outside the saratoga hotel is still to be determined. they did, of course, say that they re still looking at the exact cause. but so far, preliminary investigations seem to point in that direction. if that is the case this has been a horrific accident in old havana. yes, the hotel was closed, which means that obviously that could have saved lives. but of course, there would have been people working on that refurbishment. there would have been staff inside that hotel. there would have been people passing through the streets in that area. thankfully, there was a school behind the hotel. we were told that everybody was evacuated safely from the school. but yes, a very, very serious accident in the cuban capital. the saratoga hotel is really very, very well known in havana. i mean, basically, everybody will know it. it was a point where, for example, a lot of celebrities would go when they visited havana during the recent thaw between the 0bama administration and cuba. there s been all man
this is bbc news. the headlines: a further 50 civilians have been evacuated from the azovstal steelworks, in the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol. the figure was confirmed separately by the ukrainian deputy prime minister, and russia s ministry of defence which said women, the elderly and 11 children were among those rescued. an explosion at a luxury hotel in the cuban capital, havana has killed at least 18 people and left more than 30 injured. the blast ripped through several floors of the hotel saratoga. the police believe the blast was the result of a gas accident. the conservative party has lost almost 500 seats in local elections across the uk. in england the liberal democrats make big gains. the prime minister,
this is bbc news. the headlines: a further 50 civilians have been evacuated from the azovstal steelworks in the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol. the figure was confirmed separately by the ukrainian deputy prime minister and russia s ministry of defence, which said that women, the elderly and 11 children were among those rescued. the white house has announced a new $150 million package of us military aid for ukraine, including artillery, munitions, and radar. the ukrainian president has urged western allies to send additional heavy weaponry to help kyiv stave off the russian offensive in the eastern donbas region. an explosion at a luxury hotel in the cuban capital, havana, has killed at least 22 people and left more
there would have been staff inside that hotel. there would have been people passing through the streets in that area. thankfully, there was a school behind the hotel. we were told that everybody was evacuated safely from the school. but yes, a very, very serious accident in the cuban capital. the saratoga hotel is really very, very well known in havana. i mean, basically, everybody will know it. it was a point where, for example, a lot of celebrities would go when they visited havana during the recent thaw between the 0bama administration and cuba. there s been all manner of different tour groups coming through over the years. press conferences with us senators i ve been to in that hotel. it s a very, very well known focal point in that area for tourism. and as you said in your introduction, the colonial era, old havana district, a lot of crumbling buildings around that. so, of course, an explosion of this nature could have an effect on some of the surrounding buildings, too.
many female employees have been told not to return to their offices. across the world, the majority of muslims don t believe it s a compulsory part of the religion for women to wear a veil over their faces, but here in afghanistan the taliban seem adamant on imposing their interpretation of islam. despite having initially appeared more lenient, their hardline ministry of vice and virtue, which issued this decree today, has grown increasingly active in recent weeks. an explosion at a luxury hotel in the cuban capital, havana, has killed at least 22 people. the blast tore through several floors of the hotel saratoga. the president said the explosion was caused by, what he called, a gas accident though investigations are underway. more than 60 people have been injured. 0ur correspondent, will grant reports. the saratoga hotel, a landmark in havana reduced to rubble.