Taiwan Hospital Fire Leaves at Least 8 Dead as Typhoon Batters Island's South

A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
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Taiwan Hospital Fire Leaves at Least 8 Dead as Typhoon Batters Island's South

A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A person maneuvers through strong winds and heavy rain brought on by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung city, Taiwan, 03 October 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

A fire at a hospital in southern Taiwan killed at least eight people on Thursday morning as the island was being battered by a typhoon.
The fire occurred in Piingtung county, which has been hit hard by Typhoon Krathon, which made landfall in the afternoon with torrential rains and heavy winds and has brought parts of the island to a standstill, The Associated Press said.
The deaths were attributed to smoke that arose from a source still under investigation. Dozens of other patients were evacuated and moved to shelters nearby.
Soldiers from a nearby base were mobilized to aid medical workers and firefighters in the evacuation of patients and putting out the flames.



Meloni Discusses With Trump Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
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Meloni Discusses With Trump Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni surprised on Sunday her allies, both local and regional, after her plane landed at Miami International Airport from where she headed to the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, to meet President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump greeted her warmly. The two leaders met for an hour in the presence of Trump’s close aide Elon Musk, who has a close relationship with the Italian visitor.
Sources in the delegation that accompanied Meloni said the PM raised the case of detained Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was arrested in Iran last month on charges of espionage.
Meloni is trying to exchange the release of Sala for detained Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, who was arrested at Milan's Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in an attack last January that killed three US service members in Jordan.