Organizers said Friday that two Sydney to Hobart sailors have died at sea amid wild weather conditions that forced line honors favorite Master Lock Comanche to withdraw among mass retirements.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, which administers the yacht race, has said that one sailor each on entrants Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline were killed after being struck by the boom, a large horizontal pole at the bottom of the sail.

The race will continue as the fleet continues its passage to Constitution Dock in Hobart, with the first boats expected to arrive later on Friday or early Saturday morning. The race is 628 nautical miles (722 miles, 1,160 kilometers) long.

David Jacobs, vice-commodore of the CYCA, said the race would “absolutely” continue.

“The conditions are challenging, but they’re not excessive,” he said. “So we’ve got sort of winds at about 25 knots coming from the north seas around about two meters or thereabouts, so the conditions that most of the sailors would normally easily handle.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the sailors who died.

“We have sadly awoken to tragedy in the Sydney to Hobart with the awful news two sailors have lost their lives,” he said. “Our thoughts are with the crews, their families and loved ones at this deeply sad time.”

The incident aboard Flying Fish Arctos occurred around 30 nautical miles east-southeast of Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast. Crew members attempted CPR but could not revive their teammate.

The crew member aboard Bowline was struck approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of Batemans Bay and fell unconscious, with CPR also unsuccessful.

A police vessel was escorting Bowline to Batemans Bay, where she is expected to arrive later Friday morning.

“As these incidents are being dealt with by the Water Police and all family members are yet to be contacted, we cannot provide further details at this stage,” the CYCA said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased.”

Flying Fish Arctos, a New South Wales-based 50-footer, has contested 17 previous Hobarts since being built in 2001. The boat was designed for round-the-world sailing and is currently used by Flying Fish, a sailing school that operates in Mosman, a suburb on Sydney’s north shore.

The deaths come 26 years after six sailors were killed in storms during the 1998 running of the race, which triggered a state coronial inquest and mass reforms to the safety protocols that govern the race.

The first all-Filipino crew of 15 sailors was entered in the 2024 race, but was among about 15 retirements because of the weather. With veteran sailor Ernesto Echauz at the helm, Centennial 7 was one of six international entrants and includes sailors from the Philippines’ national team and the Philippines navy.

Last year, LawConnect won line honors after holding off defending champion Comanche by less than a minute in an exciting finish between the super maxis. LawConnect, which was runner-up in the last three editions of the race, finished in 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes, 58 seconds. Comanche’s time was 1 day, 19 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds – a margin of just 51 seconds.

It was the second-closest finish in Sydney to Hobart history after Condor of Bermuda beat Apollo by seven seconds in 1982.

Comanche holds the race record of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds, set when it won in 2017.

LawConnect, which led out of Sydney Harbor, was leading the 2024 race but still had 400 nautical miles before reaching Hobart, indicating a finish overnight Friday night. Celestial V70 is in second place, about 10 nautical miles behind LawConnect.

Staff at a hospital in northern Gaza say the building has been surrounded by Israeli forces and they are being ordered to evacuate along with all patients, after reports of a nearby airstrike that the local health ministry said killed about 50 people.

Israeli forces “are besieging Kamal Adwan Hospital and issuing orders for its evacuation,” hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya said in a post on social media early on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, a video shared by nurse Walid Al Budi, who is also inside the hospital, showed a fire burning in the archive department of the hospital. Heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.

The hospital and its surroundings have come under an onslaught of Israeli attacks in recent months, Dr. Abu Safiya has said. Late on Thursday, about 50 people, including five medical workers, were killed after Israeli strikes nearby, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza and Dr. Abu Safiya.

“There are approximately 50 martyrs, including three of our medical staff, under the rubble of a building opposite Kamal Adwan Hospital after an airstrike by the occupying forces,” said Dr. Abu Safiya said.

Among the three hospital workers killed was paediatrician Dr. Ahmed Samour, who was on duty on Thursday but went to the building opposite the hospital – where he and his family live – when the strike hit, said Dr. Abu Safiya. A lab technician and a maintenance worker were also killed.

Two paramedics were killed in a strike near the hospital while on their way there, the director said. “Their bodies remain in the street where no one can reach them,” he added.

“The number of casualties reported in the media does not align with the information held” by the Israeli military, it said.

Israeli forces launched a renewed aerial and ground incursion in several parts of northern Gaza in early October this year, saying they were targeting a resurgent Hamas presence there. The two-month onslaught has razed streets to carpets of debris, killed entire families, and severely depleted food, water and medical stocks.

Earlier on Thursday a Palestinian nurse was left fighting for his life with a fractured skull after Israeli forces detonated a robot in front of the hospital, the Ministry of Health in the enclave said.

Israel says that Hamas operates inside and underneath hospitals, and is using them for military operations, including as command centers, weapons stores and to hide hostages. The Israelis have released footage they say is evidence of those Hamas operations. The videos do not offer definitive proof, and Hamas has denied the claims.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said that Israeli authorities have repeatedly denied humanitarian access to Kamal Adwan Hospital and just this week said that a request to deploy and international emergency medical teams was denied by Israeli authorities, “despite the need for immediate surgical interventions for injured patients.”

Israeli organization Physicians for Human Rights has filed an urgent petition with Israel’s Hight Court “demanding an immediate cessation of ongoing attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza,” a statement from the organization said on Wednesday.

The “petition presents grave evidence of the catastrophic impact on the hospital and its staff over the past year,” the statement says.

“Evacuating Kamal Adwan Hospital would abandon thousands of residents in northern Gaza without access to medical treatment for the sick and injured. Many of the patients currently receiving care cannot be safely evacuated due to constant gunfire in the vicinity and the military’s restrictions on ambulance operations,” the Israeli human rights organization added.

Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this report

Taiwan’s presidential office held a “tabletop” exercise on Thursday simulating military escalations by China, a first-of-its-kind drill involving government agencies beyond the armed forces that highlights Taipei’s urgency in ensuring preparedness against an increasingly assertive Beijing.

The simulation involved central and local government units and civil groups, and was aimed at testing governmental responses to various scenarios if cross-strait tensions were to escalate further, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday evening.

“We conducted a tabletop exercise to verify the level of preparedness of each government agency in responding to extreme scenarios,” Lai said. “We believe that as long as the government and society are prepared, we can adequately respond to different threats – including natural disasters and authoritarian expansionism.”

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its own territory, despite having never controlled it, and has not ruled out taking the island by force.

Taiwan has seen a surge of Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait and the Western Pacific in recent months with more Chinese naval and coast guard vessels moving in regional waters, and increases in Chinese aircraft operating around the island.

Earlier this month, China fielded its largest regional maritime deployment in decades – including multiple formations of Chinese naval and coast guard vessels – in regional waters and around the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.

China has also conducted two large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan this year, one in response to Lai’s inauguration in May and a second to his National Day address in October.

Lai – who is openly loathed by Beijing for his views championing Taiwan’s sovereignty – and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have repeatedly rejected Beijing’s territorial claims, emphasizing the island democracy is “not subordinate” to China and that Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its 23.5 million people.

Unlike traditional war games by the military, the tabletop exercise was aimed at testing how different government agencies could “ensure the normal functioning of society” in times of crisis, according to Taiwan’s presidential office.

It simulated two scenarios: one where China imposes “high-intensity” grey-zone warfare tactics, and a second where Taiwan is “on the brink of conflict,” the office said. Grey-zone tactics refer to actions that fall just below what might be considered acts of war.

Government agencies were not allowed to prepare notes in advance and had to react immediately to different contingencies, the presidential office said, without elaborating on the exact circumstances featured in the simulation.

While Taiwan’s military regularly holds tabletop war games to test its defense readiness, Thursday’s exercise was the first time that the presidential office has held a simulation that focuses specifically on civil responses to the threat of a Chinese invasion.

The simulation was chaired by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, presidential office secretary-general Pan Men-an, and National Security Council secretary-general Joseph Wu.

Taiwan’s Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang, who was among a few officials leading the exercise, said one major takeaway from the simulation was a need to enhance Taiwan’s ability to combat disinformation during extraordinary times.

Liu said that while Taiwan’s defense ministry was well positioned to respond to different situations, many government agencies struggled to clarify falsehoods during electricity or internet outages, highlighting the need for Taiwan to have a backup mechanism to ensure the flow of information.

She added that authorities have plans to recruit and train 50,000 volunteers across Taiwan to assist in disaster relief by the end of next year, which will include workers from the public sector.

Lin Fei-fan, a deputy secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, added that the simulation was crucial in showcasing the island democracy’s determination to boost its resilience across society.

“Conducting tabletop exercises at this time is crucial for us to strengthen preparations for the future and identify areas for improvement,” he added.

China has launched its first next-generation amphibious assault ship, adding a powerful cutting-edge warship to the country’s fast-expanding navy as it races to rival the military power of the United States.

The Type 076 amphibious assault ship entered the water on Friday at a launch ceremony at a shipyard in Shanghai, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.

Named Sichuan after a southwestern Chinese province, the independently developed ship is hailed as a “key asset” for advancing the Navy’s transformation and enhancing its long-range operational capabilities, according to the statement.

China, which already boasts the largest naval force in the world, is building carriers and large warships at a staggering pace as it seeks to project power far beyond its shores and catch up to the military supremacy of the US.

With a full-load displacement of over 40,000 tons, the Type 076 ranks among the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, featuring a twin-island superstructure and a full-length flight deck, according to the PLAN.

Most notably, it adopts an electromagnetic catapult system, which allows it to carry fixed-wing aircraft along with helicopters and amphibious equipment usually found on this type of warship, the PLAN added.

The electromagnetic catapult system will enable the Type 076 to launch larger and heavier aircraft than it could without the technology. That means the aircraft can carry more fuel – expanding their range and that of the ship as a fighting platform – and more bombs or missiles, making the aircraft themselves more lethal.

Only one other warship in service worldwide, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, employs the electromagnetic catapult system.

China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is in sea trials and has yet to be commissioned, also has an electromagnetic system.

The US Navy’s amphibious assault ships feature the F-35B, a short-takeoff and vertical landing variant of the stealth fighter jet used by the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

As far as is known the PLA Navy doesn’t have a manned equivalent to the F-35B, so it may deploy the same fixed-wing aircraft as the Fujian.

But a report earlier this year from the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the Type 076 could be used as a massive drone platform.

“If it is limited to unmanned systems, the Type 076’s air wing will be highly capable. China boasts an advanced and growing arsenal of UAVs, including the GJ-11 stealth combat drone, the WZ-7 reconnaissance drone, and the CASC Rainbow strike UCAV, among others,” says the August report from the CSIS, which was based on satellite imagery of the ship under construction.

As for the Type 076’s other capabilities, the CSIS report says it’s expected to have complements of helicopters and amphibious landing craft, the latter capable of deploying more than 1,000 marines.

The CSIS report says that with the ship’s large size, it should be able to carry more of everything than China’s smaller Type 075 amphibious assault ships, the US Navy’s America-class amphibious assault ships and Japan’s Izumo-class helicopter carriers, which are being converted to carry the F-35B.

Carl Schuster, a military analyst and former US Navy captain, said size makes a big statement when it comes to the Type 076.

“That shows a PLA Navy commitment to expeditionary and amphibious warfare and an expanding capability to do so,” he said, adding that it says something about the competition between the world’s two biggest naval powers, China and the United States.

“It demonstrates China’s growing maritime power projection capability at a time when the US Navy’s commitment and capability for expeditionary, amphibious and humanitarian assistance missions has diminished significantly,” said Schuster, a former a director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.

The signs point to a Russian system striking Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 before it crashed near the city of Aktau, the US official said Thursday.

This is the first time the US has offered an assessment of Wednesday’s crash, which killed at least 38 of the 67 people aboard the plane.

If the early indications are ultimately confirmed, it may have been a case of mistaken identity, the US official said, in which poorly trained Russian units have fired negligently against Ukraine’s use of drones.

Officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia urged people not to speculate about the crash until investigations have concluded.

A commission has been set up to investigate the crash, involving representatives from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said. However, law enforcement agencies of Russia and Azerbaijan will not be allowed to conduct a forensic investigation, he said, according to Kazakh state media.

Here’s what we know about the crash so far.

What was the route of the plane?

The plane was traveling from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny, the capital city of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, before it made an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airlines said on Wednesday.

Russian state media reported that the plane was rerouted due to heavy fog in Grozny.

According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the plane set off on Wednesday at 7:55 a.m. Azerbaijan Standard Time (10:55 p.m. Tuesday ET) and crashed about two-and-a-half hours later.

Officials did not immediately explain why the plane had crossed the Caspian Sea, when Baku and Grozny are to its west and Aktau is to its east.

A second black box had been recovered at the crash site, state news agency Kazinform reported Thursday, which authorities hope will provide important information to help investigators determine what happened.

It will take about two weeks to read the black boxes found at the scene, Bozumbayev said, according to Kazakh state media.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev said Thursday that a Kazakh control center received a signal from Russia around 45 minutes before the plane crashed, saying that the flight was being diverted.

The Russian dispatcher said that the aircraft was experiencing a failure in its control systems, and that the crew decided to fly to Aktau after receiving reports of bad weather, Karabayev said. The dispatcher later said that an “oxygen tank exploded in the passenger cabin, causing passengers to lose consciousness,” according to Karabayev.

While the crew made two landing approaches at Aktau airport, the aircraft deviated from its course, and lost communication with dispatchers when it crashed, Karabayev said.

Flightradar24 said in a social media post that the aircraft was “exposed to GPS jamming and spoofing near Grozny.” GPS jamming can significantly hinder a plane’s ability to navigate and communicate, Flightradar24 said, creating potential safety risks.

Data and video of the crash also “indicate possible control issues with the aircraft,” Flightradar24 said.

How many survived the crash?

At least 38 of the 67 people on board the plane were killed in the crash, Kazakh authorities confirmed, including two pilots and a flight attendant.

Some 29 survivors, two of whom are children, were pulled from the wreckage, Bozumbayev said.

Of those on board, 37 of the passengers were Azerbaijan citizens and 16 were from Russia, along with six from Kazakhstan and three from Kyrgyzstan, according to preliminary data from Kazakhstan’s transport ministry.

On Thursday, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Health Timur Muratov said nine Russian citizens and 14 Azerbaijani citizens had been repatriated to their respective countries, according to Kazakh state media.

Six patients were still being treated in Aktau, including three Azerbaijani citizens and three Kyrgyz citizens, he said. Four of those six are in the intensive care unit, while the condition of one patient remains extremely serious and unstable, he added.

What caused the crash?

Video and images of the plane after it crashed show perforations in its body that look similar to damage from shrapnel or debris. The cause of these holes has not been confirmed.

Azerbaijan Airlines initially told AZERTAC that the incident was caused by the aircraft colliding with a flock of birds, the outlet reported. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency also said the plane crashed after colliding with birds.

However, Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, part of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, disputed this, claiming on social media that the plane was “shot down by a Russian air defense system.”

The crash came shortly after Ukrainian drone strikes hit southern Russia. Drone activity has shut airports in the area in the past and the nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.

“Russia should have closed the airspace over Grozny but failed to do so,” Kovalenko said, speculating that authorities will try to cover up the real reason behind the crash, including the holes in the plane, as it would be “inconvenient” to blame Russia.

Justin Crump, an intelligence, security and defense expert and the CEO of risk advisory company Sibylline, told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday that the plane being fired at by Russia is “the best theory that fits all the available facts that we know of.” Crump added that Russian air defenses were active in Grozny around the time that the plane was damaged.

“I don’t think this is deliberate at all,” he noted, pointing out that Russia is “very worried” about longer-range active Ukrainian drones that are “very often not getting shot down.”

Osprey Flight Solutions, a UK-based company that analyzes security risks in the aviation sector, also said in an alert to airlines that the flight “was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

What are authorities saying?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that it would be wrong to speculate about the cause of the crash before an investigation has been carried out, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Maulen Ashimbayev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s senate, said Thursday that “the nature of these damages and the causes of the disaster are currently unknown.”

Brazilian authorities and representatives of the plane’s manufacturer Embraer are expected to arrive in Kazakhstan, according to Azerbaijan’s state news agency, as authorities begin the process of piecing together the events leading up to the crash.

“We have preserved the wreckage of the plane at the scene of the accident in the same condition as it crashed. The area is fenced off. No one will enter. This will help them investigate the incident as required,” Bozumbayev said, according to Kazakh state media.

Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev said experts were due to arrive in the country on Friday and that “this process is underway now – fragments, details are being collected,” according to state news agency Kazinform.

Bozumbayev said that “even the preliminary cause cannot be determined yet, as specialists are needed for that.”

“They will conduct the work, and then it will be clear,” Bozumbayev said Thursday.

Bozumbayev also said they had not received accounts of the accident from Russia or Azerbaijan. “Therefore, it is impossible to refute any version,” he said, according to Kazinform.