International
The Iranian Army claims that it has located the helicopter in which Raisí was traveling
The Iranian Army claims that it has located the “exact” position of the helicopter in which the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisí, was traveling, thanks to a signal from the device and another from the mobile of one of the crew members.
“The exact location of the helicopter accident was identified,” said the commander of the army of East Azerbaijan, General Asghar Abbasqolizadeh, according to the official agency IRNA.
“Now we are going with all the military forces to the area and we hope to give good news,” Abbasqolizadeh added.
Previously, the vice president of executive affairs, Mohsen Mansouri, had stated that he had contacted on several occasions two passengers of the helicopter in which Raisí was traveling and that he had to make a forced landing in a mountainous area of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan.
Mansouri indicated that three helicopters left Tabriz, capital of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, at 13:00 local time (11.30 GMT) and about 30 minutes later contact with the aircraft in which Raisí was traveling was lost.
Along with the president were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malik Rahmati, and the leader of the Friday prayers of Tabriz, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.
After the loss of contact, a large device was launched that already has at least 65 rescue teams, but the operations have been affected by bad weather, rain and dense fog in the mountainous area where the incident has occurred, when it has already darkened in Iran, the Red Crescent reported.
Hundreds of people have gathered at the mausoleum of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashad to pray for the health of the Iranian president.
Iranian state television broadcast images of the prayers in the important mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth imam of the Shiites, located in Mashad, hometown of the 63-year-old president.
The parishioners prayed the “tawsassul”, which means invocation and is used to invoke something or someone before God, led by a cleric, according to the television.
For his part, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, calls for calm after hours of unsuccessful searches after the helicopter in which the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, was traveling, made a forced landing.
“The people of Iran should not worry, there will be no interruptions in the country’s functions,” Khamenei said in a meeting with the families of the members of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran, the IRNA agency said.
The Iranian supreme leader called to pray for the health of the president and his companions, including the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amir Abdolahian.
“We hope that Almighty God will return the respected and honorable president and his companions into the arms of the nation. Everyone should pray for the health of this group of servants,” the religious begged.
The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, ordered several departments and the Iraqi Red Crescent to lend their capabilities to Iran to help find the helicopter in which the Iranian president was traveling.
The Iraqi Government said in a statement that Al Sudani ordered the Ministry of the Interior, the Iraqi Red Crescent and other competent authorities to “present the capabilities available to the Islamic Republic of Iran to help find the Iranian president’s helicopter, which disappeared in northern Iran.”
The note did not provide more details about the search device provided by Iraq, which borders Iran in the west.
Similarly, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was willing to help Iran in the search operation for the damaged helicopter in which its president, Ebrahim Raisí, was traveling, who is in unknown whereabouts.
“As a neighboring country, friend and brother, Azerbaijan is willing to offer any support,” Aliyev said on his social networks.
Aliyev, who prayed to Allah for the well-being of Raisi, met this morning with his Iranian counterpart to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River, a common border between the two countries.
As well as the Armenian authorities offered Iran their help in the search operation for the damaged helicopter.
“Armenia, as a close and friendly neighbor of Iran, is willing to offer all the necessary support,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In addition, Russia and several Arab countries announced their willingness to provide Iran with the necessary assistance to search for the helicopter and investigate the accident.
On the other hand, the Houthi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the department follows “with great concern the unfortunate news about the helicopter accident that transported the Iranian president and his loyal companions.”
The European Union (EU) activated at Iran’s request the Copernicus map system, designed to respond to emergencies, to help locate the crashed helicopter.
“After the request for assistance made by Iran, we are activating the Copernicus rapid response map service in view of the helicopter accident that allegedly transported the Iranian president and his Minister of Foreign Affairs,” European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, announced on social network X.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, also said in X that he is “following closely” together with the EU member countries and their partners all the information that comes around this event.
For its part, Turkey sent a team of 32 rescue expert mountaineers to Iran to help in the search.
“Iran has asked our country, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for a rescue helicopter with night vision,” the Turkish public emergency service, AFAD, says in a message in X.
From the Turkish provinces of Van and Erzurum, in the east of the country, six vehicles have already left with 32 rescue experts on the mountain to go to the search area, AFAD adds.
In addition, 15 other rescue mountaineers are prepared in several Turkish cities to intervene as well, the message says.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
International
Three salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
Three Salvadoran residents living in Orlando, Florida, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and wire fraud involving a scheme exceeding $146 million in the construction industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The sentence was handed down by federal judge Timothy J. Corrigan on Tuesday, July 29.
Eduardo Aníbal Escobar (45) was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez (36) to 3 years and 4 months, and Adelmy Tejada (57) to 18 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest. All three pled guilty on April 3, 2025.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered restitution payments totaling $36,957,616 to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes, and $397,895 to two insurers for workers’ compensation claims related to the scheme.
Escobar and Rodríguez are permanent legal residents originally from El Salvador, while Tejada is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin.
International
Kremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
The Kremlin expressed relief that the earthquakes that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula today —the first being the strongest since 1952— resulted in no casualties, and emphasized that the region is well prepared to face such natural disasters.
“Thank God, there were no victims,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing.
The presidential representative stated that “all alert systems were activated in time, and evacuations were organized for residents in areas requiring it in response to tsunami threats.”
“Overall, the seismic resilience of the buildings proved effective (…) Therefore, we can say that the technological preparedness demonstrated a high level,” Peskov added.
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