Global Pulse

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  • UN says 2 staff arrested by Afghan intelligence agency

    UN says 2 staff arrested by Afghan intelligence agency

    On Tuesday, the United Nations confirmed that two Afghan employees of its mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, have been taken into custody by the country’s de facto intelligence service, with UN representatives barred from contacting the detained men for 48 hours as of the announcement.

    In an official statement, the mission confirmed the arrests took place Sunday, August 9, in Afghanistan’s western Herat Province, targeting two male local staff members assigned to UNAMA. The de facto Afghan Taliban authorities have not issued any public comment on the detentions, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Agence France-Presse.

    The office of UN Secretary-General António Guterres has publicly called for the immediate recognition of the UN staff’s protected legal status, a core requirement under international agreements governing UN operations worldwide. “We have not been informed of the charges against them or permitted to see them,” said Farhan Haq, Guterres’ chief spokesman. “We call on the de facto authorities to ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the UN and its officials.”

    The detentions come just six days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to full control of Afghanistan, following the fall of Kabul to the group on August 15, 2021. Today, multiple UN agencies maintain active operations across Afghanistan, delivering critical support in public health, emergency humanitarian response, and development programs for a population grappling with widespread economic collapse and international isolation.

    Just this week, UNAMA released a new policy report calling on Taliban security institutions to clarify binding rules governing the use of force, police powers of arrest and detention, and strengthen mechanisms for civilian accountability for state actions—recommendations that contextually frame the current detention of UN staff.

    Over the nearly five years of Taliban rule, the de facto government has enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law that has imposed sweeping restrictions on civil rights, particularly for women and girls. Currently, all Afghan women, including those employed by the UN, are barred from entering UN facilities across the country, a restriction that has severely disrupted the organization’s ability to deliver aid to half the Afghan population.

    This is not the first incident of UN-affiliated personnel being detained by Taliban security forces in Herat Province this year. In June, roughly 20 aid workers, including staff from organizations that partner with UN operations, were detained by the country’s morality police near the Iranian border over claims their beards did not meet the Taliban’s required length. All of the detained workers were eventually released after diplomatic negotiations.

    That same month, dozens of Afghan women were detained by morality police for allegedly violating mandatory dress codes, which require all women to wear full-body coverings such as a chador or burqa. Among those detained was a hospital employee working for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization that issued a harsh public condemnation of the arrest.

    When a rare public protest broke out against these restrictive policies earlier this year, UN observers confirmed that Taliban security forces violently dispersed the demonstration, leaving at least two protesters dead.

    Beyond ongoing rights restrictions, Afghanistan is currently grappling with cascading humanitarian and economic crises. Deep cuts to international development aid following the Taliban’s return to power have gutted the country’s economy, leaving more than half the population dependent on humanitarian assistance. In recent years, the country has also absorbed millions of Afghan refugees deported from neighboring Iran and Pakistan, adding additional strain to already overstretched basic services.

  • In shattered Cali, residents search for loved ones and signs of hope

    In shattered Cali, residents search for loved ones and signs of hope

    In the wake of a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake that tore through southwestern Colombia, the hard-hit city of Cali — the nation’s third most populated urban center — has been left in ruins. Local residents are now walking through piles of crumbled concrete and twisted metal, their hearts heavy with worry as they comb through the wreckage searching for any trace of missing family members and friends. Emergency response teams have deployed heavy machinery and trained search crews across the city, working around the clock to pull trapped survivors from the remains of collapsed buildings, even as the death toll continues to climb in this already traumatized community. For many locals, every small sign of life, every faint signal from under the rubble, becomes a fragile beacon of hope that keeps them searching, even as the grim reality of the disaster settles across the shattered city.

  • All Blacks crush the Sharks 54-0 in rain-soaked Durban as McKenzie limps off

    All Blacks crush the Sharks 54-0 in rain-soaked Durban as McKenzie limps off

    DURBAN, South Africa – New Zealand’s All Blacks have secured their second consecutive victory on their 2024 South African tour, delivering a lopsided 54-0 defeat to the Sharks at a rain-soaked Kings Park stadium on Tuesday. The dominant win comes as a promising confidence boost for the side 11 days ahead of their upcoming test series, though a first-half injury to starting fullback Damian McKenzie has cast a small shadow over the result.

    McKenzie, who was already playing with a heavily strapped left ankle, suffered a re-aggravation of the injury early in the match when he landed awkwardly while taking a mark. The test regular crossed for a try in the 28th minute, but was pulled from the pitch shortly after in what coaching staff confirmed was a precautionary substitution to avoid further damage ahead of the high-stakes test series.

    Played under gloomy, wet conditions that left the pitch saturated from persistent rain right up to kickoff, the match pitted a half-strength All Blacks test XV against the Sharks, the lowest-ranked of the four South African provincial sides the New Zealand side is scheduled to face on tour. Even with a mixed lineup, the All Blacks outclassed their hosts from the opening whistle, fixing the clear tactical flaws that were on display during their tighter 38-21 win over the Stormers in Cape Town last Friday.

    The All Blacks showed marked improvement across all key areas of the game: their maul defense successfully shut down two early five-meter lineout drives from the Sharks, their scrum held solid against constant pressure, and on-field discipline saw a major upgrade. The side finished the match without conceding a single yellow card, and cut their penalty count significantly from the Stormers game, even on a slippery pitch that complicated ball handling and defensive positioning.

    The match delivered a memorable pre-game moment before kickoff: after the All Blacks performed their traditional pre-match haka led by Ruben Love, the Sharks responded with an unprecedented solo haka from 44-year-old rugby legend Ma’a Nonu. Nonu, a former All Black who earned 104 caps for New Zealand between 2003 and 2015, only signed with the Sharks one week prior, and the match marked his first time facing his former national side. The veteran came off the bench for a late cameo appearance when the All Blacks already held a commanding 42-0 lead in the final quarter.

    After weathering an early spirited push from a heavily depleted Sharks side, the All Blacks opened their try account in the 19th minute, when winger Fehi Fineanganofo crossed the line after a high bomb from Jordie Barrett. McKenzie had a try ruled out minutes later for an accidental knock-on, but five minutes on, he scored a legitimate try in the right corner, diving through a puddle after a kick-pass from Barrett to Fineanganofo set up the opportunity. He exited the pitch immediately after the score.

    New Zealand took a 14-0 lead into halftime, and gradually extended their advantage through the second half, overwhelming the Sharks’ defense with consistent attacking pressure. Second winger Caleb Clarke scored from a long miss-out pass from No. 8 Wallace Sititi, then turned provider to offload for Fineanganofo’s second try of the night. First-time All Blacks captain Luke Jacobson set up a try for Jordie Barrett, and a break from Quinn Tupaea was finished off by scrumhalf Kyle Preston. Late tries from Timoci Tavatavanawai and Sam Darry pushed the All Blacks past the 50-point mark, with Ruben Love converting seven of the side’s eight total tries – including four difficult sideline conversions and one that bounced off the post and through.

    The All Blacks will next face the Bulls in Pretoria this coming Saturday as they continue their preparation tour ahead of the upcoming test series against South Africa.

  • Rescuers scramble for survivors with 180 dead in Colombia earthquake

    Rescuers scramble for survivors with 180 dead in Colombia earthquake

    A catastrophic 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia early Monday morning, triggering a massive race against time for rescue teams working to pull trapped survivors from collapsed buildings and rubble piles across the hardest-hit regions.

    The powerful tremor hit at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), with shaking felt across hundreds of miles of Colombian territory. As of Tuesday, more than 70 aftershocks have already been recorded by Colombia’s geological service, including two 3.6-magnitude tremors that struck early Tuesday in San José del Palmar and Santander, leaving communities on edge and disrupting early recovery efforts.

    Discrepancies have emerged in official casualty counts: the national confirmed death toll stands at 181, but aggregated data from local authorities puts the fatalities higher, at more than 240. Nearly 2,600 people have been confirmed injured across the country, and almost 200 people remain unaccounted for. The disaster has also left a massive trail of infrastructural damage: more than 1,100 homes have been completely destroyed, and an additional 8,000 have suffered partial damage. Thousands of residents spent Monday night camping outdoors in affected cities including Cali and Pereira, either because their homes were destroyed or out of fear of additional structural collapses driven by aftershocks.

    The worst damage has been concentrated in two major cities: Cali, a population center of 2.2 million, has recorded 95 fatalities, while nearby Pereira has reported 79 deaths. In Cali, local authorities have established a unified command center to coordinate inter-agency rescue efforts. Mayor Alejandro Eder confirmed that as of Tuesday, 239 people remained trapped in rubble, 949 residents had been injured, and 45 structures across the city had fully or partially collapsed. One of the most tragic incidents unfolded at a city hospital, where several upper floors — including units dedicated to pediatric care — caved in, trapping multiple patients. In the northern Cali neighborhood of Calima, a section of the local Gimnasio Calima school collapsed, killing four children and seriously injuring dozens more; 30 children in total were transferred to emergency care centers. To prevent looting amid the chaos, Mayor Cadavid of the municipality has implemented an overnight curfew that runs from 8 p.m. local time through 6 a.m. Wednesday.

    In Pereira, the second hardest-hit city, officials have declared a car-free day to clear streets for unimpeded search-and-rescue operations, with hundreds of volunteer responders joining professional rescue teams to clear rubble. A resident of the city’s Parque Industrial neighborhood described widespread chaos and shock to BBC Mundo, saying, “It’s impossible to get around the city center. In Bolívar Square, at least one building collapsed. Furthermore, there are structures where buses and trucks are trapped, and people are afraid those structures will collapse as well. We’re all in shock. It was really awful.”

    Smaller casualties and damage have been recorded in other nearby municipalities: Manizales Mayor Jorge Eduardo Rojas confirmed five deaths and 60 partially or fully collapsed buildings. Rojas urged residents to avoid spreading unconfirmed chain messages and social media posts from unknown sources, warning that false information could stoke unnecessary public panic amid ongoing aftershock risks.

    In response to the disaster, Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has declared a national state of emergency, and toured the hardest-hit area of Pereira on Tuesday to deliver an official update on the response. The international community has already begun offering support: UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement expressing solidarity with the Colombian people and government, confirming UN teams are working to support national response efforts. The U.S. administration, which backed President de la Espriella’s election earlier this year, has announced a $15.5 million emergency donation to support recovery. Spain’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 164 Spanish citizens remain unaccounted for, though there are no confirmed reports of Spanish fatalities or injuries. Offers of assistance have also been extended by neighboring countries including Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, and Venezuela.

  • Turkey suspects Israel fabricated Trump Air Force One assassination plot to derail US-Iran deal

    Turkey suspects Israel fabricated Trump Air Force One assassination plot to derail US-Iran deal

    In the weeks following the July NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkish government officials have privately concluded that an Israeli intelligence report warning of an Iranian plot to assassinate then-U.S. President Donald Trump during the event was a deliberate fabrication designed to disrupt ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations, multiple sources familiar with the internal discussions told Middle East Eye.

    The high-stakes summit, held on 7 and 8 July, put Ankara on total security lockdown. The Turkish government rearranged civilian schedules, granting all public servants a full week of administrative leave to clear city streets, blocked major roadways and pedestrian corridors, and repurposed the military-controlled Etimesgut Air Base (dubbed Ankara Airport for the summit) to cut travel time for visiting heads of state from the tarmac to the summit venue to just 10 minutes. On 8 July, around 2:00 p.m., reporters on the ground already noted an unusual increase in security deployments around the airbase, where Trump’s presidential aircraft was parked.

    It was shortly after this visible buildup that U.S. intelligence officials shared the Israeli-originated threat assessment with their Turkish counterparts: the report claimed an Iranian covert operations unit planned to target Trump’s new Air Force One with Man-portable air-defense systems (Manpads) fired from within a 1-kilometer radius of the runway. Unlike Ankara’s main international hub Esenboga Airport, the repurposed Ankara Airport is ringed by civilian residential and commercial buildings, some sitting as close as 500 meters from the runway, creating an immediate vulnerability that pushed security teams to act fast.

    The U.S. Secret Service, which already viewed the threat as credible amid two prior alleged Iranian plots targeting Trump, moved quickly to revise security arrangements. First, officials shifted Trump’s departure point from Ankara Airport to Esenboga Airport, where civilian structures sit much farther from airport perimeters. They then swapped the new, unprotected Air Force One for the older model, which is outfitted with integrated air defense systems. According to reporting from The Washington Post, the Secret Service went a step further: after Trump boarded the older Air Force One, he was secretly moved to an accompanying U.S. government C-32 transport plane via a borrowed Turkish catering vehicle, a movement captured in a viral social media post from journalist John Hudson.

    Turkish officials, who coordinated last-minute landing approvals for the extra C-32 and accommodated the abrupt schedule changes, told MEE that the chaotic last-minute shifts immediately raised red flags in Ankara. The threat arrived at an unusually sensitive moment for regional diplomacy: Trump was actively engaged in negotiations with Iran to end the ongoing war and reopen the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, a position that ran directly counter to the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had publicly pushed for a resumption of full hostilities against Iran, including expanded strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure and a renewed campaign of targeted assassinations against Iranian leadership.

    During Trump’s pre-summit meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sources present told MEE that Trump repeatedly stated the war with Iran was effectively over and expressed optimism about the outcome of ongoing negotiations. Trump also signaled he was prepared to roll back U.S. sanctions imposed on Turkey over its 2019 purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems, and move forward with a long-delayed sale of F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets to Ankara – a move Netanyahu has repeatedly opposed, arguing it would erode Israel’s decades-held Qualitative Military Edge in the Middle East.

    Turkish assessments of the Israeli intelligence report conclude it was likely a deliberate ploy by Netanyahu’s government to position itself as a trusted ally warning Trump of danger, derail the nascent U.S.-Iran negotiations, and damage the warming relationship between Trump and Erdogan. While Turkish security teams took the threat seriously and coordinated fully with U.S. counterparts to implement new precautions, senior Turkish officials quickly became convinced the plot could not be real.

    Ankara’s skepticism is rooted in decades of regional security dynamics: though Iran has targeted exiled dissidents on Turkish soil with small-scale attacks using simple firearms, it has never attempted a complex, high-profile operation involving heavy weaponry like Manpads in Turkish territory. Pulling off such an attack would require moving man-portable missiles through multiple layers of NATO summit security checkpoints and roadblocks, establishing safe houses and covert transit routes in a city under total lockdown – a feat that Turkish intelligence views as functionally impossible. Any successful attack would also force Turkey into an open conflict with Iran, a neighbor with which Ankara has maintained stable diplomatic relations throughout the war, and for which Iran has already thanked Turkey for refusing to back what it calls a Western-backed Kurdish insurrection in western Iran.

    An Ankara-based security insider added that the timed leak of the Secret Service’s emergency security operation just one month after the summit only reinforced Turkish suspicions. “I guess they need heroes for an attack that never happened and, most likely, was never planned,” the insider told MEE.

    Middle East Eye has reached out to the White House and Israeli Foreign Ministry for comment on the allegations, and had not received a response at the time of publication.

  • Former judge removed by Orbán elected Hungarian president

    Former judge removed by Orbán elected Hungarian president

    Hungary’s national parliament has elected 73-year-old András Baka, a veteran legal figure and former Supreme Court president, to serve as the country’s new head of state, capping a period of rapid political upheaval following the end of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s long tenure.

    While the Hungarian presidency is formally a largely ceremonial role, Baka’s term is set to be defined by high-stakes tasks at the core of the new government’s agenda: overseeing Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s administration’s push to dismantle the sprawling interconnected economic and political network built by Orbán during his years in power, and steering the process of drafting a new national constitution to replace the 2011 constitution enacted under Orbán’s government.

    Following his landslide election victory, which saw him secure 140 votes against just 6 opposing votes, Baka used his first address to parliament to reject a politics of retribution. “We cannot build the new Hungary on revenge,” he told assembled legislators. “The majority of society now feels a sense of liberation and hope. Others feel disappointment and uncertainty. In a democratic society, this is not an anomaly, but a natural state of affairs.”

    All 51 members of parliament from Orbán’s Fidesz party boycotted the vote, walking out of the chamber in protest of the removal of their preferred candidate, Tamás Sulyok, from the presidency last month. The move marks the latest chapter of friction between the new governing coalition and Fidesz, which has already faced sweeping institutional changes from the Magyar administration that took office in early May.

    Since assuming power, the new government has moved at breakneck speed to roll back Orbán-era policies. It has already passed 27 new laws and ratified two constitutional amendments, canceled all the national states of emergency that Orbán leveraged to rule by decree—covering migration, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine—and abolished the controversial Sovereignty Protection Office, which Fidesz repeatedly used to target independent journalists and non-governmental organizations critical of the previous government.

    In its place, the administration created the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, which has been granted broad authority to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of embezzling state funds during Orbán’s tenure. Fidesz has hit back at these changes, accusing the new Tisza-led government of establishing what it calls a “tyranny.” This criticism carries a sharp irony, however: Fidesz itself removed Baka from his post as Supreme Court president back in 2011, when he pushed back against the party’s efforts to weaken judicial independence and undermine the rule of law.

    Another major institutional shift already underway is the overhaul of public service media. Public radio and television outlets have been off air since July 9, as the government overhauls their news programming to undo their transformation into Fidesz-era government propaganda outlets, with the stated goal of restoring full editorial independence to public media.

    Two key constitutional amendments, numbered 16 and 17, have also reshaped Hungary’s political rules: they impose a two-term limit on sitting prime ministers and a three-term limit for members of parliament, while also restoring the Constitutional Court’s authority to review acts of parliament— a power that Fidesz stripped from the court during its time in power.

    Despite Baka’s selection by the governing majority, the new president is not expected to be a rubber-stamp for the administration’s agenda. In a pre-election interview with the BBC, Baka openly stated his opposition to parliamentary term limits, arguing that they improperly intrude on the right of voters to freely select their own representatives.

    Baka brings decades of international judicial experience to the role: he spent 17 years serving as Hungary’s judge to the European Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg. Framing his entry into the presidency as rooted in legal principle rather than partisan ambition, Baka told the BBC last month: “I am not a political man. I got involved in politics through my professional, legal way of thinking.”

    Baka is widely understood to be a transitional president. The constitutional amendment that created space for his appointment stipulates that a new head of state will be selected once the new constitution enters into force, with his maximum term capped at five years.

    In his closing remarks to parliament on Tuesday, Baka made clear he would challenge Hungary’s longstanding cultural tendency toward reliance on strongman leadership. “The state is not there for itself,” he said. “It is there for the people.”

  • Colombia recognises Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights

    Colombia recognises Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights

    Just one week after his inauguration as Colombia’s new far-right head of state, Abelardo de la Espriella has upended his predecessor’s Middle East policy by formally recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel has occupied since defeating Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

    In an official public statement released Monday, the Colombian administration confirmed its new position, noting: “The Government of Colombia recognises Israeli sovereignty over this territory, as well as that State’s right to protect itself against external threats.” The statement further emphasized that Bogota views Israeli control and sovereign authority over the Golan Heights as a critical element of Israel’s national defense framework.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly praised the decision a day prior, calling the recognition a “historic” step and thanking de la Espriella, whom he referred to as a “good friend.” Prior to Colombia’s announcement, the United States remained the only United Nations member state to formally acknowledge Israel’s claim to the disputed territory.

    The policy shift marks a deliberate reversal of the course set by de la Espriella’s predecessor, Gustavo Petro, a progressive leader who was one of the most outspoken backers of the Palestinian cause in Latin America. During his tenure, Petro repeatedly condemned what he framed as Israeli genocide against Palestinian civilians in Gaza following the outbreak of hostilities in October 2023. Under Petro’s leadership, Colombia co-founded and co-chaired the Hague Group, a multilateral coalition of nations dedicated to holding Israel accountable for alleged violations of international law in its treatment of Palestinians. After the Gaza war began, Bogota withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv and suspended all coal exports to Israel.

    De la Espriella’s decision aligns Colombia with a growing conservative, pro-Israel shift that has reshaped Latin American politics in recent years, a trend that has been widely welcomed by Israeli leadership. The shift gained momentum following the 2025 election of conservative President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia, which led to the resumption of full diplomatic and cordial relations between La Paz and Israel. In March 2026, pro-Israel candidate Jose Antonio Kast took office as president of Chile, further expanding the bloc of Latin American governments aligned with Tel Aviv. Argentina’s President Javier Milei remains the most vocal of these allies, having famously declared, “If Israel falls, all of the West is next.”

    This report was compiled and distributed by Middle East Eye, an outlet that delivers independent, in-depth coverage and analysis of developments across the Middle East, North Africa, and surrounding regions.

  • Trump’s secret plane swap triggers questions and confusion

    Trump’s secret plane swap triggers questions and confusion

    A clandestine security operation that moved former president Donald Trump off the official Air Force One and onto a smaller backup jet while leaving traveling journalists and White House staff on the original plane amid a reported Iranian assassination threat has ignited fierce debate over U.S. presidential security protocols and press treatment.

    According to an initial report from The Washington Post published Monday, the unusual swap unfolded on the tarmac of Ankara, Turkey on July 8, 2024, ahead of Trump’s departure for a NATO summit. The operation was crafted specifically to evade what U.S. officials have described as a ‘credible’ Iranian threat against the president, amid ongoing open hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

    Witness accounts and visual evidence confirm that Trump initially boarded the main Air Force One in full view of assembled press and photographers, with AFP capturing images of two large cargo containers positioned at the front and rear of the aircraft via hydraulic lifts. After entering the jet, Trump reportedly exited quickly into one of the sealed cargo containers, which was then transported to a smaller U.S. Air Force jet waiting nearby. Roughly a dozen reporters, who were seated in a separate section of the original Air Force One with no access to the president, remained completely unaware of the switch and departed Turkey on the decoy plane despite the active threat.

    The move has drawn sharp anger from the traveling press corps, many of whom say they were unknowingly used as human decoys to distract potential attackers. ‘When you sign up to work at the White House, even as a civilian, part of your job is to defend the president. That’s not my job. I cover the president. Reporters take risks as part of the job, but not on behalf of the president,’ an unnamed White House reporter told The Washington Post.

    Pool reporters on board the decoy plane also noted an unusual order from the U.S. Secret Service to lower all window shades during takeoff – a step that is rarely implemented outside of active combat zones. When pressed on the order at the time, Trump responded to reporters: ‘because you’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with. If I go, you go. Right? Perhaps someday you want to change professions.’

    The incident also adds new scrutiny to a controversial arrangement from Trump’s trip: he arrived in Turkey aboard a luxury Boeing 747 gifted to him by Qatar, which had been retrofitted to accommodate the president. However, that aircraft was reportedly not outfitted with standard anti-missile defense systems required for presidential travel, so the traditional Air Force One was called in to replace it for the leg of the trip. At the time, Trump claimed the Qatari-gifted plane was being sent ahead to the U.K. as a treat for American troops to tour, and he returned to the jet for the final flight to Washington from a British stopover.

    To date, the White House has not issued a direct confirmation or denial of the reported plane swap. In a general statement addressing security measures, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said: ‘There are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.’

    The tactic of using decoy aircraft for presidential travel is not unprecedented. In 2000, former president Bill Clinton executed a last-minute plane switch traveling from India to Pakistan, using a decoy jet filled with Secret Service agents to mislead potential threats. More recently, President Joe Biden’s 2023 unannounced visit to Ukraine relied on strict travel secrecy for his cross-continental trip by plane and train, though the traveling press pool was notified in advance and a reporter and photographer accompanied Biden throughout the journey.

  • Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills 240

    Colombia scrambles to find survivors as quake kills 240

    A 7.4-magnitude earthquake, the strongest seismic event to strike Colombia in 100 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey, has left at least 240 people dead and more than 1,300 injured after rocking the country’s western coffee-growing region and Pacific coastal belt early Monday morning. The disaster has triggered a massive urgent search-and-rescue operation, with volunteer crews and official responders working around the clock to pull trapped survivors from the rubble of hundreds of collapsed structures.

    The tremor struck at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT) at a depth of 110 kilometers, with shaking felt as far away as neighboring Ecuador and Panama. Three cities — Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo — bore the brunt of the destruction. In Pereira, a half-million-population city that saw the worst damage, nearly all power service was knocked out immediately after the quake. Thousands of residents spent the night sleeping in open streets, too fearful of deadly aftershocks to return to damaged buildings, or left with no home to go back to. “Since yesterday we’ve been wondering what will become of our lives,” Gloria Giraldo, a 38-year-old housewife whose neighborhood was reduced to rubble, told Agence France-Presse.

    The new Colombian president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just days before the disaster, quickly declared a national state of emergency and vowed to mount a coordinated national rescue and relief effort. During a visit to impacted areas Tuesday, he announced rent subsidies for households displaced by the quake.

    Across impacted regions, ordinary Colombians have stepped up to join rescue efforts alongside official first responders. In the city of Cali, volunteer teams worked with hand tools, pickaxes and even their bare hands to clear debris from flattened buildings, forming human chains to move broken bricks and masonry. Rescuers pause every few minutes to listen for any signs of life from people trapped beneath the rubble. “We are trying to get everyone out alive,” said Andres Felipe Mejia, a volunteer who joined one of the makeshift rescue crews. Recounting one successful extraction near a collapsed building, Mejia said: “One of the rescuers asked anyone trapped to whistle, and someone whistled back. They pulled out a man and a baby, but the wife is still in there.” Mejia added that members of the public have poured into impacted areas with donations of food and supplies, offering to help firefighters and displaced residents in any way they can.

    Local authorities activated red alerts for hospitals across five Colombian cities Monday, and imposed a nighttime curfew in Cali to support rescue operations. For many on the ground, the scale of destruction was overwhelming. “It felt like the end of the world — cars and motorcycles driving the wrong way, everyone searching for their loved ones,” said volunteer rescue worker Nelson Moreno. In Manizales, a landmark neo-Gothic cathedral saw its iconic tower crumble in the quake. In Quibdo, the capital of the Choco department, local official Jenny Rivas reported that public services and communications have been virtually completely shut down. Residents described scenes of chaos as the ground shook: people ran into streets half-naked, some jumped from second-floor balconies to escape unstable buildings, and crowds gathered in open areas to pray amid the uncertainty. Even in Bogota, hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter, residents poured out of buildings into the streets in their pajamas as shaking shook the capital.

    Geologists from the USGS confirmed the quake was triggered by movement along a deep fault within the Nazca tectonic plate. The disaster comes just two months after powerful twin earthquakes killed more than 6,300 people and left tens of thousands homeless in neighboring Venezuela, underscoring the region’s high seismic risk.

    International support has already begun to pour in for Colombia. The European Union, Israel and Mexico have extended offers of disaster assistance. The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and was praying for the recovery of those affected. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres offered his condolences to victims and confirmed the UN is supporting the government-led response effort as requested. The U.S. administration, a key backer of President de la Espriella, announced $15.5 million in emergency relief aid just hours after the quake struck.

  • Israel holding bodies of 1,700 Palestinians as bargaining chips, says report

    Israel holding bodies of 1,700 Palestinians as bargaining chips, says report

    In a bombshell new report from leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israel is currently detaining the remains of roughly 1,700 Palestinians to use as potential bargaining chips in future talks—even after Palestinian armed groups have returned all captured Israeli hostages and their remains. The report outlines that the country’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, is led by director David Zini, who has publicly pushed for Israel to hold onto the remains for future hostage negotiation leverage, a stance that has received full backing from the Israeli military. According to Haaretz’s breakdown, the vast majority of the retained remains are linked to Palestinian fighters who participated in the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas, but the collection also includes the bodies of Palestinian civilians and 13 Israeli citizens who died alongside them. Legal experts and sources quoted in the investigation have raised serious objections to the policy, noting that Israel has no legal or official authority to hold the remains of non-combatant Palestinians, as no formal Security Cabinet policy backs the decision. The report builds on earlier reporting from the same Israeli outlet from July 2025, which exposed one high-profile case of a detained Palestinian photographer, a father of four, who was arrested in December 2023 and died in custody just one day later at the Erez Crossing detention facility. Israeli authorities only admitted to holding his remains in response to a petition filed with the High Court of Justice, and to date, no autopsy has been performed on his body. It was not until July 2025 that the photographer’s family learned of his death, after submitting a court petition through Gisha, an Israeli human rights organization focused on Palestinian freedom of movement. Even after notifying the family of his passing, Israeli officials have refused to release key details about the date, location, or specific circumstances of his death, as well as any legal justification for retaining his remains. Israeli authorities have labeled the photographer a “military Hamas operative,” a claim the family has forcefully denied. The July 2025 Gisha report put the number of Palestinian remains held by Israel after death in custody at more than 100, originating from both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 68 of these retained remains are people from Gaza. In court proceedings, Israeli state representatives acknowledged that a formal review of the policy of holding these remains was underway, but that the review has been put on hold indefinitely amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. Israel’s policy of seizing and holding remains of Palestinians killed by its forces is not a new practice, and for years it has drawn widespread condemnation from international human rights organizations, which have repeatedly called for the immediate return of all remains to their grieving families. International humanitarian law mandates that all deceased people must be treated with dignity. The International Committee of the Red Cross notes that these legal standards are designed in large part to prevent people from being listed as missing, and to ensure that families receive clarity about the fate of their loved ones. The Fourth Geneva Convention, a cornerstone of international humanitarian law, further requires that the bodies of deceased detainees must be given honorable burial, that their graves must be properly maintained and clearly marked to allow for future identification. The convention also mandates that the dead must be treated in accordance with the religious rites of the deceased’s faith wherever possible. While this policy violates international humanitarian standards, it is permitted under Israeli domestic law, and has been systematically implemented across the occupied Palestinian territories for decades. In a November 2025 report from Reuters, Palestinian armed groups confirmed that all remains of Israeli captives had already been returned to Israel as part of a broader exchange agreement that was supposed to result in the return of Palestinian remains to their families. As of this reporting, that exchange has not been completed on the Israeli side, leaving more than a thousand families waiting for the return of their loved ones to carry out proper burial rites. This coverage is originally reported by Middle East Eye, an independent outlet providing unmatched reporting and analysis on the Middle East, North Africa, and surrounding regions.