International
Tuquía declares three-month state of emergency
February 8th
The Turkish government has declared a three-month state of emergency in the ten provinces affected by Monday’s two powerful earthquakes, which have already killed at least 3,549 people and injured 22,000 in the country.
According to the latest casualty count, some 5,000 people have been killed and another 25,000 injured in the series of devastating tremors that have left thousands of buildings collapsed, where the search for survivors continues amid freezing temperatures.
In Turkey, the death toll stands at 3,549 while at least 1,500 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured in Syria.
Some 50,000 people, including soldiers, are involved in rescue efforts and ten navy ships and 26 military aircraft are involved in evacuating the wounded.
In addition, dozens of countries have already begun to send hundreds of rescuers and experts in the search for survivors, although the cold and snow in the area, where there are also mountainous territories of difficult access, complicate the rescue tasks.
More than 8,000 people have been rescued in Turkey, according to government data, according to the official Anadolu agency.
In Hatay, some 170 kilometers south of where the first quake struck, rescuers managed to make contact with a family of four trapped in the rubble.
“We will get them out alive. We are here for that,” a member of the rescue teams was heard saying during a broadcast on broadcaster CNNTürk.
In Diyarbakir, some 350 kilometers east of the province where the first tremor had its epicenter, a woman was rescued after being trapped in the rubble of her home for 31 hours and taken to a hospital to the applause of emergency crews.
A 30-year-old man was rescued early this morning from a ten-story building that collapsed in Osmaniye province, about 135 kilometers from where the epicenter of the first 7.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded at 4:17 a.m. (01:17 GMT) Monday.
Twelve bodies have already been recovered from the same building, which contained 40 apartments.
A fourteen-year-old boy was found alive in Kahramanmaras province, where the first tremor struck.
“I’m hungry” was the first thing he told rescue teams, local media report.
First planes with international aid arrive in Damascus
In Syria, the official news agency SANA, with sources from the Ministry of Health, reported early this morning that the death toll in areas controlled by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. has risen to 769, while the number of wounded has risen to 1,448.
The most affected provinces are Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, the outskirts of Idlib and Tartus.
On the other hand, the White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas of Syria, said in its latest update that there are 740 dead and 2,100 wounded in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the country, and in other parts of neighboring Aleppo that are also escaping Damascus’ control.
These opposition areas are bordering Turkey and are closer to the epicenter, so the difference in the balance could be due to their lower capacity to coordinate the count in the absence of a single government authority in charge of rescue operations.
The first planes carrying supplies and specialized personnel to assist in earthquake rescue efforts arrived today in Damascus government-held areas of Syria from Iraq, Iran, Algeria and Russia, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh, has assured that the Syrian government is “ready” to coordinate assistance to “the entire territory” of the country.
However, to the areas dominated by the opposition this aid is not expected to arrive.The White Helmets, have warned on Tuesday that “time is running out” for the “hundreds” of people who remain trapped.
This organization has appealed to the international community through its Twitter account, to provide material support and aid.”
Only 7 days to rescue survivors
According to a representative of the UN Humanitarian Aid Office, the first to act in cases of disaster, there is only a seven-day window to rescue people who have been buried under the rubble.
This estimate is the result of countless rescue operations around the world, although there may always be exceptions and the victims may have to endure a little more time, as the spokesman of that entity, Jens Laerke, commented when making a first assessment of the human cost of the tragedy.
To rescue the victims, the UN has mobilized disaster assessment and search and rescue teams, made up of the world’s best specialists in these tasks, who are traveling to Turkey.
“The big challenge right now is access by land (for these personnel and their teams) as many roads in the region have been destroyed by the earthquakes,” said Laerke.
Another difficulty is the lack of vehicles to transport the international experts, in response to which local authorities are mobilizing trucks from other provinces in Turkey.
Up to 145 tremors
The first major earthquake was recorded at 4.17 a.m. (01.17 GMT) and had a magnitude of 7.7, according to the Turkish emergency service Afad, with epicenter in Pazarcik in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras.
As many as 145 more tremors followed, one of them of magnitude 7.6 at 10.24 GMT.
“Due to the fact that debris removal work is continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how much the number of dead and injured will be,” acknowledged in his first statements the Turkish president, who has decreed seven days of national mourning throughout the country.
The earthquake was also strongly felt in Lebanon, including Beirut.
One of the symbols of the enormous destruction was the historic Roman castle of Gaziantep, which had stood for more than 1,700 years and was flattened by the quake.
The historic citadel of Aleppo in Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was also damaged.
International
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with skin cancer while serving a historic sentence for attempting a coup d’état. His medical team confirmed that the lesions have been removed and that, for now, he does not require further procedures, though he will need regular monitoring.
On Wednesday, September 17, Bolsonaro’s doctors confirmed the diagnosis. The announcement comes shortly after the former leader was convicted of orchestrating an attempted coup.
According to his physician, Claudio Birolini, Bolsonaro has “squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the most benign nor the most aggressive form — it is intermediate.” Birolini warned, however, that this type of skin cancer “can carry more serious consequences.”
International
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Argentine President Javier Milei praised Paraguay’s economic growth over the past two decades during a speech before the Paraguayan Congress on Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), crediting it to incentives that favored capitalism. At the same time, he contrasted that progress with what he described as Argentina’s deepening “decline” during the same period.
“If we compare the last 20 years of Paraguay with those of the Argentine Republic, we will find almost diametrically opposite results,” Milei told lawmakers during a special session of Parliament on the second and final day of his official visit to Asunción.
“While you have not stopped growing, we have deepened our decline. If we understand incentives as the engine of capitalism, Paraguay focused on preserving and strengthening them, while Argentina dedicated itself to chaining, directing, and suffocating them,” the right-wing leader stated.
International
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a large-scale immigration operation in the Chicago area with the arrival of additional Border Patrol agents on Tuesday and the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a raid.
Noem posted a video on her X account showing the immigration operation, in which DHS reportedly removed “violent criminals” from the streets. The footage shows Noem observing the arrest of a man taken into custody at his home early Tuesday morning at an undisclosed location.
“I was in Chicago today to make it clear that we will not back down,” the secretary wrote. “Our work is just beginning,” she added.
The warning from Noem was echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino, who posted a video on X Tuesday showing multiple Border Patrol vehicles arriving in the city with the caption: “Chicago, we are here!”
Bovino, who led the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles implemented since last June, said the team will remain in Chicago to continue the mission they started in California.
Operation “Midway Blitz” is currently focused on the Chicago metropolitan area and its suburbs. Activists and residents have reported sightings of masked agents and unmarked vehicles in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International2 days ago20th Festival Salvadoreñísimo brings together thousands of salvadorans in Houston
-
International4 days ago22-Year-Old Suspect Arrested After 33-Hour Manhunt in Small Western U.S. Town
-
International1 day agoEcuador’s Noboa declares State of Emergency in seven provinces amid fuel price protests
-
International1 day agoTrump: U.S. has hit three venezuelan narco boats in Caribbean
-
International2 days agoEl Salvador unveils 2025-2029 National Reintegration Plan for returned migrants
-
Sin categoría1 day agoTrump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
-
International1 day agoColombia’s special peace tribunal hands down first sentence against former FARC leaders
-
International9 hours agoAsteroid 2025 FA22, 300 meters long, to pass safely near Earth tomorrow
-
International9 hours agoTrump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
-
International7 hours agoMilei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
-
International7 hours agoBolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction