Briefly

UNITED STATES

Amtrak train with 198 passengers derails

An Amtrak train carrying nearly 200 passengers struck a county water truck and derailed on Wednesday in Southern California, critically injuring the truck's driver, authorities said. Three of the train's seven cars went off the tracks following the collision in Moorpark, said Ventura County Fire Department Captain Brian McGrath. The derailed train cars remained upright on tracks adjacent to an orchard and bare sections of land. Fourteen people on the train were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, McGrath said.

SAUDI ARABIA

Guard, gunman dead in US consulate incident

The United States State Department confirmed that a shooting incident on Wednesday at the US consulate general in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia resulted in two deaths, including a local security guard and the assailant. "There were two fatalities, including a member of the consulate's local guard force as well as the assailant, who was killed by Saudi security forces," a State Department spokesperson was quoted by a Wall Street Journal reporter as saying.

UNITED KINGDOM

Rwanda asylum plan 'unlawful', court says

The British government's plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda is unlawful, London's Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday in a judgment. Former prime minister Boris Johnson brought in the proposal to try to tackle record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel from northern France by small boats. But it triggered a wave of protests from rights groups and charities, while last-gasp legal challenges successfully blocked the first deportation flights in June last year.

Agencies - Xinhua