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Fire breaks out at a Spanish nursing home, killing at least 10 people

Fire breaks out at a Spanish nursing home, killing at least 10 people
Relatives waiting for news outside the nursing home where least 10 people have died in a fire in Zaragoza, Spain on Nov. 15, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 15 November 2024
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Fire breaks out at a Spanish nursing home, killing at least 10 people

Fire breaks out at a Spanish nursing home, killing at least 10 people
  • Authorities were alerted of the blaze early Friday morning in Villa Franca de Ebro
  • Fire took place just weeks after devastating flash floods in Valencia killed more than 200 people
Updated 15 November 2024
AP
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MADRID: At least 10 people died in a blaze at a nursing home in Zaragoza, Spain, before firefighters managed to extinguish it, local authorities reported on Friday.
Authorities were alerted of the blaze early Friday morning in Villa Franca de Ebro, about 30 minutes from the northeastern city.
The cause of the fire was not yet known, local media reported.
Jorge Azcon, head of the regional government of Aragon, whose capital city is Zaragoza, confirmed the deaths and said on X, formerly Twitter, that all government events in the region were canceled for the day.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also expressed his shock over the fire and deaths.
The fire took place just weeks after devastating flash floods in Valencia killed more than 200 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The floods were the worst natural disaster in Spain’s recent history.

Topics: Spain

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North Korea slams ‘reckless’ US-led criticism of involvement in Ukraine

North Korea slams ‘reckless’ US-led criticism of involvement in Ukraine
Updated 19 December 2024
AFP
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North Korea slams ‘reckless’ US-led criticism of involvement in Ukraine

North Korea slams ‘reckless’ US-led criticism of involvement in Ukraine
Updated 19 December 2024
AFP

SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday lashed out at the United States and its allies for criticizing its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, including the deployment of troops, rejecting what it called a “reckless provocation.”
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a foreign ministry spokesman said the declaration by 10 nations and the European Union was “distorting and slandering” Pyongyang’s “normal cooperative” ties with Moscow.
 

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict North Korea

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Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms

Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms
Updated 19 December 2024
AFP
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Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms

Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms
  • “Europe needs a strong, united position to ensure lasting peace,” Zelensky stressed as he arrived in the Belgian capital
Updated 19 December 2024
AFP

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels Wednesday to strategize over Russia’s war ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Addressing reporters alongside Rutte, Zelensky called it a “very good opportunity to speak about security guarantees for Ukraine, for today and for tomorrow.”
The pair were to be joined later in the evening at the NATO’s chief’s official residence by leaders from Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands and the European Union’s main institutions.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British premier Keir Starmer were to miss the gathering due to schedule clashes — sending their foreign ministers instead — but Macron met Zelensky for bilateral talks just beforehand.
The huddle came just over a month before Trump reclaims the US presidency, having pledged to bring a swift end to a conflict that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
There are fears that Trump could pull US support for Kyiv and force it to make painful concessions to Moscow. European leaders, keen not to be left on the sidelines, are scrambling to come up with their own plans.
“Europe needs a strong, united position to ensure lasting peace,” Zelensky stressed as he arrived in the Belgian capital.
European leaders insist that only Ukraine should decide when it is ready to negotiate with Russia.
The meeting’s top focus, Rutte said, was to make sure that Ukraine was “in the best possible position one day, when they decide to start the peace talks.”
Likewise German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters earlier in Brussels the priority was to secure the “sovereignty of Ukraine — and that it will not be forced to submit to a dictated peace.”
But discussions have begun between some capitals over the potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine to secure any eventual ceasefire.
While this was raised at a recent meeting between Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, diplomats say it remains too early to draw up concrete proposals.
Scholz told reporters that discussing boots on the ground was premature, saying it “does not make sense” at this stage.
Rutte instead said Kyiv’s allies should focus on ramping up arms supplies — and urged them not to debate possible peace conditions in public as it risks playing into Moscow’s hands.
“If we now start to discuss among ourselves what a deal could look like, we make it so easy for the Russians,” he said.
Western backers are seeking to shore up Ukraine’s forces as Kyiv’s fatigued troops are losing ground across the frontline and Moscow has deployed North Koreans to the battlefield.
Zelensky — who will also attend an EU summit on Thursday — said he wanted to discuss “how to urgently strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, politically and geopolitically.”
Most immediately Zelensky is pleading for over a dozen more air defense systems to try to help stave off Russian barrages against Ukraine’s power grid.
But Ukraine’s leader has said Trump’s arrival could mean the war ends next year, and has called for allies to help secure a peace deal that Moscow cannot violate.
As the change of guard approached in the US, Zelensky has appeared to soften his stance on any potential peace push.
He has said that if Ukraine is given firm security guarantees by NATO and enough weaponry it could agree to a ceasefire along current lines and look to regain the rest of its territory through diplomatic means.
But NATO members have rebuffed Kyiv’s calls for an invitation to join their alliance right away, sparking speculation that sending peacekeepers could be an alternative.
“Officially that is not on the agenda, but since there will be a lot of important people in the same room, it cannot entirely be ruled out,” a NATO diplomat said.
The meeting is “basically about Zelensky asking for more military aid,” the diplomat added.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Volodymyr Zelensky Mark Rutte Donald Trump

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France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting

This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
Updated 18 December 2024
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France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting

This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
  • “We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said
  • January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states
Updated 18 December 2024
Reuters

PARIS: France said on Wednesday it would host an international meeting on Syria in January and that the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction aid would be conditional on clear political and security commitments by the transitional authority.
A team of French diplomats met an official from the Syrian transition team on Tuesday in Damascus and raised the flag over the French embassy there 12 years after cutting ties with Syria’s Bashar Assad amid the country’s civil war.
Acting Foreign Minister Jan-Noel Barrot told parliament that the diplomats had seen positive signals from the transitional authority and that in the capital, at least, Syrians appeared to be resuming their normal life without being impeded.
“We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said.
The January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states. It was not immediately clear whether Syrians would attend or what the precise objective of the conference would be.
Western nations have welcomed Assad’s fall but are weighing whether they can work with the militants who ousted him, including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an extremist group that is designated a terrorist organization by the EU.
Barrot said an inclusive transition would be vital and that Western powers had many tools at their disposal to ease the situation, notably the lifting of international sanctions and aid reconstruction.
“But we are making this support conditional on clear commitments on the political and security front,” he said.
Kurds
Since cutting ties with Assad in 2012, France has backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, for which it has given military support in the past.
The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Turkiye, a NATO ally, sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militants have battled the Turkish state for 40 years.
France’s ties with the SDF persist. Barrot stressed that the political transition needed to ensure they were represented, especially given they had been at the forefront in the fight against Daesh, and were currently guarding thousands of hardened militants in prisons and camps.
“We know of Ankara’s security concerns toward the PKK, but we are convinced that it’s possible to find an arrangement that satisfies the interests of everyone. We are working on it,” Barrot said.
“This stabilization also means including the SDF in the Syrian political process,” he said, adding that President Emmanuel Macron had made this point in talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria

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Updated 18 December 2024
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French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election

French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election
Updated 18 December 2024
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PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday that she was preparing for an early presidential election, saying President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office was all but over.

Le Pen, who has brought her anti-immigrant National Rally party from fringe status into the political spotlight, is seen as a leading presidential contender. She faced off against Macron in 2017 and captured an even greater share of the vote in 2022, when Macron won another five-year term.

“I am preparing for an early presidential election, out of precaution, taking into account Emmanuel Macron’s fragility, what little institutional levers he has left,” she said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper.

“Emmanuel Macron is finished or almost finished,” she said, adding that Macron was diminished both domestically and internationally. “He has angered everyone. He has no more influence in the European Union,” she said.

Macron has repeatedly said he would not resign. Asked for reaction, the Elysee said: “The president has already expressed himself on this matter.”

Le Pen faces her own political challenges. She and other members of her party have been accused of using funds from the European Union to pay party workers in France.

She has denounced the case as a political witch hunt. If convicted, she could be banned from seeking public office for five years. The trial is expected to close in March.

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Thirteen dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off Mumbai

Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
Updated 18 December 2024
Reuters
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Thirteen dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off Mumbai

Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
  • The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others
  • Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident
Updated 18 December 2024
Reuters

MUMBAI: At least 13 people died when a boat with more than 100 passengers capsized off the coast of India’s financial capital Mumbai after colliding with an Indian Navy boat on Wednesday, officials said.
The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others.
“An Indian Navy craft lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai Harbor due to engine malfunction. As a result, the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized,” the Navy said in a statement on X.
Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident.
“The speedboat crashed into our boat and water started entering our boat and it overturned. The driver asked us to wear lifejackets,” a passenger on board the vessel told ABP Majha news channel.
“I swam for fifteen minutes before I was rescued by another boat,” said the passenger, who did not identify himself.
The privately-owned passenger boat, called Neelkamal, was heading toward the Elephanta caves, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Mumbai, when it capsized, BMC said.
The caves, which see a steady stream of tourists through the year, are a UNESCO heritage site and were constructed in the 5th-6th centuries A.D.
Boats from the Gateway of India, Mumbai’s southernmost point, make regular trips to ferry tourists to the site, an hour away.

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