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Workers conduct a rescue operation at the collapsed landfill in Binaliw, Cebu, Philippines, Sunday. Hopes of finding survivors days after the collapse of a massive mountain of trash in the central Philippines were fading, officials said Sunday, as rescue workers dug through tons of rubble.The recovery of a body Sunday brought the confirmed death toll to seven, with at least 29 people still missing as the crucial 72-hour window since the landslide in Cebu City came to an end.About 50 sanitation workers were buried on Thursday when the mountain of garbage toppled onto them from an estimated height of 20 storeys at the Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility that handles refuse for the city of nearly 1mn.”On Saturday, we detected two signs of life through our specialised radar. There were still heartbeats 98 feet below the debris, but right now, there are no reports of that anymore,” local fire officer Wendell Villanueva said Sunday.He said it was unlikely “for people to still be alive” three days after “tonnes of debris and trash had collapsed over them”.So far 12 employees have been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised.On Saturday, a rescue official said emergency workers had faced the danger of further collapse by the still-shifting mountain of refuse, forcing pauses in their efforts.Rain had only increased that danger, Villanueva said.The focus was expected to turn from rescue to recovery today, Villanueva said adding that the final decision would be up to an inter-agency team.A public information officer separately said the focus was likely to shift to recovering bodies.Outside the disaster site, dozens of family members huddled under tents provided to shield them from the sun, while others found spots nearer the facility to watch the rescue efforts.”What we want now is to find them. Alive or dead – so we can properly take care of them,” said Jezille Matabid, whose brother Junelle, a welder at the site, was among the missing.Another woman, who declined to give her name, said the lack of information about her older sister, a landfill employee, had been agonising.”We feel like we’re going crazy here just waiting for an update. She’s three-months pregnant,” she said.Elmer Aguilar, whose brother Larry, a welder, was among the missing, said he had come with 10 others hoping to aid in the search effort, only to be turned away.”We went here because we thought we could help dig, but when we arrived, the guards did not allow us to enter.”Joel Garganera, a Cebu City council member, described the height from which the trash fell as “alarming”, estimating the top of the pile had stood 20 storeys above the area struck.Images released by police showed a massive mound of trash atop a hill directly behind buildings that officials contained administrative offices and housing for employees.In an interview with local media, Cebu mayor Nestor Archival pointed to a recent earthquake and typhoon-driven rains as potential precipitating circumstances.But Garganera said the mountain of garbage had been an obvious danger.”Every now and then, when it rains, there are landslides happening around the city,” with “a landfill or a mountain that is made of garbage” posing a particular danger, Garganera said.”The garbage is like a sponge, it really absorbs water. It doesn’t (take) a rocket scientist to say that eventually, the incident will happen.”He said the disaster was a “double whammy” for the city, noting that the facility was the lone service provider for Cebu and adjacent communities.According to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions, the landfill processed 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily.Calls to the company went unanswered Sunday. Related Story Source link
Tens of thousands of people marched through Minneapolis on Saturday to decry the fatal shooting of a woman by a US immigration agent, part of more than 1,000 rallies planned nationwide this weekend against the federal government’s deportation drive.The massive turnout in Minneapolis despite a whipping, cold wind underscores how the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Wednesday has struck a chord, fueling protests in major cities and some towns.At the start of the protest, a voice called out, “Say her name!” The crowd shouted back: “Renee Good!” A woman with a sign beside her feet takes part in a protest outside the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, US. – Reuters Her death has sparked strong emotions in this Democratic stronghold, and across the nation.”We got ICE shooting women in the face for self-defence. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Alex Vega, a protester in Boston. “Let them come around here with that, and let’s see what’s really going to happen to ICE.”Minnesota’s Democratic leaders and the administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, have offered starkly different accounts of the incident.Led by a team of Indigenous Mexican dancers, demonstrators in Minneapolis, which has a metropolitan population of 3.8mn, marched towards the residential street where Good was shot in her car. People…
EU countries should weigh whether to set up a combined military force that could eventually replace US troops in Europe, the bloc’s defence chief said yesterday. EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius floated creating a “powerful, standing ‘European military force’ of 100,000 troops” as a possible option to better protect the continent. “How will we replace the 100,000-strong American standing military force, which is the back-bone military force in Europe?” he asked in a speech in Sweden. The suggestion comes as US President Donald Trump has heightened fears among Nato allies over Washington’s reliability by insisting he wants to take over Greenland. Worries over Trump’s commitment to Europe have already spurred countries to step up efforts to bolster their militaries in the face of the threat posed by Russia. Ideas about establishing a central European army have floated around for years but have largely failed to gain traction as nations are wary of relinquishing control over their militaries. The US has pushed its European allies to increasingly take over responsibility for their own security, and raised the prospect it could shift forces from Europe to focus on China. “In such times, we should not run away from the most pressing questions on our institutional defence readiness,” said Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister. In his speech Kubilius also advocated for the creation of a “European Security Council” of key powers – including potentially Britain – that could help the continent take decisions over its own defence quicker.“The European Security Council could be composed of key permanent members, along with several rotational members,” he said. Source link
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that the escalating conflict over Greenland could have direct reprecussions for NATO security, stressing that any threat to the self-governing territory would undermine the Alliance’s collective security that has been established since the end of the World War II. Speaking at a party leader debate at a political rally on Sunday, Frederiksen said that Greenland is going through a “fateful moment”آ amid escalating US pressure and President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose Washington’s control over the Arctic island. “There is a conflict over Greenland,” she said, adding “What is at stake is bigger than what the eye can see.”In posts on Facebook and Instagram, Frederiksen stressed that Denmark is “a historically close ally”,and said “we are ready to defend our values — wherever it is necessary — also in the Arctic. We believe in international law and in peoples’ right to self-determination”. In this context, the Danish Prime Minister announced that her country’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen will meet with his US counterpart Marco Rubio next week for talks on Greenland, following a joint request from Denmark and the Greenland government to initiate a dialogue with Washington. Frederiksen said that “Denmark stands at a crossroads”, without specifying a precise date or location for the meeting. This comes as the US President repeatedly emphasizes that US control over Greenland, which is rich in natural resources, is a matter of “paramount importance†for US national security in response to what Washington considers a rise in Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic. In a New York Times interview published previously, Trump acknowledgedآ that “it may be a choice” betweenآ preservingآ theآ NATO alliance or acquiring Greenland. Greenland, which has a population of fewer than 57,000 and is covered by ice over roughly four-fifths of its territory, enjoys self-governance within the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO member. The territory’s residents have repeatedly affirmed their opposition to joining the United States, while Copenhagen maintains its commitment to the principles of sovereignty and the right to self-determination under international law. Source link
China’s foreign minister said Beijing supported Somalia in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity in a phone call yesterday with his Somali counterpart, a Chinese ministry statement said. Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the phone call during his visit to Africa, and said China opposed so-called Somaliland’s “collusion with Taiwan authorities to seek independence”, referring in the statement to Somalia’s breakaway region.Somalia was scheduled to be part of the Chinese diplomat’s annual New Year tour of Africa, which also includes Ethiopia, Tanzania and Lesotho, but the visit to the East African nation was postponed due to what the Chinese embassy said was a “schedule change”. Source link
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is sending “hundreds” more officers to Minnesota a day after tens of thousands of people marched through Minneapolis to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration agent, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in remarks that aired Sunday.The officers would be deployed to bolster the safety of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officials already in Minnesota, Noem said on Fox News’s *Sunday Morning Futures.Some 2,000 federal officers have already been dispatched to the Minneapolis-St Paul area in what the DHS has called its largest operation ever.The new deployments were scheduled to begin even as more than 1,000 rallies were planned nationwide this weekend to protest the federal government’s deportation push and Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE officer.Minnesota officials have called the shooting unjustified, pointing to bystander video that they say showed Good’s vehicle turning away from the agent as he fired.Noem and other US officials have maintained that the agent acted in self-defense because Good, a volunteer in a community network that monitors and records ICE operations in Minneapolis, drove forward in the direction of the agent who then shot her, after another agent had approached the driver’s side and told her to get out of the car.In a separate appearance Sunday on CNN’s *State of the Union, Noem said that other video footage showed Good protesting ICE agents at other locations earlier on Wednesday morning, but did not say if or when it would be publicly released.Minnesota authorities said on Friday that they were opening their own criminal investigation into the incident, after some state law enforcement officials said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was refusing to co-operate with state investigators.White House Border Security Czar Tom Homan said on *Fox News Sunday that he wanted to let the investigation play out, but added that he “truly believe that officer thought his life was in danger to take that action”. Related Story Source link
Benin voted Sunday in parliamentary and local elections, just one month after a failed coup plot shook the west African country and three months ahead of presidential polls.President Patrice Talon’s ruling coalition is expected to strengthen its already powerful hand in the elections, with the main opposition Democrats party barred from the local polls.The elections come at a fraught moment for Benin, still reeling from a deadly coup attempt by army mutineers on December 7, which was put down by the military, with support from Nigeria and France.Talon, 67, who is nearing the end of his second five-year term, called on all voters to “do their duty” as he cast his ballot.”Today is the beginning of a better life,” he said. Benin’s President Patrice Talon votes at a polling station during the country’s parliamentary election, in Cotonou, Benin, January 11, 2026. REUTERS The legislative elections will define the political landscape ahead of April’s presidential polls, from which the opposition has also been struck from the ballot for failing to obtain the required number of signatures.Talon, who has served the constitutional two-term limit, is barred from running in April’s elections.His hand-picked successor, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is a strong favourite to win.Talon has presided over strong economic development across his nearly one decade in power, but critics accuse him of restricting political opposition and basic rights. A woman casts…
US President Donald Trump told Cuba to “make a deal” or face unspecified consequences, drawing an angry retort from its leader who said “no one” tells the communist-ruled country what to do. The island nation near Florida has been a US foe and ally of Caracas for decades, but Trump has ramped up his threatening language in recent days – particularly after Washington toppled Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro. “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”He provided no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve. His remarks come a week after US forces seized Venezuela’s leader Maduro in a nighttime operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.A week ago, Trump stated that “Cuba is ready to fall”, noting that the island’s economic crisis was worsening and that it would be difficult for Havana to “hold out” without receiving heavily subsidised Venezuelan oil. Earlier Sunday the president reposted a message suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – a child of Cuban immigrants – could become the president of Cuba.Trump shared that post with the comment: “Sounds good to me!” In a separate message soon afterwards, Trump said that “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” “Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week’s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.” Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel rebuffed Trump’s threatening language, saying that the Caribbean island’s residents were “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood”.“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” he said on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the US for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also weighed in to stress that Cuba is within its rights to import fuel from any willing exporter, “without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States”. Under a US trade embargo, Havana since 2000 has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro’s predecessor, the firebrand leftist Hugo Chavez.Trump’s provocative language on Cuba comes as the emboldened American leader has hinted he has other countries in his sights after capturing Maduro. Trump, who had openly sought last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has recently threatened Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland. Some Republican US lawmakers have lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including Mario Diaz-Balart, a US congressman from Florida. “We are witnessing what I am convinced will be the beginning of the end of the regime in Havana,” Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish Sunday on X. “The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump, and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain.” Trump’s push on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his move to bring regional powers in line with the United States and underscores the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere. Trump’s top officials, including Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the edge. US officials have hardened their rhetoric against Cuba in recent weeks, though the two countries have been at odds since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Cuba relies on imported crude and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running. As its operational refining capacity dwindled in recent years, Venezuela’s supply of crude and fuel to Cuba has fallen. However, the South American country is still the largest provider with some 26,500 barrels per day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents of state-run PDVSA, which covered roughly 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit. Even before Maduro’s capture, Cuba had been struggling to keep the lights on. Vast swaths of the island live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital Havana has seen its economy crippled by hours-long rolling blackouts. Shortages of food, fuel and medicine have put Cubans on edge and have prompted a record-breaking exodus, primarily to the United States, in the past five years. Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative oil supplier to the island, but the supply remains small, according to the shipping data. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum last week said her country had not increased supply volumes, but given recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had turned into an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba. Related Story Source link
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday aimed at protecting the proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil deposited in US Treasury accounts from any quarantine or judicial process. The White House said in a statement that the order is intended to advance the foreign policy objectives of the United States, adding that President Trump prevents any seizure of Venezuelan oil revenues that could undermine the critical efforts undertaken by the US to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.The US announced on Friday that its forces had intercepted the oil tanker “Olina” in the Caribbean, marking the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks, as Washington intensifies its efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports.It is noted that last Saturday, Trump declared a broad-scale operation against Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into custody and transferred out of the country. Following these developments, Venezuela recently announced that it had initiated talks with the US regarding the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, occurring days after US special forces detained President Nicolas Maduro and removed him from the capital, Caracas. Source link
A serviceman walks past the Nimbus 2K high-speed aerial target drone by the Woot Tech aerospace company, during the second edition of Pakistan International Maritime Expo…