Category News

According to officials, a Romanian worker who was rescued from the rubble of a partially collapsed medieval tower in Rome has passed away.

Octay Stroici, who had remained conscious throughout the lengthy rescue operation, was taken to Umberto I Hospital in serious condition late on Monday and later declared dead.

According to the Umberto I hospital, “Resuscitation attempts were made for about an hour to save Octay Stroici,” according to Italian news agency ANSA.

His “death was pronounced at 12: 20am” on Tuesday (23: 20 GMT) indicates that spontaneous cardiac activity could not be restored despite this.

Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, expressed her condolences quickly.

She said in a statement, “I express deep sorrow and condolences, on behalf of myself and the government, for the tragic loss of Octay Stroici, the worker who was killed in the fall of the Torre dei Conti in Rome.” At this time of unbearable suffering, we are close to his family and colleagues.

The 29-meter (95-foot) Torre dei Conti, which had been partially rebuilt by Stroici, caused rubble to fall into the street and a cloud of dust to encircle it shortly before noon on Monday.

Stroici was trapped in a building, and rescuers had to use first-floor windows and aerial ladders to reach him. However, 90 minutes later, a second collapse forced them to retreat.

A drone was used to intercept another attempt on two ladders, which was also aborted.

The second-floor window was filled with rubble as dusk approached, and firefighters using giant cranes to lift it onto a crane. They kept working until late at night.

Every time a body part was freed, there was additional rubble that covered it, according to Rome’s prefect Lamberto Giannini, who spoke to reporters.

According to firefighter spokesperson Luca Cari, three workers were unharmed when the initial midday incident occurred. Another worker, 64, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to state television RAI, who reported that he was conscious and had a broken nose.

The operation left no injuries to the firefighters.

The Colosseum, Italy’s top tourist destination, is close to the Torre dei Conti, which is located close to the busy Imperial Forum and close to the busy Imperial Forum. Pope Innocent III erected it as a family residence in the 13th century.

In the seventeenth century, the tower suffered structural damage from an earthquake in 1349 and subsequent collapses.

According to officials, the structure’s restoration, which includes conservation work, the installation of electrical, lighting, and water systems, and a new museum installation dedicated to the most recent phases of the Roman Imperial Forum, has cost 6.9 million euros (approximately $8 million).

According to officials, structural surveys and load tests were conducted before the most recent phase, which began in June, “to confirm the stability of the structure, which confirmed the safety conditions necessary” to begin work, including asbestos removal.

The current work, carried out at a cost of 400, 000 euros ($460, 000), was just about complete.

Following a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that suggested Italy’s support for Ukraine, the Italian government summoned the ambassador of Russia.

“From the economy to its towers, Italy will collapse,” said the spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, on Telegram.

For Zohran Mamdani, Astoria, the Queens neighborhood where he has served as a state assemblyman for five years, is where he made his first public address following his unexpected victory in the Democratic Party’s Mayoral Primary in June.

The 34-year-old made his final appearance before Tuesday’s election day on Monday, playing in the background of children’s laughter at a playground in the dusk.

His advice to his enthralling army of volunteers, who according to the campaign is made up of more than 100 000, is “Leave everything out on the field.”

Making history, he said, “shows that when you focus and fight for working people, you can actually remake the politics of the place you call home.”

In the biggest city in the United States, Mamdani has argued that it is his and his mayoral campaign that can actually address those issues, despite the country’s president’s deep concern over an affordability crisis.

Indeed, Trump loomed large on Monday as Mamdani addressed a crowd of supporters, some sporting the campaign’s ostentatious yellow beanies, and a horde of local, national, and international media.

The US president has repeatedly criticized democratic socialist Mamdani as a “bad democrat” over the “communist,” a label he has repeatedly used against former governor Andrew Cuomo.

Elon Musk, a billionaire, also backed Cuomo, a Democrat who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic Party’s primary.

Mamdani continues to hold on in the most recent polls, even though he is losing. The former governor’s endorsements, who have explicitly urged conservatives to support him instead of running against Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, could further destabilize the race.

Mamdani’s supporters said on Monday that they hoped that their candidate’s speech would serve as a coda to the deeply entrenched, donor-dominated Democratic establishment that Cuomo is perceived as representing.

Tasnuva Khan, one of the canvassers on Monday, said, “I feel amazing right now,” adding that the election had revealed both the legitimacy of Muslim voters and Bangladesh’s rapidly expanding Bangladeshi population.

If elected, Mamdani would lead the city as the first Muslim, first as a person of South Asian descent, and first as an African-born leader.

“But I’m attempting to maintain balance. Votes are what determine elections. I believe we can definitely deliver, she told Al Jazeera, as long as we kind of stay focused, reach out to our community members, continue canvassing, and knock on doors.

However, dentist Shabnam Salehezadehi, a supporter of Mamdani and a supporter of the mayoral candidate, claimed she feared the real challenges would arise after the election.

She noted that only winning is the minimum, but he must win support from a coalition of state and city lawmakers to get Mamdani to pass many of his bold promises, including free buses, universal childcare, and rent freezes for a large portion of city apartments, which were paid for by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Salehezadehi added that she was first drawn to Mamdani because of his unwavering support for Palestinian rights, a break from the traditional Democratic mainstream. “I’m really anxious … not so much whether he’ll win or not,” said Salehezadehi.

“I just genuinely hope we have the mandate to demonstrate Zohran Mamdani’s support,” she said.

Election day is approaching.

Cuomo also traveled to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx on the final day of the race.

The former governor sat on a bench overlooking nearby street vendors in the Bronx’s Fordham neighborhood, which was a representative of some of the minority-dominated working-class districts Cuomo won in the primary.

In his opinion, New York would turn out to be a “socialist city” if Mamdani were to win.

In Venezuela, “Socialism did not work.” In Cuba, socialism failed. In what has become a a refrain in the final days of the race, he declared, “Socialism will not work in New York City.”

He responded to a question about the nod from Trump at a subsequent meeting in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, which comes as Cuomo has already come under fire for having received many of the same billionaire donors as the Republican president.

“I was called a bad Democrat,” he said. I’m a good Democrat, proud Democrat, and I’m going to continue to be so. Cuomo claimed that Madamdani is not a communist. He is a socialist, he claims. However, socialist mayors are not necessary either.

The “socialist label” does not, however, prevent Gwendolyn Paige, a 69-year-old special educator from the Bronx, from supporting Mamdani.

She instead cited the legacy of Cuomo. Mario Cuomo, Cuomo’s father, also held the office of state governor. In 2021, the younger Cuomo resigned due to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Even as she refuted Trump’s endorsement, Paige told Al Jazeera from the Fordham neighborhood, “Cuomo is the only person who will stand up for the Trump administration.”

She said, “Listen, Trump will say something else tomorrow.” So I don’t put a lot of stock in it.

Just one-third of the city’s 4.7 million registered voters have already cast their ballots in early voting.

On Tuesday, from 6am to 9pm (11:00 GMT, Tuesday to 22:00 GMT, Wednesday), polls will be open, with a winner anticipated to emerge in the hours following. In January, the winner will take office.

Some votes are still up for grabs with only hours until the election day.

For low-income Americans in the US, including those who are not covered by a bill passed by Trump and Republicans earlier this year, Lisa Gonzalez, a retired Army veteran, highlighted the dire times ahead.

In the event that Mamdani is elected, Trump has threatened to reduce federal funding for New York City and deploy the National Guard.