VALENCIA: Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday in Valencia, hit hard by recent floods, in the latest such protest over the government response to the unprecedented natural disaster.
The October 29 tragedy killed 231 people and devastated swathes of the eastern Valencia region, leaving thousands of victims to spend Christmas without loved ones, homes or property in the traditionally Catholic country.
On Sunday, some 80,000 people, according to regional police, again denounced the handling of Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.
“After everything that has happened with the floods, no politician has resigned, nor have there been any consequences, nor are they doing anything,” said Enrique Soriano.
Much of the popular anger has been directed at the head of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, with protesters shouting “murderer” and “criminal” and carrying signs reading “Mazon resign.”
“Mazon did not do his job. And those who don’t do their job have to go to the streets. Especially a civil servant,” said Amparo Mateos from the town of Picana.
The anger is acutely raw in Valencia, which bore the brunt of the disaster: out of the 231 people killed in the disaster, 223 were in the Valencia region. Four people are still listed as missing.
It marked a third major demonstration in Valencia over the government response, following protests held on November 9 and 30 that attracted 130,000 and 100,000 people, respectively, according to Valencia police.
Much of the anger has been focused on the fact that many residents received telephone alerts after water was already engulfing their homes, while some municipalities went without aid for days, relying on volunteers for immediate rescue work.
The popular fury was on stark display during a November 3 visit to the epicenter of the disaster by Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Mazon, when survivors pelted the delegations with mud in images that stunned the country.
Tens of thousands protest over Spain flood response
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Tens of thousands protest over Spain flood response
- The October 29 tragedy killed 231 people and devastated swathes of the eastern Valencia region
UK plans tough laws to fight people smugglers
- PM Keir Starmer has prioritized tackling illegal migration by cracking down on the gangs who smuggle people across the English Channel
- Government data show that over 36,800 people made the dangerous crossings to arrive in Britain in 2024, a 25 percent year-on-year surge
LONDON: Suspected people smugglers will face severe curbs under new laws in Britain, the government said on Thursday, as it steps up efforts to fight illegal migration and strengthen border security.
Those suspected will face travel bans, social media blackouts and restrictions on phone usage to help the government “dismantle organized immigration crime networks,” the statement added.
“We will give law enforcement stronger powers they need to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks,” interior minister Yvette Cooper said, describing border security as one of the foundations of the government’s recently laid out ‘plan for change’.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected to office in July, has prioritized tackling illegal migration by cracking down on the gangs who smuggle people across the English Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, into Britain from France.
Over 36,800 people made the dangerous crossings to arrive in Britain in 2024, a 25 percent year-on-year surge, according to government data. Several dozen have died attempting to do so, with the Refugee Council charity terming it the deadliest year on record for such crossings.
The planned interim serious crime prevention orders (SCPO) will allow immediate action to disrupt and deter suspected serious criminality, including organized immigration crime, the statement said.
The fresh powers are designed to mirror those already used to disrupt other offenses such as knife crime, slavery and trafficking.
Currently, securing an SCPO on suspects can be a complex and lengthy process. The interim orders will speed up the process.
Two killed in Russian drone strike on Kyiv, Ukraine says
- Two floors of a residential building in central Kyiv were partially destroyed in the strike, according to the State Emergency Service. Two people were killed, it said
KYIV: Russia launched a New Year’s Day drone strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Wednesday, killing two people, wounding at least six others and damaging buildings in two districts, authorities said.
Explosions boomed across the morning sky as Ukraine’s air force warned of incoming drones and Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were repelling an enemy attack.
Two floors of a residential building in central Kyiv were partially destroyed in the strike, according to the State Emergency Service. Two people were killed, it said.
Photos posted by the agency showed firefighters dousing a gutted corner of a building and rescuers helping elderly victims.
The National Bank of Ukraine said in a statement that one of its buildings nearby had been damaged by debris from a downed drone. Debris also damaged a non-residential building in a different neighborhood, authorities said.
“Even on New Year’s Eve, Russia was only concerned about how to hurt Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media in response to the strike.
Kyiv’s military said it had shot down 63 out of 111 drones launched by Russia overnight across various regions of Ukraine. Another 46 had been downed by electronic jamming, it added.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front line of its nearly three-year-old invasion, in which its troops are claiming village after village in a grinding march across eastern Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Moscow’s forces fired 21 missiles at Kyiv and the northern Sumy region during an overnight strike, damaging buildings and infrastructure in the city of Shostka.
Separately on Wednesday, a 23-year-old volunteer worker was killed by Russian shelling in the southern front-line city of Kherson, city officials said.
The governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, later said that a resident of a town northeast of the city died in hospital of injuries suffered during a drone attack.
1 person dies when Tesla truck catches fire and explodes outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk says whole Tesla senior team is investigating
- Seven people nearby had minor injuries
LAS VEGAS: One person died and seven others were injured Wednesday when a Tesla Cybertruck that appeared to be carrying fireworks caught fire and exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, authorities said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Clark County Fire Department officials told a news conference that a person died inside the futuristic-looking pickup truck and they were working to get the body out. Seven people nearby had minor injuries and several were taken to a hospital.
The fire in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was reported at 8:40 a.m., a county spokeswoman said in a statement.
According to a law enforcement official, the truck was rented via the Turo app and appeared to have a load of fireworks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Law enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, a person familiar with the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” Jeremy Schwartz, acting special agent in charge for the FBI’s Las Vegas office, told reporters. “We don’t have a lot of answers.”
President Joe Biden was briefed on the explosion. The truck explosion came hours after a driver rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 10 people before being shot to death by police.
“The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a statement on X, adding: “We’ve never seen anything like this.”
In Las Vegas, witness Ana Bruce, visiting from Brazil, said she heard three explosions.
“The first one where we saw the fire, the second one, I guess, was the battery or something like that, and the third was the big one that smoked the entire area and was the moment when everyone was told to evacuate and stay away,” Bruce said.
Her travel companion, Alcides Antunes, showed video he took of flames lapping the sides of the silver-colored vehicle.
The 64-story hotel is just off the Las Vegas Strip and across the street from the Fashion Show Las Vegas shopping mall.
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.”
Montenegro gunman kills himself after shooting rampage that left 10 people dead
- Aleksandar Martinovic attempted suicide near his home in the town of Cetinje after being cornered by police
- He did not immediately die but succumbed to his injuries while he was being brought to hospital, police said
PODGORICA, Montenegro: A gunman who killed at least 10 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro died from self-inflicted injuries on Thursday after attempting suicide, the country’s interior minister, Danilo Saranovic, said. The gunman, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, attempted suicide near his home in the town of Cetinje after being cornered by police.
“When he saw that he was in a hopeless situation, he attempted suicide. He did not succumb to his injuries on the spot, but during the transport to hospital,” Saranovic told Montenegro’s state broadcaster, RTCG.
Saranovic provided no details on the attempted suicide.
Martinovic was on the run after opening fire on Wednesday afternoon at a restaurant in Cetinje, a small town located 38 km (23.6 miles) west of Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, where he killed four people.
The shooter then moved on to three other locations, killing at least six more people, including two children, police said. Four other people suffered life-threatening injuries.
Police said Martinovic had a history of illegal weapons possession.
Late on Wednesday, police director Lazar Scepanovic said the suspect was thought to have been drinking heavily before the shooting. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said there had been a brawl before shots were fired.
Police said the shooting was not thought to be connected to organized crime.
Mass shootings are comparatively rare in Montenegro, which has a deeply rooted gun culture. In 2022, also in Cetinje, 11 people, including two children and a gunman, were killed in a mass attack.
Wednesday’s incident shocked the country of 605,000 people. Spajic called the rampage a “terrible tragedy” and declared three days of national mourning. President Jakov Milatovic said he was “horrified” by the attack.
Despite strict gun laws, the Western Balkans composed of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, remain awash with weapons. Most are from the bloody wars in the 1990s, but some date back even to World War One.
Spajic said authorities would consider tightening criteria for owning and carrying firearms, including the possibility of a complete ban on weapons.
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.
