VACTICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday called for “peace in Israel and in Palestine,” saying “terrorism and war do not lead to a solution.”
As war raged between Israel and Palestinian militants, the pope called for an end to attacks in Israel.
He did not mention the Gaza Strip or the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which launched a massive surprise attack early on Saturday.
“War is a defeat. All war is a defeat. Let us pray for peace in Israel and Palestine,” he said at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
“I follow with apprehension and pain what is happening in Israel... I express my solidarity with the families of the victims,” he told crowds after his traditional Angelus prayer.
“I pray for all those who are living through hours of terror and anguish,” he said.
“May the attacks and the weapons cease, I beg you.”
“Terrorism and war do not lead to a solution, but only to the death and suffering of many innocent people.”
Pope Francis calls for ‘peace in Israel and Palestine’
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Pope Francis calls for ‘peace in Israel and Palestine’
- ‘Terrorism and war do not lead to a solution, but only to the death and suffering of many innocent people’
1 person dies when Tesla truck catches fire and explodes outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials said at a news conference that a person died inside the vehicle and that they were working to get the body out.
Another seven people nearby received minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment.
A county spokeswoman said in a statement that the fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m.
No cause was given and details were sketchy.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Las Vegas office, said at the news conference. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”
Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, posted about the fire on the social media platform X. He praised the fire department and local law enforcement “for their swift response and professionalism.”
The 64-story hotel is just off the famed Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall.
An armed man kills at least 10 people, including 2 children, in a shooting rampage in Montenegro
- The shooter, who was on the run, also seriously wounded four people
PODGORICA, Montenegro: Montenegro’s interior minister says at least 10 people, including two children, were killed in a shooting on Wednesday in the western city of Cetinje.
The shooter, who was on the run, also seriously wounded four people, said minister Danilo Saranovic at a news conference. He said that “at this moment, we are focused on arresting him.”
Police dispatched special troops to search for the attacker in Cetinje, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital, Podgorica. A statement said the man opened fire in a bar and fled the scene armed. Police identified him only by his initials A.M. and said he was 45 years old.
Saranovic said earlier that the dead included the bar owner and his family members, as well as the shooter’s family members — but did not give a definitive death toll.
President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy ... we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said on the social media platform X.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the wounded were being treated and announced three days of mourning, without specifying how many were killed.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” said Spajic. “All police teams are out.”
Small Montenegro, which has some 620,000 people, is known for gun culture and many people traditionally have weapons.
Wednesday’s shooting was the second shooting rampage over the past three years in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital. An attacker killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before he was shot and killed by a passer by in Cetinje.
The RTCG report identified the man as Aco Martinovic, saying he was known for erratic behavior and had been detained in the past for illegal possession of weapons. The TV published the reported suspect’s photo on its website.
The report said he went home to get his gun and came back to the bar where he opened fire and killed and wounded several people. He then went to another site where he killed the bar owner’s children and a woman, the report added.
Police appealed on the residents to remain calm and stay indoors, ruling out a clash between criminal gangs.
Russia warns of severe environmental damage as oil from damaged tankers washes up on beaches
- More than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed along 56 kilometers (35 miles) of shoreline since the original spill, Russia’s emergencies ministry reported on Wednesday morning
Russian officials warned of severe environmental damage Wednesday as thousands of people came out to clean up tons of fuel oil that spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers more than two weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, near Moscow-occupied Crimea.
More than 10,000 people, largely volunteers, raced to rescue wildlife and remove tons of sand saturated with mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product, according to Russian news reports.
Authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region last week announced a region-wide emergency, as the fuel oil continued washing up on the coastline 10 days after one tanker ran aground and the other was left damaged and adrift on Dec. 15.
The move came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
On Wednesday, New Year’s Day, Krasnodar officials said the oil kept on surfacing on the beaches of Anapa, a popular local resort.
More than 71,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed along 56 kilometers (35 miles) of shoreline since the original spill, Russia’s emergencies ministry reported on Wednesday morning.
On Dec. 23, the ministry estimated that up to 200,000 tons in total may have been contaminated.
Some Russian media critical of the Kremlin cited Russian volunteers as saying that state support has been inadequate as they grapple with the consequences of the spill. Some said they experienced headaches, nausea and vomiting after spending hours inhaling toxic fumes, and complained of insufficient equipment and protective measures.
Others called for international specialists to be sent in, citing the scale of the spill and the likely extent of the impact.
Photos circulating on social media and local news channels showed seabirds coated in black fuel oil.
The spill may have killed more than 20 dolphins, the local Delfa dolphin rescue center said, adding tests were ongoing to ascertain the cause of the deaths.
The Kerch Strait separates the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia and is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to seize control of the area illegally. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, last month described the oil spill as a “large-scale environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers.
Global condemnation, condolences for New Orleans attack
- “We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in New Orleans, USA,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement
PARIS: International condemnation poured in Wednesday for the attack on a crowd of New Year’s Eve revellers in New Orleans, which killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens more.
Here is a round-up of global reactions.
“New Orleans, so dear to the hearts of the French, has been struck by terrorism,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, posting in both French and English.
New Orleans was initially founded by colonists from France and the attack took place in the Louisiana city’s famed French Quarter.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the injured, as well as with the American people, whose sorrow we share,” Macron said.
“Horrified by the attack in New Orleans, US, which has claimed innocent lives and left many injured,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X.
“We trust that those responsible for this terrible act will be brought to justice. Violence, terrorism, and any threats to human life have no place in our world and must not be tolerated. Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims... Ukraine stands with the American people and denounces violence.”
“I am deeply saddened by the deliberate attack on those celebrating New Year’s in New Orleans,” the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, posted on X.
“There is no excuse for such violence... We stand in full solidarity with the victims and their families during this tragic time.”
The German ambassador in Washington, Andreas Michaelison, wrote in a message on Bluesky reposted by the German Foreign Office: “I am shocked and saddened by the horrific events in #NewOrleans. My deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
“Germany just suffered an attack on a Christmas market,” he added, referring to the December 20 car ramming that killed five people in the city of Magdeburg. “We stand united with the US in condemning such acts of violence.”
“Deeply saddened by the terrorist attack in New Orleans,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the victims. Wishing a swift recovery to the two injured Israeli citizens and all the wounded... Terror has no place in our world.”
“We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in New Orleans, USA,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We extend our condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives... We hope that the motive for the attack will be revealed as soon as possible and that those who might be responsible will be held accountable before justice.”
Migrants crossing Channel to UK in 2024 soar by 25 percent
- Immigration, both irregular and regular, was a major issue at July’s general election which brought Labour to power
LONDON: The number of irregular migrants arriving in Britain on small boats soared in 2024, data showed Wednesday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stem the dangerous Channel crossings.
Immigration, both irregular and regular, was a major issue at July’s general election, which brought Labour to power but also saw a breakthrough for Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.
Some 36,816 people were detected in the Channel last year, a 25 percent increase from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, provisional figures from the interior ministry showed.
The 2024 total, however, was still well below the record 45,774 undocumented migrants who arrived on the UK’s shores in flimsy inflatable boats in 2022.
At least 76 deaths were recorded in about 20 accidents last year, making it the deadliest year for migrants who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britain’s border control.
According to French officials, at least 5,800 people were rescued at sea last year and authorities prevented more than 870 attempted crossings.
Starmer has pledged to crack down on the crossings after his election win returned Labour to government after 14 years in opposition. Upon entering office, he scrapped the previous Conservative government’s controversial scheme to send irregular migrants to Rwanda, branding it a “gimmick.”
Instead, he has promised to “smash the gangs” of people traffickers running the crossings and has signed a number of agreements with foreign countries to co-operate on law enforcement.
He has described the smuggling networks as a “global security threat similar to terrorism.”
The latest figures mean last year had the second highest number of annual arrivals since data on the crossings began to be collected in 2018. More than 150,000 people have arrived by boat in the last seven years in total.
In the first nine months of last year, Afghan migrants accounted for the single largest group of arrivals, making up 17 percent of the total. People from Vietnam, Iran and Syria were the next largest groups.
Vietnamese migrants appeared to fuel the surge in crossings in 2024. They made up just 5 percent of arrivals in 2023, well below the January-September 2024 figure of 13 percent.
“It’s often not possible to pin down a specific reason,” for why the numbers fluctuate, Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University told AFP.
“The reason that brought numbers a bit higher this year is partly there was some increase in the first half of the year, and then we’ve seen this kind of sustained increase from October, November, December, which is usually when the numbers start to settle down because the weather’s not as good.”
More than 3,200 arrived in December alone, including several hundred over Christmas.
Starmer has also set up a new Border Security Command and strengthened cooperation with European partners, including Europol.
Britain has signed joint action plans with Germany and Iraq aimed at tackling the smuggling gangs. They build on earlier agreements signed under the previous Conservative government, including with France and Albania.
Starmer’s government also points to an increase in the return of irregular migrants to their countries of origin.
Some 29,000 people were returned between January and early December, a quarter more than in 2023, and a level not seen since 2017, according to the Migration Observatory.
“In terms of what the current government is doing, it’s too early to tell you know whether their approach is having an impact on the numbers,” said Sumption.
Starmer is also under pressure to reduce legal migration as he tries to fend off growing support for arch-Euroskeptic Farage’s hard-right Reform UK, which won roughly four million votes during the July 4 poll — an unprecedented haul for a far-right party.
Net legal migration is running at historically high levels, and was estimated at 728,000 for the year to June 2024.
The surge has come despite Britons being told during the 2016 Brexit referendum that leaving the European Union would allow the country to “take back control” of its borders.
