International

Taiwan focuses its efforts on finding 16 missing after the strong earthquake

Taiwan’s rescue teams are working this Friday in the search for sixteen people missing after the strong earthquake that shook the east coast of the island on Wednesday, causing 12 deaths and 1,106 injuries.

In a press appearance, the Taiwanese Minister of the Interior, Lin Yu-chang, said that rescue teams found two lifeless bodies this morning on a trail in Taroko National Park, one of the main tourist spots in Taiwan.

This morning they also rescued nine people stranded in a cave in the same park, who have already been directed to a safe place.

However, according to the state news agency CNA, the authorities do not know the current location of three foreigners, two Australian citizens and one Canadian.

Likewise, four people are still missing near the town of Fengbin: a couple with whom they lost contact at a campsite in Xiulin and two other people in the mining area of Heren and in the Luoshao area.

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Almost three days after the earthquake, 671 people remain trapped: 435 in a hotel in Taroko National Park, 122 in the Tianxiang recreational area, 84 in an elementary school, 18 in a camp and another 12 in the Xiangde Buddhist temple.

The Taiwanese Minister of the Interior assured that, due to adverse weather conditions and the constant aftershocks – more than 500 since Wednesday – people trapped in Tianxiang will not be able to be evacuated until Sunday.

So far, the earthquake has caused a total of 2,612 incidents of varying magnitudes on the island, most of them in the cities of Taipei (1,145) and New Taipei (509) and in Hualien County (439).

The earthquake, of magnitude 7.2 according to the Central Meteorological Agency (CWA) of Taiwan and 7.4 according to the United States Geological Survey, was recorded at 7:58 on Wednesday (23:58 GMT on Tuesday) at sea, 25 kilometers southeast of Hualien.

This earthquake is the most intense that Taiwan has suffered since September 21, 1999, when a magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed more than 2,400 people.

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Taiwan is settled at the confluence of the Philippine and Eurasian plates, so earthquakes are frequent on the island.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.