spain

Ski lift accident leaves 30 injured at resort in the Pyrenees

BARCELONA, Spain>> At least 30 people have been injured in a ski lift accident at the Spanish resort of Astún, in the Pyrenees mountain range, emergency services for Spain’s northern Aragon region said Saturday.

Regional emergency services said that 10 people needed to be treated in hospitals, including two who were seriously injured.

State TV channel TVE reported that around 80 people were trapped on the chairlifts in the immediate aftermath.

“It’s like a cable has come off, the chairs have bounced and people have been thrown off,” one witness told TVE.

Fernando Beltrán, a representative of Spain’s government in Aragon, later posted on X that “all the skiers affected by the accident” have been evacuated and those who were injured were receiving medical treatment.

The cause of the incident is unknown.

Several helicopters were deployed to the area to rescue those trapped and transfer the injured to nearby hospitals.

Social media images and video appeared to show a number of people lying on the snow beneath the ski lift.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the accident, expressing his closeness to the injured and their families.

The ski resort said on X that it was “working with emergency services” and that its management expressed “consternation and support for those affected” by the incident.

National Nuclear Security Administration

Trump picks former member of Congress to manage U.S. nuclear arsenal

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brandon Williams, a former Navy officer and one-term member of Congress, to become the keeper of the nation’s arsenal of thousands of nuclear bombs and warheads.

Trump’s selection is a shift from a tradition in which the people who served as administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration typically had deep technical roots or experience in the nation’s atomic complex. What’s unknown publicly is the extent of Williams’ experience in the knotty intricacies of how the weapons work and how they are kept reliable for decades without ever being ignited.

Terry C. Wallace Jr., a former director of the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, expressed surprise at Trump’s pick.

Wallace said he had “never met him or had a meeting” with Williams and characterized him as having “very limited experience” with the NNSA’s missions, based on his own decades of work in and around the nation’s atomic complex.

Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said Williams “will be facing an incredibly complex, technical job.”

AFTER EXPLOSION

FAA temporarily halts launches of Musk’s Starship

WASHINGTON>> Last week’s launch mishap — SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft blew up as it was climbing into space — led the FAA on Friday to suspend any additional liftoffs by the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.

The incident raises new questions about both the safety of the rapidly increasing number of commercial space launches, or at least the air traffic disruption being caused by them.

Musk, who is preparing to travel to Washington to participate in Trump’s inauguration, expressed confidence even as of Thursday night that SpaceX would resolve questions about the explosion quickly and restart test flights.

“Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month,” Musk wrote on his social media site, X.

The explosion happened after the Starship’s second stage — which is slated to carry cargo or even astronauts on their way to the moon during future missions — separated from the lower Super Heavy booster, and was flying at about 13,250 mph, 90 miles above the Earth.

SpaceX and FAA officials on Friday did not respond to questions as to whether the explosion and falling debris could have represented a threat to any aircraft or people on the ground.

The agency did say there were no reports of injuries but that it is investigating reports of property damage on Turks and Caicos. It also said that several aircraft that were asked to hold in an area away from the falling debris ended up having to divert and return to other airports because of low fuel.

OHIO

Ramaswamy plans to run for governor

Vivek Ramaswamy intends to run for governor of Ohio, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking, but does not immediately plan to leave his high-profile role in Donald Trump’s government efficiency project.

Ramaswamy told Ohio allies of his plan Friday after the state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, named Ohio’s lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Ramaswamy’s anticipated candidacy in his home state comes after he encountered some turbulence in Trump’s orbit.

Ramaswamy, a wealthy pharmaceutical entrepreneur who ran for president in the 2024 primary and lives near Columbus, had been considered for the Senate seat, and Trump had recently told him that he would be a good fit. DeWine, who cannot seek a third term under Ohio law, met with Ramaswamy last weekend, the governor said.

For now, Ramaswamy plans to continue working alongside Elon Musk at the new Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He hopes to make some progress before turning his attention to running for the governor’s seat, which becomes open in 2026, the person said.

— Denver Post wire services