Tag Archives: Spain

Concerns of Escalation: US Embassy in Ukraine closed; warns Americans to take shelter in advance of any air alert

Russia Ukraine War

Important Takeaways:

  • The U.S. embassy in Ukraine cited “specific information of a potential significant air attack” on Wednesday morning, ordering its citizens in the country to shelter in place, as tensions between America and the Russian Federation rise ever higher.
  • The American embassy compound in western Kyiv was closed on Wednesday morning, with a convoy of diplomatic vehicles apparently evacuating the buildings. A message posted by the embassy staff stated it had received “specific information of a potential significant air attack” that was thought to be planned for Wednesday. The closure was out of an “abundance of caution”, they said, but nevertheless embassy staff were told to shelter in place and American citizens in Ukraine told to be prepared to take shelter.
  • Advice given by the embassy to Americans in Ukraine stated they should now: “Identify shelter locations in advance of any air alert… Immediately take shelter if an air alert is announced”.
  • Spain and Greece have also closed their embassies this morning and the British government is considering whether to close theirs, too.
  • The so-called “unusual” embassy closure comes just 24 hours after Ukraine launched what appears to be its first U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missile into Russia, as opposed to Russian-occupied land in Ukraine, where such weapons have hitherto been targeted.

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Tragic: Spain’s death toll after massive flooding rises to 205

Pile-of-Cars-Spain-Flood

Important Takeaways:

  • The death toll from Spain’s worst floods in a generation has climbed to 205, rescuers said on Friday, with the number expected to rise as more people are believed missing.
  • The agency coordinating emergency services in the eastern Valencia region said 202 people had been confirmed dead there, with officials in Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia previously announcing a combined three deaths in their regions.

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Catastrophic flooding in Valencia Spain as death toll climbs to 95

APTOPIX Spain Floods

Important Takeaways:

  • Survivors of the worst natural disaster to hit Spain this century awoke to scenes of devastation on Thursday after villages were wiped out by monstrous flash floods that claimed at least 95 lives. The death toll is expected to rise as search efforts continue with officials removing bodies from vehicles and an unknown number of people still missing.
  • Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is heading to the region to witness the destruction firsthand as the nation starts a three-day period of official mourning.
  • Thousands of people were left without water and electricity and hundreds were stranded after their cars were wrecked or roads were blocked. The region remained partly isolated with several roads cut off and train lines interrupted, including the high-speed service to Madrid, which officials say won´t be repaired for several days.
  • The violence of the weather event surprised regional government officials. Spain´s national weather service said it rained more in eight hours in the Valencian town of Chiva than it had in the preceding 20 months, calling the deluge “extraordinary.”

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Meteorological phenomenon known as a ‘DANA’ pounds Spain with three months of rain in 24 hours

Valencia Spain flood

Important Takeaways:

  • The flooding began at lunchtime on Tuesday, wreaking havoc from the provinces of Malaga in the south to Valencia in the east.
  • Tragically, a baby was listed as one of the casualties by officials on Wednesday, with a reported national death toll now sitting at 64.
  • It is the worst flood-related natural disaster to hit Spain in almost 30 years – after flooding in 1996 killed 87.
  • Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave an emergency briefing this morning saying: “Our thoughts go out to those whose homes and possessions have been devastated and whose lives have been covered in mud.
  • President of the Valencia region Carlos Mazon said in a chilling statement: “There are bodies and bodies continuing to appear in places we hadn’t been able to access before.”
  • Officials have said it is “Impossible” to put a definite number on the amount of people killed.
  • A severe weather warning has been issued in Catalonia, northern Spain, marking a move away from the hard-hit southern and eastern regions.
  • Meteocat, the Catalan weather service, has warned of hail that could be as big as two centimeters and possible tornadoes or waterspouts.
  • Their warning sits at a level six – the highest possible.
  • In one small area on the outskirts of Valencia city, 40 people are either dead or missing, police sources said.
  • Chiva, a town near Valencia, was pummeled by more than a year’s worth of rain in just eight hours.
  • There are also fears the Cirat-Vallat dam – in Castellon, north of Valencia, could burst with officials putting out a warning after they couldn’t open the gates.
  • Why was Spain hit by flooding?
  • In layman’s terms, more warm and moist Mediterranean air than usual was sucked high into the atmosphere after a cold system hit the country from the south.
  • The easterly wind then pushed all those clouds and rain into eastern Spain.
  • Three to four months of rain fell in some places over the space of 24 hours.
  • The DANA system hit southern Spain as it arrived from Morocco yesterday and is now expected to head west over southern Portugal.

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Spain first European country to ask UN court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide

Spains-Foreign-Minister-Jose-Manuel-Albares-Bueno

Important Takeaways:

  • South Africa filed its case with the International Court of Justice late last year. It alleged that Israel was breaching the genocide convention in its military assault that has laid waste to large swaths of Gaza.
  • The court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave.
  • “There should be no doubt that Spain will remain on the right side of history,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
  • Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Libya and the Palestinians are waiting for the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to grant approval to their requests to join the case.
  • Over 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state — more than two-thirds of the U.N. — but none of the major Western powers, including the United States, has done so.
  • Last year, the International Court of Justice allowed 32 countries, including Spain, to join Ukraine’s case alleging that Russia breached the genocide convention by falsely accusing Ukraine of committing genocide in its eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and using that as a pretext for the invasion.
  • Netanyahu is also facing a separate legal challenge from the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.

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Spain, Ireland, and Norway to back Palestinian State as ICC pursues arrest of Netanyahu

Emily-Hand-8-year-old-Irish-Israeli-girl-kidnapped-by-Hamas

Important Takeaways:

  • Norway, Ireland, Spain to Recognize Palestinian State; Israel Fights Efforts to Handcuff Jewish State
  • From the International Criminal Court at The Hague to the frontlines at Rafah, Israel is fighting battles on multiple fronts as nations take sides on the ICC’s decision to push for the arrest of Israeli leaders and three countries decide to recognize a Palestinian state.
  • Norway, Ireland, and Spain all announced Wednesday that they would give recognition to a Palestinian state, even as Israel is fighting to destroy the fighting capability of Hamas in Gaza.
  • Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris stated, “Each of us will now undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision. In the lead-up to today’s announcement, I’ve spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts, and I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks.”
  • The announcement comes after this week’s decision by the ICC to consider arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
  • Norway’s government declared Tuesday that if warrants are issued, they would enforce them.

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Fires, Drought and Extreme Heat over the Canary Islands

Tenerife Wildfire

Important Takeaways:

  • Thousands more evacuated as Tenerife fire rages on Spain’s Canary Islands
  • Canary Islands (AP) — Thousands more residents of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands have fled their homes as a wildfire that authorities deemed “out of control” raged on for a fourth day.
  • The regional government for the Canary Islands said that 4,000 more people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Those were in addition to the 4,500 people who on Friday were forced to move out of harm’s way on the Atlantic island that is home to around a million people and is also a popular tourist destination.
  • That figure of more than 8,000 evacuees is expected to rise, and perhaps sharply.
  • The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.
  • The Tenerife fire comes as Spain’s mainland is bracing for another heat wave. Spain’s state weather service issued a warning Saturday that temperatures would be on the rise in the coming days, hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in parts of the mainland.
  • Spain had a record-hot 2022 and is setting new heat records this year amid a prolonged drought that has authorities on alert for wildfires.

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Spain officials debate lowering Age of Consent to 12 “children should have a right to have sex with whomever they want”

Jude 1:7 “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Spanish minister declares children can have sex ‘with whomever they want’ if they ‘consent’
  • The communist Minister, Irene Montero, shocked her fellow politicians when she chose sexual deviants over minors and declared, “Children should have the right to have sexual relations with whomever they want, as long as they consent.”
  • Called pedophilia a ‘right’
  • Montero’s perverse comments are part of the debate about lowering the age of consent, which is currently set at 16, in the context of a much-debated law coming into force on October 7. The socialist-led government’s idea is to lower the age of consent to 12

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Spain’s La Palma lifts lockdown imposed after volcano soured air quality

By Marco Trujillo

LA PALMA, Spain (Reuters) – Authorities in Spain’s La Palma lifted a stay-at-home order on Monday just a few hours after telling people to stay indoors due to poor air quality caused by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

The eruption, which has sent spectacular rivers of molten lava running down the slopes of Cumbre Vieja for nearly three months, is the longest running on the Spanish Canary island since records began in 1500.

Around 24,500 residents in Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso and Tazacorte – a third of La Palma’s inhabitants – were asked to stay indoors due to emissions of sulphur dioxide that had reached “extremely adverse” levels, authorities said.

In affected municipalities, residents were told to stay inside, while students were told to remain in schools and parents not to pick them up until the air quality cleared.

However, a few hours later, emergency services lifted the order thanks to an improvement in air quality data and said students would leave school at the regular time.

“We’re all a bit scared,” said 64-year old Carlos Ramos in Los Llanos de Aridane, explaining that nothing similar had happened with previous eruptions on the island.

“We’ll see how it all ends because I don’t trust it (the volcano) and I’m not totally sure it’s ever going to end.”

Lava flows have damaged or destroyed at least 2,910 buildings, according to the EU satellite monitoring system Copernicus, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes on the island, part of the subtropical Canaries archipelago.

(Reporting by Marco Trujillo and Borja Suárez; writing by Emma Pinedo; editing by Nathan Allen, Mark Heinrich and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Rock rises out of the sea as second La Palma lava flow reaches ocean

MADRID (Reuters) – New cascades of red-hot lava tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean off Spain’s La Palma on Wednesday morning, sending up plumes of white smoke and extending a platform of volcanic rock created by earlier flows.

The stream of molten rock from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which began erupting in mid-September, reached the water near the popular surf spot of Los Guirres beach just before 2 a.m., according to the Transport Ministry.

A video uploaded by Spain’s Geology and Mining Institute showed rivers of molten rock sliding into the sea and large rocks rolling down a cliff, causing a cone of debris to emerge from the waterline.

Unlike the first time lava reached the ocean – just over a month ago – authorities said there was no need for residents to stay indoors.

“New confinements are not necessary because the populations are far away from the point of contact with the sea that occurred last night,” an emergency services spokesperson told Reuters.

Few people live in the affected area, which is mostly banana plantations.

Early on in the eruption authorities had feared that the reaction between the superheated lava and seawater could unleash powerful explosions and set off toxic gas clouds.

During the last major eruption on the island, some 50 years ago, a man died after inhaling such gases.

La Palma’s council said on Tuesday that seismic activity around the eruption site, as well as emissions of toxic sulphur dioxide, had been decreasing and the air quality remained good across most of the island.

(Reporting by Nathan Allen and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Giles Elgood)