on X.

“Congress must #EndtheShutdown.”

On its website, it is urging its members that “it is more important than ever that we rise to the occasion and continue delivering the consistent, high-level of public service we provide ever day.”

“We urge you to stand in solidarity with your brothers and sisters by continuing to exhibit the same unwavering professionalism that the aviation community and the American people deserve.”

A ground stop was issued for flights late Tuesday at Nashville International Airport while delays were announced throughout Tuesday evening and day at international airports in Chicago, Boston, Newark, Orlando and Denver.

The staffing shortages come amid a government shutdown that has continued into its second week and on a day when President Donald Trump threatened that some furloughed federal workers would not recieve back pay after Congress agrees to a resolution to fill the federal coffers.

Republicans are blaming Democrats and Democrats are blaming Republicans.

“The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and Jeopardy,” the American president said Tuesday. “For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people There are som people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

In turn, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said: “Thanks, @realDonaldTrump!”

“Burbank Airport has ZERO air traffic controllers from 4:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. today because of YOUR government shutdown.”

On Monday when delays were being announced amid a rising number of controllers calling out sick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged to reporters at Newark that they had seen “a slight tick-up” in sick calls.

“If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” he said.

The government shutdown began Sept. 30 and will continue until Congress passes a stopgap bill.

At least 91 Palestinian people were killed on Saturday in relentless Israeli attacks throughout the Gaza Strip, including at least 45 in Gaza City, as the military intensified its widely criticised ground invasion.

Gaza’s Government Media Office slammed Israel for misleading the Palestinian people with threats to evacuate to the central and southern governorates by portraying them as “safe humanitarian zones”, while continuing to strike those same areas.

According to a statement issued on Saturday, 1,903 people have been killed in 133 attacks on central and southern Gaza since the forced displacement from Gaza City began on August 11, some 46 percent of all reported deaths across the enclave during that period.

The office said that this shows civilians are being directly targeted, despite being told to move south, and called on the international community to intervene, warning that continued global inaction amounts to a “green light” for further massacres.

Reporting from central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that since the early hours of Saturday, Israeli attacks have increased in Gaza City and more casualties have been arriving at al-Shifa Hospital.

“Just in the past few minutes, we had confirmation of a family evacuating on a road inside a vehicle when it was struck by a drone missile. Four people were reported killed on the spot,” he said.

“Hundreds of others have been on the move as Israeli drones and fighter jets chase them from one place to another,” he added.

Hospitals attacked

Some hospitals in Gaza City have shut down as Israeli attacks escalate, with plans to seize the city and displace more people each day.

Earlier on Saturday, people in one of the city’s main hospitals, the Jordan Field Hospital, were forced to evacuate all 107 patients and their entire staff after facing heavy bombardment.

Hospitals in Gaza have long been on the brink of collapse amid relentless Israeli strikes. Most are operating in horrific conditions, unable to provide even basic medical supplies, such as anaesthesia and antibiotics, while the doctors, who are going hungry themselves, struggle to treat starving patients.

The few hospitals still partially functioning in central Gaza have become overwhelmed with wounded and sick people fleeing bombardment in the north. Many arrive in need of urgent medical care that cannot be provided.

“Displacement has worsened the situation inside hospitals in the south,” a displaced Palestinian told Al Jazeera. “Now you can see that instead of one patient in one bed, medical staff tried to fit two patients in one bed.”

Dr Khalil Digran, who works at Al-Aqsa Hospital, said that Israeli forces deliberately attacked al-Rantisi Paediatric Hospital in Gaza City, the Strip’s only specialised medical facility for children.

“Gaza City and the north are left with just two health facilities that are barely functioning: al-Shifa and al-Ahli Hospital,” Digran told Al Jazeera.

“As for the remaining health facilities in central and southern Gaza, Israeli actions are already adding more pressure on these facilities and threatening to bring their service to a total halt.”

Mohammad Khoudary, a displaced Palestinian, told Al Jazeera: “Ever since we became displaced, my father has been impacted and has become very sad.

“This has affected his health; he has become dehydrated. I am hoping they will be able to transfer him to Al-Aqsa Hospital.”

Hamas says has not seen ceasefire plan

Meanwhile, on the global stage, protests calling for a ceasefire took place Saturday in Berlin, Germany, Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Hamas has said that it has not received United States President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, even as Trump this week repeatedly expressed optimism that a deal is close.

In comments to reporters on Friday, Trump said, “It’s looking like we have a deal on Gaza.” He offered no details and gave no timetable. Israel has not yet made any public response to Trump’s comments.

A Hamas official who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity said the Palestinian group “has not been presented with any plan”.

Trump is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, whose hard-right governing coalition is opposed to ending the Gaza war until Hamas is destroyed.

No official word yet on the killing of 24 people, including 14 fighters, in tribal area as opposition blames the military for explosions.

At least 24 people, including children, have been killed in explosions in a remote area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, triggering calls for an investigation into the incident.

A local police official said bomb-making material allegedly stored at a compound run by Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, exploded in the Tirah Valley region early on Monday, killing fighters and civilians.

But many local opposition figures and other authorities accused the Pakistani military of carrying out night-time air raids as part of a “counterterror operation” to take out fighters in mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan.

An official statement has yet to be released by the Pakistani government or armed forces.

Local police officer Zafar Khan was quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency that at least 10 civilians, including women and children, were killed, along with at least 14 fighters, two of whom were TTP commanders.

Security forces are carrying out operations against the Pakistan Taliban in Khyber, Bajaur and other parts of the northwest. The outlawed group has been waging an armed rebellion against Pakistan’s government since its emergence in 2007. It is different from the Taliban that has been in power in Afghanistan, though the organisations have common ideological roots.

‘An attack on unarmed civilians’

Iqbal Afridi – an opposition member of the National Assembly whose constituency covers Tirah, which sits near the border with Afghanistan – told the AFP news agency that warplanes of Pakistani forces conducted air strikes that caused the explosions.

Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly on Monday afternoon, lawmaker Sohail Khan Afridi also blamed the military for the attack.

“This assault by the security forces is nothing less than an attack on unarmed civilians,” he said.

Both politicians are members of the party led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which governs the province.

Babar Saleem Swati, the provincial assembly speaker, wrote in a post on X that civilians were killed and homes were destroyed “due to bombardment by jet aircraft” and said this will have negative consequences for the future of the country.

“When the blood of our own people is made so cheap and bombs are dropped on them, it is a fire that can engulf everyone,” Swati said, calling on federal and provincial governments to conduct a transparent investigation and compensate affected families.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent monitor, said it was “deeply shocked” to learn that children and civilians were killed in the attack.

“We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible. The state is constitutionally bound to protect all civilians’ right to life, which it has repeatedly failed to secure,” it said in a statement.

Aug. 24 (UPI) — Police descended upon Pennsylvania’s Villanova University on Sunday in response to reports of an active shooter on campus, making it the second time in less than a week that a hoax attack has been reported at the private Catholic school.

The Radnor Township Police Department said officers were responding to reports of an active shooter at the university’s Austin Hall.

“Law enforcement has confirmed that call to be false,” it said in a statement published on X at about 11:40 a.m. EDT.

“Officers are working to clear the campus and restore normal operations. At this time, the investigation is ongoing.”

Monday is the start of classes for the fall semester of the 2025-26 academic year at Villanova University, where about 10,000 students, including 6,700 full-time undergraduate students, attend. Villanova is a Philadelphia suburb.

Kathleen Byrnes, vice president of student life at the school, has announced in a letter that Sunday evening’s Mass and Commissioning has been canceled “given the whirlwind of emotions over these last few days.”

“With all that has transpired on campus in recent days, we feel our first-year students are best served by an evening with time to pause before classes start tomorrow,” Byrnes said.

“For our new students: Please take this evening to relax, talk with new friends and get a good night’s sleep — all of which will help you feel prepared for your first day of college tomorrow.”

The first false call of an active shooter on campus occurred Thursday late afternoon. Students were warned at about 4:30 p.m. to shelter in place. The shooter was reported to have been at the university’s law school.

University President Peter Donohue announced the Thursday active shooter report was a “cruel hoax.”

In a letter to students Sunday following the second false report, Donohue said he wished he had more answers for them.

“I do not know why this is happening, but I assure you the authorities are working tirelessly to find out who is behind these calls,” he said.

“I know it may not seem like it after the past couple of days, but I assure you that campus is safe, and there is no evidence of a legitimate threat to our community.”

Aug. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. Navy reported a fire aboard the amphibious docking ship USS New Orleans on Thursday. It was anchored near White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa, Japan.

U.S. Navy crews and Japanese Coast Guard crews extinguished the fire about 4 a.m. Japan Standard Time, the Navy’s 7th Fleet said. The blaze began at about 4 p.m.Wednesday, and the cause is under investigation.

The crew of the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego helped New Orleans sailors fight the fire. The San Diego is moored at White Beach.

Two sailors suffered minor injuries and were treated aboard the New Orleans.

The New Orleans crew will stay aboard the ship, the Navy said.

The fire could further hurt the availability of amphibious warships while the Navy is struggling with readiness issues within the fleet, the Navy Times said. The readiness rate of amphibious ships critical to Marine missions has dropped to 41%, a defense official told Military Times earlier this week.

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office in 2024 found that half of the U.S. Navy’s 32 amphibious warfare ships were in poor material condition.

The New Orleans collided with submarine USS Hartford in the Strait of Hormuz in 2009.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — U.S. border officials in Michigan stumbled on multiple discoveries of likely disease-ridden African bushmeat within a week’s time.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents found two different passengers twice within a week in late July at Michigan’s Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Both the unidentified were from Togo and Gabon, respectively.

“These recent bushmeat interceptions are significant in bringing attention to the illegal importation of bushmeat through our ports of entry,” Detroit Metropolitan’s Port Director Fadia Pastilong said in a statement.

Bushmeat refers to wild animals often in the form of bats, non-human primates and cane rats from certain regions that, according to U.S. health officials, pose “significant communicable disease risk.”

The border agency pointed specifically to how the incidents showcase how it works with partner agencies to prevent disease outbreaks.

Border officials in Detroit added that while rodent-type bushmeat finds were sporadic as it is, the recently-located primate interceptions, they said, were “much rarer.”

“We routinely find various agriculture items and oddities,” stated Marty C. Raybon, Detroit’s director of field operations.

The Togan native from west Africa carried around 11 ponds of rodent meat. However, both travelers also had undeclared so-called “agriculture items.”

Raybon noted other similar finds include live giant snails, animal skulls and other “exotic food items.”

The unnamed traveler from central Africa in Gabon only two days later yielded some 52 pounds primate meat falsely declared as antelope.

Bushmeat is considered a cultural delicacy in parts of Africa and often consumed raw with minimal processing.

U.S. officials noted how the tradition also expands risk of disease spreading.

“Ebola, mpox, and other emerging diseases can have catastrophic consequences if they enter human populations,” they stated.

They added it’s also illegal to import bushmeat into the Untied States.

Last year in February a CBP K9 beagle agent named Buddey sniffed out dehydrated monkey remains from the Democratic Republic of Congo at Boston’s Logan Airport the traveler claimed was “dried fish.”

The illegal African bushmeat ultimately was turned over to CDC specialists for final disposition.

Meanwhile, the two unidentified African traveler were fined $300 each for the “undeclared agriculture items” in their attempt to bring their native “bushmeat” to U.S. shores.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — An explosion occurred Monday evening aboard a 751-foot bulk carrier in Baltimore’s Patapsco River, near where the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March 2024.

The explosion was reported to the Baltimore City Fire Department at around 6:30 p.m. EDT, the fire department said in a statement. Officials have identified the craft as the W. Sapphire, which, according to marine traffic website MarineTraffic.com, is a Liberia-flagged Class A bulk carrier that was to depart Baltimore, Md., shortly before 6 p.m. Its destination was Port Louis in the East African nation of Mauritius.

Unverified video of the incident published online shows an explosion on the vessel ejected a large fireball into the air. Once the smoke cleared, a fire on deck could be seen.

The Baltimore fire department said the vessel sustained damage “consistent with a fire and explosion.” It remained afloat and was being assisted by tugboats.

All 23 people onboard the vessel when the explosion occurred have been accounted for and were uninjured, officials said.

“Fireboats remain on scene as the Coast Guard and other agencies begin their investigation,” the Baltimore City Fire Department said. “The vessel will be moved to a designated anchorage area and held there until cleared by the Coast Guard.”

UPI has contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for comment.

The Maryland Department of Emergency Management said in a statement online that it is “aware of the cargo ship fire” and is “monitoring.”

“At this time, there are no reports of injuries or property damaged beyond the ship,” it said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore similarly said his office is closely monitoring the situation.

“State agencies are responding to the situation near Baltimore Harbor,” he said in a statement. “My office is in touch with local and federal authorities.”

The incident occurred not far from where about 510 days ago the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the Patapsco River collapsed after a commercial vessel, the MV Dali, crashed into it.

The Port of Baltimore is crucial to the economy of not only Baltimore and Maryland, but also the United States, with 45.9 million tons of international cargo with a value of $62.2 billion transiting through it in 2024, the second highest on record.

The collapse blocked the port, resulting in its 11-week closure.

Nottingham Forest have signed Rennes striker Arnaud Kalimuendo on a five-year contract for a reported £26m.

Frenchman Kalimuendo, 23, scored 18 goals in 34 appearances last season as Rennes finished 12th in Ligue 1.

Forest had already spent about £144m on six players in the summer transfer window before making this signing.

Over the weekend, they also bought winger Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich Town for £37.5m and spent close to £30m on Manchester City midfielder James McAtee.

This came after manager Nuno Espirito Santo had questioned the club’s transfer process on Friday, feeling his squad is ill-equipped to handle a European campaign.

Forest comfortably beat Brentford 3-1 at the City Ground in their opening Premier League game of the season on Sunday.

Kalimuendo joins Botafogo striker Igor Jesus as competition and support for forward Chris Wood in Espirito Santo’s side. Brazil international Jesus, 24, was bought for a reported £10m fee in July.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — A train, seemingly transporting hazardous materials, has derailed in north-central Texas, according to responders who say no injuries have been reported.

The incident occurred at about 2 p.m. CDT Tuesday in Palo Pinto County, home to about 30,000 people and located 100 miles west of Dallas.

At least 30 rail cars of the train derailed in the incident, which prompted the deployment of multiple local and federal responders, including hazmat officials with train operator Union Pacific Railroad, Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District 1 said in a statement.

Officials said there have been no confirmed leaks of hazardous materials from the cars, though it was unclear what hazardous materials they contained.

“All personnel have been accounted for, and no injuries have been reported,” Palo Pinto County EMSD1 said. “The situation is currently stable, but not yet fully controlled.

As of 9 p.m. CDT, fire crews were continuing to extinguish small grass fires ignited by the derailment. Union Pacific was on scene with equipment and cranes, preparing to move the rail cars off that track, officials said, adding that the scene will remain active for several days.

Officials are urging residents to avoid the area.

The cause of the derailment was unclear.

At least 10 more Palestinians have starved to death in the besieged Gaza Strip, health officials say, as a wave of hunger crashes over the enclave.

The latest starvation deaths bring the death toll from malnutrition since Israel’s war began in October 2023 to 111, most of them in recent weeks.

At least 100 other Palestinians, including 34 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that 21 children under the age of five were among those who died of malnutrition so far this year. It said it had been unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days, between March and May, and that a resumption of food deliveries was still far below what is needed.

In a statement, 111 organisations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Refugees International, said that “mass starvation” was spreading even as tonnes of food, clean water and medical supplies sit untouched just outside Gaza, where aid groups are blocked from accessing them.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that “hunger has become as deadly as the bombs. Families are no longer asking for enough, they are asking for anything”.

He said that Gaza residents have described “a slow, painful death playing out in real time, an engineered famine that the Israeli military has orchestrated”.

Israel cut off all goods from entering the territory in March, but has allowed in a trickle of aid starting in May, mostly distributed by the controversial United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

The United Nations and aid groups trying to deliver food to Gaza say Israel, which controls everything that comes in and out, is choking delivery, while Israeli troops have shot dead hundreds of Palestinians close to aid distribution points since May.

“We have a minimum set of requirements to be able to operate inside Gaza,” Ross Smith, the director of emergencies at the UN World Food Programme, said. “One of the most important things I want to emphasise is that we need to have no armed actors near our distribution points, near our convoys.”

Recurring attacks on aid seekers have turned the few remaining hospitals in Gaza “into massive trauma wards”, Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, said.

The food scarcity is so extreme that people cannot do their work, including journalists, teachers and even their own staff, Peeperkorn added.

Nour Sharaf, an American doctor from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, also warned that people “haven’t eaten anything for days and are dying of hunger”.

“Doctors sometimes don’t get food, but they still do their jobs,” she told Al Jazeera, adding that medical workers often work long hours.

Two more journalists killed

Israeli strikes have continued to pound various parts of the enclave, including Gaza City, where the Israeli army said it was “intensifying operations”.

The area has come under intense bombardment in recent days.

Gaza’s Government Media Office also announced the Israeli killing of two Palestinian journalists, Tamer al-Za’anin and Walaa al-Jabari, raising the number of media workers killed in the enclave since October 2023 to 231.

The statement said that al-Za’anin was a photojournalist with various media organisations, while al-Jabari worked as a newspaper editor with several media outlets.

Meanwhile, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Europe for “very sensitive negotiations” over a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal, the White House said.

During the visit, Witkoff “will meet with key leaders from the Middle East to discuss the ongoing ceasefire proposal to end this conflict in Gaza and to release the hostages”, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Talks on a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which would include the release of more of the 50 captives still being held in Gaza, are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with Washington’s backing.

A Palestinian official close to the Gaza ceasefire talks and the mediation efforts said that Hamas had handed its response on the ceasefire proposal to mediators, declining to elaborate further.

Successive rounds of negotiations have achieved no breakthrough since Israel broke a ceasefire in March.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told soldiers during a visit to Gaza that “intensive negotiations” about returning the captives held there were under way and that he hoped that they would soon “hear good news”, according to a statement.

A senior Palestinian official earlier said that Hamas might give mediators a response to the latest proposals in Doha later on Wednesday, on the condition that amendments be made to two major sticking points: details on an Israeli military withdrawal and how to distribute aid during a truce.

July 16 (UPI) — A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Alaska on Wednesday and a tsunami warning was canceled two hours later for the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island.

The quake struck at 12:37 p.m. local time at a depth of 12.5 miles about 54 miles south of Sand Point, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake was felt throughout the Alaska Peninsula and southern Alaska, the Alaska Earthquake Center said. Anchorage, the state’s capital, is about 557 miles from the quake center.

The Alaska Earthquake Center reported about 30 aftershocks in two hours after the earthquake. The largest one was magnitude 5.2.

Dave Snider, a tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center, told KTUU-TV because it happened in shallow water they were “not expecting a large event.”

The National Weather Service in Anchorage, Alaska, first issued a tsunami warning right after the quake, then it was downgraded and lifed at 2:43 p.m. Warnings were sounded in Sand Point, Cold Bay and Kodiak.

The Kodiak Emergency Operations Center reported a 6-inch wave that was confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard.

State Seismologist Michael West told KTUU-TV that activity is common after an earthquake and aftershocks can be expected in the “coming days, weeks and even months.”

The area is part of Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

“This is the fifth earthquake exceeding magnitude 7.0 in a very small stretch of the Aleutians, just a couple hundred kilometers, since 2020,” West said. “Clearly, something is going on.”

Coronation Street viewers think they know who reported Maria Connor to the police after a showdown with Lou Michaelis, with someone close to home tipped to be to blame

There was drama on Coronation Street on Friday night, as a showdown between Maria Connor and Lou Michaelis ended with an arrest.

Maria was horrified when the police came to take her away, with her accused of actual bodily harm. She’d been caught up in a fight with Lou after spotting her trying to steal from Shona Platt.

Her attempt to stop her led to Lou taking a tumble, slamming into a coffee table. As the camera panned back to her she was laying on the floor covered in blood and cuts, with glass everywhere.

She accused Maria of pushing her on purpose, telling the others she had been attacked. As Maria’s partner Gary Windass helped Lou onto her feet, Maria claimed it was an accident and that while she did grab Lou, Lou had tripped over.

With Maria not being believed by some of her neighbours, Gary headed to the hospital with Lou while he begged her not to get the police involved. Gary made it clear he didn’t think it was an accident, telling Maria she needed to apologise.

READ MORE: Coronation Street Lisa’s true intentions for ‘corrupt’ Kit as star teases drama ahead

Maria then accused him of getting too close to Lou, with fans also predicting Lou was trying to get closer to Gary. Gary claimed she was lying about Lou trying to steal money, and also lying about what really happened.

She accused him of fancying her and it led to a row. Things got awkward later on, with Sarah Platt backing Maria and agreeing with her side of the story.

It wasn’t enough though as the police entered the pub and arrested her. But while the obvious culprit behind the report was Lou herself, fans were not convinced.

With upcoming spoilers suggesting Lou denies being involved, fans think they know who really told the police – with an affair plot sealed. Viewers suggested it was Gary behind the call after her refusal to own up and apologise.

They think Gary wants Maria out of the way so he can embark on a romance with Lou. Taking to X, one fan suggested: “Gotta be Gary turning Maria in! Lou doesn’t wanna deal with all that, but Gary’s getting so fed up.”

Another fan agreed: “It definitely wasn’t Lou, it was either Gary because he’s sick of it or someone trying to make it look like it was Lou.” A third viewer posted: “Does anyone else think it was Gary who reported Maria to the police? Is he going to have an affair with Lou?”

A further post read: “Maybe he just wanted Maria out the way,” as another fan commented: “Wtf has Gary dobbed Maria to the rozzers?” As for the affair, one fan suggested: “I’m here for Gary and Lou!” as another fan commented: “Gary and Lou affair impending.”

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

May 29 (UPI) — Hungry Gazans broke into an aid warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, which caused two reported deaths, according to officials with the U.N. World Food Program.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” the WFP said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

“Humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade of all food assistance and other aid into Gaza,” the WFP said.

The agency said “alarming and deteriorating conditions” in Gaza and a limited availability of humanitarian aid to “hungry people in desperate need of assistance” have increased risks associated with aid distribution.

“Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance,” the WFP said. “This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve.”

The WFP said initial reports indicate two died and several more were injured, but those reports were not confirmed as of Wednesday night.

Another 121 trucks owned by the United Nations and international organizations carrying flour, food and other aid entered Gaza on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Wednesday’s warehouse incident occurred after Gazans overwhelmed two aid distribution sites in southern Gaza on Tuesday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported three Gazans were killed, 46 injured and seven others were missing after Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots into the air as crowds of hungry Gazans swarmed over one of the aid distribution sites, NBC News reported.

The U.N. Human Rights Office said 47 people were injured during Tuesday’s aid-distribution chaos and gunfire from Israel Defense Forces caused most of the injuries.

IDF and Gaza Humanitarian Foundation officials initially denied the reports and said no one was injured or killed during the first three days of food and aid distribution.

IDF soldiers fired into the air and did not shoot towards people, an IDF spokesperson told the BBC. The IDF is investigating the incident.

They said the GHF and IDF are preventing Hamas militants from stealing the aid from four distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, which Hamas has denied, the BBC reported.

The U.S.-supported GHF is in charge of distributing aid within Gaza after Israel ended an 11-week blockade of all aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip after a recent cease-fire deal collapsed.

At least four distribution points in southern Gaza are being used to deliver aid to Gazans, and more distribution sites are to be added, NBC News reported.

Suicide bomber targets queue of young recruits registering at a military base in the capital.

Several people have been reported killed in a suicide bomb attack at an army recruitment centre in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

The attacker on Sunday targeted a queue of young recruits lining up outside Damanyo base, killing at least 10 people, Reuters news agency quoted witnesses as saying.

Teenagers were lining up at the base’s gate when the suicide bomber detonated their explosives, they said.

Abdisalan Mohamed, said he had seen “hundreds of teenagers at the gate as we passed by in a bus”.

“Abruptly, a deafening blast occurred, and the area was covered by dense smoke. We could not see the details of casualties,” he added.

A military captain who gave his name as Suleiman described the attack as he had seen it unfold.

“I was on the other side of the road. A speeding tuk-tuk stopped, a man alighted, ran into the queue, and then blew himself up. I saw 10 people dead, including recruits and passers-by. The death toll may rise,” he told Reuters news agency.

Dozens of abandoned shoes and the remains of the suicide bomber remain visible at the scene.

Medical staff at the military hospital told Reuters that they had received 30 wounded people from the blast and that six of them had died immediately.

Separately, an official told Anadolu the attack had killed at least 11 people.

The government has cordoned off the entire area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the attack echoed a similar incident in 2023 when a suicide bomber killed 25 soldiers at the Jale Siyad base, located opposite the Damanyo facility.

Sunday’s attack also follows the assassination on Saturday of Colonel Abdirahmaan Hujaale, commander of battalion 26, in the Hiiran region, amid local reports of al-Shabab armed group’s infiltration into government and security forces.

Al-Shabab has been fighting the Somali government for nearly two decades and frequently targets government officials and military personnel.