INTERNACIONAL
Spain searches for bodies after unprecedented flooding claims at least 158 lives
Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone.
More horrors emerged Thursday from the debris and ubiquitous layers of mud left by the walls of water that produced Spain’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory. The damage recalled the aftermath of a tsunami, with survivors left to pick up the pieces as they mourn their loved ones.
AT LEAST 63 DEAD IN DEVASTATING FLASH FLOODS ACROSS EASTERN SPAIN, OFFICIALS SAY
Cars were piled on one another like fallen dominoes, uprooted trees, downed power lines and household items all mired in mud that covered streets in dozens of communities in Valencia, a region south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast.
An unknown number of people are still missing and more victims could be found.
«Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,» Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente said early Thursday before the death toll spiked from 95 on Wednesday night.
Rushing water turned narrow streets into death traps and spawned rivers that tore through homes and businesses, sweeping away cars, people and everything else in its path. The floods demolished bridges and left roads unrecognizable.
Luís Sánchez, a welder, said he saved several people who were trapped in their cars on the flooded V-31 highway south of Valencia city. The road rapidly became a floating graveyard strewn with hundreds of vehicles.
«I saw bodies floating past. I called out, but nothing,» Sánchez said. «The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped.»
Regional authorities said late Wednesday that rescuers in helicopters saved some 70 people stranded on rooftops and in cars, but ground crews were far from done.
Vehicles are seen piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
«Our priority is to find the victims and the missing so we can help end the suffering of their families,» Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after meeting with officials and emergency services in Valencia on Thursday, the first of three official days of mourning.
An ‘extraordinary’ deluge
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory. Scientists link it to climate change, which is also behind increasingly high temperatures and droughts in Spain and the heating up of the Mediterranean Sea.
Human-caused climate change has doubled the likelihood of a storm like this week’s deluge in Valencia, according to a rapid but partial analysis Thursday by World Weather Attribution, comprising dozens of international scientists who study global warming’s role in extreme weather.
Spain has been suffering from an almost two-year drought, meaning that when the deluge happened late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the ground was so hard that it could not absorb the rain, leading to flash floods.
The violent 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.»
In Paiporta, a community of 25,000 next to Valencia city where mayor Maribel Albalat said Thursday that not fewer than 62 people had perished.
«(Paiporta) never has floods, we never have this kind of problem. And we found a lot of elderly people in the town center,» Albalat told national broadcaster RTVE. «There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages … it was a real trap.’
Farms damaged
While the most suffering was inflicted on municipalities near the city of Valencia, the storms unleashed their fury over huge swaths of the south and eastern coast of the Iberian peninsula. Two fatalities were confirmed in the neighboring Castilla La Mancha region and one in southern Andalusia.
Greenhouses and farms across southern Spain, known as Europe’s garden for its exported produce, were also ruined by heavy rains and flooding. The storms spawned a freak tornado in Valencia and a hail storm that punched holes in cars in Andalusia. Homes were left without water as far southwest as Malaga in Andalusia.
Heavy rains continued Thursday farther north as the Spanish weather agency issued alerts for several counties in Castellón, in the eastern Valencia region, and for Tarragona in Catalonia, as well as southwest Cadiz.
«This storm front is still with us,» the prime minister said. «Stay home and heed the official recommendation and you will help save lives.»
The search goes on amid the destruction
Over 1,000 soldiers from Spain’s emergency rescue units joined regional and local emergency workers in the search for bodies and survivors.
«We are searching house by house,» Ángel Martínez, with a military emergency unit, told Spain’s national radio RNE from the town of Utiel, where at least six people died.
An Associated Press journalist saw rescuers remove seven body bags from an underground garage in Barrio de la Torre on Thursday.
Many residents in both towns had to walk long distances in sticky mud to find food and water. Many of their cars had been destroyed and the mud, destruction and debris left by the storm made some roads unpassable. Some pushed shopping carts along sodden streets while others carried their children to keep them out of the muck.
Valencia regional President Carlos Mazón on Thursday asked if Spain’s army could assist with distributing basic goods to the population.
The National Police arrest 39 people for looting on Wednesday. The Civil Guard deployed officers to stop further thefts from homes, cars and shopping malls.
Some 150,000 people in Valencia were without electricity on Wednesday, but roughly half had power by Thursday, Spanish news agency EFE reported. An unknown number did not have running water and were relying on whatever bottled water they could find.
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The region remained partly isolated with several roads cut off and train lines interrupted, including the high-speed service to Madrid. Officials said it will take two to three weeks to repair that damaged line.
A man wept as he showed a reporter from national broadcaster RTVE the shell of what was once the ground floor of his home in Catarroja, south of Valencia. It looked as though a bomb had detonated inside, obliterating furniture and belongings, and stripping the paint off some walls.
Romania’s central election authority has banned Calin Georgescu, a populist candidate and frontrunner, from running in May’s presidential election re-run.
«Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!» Georgescu said in a post on X, following the decision. «I have one message left! If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall!»
Trump’s administration has taken an interest in Romania’s presidential election since it was canceled in May because of Russian collusion allegations in Georgescu’s favor.
SpaceX CEO and DOGE leader Elon Musk chimed in and shared his reaction to the decision.
ROMANIAN FAR-RIGHT PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AFTER JD VANCE’S REBUKE OF EUROPEAN ELECTIONS
Calin Georgescu, the winner of Romania’s first round of presidential election, annulled by the Constitutional Court, uses crutches walking between supporters gathered for a protest outside the Romanian parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre, File)
«This is crazy,» Musk wrote on X.
Kari Lake, Trump administration senior advisor for the US agency for global media, also reacted and compared what is happening in Romania to what «they tried with Trump here in America.»
«Do you love your country & want to put it first?» Lake posted on X. «Then, the Globalists want you removed from the ballot & silenced. They tried it with Trump here in America. They did it to Bolsanaro in Brazil. Now, they’re doing it to Georgescu in Romania. The people should dictate their country’s future. Not the international order & their captured court.»
Georgescu, who won the first round of Romania’s canceled presidential election last year, was taken into custody for questioning by the country’s top prosecutors back in February.
ROMANIA ANNULS FIRST ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL VOTE WON BY FAR-RIGHT CANDIDATE
Calin Georgescu, the independent candidate for presidency who won the first round of presidential elections, speaks after an interview with the Associated Press in Izvorani, Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Romania’s Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the election two days ahead of the Dec. 8 runoff after Georgescu’s first-round win. He had polled in single digits and declared zero campaign spending, according to The Associated Press. Allegations of Russian interference and electoral violations quickly emerged. After the election cancelation, prosecutors launched an investigation into alleged campaign funding fraud, as well as alleged antisemitism and hate speech.
The Trump administration has criticized Romania for canceling last year’s presidential election, with Vice President JD Vance alleging that the court’s ruling was based on «flimsy suspicions» and «enormous pressure» from Romania’s neighbors.
JD Vance and Romania presidential frontrunner Georgescu. (Getty Images)
Vance said in December, «Romania straight up canceled the results of a presidential election based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.»
He also warned European leaders that they cannot win a «democratic mandate» by «censoring your opponents or putting them in jail,» nor by «disregarding your basic electorate on questions like who gets to be a part of our shared society.»
«To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election,» Vance said.
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Georgescu, a staunch critic of NATO and Western support for Ukraine, has sparked controversy in the past for describing Romanian fascist and nationalist leaders from the 1930s and 1940s as national heroes, according to The AP.
He has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past as «a man who loves his country,» and has called Ukraine «an invented state.»
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
INTERNACIONAL
Pope Francis now eating solid foods, showing ‘slight gradual improvements,’ Vatican says
Pope Francis continued his therapy and prescribed diet, which now includes eating solid foods, the Vatican said in an update on Sunday.
The Vatican said he did respiratory and motor physiotherapy and his condition «appears stable, with slight gradual improvements.»
«However, the overall situation remains complex, prompting doctors to maintain a guarded prognosis,» the Vatican also warned in its update.
Earlier on Sunday, the Vatican said the pope was responding well to treatment and had shown a «gradual, mild improvement» in recent days as he remains in the hospital recovering from double pneumonia.
POPE FRANCIS SHOWS ‘SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT’ DURING FOURTH WEEK IN HOSPITAL, VATICAN SAYS
Pope Francis waves to believers as he leaves the Cercle Cite after a meeting Luxembourg’s Prime Minister during a four-day apostolic journey in Luxembourg and Belgium, in Luxembourg City on September 26, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty)
The night was quiet; the Pope is resting,» the Vatican said in its earlier statement.
Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened. Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and subsequently the onset of pneumonia in both lungs.
This is the fourth Sunday in a row that the pope will not appear for his weekly noon blessing, but the Vatican plans to distribute the message he would have delivered.
The pope’s condition has remained stable, as he has had no fever and good oxygen levels in his blood for several days, doctors said. The doctors said that his stability «as a consequence testifies to a good response to therapy.»
This marks the first time doctors have reported that Francis, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed when he was younger, was responding well to the prescribed therapies since he was admitted to the hospital more than three weeks ago.
Pope Francis waves from his popemobile after the weekly Angelus prayers, at Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on October 20, 2024. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty)
Despite Francis’ absence, the Vatican’s daily operations continued alongside celebrations of its Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century Jubilee that brings pilgrims from around the world to Rome. The Holy Year is celebrating volunteers this weekend, and many are extending their pilgrimage to pray for Francis outside the hospital.
POPE FRANCIS CONTINUES TO REST IN HOSPITAL AS VATICAN’S HOLY YEAR PROCEEDS WITHOUT HIM
Pope Francis attends a mass at the Esplanade of Tasitolu in Dili, East Timor, on September 10, 2024. (Tiziana Fabi/Pool/AFP/Getty)
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Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny will preside over the Holy Year Mass on Sunday for the volunteers.
The pope has been using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
OTTAWA, Canada – Former Central Bank Governor of Canada Mark Carney will become Canada’s next prime minister after winning the Liberal leadership race on Sunday night. Carney told cheering supporters that «Canada will never become part of America in any way, shape or form.»
Carney received 86% of the vote, or 131,764 votes of the 151,899 ones cast from the nearly 400,000 party members who registered to participate in the leadership election.
The new Liberal leader told members that they should be prepared to fight «the most important election of our lives» where the «stakes have never been higher.»
He said, Canada is the «greatest country in the world and now our neighbors want to take us. No way,» said the incoming Canadian prime minister referring to President Donald Trump’s repeated desire for the U.S. to annex Canada as the «51st state.»
TRUMP CRITIC MARK CARNEY POISED TO REPLACE TRUDEAU AS CANADA’S PRIME MINISTER
Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to supporters in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025.. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
When Trump announced his tariffs against Canada last month, Carney issued a statement that «Canada will not bow down to a bully. We won’t stand by as illegal U.S. tariffs hurt our workers and their families. As Canadians, we need to face this challenge as one united team.»
In December, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly approached Mark Carney to serve as Canadian finance minister, which caused the incumbent, Chrystia Freeland, to leave the Cabinet and publicly release her resignation letter in which she wrote that she and the prime minister had «found [themselves] at odds about the best path forward for Canada.»
FILE – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waves as he leaves the offices of Salesforce on Feb. 8, 2018, in San Francisco. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP, File) (AP)
Less than a month later, Trudeau announced his intention to step down as Liberal leader and prime minister, in which he conceded that if he’s «having to fight internal battles, [he] cannot be the best option» in a general election scheduled to be held no later than Oct. 20.
But opposition parties have vowed to force an earlier national vote through a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons against the Liberal minority government when Parliament is recalled on March 24.
On Saturday, Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Carney will likely call a snap election the week before the March 24 resumption of Parliament, with voting day on either April 28 or May 5.
The new Liberal leader is expected to meet with Trudeau on Monday to discuss the transition that will find Carney and a slimmed-down Cabinet sworn into office by Friday.
WHO IS PIERRE POILIEVRE? CANADA’S CONSERVATIVE LEADER SEEKING TO BECOME NEXT PRIME MINISTER AFTER TRUDEAU EXIT
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, during the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Prime Minister Trudeau has been under fire over the past year due to Canada’s soaring cost of housing, and is trailing badly in the polls to Poilievre, who’s the favorite to win the next election. (David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But regardless of the Liberals having a new leader with some momentum in the polls, Canada’s Conservatives under their leader Pierre Poilievre are ready for a «change election,» said Laura Kurkimaki, who served as deputy national campaign manager for the Conservative Party during the last federal election in 2021.
«We’ve had 10 years of a Liberal government and Canadians are tired of that,» said Kurkimaki, who also served as principal secretary to former Conservative official opposition leader Erin O’Toole whose party won the popular vote but not enough House seats to win the 2021 election.
Furthermore, she said the new Liberal leader would be running on «Trudeau’s record,» and while Carney wasn’t a member of the prime minister’s government, he was appointed last September by the Liberal Party to chair a task force on economic growth for Trudeau.
«The next election will be about who is going to make life more affordable for Canadians,» said Kurkimaki. «What’s going on in the U.S. impacts that, of course, and creates economic uncertainty in Canada.»
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President Trump looks toward likely Trudeau successor Mark Carney of Canada. (Getty Images)
She added that the longer Carney waits to call an election, the Conservatives get more time to launch their attack-ads against him.
During an election, parties face spending limits. But before the writ is dropped to launch the election period, parties can spend as much as they want on advertising, and the Conservatives raised more than double (about $29 million) last year than the Liberals, at about $11 million.
In an interview with The Spectator, President Trump, commenting on the Conservative party leader, said Poilievre’s «biggest problem is he’s not a MAGA guy … He’s not a Trump guy at all.»
The Canadian Conservative leader replied on X, stating: «Mr. President, it is true. I am not MAGA.»
«I am for Canada First. Always,» Poilievre posted. «Canada has always been America’s best friend & ally. But we will NEVER be the 51st state.»
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