All posts by Luis Moreno

Moreno Luis - is a business and economics reporter based in Barcelona. Prior to joining the BNE24 he was economics editor of the BBC Spaine and worked as an economics and political reporter for Murcia Tuday.

11 climbers die after the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia

Eleven climbers have died, three have been found safe and twelve are missing after the eruption on Sunday of the Indonesian volcano Marapi, in the west of the island of Sumatra, as reported this Monday by the head of the rescue operation.

In total, said the head of the rescue team, Abdul Malik, in a hearing, 75 people have survived and 49 have already been evacuated after the volcano experienced a strong eruption on Sunday, which sent a column of ash and smoke to 3,000 people. meters above its crater. Of the evacuees, “some have returned to their homes and others have been admitted to two hospitals in the area,” Malik said.

For its part, the national disaster management agency indicated that it continues to monitor the volcano to carry out “quick actions and manage the evacuation of residents if there is new major volcanic activity.”

The eruption, which lasted 4 minutes and 41 seconds, occurred around 2:54 p.m. local time (07:54 GMT) on Sunday, as reported in a statement at the time by the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

The volcano was at alert level 3 – the second highest in a range of 4 – since Friday, and the explosion on Sunday was captured by residents of nearby towns, who posted videos of the enormous column of smoke on social networks. that expelled the volcano, which caused a rain of ash in the area.

About 70 climbers had registered through an online reservation process at two entry points to begin climbing the volcano on Saturday, according to West Sumatra's natural resources conservation agency, although not all of them notify their arrival and departure. to the authorities.

The volcano, with a summit of 2,891 meters and whose name translates as “Mountain of Fire”, is the most active on the island of Sumatra.

Indonesia is home to more than 400 volcanoes, of which at least 129 remain active and 65 are classified as dangerous.

The Indonesian archipelago sits within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity, which is shaken by about 7,000 earthquakes a year, most of them of small magnitude.

Venezuela approves in a non-binding referendum to annex the area in dispute with Guyana

This Sunday, Venezuelans supported, through a referendum, the annexation of the territory in dispute with Guyana, of almost 160,000 square kilometers.

95.93% of Venezuelans who participated in the non-binding consultation responded affirmatively to the fifth question, in which they were asked whether or not they agreed with annexing the disputed area to the national map and creating a new region there called Guyana Esequiba.

With this result, the Government of Nicolás Maduro has obtained popular support to develop, as the question posed, “an accelerated plan for comprehensive care for the current and future population” of this area, which includes granting citizenship to the 125,000 people who Mostly indigenous communities reside there.

The land in dispute is rich in minerals

Essequibo, in northern South America, is rich in natural and forest resources and is controlled by Guyana. Furthermore, the territorial waters of the disputed area have immense oil wealth.

From 2015 to date, the multinational ExxonMobil and its partners have made 46 discoveries that have raised Guyana's oil reserves to around 11 billion barrels, representing about 0.6% of the world total.

The unexpected findings have made Guyana one of the fastest growing economies in the world and its GDP is expected to grow 25% this year, after having expanded 57.8% in 2022. In addition to mineral resources, Essequibo has important water resources.

Venezuela claims that it was stripped of this territory in 1899 in the Paris Arbitration Award, which it considers null and void when it denounced alleged defects in the procedure in 1962 before the UN.

The other questions of the referendum

In these votes, promoted by Chavismo and a part of the opposition, Venezuelans, 95.94%, also agreed to oppose “by all means” the claim of Guyana, which controls the territory in question. , to “unilaterally dispose” of waters that Caracas considers “to be delimited.”

Likewise, 95.40% of voters supported the idea of “not recognizing the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice” (ICJ) in this 19th century controversy, which has been resolved in that court since 2018.

Furthermore, 98.11% supported, as does the Executive, the Geneva Agreement as the “only valid legal instrument to reach a solution” in this lawsuit, in reference to the document signed in 1966, according to which the parties undertake to find a “satisfactory” outcome for both nations through direct negotiations.

The referendum also achieved that 97.83% rejected, “by all means”, the Paris Arbitration Award, Guyana's legal argument in the dispute and the one that has defined the current borders since 1899, a time in which Caracas did not has controlled the territory under dispute.

The CNE spoke of “10,554,320 votes”, without explaining whether they correspond to the same number of voters or a calculation of five votes per person was carried out, corresponding to the number of questions answered by each participant.

A "savage" transfemicide that occurred in Uruguay outrages LGBTIQ+ groups

The news of the “savage” murder of a trans woman has outraged the LGBTIQ+ community in Uruguay. Twenty-three community groups expressed their pain and demanded answers from the State. This is the second transfemicide that occurred in 2023 in Uruguay.

The victim was a 26-year-old woman murdered on December 1 in the town of El Pinar, in the department (province) of Canelones (south), the groups expressed their support for the family and “friends” of the victim and condemned the crime.

“We will not expose the comrade out of respect for her memory, family and friends, but we must, in her name and in that of the victims of violent violence, denounce and reject her perpetrators and the ways that cause these crimes to be repeated in our society. over and over again in conditions of impunity,” they noted.

Spread on the social networks of groups such as Ovejas Negras, Trans Boy Uruguay, Asociación Trans el Uruguay and Colectivo Trans del Uruguay (CTU), the statement states that “the forensic report confirmed that the attack was disproportionate and savage and committed by several people, with terrifying violence and cruelty”.

“The hypothesis is on the table that it could have been a settling of scores for his (drug) consumption situation (…) Although the murder had this cover, we should not divert attention: it was also a hate crime against a transvestite-trans body,” they denounced.

The second hate crime

The president of the CTU, Colette Spinetti, said this Sunday that this is the second transfemicide that has occurred in Uruguay this year and is framed in “a series of situations of violence” that has occurred “increasingly” against the LGBTIQ+ population.

“It is an exponential increase in violence; let's not forget that in February a trans colleague was murdered in Rivera, in August three trans colleagues were raped, in September a gay man was raped and so we continue with the violence all the time, we reach December and another murder,” he said.

According to Spinetti, furthermore, this occurs with an “absent” State, since, he points out, the response of the authorities has not been effective: “Uruguay has transfemicides from between 2011 and 2012 that are still unresolved.”

To which, he noted, the hypothesis of a serial killer was used and a man who said he had committed five of the murders of trans women was prosecuted, Spinetti pointed out that this case was later truncated due to “lack of evidence.”

Although he stressed that the groups “shelter” and “accompany”, he estimated that the number of murders and hate attacks is already “alarming”, which usually occur in “packs” and, he believes, reflect a “patriarchal and sexist” culture that It still weighs on the community protection laws in force in Uruguay – with a comprehensive trans law from 2018 -.

“We say enough is enough. Enough of killing us, of murdering us, enough of the discrimination, when are the State institutions going to take responsibility?” he emphasized.

Iran warns the EU that it is "possible" that the war in Gaza "expands" throughout the region

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amirabdolahian, held a telephone conversation this Sunday with the High Representative of EU Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to whom he informed that there is a risk that the war in Gaza could spread across the Middle East region.

“The root of the current situation is the occupation and aggression of the Zionist regime. If Israeli war crimes against (the Palestinian population) in Gaza and the West Bank do not stop, it is possible that the war will worsen and expand throughout the region,” Amirabdolahian said in statements reported by the Iranian Fars news agency.

Amirabdolahian has also warned that the forcible displacement of Palestinians from their homeland would be a mistake and has pointed to the United States as the main factor encouraging Israel to continue the “massacre” of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

For this reason, he has advocated for the “immediate cessation” of “crimes” against the Palestinian population.. “The Zionist regime's military attacks against the people of Gaza must cease as soon as possible to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid,” he added.

Borrell, for his part, has agreed to note the tension in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the need to reduce it as soon as possible and has stressed that the EU is trying to make Israel respect its obligations under International Law, Fars has highlighted.

The European diplomat has highlighted the possibility that Iran will help reduce tension in the region. The EU thus considers that diplomacy is the best solution to the Palestine conflict and that military attacks only aggravate the crisis.

The surprising underwater discovery of scientists searching for the remains of the missing Malaysian plane

On March 8, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing disappeared while flying over the Indian Ocean.. Even today, as the tenth anniversary of the catastrophe approaches, in which 239 people died, the remains have not yet been found.

But the remains of flight MH370 are still being searched, and although the missions have not been successful, other things have been found. This is what happened in 2015.

A group of scientists searching for the wreck of the plane came across some surprising remains that, for a few hours, they took to be those of the missing plane.

But in reality, as reported by The Sun, they were the remains of two 19th century shipwrecks that had mysteriously disappeared on a dangerous shipping route in the southern Indian Ocean.

The two shipwrecks were discovered 1,400 miles off the coast of Western Australia. It is believed that they were two ships loaded with coal that may have been sunk by a deadly explosion on board, something that frequently happened when methane gas from the cargo accumulated below deck.

Upon closer inspection, sonar images showed parts of the ship's water tank, anchors and small fittings, all of which are believed to be part of a wooden construction, according to a report from the Western Australian Museum.

But most of the debris on the sea floor was coal that is believed to have spilled out of the hull due to a “catastrophic event such as an explosion.”

During the height of the Industrial Revolution, demand for coal skyrocketed, which meant more ships transported the dangerous cargo to Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

But keeping large quantities of coal below the ship's deck meant that methane gas could build up and easily spark or overheat causing huge explosions that would sink an entire ship.

The wreck was on a key shipping route to Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, the Roaring Forties, a route with strong westerly winds year-round in the Southern Hemisphere.

A trip between Europe and Southeast Asia

Experts believe that the explosion occurred when the ship was traveling from Europe to a Southeast Asian port such as Singapore, Hong Kong or even Australia.

While researchers were unable to determine the exact identity of the ship, they did narrow it down to two likely vessels: the 395-ton wooden ship Magdala was lost in 1882 during a voyage from Penarth, Wales, to Ternate, Indonesia, with a coal cargo.

And the wooden brig W. Gordon, a 286-ton ship, was lost in 1876 on a voyage from Glasgow, Scotland, to Adelaide, Australia, probably with coal on board.. Experts believe the ships had between 15 and 30 crew members on board and all died.

But just a few months later, another conundrum of Victorian shipping was solved when advanced underwater equipment detected a second shipwreck.

In December, the most complete remains were photographed using sonar just 22 miles (35 km) from the site of the first 19th-century ship.

It was thought to weigh between 1,000 and 1,500 tons and was located three thousand meters below sea level. There was no evidence to explain what may have sunk the iron ship, but experts believe its location means it may have been trying to reach a nearby Australian port for help.

Experts were able to narrow the wreck down to three ships: the Kooringa, Lake Ontario and the West Ridge. Investigators believe the West Ridge freighter is the most likely match.

This ship sailed for Bombay from Liverpool with a cargo of coal in the hull and a crew of 28 sailors in 1883. But records from the time suggest that the cargo was well ventilated and high seas and bad weather may have caused the ship to take on water and sink.

“These are the deepest shipwrecks yet located in the Indian Ocean and they are some of the most remote shipwrecks in the world, so we try to maximize any information,” says Dr Anderson of the Western Australian Museum.

A retired US general warns of what could lead Putin to press the nuclear button in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine will be two years old next February, and there are no signs of it moving forward in either direction.. But no matter how much time passes, the threat of a possible nuclear escalation does not stop hovering over the battlefield.

U.S. Army Brigadier General Kevin Ryan, who served as chief of staff of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said nuclear war is a “completely feasible” option if one condition is met.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Ryan, who served as defense attaché in Russia, believes that Moscow is not only at war with Ukraine, but also with the West, and it is for this reason that Putin is much more likely to see the use of tactical nuclear weapons as a “prudent deterrence.

“Exploding a nuclear weapon inside Ukraine may seem like an 'overkill' in a war against Ukraine, but in a war against the West, it could be seen as a prudent deterrent,” Ryan says.

“The bottom line is that the use of a nuclear weapon is entirely feasible and negative outcomes could be ruled out if the alternative is defeat,” he adds.

The retired general says that if Ukrainian forces begin to make gains on the battlefield, Putin and his military leaders would not be intimidated by the prospect of irradiating territory within their occupied lands with tactical nuclear weapons.

These nuclear weapons can have a yield of up to 100 kilotons, five times the amount of the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

“As far as Russia irradiating territory that is within its occupied lands, I think Russian leaders would weigh that against losing a war, or losing Crimea or a large portion of their own military,” Ryan says.. “In these cases, it is not a bad deal for Russia,” he adds.

Failure of the counteroffensive

“The only reason we haven't seen tactical nuclear weapons is because Ukraine's counteroffensive hasn't been as successful as expected,” Ryan says.

In fact, Putin has warned since launching his large-scale invasion of Ukraine that Moscow is willing to use “all available means” to defend itself from attacks on Russian territory considered existential, in reference to its nuclear arsenal.

“Although the West has relied more on conventional weapons since the end of the Cold War, Russia has had to continue to rely on tactical nuclear weapons to be prepared to achieve its battlefield objectives,” Ryan says.

“That is largely because Russia has not been able to successfully modernize its conventional forces,” he explains.

“The bottom line is that Russian military leaders view tactical nuclear weapons as a valid and useful escalation tool,” says Ryan. “Putin too,” says the general.

“The West has not fully woken up to the reality that we are in a war with Russia,” says Ryan. “Countries like Poland and the Baltics believe Putin's words and actions and think we are at war,” he says.

“But the United States, the United Kingdom and much of NATO? I think they think this is just a war between Russia and Ukraine, a war that we can be on the sidelines helping,” Ryan explains.

“Ukraine is the first battlefield of Putin's war with the West,” Ryan warned. “There is evidence that Russia is preparing for a conflict greater than the one occurring in Ukraine,” he concludes.

A British admiral warns about the Malvinas with Milei as Argentine president: "Stranger things have been seen"

The controversial Javier Milei is already president of Argentina and one of the challenges he posed during his campaign had to do with the Malvinas (the Falklands, in English), the archipelago of the United Kingdom that confronted both countries in 1982 in a brief but bloody war. war.

Now, in the United Kingdom, although Milei's threats are taken with caution, some voices ask not to lose sight of the matter. This is the case of Lord Admiral Alan West, who was head of the Royal Navy and military advisor to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the 2000s.

As reported by The Sun, West says there is no reason to worry, but admits that we should not let our guard down: “Stranger things have happened,” he said.

“There is no prospect of a military attack on the Falkland Islands. We are much better prepared than in the past and, anyway, the Argentine army is in very bad shape,” said West, 75, who participated in the conflict. of 1982.

However, Lord West warned that “you always have to pay attention, keep the intelligence services going and keep your guard up because stranger things have happened.”

“The UK has made it very clear that the issue of sovereignty is not up for discussion at all,” West added.. “To be honest, bringing it up again is pretty silly, but he's acting for his own audience,” the former military man said of Milei.

Admiral Lord Alan West, in an archive image. Jonathan Brady/GETTY

“If the population of the Falklands wants to belong to Argentina, then it could be different, but I don't see that ever happening,” the senior military officer added.

The war between Argentina and the United Kingdom lasted ten weeks between April and June 1982 and cost the lives of more than 900 soldiers and three civilians. British administration was finally restored after 74 days when Argentine military forces, which had invaded the islands, were forced to surrender.

“It was nasty and bloody,” Lord West recalled.. “It was unnecessary. Leonardo Galtieri (Argentina's military dictator) was very unpopular and used the Falklands as a way to divert people's attention,” the military man added.

“It was a very short war, but we lost more than 250 men from our army and the Argentines lost more than 600 from theirs,” Lord West recalls for The Sun.

While Admiral West insisted that the islands have recovered from the war, he acknowledged the difficulties in making the area safe again.. “Clearing the mines took many years,” he continued.. “We even have Argentine companies that helped us do it,” he said.

The islands “were declared clean four or five years ago, but you never know if there will be one or two (mines) left out there,” West says.. “The Argentinians placed them in the most gruesome way: you were supposed to place mines and know where they are so you could clear them at a later date,” he continued.

“The Argentines threw them everywhere and many of them were of the plastic variant that cannot be found very easily with detection equipment,” he adds.

Israel redoubles its attack on Gaza and warns of total war in Lebanon while Hamas rules out releasing more hostages

The end of the seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which ended this Friday morning, has led to an intensification of attacks in the Gaza Strip, where there are already more than 15,500 dead, while the Israeli Army returns to clash with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon.

Israel has resumed “with full force” the offensive on the Palestinian enclave, where this Sunday it reported that its troops continue to attack “terrorist targets”. This situation further aggravates the humanitarian crisis in the Strip, with 15,523 Palestinians dead and 41,316 injured since the beginning of the war, according to what the Gaza Ministry of Health reported this Sunday.

The latest balance estimates the number of deaths in the last hours at 316, but clarifies that a large number of dead are still trapped under the rubble of the Israeli bombings.. Likewise, a spokesman for the Hamas Information Office had estimated more than 700 Palestinians dead since Saturday following an Israeli attack on eastern Gaza City that had destroyed dozens of residential buildings.

“The Israeli occupation continues to expand its attacks against civilians after the end of the truce, and has not left a single centimeter in the Strip without bombing,” Ashraf al Qudra, spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, denounced this Sunday. .

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already reaffirmed this Saturday that he will continue his “justified war” despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire.. Thus, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the results of his troops have been “very impressive”, with “thousands of terrorists eliminated, dozens of headquarters attacked, extensive information collected, and hundreds of terrorists captured and being interrogated in Israel.” “.

Tensions continue to rise and the Israeli Army announced this Sunday an extension of its bombings on southern Gaza, specifically in Khan Younis, where the Army's Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, has urged residents to leave the city before “the resumption of vigorous actions” by the military “against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.”

On the other hand, Israeli troops are also operating on the Lebanese border while Hamas has launched a dozen rockets against Tel Aviv, in what is the first attack against the city since the end of the truce.. Israeli television has reported that the rockets have injured at least one person in Holon, in the south of the town.

Similarly, Israel has denounced a launch from the territory of Syria, whose origin “was attacked with artillery fire”, a day after an alleged Israeli rocket attack reached the outskirts of Damascus and Iran reported the death in this country of two “advisors” of the Revolutionary Guard in a bombing, also Israeli.

“In addition, the IDF has attacked several areas of Lebanese territory with artillery fire,” adds the Israeli Army, once again engaged in hostilities with Hezbollah militias on the border between the two countries.

Hezbollah resumes attacks despite warnings

The Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and Israel have also exchanged fire again in the border area after the end of the truce in Gaza, which allowed a week of general calm also on the Lebanese front. Israeli forces confirmed this Saturday “attacks against Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon” with aerial bombardments and artillery shells after reporting attacks on Israeli checkpoints.

“In support of our determined Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable Resistance, the mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance attacked a congregation of enemy soldiers in the vicinity of the Jal al Alam post this Friday,” Hezbollah announced. it's a statement.

Given this escalation of the conflict, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Lebanon will be “destroyed” if Hezbollah enters total war. “We are going to restore security in the north and south. “If Hezbollah makes the mistake and enters into a full-scale war, it will have destroyed Lebanon with its own hands,” Netanyahu said this Saturday.

“We are acting in the north against all Hezbollah initiatives against us. We are eliminating terrorist cells, moving them away from the border, destroying ammunition. “We are going to continue with strong deterrence in the north and total victory in the south,” he added.

However, militias in southern Lebanon continued to exchange artillery fire this weekend. A total of eleven Israeli soldiers have been injured with a moderate or mild prognosis by the impact of an anti-tank projectile launched this Sunday against a military vehicle near Beit Hillel, in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon.

The soldiers exited the vehicle seconds before a projectile launched from Lebanon hit it, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth, but they were hit by shrapnel.. Other projectiles have hit Israeli military positions near the border with no reports of material or personal damage at the moment.

This attack was followed by “multiple launches” of projectiles towards communities in northern Israel, also near the border, some of which even fell within Lebanese territory, according to the Israeli military spokesperson.. In response, the Army attacked the sites from which both attacks originated.

In less than two months, the outbreak of violence between the parties forced more than 55,000 people to leave their homes in southern Lebanon, in addition to causing dozens of deaths, nearly 300 injuries and significant material damage on that side of the border alone. .

Netanyahu insists on excluding the Palestinian Authority

The prime minister also assured this Saturday that he will not allow the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which governs small parts of the occupied West Bank, to control the Gaza Strip: “I will not make the mistake of allowing the PNA to govern in Gaza, it will be the same as Hamas”. Instead, he advocated for “a new vision, a change” in the Palestinian enclave, involving “Israeli security and control.”

Thus, he assures that the Palestinian Authority will not play any role. “They are people who pay murderers and who raise their children to hate Israel, to murder Jews and, ultimately, to make the State of Israel disappear,” he said before calling the Palestinian Authority “a defective mechanism.” and a terrible mistake.”

“Are we going to reinstate in Gaza the same entity that has not been reformed? Is that what our best friends are advising us? I think differently,” he added, referring to the position of the United States, Israel's main partner and defender of the creation of a Palestinian state, which has advocated the unification of Gaza and the West Bank under PA government once the war ends.

Netanyahu rejects that possibility, arguing that the ANP and Hamas have in common “the ideology that denies the existence of Israel.”. “We are certainly feeling international pressure, I will not deny it, but since the war started I have created international space against this pressure, I speak with dozens of leaders every day (…) We do not always agree, but we are the ones who we decided,” he stressed.

For the prime minister, the war must not stop until it achieves its three objectives: recover all the hostages, destroy Hamas and ensure that the Islamist group will not again be a threat to Israel.. “There is no way to achieve these objectives without winning and there is no way to win without a ground (military) presence.”

In contrast, the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to the prime minister's words by framing the entire Israeli military operation as an effort to consolidate the total separation that exists between Gaza and the West Bank, thus literally breaking in two the efforts to “materialize an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

“Netanyahu and his war cabinet continue to beat the drums of war under false pretenses and pretexts, repeating like a broken record their unjustified attacks on the Palestinian National Authority and its leaders,” the Ministry lamented on Twitter.

Hamas rules out further hostage release

Hamas rules out new exchanges of hostages for prisoners until there is a definitive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, information confirmed this Sunday by the spokesman for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, when advancing that the talks to reach a new truce and facilitate new hostage exchanges in Gaza are completely paralyzed.

“Right now there are no negotiations for a truce. There will be no exchange of prisoners until the aggression stops and there is a comprehensive and definitive ceasefire,” Hamas' number two, Salé al Aruri, said this Saturday in statements to the Qatari network Al Jazeera.

Likewise, Israel announced the withdrawal of a team of negotiators that was discussing in the Qatari capital, Doha, the possibility of reactivating the truce with Hamas after regretting that the talks are currently going through a “deadlock” over the circumstances of new exchanges between hostages and prisoners.

“Right now there are no official negotiations,” John Kirby told NBC's Meet the Press, before blaming Hamas for the paralysis for its lack of consensus when it came to releasing Israeli women, according to a list preliminary that he had initially accepted before backing down.

However, the Islamic group denies that it is true.. “The occupation insists that there are still women and children being held, but we have handed them all over. The prisoners remaining in Gaza are male soldiers and civilians who have been in the occupation army,” said al-Aruri, considered the leader of Hamas in the West Bank.

Kirby also noted that “Hamas had also agreed to allow the Red Cross to visit the hostages while the humanitarian pause was in effect” which ended on Friday “but such a thing has not happened, nor is it happening.”

“The negotiations, unfortunately, have stopped, but what has not stopped is our role in trying to free the hostages held by the Palestinian militias,” Kirby added.. “We would like the talks to resume today, but right now we don't know,” he said.

Furthermore, Kirby acknowledged the “concern” about the forced displacement of one and a half million Palestinians.. “That is why we are working with Israel so that the population of Gaza feels safe,” he added. In this sense, he considered the publication by Israel of a map by sectors of Gaza in which its upcoming bombings are progressing as a positive development.. “There aren't many armies in the world that do that.”

A total of 136 hostages remained in the hands of Hamas and associated Palestinian militias at the time of the end of the truce on Friday.. Ten of the hostages are 75 years old or older. The vast majority of the hostages, 125, are Israelis. Eleven are foreign nationals, including eight from Thailand.

At least one dead and two injured in a knife attack in the center of Paris

A knife attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris has left at least one dead and two injured. As confirmed by the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, the attacker has already been arrested by the Police.

The events occurred shortly before 10:00 p.m. around the Quai de Grenelle, an area very close to the Champ de Mars, where the Eiffel Tower is located, when a man began attacking passers-by with a knife and a hammer. .

One of the victims, a tourist with dual German and Filipino nationality, was found in cardiorespiratory arrest on the Bir-Hakeim bridge, according to a police source reported to the newspaper Le Parisien.. Finally, the man died as a result of several stab wounds to the back and shoulder.

A second victim of the attack, an English tourist, was injured in the head with a hammer on Avenida Presidente Kennedy, where he was treated by firefighters.. Apparently, the man was walking with his wife and son when the attacker hit him from behind.

Another person has also been injured in this attack and has received medical attention, although no further information has been provided regarding his identity or condition.

As reported by the AFP agency, which cites police sources, it could be an Islamist attack, since the attacker had shouted “Allahu Akbar” before being arrested on Passy Park avenue.

The aggressor would be a 26-year-old French citizen, originally from Neuilly-sur-Seine, police sources told BFMTV.. During arrest, suspect told police he was tired of seeing Muslims die. The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office is evaluating the situation at this time and has not yet opened a formal investigation.

The United States reveals how it wants Palestine when the war ends: "No to the reduction of territory"

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday urged Israel to “do more” to protect civilians in Gaza and outlined her vision for the “day after” the war with efforts to rebuild infrastructure, improve security and change the Government of the enclave.

His statements represent one of the clearest expressions by the US Administration about what the future of the Gaza Strip should be when the military offensive that Israel has launched by land, sea and air after the October 7 attack by the terrorists of Hamas and other Palestinian militias.

“Israel has the right to defend itself. But we must also keep in mind that too many Palestinian civilians, innocent people, have lost their lives, and it is imperative that Israel do more to protect innocent civilians,” Harris said at a press conference in Dubai, where he is to participate in the COP28 Climate Summit.

Although Harris supported Israel's right to defend itself, she stressed that “the way” in which it does so is of great importance and considered that “the magnitude of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating.”

In her speech, Harris was particularly clear about what the United States wants to see when the war ends and emphasized that there should be no forced relocation of Palestinians or modification of the Strip's borders.

“No to forced displacement, no to reoccupation, no to the siege or blockade, no to the reduction of territory and no to the use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism,” he stressed.

In line with this, Harris revealed that she has proposed to Israelis, Palestinians and Arab leaders three pillars for the day after the war: reconstruction, security and governance.

First, Harris argued that the international community must devote “significant resources” to Gaza's recovery by rebuilding hospitals and homes, restoring electricity and clean water, and supplying businesses, including bakeries.

Secondly, he maintained that the security forces of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) must be strengthened to eventually assume security responsibilities in Gaza; but until then, “acceptable security arrangements” must be reached for Israel and other countries linked to the conflict.

Finally, he reiterated the United States' vision that the PA, which governs limited parts of the occupied West Bank, take over the Government of the Gaza Strip once the war ends.

“We want to see a unified Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian National Authority, and Palestinian voices and aspirations must be at the center of this work,” he said.

Harris' statements came after she met this Saturday in Dubai with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and after a phone call with the emir of Qatar.

The war broke out on October 7 after an attack by the armed wing of Hamas that included the launching of thousands of rockets towards Israel and the infiltration of some 3,000 terrorists who killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 240 in Israeli villages near the Strip. .

Since then, Israeli forces have maintained an air, land and sea offensive on the Palestinian enclave that has reportedly left 15,000 dead, according to Hamas, and nearly two million displaced.