International
An anti-Revista candidate sees “desperation” as his biggest rival in the municipal elections
The opposition candidate for Mayor of Caracas Jorge Barragán assured, in an interview with EFE, that his main contender in next Sunday’s municipal elections in Venezuela is “desperance”, which, he considers, has been installed in the electorate due to distrust in the vote.
“Our main rival is not the (ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela) PSUV itself, our main rival is hopelessness. It’s getting up every day thinking that things are not going to change and that they (Chavismo) have already won,” said this 27-year-old.
Backed by the Alianza del Lápiz party, Barragán aspires to occupy the position held since 2021 by the admiral and former minister Carmen Meléndez, a charter of Chavismo for re-election, whose management he especially criticizes what he describes as the deterioration of public services, in particular the lack of water and garbage collection.
A native of Táchira, a state in the west of the country bordering Colombia, this opponent considers that change should not come from a “break” by force as, he says, proposed by some anti-Chavista sectors that call for abstention after the 2024 presidential elections, in which Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed the winner despite opposition’s allegations of “fraud”.
“I believe that the way is transition, and the transition is achieved through voting. The breakup has not worked in these 25 years that we have been living this political process,” he added.
Barragán, who began his career in the student movement at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), where he studied International Studies, is confident of winning the mayor’s office and explains that for this he has focused on taking his message to the streets of the capital.
Among its main proposals are the creation of a training center in technological trades aimed at young people, the development of a telemedicine application to improve access to health, a program of investment incentives through tax exemptions and the organization of the informal economy, which he prefers to call the “entrepreneurial sector”.
This young man wants to “turn Caracas into an educational city and example of Latin America,” he proposes to modernize it, “that people feel proud” of the capital “for the ideas, for the form and management,” as well as for coexistence and values.
For this he hopes to have the support of professionals from all over the country and the “human capital” of different political formations such as Unión y Cambio, promoted by the opponents Henrique Capriles and Tomás Guanipa -elected deputies to Parliament last May -, or Un Nuevo Tiempo, headed by figures such as former governor Manuel Rosales and Stalin González, who also got a chair for the legislative period 2026-2031.
As a politician, he distances himself from the “authoritarian” leaderships in the world and says he is inspired by leaders of Venezuelan history, such as former President Isaías Medina Angarita, also from Táchira.
International
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.
The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.
Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.
In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.
Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.
Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.
Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.
The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.
International
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday, the strongest to hit the country this century, has so far left 265 people dead and around 3,500 injured.
In Cali, Pereira and other cities in western Colombia, rescue teams are working around the clock as they search for survivors. The first 72 hours following the earthquake will be reached at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), a critical window for rescue efforts as the chances of finding survivors generally decline significantly after that point.
Among those anxiously awaiting news is Valeria Cardona, a 26-year-old student searching for two of her cousins in Cali.
“We have some suspicions about their location, but there are no signs of life,” she said. “Hope is the last thing you lose, but we are anxious about receiving news we don’t want to hear.”
A team of members from the Topos Aztecas, the renowned Mexican volunteer rescue group, has also arrived in Cali to join the search. The rescuers had been working in neighboring Venezuela, where a double earthquake on June 24 left more than 6,000 people dead.
“We all came from Venezuela, from La Guaira. The 41 days we spent working there made us stronger because we overcame hunger, pain and sleepless nights,” said Héctor Méndez, 80, president of Topos Aztecas.
Méndez encouraged those affected by the disaster not to lose hope and emphasized the commitment required from rescue teams during an emergency.
“Do not feel like victims. This is not an office or workshop schedule. This is real life, where the best part of the human spirit emerges. These are things of nature that happen,” he said.
International
German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
German authorities announced Monday that they are investigating more than 100 additional cases involving a nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 10 patients.
The man, who was 44 at the time of his conviction, worked in palliative care at a hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. He was also found guilty of 27 attempted murders.
Aachen prosecutors are now examining 121 new cases, a spokesperson for the office said.
Prosecutors leading the investigation are preparing a new indictment that could be filed next year. Nearly 40 bodies have so far been exhumed as part of the investigation, which covers alleged incidents dating back to September 2022.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the city of Cologne are investigating 18 additional cases. According to a spokesperson, the oldest case dates back to 2010.
Before working at the Würselen hospital, the nurse is believed to have worked at a clinic in eastern Cologne, according to local media reports.
At the time of his November conviction, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes was particularly serious, a finding that would make it difficult for him to obtain early release after 15 years in prison.
Between December 2023 and May 2024, the nurse administered overdoses of sedatives or painkillers to terminally ill patients, most of them elderly, according to the indictment in the original case.
His alleged motive was to sedate patients who required care so that he could minimize his workload during night shifts, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the nurse worked «without enthusiasm» and «without motivation». When faced with patients requiring extensive care, he allegedly became «irritated» and showed a lack of empathy.
The case has revived painful memories in Germany of Niels Högel, a former nurse and serial killer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 for the murders of at least 85 patients.
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time
German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International4 days agoColombia Earthquake Leaves at Least 22 Dead as Rescue Efforts Continue
-
International5 days agoJoe Biden’s Prostate Cancer Has Spread to His Bones, Son Hunter Reveals
-
International3 days agoVenezuela Raises Earthquake Death Toll to 6,301
-
International4 days agoRecord 230 Migrants Cross English Channel to UK in Single Boat
-
International3 days agoCEAPI Backs Colombia’s New Government and Calls for Greater Public-Private Cooperation
-
International3 days agoGerman Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
-
International11 hours agoThree U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
-
International11 hours ago
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time