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At least six dead in Italy as heavy rain, high winds sweep Europe

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At least six dead in Italy as heavy rain, high winds sweep Europe

Storm Ciaran continues its destructive path through the continent after causing havoc further west.

At least six people have been killed in central Tuscany when Storm Ciaran swept through Italy after causing chaos in more western parts of Europe.

Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani said that six people died as torrential rain fell from the coastal city of Livorno to the inland valley of Mugello on Friday and rivers burst their banks flooding towns and villages.

The dead included two elderly people from the city of Prato, north of Florence, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

One person was also killed in Albania after they lost control of the car they were driving, bringing the storm’s death toll across the continent to 14.

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Italian Civil Protection authorities said that 200 millimetres (nearly eight inches) of rain fell in three hours on Friday.

Giani said it was the heaviest amount of rain recorded in the last 100 years.

“There was a wave of water bombs without precedence,” Giani told Italian news channel Sky TG24.

Tuscany was deluged with record rainfall [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

Climate scientists say human-induced climate change has led to heavier rainfall during storms like Ciaran, often resulting in more severe damage.

“If the conditions are different than 20 years ago, it is obvious to everyone,” Nello Musumeci, the government’s minister for civil protection, told Sky TG24, noting that weather systems in Italy have become more tropical in nature.

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At one point there were concerns the River Arno could flood the historic city of Florence, but the high water point passed without major incident.

About 190 people were forced to evacuate their homes, including 150 in Campi Bisenzio, where houses were inundated and parked cars half-submerged in the water.

Resident Enza Carfagna told the Reuters news agency how her family rescued an elderly wheelchair-bound ground-floor neighbour, using a blanket to lift her up the stairs.

“Last night, it didn’t seem like a big thing, there was very little rain. Then at about 9pm (20:00 GMT), we saw all this brown water coming and we went to get the lady,” she said.

High-speed train services between Florence and Milan were suspended and with an estimated 48,000 people left without power, the Italian government declared a state of emergency. It allocated an initial 5 million euros ($5.4m) to help the worst-hit areas.

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Huge waves also pummelled the Adriatic shores of the Balkans, as strong winds uprooted trees and ripped off roofs. Ferry services connecting Croatia’s islands were suspended because of the weather.

Massive waves crashing into Rocher de La Vierge (Virgin Rock) off Biarritz on France's west coast. There is a statue on top of the rock. And wild seas all around.
Storm Ciaran formed over the Atlantic and was driven by a powerful jet stream [Gaizka Iroz/AFP]

Storm Ciaran was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have already caused heavy flooding in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

More than half a million French homes remained without electricity for a second day, mainly in the northwestern region of Brittany. Trains were halted in several areas and many roads remained closed.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited storm-ravaged areas of Brittany on Friday while Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne went to hard-hit areas of Normandy.

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Armed men fire on Haiti hospital reopening, killing at least 2

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Armed men fire on Haiti hospital reopening, killing at least 2
At least two people were killed and others injured on Tuesday when armed men opened fire on a group of journalists who gathered for a government press conference set to announce the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital, a witness to the attack told Reuters.
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US citizen imprisoned in Russia given new 15-year sentence in wake of espionage conviction

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US citizen imprisoned in Russia given new 15-year sentence in wake of espionage conviction

A Russian-born U.S. citizen who was already behind bars in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second sentence for espionage.

Eugene Spector was sentenced to a new 15-year term for his espionage conviction, according to Russian news agencies. Spector was born and raised in Leningrad, Russia, but later moved to the U.S. and became a citizen.

A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year, although details surrounding the case were not made publicly available.

RUSSIA ARRESTS US CITIZEN ON ESPIONAGE CHARGES: REPORT

Eugene Spector, a Russian-born U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia on a bribery conviction, has been handed a second 15-year jail term for espionage. (AP)

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The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen in Russia being sentenced and that it was monitoring the situation.

Spector, a former executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced in September 2022 to three and a half years in prison for enabling bribes to an aide of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

WALL STREET JOURNAL’S EVAN GERSHKOVICH REVEALS SHADOWY KREMLIN FIGURE BEHIND IMPRISONMENT IN RUSSIA

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A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year. (iStock)

The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for accepting bribes of two expensive overseas vacation trips.

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Dvorkovich was a deputy prime minister under former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 to 2018. Dvorkovich is currently head of the international chess federation FIDE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan: Emergencies ministry

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Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan: Emergencies ministry

BREAKING,

Passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau.

An passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

Fourteen people had survived the crash and had been hospitalised, according to the local health officials.

“At the moment, 14 survivors have been taken to the regional hospital, including five in intensive care,” the health ministry’s regional department said in a statement. The Emergencies Ministry said fire services had put out the blaze

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Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.

Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.

Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

More to follow.

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