International
‘We have nothing left’: Philippine typhoon survivors plead for help
AFP
Concepcion Tumanda picks through the mud-caked wreckage of her home on a Philippine island devastated by Typhoon Rai that left hundreds dead across the country and survivors pleading for food and water.
Rai slammed into the popular tourist destination of Bohol last Thursday, dumping torrential rain, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees and smashing fishing boats.
“The house was destroyed, everything was broken,” Tumanda told AFP, weeping as she stood in the ruins of her home in the riverside town of Loboc.
“We have nothing left.”
Bohol — known for its dive spots, rolling “Chocolate Hills” and tiny tarsier primates — was one of the hardest hit islands after Rai flooded villages and sent residents scrambling to their rooftops.
At least 98 people lost their lives, Governor Arthur Yap said on Facebook. Another 16 were still missing.
Yap has pleaded for President Rodrigo Duterte to send funds to buy food and water for desperate residents after electricity and communications were knocked out across the island.
“We need food, especially rice, and water,” said Giselle Toledo, whose house was swept away by floodwaters.
“We were not able to save anything. We don’t know where to start our lives again.”
Rai also caused widespread destruction on Siargao, Dinagat and Mindanao islands, which bore the brunt of the storm, packing winds of 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour.
Duterte declared a state of calamity in the typhoon-hit areas, where at least 375 people were killed, freeing up funds for relief efforts and giving local officials power to control prices.
The military has deployed ships, boats, aircraft and trucks to deliver food, drinking water and medical supplies to survivors.
The Red Cross is also distributing aid, and a growing list of foreign governments have pledged millions of dollars in financial assistance.
But local officials and residents complain it is not arriving fast enough.
“Please speed up the relief, it’s our only hope because we have nothing else,” said a worker on a floating restaurant on the Loboc river that was destroyed in the storm.
– ‘Water is our main problem’ –
Lines of people waiting to refill empty water drums have formed along roadsides of Bohol, while large crowds of motorbike riders queue up at petrol pumps.
“Water is our main problem,” said Jocelyn Escuerdo, who is living with her family at an evacuation centre after they were left homeless.
“The containers provided by relief agencies are not very big, just five litres, so we run out of water all the time,” she said, adding they have “just enough” food for a day.
While many people fled their homes before the storm hit, some stayed behind to look after precious livestock like chickens and pigs, as well as to protect their properties.
Some of them were cut off by flooding and went hungry for three days, said village chief Pedro Acuna — until he paddled a boat to deliver them food.
Nearly a week after the typhoon hit, residents are still trying to salvage furniture and other belongings from their destroyed homes.
Elderly resident Telesfora Toledo said she did not know how to start again, with “so many things that need to be fixed.”
“It was so painful looking at what was left of the house,” Tumanda said, digging out plates and other kitchen items that survived the onslaught.
“We will try to repair it… if people give us wood and roofing sheets.”
International
Sexual assault attempt on Mexico’s president sparks outrage in historic center
A man harassed and groped Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum without her consent on Tuesday while she walked through Mexico City’s historic center, just meters from the National Palace, greeting members of the public.
The man, who appeared to be intoxicated, attempted to kiss the president from behind before grabbing her. Security personnel immediately intervened and detained him, with video footage showing Sheinbaum visibly tense following the incident.
Sheinbaum was on her way to the first National Meeting of Universities and Higher Education Institutions at the Education Secretariat headquarters, located just a few blocks from the palace. She chose to walk to the event due to the short distance.
During the stroll, in one of the busiest parts of the capital, the man took advantage of the crowd surrounding the president, approaching her from behind, trying to kiss her neck and placing his arms around her.
Hours later, federal authorities confirmed that the suspect — identified as Uriel Rivera Martínez — had been arrested and taken to the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office for Sexual Crimes, according to the National Detention Registry.
Legal sources stated that Sheinbaum was the victim of a flagrant sexual abuse offense under Mexico City’s Penal Code, noting that no close assistant intervened at the very moment the assault occurred.
According to a 2024 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), 15.5% of women in Mexico have experienced sexual harassment, groping, exhibitionism or attempted rape — five times the percentage of men, at 3.2%.
International
Longest government shutdown in U.S. history deepens airport and aid crisis
The U.S. government shutdown reached a historic milestone on Wednesday, becoming the longest in the nation’s history as Republicans aligned with President Donald Trump continue to clash with Democratic opposition over the federal budget.
The shutdown entered its 36th day, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 during Trump’s first term in office.
Over the past six weeks, the budget impasse has left roughly 1.4 million federal workers without pay. Employees deemed “essential,” including air traffic controllers and law enforcement officers, have been required to continue working despite not receiving their salaries.
Conditions at airports are growing increasingly strained. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that the federal government may be forced to partially shut down U.S. airspace due to staffing shortages.
“So if we go another week from now, Democrats, you will see massive chaos… you will see massive flight delays,” Duffy cautioned.
Social assistance programs have also been disrupted. On Tuesday, Trump stated that food aid relied upon by millions of Americans would not be distributed until the government reopens — contradicting earlier administration comments indicating that partial benefits could still be provided.
International
Deadly fire in bosnian nursing home leaves 11 dead and dozens injured
At least 11 people were killed and more than 30 others were injured after a fire broke out overnight at a nursing home in Bosnia, authorities reported on Wednesday.
The cause of the blaze, which started late Tuesday on the seventh floor of a residential building in the city of Tuzla, remains unclear. Local media reported that the upper floors of the facility housed elderly residents with limited mobility or medical conditions.
Tuzla Mayor Zijad Lugavić said that firefighters and rescue workers were among the injured. Municipal authorities convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation and coordinate response efforts.
Ruža Kajic, a resident living on the third floor, said she had just gone to bed when she heard “bursting sounds” and saw flames descending from the upper levels.
Sexual assault attempt on Mexico’s president sparks outrage in historic center
Longest government shutdown in U.S. history deepens airport and aid crisis
Deadly fire in bosnian nursing home leaves 11 dead and dozens injured
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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