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Italy: 26 Migrants Dead In Lampedusa Shipwreck
At least 26 migrants lost their lives in a tragic shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa island on Wednesday, with 60 survivors rescued and authorities warning that more bodies may still be missing as search operations continue.
The disaster, in this case involving people travelling from Libya, is the latest to befall migrants making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.
An Italian law enforcement aircraft spotted a capsized boat with bodies in the water about 14 miles (23 km) off Lampedusa on Wednesday morning, triggering a rescue operation, the coastguard said in a statement.
Based on initial accounts from the rescued migrants, they departed from the Tripoli area in Libya in the early morning aboard two boats. One of the vessels began taking on water and they transferred to the other one, which later capsized in choppy seas, a source close to the matter said.
Initial tallies from the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR indicated that the group of migrants comprised some 92 to 97 people.
Survivors Shaken
Since the start of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to make the crossing from Africa, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesperson in Italy.
“The survivors brought into the hotspot arrived in reasonable health; naturally, there was exhaustion, and psychologically they were quite shaken,” said Imad Dalil, who heads the Italian Red Cross migrant hub on Lampedusa.
Earlier, the Red Cross said a total 56 men and four women had been brought ashore following the accident.
Meloni-Govt Reiterates Stance
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has vowed to block migrant sea journeys from Africa and has passed measures against people smugglers, including tougher jail terms, urging allies to do the same.
In a statement, Meloni expressed her sadness over the tragedy and said it showed the need for stronger action to stop illegal arrivals.
“We therefore renew our commitment to combat these unscrupulous traffickers in the only way possible: by preventing irregular departures and managing migration flows,” she said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Trump Seeks To Expand Federal Authority Over Washington Police
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to urge the Republican-led Congress to prolong federal oversight of Washington‘s police force beyond 30 days, intensifying his effort to assert presidential authority over the capital.
Trump also asserted that any congressional action could serve as a model for other U.S. cities. He has previously threatened to expand his efforts to other Democratic-run cities, such as Chicago, that he claims have failed to address crime.
The Republican president’s extraordinary moves in Washington are reflective of how he has approached his second term in office, shattering political norms and legal concerns to test the limits of his office’s power.
It was not clear how Trump’s takeover of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department could be replicated elsewhere. In seizing control on Monday, Trump took advantage of a federal law, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, that permits the president to do so under emergency circumstances for up to 30 days.
There is no basis for Trump to attempt similar takeovers in other cities, according to John P. Fishwick Jr., a former federal prosecutor in Virginia, who said that Washington represents a “unique situation.”
Trump also announced on Monday that he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to the city, a tactic he employed in Los Angeles in June when he mobilised thousands of Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines over the objections of state and local officials in response to protests over his administration’s immigration raids.
Separately, hundreds of federal officers and agents from more than a dozen agencies have fanned out across Washington in recent days.
Trump has painted a picture of the U.S. capital as a city gripped by a wave of crime and pervasive homelessness, despite both federal and city crime statistics showing that violent crime has declined precipitously since a spike in 2023.
Trump said on Wednesday that the city’s crime statistics were a “total fraud,” without providing evidence, and that the public would soon see a “big change” in the figures.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told FOX Noticias that officials were looking into whether the city’s statistics last year were manipulated.
Hundreds Of Officers On Patrol
The office of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, declined to respond to Trump’s latest comments. Bowser has sought to strike a diplomatic tone in recent days while also noting that violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year.
Still, as big U.S. cities go, Washington remains more dangerous than many others based on its homicide rate.
In 2024, there were about 26 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to crime data compiled from 36 of the largest U.S. cities by the non-partisan Washington-based Council on Criminal Justice. Only four of the 36 had higher homicide rates: Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis and St. Louis.
It is not yet clear what the takeover of Washington’s police force means in practice. Chief Pamela Smith has framed the federalisation of her department as a collaborative partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, rather than a direct federal takeover, and says she still answers to Mayor Bowser.
More than 1,450 law enforcement personnel were on patrol in Washington on Tuesday night, a White House official said, including 30 National Guard troops and 750 city police officers. The official said the White House expects a “significantly higher” Guard presence on Wednesday night.
The effort has resulted in 103 arrests since August 7, including 43 on Tuesday, the official said. The charges include one homicide charge, 33 firearms charges and 23 immigration charges, the official said, and have led to 24 seized firearms.
During the same period in 2024, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested 364 people in total, police data shows, including traffic and liquor law violations as well as murder, prostitution, carjacking, assault, theft, burglary and robbery.
The MPD made 20,386 adult arrests in 2024, an average of 56 arrests a day, or nearly three times the rate cited by the White House.
The Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI on Wednesday both referred questions seeking more details on the arrests to the White House, a highly unusual deflection that signalled the White House’s outsized role in overseeing the law enforcement crackdown.
Trump Threatens Emergency Declaration
Asked about Trump’s call for congressional action, the offices of House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, both Republicans, pointed to social media posts on Monday expressing support for Trump’s actions.
Any legislation to extend Trump’s control over the police department would likely stall in the Senate, where Democrats can use procedural rules to block most bills.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that if Congress fails to act, he can declare a “national emergency” to extend the 30-day limit, though legal experts expressed scepticism.
“There’s nothing about the president extending past 30 days unilaterally,” Claire Finkelstein, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, said of the Home Rule Act. “If the 30 days are up, that’s that.”
The president has used emergency declarations to justify numerous unprecedented executive actions, including historically high tariffs on foreign imports and his wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Many have drawn lawsuits challenging his authority.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Gaza Aid Shipments Stalled After Being Turned Back At Border
Israel blocked deliveries of Gaza-bound aid on Sunday, leaving boxes of food and medicine stranded on trucks and trailers just metres from the Egyptian border. Frustrated drivers and U.N. officials voiced concern over the delays in getting vital supplies to the enclave.
Seven aid officials and three truckers reported a host of obstacles, ranging from rejections of shipments for minor packing and paperwork issues to heavy scrutiny over possible dual military use for a range of goods, as well as short working hours at the Israeli border crossing.
The supplies on Monday on the stalled truck and trailer outside Egypt’s Rafah border crossing carried blue logos of the World Health Organisation and labels describing contents like topical medications and suction devices to clean wounds, according to reports.
Israel’s Conduct Criticised
A WHO employee working at the border said the cargo was blocked for carrying “illegal medicines”. It could not be verified why the trucks were not allowed to enter Gaza and the Israeli military authority in charge of coordinating aid did not respond to a question about why they were not let into the enclave.
Some Elders members have been highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, including former Irish President Mary Robinson and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who joined the border trip.
Responding to international outrage sparked by images of starving Gazans, Israel on July 27 announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. But aid agencies say only a fraction of what they send is getting in. Israel strongly denies limiting aid supplies.
Speaking to reporters at the Rafah crossing, Clark expressed shock at the amount of aid turned back at the border.
“To see this crossing, which should be a place where people interact with each other, where people can come and go, where people aren’t under blockade, where people who are ill can leave to come out – to see it just silent for the people, it’s absolutely shocking for us,” Clark said.
Aid Shortage
Approvals and clearance procedures that got a shipment through the Rafah border crossing “within a few days” of arrival in Egypt during a ceasefire earlier in the war now took “minimum one month,” according to the WHO employee at the border.
On Monday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 1,334 trucks had entered Gaza through all land crossings, including from Egypt, since the Israeli measures announced on July 27, but this was far short of the 9,000 that would have gone in if 600 trucks had entered per day. The United States has said a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to feed Gaza’s population.
Asked for its response to allegations of curbs on aid flows, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, COGAT, said Israel invests “considerable efforts” in aid distribution. It said about 300 trucks had been transferred daily in “recent weeks,” mostly carrying food, via all land crossings.
“Despite the claims made, the State of Israel allows and facilitates the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip without any quantitative limit on the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip,” COGAT said. The agency did not address specific questions about aid shipment volumes.
‘Bureaucratic Hurdles, Delays’
In mid-July, Israel introduced a requirement that shipments of humanitarian aid arriving from Egypt undergo customs clearance. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel’s move led to “additional bureaucratic hurdles, delays, and costs for humanitarian organisations.”
U.N. agencies were exempted from customs clearance from Egypt from July 27 to Aug. 3, OCHA said in a report on August 6. While not officially extended, the exemption still appeared to be in place, it said. Other international NGOs could be exempted only on a case-by-case basis and only for health items.
More than 200 Gazans have died of malnutrition or starvation in the war, according to Palestinian health authorities, adding to the over 61,000 dead they say have been killed by military action. The U.N. human rights office and several expert studies have said the number is probably an undercount.
Israel has disputed the Gaza health ministry figures, which do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, and says at least a third of the fatalities are terrorists. On Monday, COGAT said a review by its medical experts found the number of deaths reported by the Gaza health ministry due to malnutrition was inflated and most of those “allegedly dying from malnutrition” had pre-existing conditions.
A Warehouse Of Rejected Goods
Drivers coming from Egypt cannot go directly to the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, which had been operated by the Hamas-run border authority but is now closed. Instead, they route to the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, about three km (two miles) to the south, where shipments undergo checks.
Kamel Atteiya Mohamed, an Egyptian truck driver, estimated that of the 200 or 300 trucks trying to get through this route every day, only 30 to 50 make it.
“They tell you, for example, that the pallet doesn’t have a sticker, the pallet is tilted, or the pallet is open from the top. This is no reason for us to return it,” he said. He said that while the Egyptian crossing was open day and night, drivers often arrived at Kerem Shalom only to find it closed, as it does not normally operate beyond weekday business hours.
“Every day it’s like this,” he said. “Honestly, we’re fed up.”
While COGAT did not address specific questions about the driver’s remarks and allegations of inflexible working hours, it said that “hundreds of truckloads of aid still await collection by the UN and international organizations” on the Palestinian side of the border crossings.
Goods Turned Back
A logistics site set up by the Egyptian Red Crescent near El Arish town, 40 km (25 miles) from the border, where shipments coming from Egypt to Gaza are loaded, has a tarp tent warehouse devoted to goods turned back from the border.
According to a source, rows of white oxygen tanks, as well as wheelchairs, car tires and cartons labelled as containing generators and first-aid kits and with logos of aid groups from countries such as Luxembourg and Kuwait, among others.
Speaking at the meeting with the Elders, one World Food Programme worker said that only 73 of the 400 trucks the agency had sent since July 27 had made it in.
U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has not been allowed to send aid into Gaza since March. The OCHA August 6 report said no shelter materials had been allowed to enter Gaza since March 2 and those available on the local market were “prohibitively expensive and limited in quantity.”
The WHO employee who works on the border said the truck and trailer were among three trucks that had been turned back on Sunday. A manifest given for their cargo, included urine drainage bags, iodine, plasters and sutures.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Taliban Forcibly Divert International Aid And Restrict Access, US Watchdog Reports
A U.S. watchdog reported on Tuesday that Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are seizing international aid through coercion and other methods, preventing minority communities from receiving assistance, and may be working with U.N. officials to demand kickbacks.
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said its findings were based on input from nearly 90 current and former U.S. officials, U.N. officials and others.
The sources included Afghans in Afghanistan, the report said.
“In Afghanistan, SIGAR found that the Taliban use every means at their disposal, including force, to ensure that aid goes where they want it to go, as opposed to where donors intend,” the report said.
Taliban Denies Allegations
Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat denied the allegations. He said international aid is distributed independently in Afghanistan and government agencies cooperate “to ensure transparency” and prevent diversion.
SIGAR said an employee of an Afghan aid organization who participated in the report was killed for exposing the diversion of food aid to a Taliban military training camp. But it could not confirm who was responsible.
The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, the charges could not be confirmed.
International donors provided $10.72 billion in aid, including $3.83 billion by the United States, between August 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan and April 2025 when the Trump administration ended most U.S. aid, the report said.
The report said the Taliban used force and regulatory powers among other means to control aid. This included determining which humanitarian groups can operate, directing U.S.-funded aid to favored majority Pashtun communities at the expense of minorities and extorting humanitarian workers.
SIGAR also heard from interviewees allegations that U.N. officials demanded bribes from companies and aid groups for U.N. contracts, the report said.
Taliban officials allegedly “collude with U.N. officials to extort bribes from U.N. contractors and then split the proceeds,” the report said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Serbia: Police Break Up Clash Between Ruling Party Backers And Anti-Government Protesters
On Wednesday evening, supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) hurled flares and firecrackers at anti-government demonstrators in Novi Sad, prompting police to step in and end the confrontation — marking a major escalation in Serbia’s nine-month-long protest movement.
Daily protests countrywide in Serbia, following the deaths of 16 people, killed when a roof on a renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed last November, have rattled the popularity of populist President Aleksandar Vucic and SNS.
At a news conference late on Wednesday, Vucic, flanked by Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, said 16 police officers and around 60 SNS backers have been injured in Novi Sad. He also accused unidentified foreign powers of orchestrating riots and pledged arrests.
“Persons who violated the law will be apprehended … Tonight, we have averted a catastrophic scenario planned by someone from abroad,” he said.
Footage by private N1 TV showed flares and firecrackers being thrown at protesters in Novi Sad from the direction of the SNS offices. It also showed anti-government protesters, some with bloody faces, saying Vucic’s backers used sticks and truncheons to attack them.
Opposition Move-Change movement said Vucic’s loyalists have been responsible for the clashes.
“Attacks on people with pyrotechnic devices violate their right to life and protest,” it said in a statement.
Protesters Blocked In Belgrade
In the capital city of Belgrade, police in full riot gear blocked anti-government protesters from approaching the area in a park near the parliament building where Vucic’s supporters have been camping since March.
Elsewhere in Belgrade, anti-government protesters clashed with police who prevented them from approaching local SNS offices.
The protesters all over Serbia have blamed corruption for the Novi Sad railway roof collapse and have demanded early elections that they hope would remove Vucic and his party from power after 13 years.
Students, opposition, and anti-corruption watchdogs have accused Vucic and his allies of ties to organised crime, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms, something they deny.
On Wednesday evening, students who are leading the protests called supporters to protest in front of SNS offices in major cities in Serbia, including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Cacak and Nis, after several protesters were injured in clashes with SNS in the town of Vrbas on Tuesday evening.
(With inputs from Reuters)
US Revokes Visas Over Cuban Medical Programme
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday moved to revoke or restrict visas for certain officials from Africa, the Caribbean, and Brazil, whom Washington accuses of being linked to a Cuban programme that deploys medical workers abroad.
The State Department revoked the visas of Brazilian Ministry of Health official Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and former Pan American Health Organization official Alberto Kleiman, Rubio said in a statement.
Rubio did not name other officials who were affected but said they were from Africa, Cuba and Grenada.
Cynical Excuse
The Cuban government has blasted US efforts to stop the medical missions, calling them a cynical excuse to go after its foreign currency earnings.
Caribbean leaders have previously rejected US accusations of Cuban labor exploitation.
“Cuba’s medical cooperation will continue,” Johana Tablada, Cuba’s deputy director of US affairs, said on X. “His (Rubio’s) priorities speak volumes: financing Israel genocide on Palestine, torturing Cuba, going after health care services for those who need them most,” Tablada wrote.
‘Unreasonable Attacks’
Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha said his government will not bow to what he called “unreasonable attacks” on Brazil’s Mais Medicos, or “More Doctors,” programme mentioned by Rubio. The programme was created in 2013. Cuba’s contract in it was terminated in 2018.
Reversing Biden-Era Rules
President Donald Trump’s administration in February expanded visa restrictions to target officials believed to be tied to the Cuban programme, which has sent medics around the world since the Cuban revolution in 1959. The programme provides hard cash to the island nation, which is enduring its latest economic crisis.
Trump has imposed a hard-line policy toward communist-run Cuba and reversed former President Joe Biden’s measures.
Rubio labeled the Cuban programme as one where “medical professionals are ‘rented’ by other countries at high prices and most of the revenue is kept by the Cuban authorities.” He said it enriches Cuban officials and deprives Cuban people of essential medical care.
Washington will act “to bring an end to such forced labour,” Rubio said, urging governments to pay doctors directly for their services.
In announcing restrictions on Brazil and ex-PAHO officials, Rubio accused the branch of the World Health Organization covering Caribbean, Central and South America of acting as an intermediary to implement the programme without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, and dodging US sanctions.
(With inputs from Reuters)
North Korea Rejects Peace Signals From South Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister said on Thursday that Pyongyang never dismantled its propaganda loudspeakers and has no plans to do so, dismissing South Korea’s belief in a positive response to its peace overtures as a mere “pipedream”.
Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior official in the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, also said a change made to the plan for annual joint military drills by South Korea and the United States was a “futile” move that does not change the allies’ hostile intent.
Kim, who officials and analysts believe speaks for her brother, has in recent weeks rebuffed moves taken by South Korea’s new liberal government aimed at easing tension between the two Koreas.
Policy Cannot Change
“I am confident that Seoul’s policy towards the DPRK remains unchanged and can never change,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA official news agency. DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
South Korea’s military has said it detected moves by the North’s military to dismantle some propaganda loudspeakers directed at the South, following similar moves by the South.
There has been cautious optimism in the South that the North may be responding positively to a policy by President Lee Jae Myung to engage Pyongyang after a period of cross-border tension and even show willingness to return to dialogue.
Kim Yo Jong also said North Korea will not be sitting down with the United States for dialogue, saying reports raising the possibilities of such a development were “false suppositions”.
Pyongyang-Moscow Talks
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Kim Jong Un and updated him on planned talks the Russian leader will hold with US President Donald Trump in Alaska this week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA later reported the two leaders’ call without mentioning the meeting scheduled on Friday between Putin and Trump.
Kim and Putin discussed the development in the countries’ ties under a strategic partnership agreement signed last year “confirming their will to strengthen cooperation in the future,” KCNA said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
UN Chief Warns Israel, Russia Over Sexual Violence Claims
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned Israel and Russia of serious concerns over recurring patterns of certain types of sexual violence involving their armed and security forces, according to a report seen by Reuters.
The alleged crimes included incidents of genital violence, prolonged forced nudity of captives, and abusive and degrading strip searches aimed at humiliation and interrogation.
Guterres Warns Israel, Russia
In his annual report to the Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence, Guterres put Israel and Russia “on notice” that they could be listed next year among parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.”
The warning resulted from “significant concerns regarding patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations,” he wrote.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon described the concerns as baseless accusations.
“The U.N. must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages. Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law,” Danon said in a statement.
Palestinian militants Hamas – whose October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel triggered the current war in Gaza – were listed in Guterres’ report on Tuesday as a group “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence” in armed conflict.
“We categorically reject all these allegations,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters, adding in reference to Israeli remarks: “These are certainly new attempts to use lies to divert attention from the ongoing brutal crimes committed by this fascist government and its army against our people in Gaza.”
‘Credible Information’
In his warning to Israel, Guterres said he was “gravely concerned about credible information of violations by Israeli armed and security forces” against Palestinians in several prisons, a detention centre and a military base.
“Cases documented by the United Nations indicate patterns of sexual violence such as genital violence, prolonged forced nudity and repeated strip searches conducted in an abusive and degrading manner,” he wrote in the report.
While Israeli authorities had engaged with his special envoy on sexual violence in conflict over the past year, Guterres said “limited information has been provided on accountability measures undertaken in relation to alleged incidents of sexual violence, despite witness testimony and digital evidence of Israeli soldiers committing such violations.”
Russia’s mission to the U.N. in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Guterres said Russian authorities have not engaged with his special envoy.
‘Gravely Concerned’
Guterres wrote that he was “gravely concerned about credible information of violations by Russian armed and security forces and affiliated armed groups” primarily against Ukrainian prisoners of war, in 50 official and 22 unofficial detention facilities in Ukraine and Russia.
“These cases comprised a significant number of documented incidents of genital violence, including electrocution, beatings and burns to the genitals, and forced stripping and prolonged nudity, used to humiliate and elicit confessions or information,” he said.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Southern Europe Engulfed In Wildfires Amid Heatwave, Strong Winds
Wildfires sparked by arson or thunderstorms, fuelled by a heatwave and strong winds, tore through southern Europe on Wednesday, destroying homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate.
Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006, according to the EU Science Hub’s Joint Research Centre.
Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic on the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, west of Athens.
‘Doomsday’
“What does it look like? It looks like doomsday. May God help us and help the people here,” said Giorgos Karvanis, a volunteer who had come from Athens to Patras to help.
Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave.
On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread.
In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as the state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire.
The 35-year-old man had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas, in the central Castile and Leon region, when he was trapped in the blaze, regional officials said.
He was the sixth person to die this year in wildfires in Spain. Others include two firefighters in Tarragona and Avila, according to emergency services.
Working in unprepared landscapes puts firefighters’ lives at risk, said Alexander Held, a senior expert in fire management at the European Forest Institute, adding authorities should prepare by creating buffer zones and clearing combustible vegetation.
“Take an industrial building and imagine there would be no fire detectors, no sprinkler systems, no fire protection doors and no escape routes – firefighters would just refuse to go in, but in our landscape we expect them to do this,” Held said.
Investing 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) a year in forest management could save 9.9 million hectares – an area the size of Portugal – and 99 billion euros spent on fighting fires and restoration work afterwards, according to Greenpeace.
Suspected Arson
Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told the SER radio station that many fires across the country were thought to be the work of arsonists due to their “virulence”.
A male firefighter was arrested on Tuesday for fires started in the Avila area north of Madrid two weeks ago, while police said on Tuesday they were investigating a 63-year-old woman for allegedly starting fires in Galicia’s Muxia area in August.
Police have also identified a suspect who is believed to have suffered burns to his hands after starting a small fire in a beachfront development in the southern coastal Cadiz area, Europa Press reported.
Thunderstorms have caused other fires.
On Tuesday, shortly after 5 p.m., Andalusia’s fire department was flooded with calls by residents reporting a fire caused by a lightning strike on a chestnut and oak forest in Los Romeros, north of the city of Huelva. The fire prompted the evacuation of around 250 residents but was largely controlled by Wednesday morning.
A blaze in Trancoso in Portugal that has been burning since Saturday got worse during the night as a lightning strike reignited an area that was thought safe, the civil protection service said.
‘Critical Week’
In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a “critical week”, with several major wildfires burning across the country.
Some 10,000 firefighters, soldiers and police emergency units struggled with a total of 24 wildfires on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.
Flames reached two villages in the centre of the country, forcing villagers to flee, taking their livestock with them.
“We are going in the middle of two rivers because the fire has arrived,” said Hajri Dragoti, 68, from Narte, who fled with his wife, taking a cow, a donkey and a dog. “We can’t do anything; it is like gunpowder.”
Spain was in its 10th day of a heatwave that peaked on Tuesday with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), and which AEMET expected to last until Monday, making it one of the longest on record.
Pope Leo moved his weekly audience from St. Peter’s Square to an indoor venue in the Vatican, “to stay a little bit out of the sun and the extreme heat” as Italy’s health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to peak at 39C (102F) in Florence.
($1 = 0.8538 euros)
(With inputs from Reuters)
Trump Warns Of ‘Severe Consequences’ If Putin Obstructs Ukraine Peace
U.S. President Donald Trump warned of “severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin obstructed peace in Ukraine, while adding that Wednesday’s meeting could be quickly followed by another involving Ukraine’s leader.
Trump did not specify what the consequences could be, but he has warned of economic sanctions if a meeting between himself and President Putin in Alaska on Friday proved fruitless.
The comments by Trump and the mood music after a virtual meeting of Trump, European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could provide some hope for Kyiv after fears the Alaska meet could sell out Ukraine and carve up its territory.
However, Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe’s demands strongly and previously said its stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024.
‘Severe Consequences’
When asked if Russia would face any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after Friday’s meeting, Trump responded: “Yes, they will.”
Asked if those consequences would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump told reporters: “I don’t have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”
But the president also described the aim of the meeting between the pair in Alaska as “setting the table” for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskyy.
“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” he said.
“I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
Trump did not provide a time frame for a second meeting.
Red Lines
European leaders and Zelenskyy had earlier spoken with Trump in a last-ditch call hosted by Germany to lay out red lines ahead of the Alaska meeting.
“We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, very friendly,” Trump said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land, while Zelenskyy said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement.
“President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska,” Macron said.
“The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, said the principle that borders could not be changed by force must continue to apply.
“If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should … increase the pressure,” he said.
“President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other.”
Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has previously said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
Russia Makes Sharp Advance Into Ukraine
On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskyy flew into Berlin for virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump.
He and the Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land, the last three in all-out war, and embolden Putin to expand further west in the future.
Russian forces have made a sharp thrust into eastern Ukraine in recent days in what may be an attempt to increase the pressure on Kyiv to give up land.
“I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing (about his stated wish to end the war),” Zelenskyy said. “He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine …”
A source familiar with the matter said the call with Trump discussed possible cities that could host a three-way meeting, depending on the outcome of the talks in Alaska.
Wary of angering Trump, European leaders have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts, while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine’s participation.
‘Great Progress’
Trump’s agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made “great progress” at talks in Moscow.
A Gallup poll released last week found that 69% of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev earlier said Moscow’s stance had not changed since last year.
As conditions for a ceasefire and the start of talks, the Kremlin leader had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce its plans to join NATO.
Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
(With inputs from Reuters)