Group: 38 girls, young women die in crash

Group: 38 girls, young women die in crash

JOHANNESBURG

At least 38 girls and young women were killed in a crash while traveling to Swaziland’s most-famous traditional festival, a rights group said Saturday.

An additional 20 others were injured when the truck they were in collided with another vehicle Friday, the Swaziland Solidarity Network said. Members of the Swaziland Defense Force alerted the rights group to the accident and gave the number of deaths, said Lucky Lukhele, the solidarity network’s spokesman.

The young women and girls were traveling on the back of an open truck, the rights group said. The girls and young women were on their way to the Swazi king’s royal residence for the annual reed dance.

Turkish warplanes hit 7 IS targets

ISTANBUL

Turkish warplanes struck seven Islamic State targets north of Aleppo, Syria, in the first Turkish contribution to a U.S.-led coalition to weaken the Islamic militant group’s grasp on much of eastern Syria, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

“Our jets started last night to carry out air operations with coalition forces against IS targets in Syria which pose a threat to our security, too,” the ministry said Saturday.

The U.S. and Turkey have been trying to agree over the past few weeks on the scope of Turkey’s participation in a multinational coalition that has been bombing Islamic State in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.

4 under arrest in deaths of 71 migrants

KECSKEMET, Hungary

Four men suspected of being involved in the deaths of 71 migrants found in a truck in Austria were placed under preliminary arrest on Saturday by a Hungarian court. The preliminary arrests will be in place until the suspects are indicted or Sept. 29, at the latest, said Ferenc Bicskei, president of the Kecskemet Court.

The court agreed with prosecutors that the severity of the crime and the risk that the suspects would flee justified their arrest. Bicskei said the four suspects appealed the decision.

The refrigerated truck with the dead migrants was found Thursday in the safety lane of the main Budapest-to-Vienna highway.

Court sentences 3 Al-Jazeera journalists

CAIRO

An Egyptian court sentenced three Al-Jazeera English journalists to three years in prison Saturday for broadcasting “false news,” sparking an international outcry and underlining how authorities are trampling over free speech just over a year into general-turned-politician Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s presidency.

The men are seeking a pardon from el-Sissi, who has personally expressed regret over the long-running trial and the damage it has done to Egypt’s international reputation – saying it would have been better to simply deport the journalists. Al Jazeera said it will also appeal the verdict, once the court releases its full ruling in the next 30 days.

Erika dissipates as Dominica digs out

ROSEAU, Dominica

Rescue crews jumped off boats and trudged through mud, rocks and uprooted trees Saturday to reach communities cut off by a tropical storm that killed at least 20 people and left nearly 50 missing on the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica.

Volunteers helped carry food, water and clothes for Dominicans who have been isolated for up to three days after Tropical Storm Erika dumped 15 inches of rain on the island.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit pleaded for international aid, saying the damage pushed Dominica back by two decades. He warned of more rain in upcoming days.

Combined dispatches