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Death toll hits 184 after nightclub roof collapse in Dominican Republic

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Death toll hits 184 after nightclub roof collapse in Dominican Republic

Hope fades for finding survivors as search and rescue operation turns to recovery after night club tragedy in Santo Domingo.

Officials in the Dominican Republic have raised the death toll from the catastrophic roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub in capital Santo Domingo to 184, as hopes of finding survivors fade and the rescue operation turns to recovery.

Local media quoting the country’s emergency operations director, Juan Manuel Mendez, reported on Thursday that at least 184 people had died in the accident. Mendez also stressed that it was a “preliminary figure”.

Mendez told a news conference that “until we have combed through everything, we are not going to abandon anyone”.

“We will be here until we have recovered everyone, dead or alive,” he said, adding that no survivors had been found under the rubble since Tuesday afternoon.

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The legendary club was packed with musicians, professional athletes and government officials when dust began falling from the ceiling and into people’s drinks early on Tuesday. Minutes later, the roof collapsed.

As rescue efforts moved into the recovery phase, a growing number of friends and relatives gathered outside the Dominican Republic’s National Institute of Forensic Pathology, waiting for any news on the fate of their loved ones.

Officials had called for calm on Wednesday as they announced the names of 54 identified victims and notified that they had released 28 of the bodies to their families. However, 33 bodies were still unidentified, officials said late on Wednesday afternoon, adding that they did not yet have a full tally of all bodies recovered.

People hold up photos of their relatives while waiting to identify remains at the National Institute of Forensic Pathology in the capital, Santo Domingo, after the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub on April 8, 2025 [Ricardo Hernandez/AP]

More than 20 of the estimated 150 people injured in the accident remain hospitalised, including at least eight in critical condition, officials said.

“A point in their favour is that they’re young,” said Dr Julio Landron, director general of the Dr Ney Arias Lora Trauma Hospital, where 21 victims are being treated. Five of the survivors are in critical condition with severe injuries including skull, femur and pelvis fractures.

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“They spent hours, more than six, seven, eight hours under rubble with multiple fractures, multiple injuries, with bleeding related to being crushed,” he said.

It is not yet clear what caused the ceiling to collapse, and the nightclub has issued a statement, saying it is cooperating with authorities.

The Ministry of Public Works referred all questions regarding the matter to the mayor’s office, which has also not commented on the situation.

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Kilauea displays lava fountains for the 37th time since its eruption began last year

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Kilauea displays lava fountains for the 37th time since its eruption began last year

HONOLULU (AP) — The on-and-off eruption that’s been dazzling residents and visitors on Hawaii’s Big Island for nearly a year resumed Tuesday as Kilauea volcano sent fountains of lava soaring 400 feet (122 meters) into the air.

The molten rock was confined within Kilauea’s summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the U.S. Geological Survey said. No homes were threatened.

It’s the 37th time Kilauea has shot lava since last December, when the current eruption began.

The latest lava display was preceded by sporadic spattering and overflows that began Friday. Each eruptive episode has lasted about a day or less. The volcano has paused for at least a few days in between.

In some cases, Kilauea’s lava towers have soared as high as skyscrapers. The volcano has generated such tall fountains in part because magma — which holds gases that are released as it rises — has been traveling to the surface through narrow, pipelike vents.

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Kilauea is on Hawaii Island, the largest of the Hawaiian archipelago. It’s about 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the state’s largest city, Honolulu, which is on Oahu.

It’s one of the world’s most active volcanoes and one of six active volcanoes in Hawaii.

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Russia warns it may reject US-Ukraine peace plan if it fails to uphold Alaska summit ‘understandings’

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Russia warns it may reject US-Ukraine peace plan if it fails to uphold Alaska summit ‘understandings’

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested Moscow could reject the White House’s latest Ukraine peace deal framework if it doesn’t uphold the “spirit and letter” of the understandings reached at the August Alaska summit between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov said at a news conference Tuesday that Russia is awaiting the updated version of the Trump administration’s latest peace plan aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.

He warned that if the terms of the “key understandings” are “extinguished” then the situation would become “fundamentally different.”

Russia has maintained its maximalist demands in negotiations, insisting Ukraine be barred from joining NATO and required to give up the rest of the Donbas as part of any peace deal.

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RUSSIA BOMBARDS KYIV, KILLING AT LEAST 6, AS TRUMP PEACE PLAN MOVES FORWARD

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivers a speech for heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Russia in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 19, 2022. (Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool/AP Photo)

John Hardie, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia Program, told Fox News Digital Moscow’s intransigence over the past 10 months has been the main obstacle to Trump’s diplomatic efforts.

“The United States has really shot itself in the foot by kind of flip-flopping between strategies. One month you’re trying to pressure the Russians and saying they’re the obstacle to peace. The next minute you’re trying to, you know, force their terms on Kyiv,” said Hardie. 

“What we really need is sustained military support for Ukraine and economic pressure on Russia, and Putin has to realize that neither the Ukrainian military nor Western, especially U.S., resolve, are going to falter.”

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Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine Sept. 7, 2025. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Tuesday he remains skeptical about an end to the war, arguing the United States lacks the leverage to compel Moscow to halt its invasion.

NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE

“Vladimir Putin, his strategic objective has always been to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine. He’ll engage in negotiations, but he does it to ensure that he’s asserting the primacy of Russia in his self-designated sphere of influence,” said Hoffman. “I just don’t see any evidence that Russia is going to pause in their relentless attacks on Ukraine.”

Ukrainian soldiers from the 115th Brigade Mortar Unit conduct mortar training as members of the Anti-UAV unit test an FPV drone inhibitor in Lyman, Ukraine. (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Ukraine agreed Tuesday to a peace deal to end the war with Russia, but some details still need to be finalized, a U.S. official told Fox News.

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U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll met with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi Monday and Tuesday to discuss the framework for a Ukraine peace deal. The U.S. official said a Ukrainian delegation was also in Abu Dhabi and in contact with Driscoll and his team.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report

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Hungary’s Orbán looks to meet Putin in Moscow amid Ukraine deal talks

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Hungary’s Orbán looks to meet Putin in Moscow amid Ukraine deal talks

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will travel to Moscow on Friday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports.

The information came from Hungarian government sources who were involved in the preparations of the trip, according to investigative central European outlet VSquare.

The Hungarian government has not confirmed the visit at this time, with Budapest saying it would inform the public about Orbán’s programme in due time.

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The agenda for the meeting is not yet known. But Orbán has maintained ties to Putin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the two leaders have kept in regular touch, meeting in person three times since early 2022.

The Hungarian premier has repeatedly stated he was in favour of an immediate ceasefire and peace talks to end the war in Ukraine. Over the weekend, Orbán called on the European Union to support Washington’s peace efforts and engage in direct negotiations with Russia.

‘”Europeans must immediately and unconditionally support the peace initiative of the President of the United States,” Orbán said in a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday.

“In addition to supporting the US president, we must, without delay, launch autonomous and direct diplomatic negotiations with Russia,” he added.

Europeans ‘prefer to continue the war,’ Orbán says

Hungary is one of the few European countries that imports large quantities of Russian oil and gas, despite the European Union’s efforts to decouple from Moscow’s fossil fuels.

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During a visit to Washington in November, Orbán secured exemptions from Washington’s secondary tariffs targeting Russia’s oil exporters Rosneft and Lukoil.

Addressing US President Donald Trump, Orbán also blamed the European Union for what he said was its support of the war.

“Your peace efforts are splendid, but the problem is Brussels, the Europeans. They prefer to continue the war, because they still think Ukraine can win on the front line,” Orbán said.

Earlier, Trump announced direct talks with Putin in Budapest, only for the meeting to be called off by Washington, citing a lack of agreement with Moscow.

Following the leak of the US-Russia 28-point plan last week, said to be strongly in favour of Moscow, Ukrainian and European representatives have met with their US counterparts for further talks, followed by a counterproposal offering more guarantees for Ukraine.

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