Spain to regularize 500,000 #undocumented migrants, Migration Minister Elma Saiz the beneficiaries would be able to work “in any sector, in any part of the country”, and extolled “the positive impact” of migration.

“We are talking about estimations, probably more or less the figures may be around half a million people,” she told public broadcaster RTVE.

Saiz said at a news conference after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting that “we are strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, co-existence, and compatible with economic growth and social cohesion.”

The measure will affect those living in Spain for at least five months and who applied for international protection before Dec. 31, 2025.

Applicants must have a clean criminal record. The regularization will also apply to their children who already live in Spain.

The application period is expected to open in April and continue until the end of June.

The plan will be passed through a decree that will not need approval in parliament, where the Socialist-led coalition lacks a majority.

The conservative and far-right opposition lashed out at the government, saying the regularization would encourage more illegal immigration.

Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the Popular Party, the main right-wing opposition group, wrote on X that the “ludicrous” plan would “overwhelm our public services.”

“In Socialist Spain, illegality is rewarded,” he said, vowing to change migration policy “from top to bottom” if he took power.
‘Social justice’

The Spanish Catholic Church was among the organizations praising the move, commending “an act of social justice and recognition.”

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says Spain needs migration to fill workforce gaps and counteract an ageing population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state.

Sanchez has said migration accounted for 80 percent of Spain’s dynamic economic growth in the last six years.

Official data released Tuesday showed that 52,500 of the 76,200 people who pushed up employment numbers in the final quarter of last year were foreigners, contributing to the lowest jobless figure since 2008.

Spain’s more open stance contrasts with a trend that has seen governments toughen migration policies under pressure from far-right parties that have gained ground across the European Union.

Around 840,000 undocumented migrants lived in Spain at the beginning of January 2025, most of them Latin American, according to the Funcas think-tank.

Spain is one of Europe’s main gateways for irregular migrants fleeing poverty, conflict and persecution, with tens of thousands of mostly sub-Saharan African arrivals landing in the Canary Islands archipelago off northwestern Africa.

According to the latest figures published by the National Statistics Institute, more than seven million foreigners live in Spain out of a total population of 49.4 million people.

French streamers held over death in live broadcast. Two French streamers were taken into custody Tuesday, prosecutors said, as part of a months-long probe into an on-camera death broadcast via the Kick platform.

The death in August of Raphael Graven, alias Jean Pormanove, live on the 200,000-follower video channel he shared with Owen Cenazandotti and Safine Hamadi shocked France and drew the ire of government ministers.

Cenazandotti, 26, and Safine, 23, have denied responsibility for 46-year-old Graven’s death, which followed a 12-day live marathon of physical and verbal abuse against him.

But they are now being held on charges including assault, incitement to hatred, abuse of a vulnerable person and recording and broadcasting violent images, said Damien Martinelli, chief prosecutor in the Mediterranean city Nice.

Prosecutors first opened a probe against the group in December 2024, months before Graven’s death, when they encountered footage of him being insulted and struck, having his hair pulled and being shot with paintball guns.

All three streamers were held in January last year but released after they insisted the on-screen violence was all part of “an act aimed at creating buzz so as to earn money”.

Graven died on August 18 during a livestream in which he and another man were struck and insulted by his younger colleagues, though an autopsy has since ruled out “intervention by a third party” playing a role in his death.

Ministers in August announced separate legal action against the Australia-based Kick platform, which is also under investigation by Paris prosecutors.

#Iran unveils mural warning of retaliation if U.S. conducts a military strike.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian authorities unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in a central Tehran square on Sunday with a direct warning to the United States to not attempt a military strike on the country, as U.S. warships head to the region.

The image shows a bird’s-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck. The deck is strewn with bodies and streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned across one corner: “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.”

The unveiling of the mural in Enghelab Square comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying warships move toward the region. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the ships are being moved “just in case” he decides to take action.

“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said Thursday.

Enghelab Square is used for gatherings called by the state and authorities change its mural based on national occasions. On Saturday, the commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that his force is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger.”

Tension between the U.S. and Iran has spiked in the wake of a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that saw thousands of people killed and tens of thousands arrested. Trump had threatened military action if Iran continued to kill peaceful protesters or carried out mass executions of those detained.

There have been no further protests for days and Trump claimed recently that Tehran had halted the planned execution of about 800 arrested protesters -- a claim Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”

But Trump has indicated he is keeping his options open, saying on Thursday that any military action would make last June’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts.”

U.S. Central Command said on social media that its Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Middle East, noting the fighter jet “enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability.”

Similarly, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar “in a defensive capacity.”

The protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran’s theocracy, which does not tolerate dissent.

The death toll reported by activists has continued to rise since the end of the demonstrations, as information trickles out despite a more than two-week internet blackout -- the most comprehensive in Iran’s history.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death toll at 5,848, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,280 people have been arrested.

The group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the toll.

Iran’s government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press

The man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an #ICU nurse, family says.

#MINNEAPOLIS — Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer.

“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.

In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.

“We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

The Department of Homeland Security said the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun. In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.
Alex Pretti’s family struggles for information about what happened

The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

“I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”

Eventually, the parents called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

After seeing videos of Trump administration officials suggesting their son was attacking the officers who shot him, they issued a written statement describing themselves as both heartbroken and angry.

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the family’s statement said. They added that videos showed Alex Pretti was not holding a gun when he was tackled by federal agents, but holding his phone with one hand and using the other to shield a woman who was being pepper-sprayed.

“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man,” they said.

Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.
Alex Pretti had protested before

Pretti’s ex-wife, who spoke to the AP but later said she didn’t want her name used, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s neighbourhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

She said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.
Pretti had `a great heart’

Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from where he was shot. Neighbours described him as quiet and warmhearted.

“He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”

If there was something suspicious going on in the neighbourhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbours said, and would sometimes have friends over.

His neighbours knew he had guns -- he’d occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range -- but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

“I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.
Pretti was also passionate about the outdoors

A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi, Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a year ago.

His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.

Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

“He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”

Michael Biesecker, Tim Sullivan and Jim Mustian, The Associated Press

Biesecker reported from Washington and Mustian from New York.

Gas explosion, fire on top floors of New York City apartment building kills 1, injures 14.


A gas explosion sent fire racing through the top floors of a high-rise apartment building in New York City early Saturday, killing one person and injuring 14 others as temperatures plunged into the single digits overnight, authorities said.

Firefighters responded shortly before 12:30 a.m. to the 17-story New York City Housing Authority building in the Bronx, where people were seen leaning out of windows calling for help as flames engulfed parts of the top floors, officials said.

Chief of Department John Esposito said firefighters were investigating reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors when the explosion occurred. He said there was major structural damage to about a dozen apartments and fires in 10 apartments on the 16th and 17th floors.

Authorities did not immediately release information on the person who died. Another person was critically injured, five had serious injuries and eight had minor injuries, officials said.

Officials said the building had been undergoing renovations and work on the natural gas system had been completed and inspected. The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

“It’s an incredible tragedy. We’re sending all our thoughts to the families involved,” Leila Bozorg, deputy mayor for housing and planning said at a morning news conference.

More than 200 fire and emergency crews worked the scene, according to the fire department.

“There were injuries. It was a very, very difficult night on a very cold night, which caused even more difficulty,” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said.

Officials set up a reception center at a school near the building and the American Red Cross was there to help provide housing and other needs.

Around half a million New Yorkers live in aging buildings run by the city’s housing authority, known as NYCHA, which is the largest in the nation.

Many of the properties date back to the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. In 2019, a federal monitor was appointed to address chronic problems like lead paint, mold and lack of heat. When he wrapped his five-year term in 2024, the monitor, Bart Schwartz, noted that the overarching issue for residents remained the “poor physical state of NYCHA’s buildings.”

In October, a massive brick chimney running 20 stories up the side of a housing authority apartment building in the Bronx collapsed after an explosion, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground but amazingly not injuring anyone. Officials linked it to a natural gas boiler.

Dave Collins, The Associated Press

A U.S. warship is making a friendship visit to a Cambodian naval base upgraded with China’s help

Vietnam leader To Lam consolidates power with re-election as country targets 10% growth

Putin says who owns Greenland is of no concern to Russia, says it might be worth US$1 billion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Greenland’s ownership was not Russia’s concern and that the United States and Denmark - whose historical treatment of the island he criticized - should sort the matter out between themselves.

Moscow has watched with glee as U.S. President Donald Trump’s drive to acquire Greenland has widened Washington’s split with Europe, even though his moves could have ramifications for Russia, which already has a strong Arctic presence.

Speaking in Davos, Trump on Wednesday stopped back from threats to impose tariffs as leverage to seize Greenland and ruled out the use of force. He suggested progress towards a deal to end a dispute over the semi-autonomous Danish territory that risked the deepest rupture in transatlantic relations in decades.

Putin, addressing the matter for the first time in public, signaled that Russia would not object to Trump’s push to control Greenland, which he speculated may be worth nearly US$1 billion.

“What happens in Greenland is of no concern to us whatsoever,” Putin told a meeting of Russia’s Security Council.

“Incidentally, Denmark has always treated Greenland as a colony and has been quite harsh, if not cruel, towards it. But that is a different matter altogether, and hardly anyone is interested in it now,” Putin added.
One billion dollar price tag?

Denmark’s financial and military support for Ukraine has angered Russia, which is fighting to take full control of four Ukrainian regions it claimed as its own in 2022.

Russia’s foreign ministry has bridled at Trump’s suggestion that Moscow has ambitions on Greenland too, but has been careful not to criticize Trump - who is trying to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine - and has hinted it has some sympathy for his claim.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the giant resource-rich island, which already has a U.S. military presence, was not “a natural part” of Denmark.

Putin recalled that Russia in 1867 sold Alaska to the United States for US$7.2 million, and that Denmark in 1917 sold the Virgin Islands to Washington, setting precedents for such land transactions.

Using the Alaska price - adjusted for inflation and accounting for the larger size of Greenland and changes in gold prices, Putin said buying Greenland from Denmark could cost around US$1 billion, which he said he thought Washington could afford.

“I think they will sort it out between themselves,” said #Putin.

Israel agrees to join Trump’s Board of Peace as some western European nations say no.

The development underscores European concerns over the controversial and ambitious project — which some say seeks to replace the United Nations’ role in mediating global conflicts — as Trump arrived in Davos, Switzerland, where he was expected to provide more details about his vision for the board.

A White House official said about 30 countries were expected to join the board, without providing details. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal plans not yet made public, said about 50 countries had been invited to join the organization.

Norway and Sweden said Wednesday they won’t accept their invitations, after France also said no — stressing that while it supports the Gaza peace plan, it was concerned the board could seek to replace the U.N. as the main venue for resolving conflicts.

Chaired by Trump, the board was originally envisaged as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. But the Trump administration’s ambitions have since expanded into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting at the board’s role as conflict mediator.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said he’s agreed to join the board — a departure from an earlier stance when his office criticized the makeup of the board’s committee tasked with overseeing Gaza.

Months into the ceasefire, Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians continue to suffer the humanitarian crisis unleashed by over two years of war. Israeli fire in the enclave on Wednesday left 11 Palestinians dead, health officials said.

The relatives of one final Israeli hostage, whose body remains in Gaza, continued to call on Israel’s government and Trump to ensure the release of his remains. Since the truce went into effect in October, Hamas and Israel have each accused the other of ceasefire violations.
Norway and Sweden say no, following in France’s footsteps

Norway’s state secretary, Kristoffer Thoner, said Norway would not join the board because it “raises a number of questions that requires further dialogue with the United States.” He also said Norway would not attend the signing ceremony in Davos.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on the sidelines of Davos that his country wouldn’t sign up for the board as the text currently stands, Swedish news agency TT reported, though Sweden hasn’t formally responded.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that France says, “Yes to implementing the peace plan presented by the president of the United States, which we wholeheartedly support, but no to creating an organization as it has been presented, which would replace the United Nations.”

Hearing late Monday that French President Emmanuel Macron was unlikely to join, Trump said, “Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon.”

The United Kingdom, the European Union’s executive arm, Canada, Russia, Ukraine and China have also not yet indicated their response to Trump’s invitations.
Israel and Egypt to join, along with several others in the Mideast and beyond

Parties key to the Gaza ceasefire — Israel and Egypt — said Wednesday they would join the board, as did Bahrain, Kosovo and Azerbaijan.

Netanyahu’s decision was significant because his office had previously said the composition of the Gaza executive committee — which includes Turkey, Israel’s key regional rival — was not coordinated with the Israeli government and ran “contrary to its policy,” without clarifying its objections.

The move could now put Netanyahu in conflict with some of the far-right allies in his coalition, such as Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has criticized the board and called for Israel to take unilateral responsibility for Gaza’s future.

Among those who have accepted the invitation are United Arab Emirates, Armenia, Morocco, Vietnam, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Argentina.
Death toll ticks up in Gaza

Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, including three journalists and two boys who were collecting firewood, hospitals said.

The Israeli military said after one strike that it had spotted and struck several people who were operating a drone in central Gaza that posed a threat to its troops.

A man and his 13-year-old son were killed along with a 22-year-old man while collecting firewood near the central Bureij refugee camp, said Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received the bodies. The hospital said Israeli drones had fired on the men. It was not clear if the men had crossed into military-controlled zones.

Another 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by troops — also while collecting firewood — in the eastern town of Bani Suhaila, the Nasser hospital said, which received the body. In a footage circulated online, the boy’s father was seen weeping over his son’s body on a hospital bed.

The boy’s mother, Safaa al-Sharafy, told The Associated Press that he was hungry and went out to gather firewood so she could cook. “He told me he’d go quickly and come back,” she said.

Later Wednesday, an Israeli strike in central Gaza hit a vehicle carrying three Palestinian journalists who were filming a newly established displacement camp managed by an Egyptian government committee, said Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesman.

The journalists were documenting the committee’s work in the camp, and the strike occurred about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli-controlled area, Mansour said.

Nasser hospital said it also received the body of a woman shot by Israeli troops in the Muwasi area of southern city of Khan Younis. The hospital said she was killed in an area not controlled by the military.

Since the ceasefire started, more than 460 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, according to the strip’s health ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

Most of Gaza’s population depend on firewood for cooking and heat as the strip experiences a cold, wet winter.
The makeup of the board

Many questions remain about the board. When asked by a reporter on Tuesday if the board would replace the U.N. Trump said: “It might.”

Under the ceasefire deal, the board’s Gaza executive committee will be in charge of implementing the tough second phase of the agreement. That includes deploying an international security force, disarming the Palestinian militant Hamas group and rebuilding the territory. It will also supervise a newly appointed committee of Palestinian technocrats who will be running Gaza’s day-to-day affairs.

The White House says its members include Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and the U.N. representative overseeing aid to Gaza.

Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. Mideast envoy, is to serve as the Gaza executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters.

Separate from the Gaza executive committee, the founding executive committee’s members include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

___

By Julia Frankel and Samy Magdy

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Michelle L. Price in Washington, and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

#EU chief says Trump’s threats challenge Europe’s security and prosperity, ahead of emergency summit.

“All these three dimensions are being tested in the current moment of transatlantic relations,” European Council President António Costa said. He has convened an emergency summit of the EU’s 27 national leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

Trump’s determination to “acquire” the mineral-rich island in the Arctic region, for what he claims are security reasons, has undermined trust in the United States among allies in Europe and Canada.

Denmark angered Trump after sending a military “reconnaissance” force to Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. A small numbers of troops from several European nations joined, and Denmark is weighing a longer-term military presence there.

Costa said EU leaders are united on “the principles of international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty,” something the bloc has underlined in defending Ukraine against invasion by Russia, and which is now threatened in Greenland.

In a speech to EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, he also stressed that only “Denmark and Greenland can decide their future.”

He insisted that “further tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-US trade agreement.” The lawmakers must endorse that deal made last July, but have threatened not to do so over Trump’s tariff threats.

Costa said that “we stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies, against any form of coercion. And the European Union has the power and the tools to do so.”

EU leaders have been galvanized by Trump’s threats over Greenland, and are rethinking their relations with America, their long-time ally and the most powerful member of NATO.

“Appeasement is always a sign of weakness. Europe cannot afford to be weak — neither against its enemies, nor ally,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, long a staunch supporter of strong transatlantic ties, posted on social media on Tuesday.

“Appeasement means no results, only humiliation. European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment,” Tusk wrote.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who manages trade on behalf of EU countries, warned that the bloc is “at a crossroads.” Should tariffs come, she said, “we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”

In Strasbourg, she told the lawmakers that the commission is working on “a massive European investment surge in Greenland” to beef up its economy and infrastructure, as well as a new European security strategy.

Security around the island itself should be boosted with partners like the U.K., Canada, Norway and Iceland, among others, von der Leyen said.

Lorne Cook, The Associated Press