reported

May 9 (UPI) — Multiple injuries were reported Saturday in what rescuers called a “mass casualty” event involving a possible boat explosion at a popular Miami sandbar.

First responders to the scene of a possible boat explosion at around 12:45 p.m. “found multiple patients with various injuries, some burned, some minor injuries,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Juan Arias told reporters.

“All patients were treated and transported to local hospitals,” he said, adding that the incident was designated as a “level 2 mass casualty incident, which gives us the sufficient amount of units on scene to go ahead and deal with the number of patients that we had.”

Arias said the injuries were from burns and that some victims suffered “traumatic” injuries.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission personnel also responded to the scene at Haulover Sandbar, a favorite party cruise spot for tourists located in Biscayne Bay north of Bal Harbour, Fla.

Arias did not specify how many people were injured in the incident, but multiple media reports quoted rescuers as saying 11 people were taken to area hospitals.

Witnesses said the injuries were caused by an explosion aboard a boat which knocked several people overboard and left them with burns.

A marina worker told WTVJ-TV the explosion was caused by a gas leak that happened when the boat’s captain turned on the ignition. Another person who was aboard the boat told the broadcaster there were 14 people on the vessel before the explosion.

An investigation into the incident was continuing into Saturday night.

May 3 (UPI) — Two members of the U.S. Army were reported missing during a training event in Morocco on Sunday morning by the United States Africa Command.

The soldiers were participating in the U.S. military’s largest Africa-based exercise, African Lion, when the soldiers went missing on Saturday night during near the Cap Draa Training Area, which is near the city of Tan Tan, Morocco, AFRICOM said in a press release.

Military officials said their disappearance is unrelated to the exercise, but rather than they had gone on a hike near the training range and may have slipped off a cliff into the ocean, The New York Times reported.

“U.S., Moroccan and other assets from African Lion immediately initiated coordinated search and rescue operations, including ground, air and maritime assets,” AFRICOM said in the release.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is on-going,” the command said.

The soldiers were discovered missing during a base-wide head-count around 9 p.m. local time, with helicopters searching throughout the night and various aircraft — including larger planes and drones — picking up the search on Sunday morning near the coast, CBS News reported.

African Lion is an annual joint military exercise that includes the U.S. military, NATO allies and African partner nations, and is hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa.

This year’s event, scheduled to run from April 27 to May 8, includes 5,000 people from 40 countries.

Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Tuareg separatists continue their attacks against Mali’s military government.

Al-Qaeda-linked rebel fighters have reportedly set up checkpoints around Mali’s capital, Bamako, and seized the town of Tessalit in the north.

Reuters reported on Friday that Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has called on Malians to rise up to “bring down the junta”, and adopt Islamic law.

The latest developments come days after a series of attacks by JNIM and Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) resulted in the killing of the country’s defence minister, Sadio Camara.

Videos shared on social media by local accounts on Friday show armed fighters inside the Amachach base in Tessalit, with several military vehicles seen driving around.

Video verified by Reuters shows fighters driving through the town and raising the FLA flag.

Media outlets close to the Azawad armed movement, which seeks the independence of northern Mali, said the scenes show fighters in control of the base following the withdrawal of elements of the army and Russia’s African Corps, according to their description.

Russia is the principal foreign backer of Mali’s military-run government.

JNIM said on Thursday that it had captured the base of Hombori in central Mali and taken over two checkpoints near Bamako, after earlier threatening to completely besiege the city.

Russia’s African Corps said in a statement that the JNIM statement about the abandonment of the Hombori base was “not true”.

It said that its helicopters delivered ammunition and other items to Malian military personnel at a base in Hombori on Thursday, “after which soldiers of the Malian Armed Forces injured in battles with terrorists were evacuated”.

It noted that JNIM and AFL “continue to regroup, conduct reconnaissance of the bases of the units of the African Corps of the Russian Armed Forces and the Malian Army, and propaganda work is actively underway aimed at reducing the morale of the Malian Army”.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Dakar in Senegal, reports that the absence of a response from the Malian military to the rebel advances is surprising, and that four major military camps in the north of the country are now in the hands of armed groups.

“That’s a big development,” Haque said. “It seems that Malian forces are not even putting up a fight up north.”

Mali’s military leaders seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, with a brief period of civilian rule in between. Official authorities are yet to issue a statement on the latest reports at the time of writing.

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday refused to be drawn into a dispute with the United States over reports that the Pentagon is weighing whether to punish members of NATO that fail to support American operations in the Iran war.

Among those in the firing line is Spain, which has refused to allow U.S. forces involved in the war to use bases on its territory or airspace. Spain says that U.S.-Israeli actions in the Iran war contravenes international law.

France and the U.K. also refuse to give U.S. forces free rein to use their territory for the bombing campaign.

The Pentagon is reported to be mulling whether to suspend Spain from NATO, according to an unidentified U.S. official referring to a U.S. Defense Department email, and quoted by the Reuters news agency. The Associated Press hasn’t seen the email or had confirmation of its content. It has asked the Pentagon for comment, but received no immediate response.

“Well, we do not work with emails,” Sánchez told reporters at a European Union summit in Cyprus. “We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States.”

“The position of the government of Spain is clear: absolute collaboration with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality,” he said.

The Trump administration has routinely floated plans or ideas that are neither acted upon nor become policy.

The email also suggested reassessing U.S. support for the United Kingdom’s claim to the Falkland Islands, near Argentina, which are also known as Islas Malvinas.

Dave Pares, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said the U.K. position on the islands is “longstanding and it’s unchanged: Sovereignty rests with the U.K., and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount.”

Pares noted “the Falkland Islands have previously voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining a U.K. overseas territory.”

NATO staying out of the war

NATO operates by consensus, and all 32 member countries must agree for it to act.

The trans-Atlantic alliance’s founding treaty has no mechanism for suspending or ejecting any of the members, although nations may leave of their own accord one year after notifying the other allies. As an organization, NATO has no direct role in the Iran war except to defend its own territory.

Asked for comment, NATO headquarters said: “NATO’s Founding Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership, or expulsion.”

President Trump has been angered by what he sees as the failure of some NATO members to back American actions in the Iran war and to help police the Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route. He has questioned the purpose of U.S. membership in the military organization.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas appeared perplexed by the U.S. criticism, given that the United Kingdom and France are leading an effort to help secure trade in the strait once the war is over.

“When we have had contacts with the American counterparts, then actually their asks for us have been exactly what we are able to offer after the cessation of hostilities,” she said. “Demining, escorting of ships, all of this that we have been discussing.”

But the United States has “long-standing arrangements and agreements with European allies on overflight, on basing” that should be respected, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said, in implicit criticism of some allies like Spain, but also France.

While Spain restricted U.S. military activity related to the Iran war, U.S. warplanes have flown over other NATO allies’ airspace and used U.S. bases in other NATO countries for war-related operations.

Trump has even threatened to cut trade with Spain over its refusal to allow the use of its bases and airspace. More broadly, Spain has also disappointed its allies by failing to commit to spend as much as they plan to do on defense.

Security without the U.S.

As the reality sinks in that the U.S. commitment to NATO and Europe’s security under Trump has waned, the EU leaders debated how best to use European laws to come to each other’s aid should one of them come under attack.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, whose country holds the bloc’s presidency until July, said that the leaders had tasked the European Commission to “prepare a blueprint on how we respond” should a member seek help under Article 42.7 of the EU treaties.

It’s only ever been used once, by France after the Paris terror attacks in 2015.

EU envoys and ministers are set next month to conduct “table-top exercises” to game out how the treaty article might be used, drawing on the bloc’s military capacities, but also other assets not available to NATO, like trade, border and visa policies.

Hadjicostis and Cook write for the Associated Press. Cook reported from Brussels. Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Christina Applegate is speaking out amid reports of an extended hospitalization.

The acclaimed comedy actor, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, has been the subject of regular news coverage in the years since her health first began to decline. TMZ on Thursday reported that she had been hospitalized in Los Angeles for undisclosed reasons, leading her friends and fans to extend messages of support.

“Thank you for the outpouring of love and well wishes,” Applegate said Monday in a social media post seemingly referencing such messages. The post included a photo of the actor’s recently released memoir, “You With the Sad Eyes,” and a coffee mug resting on what appears to be a home parapet.

She continued: “Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”

Several of Applegate’s fellow actors offered support in the comments section, with Cheyenne Jackson writing, “Christina, just in case today’s mail got lost: We the public would like to formally submit that we adore you, support you, and RIDE AT DAWN FOR YOU ALWAYS.”

“Days of Our Lives” star Greg Rikaart echoed his sentiment: “Can’t think of anyone the collective culture roots for more than you.”

Applegate’s representative previously declined to comment on the hospitalization reports, telling Entertainment Weekly that the “Married … With Children” alum has “had a long history of complicated medical conditions that she has been refreshingly open about, as evidenced in her memoir and on her [‘MeSsy’] podcast.”

Applegate in March released “You With the Sad Eyes,” detailing everything from her unstable childhood to her decades-spanning acting career and the health issues that have plagued it.

“This book is not cathartic for me — let’s just go there,” Applegate recently told The Times. “I just needed to dump this s— out somewhere. It’s almost like you guys are now my therapists in the world.”

“There’s going to be really f— horrible s— and then we’re going to have fun stuff — because that’s what my editor told me to have (that’s a joke!) — and crap again,” the “Dead to Me” star said. “That’s my life.”

A maritime agency reported that a tanker was fired on by gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz. The United ⁠Kingdom ⁠Maritime Trade Operations agency says it received a report ⁠of a tanker being fired upon by what it ‌said were two gunboats linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The vessel and ‌its crew were reported safe.