GLASGOW: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Thursday unveiled plans for a new independence referendum in case her demands for more autonomy and for Scotland to stay in Europe’s single market are not met.
Sturgeon said she would publish a draft referendum bill next week, accusing the British government of pushing for a “hard Brexit” and stirring up “xenophobia” with proposals to cut EU immigration.
“I can confirm today that the independence referendum bill will be published for consultation next week” in the Scottish parliament, Sturgeon told delegates at her Scottish National Party’s annual conference.
“I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence and to do so before the UK leaves the EU if that is necessary to protect our country’s interest.”
Scotland, which has a semi-autonomous status within Britain, voted by 55 percent in favor of staying in the United Kingdom in an independence vote in 2014.
In the EU membership referendum earlier this year Scotland voted by 62 percent in favor of remaining part of the bloc while Britain as a whole voted to leave.
Reacting to Sturgeon’s announcement, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said: “This issue was addressed in 2014. We should focus on working together on the best deal for the UK.”
May has said she wants to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — the formal process for leaving the EU — by the end of March 2017 at the latest.
That would open up a two year timeline for Britain to negotiate its departure before exiting in 2019.
May was clear during her own Conservative party conference last week that Brexit was not negotiable.
“We voted in the referendum as one United Kingdom, we will negotiate as one United Kingdom, and we will leave the European Union as one United Kingdom,” the premier said.
“There is no opt-out from Brexit. And I will never allow divisive nationalists to undermine the precious union between the four nations of our United Kingdom.”
For an independence vote to be held, the British parliament would also have to give its consent.
Sturgeon said she would publish proposals for Scotland to stay in the single market — a hot-button issue in Britain after government ministers hinted the country may have to leave it if it wants to impose stricter controls on EU immigration.
“Scotland didn’t choose to be in this situation. Your party put us here,” Sturgeon said, addressing May.
“If you think for one single second that I am not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland’s interest, think again.”
Sturgeon said the proposals would include Scotland taking powers currently in the EU’s remit as well as seeking new powers from London including the ability to strike international deals and immigration policy.
“If you can’t or won’t allow us to protect our interests in the UK, then Scotland will have the right to decide afresh if it wants to take a different path,” she said.
“There is no rational case for taking the UK out of the single market and there is no authority for it either,” she said, accusing May of “high-handed pronouncements that dismiss Scottish opinion.”
Scottish leader unveils new independence plan
Scottish leader unveils new independence plan
Somalia president visits Ethiopia in latest peace push
- Mohamud’s office said the visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa came at Abiy’s request
MOGADISHU: Somalia’s president arrived in Ethiopia on Saturday as the two countries looked to build on a recent peace deal aimed at defusing tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa.
Land-locked Ethiopia’s desire for access to the sea has deepened long-standing grievances between the two neighbors.
Somalia was outraged when Ethiopia signed a deal one year ago with its breakaway region of Somaliland, reportedly to recognize its independence in exchange for a port and military base on the Red Sea.
The diplomatic furor was defused by a peace deal signed last month by Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which was mediated by Turkiye.
Mohamud’s office said the visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa came at Abiy’s request.
“This visit builds on the recent agreement reached in Ankara. This renewed cooperation underscores a new era of collaboration between Somalia and Ethiopia,” it said.
Abiy’s X account showed him meeting the Somali president at the airport.
But many questions remain unresolved.
Although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month’s deal would eventually give Ethiopia some form of sea access, it is not clear how that would happen.
The fate of Ethiopia’s deal with Somaliland is also uncertain.
And continued tensions were on display in Cairo on Saturday when Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi met with his Egyptian and Eritrean counterparts.
The three countries have lately found common ground in opposing Ethiopia’s ambitions and made a veiled reference to their rival.
“The Red Sea and its security is subject only to the will of the countries on its coast, and it is absolutely unacceptable for any country not bordering the Red Sea to have a presence, whether military, naval or otherwise,” Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said.
Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia forged a new regional alliance in October at a summit in the Eritrean capital Asmara, and the foreign ministers said Saturday that more would follow.
Shared concerns about Ethiopia have also pushed Egypt and Somalia into closer military ties, with Egyptian troops joining the updated international coalition to fight Somalian insurgents, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), that launched this month.
US wildfires pose fresh threat despite winds easing
- The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph, gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph
LOS ANGELES: The largest of the raging wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles this week was reported to have shifted direction on Saturday, triggering more evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters.
Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches.
The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city’s western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged toward the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Death toll rises to 11 with more fatalities expected.
• 10,000 structures burned as neighborhoods turn to ash.
• Thousands homeless, public health emergency declared.
• Insurers face billions in claims, Biden vows support.
“The Palisades fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to northeast,” LA Fire Department Captain Erik Scott told local station KTLA, according to a report on the LA Times website.
The fire, the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has razed whole neighborhoods to the ground, leaving just the smoldering ruins of what had been people’s homes and possessions.
Some 153,000 people remained under evacuation orders and another 166,800 faced evacuation warnings with a curfew in place for all evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Seven neighboring states, the federal government and Canada have rushed aid to California, bolstering aerial teams dropping water and fire retardant on the flaming hills and crews on the ground attacking fire lines with hand tools and hoses.
The National Weather Service said that conditions in the Los Angeles area would improve through the weekend, with sustained winds slowing to about 20 mph, gusting between 35 mph and 50 mph.
Officials have declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke.
Pacific Palisades residents who ventured back to their devastated neighborhoods on Friday were shocked to find brick chimneys looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles as acrid smoke lingered in the air.
“This was a house that was loved,” Kelly Foster, 44, said while combing through the rubble where her house once stood.
Foster’s 16-year-old daughter, Ada, said she tried to get inside but “I just became sick. I just couldn’t even ... Yeah, it’s hard.”
In Rick McGeagh’s Palisades neighborhood, only six of 60 homes survived, and all that remained standing at his ranch house was a statue of the Virgin Mary.
“Everything else is ash and rubble,” said McGeagh, 61, a commercial real estate broker who, along with his wife, raised three children at their home.
On Friday morning, hundreds of people streamed into a parking lot near the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena for donated clothing, diapers and bottled water.
Denise Doss, 63, said she was anxious to return to her destroyed home in Altadena to see if anything was salvageable, but officials stopped her due to safety concerns.
“At least to say goodbye until we can rebuild. I will let God lead me,” Doss said.
Many Altadena residents said they were worried government resources would go to wealthier areas and that insurers might short-change those who cannot afford to contest denials of fire claims.
Beyond those who lost their homes, tens of thousands remained without power, and millions of people were exposed to poorer air quality, as the fires lofted traces of metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.
President Joe Biden has declared the fires a major disaster and said the US government would reimburse 100 percent of the recovery for the next six months.
Russia says US risks global energy instability with new sanctions
- “Of course Washington’s hostile actions will not be left without reaction,” said Moscow’s foreign ministry
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters that the Biden administration was trying to leave Trump “as heavy a legacy as possible“
MOSCOW: Moscow on Saturday accused the US of being ready to risk global energy instability with new wide-reaching sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
The US and the UK on Friday announced new sanctions against Russia’s energy sector, including oil giant Gazprom Neft, just days before President Joe Biden leaves office.
Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a statement that on the eve of Biden’s “inglorious time in power,” Washington was trying to “cause at least some harm to Russia’s economy even at the cost of destabilising world markets.”
“Of course Washington’s hostile actions will not be left without reaction,” it added.
In a reference to the California wildfires, Moscow accused Biden’s administration of leaving behind “scorched earth,” or total destruction, for incoming US President Donald Trump — since he cannot cancel the sanctions without Congress approval.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters that the Biden administration was trying to leave Trump “as heavy a legacy as possible.”
The US Treasury Department said Friday it was designating more than 180 ships as well as Russian oil majors Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, fulfilling “the G7 commitment to reduce Russian revenues from energy.”
Gazprom Neft on Friday slammed the sanctions as “baseless” and “illegitimate,” Russian state news agencies reported.
Biden’s deputy national security adviser for international economics, Daleep Singh, called the sanctions “the most significant” yet on Russia’s energy sector, which he said was “by far the largest source of revenue for (President Vladimir) Putin’s war.”
The Russian ministry on Saturday accused the US of seeking to “hinder as far as possible or even make impossible any bilateral economic ties, including with US business.”
It said Washington was “sacrificing to this the interests... of European allies,” which are “forced to switch over to more expensive and unreliable American supplies.”
It also accused Washington of “ignoring” the views of its own population on rising energy prices once the presidential election was over.
‘Brutal’ tram collision in France’s Strasbourg injures dozens
- The collision occurred near Strasbourg’s main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris
- According to the prefecture, citing preliminary estimates, between 30 and 35 victims were injured. Firefighters put that figure at around 50
STRASBOURG, France: Two trams collided in a tunnel in a rare accident in the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, the authorities said.
The collision occurred near Strasbourg’s main train station, one of the busiest in France outside of Paris.
In 1994, Strasbourg was the first major French city to re-introduce trams, after the service closed in 1960.
Since the return of the vehicles, there have been no major accidents.
According to the prefecture, citing preliminary estimates, between 30 and 35 victims were injured. Firefighters put that figure at around 50.
A video posted by a witness on social media showed a chaotic scene with the two trams significantly damaged in a tunnel near the station.
One of the trams appeared to have derailed as a result of the impact, whose cause has yet to be established.
“The public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation,” the prefecture said.
A large security perimeter was set up in front of the station, where ambulances have taken up position, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Paramedics and firefighters were loading injured people secured on stretchers into ambulances. Other victims were receiving first aid under the station’s glass roof.
Strasbourg’s Mayor Jeanne Barseghian and other officials rushed to the station.
The accident occurred shortly before 4:00 p.m. (15:00 GMT).
“What we know at this stage is that there was a brutal collision between two trams, on the platform, under the station,” said Barseghian.
“There were a number of people on the trams,” she said, adding that there were no fatalities or people in “absolute urgency.”
Some of the injured were in a state of shock as a result of the “head-on” impact which was “relatively violent,” the mayor added, expressing her support.
Patrick Maciejewski, chairman of the board of directors of the Strasbourg transport company (CTS), said that there had been demonstrations in central Strasbourg, which had disrupted tram traffic.
“A number of trams had to be reorganized and put on standby. There was a traffic jam,” he said.
“We don’t know why the train was stopped, but it started to move backwards.”
Rene Cellier, director of the Bas-Rhin fire and rescue service, said around 50 people had suffered non-fatal injuries such as scalp wounds, clavicle fractures, and knee sprains.
“Mostly trauma,” said Cellier.
“There are also around 100 people who have no particular injuries but are being seen by the doctors,” he added.
Cellier said around 50 vehicles and 130 firefighters were on site, adding that the situation “could have been much more serious.”
Johan, a witness who declined to give his last name, said that one of the trams reversed at full speed.
“There was a problem with the brakes,” he told AFP. “We heard a big impact, a big bang.”
The two drivers were not injured, “but are very shocked,” said CTS director Emmanuel Auneau.
Strasbourg saw a similar in 1998 when one tramway collided with another in the same tunnel, wounding 17 people.
Located in the historic region of Alsace, the city is the official seat of the European Parliament.
Syrian migrant dies trying to cross Channel: French authorities
- Several dozen migrants tried to get into the water on the beach at Sangatte, on the northern coast of France
LILLE: A 19-year-old Syrian migrant perished while trying to cross the Channel to Britain, French authorities said on Saturday, adding he was probably crushed to death in a leaking dinghy.
It was the first reported death at sea of a migrant seeking to travel to Britain from France so far this year.
Several dozen migrants tried to get into the water on the beach at Sangatte, on the northern coast of France, on Friday night, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture told AFP.
The prefecture said that “a few minutes later” the group disembarked from the leaking dinghy. On the floor of the boat, a Syrian man was found, the prefecture said, adding that he had suffered cardiac arrest.
He had “probably” been crushed to death.
“This was the first death at sea in 2025,” the prefecture said.
The victim, 19, was pronounced dead at 5:24 am, the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor, Guirec Le Bras, said separately.
A forensic investigation will be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.
Citing members of law enforcement, the prosecutor said the small boat carried around 60 migrants.
A 33-year-old Syrian-born man was arrested and placed in police custody, according to the prosecutor.
According to the prefecture, 77 people died trying to reach Britain in flimsy inflatable boats last year, making it the deadliest year for migrants who are taking ever greater risks to evade Britain’s border control.
Associations providing help to migrants recorded 89 fatalities last year. The count includes migrants who died at sea and on the coast of northern France.
The groups planned a march in Calais on Saturday to denounce security policies they say are responsible for the mounting death toll.
Due to unfavorable weather conditions, only 61 migrants arrived in the United Kingdom on small boats between 1 and 10 January, according to British authorities.
More than 36,800 people were detected crossing the Channel last year, a 25 percent increase from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures from the interior ministry.
Immigration, both irregular and regular, was a major issue in the UK’s July general election, which brought Labour to power but also saw a breakthrough for Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.
According to Downing Street, illegal migration was one of the issues discussed by French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.
