Greek flood kills 2 people; many rescued
ATHENS, Greece -- A storm pounded parts of central Greece, creating flooding Saturday that killed two people, left one missing and forced emergency workers to rescue more than 600 people.
Authorities identified the two victims as an elderly woman found dead in her flooded home in the region of Thessaly and a 63-year-old shepherd swept away by rising floodwaters. They also said a woman who is missing ignored instructions by firefighters and police not to drive into an area where a bridge spans a river.
The country's firefighting service said Saturday that it had fielded almost 2,500 calls from trapped residents in central and western Greece or about removing fallen trees that were blocking roads.
Greece's train operator, Trainose, said service linking southern and northern Greece was suspended.
Water from a river that burst its banks damaged at least two bridges and several buildings, including the local health center in the Thessaly town of Mouzaki, which collapsed. Parts of the stricken area were without electricity.
The storm was projected to move on to the Greek islands, including Crete.
Iran vows to avenge killing of general
TEHRAN, Iran -- The chief of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Saturday to go after everyone who had a role in a top general's January killing during a U.S. drone strike in Iraq.
The guard's website quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying, "Mr. Trump! Our revenge for martyrdom of our great general is obvious, serious and real."
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President Donald Trump warned this week that Washington would harshly respond to any Iranian attempts to take revenge for the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, tweeting that "if they hit us in any way, any form, written instructions already done we're going to hit them 1000 times harder."
The president's warning came in response to a report that Iran was plotting to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to South Africa in retaliation for Soleimani's killing at Baghdad's airport at the beginning of the year.
"We took out the world's number one terrorist and the mass murderer of American troops and many, many troops and many people all over the world," Trump said. "Qasem Soleimani is dead. He's dead. Bad guy. Bad guy. Very bad guy."
Salami rejected the report of an Iranian plot to assassinate Ambassador Lana Marks, but made clear that Iran intends to avenge the general's death.
"Do you think we hit a female ambassador in return to our martyred brother?' the general said. "We will hit those who had direct and indirect roles. You should know that everybody who had role in the event will be hit, and this is a serious message. We do prove everything in practice."
Moroccans protest pacts with Israel
RABAT, Morocco -- Despite a government ban on large gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, scores of demonstrators protested outside the Moroccan Parliament to denounce Arab countries agreeing to normalize ties with Israel.
Israel on Tuesday signed historic diplomatic pacts with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in a U.S.-brokered deal. Morocco was reported to be among other Arab countries considering a similar move, though the prime minister rejected the idea last month.
Protesters in Morocco's capital of Rabat on Friday waved Palestinian flags, decrying the deals as "treason" and chanting "Palestine is not for sale."
The Palestinians view the pacts as a stab in the back from their fellow Arabs in the Gulf and a betrayal of their cause for a Palestinian state. Israel and Bahrain's agreements have been condemned by many across the Arab world.
The protesters in Rabat also burned a mock Israeli flag. Dozens of police officers watched the scene from a distance.
8 arrested in gas blast in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Eight people have been arrested in connection with a deadly gas explosion in a mosque outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka this month, investigators said Saturday.
Four engineers and four other officials employed by the state-run gas distribution company, Titas, were arrested on charges of negligence that caused the explosion and the loss of 33 lives, police spokesman Mainul Hasasn said.
"They will face custodial interrogation for two days," said Zishanul Haque, an officer at the police criminal investigation department.
The explosion occurred Sept. 4 toward the end of evening prayers at the Baitus Salat Jame mosque in Narayanganj district, 15 miles south of Dhaka.
That night, 37 people suffered severe injuries and were taken to Dhaka's specialist burn and plastic surgery institute, hospital officials said.
Most died of their injuries. Only one person returned home, while three are still being treated, Shamanto Lal Sen, head of the institute, told reporters.
A panel of investigators found gas from an underground pipe that was leaking had accumulated in the mosque, where the doors and windows were sealed, and that an electric spark might have caused the explosion.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports