The engine of a Russian-made passenger plane caught fire after landing at southern Turkey’s Antalya Airport on Sunday, the Turkish transport ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said landings at the airport were suspended until 3 a.m. local time while authorities towed the plane from the runway.

All 89 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated from the Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane that had come from the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, the ministry said.

A video shared on social media by Airport Haber news website showed emergency units responding at the site of the fire, with flames and smoke coming out of the aircraft’s engine.

Videos shared by the transport ministry following the incident showed the aircraft with fire extinguishing foam underneath as firefighters continue to spray the left-side engine to cool it down.

According to the Antalya Airport website, an Azimuth Airlines plane from Sochi landed at 6.25 p.m. GMT.

Uruguayans went to the polls Sunday for a second round of voting to choose their next president, with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.

The staid election has turned into a hard-fought race between Álvaro Delgado, the incumbent party’s candidate, and Yamandú Orsi from the Broad Front, a coalition of leftist and center-left parties that governed for 15 years until the 2019 victory of center-right President Luis Lacalle Pou.

The Broad Front oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana in the small South American nation of 3.4 million people.

Orsi’s Broad Front took 44% of the vote while Delgado’s National Party won 27% in the first round of voting Oct. 27. But the other conservative parties that make up the government coalition – in particular, the Colorado Party – notched 20% of the vote collectively, enough to give Delgado an edge over his challenger this time around.

Congress ended up evenly split in the October vote. Most polls have shown a virtual tie between Delgado and Orsi, with nearly 10% of Uruguayan voters undecided even at this late stage.

Analysts say the candidates’ lackluster campaigns and broad consensus on key issues have generated extraordinary indecision and apathy in an election dominated by discussions about social spending and concerns over growing income inequality but largely free of the anti-establishment rage that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere.

“The question of whether Frente Amplio (the Broad Front) raises taxes is not an existential question, unlike what we saw in the US with Trump and Kamala framing each other as threats to democracy,” said Nicolás Saldías, a Latin America and Caribbean senior analyst for the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit. “That doesn’t exist in Uruguay.”

Both candidates are also appealing to voter angst over a surge in violent crime that has shaken a nation long regarded as one of the region’s most safe and stable.

Delgado promises tough-on-crime policies and a new maximum-security prison while Orsi advocates a community-oriented approach to crime prevention.

Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian with a long career in the National Party, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of current President Lacalle Pou – in some ways making the election into a referendum on his leadership. He campaigned under the slogan “re-elect a good government.”

While a string of corruption scandals briefly rattled Lacalle Pou’s government last year, the president – who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term – now enjoys high approval ratings and a strong economy expected to grow 3.2% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Inflation has also eased in recent months, boosting his coalition.

Delgado served most recently as Secretary of the Presidency for Lacalle Pou and promises to pursue his predecessor’s pro-business policies. He would continue pushing for a trade deal with China that has raised hackles in Mercosur, an alliance of South American countries that promotes regional commerce.

Orsi, 57, a former history teacher and two-time mayor from a working-class background, is widely seen as an heir to iconic former President José “Pepe” Mujica, a former Marxist guerilla who raised Uruguay’s international profile as one of the region’s most socially liberal and environmentally sustainable nations during his 2010-2015 term.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, was among the first to cast his ballot after polls opened.

“When it comes to governing, with the parliamentary structure that we will have, the government will be forced to negotiate,” he told reporters as he emerged from his local polling station, praising Uruguay’s robust and level-headed democracy as “no small thing” in Latin America.

While promising to forge a “new left” in Uruguay, Orsi plans no dramatic changes. He would rather negotiate any agreement with Beijing through Mercosur. He proposes tax incentives to lure investment and social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay’s unions.

The contentious plebiscite on whether to boost pension payouts failed to pass in October, with Uruguayans rejecting generous pensions in favor of fiscal constraint.

Both candidates pledged full cooperation with each other if elected.

“I want (Orsi) to know that my idea is to form a government of national unity,” Delgado told reporters after casting his vote and greeting supporters in the capital’s upscale Pocitos neighborhood. He said that if he won, he and Orsi would “have some (yerba) mate,” the traditional herbal drink beloved by Uruguayans, together on Monday.

Orsi similarly pledged a smooth and respectful transition of power in the event of his victory, describing Sunday’s democratic exercise as “an incredible experience” as he voted in Canelones, the sprawling town of beaches and cattle ranches just north of Montevideo where he served as mayor for a decade.

“The essence of politics is agreements,” he said. “You never end up completely satisfied.”

Israel says it is investigating after Hamas released photos purportedly showing the body of a female hostage in Gaza.

Speaking during his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at this point Israel could not verify the images.

“We are in contact with the family, and a relevant notice has been issued to all families. Our hearts are with them,” Netanyahu said. He stressed that Israel’s government is committed to bringing back all the hostages, including those who are dead.

The prime minister also said he had spoken with the mother of the hostage purportedly shown in the photos.

“It is hard to describe the nightmare she is enduring. We embrace her and her family,” he said.

Hamas’ military wing claimed on Saturday that a female hostage had been killed in an area of northern Gaza that was “under Israeli aggression.”

It did not identify her by name but shared two photos of the hostage’s body. Israel has made no comment on the circumstances surrounding the alleged death.

More than 250 people were taken hostage and about 1,200 killed during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.

A handful of hostages have since been rescued and in November 2023 more than 100 were released as part of a short-lived hostage-and-ceasefire deal.

Some 101 hostages are still being held in Gaza, 97 of whom were taken on October 7, Israeli authorities believe. At least 34 of the hostages taken on October 7 are thought to be dead.

Israel has in the past accused Hamas of releasing footage and information about the hostages as a form of “psychological terror” aimed at ramping up pressure on Netanyahu’s government to agree a ceasefire deal.

Near-weekly protests calling for the government to secure the release of the hostages have taken place across Israel, including near Netanyahu’s residences, often involving family members of the hostages.

Last week, the pressure on Netanyahu intensified with the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

Meanwhile, negotiations for a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in Gaza have all but ground to a halt.

Except for a brief flurry of activity last month, there have been no real negotiations since six Israeli hostages were executed by Hamas and discovered in a Gaza tunnel at the end of August.

Qatar announced this month it was suspending its role as a mediator in talks between Israel and Hamas after concluding that the two sides are no longer negotiating in good faith.

Four men were convicted in Spain Sunday in connection with the homophobic murder of a 24-year-old nursing assistant that sparked protests in cities across Spain and abroad.

Samuel Luiz died in hospital after being assaulted by a group of people outside a night club in A Coruna in the northwestern Galicia region in July 2021.

Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral were found guilty of aggravated murder, and Alejandro Míguez of complicity.

The jury in A Coruna found it proven that Montaña — the leader of the group — had concluded that Luiz was gay from his speech and clothing, shouting homophobic insults at him before the attack and making anti-gay comments afterward to the other accused.

The jury spent an unusually long five days deliberating after a trial that lasted nearly four weeks. Sentencing will take place later; the prosecution has asked for jail terms of between 22 and 27 years.

Some 364 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity were reported in Spain in 2023, and 184 arrests were made, according to Interior Ministry data.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights says only a fraction of hate crimes are reported.

“The city’s special services are working at the scene and leading the rescue efforts, as well as crews from the Vilnius Airport Fire Service,” the airport spokesperson said.

The incident happened at about 5.30 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) near Zirniu Street, south of the capital.

The spokesperson said due to “ongoing rescue work near Vilnius Airport,” departures for several aircraft have been delayed.

“All scheduled aircrafts are currently taking off from Vilnius Airport,” the spokesperson said.

Reuters reported that the cargo plane that crashed was a DHL aircraft.

There was no immediate confirmation of casualties.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A massive fire tore through a coastal shanty town in the Philippine capital on Sunday, leaving at least 2,000 families homeless as flames billowed for nearly eight hours.

Drone footage from the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office showed raging orange flames razing densely packed stilt homes in Isla Puting Bato, a squalid area of Tondo, Manila.

The Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were destroyed and roughly 8,000 people displaced in the blaze that broke out at 8 a.m. Sunday and burned until 4 p.m.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire disaster but blazes in Manila slums are often sparked by faulty electrical wiring or gas canisters.

Isla Puting Bato sits in the district of Tondo, which is Manila’s largest slum area home to roughly 654,220 people. Many live in shabby shacks across densely packed streets near a busy commercial port.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

Photos showed residents escaping the fire on makeshift rafts into the sea while others scrambled to salvage their belongings.

Elvira Valdemoro, a 58-year-old Manila resident and shop owner was devastated by the damage.

“I feel bad because we have no livelihood and no home. Everything is gone. We don’t know how we can eat. We are in a very bad situation, and it’s almost Christmas,” she told Reuters.

Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna-Pangan visited Isla Puting Bato on Monday and spoke with survivors who spent the night in makeshift tents.

“Please be patient. We will keep coming to deliver help. No one wanted this to happen,” Lacuna-Pangan told residents.

She urged residents to get registered and voluntarily evacuate to a temporary shelter, where meals and supplies would be delivered.

“We will help all of you. Don’t lose hope. Let’s help each other out ahead of Christmas time, we really hope to get you back to your homes.”

The regional source suggested that while the deal was closer than ever, it was not fully formed yet. US and Israeli officials cautioned no green light had been given to mediators yet.

In recent days Hezbollah has been considering a US-Israeli proposal for a 60-day pause in fighting that some hope could form the basis of a lasting ceasefire.

Israel launched a major offensive in Lebanon in mid-September following months of tit-for-tat border attacks which started when Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. Since then, Israel has launched a ground invasion, killed a string of Hezbollah leaders – including one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah – and injured thousands of people in an attack featuring exploding pagers.

Mounting death toll

On Saturday, Israeli attacks killed at least 84 people and injured 213, according to the Lebanese health ministry, including nearly 30 killed in a strike on a multi-story building in a densely populated neighborhood of central Beirut.

A total of 3,072 people have been killed and 13,426 injured since Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah on September 16, according to Lebanese health ministry figures.

Lauren Izso, Kayla Tausche, Ruba Alhenawi, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting

At least five people have died as Storm Bert swept across the United Kingdom, causing power outages and widespread train and flight cancelations.

Dramatic footage which emerged over the weekend showed rivers in Wales, one of the hardest hit areas, bursting their banks to submerge low-lying streets and vehicles parked outside.

Rescuers waded through hip-deep water to rescue pets with an inflatable raft, while residents teamed up to manually remove water with buckets.

Fatalities during the storm have been reported in multiple locations across Britain.

A man in his 60s died after a tree fell on a car in the south English city of Winchester on Saturday while another man, in his 40s, was killed in a crash in Northamptonshire, a central county, according to local police.

Further north, a 34-year-old man died in a single-vehicle collision in the early hours of Saturday, West Yorkshire Police said.

British news agency PA Media also reported that two other people were killed as the storm battered the UK over the past few days. That included a body found in the search for a dog walker who went missing in floodwater on Saturday, it reported, citing North Wales Police.

Another man in his 80s died after his car entered water at a ford in the northern county of Lancashire Saturday afternoon, PA Media reported, citing local police.

It was unclear whether all of these incidents were linked directly to the storm.

There have been 53 heavy rainfall reports across the UK, according to the European Severe Weather Database. Total rainfall in the last 24 hours reached over 130mm, the UK Meteorological Office (Met) reported, issuing multiple warnings against strong winds for central, southern and eastern parts of England, as well as Northern Ireland and western Scotland.

The storm is expected to clear from the far northeast early Tuesday, though risks of further downpours and strong winds remain across the south of the UK until Wednesday, the Met Office has warned.

Some 300 flights in and out of London Heathrow Airport were cancelled over the weekend, with nearly 1,200 flights delayed.

Train services connecting London and Swansea in Wales, as well as from Exeter to Okehampton and Barnstaple in the southwestern part of the country, were among a raft of routes that were canceled, according to Great Western Railway.

Northern Rail reported “severe disruptions” for several services including in Lancaster, York and Sheffield in north of England.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks detected unplanned a spate of power outages in England and Scotland over the weekend, according to its website.

More than 60 flood warnings and alerts were reported in Wales alone for the past day, according to Natural Resources Wales.

“Thank you to the emergency services who are working tirelessly to protect communities — my thoughts are with those impacted,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X.

The cold front associated with Storm Bert will impact parts of western Europe, where orange warnings for high winds are in place for parts of Germany and France.