World – Page 2 – Headline Smart

Teen Wrestling Star, 2 Others, Killed in Public Execution

Iran hanged 19-year-old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi and two other young men in Qom early Thursday after courts convicted them in a protest-related killing case, a move rights groups said opened a harsher new phase in the state’s response to January unrest. The executions of Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi were the first known hangings among the tens of thousands of people swept up in the winter crackdown, and they came as the judiciary signaled …

2 Dead, Dozens Missing After Avalanche

An avalanche swept across a high mountain slope in northern Italy on Saturday, killing two ski tourers and injuring five others near the Austrian border as helicopters and rescue teams rushed to a crowded backcountry area above Val Ridanna. The slide quickly became one of the deadliest mountain accidents in Italy this month and added to a winter season that has already brought an unusually high number of avalanche deaths across the Alps. Officials in …

Missing Student Found Dead Near Beachfront

Catalonia police said Friday that James “Jimmy” Gracey, a 20-year-old University of Alabama student from Illinois who disappeared during spring break, likely died in an accident after he was found in the waters off a Barcelona beach. The statement narrowed the public account of a case that drew attention on both sides of the Atlantic after Gracey vanished from one of Barcelona’s busiest nightlife areas early March 17. Police said the evidence now points away …

Influencer May Have Been Buried Alive

Austrian prosecutors said March 18 that new autopsy findings in the killing of influencer Stefanie Pieper leave open the possibility that she was still alive when she was put in a suitcase and buried in a Slovenian forest. The development sharpened the central question in a cross-border homicide case that has gripped Austria since Pieper disappeared after returning home from a Christmas party on Nov. 23. Her ex-boyfriend, identified in public reports as Patrick M., …

At Least 125 Dead, Dozens Missing After Heavy Rains

The death toll from landslides triggered by days of heavy rain in southern Ethiopia rose to 125 on Monday, as officials said more than 11,000 people had been displaced and recovery crews kept searching unstable ground in Gamo Zone. The disaster has widened from a local rescue effort into a major humanitarian emergency in one of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable highland regions. Federal and regional authorities declared a three-day mourning period, lowered flags and promised relief, …

Decorated Pilot Thrown to Death in Balloon Disaster

A 28-year-old hot air balloon pilot died after she was thrown from the basket when the aircraft struck a residential building over central Zielona Góra, leaving two other women injured and opening a criminal and aviation investigation into one of Poland’s most shocking recent ballooning accidents. The pilot, Jagoda Gancarek, died Monday after the balloon she was flying collided with a building during a morning flight over the western Polish city. The crash immediately became …

Influencer Suddenly Dies During Livestream

A Chinese livestream seller known online as “Sister Wang Zha” died after suffering a medical emergency during a clothing broadcast, according to local reports, setting off grief among followers and renewed discussion about the strain of China’s livestream sales economy. Wang Yefei, 39, died March 9 after she became visibly ill during a morning livestream and was taken to a hospital, according to reports summarized by People and VNExpress. Those reports said she died of …

Expert Warn Common Travel Item Had Alarming Bacteria Levels

A lab experiment released by travel provider JRPass found that passports carried far more bacterial growth than other common travel items, with samples from the document testing well above shoes, checked luggage, hand luggage, phones and coats. The finding is getting attention because it flips a familiar travel assumption. Many people worry most about shoes, suitcase wheels or airport trays, but the experiment pointed instead to the item travelers repeatedly hand over at check-in counters, …

Six Die in Fiery Bus Disaster

A regional bus caught fire Tuesday evening on a main road in this western Swiss town, killing six people and injuring five others as police and prosecutors opened an investigation into whether someone on board deliberately started the blaze. The deaths drew immediate national attention because the fire struck an ordinary public transit run in a small town near Bern, not a long-distance coach or an industrial site. Fribourg cantonal police said the bus was …

Cause of Death Revealed for Teen Found on Beach

A Queensland coroner has found that Canadian backpacker Piper James, 19, died from drowning after a dingo attack on K’gari, the island off Australia’s east coast where her body was found Jan. 19 near the Maheno shipwreck. The finding gives the clearest official account yet of a death that drew attention across Australia and Canada because dingoes on K’gari are a protected wild population and a major part of the island’s identity. The ruling also …