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At least 112 people have been killed – and hundreds reported missing – in a series of huge wildfires in Chile.

At least 1,600 people have also been left homeless as a result of the forest fires, which have raged in the country’s central region since they started several days ago.

The fires are on the outskirts of the coastal city of Vina del Mar, located 75 miles (122km) west of the capital Santiago and home to around 300,000 people.

Several neighbourhoods on the eastern edge of Vina del Mar have already been destroyed, while 200 people have been reported missing from the city and its surrounding areas.

An areal view shows the burnt remains of houses following the spread of wildfires, in Vina del Mar, Chile February 4, 2024. REUTERS/Sofia Yanjari
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An aerial view shows the burnt remains of houses following the wildfires, in Vina del Mar. Pic: Reuters

Locals clean the rubble of burnt-out houses after forest fires reached their neighborhood in Vina del Mar, Chile, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristobal Basaure)
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Locals clean the rubble of burnt-out houses. Pic: AP

A famous botanical garden founded in 1931 was also destroyed by the flames.

On Sunday afternoon, Chile’s Forensic Medicine Service said that at least 112 people were known to have died.

“We regret the tragedy that is unfolding, and we send our condolences to the families that have been affected,” the agency said in a statement posted on its website.

Chile's national flag flies amidst smoke and near the burnt remains of a house following the spread of wildfires, in Vina del Mar, Chile February 3, 2024. REUTERS/Sofia Yanjari
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Chile’s national flag flies amid wildfires. Pic: Reuters

‘Tragedy of very great magnitude’

On Sunday morning, Chilean President Gabriel Boric visited Quilpe, a town to the east of Vina del Mar.

He warned that the country faces a “tragedy of very great magnitude”.

Mr Boric, who has declared two days of national mourning, also warned the death toll could rise as rescue workers search through collapsed homes.

Rodrigo Mundaca, the governor of the Valparaiso region, where Vina del Mar and other affected cities are located, said on Sunday he believed some of the fires could have been caused intentionally.

“These fires began in four points that lit up simultaneously,” Mr Mundaca said.

“As authorities, we will have to work rigorously to find who is responsible.”

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A resident flees an encroaching forest fire in Vina del Mar, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Officials say intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have left several people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. (AP Photo/ Esteban Felix)
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A resident flees an encroaching forest fire in Vina del Mar. Pic: AP

Residents evacuate on a motorcycle as smoke caused by forest fires fill the sky and flames spread into Vina del Mar, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Officials say intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have left several people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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Residents evacuate on a motorbike. Pic: AP

Firefighters protectively spray water on homes as forest fires burn nearby, in Vina del Mar, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. Officials say intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have left several people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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Firefighters spray water on homes as forest fires burn nearby. Pic: AP

Fires moved into densely populated areas

The fires around Vina del Mar began in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, but moved into the city’s densely populated outer neighbourhoods, despite attempts by Chilean authorities to slow down the advancing flames.

The country is currently in the grip of a heatwave with 30C (86F) temperatures and strong winds intensifying the wildfires.

At its height, there were more than 230 wildfires.

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Over the past two months, the El Nino weather pattern has caused droughts and high temperatures in western South America that have also increased the risk of forest fires.

In January, more than 42,000 acres (17,000 hectares) of forests were destroyed in Colombia by fires that followed several weeks of dry weather.

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US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs – claiming he ‘exceeded his authority’

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US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs - claiming he 'exceeded his authority'

A trade court in the US has blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs on imports.

The ruling from a three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade came after several lawsuits arguing Trump has exceeded his authority, left U.S. trade policy dependent on his whims and unleashed economic chaos.

“The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,” the court wrote, referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The White House is yet to respond.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal.

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Trump doubles down on Putin criticism – as Russia offers Ukraine a date and location for peace talks

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Trump doubles down on Putin criticism - as Russia offers Ukraine a date and location for peace talks

Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Vladimir Putin – adding he will know soon if the Russian leader is just “tapping” him along.

The US president told reporters at the White House that he believed his counterpart in Moscow may be intentionally delaying ceasefire talks, while he also expressed disappointment at heavy Russian bombing over the weekend.

While Mr Trump has so far stopped short of imposing sanctions – to avoid, he says, “screwing up” negotiations – he warned his stance could change.

Ukraine Q&A: Are we any closer to war ending?

The president said: “We’re going to find out whether or not he’s tapping us along or not, and if he is, we’ll respond a little differently,” adding that he “can’t tell you” if Mr Putin wanted peace.

Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters

His comments in the Oval Office came minutes after Russia’s foreign minister announced that the Kremlin had offered Ukraine a second round of talks on 2 June in Istanbul.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to the proposal, which Sergei Lavrov said would see Moscow hand their proposals for a potential peace deal directly to Ukraine.

“We hope that all those who are sincerely, and not just in words, interested in the success of the peace process will support holding a new round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul,” Mr Lavrov added.

Later on Wednesday, Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said his government was “not against” further meetings, but called for Russia to deliver its memorandum to Kyiv beforehand.

The words that suggest Russia’s proposal for talks are just for show

By being the first to propose a date and location for the second round of direct talks, Russia is trying to portray itself as the principal driver towards peace.

Its recent barrage of attacks on Ukraine have drawn harsh words from Donald Trump.

This is an attempt to soothe his concerns and to show Washington that Moscow is still interested in a deal.

But it feels much more performative than anything else, because Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statement makes it clear that Russia’s position hasn’t softened one bit.

Referring to a memorandum outlining the contours of a settlement, he said it details “all aspects of reliably overcoming the root causes of the crisis”.

In Moscow’s opinion, the “root causes” of the conflict were NATO expansion and the persecution of Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

So, if that’s the basis of its memorandum, then the document will essentially be a list of Moscow’s maximalist demands, including permanent neutrality for Ukraine.

Lavrov also confirmed that Russia’s delegation will again be led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who Kyiv last time dismissed as being too junior for the talks to achieve anything meaningful.

Expectations of a breakthrough at round two will be similarly low.

Meanwhile, Mr Lavrov also hit out at Germany for agreeing to finance the production of long-range missiles in Ukraine, accusing Berlin of showing it is “already a participant in the war”.

However, German leader Friedrich Merz declined to say that his country would hand over the Taurus missiles that Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – who was in Berlin on Wednesday – has long wanted.

Ukraine’s need for ammunition has become all the more urgent after Russia launched some of the largest aerial assaults of the war so far over the weekend.

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Russia said it had downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions overnight, while Ukraine said it had struck several weapon production sites.

Kyiv, in turn, said Moscow had launched 88 drones and five ballistic missiles since Tuesday.

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Hamas’s Gaza chief ‘eliminated’, says Netanyahu – but military sources say they cannot confirm death

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Hamas's Gaza chief 'eliminated', says Netanyahu - but military sources say they cannot confirm death

Hamas’s Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar has been “eliminated”, according to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Israeli military sources have said they are not yet able to confirm the death.

Hamas has also not yet confirmed the apparent killing of its leader.

Meanwhile, with Gaza on the brink of famine, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations broke down in tears as he spoke of the suffering of its people.

Riyad Mansour
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Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour broke down in tears as he spoke of the suffering of people in Gaza

Riyah Mansour told the Security Council: “Children are dying of starvation. The images of mothers embracing their motionless bodies. Caressing their hair, talking to them, apologising to them, is unbearable.”

He added: “I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families. And to see this situation over the Palestinians without us having hearts to do something is beyond the ability of any normal human being to tolerate. Flames and hunger are devouring Palestinian children. This is why we are so outraged as Palestinians everywhere.”

Sinwar was one of Israel‘s most wanted and the younger brother of the Palestinian militant group’s former leader Yahya Sinwar.

The older sibling was the mastermind of the October 7 2023 attack, which killed 1,200 people in Israel, with around 250 others taken hostage into Gaza.

The attack triggered Israel’s assault on Gaza which decimated the territory, with more than 53,000 people killed, mostly women and children, and over two million displaced, according to health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally of fatalities.

Yahya Sinwar.
File pic: AP
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Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel in October 2024. File pic: AP

Yahya Sinwar was killed in a gun battle with Israeli troops in Gaza last October. His younger sibling was believed to have then become the head of Hamas’s armed wing.

Speaking to the Knesset on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu included Mohammed Sinwar in a list of Hamas leaders killed in Israeli strikes. Later, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) sources said they were not yet able to confirm the death.

The prime minister said: “We have killed tens of thousands of terrorists. We killed (Mohammed) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar.” He did not elaborate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a news conference on 21 May. Pic: AP
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s claimed could not be confirmed. Pic: AP

Mohammed Sinwar had reportedly been the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on 13 May and Mr Netanyahu said on 21 May that it was likely he had been killed.

The Israeli military had said it struck a Hamas command centre under the European Hospital in the Sinwars’ hometown of Khan Younis, and it declined to comment on whether Sinwar was targeted or killed.

At least six people were killed in the strike and 40 wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said at the time.

Sinwar rose through ranks

Like his older brother, Mohammed Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in the late 1980s as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. He became a member of the group’s military wing, known as the Qassam Brigades.

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Sinwar rose through the ranks to become a member of its so-called joint chiefs of staff, bringing him close to its longtime commander, Deif, who was killed in a strike last year.

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“In the last two days, we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas,” the Israeli leader told the Knesset.

Mr Netanyahu also spoke about how Israel was “taking control of food distribution”, a reference to a new aid distribution system that has been criticised and boycotted by humanitarian groups and the UN.

One killed at site of aid hub

The development comes after one person was killed and 48 others injured when forces opened fire on a crowd that overwhelmed an aid hub in Gaza, according to local health officials.

Palestinians have become increasingly desperate for food after almost three months of Israeli border closures. A blockade has recently been eased.

People broke through fences around the distribution site on Wednesday, and a journalist with the Associated Press said they heard Israeli tank and gunfire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares.

It was not yet known whether the death and injuries were caused by Israeli forces, private contractors or others.

The Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which set up the hub outside Rafah, said its military contractors had not fired on the crowd but “fell back” before resuming aid operations. Israel said its troops nearby had fired warning shots.

The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system, saying it will not meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food to control the population.

Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and fight until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled, and until the militant group returns the last 58 hostages, including around a third thought to be still alive.

‘This is a man-made catastrophe’

Meanwhile, a US trauma surgeon who has been working in Gaza urged the UN Security Council to not “claim ignorance” about the humanitarian devastation.

Dr Feroze Sidhwa said: “Let’s not forget, this is a man-made catastrophe. It is entirely preventable. Participating in it or not allowing it to happen is a choice.

“This is a deliberate denial of conditions necessary for life: food, shelter, water and medicine. Preventing genocide means refusing to normalise these atrocities.”

The UN World Health Organization has documented around 700 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza during the war. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as command centres and to hide fighters.

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