BARCELONA: Barcelona’s streets were largely empty on Saturday, with millions of people instructed to stay at home as new coronavirus restrictions came into effect following a spike in the number of infections in the region over the past week.
“It’s a disaster,” wails Maria Quintana, looking at her empty bar terrace by the Sagrada Familia in Spain’s second city where the number of new cases has tripled to 800 in a week.
In an announcement on Friday, the Catalan regional government urged nearly four million residents of metropolitan Barcelona to stay home unless absolutely necessary, banning gatherings of over 10 people and shutting cinemas, theaters and nightclubs.
“We’d just started to see things coming back to life with the arrival of a few foreign tourists, so this is a step backwards,” said Quintana, who has been in the restaurant business for 35 years.
With a ban on counter service, there are no stools at the bar, and there were no customers outside either, where the tables were well spaced.
“If they impose another lockdown and force us to close, I will drop the blind, but it might as well be dropping the blade of a guillotine on my own neck because we won’t be able to survive,” the bar owner said.
The new restrictions came barely four weeks after Spain ended its state of emergency when its 47 million residents were subjected to one of the world’s toughest lockdowns to slow the spread of a virus that has killed more than 28,400 people in the country.
The national lockdown, which also saw Spain’s borders closed, caused huge economic damage, particularly to the tourism sector which had hoped to recoup some of its losses over the summer.
But by Saturday morning, there were barely any tourists outside the Sagrada Familia, one of Spain’s most-visited landmarks, and most of those were unaware of the new restrictions.
“There are not lot of people in the street, but we did not know,” said 23-year-old Karolina Kapounova from the Czech Republic, sweating behind a face mask which is now obligatory in public at all times in most of Spain’s regions.
“I don’t think we will change our schedule... But with (your) mouth covered all the time and the heat, it’s a bit bothersome.”
“You see some tourists but only a few of them. And then they come and see that the Sagrada Familia is shut and that the bus isn’t working,” says Joan Lopez, 39, who runs a kiosk opposite the imposing basilica.
Although the city “needs tourism like the air that we breathe,” Lopez said he is relieved the authorities are taking strict measures to reduce the virus.
“People don’t listen to recommendations,” he said.
“Today the city seems empty, but that’s because they all went away for the weekend... before they shut us in.”
Although the regional government asked residents not to leave for second homes, traffic authorities registered the departure of 350,000 vehicles heading for nearby coastal areas.
“It’s a mistake,” warned Dr. Jacobo Mendioroz, the region’s COVID chief, in remarks to the Rac1 radio station.
“The next step will be (mandatory) home confinement.”
Olga Torres, who is having a drink with a friend on a bar terrace, hopes it will not come to that.
“It’s not funny, the thought that they could lock us down again, but I think they’ll consider it very carefully because, economically, it would spell catastrophe,” said Torres, 55.
The surge in new cases has led to fierce criticism of Catalonia’s pro-independence regional government for not being better prepared.
During the lockdown, the Catalan leadership had bitterly criticized the central government in Madrid, insisting they would have done a much better job if they had been independent.
“Bad management has landed us with a new confinement order,” read an editorial in the Ara daily, which is close to the separatist movement.
Barcelona back under lockdown as virus cases surge
https://arab.news/4zdeg
Barcelona back under lockdown as virus cases surge
- The Catalan regional government urged nearly four million residents of metropolitan Barcelona to stay home unless absolutely necessary, banning gatherings of over 10 people and shutting cinemas, theaters and nightclubs
- The new restrictions came barely four weeks after Spain ended its state of emergency when its 47 million residents were subjected to one of the world’s toughest lockdowns
Russian strike kills 13 in Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia
- The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents
- Public transport was also damaged in the strike
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine: A Russian guided bomb attack on Wednesday killed at least 13 people and injured 63 in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.
The blast left bodies strewn across a road alongside injured residents. Public transport was also damaged in the strike.
Prosecutors in the region said 63 people had been injured. Rescue work had been completed at the site of the attack.
High-rise apartment blocks were damaged along with an industrial facility and other infrastructure, Ukraine’s prosecutor general office said on Telegram. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, it added.
As emergency workers tried to resuscitate a man, raging flames, smoke and burnt cars could be seen in the background.
Russian troops had used two guided bombs to hit a residential area, the regional governor Ivan Fedorov told reporters.
At least four of the injured were rushed to hospital in serious condition, Fedorov said, adding that Thursday would be an official day of mourning.
“There is nothing more cruel than launching aerial bombs on a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, urging Ukraine’s Western allies to step up pressure on Russia.
Regional authorities reported further explosions after the first strike hit.
Fedorov said Russian troops shelled the town of Stepnohirsk, south of Zaporizhzhia, killing two people. Two residents were pulled alive from underneath rubble.
Russia regularly carries out air strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region, which its forces partially occupy, and its capital. Moscow claims to have annexed the Ukrainian region along with four others including Crimea.
Public broadcaster Suspilne also reported two people killed and 10 injured in attacks on several centers in the southern region of Kherson, also partially occupied by Russian forces.
US to announce new weapons package for Ukraine as defense leaders prepare to meet in Germany
- The group’s future is unclear with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office on Jan. 20
- Advisers to Trump have floated proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future
WASHINGTON: The US is expected to announce $500 million in military aid for Ukraine on Thursday at a final gathering of President Joe Biden’s weapons pledging conferences, meetings Kyiv says have been critical to its defense against Russia.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), comprised of about 50 allies who usually meet every few months at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, was started in 2022 by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to speed and synchronize the delivery of arms to Kyiv.
The group’s future is unclear with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office on Jan. 20. Advisers to Trump have floated proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future.
Washington has committed more than $63.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion and the additional $500 million could be announced later on Wednesday, a US official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
On Thursday, the defense leaders will meet at Ramstein Air Base for the 25th UDCG meeting.
“We’re not sunsetting the group. The next administration is completely welcome and encouraged ... to take the mantle of this 50 country strong group and continue to drive and lead through it,” said a senior US defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“It will endure in some capacity, in some form going forward, I believe, regardless of exactly how the next team does or doesn’t pursue it,” the official said.
Trump will have a few billion dollars in appropriated money that he could use for Ukraine’s military needs once he takes office.
The official added that the Thursday meeting would look to endorse roadmaps for Ukraine’s military needs and objectives through 2027.
More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, the United Nations said, noting a spike in casualties due to the use of drones, long-range missiles and glide bombs.
Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces were “commencing new offensive actions” in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Ukraine first seized part of the Kursk region in a surprise incursion last August, and it has held territory there for five months despite losing some ground.
The apparent escalation in the fighting in the Kursk region comes at a critical time for Ukraine, whose outnumbered and outgunned troops are struggling to repel Russian advances in the east.
Gunfire heard near presidency in Chad capital
- A security source said armed men had attacked the interior of the presidential compound
N’DJAMENA: Sustained gunfire was heard Wednesday evening near the presidency in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, AFP reporters said.
A security source said armed men had attacked the interior of the presidential compound but authorities made no immediate comment.
All roads leading to the presidency have been blocked and tanks could be seen on the streets of the capital, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
The gunfire erupted less than two weeks after the landlocked country in Africa’s northern half held a contested general election.
The government hailed it as a key step toward ending military rule, but it was marked by low turnout and opposition allegations of fraud.
The election had taken place against a backdrop of recurring attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, the ending of a military accord with former colonial master France, and accusations that Chad was interfering in the conflict ravaging neighboring Sudan.
Several hours earlier on Tuesday, China’s foreign minister Wang Li met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and other senior officials.
The former French colony hosted France’s last military bases in the region known as the Sahel, but at the end of November it ended the defense and security agreements with Paris.
Around a thousand French military personnel were stationed there, and are in the process of being withdrawn.
France is now reconfiguring its military presence in Africa after being driven out of three Sahelian countries governed by juntas hostile to Paris — Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Senegal and the Ivory Coast have also asked France to leave military bases on their territory.
Baby born on migrant vessel in Atlantic: Spanish rescuers
- “Christmas ended in the Canaries with the rescue of a baby born while crossing the sea,” the coast guard said
- A record 46,843 undocumented migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024
MADRID: Spanish coast guards rescued a baby that was born on an inflatable vessel carrying migrants to the Canary Islands, authorities said on Wednesday.
The newborn was recovered safely along with their mother on Monday, the coast guard service said in a message on X.
They were the latest to make the crossing that has seen thousands drown as migrants try to reach the Atlantic archipelago from Africa.
“Christmas ended in the Canaries with the rescue of a baby born while crossing the sea,” the coast guard said.
A coast guard boat “rescued a mother who had given birth aboard the inflatable craft in which she was traveling with a large group of people.”
The two were taken by helicopter to Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote, it added.
A record 46,843 undocumented migrants reached the Canary Islands in 2024 via the Atlantic route, official data showed this month.
Ethiopians celebrate Christmas as natural calamities and conflict take their toll
- The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church called for reconciliation and peace in a nation where conflict has been often fueled by ethnic strife
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians are celebrating Christmas with prayers for peace in the Horn of Africa nation that has faced persistent conflict in recent years.
Ethiopians follow the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar, used by Catholic and Protestant churches. They traditionally celebrate by slaughtering animals and joining family members to break the fast after midnight.
The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias, in his televised Christmas Eve message called for reconciliation and peace in a nation where conflict has been often fueled by ethnic strife. Different parts of Ethiopia recently have also faced natural calamities, including mudslides. Earthquakes last week in the remote regions of Afar, Amhara and Oromia have displaced thousands.
Despite the signing of a peace agreement to end the armed conflict in the northern region of Tigray in 2022, recurring conflicts in Amhara, Oromia and elsewhere have caused widespread suffering and forced 9 million children to drop out of school, according to UNICEF.
Almaz Zewdie, who was among thousands of Orthodox Christians attending ceremonies in Addis Ababa’s Medhanyalem Church, said she was praying for peace.
She was draped in an all-white traditional attire to mark the end of a 43-day fasting period and the birth of Jesus Christ.
“I lost friends and my livelihood,” said Zewdie, a merchant from the tourist town of Gondar, speaking of the toll of the conflict in Amhara, where government troops have been fighting members of a local militia.
Isaias Seyoum, a priest in Addis Ababa’s Selassie Church, said the celebration of Christmas is more than just feasting and merrymaking. It is also a time to share meals with needy people and help those impacted by conflict, including many sheltering in Addis Ababa, he said.
