Global Pulse

分类： world

  • By the numbers: What to know about Europe’s record-breaking heat wave

    By the numbers: What to know about Europe’s record-breaking heat wave

    A punishing high-pressure heat dome has trapped an extraordinary mass of hot air from North Africa over much of Western Europe this week, driving temperatures across the continent above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and triggering a wave of all-time temperature records — even though the peak of the summer heat season is still weeks away.

    What makes this heat event particularly anomalous is its timing: extreme heat of this severity has arrived far earlier than the mid-summer window when such conditions are normally expected. The combination of soaring peak temperatures and unusually high overnight readings, paired with stifling humidity, has created conditions far more akin to a tropical climate than the temperate weather the region typically experiences in June. Day after night after day, existing national and regional temperature records have fallen one after another.

    The hot air mass originating in North Africa has spread across Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, bringing searing conditions to regions that rarely see prolonged extreme heat. Unlike many warmer climate regions, most buildings and homes across these countries lack widespread, accessible air conditioning, leaving millions of residents without a reliable way to escape the oppressive heat.

    While meteorologists forecast that temperatures will gradually cool in the coming days, climate experts warn that the worst of the 2024 European summer is still ahead, with the historically hottest months of July and August still to come. To put the scale of this early heat wave in perspective, a series of staggering record-breaking measurements illustrate its unprecedented breadth and intensity:

    In the small southwestern French town of Pissos, observers recorded a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius (110.8 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, making it the hottest temperature recorded across France during this heat event. For context, this reading is far above the average June high for the region of 25 degrees Celsius.

    Across the entire country of France, the Meteo France national weather agency confirmed that the 24-hour average temperature hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) at 30 monitoring stations on Wednesday. This marks the first time in recorded French weather history that a nationwide 24-hour average has reached this threshold, officially making Wednesday the hottest day France has ever experienced. Unlike heat events that only push daytime highs in small regions, this average — measured across both day and night hours across dozens of locations — confirms that this heat wave is far more geographically extensive than any previous heat event on record. In response to the crisis, French authorities placed more than three-quarters of the country under red-level extreme heat alerts, another first in the nation’s history.

    Across the English Channel, the United Kingdom also logged a new milestone on Thursday: a reading of 36.4 degrees Celsius (97.5 Fahrenheit) in Somerset, southern England, making it the hottest June day ever recorded in the country. UK meteorological services have extended red heat warnings for most of central and southern England, as well as Wales, urging residents to stay hydrated and avoid unnecessary outdoor activity.

    Even overnight temperatures have reached record levels, leaving vulnerable populations with no relief from the swelter. Germany’s national weather service reported that temperatures did not drop below 26.2 degrees Celsius (79.2 Fahrenheit) in Bad Bergzabern, a town in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. That reading matches the all-time record for Germany’s warmest night, originally set in July 2019. Across the Channel in Plymouth, England, overnight temperatures only fell to 23.0 degrees Celsius (73.4 Fahrenheit), a provisional new record for the warmest June night in the country. High humidity has trapped heat close to the ground across the region, keeping temperatures elevated well after sunset for millions of people.

    The extreme heat has already claimed lives. In France alone, at least 40 people have died in drowning incidents over the past week as residents flocked to rivers and lakes to cool off, ignoring repeated official warnings about the dangers of unsupervised swimming. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that most of the victims were young people. Related heat-related hazards have spread across the continent, with organizers of Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix declaring an official heat hazard as the event proceeds amid scorching conditions. This extreme heat event also coincides with a landmark court ruling on climate change in Paris, adding a layer of urgency to ongoing policy debates about climate adaptation and mitigation across Europe.

    Even Spain, a country familiar with summer heat, has faced extraordinary conditions. The northern Spanish village of Tama, long known for its cool, green Atlantic-facing landscape, hit an all-time record high of 43.7 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) earlier this week, a remarkable reading for a region that typically enjoys temperate summer weather. This heat wave has extended far into Spain’s normally cooler northern Atlantic coastal regions, areas that rarely face extreme heat warnings.

    Reporting for this article was contributed by Pan Pylas in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf, Germany, and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona.

  • Venezuela earthquakes in maps and charts – where they hit and how severe they could be

    Venezuela earthquakes in maps and charts – where they hit and how severe they could be

    A catastrophic seismic event has left Venezuela reeling from widespread destruction, after two powerful earthquakes hit just seconds apart in the country’s northern region, claiming at least 164 lives and leaving hundreds of people injured.

    According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first tremor, registering a magnitude of 7.2, struck at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT) on June 25, 2026, centered just 23 kilometers southeast of Yumare, a small town located west of the Venezuelan capital Caracas. Barely 38 seconds later, a second, stronger 7.5-magnitude quake hit the same general area, amplifying the destructive force across the region.

    Seismologists explain that a quake’s destructive power depends on more than just its magnitude. Depth of the epicenter, local population density, and regional building quality all play critical roles in determining damage severity. The first earthquake was recorded at a depth of 20.3 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, while the second was far shallower at just 10 kilometers deep – a factor that greatly increases the intensity of shaking and resulting damage to surface infrastructure. Following the event, the USGS issued a risk assessment estimating a 44% probability that the final death toll could exceed 10,000, as rescue teams continue to clear rubble and reach remote affected areas.

    Geographically, Venezuela sits along the highly active tectonic boundary where the Caribbean Plate and South American Plate slide past one another. The USGS notes that the twin quakes were almost certainly triggered by the sudden release of accumulated tectonic friction along this boundary, a common geologic driver of major seismic events in the region.

    Widespread damage has been reported across multiple states. The strongest shaking from the second quake damaged or destroyed countless structures in Caracas and the nearby coastal town of La Guaira. Venezuela’s Interior Ministry confirmed that five additional states – Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua and Miranda – have also sustained serious impacts.

    Footage verified by the BBC shows one of the most dramatic examples of destruction: a 10-story hotel in La Guaira that has been completely reduced to rubble. Only the building’s entrance remains standing, with the collapsed remains of the rest of the structure piled high around and above it. Shockingly captured video from inside Caracas’ main international airport, located on the capital’s outskirts, shows clouds of dust and chunks of debris raining down from terminal ceilings amid the shaking. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez announced that the country’s primary international air hub has been indefinitely closed due to the severe structural damage it sustained.

    As emergency response teams begin to deploy across the affected regions, authorities are still working to compile full casualty and damage reports, with the confirmed death toll expected to rise in the coming days.

  • Zelenskyy says Russia is shifting air defenses to Moscow and other key sites after drone strikes

    Zelenskyy says Russia is shifting air defenses to Moscow and other key sites after drone strikes

    After more than four years of full-scale conflict, Ukraine’s accelerating long-range drone campaign targeting Russian territory is forcing Moscow to shift critical air defense assets to protect high-priority sites, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his Wednesday evening daily address.

    Zelenskyy outlined that Russian military command has repositioned large volumes of air defense missile systems to three core locations: the Russian capital Moscow, the town of Valdai 300 miles northwest of Moscow where President Vladimir Putin maintains an official residence, and the Kerch Strait Bridge — a critical logistical link that connects the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula to mainland Russia. “In the Moscow region alone, they have amassed hundreds of launchers,” Zelenskyy stated, adding that close to 90 additional launchers have been pulled from other Russian regions and redeployed to Valdai to reinforce defenses there.

    This redeployment comes in response to a months-long escalation of Ukraine’s aerial strikes against Russian military infrastructure and energy sites across the country. Kyiv’s successful attacks have already triggered widespread fuel shortages, disrupted Russian army supply chains, slowed Moscow’s forward momentum in the invasion, and left senior Russian leadership unsettled. Recent Ukrainian drone operations have reached as far as Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city and Putin’s birthplace, as Kyiv works to cut supply lines to Russian forces occupying Crimea, which Russia illegally seized from Ukraine in 2014. Zelenskyy emphasized that the redistribution of Russian air defenses leaves vast swathes of other Russian territory exposed to future strikes by Ukraine’s modern long-range drones, which now have an operational range of more than 900 miles.

    The escalation of Ukraine’s campaign comes as diplomatic efforts remain deadlocked. Zelenskyy noted that the continued Russian military pressure on Ukraine stems from Putin’s refusal to end the war and engage in good-faith negotiations for a just peace. Zelenskyy has already accepted the unconditional ceasefire proposal put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump, but Putin has rejected the offer, leaving a full year of U.S.-led peace talks with no meaningful progress.

    In a surprising shift this week, Trump — who has previously been critical of Zelenskyy — praised the Ukrainian leader during a White House appearance Wednesday, calling him “courageous” and saying he is “doing pretty well” leading the war effort. After attending the recent G7 summit, Zelenskyy confirmed he secured pledges of continued Western military and political support, with promised aid set to further bolster Kyiv’s expanding drone campaign. He added that Ukraine’s ongoing operations, including those targeting supply lines to Crimea, are deliberately structured to force Russia to the negotiating table if international partners deliver the agreed-upon support. “We will quickly create conditions in which Russia will be forced to choose peace,” he said, noting that G7 leaders are fully aware of Ukraine’s requirements for this push.

    Alongside developments on the strike campaign, Ukraine is closely monitoring potential shifts along its northern border with Belarus, which has long allowed Moscow to use its territory to support the invasion and hosts manufacturing facilities that back Russia’s war effort. Last week, Zelenskyy issued an ultimatum demanding Belarus disable signal repeaters on its territory that Kyiv says were used to guide Russian drone strikes on western Ukraine, threatening military action against the facilities if they remained operational. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian intelligence has verified the repeaters have been turned off, but added that “there are many questions regarding Belarus” given its history of enabling Russia’s invasion.

    The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War has assessed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is walking a careful diplomatic line: he continues to delay and push back against growing Kremlin pressure to bring Belarus directly into the war, while maintaining outwardly neutral rhetoric toward Kyiv. In response to ongoing uncertainty, Ukraine has ordered mandatory evacuation for all communities in the Chernihiv border region starting July 1, and Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed last week that Kyiv is strengthening northern border defenses, including standing up new dedicated army drone units for the front.

    As Ukraine expands its strikes inside Russia, Moscow has continued its own bombardment of Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure. Overnight this week, Russia launched one ballistic missile and 90 long-range attack drones across Ukraine, Ukrainian air force officials confirmed. A drone strike on a civilian gas station in the northeastern Sumy region Thursday morning left four people injured, including two station employees, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov, who noted that Russian forces have targeted Sumy’s gas infrastructure 13 times in June alone. A separate overnight strike on a gas station in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia left one woman injured and damaged the facility, regional governor Ivan Fedorov reported.

    For its part, Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that its air defense systems intercepted and downed 269 Ukrainian drones between late Wednesday and early Thursday, and multiple major Russian airports issued temporary flight restrictions overnight amid reported drone incursions.

  • Fighting intensifies across multiple fronts in Sudan

    Fighting intensifies across multiple fronts in Sudan

    As the brutal power conflict between Sudan’s two main military factions enters its fourth year, active fighting has ramped up sharply across multiple regions of the country, leaving global aid watchers sounding urgent alarms over a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis for millions of vulnerable civilians.

    The ongoing confrontation, which first erupted in April 2023, pits the official Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with violence now spreading simultaneously across the southeastern Blue Nile region and the western regions of Darfur and Kordofan.

    On Tuesday, the SAF confirmed it had intercepted and downed a hostile drone north of Al-Tuwaysha town in North Darfur State. This confrontation marks just the latest in a growing string of aerial skirmishes, where uncrewed aerial vehicles have emerged as a primary weapon for both warring factions over the past several months.

    Further east, in the Blue Nile region, the SAF’s 4th Infantry Division announced it had secured new territorial advances following a large-scale offensive across multiple eastern districts of the state. The military command confirmed in an official statement that operations pushed past the Abu Dugla and Ashambo areas, concluding with the full seizure of the Al-Bar district from forces it labeled “rebel elements.”

    According to the statement, government troops captured stockpiles of weapons, military hardware, and a number of enemy combatants during the operation. Military officials added that offensive operations will continue in the region to secure Sudan’s border and protect civilian populations. After months of relative quiet, Blue Nile has reemerged as a key conflict zone as the SAF works to retake control of Kurmuk, a strategically critical border town.

    Independent military observers note that the renewed push in Blue Nile forms part of a broader strategic shift by the SAF: expanding military operations beyond the long-standing conflict hotspots of Darfur and Kordofan to reassert state control over vulnerable border regions.

    In western Sudan, however, the humanitarian outlook in North Darfur continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate. RSF-linked social media accounts published video footage Tuesday confirming RSF fighters had entered the Ambro area of North Darfur, just days after drone strikes hit the zone and drove displaced residents to seek shelter there from nearby conflict zones.

    The North Darfur Coordination of Resistance Committees confirmed that thousands of civilians have fled the Orshi area for Ambro in search of safety, adding that targeted violations against civilian populations in the western parts of the state continue without interruption. The committee stressed that displaced residents are surviving in catastrophic conditions in makeshift camp sites, and has called for expanded independent humanitarian monitoring and urgent international intervention to address the growing crisis.

    To the south in North Kordofan State, human rights organization Emergency Lawyers reported that repeated RSF drone strikes on the major city of El Obeid last week destroyed the city’s central power substation. The attack triggered widespread blackouts that cut off access to clean water, disrupted critical health care services, and halted local public transport. The group warned that continued attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure will speed up mass displacement from the city, and raise the risk of a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe in one of western Sudan’s largest urban hubs.

    Current United Nations estimates place the total death toll from the 3-year conflict at more than tens of thousands of people, with over 7 million people displaced internally across Sudan and an additional 1.5 million fleeing to neighboring countries to seek safety. International aid organizations have repeatedly warned that access to food, clean water, and medical care is severely limited across most conflict zones, with the risk of mass famine and preventable disease outbreaks growing by the week.

  • As temperatures soar, Paris court set to rule on landmark climate change case

    As temperatures soar, Paris court set to rule on landmark climate change case

    As much of Western Europe grapples with record-shattering extreme heat that has upended daily life, a Paris court is preparing to deliver a groundbreaking ruling Thursday that could reshape corporate accountability for the climate crisis. The decision comes just 24 hours after France recorded its highest ever temperature, capping a weeks-long brutal heatwave that has forced red alert warnings across France, the United Kingdom and Spain, putting tens of millions of people at risk of heat-related illness.

    The case before the court is the first of its kind globally, marking the first time France’s 2017 Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law will be applied to climate change. The legislation requires all large companies operating on French territory to map and prevent human rights abuses and environmental harm linked to their operations and supply chains. The lawsuit was first filed in 2020 by a coalition of four leading environmental and human rights NGOs — Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA, and France Nature Environnement — joined by the city of Paris, against French energy giant TotalEnergies, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies and among the top historical contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions.

    Plaintiffs are demanding the court order TotalEnergies to cut its global oil production by 37% and its gas production by 25% by 2030, matching the emission reduction benchmarks required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the core target of the Paris Agreement. They are also calling for an immediate ban on all new fossil fuel development projects planned by the company. If the court rules in favor of the claimants, it will set a historic precedent for holding major carbon emitters legally responsible for their role in driving climate change.

    This pivotal legal moment comes as Europe confronts the accelerating human and economic cost of rising global temperatures. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, a trend that has held steady since the 1980s. Just this month, the World Health Organization’s European regional office released data showing more than 200,000 preventable heat-related deaths across the continent over the past four years, a death toll that is projected to rise as extreme heat events grow more frequent and intense.

    The current heatwave has already disrupted daily life across Western Europe: iconic Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum have cut back visiting hours to protect staff and visitors, while school and public transportation schedules have been disrupted across multiple countries. Scientific consensus confirms that human-caused climate change is directly linked to the increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events, and the United Nations’ climate agency projects the next five years will almost certainly bring more broken global temperature records.

    Thursday’s ruling is the latest in a growing wave of court decisions that are expanding legal obligations around climate action. In 2019, the Netherlands Supreme Court delivered the first major legal victory for climate activists, ruling that protection from climate harm is a fundamental human right and governments have a legal duty to protect their citizens. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights upheld this framework, ruling that nations are legally required to implement stronger protections against climate impacts. Most recently, the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, ruled that countries can be found in violation of international law if they fail to take adequate action to protect the planet from climate change.

  • British military says a cargo ship was hit while moving through the Strait of Hormuz

    British military says a cargo ship was hit while moving through the Strait of Hormuz

    In a fresh escalation of tensions around one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, a projectile struck an unidentified cargo vessel traveling through a UN-endorsed alternative shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, British military officials confirmed. The attack came just hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued explicit threats barring vessels from using the unapproved route, leaving the international community scrambling to assess responsibility and the broader implications for global energy markets.

    The UK Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors regional shipping security, reported that while the targeted vessel suffered structural damage, there were no reported casualties and no leakage of hazardous materials that would cause environmental damage off the Omani coast. Officials have not yet confirmed the identity of the ship’s operator or the source of the projectile, leaving key details of the incident unconfirmed as of Thursday evening.

    The contested alternative shipping corridor was organized by Oman and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations body, to free hundreds of commercial vessels trapped in the Persian Gulf after Iran laid naval mines in the strait’s traditional central shipping lane. Iran placed the mines in the central corridor following a cross-border strike by the U.S. and Israel on Iranian assets on February 28, a move that cut daily shipping transits from a pre-conflict average of more than 130 to fewer than 40 at the lowest point of the crisis. Before the conflict, the central route carried roughly 20% of the world’s daily supply of oil and natural gas, giving Iran significant leverage over global energy markets amid ongoing negotiations with Washington.

    Opening the new coastal corridor along the UAE and Omani coastlines is designed to reduce this leverage and ease mounting pressure on the fragile global economy, a core goal of the ongoing interim peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. Under a memorandum of understanding signed last week, the two sides have 60 days to hammer out final details of a tentative agreement covering everything from free navigation through the strait to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently traveling through the Gulf region to reassure regional American allies of Washington’s commitment to security, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to protecting the new corridor on Thursday. “If that [free transit] stops, then we’re going to have a problem,” Rubio told reporters ahead of meetings with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. “There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” he added. Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the U.S. for its continued support, noting “today we see a glimmer of hope for our region” while stressing that “it was critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations.”

    Shipping data from recent days shows a steady increase in traffic through the new corridor, even as volumes remain well below pre-conflict levels. Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported that 125 vessels crossed the strait last week, up from just 33 the week prior, while S&P Global recorded 78 transits on Wednesday alone — the highest daily number since the outbreak of hostilities, but still far off the prewar average. “Opportunistic operators — and there are many of them — emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes,” explained Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List. Global shipping giant Maersk confirmed Thursday that one of its container vessels, the Maersk Baltimore, and a second chartered ship had successfully exited the strait via the new route that morning.

    Iran has repeatedly rejected the new corridor as unauthorized, with the Revolutionary Guard’s naval branch issuing a fresh warning Thursday carried by state-run IRNA news agency. “The new route was established without notice or coordination with Iran, calling it “unacceptable and completely dangerous,” the statement read. “The only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited. Violators will be dealt with.” On Wednesday, private security firm Ambrey reported that an Iranian Guards sailor radioed a warning to one passing tanker, saying: “You are in range of my missiles and maybe [I] fire on you.”

    Despite the attack, global oil markets reacted with relative calm Thursday, with benchmark crude prices briefly dipping below $73 per barrel — the last pre-conflict price level — a signal that investors believe the broader diplomatic process remains on track. Still, the strike underscores the fragility of the tentative detente, which is already complicated by public sparring between U.S. and Iranian leaders, who have traded threats and claimed opposing concessions that the other side denies.

    Tensions are also flaring on a second front in Lebanon, where a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants has begun to unravel in recent days. Israel confirmed that it targeted Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon this week, with Lebanese health officials reporting three civilian deaths in a Thursday strike on a vehicle. Hezbollah called the attack a clear violation of the ceasefire but has not yet launched retaliatory strikes, while the Israeli military had no immediate comment on the incident. The strike came as Lebanese and Israeli delegations visited Washington to discuss a proposed phased Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Israel’s military added that a reservist soldier was killed and another wounded in southern Lebanon on Thursday. Since the latest round of fighting began in March, more than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed in Israeli strikes, while 37 Israeli soldiers have died in combat in Lebanon or northern Israel.

    This report contains contributions from Lee in Manama, Bahrain, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, and is aggregated from original Associated Press reporting.

  • Rescuers search through rubble for Venezuela earthquake survivors

    Rescuers search through rubble for Venezuela earthquake survivors

    A devastating sequence of back-to-back earthquakes has rocked Venezuela’s capital Caracas, leaving a crumpled collapsed building in its wake and triggering urgent large-scale rescue operations. Emergency response teams have deployed to the disaster site, where crews are methodically sifting through piles of concrete and twisted metal debris in the hopes of locating and pulling trapped survivors to safety.

    The twin seismic events caught residents off guard, and the collapse of the structure has sparked fears that multiple people may still be trapped beneath the rubble. Local emergency management authorities have not yet released updated figures on casualties or the full scope of infrastructural damage across the city, but the immediate activation of search-and-rescue protocols underscores the severity of the seismic event.

    Rescue teams are working around the clock, utilizing specialized equipment to detect signs of life beneath the wreckage. The disaster has prompted calls for coordination between local and national response agencies, as well as offers of mutual aid from neighboring regions that stand ready to support relief efforts if needed. As operations continue, rescue workers remain focused on their primary mission: finding any survivors who may still be clinging to life in the ruins of the collapsed building.

  • Venezuela reeling after powerful twin earthquakes kill at least 32 people as promises of aid pour in

    Venezuela reeling after powerful twin earthquakes kill at least 32 people as promises of aid pour in

    On Wednesday evening, two large-magnitude earthquakes struck northern Venezuela within one minute of each other, leaving at least 32 people dead and more than 700 injured, with widespread damage to infrastructure and communities across the South American nation, according to the country’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez. As rescue teams continue to comb through collapsed buildings and emergency crews work to reach cut-off, hard-hit areas, Rodríguez has warned the final casualty count is likely to climb. The events rank among the most powerful seismic events to hit Venezuela in more than 100 years, with shaking felt as far as 1,700 kilometers away in Brazil’s Amazon region.

    Rodríguez declared a national state of emergency late Wednesday, confirming that the quakes left a trail of destruction across multiple Venezuelan states. As of early Thursday, casualty data did not include the worst-affected region: La Guaira, a coastal state roughly 30 kilometers north of the capital Caracas that Rodríguez has labeled a full disaster zone. “Dozens of buildings have collapsed there, and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” she stated in a national address.

    The country’s primary international gateway, Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas, suffered significant damage and was forced to close immediately after the quakes. Caracas also suspended all subway operations and cut natural gas service to prevent safety hazards, while all school classes across the nation have been canceled for several days. The Ministry of Education announced that undamaged school facilities would be repurposed as emergency shelters and donation collection points to support displaced residents. Rodríguez urged all Venezuelans to report infrastructure damage via a government mobile application, called on medical professionals to report to hospitals to support care for the injured, and appealed for national calm and unity: “We urge our population to remain calm. We urge unity.”

    Data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirms the details of the back-to-back events. The agency initially recorded the first quake at magnitude 7.1, later revising its measurement to 7.2. That first seismic event originated 168 kilometers west of Caracas, off the Caribbean coast west of the town of Morón, at a depth of 22 kilometers. Just 60 seconds later, a larger 7.5 magnitude quake hit 16 kilometers southwest of Morón at a shallower depth of 10 kilometers, amplifying the damage caused by the first shock. In the northern coastal state of Falcón, Governor Víctor Clark reported 32 people hospitalized and 15 residents trapped in collapsed structures in the immediate aftermath of the quakes.

    Eyewitness accounts from Caracas paint a picture of widespread chaos and fear. Residents described buildings swaying violently, forcing thousands to evacuate into the streets as walls crumbled and dust plumes rose over busy commercial neighborhoods. For hours after the quakes, many people remained gathered outside, too afraid to return to damaged structures, with some sitting on the ground clutching their pets. Collapsed structures, fallen power poles and scattered debris blocked major roads, while sections of the capital lost electricity and cellular phone service, leaving many families unable to check on loved ones—including the more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who have relocated abroad during the country’s long-running political and economic crisis. “It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” said Caracas resident Hector Ricci. Fellow resident Roberto Gamas added: “The building I was in really shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong.”

    Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello confirmed the quakes were felt across multiple states, and urged civilian motorists to yield the right of way to ambulances and emergency response vehicles. He reported collapsed homes and buildings in Caracas’ Altamira neighborhood, confirming injuries in the area, and noted that response teams were following established emergency protocols to accelerate rescue and aid delivery. Cabello also warned residents to stay outside of damaged structures due to the risk of additional damage from aftershocks, reminding the public to prioritize safety for vulnerable groups including children and older adults. Even in exile, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado shared a message of solidarity on social media platform X, asking for strength and unity for all Venezuelans navigating the crisis.

    Seismologists note that major earthquakes are extremely rare in Venezuela. While the country sits near multiple tectonic boundaries, its position between the South American and Caribbean plates means large seismic events are far less frequent than in other Latin American nations along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the geologically active belt that produces 90% of the world’s earthquakes, per USGS data. Even so, the recent quakes were felt across a wide swathe of northern South America: buildings were evacuated in three Amazonian Brazilian cities hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter, while shaking was reported in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeastern regions with no immediate reports of damage or injury there. The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued brief tsunami alerts immediately after the quakes that were lifted within hours as no threat materialized.

    In the wake of the disaster, dozens of nations have extended offers of international assistance to Venezuela, including countries with long-running political differences with the current administration. The United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay have all publicly pledged support. U.S. Undersecretary of State for Foreign Assistance Jeremy P. Lewin announced that the State Department has mobilized a dedicated disaster assistance task force to coordinate search-and-rescue teams, medical supplies, and other humanitarian resources in coordination with Venezuela’s interim government. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who has previously been openly opposed to Venezuela’s sitting government, shared a message of solidarity on X: “We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela.” Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa added that he had ordered immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, noting: “Ecuador will respond with the speed and commitment this moment demands because, despite our enormous differences, humanity must always guide the actions of a leader.” Even Bolivia, which was just days ago grappling with its own national state of emergency following widespread anti-government protests, has offered any assistance required. Brazilian authorities confirmed that no Brazilian citizens have been reported injured in the quakes.

  • Shiite Muslims mark holy day of Ashoura after months of war in Iran and Lebanon

    Shiite Muslims mark holy day of Ashoura after months of war in Iran and Lebanon

    Across the globe, millions of Shiite Muslims gathered on Thursday to observe Ashoura, the holiest day on their religious calendar, a commemoration steeped in meaning of sacrifice and resistance against oppression that carries unprecedented emotional weight this year, following months of devastating open conflict across Iran and Lebanon.

    Rooted in 7th-century Islamic history, Ashoura honors the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed alongside his family and close companions at the 680 CE Battle of Karbala after refusing to swear loyalty to the ruling Umayyad caliphate. The event’s legacy shaped the centuries-long schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam, and it endures today as one of the faith’s most potent symbols of standing against injustice.

    This year’s observance comes at a defining turning point for the Middle East. Just days ahead of the scheduled funeral procession for Iran’s long-serving supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, the opening day of the ongoing regional war, the timing has amplified the day’s themes of loss and resistance. Khamenei, 86, was not only Iran’s highest political authority and ultimate arbiter of religious doctrine, but also a figure revered by millions of Shiite believers across the world. This week, Iranian and U.S. negotiators have convened talks to work toward finalizing a fragile ceasefire that could end months of active hostilities.

    The war has spilled across borders into Lebanon, where Iran’s key regional ally, the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, entered the conflict within days of its outbreak, launching rocket barrages into northern Israel in solidarity with Tehran. The retaliation from Israel has been severe: widespread aerial bombardment and a limited ground incursion that reduced large swathes of majority-Shiite areas in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs to rubble. As this year’s Ashoura is observed, more than one million displaced Lebanese residents are attempting to return to their destroyed hometowns, and religious gatherings have been held against a backdrop of collapsed buildings and widespread ruin.

    In the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre, families who lost loved ones — whether fighting alongside Hezbollah or serving as civilian paramedics — gathered for early pre-Ashoura sermons, weeping as clerics framed the current conflict through the lens of Imam Hussein’s legacy. Between portraits of new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem, one cleric drew a direct parallel between the struggle facing modern Shiite leaders and the sacrifice of Hussein and his followers at Karbala. Red and black banners emblazoned with Hussein’s name line streets across the region, and in Beirut’s southern suburbs, worshippers have flocked in large numbers to the grave of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024.

    Thousands of miles away in Pakistan, which is home to a large Shiite minority living within a predominantly Sunni nation, security officials have deployed thousands of police and paramilitary forces to protect Ashoura gatherings, following intelligence warnings of planned militant attacks on worshippers. Though most Sunni and Shiite communities in Pakistan coexist peacefully, sectarian militant groups have repeatedly targeted Shiite religious sites and gatherings over the years, carrying out attacks that have killed hundreds of people. To counter potential threats, authorities have announced temporary mobile phone service suspensions in high-risk areas during processions.

    For many worshippers, the ancient symbolism of Ashoura feels particularly resonant amid today’s turmoil. “Imam Hussein is a symbol of the highest struggle and sacrifice,” said Saadia Shah, 33, who attended a gathering in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore alongside her two children. “His name gives us the courage to stand up to tyranny, to say what is right and oppose what is wrong.”

    Associated Press journalist Munir Ahmed contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan.

  • Rescuers race to find survivors as Venezuela reels from massive quakes: Everything we know so far

    Rescuers race to find survivors as Venezuela reels from massive quakes: Everything we know so far

    On a national holiday celebrating Venezuela’s foundational fight for independence, a rare double seismic event shocked the South American nation, leaving a trail of destruction and sparking a large-scale urgent rescue operation.

    On June 24, 2026, starting at 18:04 local time (22:04 GMT), the greater Caracas region was hit by two major earthquakes separated by less than one minute. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed the first tremor registered a magnitude of 7.2, with its epicenter located near Montalbán, a small region just west of the capital’s city limits. Just 39 seconds after the first quake subsided, a second, stronger magnitude 7.5 temblor struck the same general area at a depth of roughly 10 kilometers. While neither epicenter was directly within Caracas proper, the shaking was felt intensely across the populous capital of more than 2 million people, and was even detected as far as Bogotá, Colombia, located more than 1,000 kilometers away from the impact zone.

    The event coincided with Venezuela’s annual national holiday marking the 1821 Battle of Carabobo, the decisive victory led by independence icon Simón Bolívar against Spanish colonial rule. The timing, when many residents were gathered in public spaces for celebrations, did not prevent immediate panic: as buildings swayed and multiple structures collapsed in neighborhoods across the capital, crowds rushed into open streets to seek safety.

    In the immediate aftermath of the quakes, interim President Delcy Rodríguez issued a national state of emergency, unlocking access to additional emergency funding, personnel and resources for search and recovery operations. In a televised address to the nation, Rodríguez extended immediate condolences to families affected by the disaster, though she did not confirm an official death toll in the hours immediately following the event.

    Local officials have given early on-the-ground accounts of the destruction: Gustavo Duque Saez, mayor of the Caracas metropolitan municipality of Chacao, confirmed that at least two full building collapses occurred within his jurisdiction. As of initial reporting, 18 people have been pulled alive from rubble, with more than 500 first responders working around the clock to reach additional trapped residents. Photographs and video footage from the scene show concrete and debris scattered across city streets, with audio capturing trapped survivors calling out for help from collapsed structures.

    Venezuela’s interior ministry has issued urgent guidance for residents across the capital, urging people to evacuate damaged homes over safety concerns. Officials noted compromised building integrity and potential damage to gas lines, prompting precautionary measures including a temporary halt to fuel shipments into the capital. Multiple reports of widespread internet outages have also been recorded in impacted areas, complicating initial rescue coordination.

    As of the latest update, Venezuelan federal officials have not released any official confirmed counts of deaths or injuries. The USGS, however, has warned that catastrophic outcomes are highly likely due to the region’s particular vulnerability. According to the agency’s post-event assessment, most residential and public buildings in the affected area are constructed from reinforced brick masonry and adobe blocks, construction materials that cannot withstand the force of magnitude 7+ earthquakes. The USGS calculated that there is a 44% probability that the final death toll could reach 10,000, and a 30% probability that fatalities could exceed 100,000.

    Shortly after the earthquakes, the U.S. Tsunami Warning System issued a regional tsunami advisory for Venezuela’s Caribbean coastline, as well as for island territories including the U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands. The advisory has since been lifted, with officials confirming the quakes do not pose a continued tsunami risk to the region.

    Emergency crews remain on the scene working through the night to clear debris and locate any people trapped, as authorities continue to work to assess the full scope of the damage across the region.