Briefly

CENTRAL AMERICA

Weakening storm leaves deadly trail

Hurricane Iota has killed at least eight people as it smashed homes, uprooted trees and swamped roads during its destructive advance across Central America, authorities said on Tuesday. The devastation comes just two weeks after Hurricane Eta devastated parts of the region. Iota left six dead in Nicaragua, two of them children who were trying to cross a river in the southern part of the country. By Tuesday evening, Iota had weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 80 kilometers per hour. The Honduran government ordered the country's main roads closed until Wednesday due to the risk of overflowing rivers.

THAILAND

At least 55 injured in violent protests

At least 55 people were hurt, some with gunshot wounds, when demonstrators marching on the Thai parliament clashed with police and royalist counter-protesters, in the worst violence since a youth-led protest movement emerged in July. Police fired water cannon and tear gas at protesters who cut through razor-wire barricades and removed concrete barriers outside the parliament. The police denied that they had opened fire with live ammunition or rubber bullets, and said they were investigating who might have used firearms. Bangkok's Erawan Medical Center gave the figure on the 55 people hurt. It said at least 32 were suffering from tear gas inhalation and six people had gunshot wounds. It did not say who might have used firearms.

UNITED STATES

Trump cuts troop levels in Afghanistan

President Donald Trump will sharply reduce the number of US forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, stopping short of a threatened full withdrawal from the country's longest war after fierce opposition from allies at home and abroad. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who Trump installed last week after abruptly firing Mark Esper, confirmed the Afghan drawdown and also outlined a modest withdrawal of forces from Iraq to reduce troop levels from 3,000 to 2,500.

SYRIA

3 soldiers killed in Israeli airstrikes

Israeli warplanes struck alleged Iran-linked targets in Syria on Wednesday after troops uncovered roadside bombs along the frontier in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said. Syrian state media said the strikes killed three Syrian soldiers. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Syrian state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying the strikes killed three soldiers, wounded a fourth and caused material damage. The report added that Syrian air defenses shot down some of the Israeli missiles before they hit their targets.

Agencies - Xinhua