EU Commission Chief Has 'Severe Pneumonia'

FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)
FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)
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EU Commission Chief Has 'Severe Pneumonia'

FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)
FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is ill with “severe pneumonia” and has canceled her appointments for the next two weeks, her office announced Friday.

According to The Associated Press, spokesman Stefan De Keersmaeker said her agenda had to be cleared of meetings in Lisbon and in Poland, which has just taken over the EU's rotating presidency of the 27-nation European Union.

“She is dealing with severe pneumonia,” De Keersmaeker said in a statement, giving no further details about her conditions or how she fell ill.

Von der Leyen, 66, only recently started her second five-year stint at the top of the EU's powerful executive office.



Two Dead, Four Missing in Spanish Mine Accident

A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
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Two Dead, Four Missing in Spanish Mine Accident

A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)

At least two miners died on Monday and four were missing in an accident in a mine in the northern Spanish region of Asturias, the regional emergency service said.
The emergency service said another three people had been injured due to a machine malfunction inside the mine in Degana at 9:32 a.m. (0732 GMT) local time. Three helicopters and two ambulances have been sent to the scene.
El Mundo newspaper said earlier there had been an explosion in the mine and that several people were trapped.