International
US heat wave soars as California wildfire rages
AFP
Tens of millions of Americans already baking in a scorching heat wave braced Saturday for record-setting temperatures to climb, while a major fire ravaged part of California.
The country’s central and northeast regions face the brunt of the extreme temperatures, which are not expected to peak until Sunday at the earliest and have sent public health officials scrambling.
More than a dozen states are under a heat advisory, with central US metropolitan areas such as Dallas and Oklahoma City expected to reach highs of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (above 38 degrees Celsius) for at least the next five days.
A heat emergency is meanwhile in effect for cities up and down the northeast coast, from Boston to Philadelphia to Washington.
Not even the usually cool Pacific Northwest will escape the far-reaching heat, with the region expected to face several days in the 90s next week.
The high temperatures, which demonstrate the threat of global warming, have already caused an uptick in emergency calls for heat-related illness.
Cities have meanwhile been forced to open cooling stations and increase outreach to at-risk communities such as the homeless and those without access to air conditioning.
“This is really one of the things that we recognize in Oklahoma — heat is the number one weather-related killer across the United States. It far surpasses any other” nature-related cause of death, Joseph Kralicek, director of the Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency, told CNN.
Residents of the central US city were expecting temperatures to reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit Saturday and up to 106 degrees on Sunday and Monday.
The nation’s capital was predicted to reach temperatures at or near 100 degrees Fahrenheit Saturday, with New York not far behind.
International
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
President Donald Trump said he believes Venezuela is “feeling the heat” as his administration intensifies its military campaign against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean — operations that have resulted in the destruction of at least two boats over the past week.
While Trump has stated that the missions aim to curb the flow of narcotics into the United States, analysts and several lawmakers argue that the operations have a broader political goal: to increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down.
“The Trump administration is likely trying to force Maduro to voluntarily relinquish power through a combination of diplomatic moves and now military action — or the threat of it,” said Brandon Buck, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, in an email to Fox News Digital. “Whether that amounts to ‘regime change’ or something else is largely a matter of semantics.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, describing him instead as the leader of a drug cartel. In August, Washington raised its bounty for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million, calling him “one of the world’s most notorious drug traffickers.”
So far, U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped when questioned about potential plans targeting Maduro. On Wednesday, Trump declined to say whether the CIA had the authority to “eliminate” the Venezuelan leader.
International
U.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, of tolerating drug production and announced that the United States will end “large-scale payments and subsidies” to the South American nation.
The relationship between the two historically allied countries has reached a low point with the arrival of Trump in office and Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president in history, assuming power.
“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment or subsidies, will no longer be made,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Petro is “strongly encouraging mass drug production.”
In response, Petro took to X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the U.S. president is “misled” by his advisors. He added, “I recommend Trump carefully read about Colombia and distinguish where the drug traffickers are and where the Democrats are.”
Last month, Washington revoked Colombia’s status as a key ally in the fight against narcotrafficking, a certification that had previously enabled the country to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid.
International
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado declared on Friday that Venezuela is facing “the most decisive moment in its contemporary history” and that the country is “closer than ever to regaining freedom and democracy.”
Her remarks were delivered via video message during the 81st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Machado emphasized that the situation in Venezuela remains “extremely serious” due to censorship and repression imposed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, particularly in a global context where “society is built on information.”
She warned that authoritarian governments manipulate public opinion through “psychological warfare” and disinformation, while shutting down media outlets and persecuting journalists.
“The only way to topple these regimes is through the constant, relentless, and unrestricted preaching of the truth. It is absolutely true that the truth will set us free,” she stated.
Trump says Venezuela is ‘feeling the heat’ amid U.S. anti-drug operations in the Caribbean
U.S.-Colombia Tensions Escalate as Trump Ends Subsidies, Criticizes Petro
María Corina Machado: “Venezuela is closer than ever to regaining freedom”
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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