International
One dead, dozens hurt as gale hits Spain dance music festival
AFP
One person died and dozens more were injured early Saturday as powerful winds hit a music festival near the Spanish resort of Valencia, causing the stage to partially collapse, medics said.
The incident occurred shortly after 4:00 am (0200 GMT) at the Medusa Circus of Madness dance music festival on Cullera beach, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Valencia.
“At 4:18 am, part of the stage at Medusa Festival collapsed in Cullera due to a strong gust of wind,” the 112 emergency services said on Twitter.
“One person died and three were seriously hurt with multiple injuries,” it said, indicating 14 others sustained light injuries. The health authorities later raised the toll to 40 injured.
Media reports said a young man in his early 20s died after being hit by parts of the stage as it collapsed at the event which had been expected to draw some 320,000 festivalgoers.
They also said some of the large structures making up the festival entrance also blew down.
Footage on social media showed powerful winds sweeping through the venue, trees and large structures bending dangerously, and debris flying everywhere as people fought to hold onto their tents and salvage their belongings.
Spain’s AEMET weather service said the Valencian coast had been hit overnight by various “warm downbursts”, a weather event in which a powerful downward current of air hits land then spreads out in all directions.
“We are completely devastated and appalled by what happened last night,” the festival management said in a statement on social media, conveying condolences to the victims and their family and friends.
It said an “unexpected and violent gale” had ravaged certain areas of the festival just after 4:00 am, forcing the management “to immediately evacuate the concert area to ensure the safety of the festival goers, staff and artists”.
Valencia’s regional leader Ximo Puig wrote on Twitter it was “a terrible accident that has shocked us all”, offering his “deepest condolences to the family and friends of the young man who died”.
International
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
President Donald Trump said he believes Venezuela is “feeling the heat” as his administration intensifies its military campaign against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean — operations that have resulted in the destruction of at least two boats over the past week.
While Trump has stated that the missions aim to curb the flow of narcotics into the United States, analysts and several lawmakers argue that the operations have a broader political goal: to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down.
“The Trump administration is likely trying to force Maduro to voluntarily relinquish power through a combination of diplomatic moves and now military action — or the threat of it,” said Brandon Buck, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, in an email to Fox News Digital. “Whether that amounts to ‘regime change’ or something else is largely a matter of semantics.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, describing him instead as the leader of a drug cartel. In August, Washington raised its bounty for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million, calling him “one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers.”
So far, U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped when questioned about potential plans targeting Maduro. On Wednesday, Trump declined to say whether the CIA had the authority to “eliminate” the Venezuelan leader.
International
U.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, of tolerating drug production and announced that the United States will end “large-scale payments and subsidies” to the South American nation.
The relationship between the two historically allied countries has reached a low point with the arrival of Trump in office and Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president in history, assuming power.
“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment or subsidies, will no longer be made,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Petro is “strongly encouraging mass drug production.”
In response, Petro took to X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the U.S. president is “misled” by his advisors. He added, “I recommend Trump carefully read about Colombia and distinguish where the drug traffickers are and where the Democrats are.”
Last month, Washington revoked Colombia’s status as a key ally in the fight against narcotrafficking, a certification that had previously enabled the country to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.
International
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado declared on Friday that Venezuela is facing “the most decisive moment in its contemporary history” and that the country is “closer than ever to regaining freedom and democracy.”
Her remarks were delivered via video message during the 81st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Machado emphasized that the situation in Venezuela remains “extremely serious” due to censorship and repression imposed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, particularly in a global context where “society is built on information.”
She warned that authoritarian governments manipulate public opinion through “psychological warfare” and disinformation, while shutting down media outlets and persecuting journalists.
“The only way to topple these regimes is through the constant, relentless, and unrestricted preaching of the truth. It is absolutely true that the truth will set us free,” she stated.
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
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María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
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