Spain

MADRID (AP) — An approaching wildfire in eastern Spain caused a train driver to stop and prepare to change directions to avoid the flames, and several passengers were injured when they got off rather than wait, authorities said.

The train was traveling in the Valencia region on Tuesday night when the driver decided to reverse course because of the wildfire advancing from around the town of Bejís, further east.

MADRID, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell admitted recently that the EU has applied double standards on the Ukraine crisis, as opposed to the situation in Gaza.

"We are very often criticized for double standards. But international politics is largely about applying double standards. We do not use the same criteria for all problems," Borrell, the bloc's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, told the Spanish-language daily El Pais during a recent interview.

MADRID (AP) — A large wildfire in northeast Spain grew rapidly overnight and was burning out of control Sunday, forcing the evacuation of eight villages and 1,500 people in Zaragoza province, firefighters said.

The head of the local Aragon government, Javier Lamban, said Sunday that the situation was critical in the town of Añon de Moncayo and the priority for the 300 firefighters fighting the blaze was to protect human lives and villages.

CULLERA, Spain, Aug 13 (Reuters) - One person was killed and dozens were injured when high winds caused part of the main stage to collapse at a dance music festival near the Spanish city of Valencia early on Saturday, emergency services said.

Other infrastructure was also damaged when gusts battered the Medusa Festival, a huge electronic music festival held over six days in the east coast town of Cullera.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospital and three remained there on Saturday afternoon, regional health authorities said.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain reported Saturday a second death in as many days from monkeypox. These are believed to be the first confirmed fatalities from the disease in Europe since its recent spread beyond Africa.

The ministry based in Madrid said both fatalities were young men. It reported its first death on Friday, the same day that Brazil also reported its first death from monkeypox.

MADRID, July 22 (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear programme is "galloping ahead" and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Spain's El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

In June, Iran began removing essentially all the agency's monitoring equipment, installed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Grossi said at the time this could deal a "fatal blow" to chances of reviving the deal following 2018's pullout by the United States.

MADRID, July 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The 10-day heatwave that hit Spain left “more than 500 people” dead, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

“During this heatwave, more than 500 people died because of such high temperatures, according to the statistics,” Sanchez said Wednesday, referring to a public health institute estimate based on excess mortality rates.

“I ask citizens to exercise extreme caution,” the premier said, noting the “climate emergency is a reality”.

MADRID, July 13. /TASS/: The creators of the Hermitage’s Barcelona project seek 141 mln euro from the Mayor’s office, a source in the company related to the project confirmed this information to TASS.

MADRID, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Spain is experiencing its second heatwave of the summer with 30 provinces placed on alert by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) on Sunday.

Temperatures are expected to reach 43 degrees centigrade in Badajoz in southwest Spain and over 40 in provinces such as Seville, Cordoba, Jaen and Caceres, which have all been placed on an 'orange' level of alert in a three-tier system, which climbs from yellow to red.

MADRID, Jul 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – The 2022 Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), wrapped up here yesterday, amid mounting criticisms of the military alliance’s increasingly aggressive and destabilising security policies, unveiled at the meeting.

Twenty-two NATO members yesterday agreed to launch the NATO Innovation Fund, a multi-sovereign venture capital fund, that will invest one billion euros (1.05 billion U.S. dollars), in startups and other venture capital funds, developing emerging technologies for both civilian and military use.