SOFIA: At least 45 people, including 12 children, died as a bus carrying mostly North Macedonian tourists crashed in flames on a highway in western Bulgaria on Tuesday, officials said.
Seven people who leapt from the burning bus were rushed to hospital in Sofia and were in stable conditions, hospital staff said. Bulgaria’s interior ministry said 45 people died, one less than the toll given earlier .
The cause of the accident was unclear but the bus appeared to have hit a highway barrier either before or after it caught fire, Bulgarian officials said.
Television footage showed the bus charred and gutted by fire in the middle of the highway.
“We have an enormous tragedy here,” Bulgarian interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev told reporters.
Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov said: “People are clustered inside and are burnt to ash.”
“The picture is terrifying, terrifying. I have never seen anything like that before,” he told reporters at the site.
Bulgarian investigative service chief Borislav Sarafov said four buses from a North Macedonian travel agency had entered Bulgaria late on Monday from Turkey.
“Human mistake by the driver or a technical malfunction are the two initial versions for the accident,” he said.
The accident happened on Struma highway about 45 km (28 miles) west of Sofia around 2:00 a.m. (0000 GMT).
North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the coach party was returning to Skopje from a weekend holiday trip to Istanbul.
“I am terrified. This is such a huge tragedy,” North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told private television channel BTV.
Flaming bus crash in Bulgaria kills 45 Macedonian tourists
https://arab.news/2bhqz
Flaming bus crash in Bulgaria kills 45 Macedonian tourists
- Bus was taking tourists home to North Macedonia from Turkey
- Survivors leapt from burning vehicle, 12 children among the dead — Bulgarian official
Trump says US will sign Ukraine minerals deal soon
- Trump says peace talks going ‘pretty well’
- Ukraine minerals deal seen as repayment for US aid
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine shortly and that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going “pretty well” after his talks this week with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Trump made the comments at a White House event after signing an order to increase US production of critical minerals.
“We’re doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine.”
Trump referred to his separate discussions this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Those talks, which fell short of Trump’s aim to secure a full 30-day ceasefire, resulted in Putin agreeing to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days and Zelensky saying he would also accept such a pause.
“We would love to see that (war) come to an end, and I think we’re doing pretty well in that regard,” Trump said.
“So hopefully we’d save thousands of people a week from dying. That’s what it’s all about. They’re dying so unnecessarily, and I believe we’ll get it done.”
Ukraine and the US said this month they had agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, which Trump sees as a means to pay back the United States for its assistance to Kyiv. Efforts to seal the deal stumbled after a disastrous White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the end of last month.
Trump and Zelensky agreed on Wednesday to work together to end Russia’s war with Ukraine, in what the White House described as a “fantastic” one-hour phone call, their first conversation since their Oval Office shouting match that resulted in a short-term cutoff in US military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.
It was unclear if the deal has changed. An earlier version did not include the explicit security guarantees Ukraine has sought, but gave the US access to revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources.
It also envisaged the Ukrainian government contributing 50 percent of monetized amounts for state-owned natural resources to a US-Ukraine managed reconstruction investment fund.
Asked how the current version of the minerals deal differs from the earlier draft, a senior US official said it was “more detailed and comprehensive,” declining to elaborate.
Ukraine’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders said they would continue to support Ukraine, but did not immediately endorse a call by Zelensky to approve a package of at least 5 billion euros for artillery purchases.
Macron announces new Ukraine ‘coalition’ summit in Paris on March 27
BRUSSELS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the leaders of a coalition of Ukraine backers would meet again in Paris next week, hoping to finalize plans to secure a potential truce in the war with Russia.
“We will hold another meeting of the coalition of the willing next Thursday in Paris in presence of President (Volodymyr) Zelensky,” Macron told reporters following an EU summit.
Europe games industry on edge as ‘Assassin’s Creed’ hits shelves
PARIS: Thursday’s release of action-adventure epic “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” marks a make-or-break moment not just for struggling French games heavyweight Ubisoft, but for the entire European gaming ecosystem.
With its almost 18,000 employees and global footprint, Ubisoft has nevertheless suffered one setback after another in recent years with disappointing releases, a dwindling stock price, harassment allegations against former bosses and repeated strikes.
The company is falling back on its longtime major money-spinner “Assassin’s Creed” to pull it from the doldrums, this time with an episode set in medieval Japan.
“I’ve never seen things this way” as the whole European industry looks to Ubisoft, Midcap Partners analyst Charles-Louis Planade told AFP ahead of the launch.
More than 17 Ubisoft studios employing hundreds have poured five years of work into “Shadows,” with an estimated budget running into hundreds of millions of euros.
Early reviews have been positive, with the game receiving a “generally favorable” score of 81/100 on review aggregation site Metacritic.
That was one point higher than “Valhalla,” the 2020 release that has so far been the high point of the series’ profitability.
The latest instalment “looks better and plays better than nearly any other entry in Ubisoft’s 18-year-old series,” American games journalist Stephen Totilo wrote on his website Game File.
Meanwhile, gaming site IGN’s review of “Shadows” said it “sharpens and refines (the series’) edge without fully reforging it.”
“Shadows” was partly developed at Ubisoft’s studio in Quebec City, Canada.
The artistic director of Ubisoft-Quebec, Thierry Dansereau, told AFP at a launch event in the city that the company’s “developers did everything they could to create the best game possible.”
A lack of major changes to the game’s mechanics could risk “leaving some players worn out,” said Julien Pillot, an economist specializing in the cultural industries.
He suggested that Ubisoft’s recent underwhelming releases “may be a sign that audiences are falling out of love with its games.”
Nevertheless, Planade said that “everyone is crossing their fingers for this release to be a huge success.”
He said a poor sales showing could provoke a knock-on effect across the entire industry, noting that in France alone, Ubisoft accounts for almost one-third of the country’s 15,000 jobs in games development
In a social media post, Ubisoft said the release appeared to be a success.
“It’s not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!” the company said on X.
Many budding creators pass through Ubisoft after completing their training, while former employees have founded new studios in France and around the world.
The company in 2023 launched a cost-cutting drive including studio closures and almost 2,000 layoffs.
The belt-tightening did not save Ubisoft from judgment on financial markets, with the stock falling from more than 100 euros ($109 at today’s rates) 10 years ago to its all-time low of 9.01 euros in September.
Ubisoft shares had fallen almost 5.6 percent on Wednesday to trade at 12.60 euros by the time markets closed, despite the good early reviews for “Shadows.”
Even before release of the hoped-for blockbuster, Ubisoft said it was “actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options” for its future.
Early rumors suggested that could involve going private with help from Chinese tech giant Tencent, a major investor that holds 10 percent of Ubisoft.
More recently, multiple outlets have reported that the group could sell off much of its games catalogue to focus on its core titles.
“Every option is on the table” for Ubisoft’s future, Planade said, with commercial success for “Shadows” likely to strengthen Ubisoft’s hand in the negotiations.
Trump signs order to ‘eliminate’ US Education Department
North Korea’s Kim oversees test of latest anti-aircraft missile system: state media
SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday conducted a test fire of its latest anti-aircraft missile system in a drill watched by leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang’s state media reported.
The launch proved the system’s “combat fast response,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, and came just over a week after South Korea began a major annual joint military drill with the United States.
