World
Thousands protest in Spain’s Valencia over handling of deadly floods
About 80 people are still missing and people are angry at the government after the deadliest deluge in decades.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to protest the authorities’ handling of one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades and call for accountability.
Large crowds gathered in the central part of the city on Saturday night, with some clashing with riot police in front of Valencia’s city hall. Police were filmed using batons to beat back protesters who were marching towards the seat of the regional government.
In Spain, regional governments are charged with handling civilian protection and can ask for extra resources from the national government in Madrid.
The current regional leader is Carlos Mazon of the conservative Popular Party, who is facing calls for resignation after his administration failed to issue flood alerts to citizens until after the water was filling people’s homes.
Mazon has defended his handling of the crisis, arguing that the magnitude of the crisis was unforeseeable and that authorities in Madrid failed to notify his administration adequately and on time.
But Spain’s weather agency issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for bad weather at approximately 7:30am local time (06:30GMT) on Tuesday morning, more than 12 hours earlier than Mazon’s administration finally sent out alerts to people’s cellphones.
The regional leader is also facing heavy criticism due to what people viewed as a slow and unorganised response to the natural disaster, which has killed at least 220 people as of Saturday.
In many of the hardest-hit areas on Valencia’s southern outskirts, volunteers were the first to help people, with the government taking days to fully mobilise the thousands of police forces and soldiers who were sent to assist the flood-stricken.
“You killed us!” some of the protesters wrote on their protest banners on Saturday, with others chanting for Mazon’s resignation and some leaving muddied boots outside the council building to show their fury.
“We want to show our indignation and anger over the poor management of this disaster which has affected so many people,” said Anna Oliver, president of Accio Cultural del Pais Valenciano, one of about 30 groups that organised the protest, according to the Reuters news agency.
There were also protests in Valencia earlier this week, and people threw mud and chanted “murderers” when King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited a suburb of the city.
At least 212 of the deaths were recorded in the eastern Valencia region, and nearly 80 people are still believed to be missing in the deadliest deluge in a European country since floods in Portugal in 1967 killed about 500.
World
Germany braces under collapsing government and looming Trump trade war
With the re-election of former President Donald Trump to the White House and the collapse of the coalition government under German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Germany is bracing for an economically and politically dubious time.
From the campaign trail, Trump pledged to increase import tariffs on friends and foes alike under the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act” which would increase all U.S. tariffs to match the taxes enforced by each corresponding country.
“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff,” he outlined in his campaign agenda. “If they charge US, we charge THEM—an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”
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However, it is unclear if the president-elect still plans to push these specific tariff increases, as he has also suggested there should be a 10% tariff on imports from all countries, as well as 60% duties on imports from China, according to a Reuters report.
China was not the only country in Trump’s crosshairs, as the now president-elect also referred to the European Union (EU) as a “mini China” and warned the bloc would have to pay up.
“They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our farm products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States,” he told supporters at an October rally in Pennsylvania. “No, no, no. They are going to have to pay a big price.”
Some economic experts have warned that increasing tariffs – which are paid by companies importing the goods, not by government entities – could lead to rising costs worldwide, including in the U.S., as well as further inflation.
A report earlier this month by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) pointed to findings by Germany’s Institute for Economic Research in Cologne that said the promised Trump tariffs are estimated to cost the country roughly $127 billion over the next four years.
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“Trump’s victory does not bode well for a Germany that is dependent on U.S. security and thrives on open markets,” the GMF said in its report on how the U.S. election will impact Germany. “And uncertainty in Europe’s largest economy is not ideal when the EU needs to find its place in a world in which the U.S. president is not expected to support the traditional, rules-based international order.”
However, it is not only Germany’s flagging economy that could spell uncertainty for Berlin’s international standing, as Scholz faces a vote of no confidence in January after he fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his coalition government collapsed.
A confidence vote is now set to be held in Germany on December 16 – which Scholz, given his minority status, is expected to lose.
The most likely next step will be for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the parliament and call for elections which are not expected to be held on Feb. 23, 2025.
The EU now stares down a potential trade war with the Trump administration while one of its leading nations, both geopolitically and economically, will essentially sit as a lame duck while Berlin waits to see who will be next to lead the country.
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz – who could find himself the next German chancellor – said he intends to cut a deal with Trump.
In an interview with Stern magazine, Merz reportedly said, “In Germany, we have never really articulated and enforced our interests well enough, and we have to change that.
“The Americans are much more on the offensive. It shouldn’t end with only one side profiting, but rather with us making good arrangements for both sides,” Merz said according to a Bloomberg report on the interview. “Trump would call it a deal.”
World
There is no safe zone in Gaza, warns UNRWA
UNRWA’s Scott Anderson described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as critical and called on all sides to respect civilian safe zones.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains critical and could deteriorate further, warns the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA).
Speaking to Euronews in Brussels, UNRWA Director in Gaza, Scott Anderson, called on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of safe places for civilians.
“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Including the safe zones. And unfortunately, all parties to the conflict are not respecting the sanctity of sites that should be safe for civilians, including hospitals and schools.” said Anderson.
He stressed that both UNRWA facilities and Palestinian schools have been targeted, appealing to all sides to uphold the protection of these locations so civilians can find safety for themselves and their families.
Too cosy with Hamas?
Anderson also responded to past allegations that his agency was too lenient with Hamas, which the EU designates as a terrorist organisation.
He underlined that UNRWA took swift action after discovering that some of its employees were linked to the group.
When asked if he could confidently say that UNRWA had removed all Hamas operatives, Anderson was frank in his reply:
“No, I don’t think anybody can say anything with certainty about their workforce anywhere. We have over 13,000 people. We do take ‘neutrality’ very seriously, as shown by the commissioner general’s very swift action. But no, I can’t with certainty say that’s done,” he said.
Anderson also reiterated that they don’t have any evidence of employing Hamas members, and if they did, the necessary actions would have already been taken.
You can watch the full interview on the situation in Gaza on Thursday and online at euronews.com.
World
Chloe Fineman Claims Elon Musk Made Her ‘Burst Into Tears’ When He Hosted ‘SNL’: ‘You Stared at Me Like You Were Firing Me From Tesla’
Chloe Fineman claimed in a now-deleted TikTok post that Elon Musk made her cry when he hosted “Saturday Night Live.”
Back in August, Fineman’s “SNL” co-star Bowen Yang revealed on “Watch What Happens Live” that a male host once made “multiple cast members cry” during a table-read for the sketch comedy series.
“This man who…this person, this host made multiple cast members cry on Wednesday during the, before the table-read, because he hated the ideas,” Yang said when asked on the late-night talk show about the worst “SNL” host behavior he’s ever witnessed. He later called the experience “terrible.”
In a video posted (and deleted) on TikTok on Monday, Fineman named Musk — who hosted in May 2021 — as said “SNL” host after he criticized Dana Carvey’s impression of him over the weekend and said the show has been “dying slowly for years, as they become increasingly out of touch with reality.”
“OK, I just saw some news article about Elon Musk being like butt-hurt about ‘SNL’ and his impression, but I’m, like, you’re clearly watching the show. Like, what are you talking about?” Fineman said at the beginning of the video. “And I’m like, you know what? I’m gonna come out and say at long last that I’m the cast member that he made cry. And he’s the host that made someone cry. Maybe there’s others.”
Fineman seemingly referred to the coverage of Yang’s appearance on “Watch What Happens Live,” saying that she “saw some articles and stuff” about the situation at “SNL.” “I was like, I’m not gonna say anything. But I’m like, no, if you’re gonna go on your platform and be rude, like, guess what? You made I, Chloe Fineman, burst into tears because I stayed up all night writing the sketch,” she said of Musk. “I was so excited, I came in, I asked if you had any questions and you stared at me like you were firing me from Tesla and were like, ‘It’s not funny.’”
Fineman continued: “I waited for you to be like, ‘Ha ha, jk.’ No. Then you started pawing through my script, like flipping each page, being, like, ‘I didn’t laugh once, not one time.’” The unidentified sketch did make it onto the show, according to Fineman, who said “it was fine” and she “actually had a really good time.”
“I thought you were really funny in it,” Fineman added. “But, you know, have a little manners here, sir.”
Variety has reached out to Fineman’s reps for additional comment.
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