Latest news with #Marija
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Two sisters went on a night out to a concert in Macedonia. Only one came home
For 19-year-old Marija Taseva and her sister, it was meant to be a night out to see hip-hop band DNK in the North Macedonian town of Kocani. But it ended with her sister being killed and Marija barely escaping with her life – as a fire in the early hours of Sunday morning tore through the packed show at Pulse nightclub, leaving 59 people dead and more than 150 injured from burns, smoke inhalation and being trampled in the panicked escape toward the building's single exit. Tearing up as she sat outside a hospital, Marija said: 'There are many dead. It's terrible. My sister died. I was saved, and she wasn't'. 'Some people suffocated there, some people stayed in the disco and they couldn't get the out,' she said. Describing her escape, Marija said: 'Everyone started screaming and shouting: 'get out, get out!'. 'I don't know how, but I ended up on the ground. I couldn't get up, and at that moment people started stomping on me,' she told Reuters. 'I barely stayed alive and I could barely breathe,' she added. Marija ended up just needing to be treated for relatively minor injuries to her face and body. 'Grounds for suspicion of bribery and corruption' A video on social media of DNK's concert the night before the tragedy in Macedonia – taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria – showed a pyrotechnics display during their set. But the next night, sparks from those pyrotechnics in Club Pulse caught on the ceiling, starting the fire which brought down the roof of the venue. Most of the band is also among the dead, including its lead singer Andrej Gjorgieski, according to local media. Authorities say they are investigating allegations of bribery surrounding the nightclub that was crammed with young revellers. And North Macedonia's government ordered a sweeping three-day inspection to be carried out at all nightclubs and cabarets across the country, starting on Monday. State prosecutor Ljupco Kocevski said a preliminary inspection of the nightclub had revealed numerous safety code violations including a lack of emergency exits, an insufficient number of fire extinguishers and improper access for emergency vehicles. "The omissions are significant. I can confidently say that this is a failure of the system," the prosecutor told reporters, also noting the lack of an overhead extinguisher system and fire alarms and the use of flammable materials to line the inside walls. Officials said 10 people remain in police custody for questioning in Kocani, a city of 22,500 residents some 70 miles east of the capital, Skopje. Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski added that a preliminary inspection revealed the club was operating without a proper license. He said the number of people inside the club was at least double its official capacity of 250. 'We have grounds for suspicion that there is bribery and corruption in this case,' Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski added. So far about 20 people have been questioned over the fire, and investigators have begun proceedings against 11, including three people who remain in hospital. 'I grieve the tragic loss of life' As families gathered outside a hospital for updates, Tomco Stojanov had already been given the devastating news. His 25-year-old son, Andrej, had been killed "Thank you for your condolences, but my pain is incurable. The wound is incurable," Tomco said, holding up a photograph of his son, clean shaven and wearing a suit jacket. "He died while returning and entering to save other people. And he was pushed, run over, that's how my son died." The death toll could yet rise, with many of the injured transported to hospital in critical condition, and dozens have been flown to hospitals in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria for treatment. The director of Priogov Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, said the eight initial patients who had been airlifted there were in an extremely serious condition. The patients in Pirogov include three children aged under 18, and three of the patients are intubated. Dr Valentin Dimitrov said the patients had injuries to their body, arms and face, and had suffered burns to their respiratory tracts, he told Koha. Five people have been hospitalised in Greece, and two have undergone surgery while another two have had tracheotomies. Parents of the victims gathered outside a hospital in the town of Kocani, demanding answers from officials over the tragedy. Pope Francis shared his 'profound condolences' and "his remembrance in prayer for those who lost their lives" in the tragedy, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also shared her sympathies with the families of the victims. 'I grieve the tragic loss of life in the fire in Kocani,' she wrote on X. Dragi Stojanov, was among the parents searching for answers, after he lost his 21-year-old son Tomche in the fire. 'Let me tell you in front of everybody, Film me. I am a dead man, I lost everything,' he said. 'The whole of Europe should know.'
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gabriela Hearst Fall 2025: The Luxury of Doing the Right Thing
Funding cuts for humanitarian projects; the threat to gender identity rights; on-again, off again tariffs; forced deportations; Elon Musk's slash-and-burn of the federal government…it's easy to tune it all out during fashion month, which has seemed like an alternate universe. Indeed, most designers have gone merrily along without addressing any of it, or if they do, saying obliquely that their punk or comforting clothing inspiration is a reaction against 'what's happening in the world.' More from WWD PinkPantheress Doubles Down on the Statement Belt in Plaid Mini Dress at Coperni's Fall 2025 Show During Paris Fashion Week Celebrities Front Row at Valentino Fall 2025: Jared Leto, Parker Posey Hang in Alessandro Michele's Public Bathroom Gigi Hadid Embraces Edgy Model Off-Duty Style in Charlotte Simone Bomber Jacket During Paris Fashion Week Not so Gabriela Hearst, who stepped out for her runway bow at Paris Fashion Week wearing an ACLU hat, and had ACLU representatives canvassing outside the Palais du Tokyo with information about how to interact with ICE agents. With sustainability and political activism seemingly falling out of fashion, Hearst is one of the few who continues to carry the torch, selling the luxury of doing the right thing with as many sustainable materials and practices as possible. Hearst is convinced that if women ruled the world, as they did for thousands of years, it would be a more just and peaceful place, where USAID programs like Save the Children, which she works with, would not be defunded. So for fall, she summoned goddess energy, ancient symbols of renewal and nature, including swirls, snakes and sprouting shoots, and wove them through her chicly ferocious collection, which had a new refinement this season. 'I wanted the collection to be as raw and as sophisticated as possible,' she said, explaining how long it took to explain to her Italian factories that she wanted to create plonge leather jackets and skirts with raw, jagged hems. (They did look cool.) 'We have snake four ways,' she joked. And she did, as a sleek Inversa python skin pencil skirt, sexy leather scale bustier dress, jacquard scale woven popover, and a screen print goddess on a stunner of a statement shearling coat. In a season full of shearling, hers were distinctive, including a white deerskin moto coat with a clever detachable shearling skirt, a lush fisherman sweater woven with shearling strips, and even shearling covered cowboy boots. The exotic was tempered with everyday recycled denim in deep sienna, cobalt and orange hues, cashmere multicolor pinstripe suiting, ribbed knitwear with swirl details at the bust, and perforated leather separates, all of which had a welcome lightness and ease. In line with her company growth mode, she amped up accessories, introducing handsome new versions of her Ohio slip-on sneaker in nubuck with rainbow speckle colored recycled soles, and a new tote bag called the Marija, after trailblazing female anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, whose research inspired Hearst. She also dipped her toe into upcycling, creating gorgeous herringbone mink coats pieced together from vintage ones, and reworking vintage exotic skin bags from Italy that were peppered into the runway collection, and will be sold to VICs. Hearst certainly has found her groove, making desirable clothing with an earthy but polished elegance, that doesn't take away from the women (and men) with something to say. Launch Gallery: Gabriela Hearst Fall 2025 Ready-To-Wear Collection Best of WWD Windowsen RTW Spring 2022 Louis Shengtao Chen RTW Spring 2022 Vegan Fashion Week Returns to L.A. With Nous Etudions, Vegan Tiger on the Runway
