International

Indonesia remembers 2004 tsunami from mosque that stood at ground zero

Indonesia commemorated the 167,000 victims of the 2004 tsunami in this country from the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in the city of Banda Aceh, which stood firm against the waves at ground zero of one of the greatest natural disasters of the modern era.

Acting Aceh provincial governor Safrizal Zakaria Ali and popular cleric Abdullah Gymnastiar led the rituals, which drew hundreds of white-clad worshippers to join in prayers along the grounds of the compound.

The hosts throw water and flowers on a grave, as a sign of mourning and remembrance for the deceased.

The tsunami “changed the lives of millions”

“That day, the disaster changed the lives of millions. Mothers, fathers, children lost their lives. Cities were devastated,” the politician recalled during his speech at the memorial service, which was broadcast live on social media.

A magnitude 9.1 earthquake recorded at 7:58 a.m. local time about 120 kilometers west of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26, 2004, created waves up to 30 meters high that hit Banda Aceh about 20 minutes after the initial tremor.

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Some 61,000 people have died in this town, around 25% of its inhabitants, located in the far north of Sumatra and considered the epicentre of the tragedy.

The image of the solitary mosque standing a few hundred metres from the coast, while the houses around it had been washed away by the waters, became one of the most iconic images of this natural disaster.

Indonesia, hit by 167,000 deaths

Other coastal towns in Sumatra, such as Calang and Meulaboh, were also affected by the tsunami, which left some 167,000 people dead in the country, according to official figures.

At least the tsunami and the scale of the human tragedy it caused led the Islamic separatist guerrillas operating in Aceh and the Indonesian government to reach a peace agreement and put an end to more than three decades of fratricidal fighting.

“The tsunami opened the doors to peace in Aceh. The disaster helped people realize that peace was the best solution,” the governor said.

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In addition to the events scheduled in Indonesia, other countries, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, have organised ceremonies to commemorate the natural disaster, which claimed the lives of more than 228,000 people in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

The waves even hit the east coast of Africa, with the South African town of Rooi-Els, more than 8,000 kilometres from the epicentre of the quake, being the furthest away from the loss of life.

International

TikTok sale advances as Trump reveals deal is in place

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that TikTok has secured a buyer, marking a key step for the popular video-sharing platform to continue operating in the United States.

“We have a buyer for TikTok. We’ll probably need China’s approval,” said the Republican leader during an interview with Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News. Without naming the company, Trump said it is a “very wealthy” tech firm, and the identity will likely be revealed within “two weeks.”

Under former President Joe Biden, Congress passed legislation requiring TikTok’s parent company, the Chinese firm ByteDance, to divest the app to a buyer from a “non-adversarial” country by January 20, the day Trump returned to the White House following his reelection.

Due to the lack of an agreement, TikTok temporarily ceased operations in the U.S. until Trump, on his first day back in office, signed an executive order granting a 75-day extension. He later issued another 75-day extension on April 4, and most recently extended the deadline an additional 90 days, until September 17.

Trump, who has publicly stated he has “a soft spot for TikTok,” believes the platform played a vital role in building his popularity among younger voters during the last election.

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International

Protests erupt over Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ migrant jail in the Everglades

Hundreds of environmentalists, Indigenous leaders, and activists gathered on Saturday to protest against the planned opening of a migrant detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” which, according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, could begin operating as early as Tuesday and hold up to 3,000 migrants.

The protest took place amid active construction at the site, located in the Everglades Natural Park—an ecologically sensitive wetlands region west of Miami. Demonstrators raised concerns about the environmental impact on an area that is home to 36 native species of plants and animals that are threatened or endangered.

Protest signs read messages such as: “This scam will cost us $450 million and destroy our precious Everglades,”“Continuing with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is criminal,” and “These are concentration camps on Indigenous land.”

The backlash intensified after a televised segment aired the night before on Fox and Friends, where DeSantis toured the facility—built on an abandoned airport—and suggested the detention center could start receiving migrants as early as Tuesday.

Internacionales

Jalisco’s grim discovery: drug cartel mass grave found in construction site

A mass grave was discovered in a residential area under construction in the municipality of Zapopan, part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco.

“After analyzing the recovered remains, they correspond to 34 individuals,” said a state official during a press conference. Jalisco has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in Mexico, largely due to the activity of drug cartels.

As of May 31, official data shows that Jalisco has recorded 15,683 missing persons, according to the state prosecutor’s office. Authorities attribute most of these cases to criminal organizations, which often bury or cremate their victims clandestinely.

“The construction company notified us at the end of February after discovering some remains,” explained the official, González, adding that excavation efforts have been ongoing since then.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in the region and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Washington has accused CJNG and the Sinaloa cartel of being the main sources of fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S.

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Mexico has accumulated more than 127,000 missing persons, most of them since 2006, when the federal government launched a heavily criticized military-led anti-drug offensive.