International
At least 7 dead, including three children, in the fire of a building in Nice that could have been caused
At least seven people have died, including three children, in a fire in the French city of Nice that is being investigated as a provoked act.
“The criminal clue is under consideration,” prosecutor Damien Martinelli briefly declared next to the damaged building.
Martinelli also revealed that an investigation has been initiated on the charge of voluntary arson causing deaths.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, praised the action of the firefighters on the social network X: “the rapid action of the firefighters has undoubtedly made it possible to avoid numerous victims. The police services will clarify the circumstances of this frightening drama.”
The prosecutor did not detail what indications point to a voluntary authorship, but he did say that experts from the Marseille police laboratory “will come to perform examinations at the crime scene.”
The deputy mayor of Nice, Anthony Borre, pointed directly to drug trafficking as the possible source of the fire, as he said in a statement to the France Info station.
“If it is due to drug trafficking, as I think, a strong and unprecedented response from the State will be needed,” he said.
The fire began around 3:00 a.m. on the seventh and last floor of a residential building in the Les Moulins neighborhood, “a neighborhood that is traumatized by this drama, which is very concerned about drug trafficking,” he added.
The accident was “very powerful” and caused six deaths in the apartment, including three children. In addition, two people threw themselves out the window to flee the flames, one died and the other is hospitalized, the deputy mayor explained.
“The firefighters have done an admirable job and have saved dozens of inhabitants” from the high floors of the building thanks to their long stairs, he said.
The authorities have set up a psychological help device for the neighbors, and even “the national police are also affected by what they have seen,” the politician said.
Borre explained that the Les Moulins neighborhood is an area that was being renovated since 2009 but that in the last two years drug trafficking groups have been installed that use young people “as labor,” which has forced the use of even private security guards in some buildings.
The mayor of the city, Christian Estrosi, spoke by phone with the Minister of the Interior, who was asked to “mobilize the security forces in order to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants and avoid new acts after this drama,” he said in a message in X.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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