International

Colombia accounted for 7.2 million internally displaced people in 2024, 43% more than in 2023

The number of internally displaced people in Colombia as a result of the violence of non-state armed groups reached 7.26 million in 2024, 43% more than in 2023, according to the annual report of the NGO Internal Displacement Observatory (IDMC).

The increase was due in part to violence in departments such as Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Antioquia or Norte de Santander (especially its Catatumbo region), but also to a change in the criteria by the authorities when classifying vulnerable populations as displaced.

Although different ceasefires reached between the Government of Colombia with armed groups produced fewer clashes in 2024, “not all remained,” and last year there were up to 388,000 movements of displaced people, IDMC said.

“Many of them were on a small scale, individual, in response to threats, intimidation and extortion,” the report explained, which also highlighted the restrictions on movement, curfews and confinements imposed by non-state armed groups on many displaced communities.

The study also stressed that last year there were 91,000 displaced movements in Colombia, a lower figure than in the previous two years, due to natural disasters, mainly floods that affected the Bolivar, Córdoba and Sucre.

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The same departments were affected by droughts that caused another 7,900 displacements, the first recorded in Colombia due to the lack of rain.

Throughout America, the number of internally displaced people at the end of 2024 stood at 9.6 million, of which almost three quarters were concentrated in Colombia, although this is partly due to more systematic data from the authorities of that country compared to others in the region.

It is followed by Haiti with more than one million displaced people – and the largest number of movements in the region last year, 889,000 -, Guatemala, with 573,000 displaced people, Mexico, with 390,000, and Honduras, with 101,000.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.