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BERLIN: Four people were seriously hurt in an overnight fire at a hospital in Berlin, including a patient who sustained life-threatening injuries, authorities said Monday. A man was detained in connection with the blaze.
The fire on the third floor of the Klinikum am Urban in the German capital was extinguished early Monday morning, the fire service said. Three patients and a nurse were seriously injured, among them a patient who got stuck in an elevator and whose life was in danger.
Forty people were evacuated as smoke spread through the building.
Firefighters said the blaze appeared to have started with burning beds in a corridor, but it wasn’t immediately clear how they caught fire, German news agency dpa reported. Police said a man was arrested and arson couldn’t be ruled out.
The burning of coal for electricity, cement, steel and other uses went up in 2022 despite global promises to phase down the fuel that’s the biggest source of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere, a report Wednesday found.
The coal fleet grew by 19.5 gigawatts last year, enough to light up around 15 million homes, with nearly all newly commissioned coal projects in China, according to a report by Global Energy Monitor, an organization that tracks a variety of energy projects around the globe.
That 1 percent increase comes at a time when the world needs to retire its coal fleet four and a half times faster to meet climate goals, the report said. In 2021, countries around the world promised to phase down the use of coal to help achieve the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
“The more new coal projects come online, the steeper the cuts and commitments need to be in the future,” said Flora Champenois, the report’s lead author and the project manager for GEM’s Global Coal Plant Tracker.
New coal plants were added in 14 countries and eight countries announced new coal projects. China, India, Indonesia, Turkiye and Zimbabwe were the only countries that both added new coal plants and announced new projects. China accounted for 92 percent of all new coal project announcements.
China added 26.8 gigawatts and India added about 3.5 gigawatts of new coal power capacity to their electricity grids. China also gave clearance for nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal power projects with construction likely to begin this year.
But “the long term trajectory is still toward clean energy,” said Shantanu Srivastava, an energy analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis who is based in New Delhi. Srivastava said the pandemic and the war in Ukraine temporarily drove some nations toward fossil fuels.
In Europe, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine meant a scramble for alternative energy sources and droughts stifled hydropower, the continent only saw a very minor increase in coal use.
Others went the other way. There were significant shutdowns in the US where 13.5 gigawatts of coal power was retired. It’s one of 17 countries that closed up plants in the past year.
With nearly 2,500 plants around the world, coal accounts for about a third of the total amount of energy installation globally. Other fossil fuels, nuclear energy and renewable energy make up the rest.
To meet climate goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, coal plants in rich countries need to be retired by 2030 and coal plants in developing countries need to be shut down by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. That means around 117 gigawatts of coal needs to be retired every year, but only 26 gigawatts was retired in 2022.
“At this rate, the transition away from existing and new coal isn’t happening fast enough to avoid climate chaos,” said Champenois.
Srivastava added that its important to make sure the millions employed in coal and other dirty industries are not left behind when transitioning to clean energy, although that gets more difficult the more coal projects get locked in.
“Every day we delay a transition to clean energy,” Srivastava said, “it not only makes it harder to achieve climate goals but it also makes the transition more expensive.”
NEW YORK: Former US President Donald Trump’s surrender on criminal charges Tuesday was marked by clashes between his fans and foes outside a downtown Manhattan courtroom, and a now-familiar cycle of name-calling and outrage from lawmakers and Trump himself.
But many Americans who say they are watching this case and other Trump investigations play out aren’t looking for political point-scoring — they’re holding out hope that the US democracy delivers justice.
“It’s what the system is for,” said Carla Sambula, who said she had driven an hour from her Rockland County, New York, home to sit in line outside a Manhattan courthouse so she could witness Trump’s indictment firsthand. “It’s hard to say if they’ll get it right, especially as a woman of color,” said Sambula, who is Black, adding she has not cast a vote since one for President Barack Obama in 2016.
Americans’ trust in such institutions as Congress, television news and the presidency, fell to the lowest average level in more than 40 years last year, Gallup polling shows. Just 14 percent say they have a great deal or “quite a lot” of confidence in the criminal justice system, half the level of a decade ago.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is the first of several involving Trump as the country braces for a 2024 presidential election in which Trump is the leading Republican candidate. Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of cynicism on the far right and the far left,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer and a professor of law at University of Minnesota. Both sides have coalesced around the idea that “the law is not about law, it is just about politics and power.”
Trump himself has over the years complained that law enforcement was targeting him for political purposes, and his rhetoric has heightened since the New York case surfaced.
On Wednesday, Trump called on his fellow Republicans in Congress to slash funding for the US Justice Department and the FBI. A number of Republicans have expressed concern the case is a test of whether government can be weaponized against disfavored politicians.
About half of Americans think the investigations against Republican Trump are politically motivated actions by Democrats, a new Reuters/Ispos poll shows — including 36 percent of Democrats. Half of Americans, meanwhile believe Trump and some members of the Republican party are working to delegitimize law enforcement to prevent charges against Trump — including 30 percent of Republicans.
Americans, however, say they want accountability — about 70 percent disagree with the idea of US presidents having immunity from all but the most serious criminal charges, the Reuters/Ipsos poll finds. An even higher level agree that no one in America should be “above the law.”
The US judicial system will be under intense scrutiny in the months ahead, as multiple track investigations continue.
The Manhattan case, which relates to hush money to a porn star, could last a year or more. An investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia may result in an indictment this spring, and the Department of Justice is investigating a related transfer-of-power issue as well as Trump’s retention of classified documents. A civil trial over voting machine company Dominion’s defamation allegations against Fox News over the 2020 election could start this month.
“One of the pillars of democracy is to hold elected leaders accountable. Usually we think of that politically, but it also applies legally when crimes have been committed,” said Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal and advocacy group.
The flurry of legal actions against Trump “could signal an era where presidential actions are subjected to legal accountability moving forward,” Warren said.
Amir Ali, executive director at the MacArthur Justice Center, pointed to the disproportionate incarceration of minorities and lower income people in the United States and said the system “has routinely given people with power a free pass.”
“It’s obvious the criminal legal system can punch down — it’s proven that, and oppressively so,” Ali said.
Yusef Salaam, one of five Black teenagers wrongfully convicted in a 1989 rape case wrote a full-page newspaper advertisement echoing one Trump paid for decades ago calling for Salaam and others dubbed the “Central Park Five” to face the death penalty.
“Even though thirty-four years ago you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm,” Salaam, now a Democratic candidate for the New York City Council, wrote in his ad. “Rather, I am putting my faith in the judicial system to seek out the truth.”
The issues that will be addressed in multiple Trump-related cases coming up “reflect the fragility of any democracy,” said Adav Noti, vice president with the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan government watchdog. “People may try to stay in power illegally,” he said.
At least two ongoing probes into Trump deal with questions of whether he tried to block the lawful transfer of power to his successor, Democrat Joe Biden. Trump continues to assert falsely that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud
The way to prevent the sabotage of a future election is for “high level people to do prison time for trying to overturn the 2020 election,” said Noti.
“There’s a good reason,” for the cynicism Americans feel, he said. But “it doesn’t have to be this way.”
BEIJING: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday for talks that could set a course for future relations after years of strained ties.
Macron, who arrived in Beijing late Wednesday, told reporters that Europe must resist reducing trade and diplomatic ties with Beijing, which is at odds with the West over issues including Taiwan, sensitive technologies and China’s close ties with Russia.
Von der Leyen said ahead of her trip that Europe must “de-risk” its relations with Beijing, as China had shifted from an era of reform and opening to one of security and control.
Europe’s relations with China have soured in recent years, mainly because of an investment pact that stalled in 2021 and Beijing’s refusal to condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
But emerging from years of sparse diplomatic activity as pandemic border controls largely shut the country off from the rest of the world, China is eager to ensure Europe does not follow what it sees as US-led efforts to contain its rise.
For Macron’s visit at least, there are high expectations in Beijing.
“Macron’s visit is expected to produce concrete results in furthering economic and trade cooperation between China and France, as well as to increase political mutual trust,” state media outlet Global Times wrote in an editorial on Thursday.
“It is worth noting that various forces in Europe and the US are paying close attention to Macron’s visit and exerting influence in different directions,” the Global Times wrote. “In other words, not everyone wants to see Macron’s visit to China go smoothly and successfully.”
Macron will first meet newly appointed Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People, before Li heads for a “working lunch” with von der Leyen, who will be on her first trip to China since becoming European Commission President in late 2019.
Later in the afternoon, Macron and von der Leyen will separately hold talks with President Xi Jinping before all three hold trilateral talks in the evening.
Both Macron and von der Leyen have said they want to persuade China to use its influence over Russia to bring peace in Ukraine, or at least deter Beijing from directly supporting Moscow in the conflict. Russia calls the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation.”
Macron, traveling with a 50-strong business delegation including Airbus, luxury giant LVMH and nuclear energy producer EDF, is also expected to announce deals with China.
But not everyone back home thinks that is a good signal to send.
“Three-quarters of the delegation are business leaders: the goal is first and foremost to sign contracts,” left-wing MEP Raphael Glucksmann wrote on Twitter ahead of Macron’s visit. “At a time the debate in Europe focuses on our suicidal dependency on China and Chinese interference, the message is inopportune.”
LONDON: The UK Home Office has deferred its plans to deport three Nepalese security guards who helped protect British embassy staff in Afghanistan, and released a fourth who was being detained, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Eleven Nepalese and two Indian guards, several of whom were said to have risked their lives to protect British personnel and embassy staff in Kabul, were airlifted to the UK when Western forces withdrew from the country in late 2021 and the Taliban seized control.
The Home Office arrested and detained 10 of the men on March 27. One of them, 37-year-old Bam Bahadur Gurung, was released on Wednesday. The Nepali national spent more than 10 years in Afghanistan, working for part of that time as a security guard at the British and Canadian embassies in Kabul. In 2016, several of his colleagues were killed in a suicide bombing that targeted consular guards.
“I am delighted but I do not understand what is happening,” he told The Guardian after he was notified he would be released.
“I’ve been told to go to the reception area of the detention center but nobody is explaining anything.”
Kumar Bahadar Gurung, who was injured in the 2016 suicide bombing, is among those who remain in detention. He is being held in an immigration removal facility at Heathrow.
“I am very happy for Bam,” he told the Guardian, but said he is similarly confused about what is happening. The 47-year-old reportedly received several awards for his work in Afghanistan, including one from the UN.
Two of the detained men who were due to be deported before the process was halted had previously been granted indefinite leave to remain by the Home Office and were unaware of any change to this status when they were arrested. The three former guards who were not arrested or detained last week also have ILR status.
All 13 men were on the same flight out of Kabul and their cases were processed concurrently. It remains unclear why three were treated differently by the Home Office when the others were detained last week.
“We are delighted that the Home Office has deferred removal directions for three of our clients and have released Bam Gurung,” Jamie Bell, a lawyer representing some of the men, told the Guardian.
“We are deeply concerned that nine men remain detained and that some still have pending removal directions. We again question why men who served this country so bravely are being treated in such a cruel and erratic way.”
Labour MP Dan Jarvis, told the Guardian: “It’s deeply concerning to see these brave men facing deportation after initially being granted settlement in the UK.
“The Home Office continues to demonstrate a dereliction of duty when it comes to the lives of those who provided selfless service to our country.
“These men risked their lives for the UK and in return are being treated like criminals. Even at this late hour, there is still just time to do the right thing and honor the commitment made to settle here.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.
BLUMENAU, Brazil: A man with a hatchet burst into a day care center Wednesday in Brazil, killing four children, authorities said, in an attack that shook the country and put pressure on the government to curb a rising tide of violence.
At least four other children were wounded in the attack in Blumenau, a city of 366,000 in southern Brazil, near the Atlantic coast.
The assailant, who got inside by jumping over a wall, turned himself in at a police station, officials said. He did not appear to have any connection with the center, which offers nursery services, preschool education and after-school activities. The dead were between the ages of 5 and 7, authorities said.
Authorities were searching for a motive, the police detective leading the investigation, Ronnie Esteves, told television reporters.
Hours after the attack, the justice and education ministers pledged to invest in new violence-prevention efforts.
Valeria Aparecida Camilo, the mother of 5-year-old girl at the center, said she was working when a colleague saw the news. She called her husband, Gustavo, who rushed to the school and later learned that his daughter had survived.
“The moment I saw her, it was a relief,” Gustavo Camilo told The Associated Press outside the center. “But we feel sorry for everything that has happened, with the other kids who wound up dying.”
“They have no cruelty, they’re kids,” Valeria added. “They’re 5 years old. What did a 5-year-old do to this person?”
Franciele Chequeto said one of the girls killed was friends with her 7-year-old son, Gabriel.
“He wasn’t understanding,” Chequeto said. “I sat down and told him that he no longer will be able to see some of his little friends.”
The state’s civil police chief, Ulisses Gabriel, confirmed that the attacker was a 25-year-old man from neighboring Parana state. He will be charged with murder and attempted murder. Police believe the attack was an isolated act and not related to any other crimes, Gabriel said.
Images broadcast on networks showed weeping parents outside the private day care center called Cantinho do Bom Pastor.
The attack took place on the center’s playground, according to the local affiliate of television network Globo. NSC, the affiliate, showed a photo of the suspect with a closely shaved head. Police have yet to confirm his identity.
Blumenau’s mayor, Mário Hildebrandt, suspended classes and said he will declare a 30-day mourning period. Authorities said any reports of other attacks or threats against schools in the region were false.
School attacks in Brazil have happened with greater frequency in recent years. Last week, a student in Sao Paulo fatally stabbed a teacher and wounded several others in Sao Paulo.
Brazil has seen at least one past attack on a day care center. That attack also occurred in Santa Catarina state, in May 2021, when an assailant used a dagger to kill three children under 2 years old and two adults.
From 2000 to 2022, 16 attacks or violent episodes happened in schools, four of them in the second half of last year, according to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo. The 12 researchers — comprised of psychologists, social scientists, public school educators, journalists and activists — prepared the report for the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazilian Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters in Brasilia that he was directing 150 million reais ($30 million) from the nation’s public security fund to shore up school safety. That money will pay for both heightened policing and an expansion of a Brasilia-based team for the monitoring of deep-web communities, he said. Earlier Wednesday, Dino met with representatives from student associations.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Camilo Santana announced the creation of a group to address school violence. Santana will lead the group, which is scheduled to meet for the first time Thursday.
There is no single factor to explain the rise of such attacks, but a common denominator is what Cara calls “a crisis of perspective” regarding economic problems and the likelihood that each assailant endured situations of frustration and violence, including bullying and harassment.
“Given the lack of perspective and the way they were victimized,” they get recruited by online communities and seek a way to take revenge on society, Cara told the AP by phone.
“They are usually young people who have a masculinist, misogynistic, racist discourse, who worship neo-Nazi and fascist symbols, and who navigate in communities where violence is glorified,” Cara added.
Experts say April is a particularly sensitive month for school attacks as it concentrates the anniversaries of the 1999 Columbine school shooting in the US and a shooting in a school in Rio de Janeiro’s metropolitan area in 2011. These events are glorified in violent communities and can act as triggers for new attacks, Cara said.
“There are no words to console the families. Anyone who has lost a relative knows that there are no words,” a teary-eyed President Lula said Wednesday at the outset of a ministerial meeting. He requested his ministers observe a minute of silence.
In 2019, a bacterial infection claimed the life of Lula’s grandson, who was 7 years old — the same age as one of the victims in Blumenau.