NOVI SAD, Serbia: Serbia began a day of mourning on Saturday as authorities announced an investigation after 14 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a train station.
The incident happened early on Friday at the main train station in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Residents lit candles and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial for the victims near the railway station and in the city’s main square on Friday, as well as in other towns.
New gatherings were announced for Saturday.
Authorities have launched an investigation over the incident. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday that “determining responsibility started today.”
Dadic told TV Prava that the prosecutor’s office would be questioning 20 people on Saturday “starting from the top, people from the ministries, the public company (Serbia) Railways.”
He said that police were seizing documents related to the railway station from the ministry of construction, transport and infrastructure.
The Higher Public Prosecutors’ Office in Novi Sad confirmed that an investigation was conducted at the railway station.
It said in a statement that it had ordered the “minister for construction, transport and infrastructure be questioned.”
According to the same statement, the process of identification of all victims was completed on Saturday.
The central railway station in Novi Sad underwent three years of renovation that was completed in July.
Serbia Railways said in a statement that the collapsed roof had not been part of the renovations.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed his condolences and support for the victims’ relatives and vowed to take action.
“Those responsible, I assure you, will be punished,” the president said on Friday.
Three more people injured in the incident remain in a serious condition, the University Clinic Center of Vojvodina said.
Serbia mourns victims after roof collapse kills 14
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Serbia mourns victims after roof collapse kills 14
Bangladesh introduces 10-year tax exemption for renewable energy projects
- Policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in first 5 years
- Bangladesh’s renewable energy output is among the lowest in the world
DHAKA: Bangladesh is introducing a 10-year tax exemption package for renewable energy production — a move expected to help boost clean electricity generation, which is still hampered by high production costs.
The National Board of Revenue issued a notification earlier this week for projects that will begin commercial operations by mid-2030.
The policy grants 100 percent tax exemption for renewable energy plants in the first five years, 50 percent in the next three years, and 25 percent in the following two years.
“Companies whose commercial production will start between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2030, are exempted from the tax,” NBR chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said in a statement specifying the waivers.
The policy backtracks on the previous government’s 2023 decision to withdraw full tax exemptions for the renewable energy sector, which discouraged local and foreign investors.
“It’s a very timely and good initiative ... it will create confidence among the investors,” Dr. S.M. Nasif Shams, director of the Institute of Energy at Dhaka University and secretary of the Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, told Arab News.
“It’s a good sign that within such a short span of time this interim government came up with this decision for boosting the renewable energy sector. It also complies with Prof. Yunus’ ‘three zero’ concept which he promotes around the world.”
Bangladesh’s caretaker government took office in August when ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and fled the country amid violent protests.
It is headed by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and economics professor who invented microcredit, who has been advocating work toward a world of zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero carbon emissions.
While Bangladesh aims to achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050, currently its clean electricity generation capacity is 1.38 GW or only about 5 percent of the total, which comes mostly from fossil fuels — mainly natural gas.
The country has been struggling for years with energy crises as demand grows about 7 percent a year amid increasing household and industry use, increasing Bangladesh’s dependence on imports as local production is insufficient, with the renewable energy output being among the lowest in the world.
Attracting investors with tax waivers could help with the high costs of building clean energy plants — currently one of the main obstacles to developing the renewable sector in the country.
“This decision will help the country’s economy a lot, as well as it will save the environment in a sustainable way,” Shams said.
“We have to go for renewable energy ... There is no alternative for us.”
India eyes fintech, clean hydrogen cooperation with Saudi Arabia
- Saudi energy minister, India’s commerce minister, co-chair Strategic Partnership Council meeting in Riyadh
- Ministers agree to study feasibility of electrical interconnection between the Kingdom and India
NEW DELHI: India is exploring collaboration with Saudi Arabia in new technologies, clean hydrogen and other emerging fields, the government has said, following Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Riyadh this week.
Goyal was in the Saudi capital to co-chair with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman a ministerial meeting of the Economy and Investment Committee of the Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Council.
“This visit marks a significant milestone in strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Friday.
“Both countries are also exploring collaboration in emerging fields like fintech, new technologies, energy efficiency, clean hydrogen, textiles, mining, etc. The Committee Meeting reviewed these developments and reaffirmed their commitment to advancing cooperation across various areas of shared interest.”
The SPC was established in 2019. Its first meeting took place in New Delhi last year, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to India.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy said in a statement that during the SPC’s Riyadh meeting the two countries also agreed to “study the feasibility of electrical interconnection between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of India.”
During his Riyadh trip, Goyal also took part in the Future Investment Initiative conference on Oct. 29-31, where he met the Kingdom’s Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih and Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef.
The outcomes of the meetings were “expected to unlock new avenues for investment and trade, driving economic growth and innovation in both countries,” the Indian commerce ministry said.
“These engagements focused on collaborative initiatives in trade, energy and technology. These discussions culminated in a series of actionable agreements, aimed at enhancing trade volumes and facilitating a smooth flow of investments between the two countries. The agreements emphasize cooperation in energy transition, digital transformation, and the exchange of expertise to accelerate economic growth.”
Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth-largest trading partner.
Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $43 billion in 2023-24 against $53 billion in 2022-23.
Indian troops kill 2 suspected rebels in disputed Kashmir
- Indian soldiers intercepted a group of militants in a forested area in southern Anantnag district on Saturday, leading to a gunbattle
- India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety
SRINAGAR, India: Two suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Saturday, while troops also exchanged fire in the disputed region’s main city.
India’s military in a statement said soldiers intercepted a group of militants in a forested area in southern Anantnag district on Saturday, leading to a gunbattle that killed two rebels.
In a separate incident in the region’s main city of Srinagar, police and paramilitary soldiers exchanged fire with at least one militant after troops cordoned off a neighborhood on a tip that he was hiding in a house.
Residents said the troops torched the home where the rebel was trapped, a common tactic employed by Indian troops in the Himalayan region. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
Spain braces for more flood deaths, steps up aid
- Hopes of finding survivors more than three days after torrents of mud-filled water submerged towns and were slim
- Officials have said that dozens of people remain unaccounted for, but establishing a precise figure is difficult
VALENCIA: Rescuers resumed a grim search for bodies on Saturday as Spain scrambled to organize aid to stricken citizens following devastating floods that have killed more than 200 people.
Hopes of finding survivors more than three days after torrents of mud-filled water submerged towns and wrecked infrastructure were slim in the European country’s deadliest such disaster in decades.
Almost all deaths have been recorded in the eastern Valencia region where thousands of soldiers, police officers and civil guards were frantically clearing debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Officials have said that dozens of people remain unaccounted for, but establishing a precise figure is difficult with telephone and transport networks severely damaged.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska on Friday told Cadena Ser radio station that 207 people had died and that it was “reasonable” to believe more fatalities would emerge.
It is also hoped that the estimated number of missing people will fall once telephone and Internet services are running again.
Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages — some of which have been cut off from food, water and power for days — is a priority.
Authorities have come under fire over the adequacy of warning systems before the floods, and some residents have also complained that the response to the disaster is too slow.
Susana Camarero, deputy head of the Valencia region, told journalists on Saturday that essential supplies had been delivered “from day one” to all accessible settlements.
But it was “logical” that affected residents were asking for more, she added.
Authorities in Valencia have restricted access to roads for two days to allow emergency services to carry out search, rescue and logistics operations more effectively.
Thousands of ordinary citizens pushing shopping trolleys and carrying cleaning equipment took to the streets on Friday to help with the effort to clean up.
Camarero said some municipalities were “overwhelmed by the amount of solidarity and food” they had received.
The surge of solidarity continued on Saturday as around 1,000 people set off from the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia toward nearby towns laid waste by the floods, an AFP journalist saw.
Authorities have urged them to stay at home to avoid congestion on the roads that would hamper the work of emergency services.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez chaired a meeting of a crisis committee made up of top cabinet members on Saturday and is due to address the country later.
The storm that sparked the floods on Tuesday formed as cold air moved over the warm waters of the Mediterranean and is common for this time of year.
But scientists warn that climate change driven by human activity is increasing the ferocity, length and frequency of such extreme weather events.
Kyiv comes under heavy Russian drone attack
- Ukraine said on Saturday Kyiv had come under heavy drone attack overnight, as fresh explosions were heard in the capital and other regions were struck
Kyiv: Ukraine said on Saturday Kyiv had come under heavy drone attack overnight, as fresh explosions were heard in the capital and other regions were struck.
“Unfortunately, the attack by Russian drones caused damage and casualties in various districts of Kyiv,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
He said that the “constant terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities prove that the pressure on Russia and its accomplices is not enough.”
AFP reporters heard new explosions in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon amid an air raid alert.
In the morning Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 39 out of 71 drones launched from Russia overnight.
The drones targeted the Kyiv region surrounding the capital, the Sumy border region as well as the central Kirovograd and Poltava regions.
Twenty-one drones were lost and five returned to Russia, the air force said, adding that the drone attack was continuing.
The air force said debris from downed drones had damaged houses and blocks of flats in four regions including Kyiv, Sumy and the Black Sea Odesa region.
Kyiv’s military administration said that debris from air defenses shooting down drones fell in six districts of the capital, damaging blocks of flats and cars and sparking several fires in buildings that were extinguished.
A policeman was injured, the administration said.
In the Kyiv region outside the capital, an 82-year-old woman suffered head wounds from shrapnel, officials said.
In a village near the southern city of Kherson, a 40-year-old woman was pulled dead from rubble after Russian troops fired artillery and four were injured including three children, the governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
The health ministry said that a hospital in Kherson was struck, damaging two wards and a laboratory.
The medics and patients were uninjured as they had taken shelter.
Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky warned on Saturday that his troops on the ground were “holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”
