Dozens dead as people jump from windows to escape fire at Turkish ski resort hotel

Witnesses say people used bed sheets or jumped to try to get out of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel after fire broke out early in the morning

Seventy-six people died and 51 others were injured when a fire engulfed a popular ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu mountains, forcing guests to jump out of windows or attempt to use bed sheets to flee the building.

The fire broke out at about 3.30am on Tuesday in the restaurant of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, north-west Turkey.

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Did Elon Musk give a Nazi or Roman salute, and what’s the difference?

Historians say Musk clearly made Nazi salute – but supporter claims he was inspired by Roman greeting adopted by Benito Mussolini

The back-to-back gestures were swift and enthusiastic, and they elicited huge cheers from the crowd. After Elon Musk ignited controversy with two fascist-style salutes during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, critics accused him of giving the Nazi salute.

Some of Musk’s supporters rushed to defend him, claiming that he had instead been giving the Roman salute. “The Roman empire is back, starting with the Roman salute,” Andrea Stroppa, a Rome-based adviser to Musk, wrote on in a post that he later deleted.

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‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute

Some say it was an unambiguous Nazi salute but others are unsure and say focus should be on Musk’s stated support for far-right

There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups.

Michel Friedman, a prominent German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described Musk’s actions – at an event after Donald Trump’s swearing in as US president – as a disgrace and said Musk had shown that a “dangerous point for the entire free world” had been reached.

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Law experts demand inquiry into Met policing of pro-Palestine protest

Forty academics write to home secretary over weekend’s ‘dangerous assault’ on the right to protest

More than 40 legal scholars have signed a letter calling for an independent inquiry into the Met’s policing of a pro-Palestine protest in London on Saturday, describing it as “a disproportionate, unwarranted and dangerous assault on the right to assembly and protest”.

The force said it arrested 77 people at the demonstration, having banned protesters from gathering outside the BBC’s London headquarters, citing its proximity to a synagogue and the fact it was taking place on the Sabbath. The ban led to the protest being changed to a static rally, but the Met claimed people broke through police lines in a coordinated effort to breach the conditions.

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Zelenskyy says Russia-Ukraine peace deal would require 200,000 allied troops

Ukrainian president tells Davos that Europe must establish itself as an ‘indispensable’ player on the global stage

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “at least 200,000” allied troops would be needed to enforce any peace deal in Ukraine as he urged Europe to “take care of itself” as Donald Trump returns to power in the US.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskyy said European leaders should not ask themselves what Trump would do next, and said that they instead needed to take collective steps to defend their continent at a time when it was under aggressive attack by Russia.

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Taking responsibility for Oct. 7 failures, IDF chief and head of Southern Command resign – The Times of Israel

  1. Taking responsibility for Oct. 7 failures, IDF chief and head of Southern Command resign  The Times of Israel
  2. Israel's military chief resigns over 7 October 2023 failures  BBC.com
  3. Israeli army chief to resign over huge security breach in Hamas' Oct 7 attack  Reuters
  4. Four wounded moderately and lightly in Tel Aviv stabbing; attacker shot dead  The Times of Israel
  5. Herzi Halevi, Israel’s Military Chief, to Step Down Over Hamas Attack  The New York Times
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As fighting in Gaza stops, Israel launches major military campaign in West Bank – CNN

  1. As fighting in Gaza stops, Israel launches major military campaign in West Bank  CNN
  2. Israel Embarks on an ‘Extensive’ Military Operation in the West Bank  The New York Times
  3. LIVE: Israel kills 10 in West Bank; 120 bodies found in Gaza over 2 days  Al Jazeera English
  4. Israeli security forces launch operation in West Bank city of Jenin  The Guardian
  5. Violence erupts in West Bank as settlers attack, Israel raids Jenin  The Washington Post
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Two boys, 14, charged with kidnap and rape of girl, 14, in Hampshire

Boys charged with rape, threats to kill and kidnap after alleged incident in town of Fordingbridge on 17 January

Two 14-year-old boys have been charged with the kidnap and rape of a girl of the same age in a public park in the New Forest in Hampshire.

The incident is alleged to have taken place at a recreation ground in the town of Fordingbridge on the evening of 17 January.

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Zelenskiy says security guarantee would need at least 200,000 peacekeepers – Yahoo! Voices

  1. Zelenskiy says security guarantee would need at least 200,000 peacekeepers  Yahoo! Voices
  2. Why Zelensky is reading Trump’s script to Europe’s elites  CNN
  3. Ukraine's Zelenskiy Appeals to Trump Over Need for US Troops  Bloomberg
  4. Zelenskyy says Russia-Ukraine peace deal would require 200,000 allied troops  The Guardian
  5. Zelenskiy Appeals to Trump in Davos  Bloomberg
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Southport killer will be treated as a terrorist in jail, Yvette Cooper tells MPs – as it happened

Home secretary also says inquiry into the attack will cover wider threat posed by youth violence

Starmer says nothing will be off the table in the inquiry.

There are also questions about the accountability of the Whitehall and Westminster system – a system that is far too often driven by circling the institutional wagons, that does not react until justice is either hard won by campaigners, or until appalling tragedies like this [take place].

Time and again we see this pattern, and people are right to be angry about it. I’m angry about it.

There are also bigger questions, questions such as how we protect our children from the tidal wave of violence freely available online.

Because you can’t tell me that the material this individual viewed before committing these murders should be accessible on mainstream social media platforms, but with just a few clicks, people can watch video after horrific video – videos that, in some cases, are never taken down,

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