World

ROME — Florence was out of danger due to the "decisive" role of a key floodgate that prevented the Arno River from bursting its banks after heavy rains, Italian authorities said.

Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes Friday after the equivalent of a month's worth of rain fell in six hours, flooding streets and swelling waterways in Tuscany, the region where Florence is located.

"The important flood peak of the Arno passed along the entire length without any critical issues," Tuscany's president, Eugenio Giani, wrote on social media Saturday. 

Giani said the region's floodgate and expansion basins were "decisive" in lowering the threat to the famous Renaissance city and surrounding areas, including Pisa. 

"In these difficult hours, the hydraulic safety system of the region has made the difference despite the intense and persistent rainfall," he said.

On Saturday morning, the level of the Arno was at 3.87 metres and slowly receding, said Florence mayor Sara Funaro, who added that the levels of all tributaries had fallen below warning levels.

On Friday evening, the river had surpassed four metres. 

A red weather alert remains in effect Saturday till 1400 GMT, with parks, cemeteries, markets, museums and libraries closed. 

The Arno, which runs through Florence and Pisa, is prone to flooding in spring and fall. 

A floodgate located between Pisa and Florence, which authorities ordered opened Friday afternoon, "literally knocked down the Arno flood wave that was rising," Giani said. 

Construction of the floodgate began after a devastating flood in 1949. But it was not completed in time to help avert another massive flood in 1996 which killed over 100 people and destroyed or damaged countless works of art. 

Approximately 500 fire-fighters worked over the past 24 hours to carry out 430 interventions in the provinces of Florence, Prato, Pisa and Livorno, including rescues, due to flooding, landslides, the fire service said. 

Authorities were still responding to "critical issues" in certain towns outside Florence, he said. 

Friday's red weather alert caused Florence's world-famous Uffizi Galleries to close early, along with the Duomo cathedral.

WASHINGTON —US President Donald Trump's administration is mulling a new travel ban that would affect citizens from dozens of countries to varying degrees, the New York Times reported Friday. 

Citing anonymous officials, it said the draft list featured 43 countries, divided into three categories of travel restrictions.

The red category of countries whose citizens would be completely barred from entering the United States includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Another 10 countries in the orange category, Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan, would see their visas sharply restricted. 

"In those cases, affluent business travelers might be allowed to enter, but not people traveling on immigrant or tourist visas," the New York Times said. 

Citizens from countries on the orange list would also have to undergo in-person interviews to receive a visa. 

Another 22 countries on a yellow list would have 60 days to address US concerns or risk being moved up to one of the more stringent categories. 

"The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations, cautioned that the list had been developed by the State Department several weeks ago, and that changes were likely by the time it reached the White House," the New York Times said.

As one of his first acts in office, Trump froze the United States' refugee admission program and almost all foreign aid.

Trump ordered the US government to identify countries whose nationals should be banned from entering on security grounds, a move akin to the so-called "Muslim ban" of his first term.

That ban, which in 2017 targeted citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, ignited international outrage and lead to domestic court rulings against it. 

Iraq and Sudan were dropped from the list, but in 2018 the Supreme Court upheld a later version of the ban for the other nations, as well as North Korea and Venezuela.

UNITED NATIONS, United States — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is encouraged by news that long-time foes Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to sign a peace treaty, his spokesman said Friday.

"The Secretary-General welcomes the announcements by Armenia and Azerbaijan on the conclusion of negotiations on the draft peace agreement," Stephane Dujarric said a day after the Caucasus neighbors who fought two wars over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave announced they had reached an accord.

A day after arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan announced they were ready to sign a long-awaited peace treaty, scepticism ran high Friday among Yerevan residents, while cautious optimism prevailed in Baku.

The two Caucasus neighbours fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh -- at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020 -- before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.

After years of stalled negotiations, both sides announced on Thursday that they had agreed on the text of a comprehensive peace deal and were prepared to sign it.

This would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence.

But in the capitals of Azerbaijan and Armenia, public reaction remained divided, underscoring lingering tensions between the two ex-Soviet republics.

 'Armenia's surrender'

Standing in the shade of a tree in Yerevan's central Republic Square, where the spring was in full bloom, Arman Sedrakyan, a 38-year-old construction worker, said: "This document is worthless because Azerbaijan will not stop making new demands on Armenia."

"This treaty won't stop Azerbaijan if it decides to attack again, should global and regional conditions allow it," he told AFP.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has recognised Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step towards a normalisation of relations.

But he has faced a domestic backlash for making territorial concessions, including the return of four border villages to Azerbaijan last year.

Anush Minasyan, 42, who sells fruit on the street in a Yerevan suburb, shared Sedrakyan's scepticism.

"This agreement won't be signed quickly," she said. "We heard yesterday that Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia amend its Constitution, while Pashinyan said a constitutional referendum will take place next year."

Baku has made clear its expectations that Armenia remove from its constitution a reference to its 1991 declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh.

Any constitutional amendment would require a national referendum that could further delay the treaty's finalisation.

Some Armenians outright rejected the treaty, viewing it as an act of capitulation.

"This is not a peace treaty but a document of Armenia's surrender, drafted under threat of war," said 62-year-old Nikolay Manukyan.

"Pashinyan is rushing to sign any document just to boost his falling ratings ahead of (parliamentary) elections" scheduled for next year, he alleged.

 'Crucial for the future'

On a bustling pedestrian avenue in Baku's historic district lined with baroque and Stalin-era buildings, many supported the agreement, while some remained wary of Armenia's commitment to peace.

"I support peace and believe that normal relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are crucial for the future," said 35-year-old translator Ferdowsi Alizadeh.

"It's encouraging that negotiations on the peace agreement text have been completed."

But Nizami Aliyev, a 74-year-old retired maths teacher, struck a more cautious note.

"We welcome our government's peace efforts," he said. "We want peace, we need peace, but history forces us to be sceptical."

"Even if a peace agreement is signed, it will remain (just) on paper: Armenians cannot be trusted."

Schoolteacher Irada Akhmedova, 26, said she welcomed the prospect of the peace treaty, adding that it was hard to believe that the conflict, "which began even before I was born, is coming to an end".

"I sincerely hope that Azerbaijan and Armenia will no longer be enemy states, and that innocent people will no longer have to die," she said.

While Washington, Brussels and European leaders such as France's President Emmanuel Macron have welcomed the breakthrough, critics argue that the road to genuine reconciliation remains uncertain.

The lingering distrust on both sides suggests that, even if a peace deal is signed, achieving lasting stability in the South Caucasus will require much more than diplomatic agreements.

FLORENCE, Italy — Italian authorities ordered dozens of people in Tuscany to leave their homes on Friday after heavy rains swelled rivers and flooded streets near the historic cities of Florence and Pisa.

Regional chief Eugenio Giani said a red weather alert demanded that people should exercise "maximum care and attention" amid "intense and persistent rain".

Several dozen people were told to evacuate with the help of firefighters from low-lying villages and a floodplain near Pisa, according to the ANSA news agency.

In Florence, the Uffizi Galleries -- the world-famous art museum — closed early, as did the Duomo cathedral.

The fire service published images of cars partially submerged in the town of Sesto Fiorentino, north of Florence, as Giani told residents to keep clear of ground floors and basements.

"My thoughts go to the populations affected by the bad weather that is hitting various areas of Italy, causing serious damage and difficulties to citizens," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni posted on X.

The government would "guarantee all necessary support", she said.

More than 500 firefighters were working across Tuscany, the interior minister said, with more than 300 interventions either carried out or planned.

Bernardo Gozzini from the Tuscan weather service, Consorzio Lamma, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that 60 millimetres of rain had fallen in the area around Sesto Fiorentino between 6:00 am and noon.

"In Florence, in the month of March, we usually have 70 millimetres of total precipitation," Gozzini said.

"In practice, it is as if a month's worth of rain had fallen in six hours."

Floodgates opened

Schools, parks and cemeteries in Florence and nearby Prato were already closed after an order on Thursday.

Giani said floodgates and expansion tanks had been opened to ease the pressure on the Arno, the river that runs through Florence and Pisa.

In Florence, the Arno swelled to its highest level in the early evening, Giani said, without breaking its banks. It was expected to reach its peak level in Pisa overnight.

Three people and their dog were hoisted to safety by helicopter in Gattaia, northeast of Florence, while in Fucecchio to the west, authorities set up beds for evacuees in a local gym.

Alessio Mantellassi, mayor of Empoli, said in a live post on Facebook that the situation "is worse than in 2019", when the town flooded.

"It's one of the hardest moments in recent history," he said.

In Pisa, army soldiers placed sand bags behind a barrier lining a swollen river, while the city's Mayor Michele Conti said the situation was "very complex" and urged residents to stay at home.

Across Tuscany's border in Emilia Romagna, where devastating floods left 17 people dead two years ago, authorities also issued a red weather warning.

Some rivers in the region, which includes the historic city of Bologna, were already swollen by previous downpours.

Michele de Pascale, president of Emilia Romagna, said there had been "very violent" weather on Friday morning.

"We must pay great attention, it is a basin that has been hit several times in recent years by floods," he said in a statement.

Scientists have repeatedly warned that man-made climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as floods.

OTTAWA — Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday launched his term in office with a whole-hearted rejection of US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to annex his northern neighbor.

Shortly after he was sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister, replacing Justin Trudeau who has been in office since 2015, Carney said confronting Trump's tariffs would be a top priority.

Canada "will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States," he added, while voicing hope his government could one-day work together with Washington to advance both countries' interests.

Officials said they were looking to set up a call between Trump and Carney in the coming days.

Ottawa has been rattled by collapsing cross-border relations since Trump returned to power in January, launching a trade war and demanding that Canada surrender its independence to become the 51st US state.

Ottawa has retaliated against Trump's tariffs, while Canadian public opinion has been outraged as the US president insists the border separating the countries should be erased.

Carney has characterized the Trump administration as the greatest challenge Canada has faced in a generation, and US tariffs on Canadian goods unjustified.

He became prime minister after overwhelmingly winning a Liberal Party vote to replace Trudeau as leader.

But the former central banker, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office.

Carney's campaign skills may be tested soon with government sources telling AFP that Canada is headed for a general election in weeks.

He said he will fly to Paris and London next week, part of an effort to reinforce Canada's alliances overseas as ties with the United States unravel. Those talks will include trade and security.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen -- who said Canada-EU relations were now "more crucial than ever" -- as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Carney on Friday.

Election upcoming

Carney was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and also led the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the Brexit vote.

He has sought to present himself as purpose-built to lead a country through a trade war with the United States, once Canada's closest ally but now a country that Carney says Canada can "no longer trust."

But he may not be prime minister for long.

Polls ahead of the upcoming vote show a tight race against the opposition Conservatives, who have sought to portray Carney as an elitist and out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Canadians.

He has countered that his global experience, including in the private sector, has equipped him to drive the Canadian economy forward as it faces a rupture with its most important trading partner.

"Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump," University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu told AFP.

On the week Trump's sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into force, Carney visited a steel plant in Hamilton, an industrial city near the US border in the province of Ontario.

Wearing a hard hat and goggles, Carney said he was ready to work out a trade deal with Trump.

But he insisted there must be "respect for Canadian sovereignty" in any negotiation.

Carney has also made clear efforts to distance himself from Trudeau with moves aimed at attracting more centrist voters.

He has said addressing climate change will be a top priority but his first action on Friday was to sign an order scrapping Trudeau's "divisive" carbon tax on individuals and families while pledging to advance market-led solutions.

The cabinet sworn in alongside Carney keeps much of Trudeau's team in place, including those working most closely on trade talks with the United States.

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on beleaguered Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to "surrender" after US President Donald Trump pleaded for their lives.

Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive in the western border region over the past week, recapturing much territory that Ukraine had seized in a shock incursion last August.

A defeat for Ukraine in Kursk would be a major blow to Kyiv's plans to use its hold on the region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Moscow.

"We are sympathetic to President Trump's call," Putin said.

"If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment," Putin added in remarks broadcast a day after he held talks with a US envoy on a ceasefire.

Trump said "thousands" of Ukrainian troops were "completely surrounded by the Russian military, and in a very bad and vulnerable position".

"I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II," he said.

Ukraine's military leadership denied the claims, though President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded his forces faced mounting pressure.

"There is no threat of our units being encircled," Ukraine's General Staff wrote in a social media statement.

Zelensky gave a sober assessment in comments to reporters in Kyiv. "The situation in the Kursk region is obviously very difficult," he said.

However, he insisted the campaign still had its merits.

Russia, he said, had been forced to pull troops from other areas on the frontline, easing pressure on Ukrainian troops fighting to keep control of the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Trump's latest comments came as he gave an update on his ceasefire initiative. His envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin late Thursday to lay out the details of a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for a 30-day pause in hostilities in the three-year-old conflict.

"We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Ukraine losing grip 

Putin said Thursday he had "serious questions" about the proposal.

And Zelensky accused the Russian leader of seeking to undermine the ceasefire initiative by raising doubts about how it would work.

"He is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start even before a ceasefire," Zelensky said in a post on X.

The Kremlin said Friday it was "cautiously optimistic" a deal could be reached, but that Trump and Putin had to speak directly before talks could progress.

"When Mr Witkoff brings all the information to President Trump, we will determine the timing of a conversation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"There is still much to be done, but the president has nevertheless identified with President Trump's position."

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said in a Fox News interview that the United States had "some cautious optimism" after Witkoff's visit.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a meeting of the Group of Seven western powers in Canada that both sides would have to make "concessions".

G7 foreign ministers warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepts a ceasefire "on equal terms".

"They discussed imposing further costs on Russia in case such a ceasefire is not agreed, including through further sanctions, caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means."

Putin said Thursday he wanted any settlement to secure "long-term peace", alluding to Moscow's demand that Ukraine be barred from NATO.

Zelensky has called Putin's response "very manipulative", while Germany called it a "delaying tactic".

On top of the pressure in Kursk, Russia has been advancing across the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk region for the past year.

Ukraine hoped its hold on Kursk would be a bargaining chips in talks with Russia and was eyeing a potential land swap with Moscow, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its military offensive in February 2022.

THE HAGUE — Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte failed to attend in person an initial hearing at the International Criminal Court on Friday, as he faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly crackdown on narcotics.

The 79-year-old, the first ex-Asian head of state charged by the ICC, followed by videolink during a short hearing to inform him of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant.

Sounding frail and wearing a blue suit and tie, he spoke briefly to confirm his name and date of birth. Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc allowed him to follow proceedings in absentia due to his long flight to The Hague.

His lawyer Salvador Medialdea told the court that his client had been "abducted from his country".

"He was summarily transported to The Hague. To lawyers it's extrajudicial rendition. For less legal minds, it's pure and simple kidnapping," said Medialdea.

The lawyer also said that Duterte was suffering "debilitating medical issue", adding: "Other than to identify himself, he is not able to contribute to this hearing."

Duterte appeared sleepy during the proceedings, closing his eyes frequently for long periods.

But Motoc told Duterte: "The court doctor was of the opinion that you were fully mentally aware and fit."

She set a date of September 23 for the next stage of the process: a hearing to confirm the charges.

Duterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.

In the prosecutor's application for his arrest, he said Duterte's alleged crimes were "part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in the Philippines".

"Potentially tens of thousands of killings were perpetrated," the prosecutor alleged of the campaign that targeted mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

Victims' families have welcomed the trial as a chance for justice, while Duterte supporters believe he was "kidnapped" and sent to The Hague amid a spectacular fall-out with the ruling Marcos family.

In Manila, Jane Lee, whose husband was killed in the drug war, said she was barely able to contain her rage at the sight of the former president.

"When I saw him, I was so angry I could barely control myself," the 42-year-old said at a public viewing of the ICC proceedings.

‘Kill all of you' 

According to international law experts, his whirlwind arrest and surrender offers a welcome boon to the embattled ICC, which is being attacked from all sides and sanctioned by the United States.

"I see the arrest and handing over of Duterte as a gift at an important moment in time," Willem van Genugten, Professor of International Law at Tilburg University in The Netherlands, told AFP.

Earlier on Friday, the former leader's daughter Sara Duterte, vice president of the Philippines, told AFP she had submitted a last-minute bid to have the hearing moved.

She later revealed that she had visited her father for an hour in the detention centre and that he was "in good spirits, well looked-after" and "well rested", his main complaint being about the food.

"He told me that all he does is sleep and watch TV... (he said that) my only complaint is that I really miss Philippine food," Sara Duterte told reporters at a chaotic press conference surrounded by dozens of baying supporters.

Duterte backers had gathered outside the hulking glass building in the Hague shouting "bring him home".

But Ecel Sandalo, an anti-Duterte demonstrator, told AFP the fact that the former president was on trial had given him "hope that despite all the injustices in the world, there are still small victories that we can celebrate".

As he landed in The Hague, the former leader appeared to accept responsibility for his actions, saying in a Facebook video: "I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible."

In his application for arrest, the prosecutor quoted from some of Duterte's pronouncements when he was running for president.

He is cited as saying the number of criminal suspects killed "will become 100,000... I will kill all of you" and the fish in Manila Bay "will become fat because that's where I will throw you".

At the confirming of charges hearing, a suspect can challenge the prosecutor's evidence.

Only after that will the court decide whether to press ahead with a trial, a process that could take several months or even years.

Washington — US President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to annex the autonomous territory of Greenland from Denmark in the interest of "international security."

"I think it will happen," Trump told reporters at the White House alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, when asked about his vision for the annexation.

He pointed at Rutte and added the NATO chief could be "very instrumental" in the move.

"You know Mark, we need that for international security... we have a lot of our favorite players cruising around the coast and we have to be careful," he said, apparently referring to rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.

Trump's threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island have shined an unprecedented global spotlight on the territory, as he has previously refused to rule out the use of force to "get Greenland."

The US president's comments come days after Greenland's elections, with all the political parties, and the majority of the island's 57,000 inhabitants, backing independence -- though they disagree on how quickly the process should go.

Rutte said that he would not be involved in any question of Greenland becoming part of the United States, saying: "I don't want to drag NATO in that."

However, "when it comes to the high north and the Arctic, you are totally right," Rutte said.

"The Chinese are now using these routes. We know that the Russians are rearming. We know we have lack of icebreakers.

"So the fact that the seven -- outside Russia -- seven Arctic countries working together on this under US leadership is very important to make sure that that region, that part of the world stays safe," Rutte said.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future.

The 88-year-old was for a time critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14.

The Argentine's situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday morning reporting once again that he had had a peaceful night.

Talk is now turning to when he might go home, but his hospitalisation, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised doubts about his ability to lead the world's nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.

Slowing down

Francis had before now refused to make any concessions to his age or increasingly fragile health, which obliged him to begin using a wheelchair three years ago.

He maintained a packed daily schedule interspersed with frequent overseas trips, notably a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region in September, when he presided over huge open-air masses.

But experts say his recovery could take weeks given his age and recurring health issues, not helped by having part of one lung removed as a young man.

"The rest of his pontificate remains a question mark for the moment, including for Francis himself," said Father Michel Kubler, a Vatican expert and former editor in chief of the French religious newspaper La Croix.

"He doesn't know what his life will be like once he returns to the Vatican, and so no doubt reserves the option of resigning if he can no longer cope," he told AFP.

Francis has always left the door open to resigning were his health to deteriorate, following the example of Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down.

But the Jesuit has distanced himself from the idea more recently, insisting the job is for life.

While in hospital, Francis has delegated masses to senior cardinals but has kept working on and off, including signing decrees and receiving close colleagues.

But he has missed a month of events for the 2025 Jubilee, a holy year organised by the pope that is predicted to draw an additional 30 million pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican.

And it is hard to imagine he will be well enough to lead a full programme of events for Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar that is less than six weeks away.

Many believe that Francis, who has not been seen in public since he was hospitalised, has to change course.

"This is the end of the pontificate as we have known it until now," Kubler said.