Italian media say three more bodies have been found in rubble of the Genoa bridge collapse, raising the death toll to 41.
Genoa's prefect's office said it didn't immediately have official confirmation of the reports by ANSA news agency and other Italian news media Saturday that the bodies were found by rescuers overnight.
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A firefighter looks up at the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge, in between buildings, in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The death toll from the collapse of a highway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa that is already confirmed to have claimed 39 lives will certainly rise, a senior official said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters: "Unfortunately, the toll will increase, that's inevitable." Searchers continued to comb through tons of jagged steel, concrete and dozens of vehicles that plunged as much as 45 meters (150 feet) into a dry river bed on Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
Italian media say three more bodies have been found in rubble of the Genoa bridge collapse, raising the death toll to 41.
Two other people are believed to be still missing as rescue work continues.
A woman is comforted as she mourns a victim of a collapsed highway bridge, at the Fiera di Genova exhibition center, where some of the victims are laid in state, in Genoa, Italy, Friday, Aug. 17, 2018. A state funeral for most of the victims will take place in Genoa on Saturday. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)
A firefighter looks up at the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge, in between buildings, in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The death toll from the collapse of a highway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa that is already confirmed to have claimed 39 lives will certainly rise, a senior official said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters: "Unfortunately, the toll will increase, that's inevitable." Searchers continued to comb through tons of jagged steel, concrete and dozens of vehicles that plunged as much as 45 meters (150 feet) into a dry river bed on Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
Buildings stand next to the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The death toll from the collapse of a highway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa that is already confirmed to have claimed 39 lives will certainly rise, a senior official said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters: "Unfortunately, the toll will increase, that's inevitable." Searchers continued to comb through tons of jagged steel, concrete and dozens of vehicles that plunged as much as 45 meters (150 feet) into a dry river bed on Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
ANSA said the bodies were found inside a car smashed under a huge block of concrete from the collapse on Tuesday. It said they were three family members, including a child, who had been traveling for a vacation when their car, with about 30 other vehicles, plunged when the bridge gave way.
A view of the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. Italian authorities have lowered the death to 38 from 39 in the collapse of a highway bridge in Genoa. Genoa Prefect Office official Raffaella Corsaro told AP that there had been a "misunderstanding" about information from ambulance dispatchers. Earlier, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said that as rescuers comb through the rubble for more bodies it will be "inevitable" that the death toll will eventually rise. Dozens of vehicles plunged into a dry river bed after the collapse Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
Two other people are believed to be still missing as rescue work continues.
A truck is blocked at the end of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge in Genoa, northern Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. A bridge on a main highway linking Italy with France collapsed in the Italian port city of Genoa during a sudden, violent storm, sending vehicles plunging 90 meters (nearly 300 feet) into a heap of rubble below. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
A woman is comforted as she mourns a victim of a collapsed highway bridge, at the Fiera di Genova exhibition center, where some of the victims are laid in state, in Genoa, Italy, Friday, Aug. 17, 2018. A state funeral for most of the victims will take place in Genoa on Saturday. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)
A firefighter looks up at the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge, in between buildings, in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The death toll from the collapse of a highway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa that is already confirmed to have claimed 39 lives will certainly rise, a senior official said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters: "Unfortunately, the toll will increase, that's inevitable." Searchers continued to comb through tons of jagged steel, concrete and dozens of vehicles that plunged as much as 45 meters (150 feet) into a dry river bed on Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
Buildings stand next to the partially collapsed Morandi highway bridge in Genoa, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The death toll from the collapse of a highway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa that is already confirmed to have claimed 39 lives will certainly rise, a senior official said. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters: "Unfortunately, the toll will increase, that's inevitable." Searchers continued to comb through tons of jagged steel, concrete and dozens of vehicles that plunged as much as 45 meters (150 feet) into a dry river bed on Tuesday. (Luca ZennaroANSA via AP)
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned Thursday that Europe could die if it fails to build its own robust defense as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on, or if it fails to undertake massive trade and economic reforms to compete with China and the U.S.
Macron urged Europeans to become more ambitious in a fast-changing world to face the challenges of war, fierce trade competition, energy scarcity, climate change and increasing authoritarianism.
In a nearly two-hour speech at the Paris’s Sorbonne University, Macron said the Continent is divided and “too slow and lacks ambition” at a time when the 27-member European Union needs to become a superpower, defend its own borders and speak with one voice if it wants to survive and thrive.
“Our Europe today is mortal,” Macron said. “It can die and that depends solely on our choices,” he added. He called on people to make those choices now because, “it’s today that Europe is between war and peace.”
Russia's aggression in Ukraine, now in its third year, is an existential threat and Europe is not armed enough to defend itself when “confronted by a power like Russia that has no inhibitions, no limits,” Macron said.
‘Our ability to ensure our security is at stake," Macron said. “Russia mustn’t be allowed to win.”
France has been an firm supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, and Macron has often clashed with other Western leaders as he has insisted that Europe must stand by the country at any cost. Last month, the French president alarmed European leaders by saying that sending Western troops into Ukraine to shore up its defenses shouldn’t be ruled out.
Referring to trade practices of China and the U.S., Macron said “the two world powers have decided not to respect the rules of global trade” by shoring up protections and subsides while Europe’s industry remains open and is stuck in overregulation.
“Let’s do the same, we are in competition,” Macron said.
Thursday's speech comes ahead of pivotal European Parliament elections.
Macron, a avid advocate of a united and assertive Europe, also rallied support for his centrist Renaissance party ahead of the June 6-9 vote as far-right parties lead the moderate coalitions in the polls. He called for safeguarding the democratic values as the “authoritarian model” that he said was become “more popular” across the Continent.
The French president lost his majority in France’s most influential house of parliament, the National Assembly, after the 2022 election to the far-left coalition and the far-right National Rally party.
The social situation in France remains tense as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games this summer, amid protests from teachers, police officers, and farmers in recent weeks. The protests follow huge demonstrations last year against Macron’s ultimately successful proposal to rise the retirement age.
Surk reported from Nice, France. AP correspondent Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives to deliver a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech on Europe in the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University, Thursday, April 25 in Paris. 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron will outline his vision for Europe as a more assertive global power at the backdrop of war in Ukraine, security, and economic challenges in a speech ahead of pivotal election for the European Parliament in June. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, April 18, 2024. European Union leaders on Wednesday debated a new "European Competitiveness Deal" aimed at helping the 27-nation bloc close the gap with Chinese and American rivals amid fears the region's industries will otherwise be left behind for good. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
