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Two trains have collided in northern Greece with the loss of at least 16 lives and dozens of people injured, emergency services say. Rescuers have been working to save passengers and extinguish a fire caused by the crash near the city of Larissa on Tuesday evening. The incident is said to have involved a passenger train and a freight train. Footage published on local news sites shows fierce flames and thick plumes of smoke rising from derailed carriages. The fire brigade said 17 vehicles were at the scene trying to put out the flames. It is not yet known what caused the collision.

BBC News Finland has begun constructing a 200km (124 mile) fence on its border with Russia to boost security. The Border Guard said it will be 3m (10ft) tall with barbed wire on top. Finland shares the longest European Union border with Russia, at 1,340km (832 miles). At present, Finland's borders are secured primarily by light wooden fences. Finland decided to build the fence due to a rise in Russians seeking to escape conscription to fight in Ukraine. The Nordic country also moved closer to joining the Nato alliance on Tuesday. Its parliament started debating a bill to speed up the country's bid, with a vote expected on Wednesday. Work on the fence at the Imatra border crossing started on Tuesday with forest clearance, while road construction and fence installation are planned to start in March.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is nominating Julie Su, the current deputy and former California official, as his next labor secretary, replacing the departing incumbent, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Su, a civil rights attorney and former head of California’s labor department, was central to negotiations between labor and freight rail companies late last year, working to avert an economically debilitating strike. She also has worked to broaden employee training programs and crack down on wage theft. If confirmed by the Senate, Su would also be the first Asian-American in the Biden administration to serve in the Cabinet at the secretary level. Biden, in a statement on Tuesday, called her a “champion for workers.” “Julie is a tested and experienced leader, who will continue to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that provides Americans a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead,” he said. “She helped avert a national rail shutdown, improved access to good jobs free from discrimination through my Good Jobs Initiative, and is ensuring that the jobs we create in critical sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, broadband and healthcare are good-paying, stable and accessible jobs for all.”

A drone has crashed in the Moscow region in what was likely an attempt to target civilian infrastructure, the regional governor said. Andrei Vorobyov was speaking after the defence ministry reported downing two Ukrainian drones in southern Russia. Ukraine does not claim responsibility for attacks inside Russia. Russian energy giant Gazprom operates a facility near the village of Gubastovo, about 100 km (62 miles) from Moscow, where the drone crashed. Gazprom told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti that its operations in the Kolomna region had not been interrupted. The target of the drone in Kolomna "was probably a civilian infrastructure facility, which was not damaged", Mr Vorobyov posted on Telegram. "There are no casualties or damage on the ground. The FSB (Russian security service) and other competent authorities are investigating," he added. Images shared by Russian media and officials show a damaged drone in a snow-covered field in front of a forest of birch trees. The area around the Gazprom facility is heavily forested.

President Biden will head to Virginia Beach, Virginia, Tuesday, where he will deliver a speech accusing Republicans of putting health care programs "on the chopping block" ahead of the rollout of his own budget proposal. The president's remarks will come as Congress and the White House are negotiating spending priorities ahead of this summer's deadline to raise the debt ceiling. House Republicans, in their new majority, are insisting that the Democratic-controlled Senate and Biden agree to cut spending before Congress approves raising the debt limit past $31.4 trillion.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine will become a member of the alliance in the "long-term", but for now it needs to remain independent in the face of Russia's invasion. Ukraine has sought to join the US-led military alliance for years. After Russia's invasion of the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for that request to be fast-tracked. Ukraine also applied for EU membership days after Russia invaded, and gained candidate status in June. "Nato allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time that is a long-term perspective," Mr Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Finland's capital, Helsinki. "What is at issue now is that Ukraine can prevail as a sovereign independent nation." Ukraine, for years, has sought to join the military alliance between the US, Canada and 28 European countries, something President Vladimir Putin has described as a security threat for Russia. What is Nato and how is it helping Ukraine?

China has accused the US of exaggerating national security fears about TikTok to suppress the Chinese company. US government agencies have been ordered to wipe the Chinese app from all staff devices within 30 days, because of fears over cybersecurity. Similar steps have been taken by Canada and the EU with some politicians calling for nationwide bans. Spare a thought for TikTok executives. In 2020, they narrowly escaped seeing their smash-hit app banned in the US by then-president Donald Trump, and faced a daily storm of questions about the cybersecurity risks posed by TikTok. Thanks to numerous complex legal challenges, the debate largely fizzled out - and was eventually put to rest in 2021, when President Joe Biden overturned Trump's proposal. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief, both from TikTok itself and the millions of influencers who rely on the social media app to earn a living. But now, in an irony which mirrors the video app's trademark looping format, we're back to where we started. Except now the stakes are even higher.

Almost 700 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since November, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut. No girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. "It became evident that some people wanted all schools, especially girls' schools, to be closed down," the deputy health minister said on Sunday. However, he later said that his remarks had been misunderstood. The prosecutor general announced last week that he was opening a criminal investigation. However, he said that the available information only indicated "the possibility of criminal and premeditated acts".

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A tweet from The United Nations thanking China for giving an $800,000 donation to support human rights enraged critics on social media over the weekend, prompting renewed calls to halt U.S. funding to the organization accused of ignoring Chinese human rights abuses. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the self-described "leading U.N. entity on human rights," thanked China on Twitter for donating to support its human rights work last week, before encouraging others to donate to the cause. "Thank you #China for donating $800K to support our Office's #humanrights work. You can donate too: https://ohchr.org/en/donation, "

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian villages in the northern occupied West Bank, after two settlers were shot dead by a Palestinian gunman. One Palestinian man was killed and more than 100 others were injured in the overnight violence near Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said. Dozens of cars and houses were also burnt, according to a local official. It followed the killings of the two Israelis - brothers from a nearby settlement - along a highway. The Israeli military said it was continuing to search for the Palestinian who shot Hillel Yaniv, 22, and Yagel Yaniv, 20, and that it had moved in extra troops. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials had pledged to de-escalate tensions at a summit in Jordan. Videos posted hours after the summit ended showed a large crowd of Israeli settlers entering the village of Hawara, about 4 miles (6km) south of Nablus, lighting fires and throwing stones.

The first female Speaker of the Houses of Commons Betty Boothroyd has died aged 93. Before becoming speaker she served as Labour MP for West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. She went on to serve as a baroness in the House of Lords from 2001 until her death. The current Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle described her as "an inspirational woman" who was known for her "no-nonsense style". "To be the first woman Speaker was truly ground-breaking and Betty certainly broke that glass ceiling with panache. "Betty was one of a kind. A sharp, witty and formidable woman - and I will miss her," he said. Singing the praises of first female Commons Speaker Baroness auctions off treasures amid house move

The legal marriage age in England and Wales has been raised to 18. The law change, which took effect today, has been hailed as a “huge victory for survivors”. From Monday, 16 and 17-year-olds can no longer wed or enter a civil partnership in England or Wales – even with parental consent – in an effort to better protect children from forced marriage. The change, under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act, means it is now a crime to exploit vulnerable children by arranging for them to marry under any circumstances, whether or not force was used. The law will cover non-legally binding “traditional” ceremonies which would still be viewed as marriages by the parties and their families, the Government said.

When Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, one of the biggest successes they achieved initially was in southern Ukraine. Within a few days Russian troops attacking from Crimea had seized an area of Ukrainian territory bigger than Switzerland. Ukrainian authorities are yet to explain what went wrong in the south in those early days. To help uncover what happened, the BBC has spoken to military officers, politicians and activists. On 22 February 2022 at 19:15, the secretary of Ukraine's security council Aleksey Danilov received a red folder with secret documents. They warned that the president's life was under imminent threat. Immediately, Mr Danilov contacted the head of the security services, the interior minister, prime minister and President Volodymyr Zelensky himself. But Ukraine's leadership stopped short of declaring martial law, for now. There was no mobilisation of troops. Just a few weeks before, Ukrainian authorities had described Western warnings of Russian invasion as "manipulation" and called on everyone to remain calm.

handsome Korean man" and evade the law, local authorities have said. Saharat Sawangjaeng, who adopted the alias Jimin Cheong, was caught last week at a condominium in Bangkok. Police, who had been on the hunt for the 25-year-old for three months, said "none of his original face was left". They tracked him down by tracing the distribution of ecstasy to other sellers and buyers in Bangkok. Witnesses described him as a "handsome Korean man" to police. He had also changed his name to a Korean one, and police said he told them he wanted to restart his life in South Korea. Sawangjaeng has been charged with the illegal import of narcotics. He admitted to ordering MDMA - also known as ecstasy - over the dark web using cryptocurrencies, the police said last week.