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Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after being convicted of war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia. Thaci stepped down from the presidency nearly six years ago to face charges before the European Union-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. He was found guilty on four counts of war crimes, including murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. Both Thaci and prosecutors, who had sought a harsher sentence, have the right to appeal. The verdict triggered anger among Thaci’s supporters and dealt a major blow to a man who was once strongly supported by Western countries, was invited to the 1999 peace talks in France and was viewed as a leader capable of guiding Kosovo toward independence. Presiding Judge Charles Smith said Thaci had actively participated in and encouraged crimes, including by promoting people involved in criminal acts. He also said Thaci “showed a ruthless ability to remove and eliminate political impediments” to his own leadership and that of other commanders. Wearing a suit and tie, Thaci stood silently as Smith announced the sentence. Supporters condemn verdict Kosovo Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca condemned the verdicts as “a terrible judgment for Kosovo, for our people and for our liberation war.” Hundreds of Thaci supporters gathered at a park near the courthouse in The Hague, with some briefly clashing with Dutch riot police. Police said on X that two people were detained. In Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, thousands watched the hearing live on a large screen and reacted with shock to the sentence. Some shouted “UCK,” the Albanian-language acronym for the Kosovo Liberation Army, which Thaci led before entering politics. Bekim Fetahu, one of the supporters, described the verdict as “a catastrophic decision.” “They (judges) have put the victims together with the aggressors,” Fetahu said. Later, masked protesters threw stones at the compound of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, on the outskirts of Pristina, breaking several windows. Judge says trial focused on Thaci’s responsibility, not KLA’s legitimacyJudge Smith said Thaci “used his position, leadership, authority and standing” to encourage crimes and failed to investigate or punish abuses committed by KLA fighters. The American judge, however, emphasized that the trial was “not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army” or its ultimate objective of achieving independence for Kosovo, which was then a province of Serbia. Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West welcomed the judgment. “Certain individuals exploited those war circumstances to commit grave crimes, and it is to the credit of Kosovo that those individuals are now being held accountable,” she said in a statement. In Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, “we have no reason to rejoice,” while expressing concern that the verdict might not survive the appeals process. Vucic also criticized the failure to consider several other alleged crimes against ethnic Serb civilians, alleging anti-Serb bias. “No responsibility has been established for the toughest crimes,” he said. “Serbs are always (war) criminals and others are liberators and heroes.” Thaci was tried alongside three other former KLA leaders who fought Serbian forces during the 1998-99 conflict and are widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo. All four pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court acquitted them of six charges of crimes against humanity, ruling that prosecutors had failed to prove the crimes were part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians. However, they were convicted of war crimes involving the arbitrary detention of 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, torture of 303 detainees and the murder of 96 people. Thaci and the other defendants — Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi — continued to maintain their innocence. Veseli was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Selimi to 13 years and Krasniqi to 25 years. Veseli’s lawyer, Rodney Dixon, described the verdict as “not a good day for Kosovo. It’s not a good day for the rule of law or international law.” He said he would “mount a robust appeal to continue the fight to show Mr. Veseli’s innocence and to bring him home to Kosovo.” Thaci remained defiant throughout trial At the conclusion of his trial in February, Thaci told the judges: “Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo, defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice.” The court, however, ruled that Thaci and his co-defendants had targeted political opponents and civilians whom they regarded as collaborators and traitors during their time in the KLA. “In reality, there is no indication that the victims in this case were spies or collaborators,” Smith said. He added that simply having “Serbian friends or jobs in Serbian companies was enough to treat them as collaborators” with the enemy. When the war began, Thaci was a student who returned from what he described as political exile in Switzerland to join Kosovo’s independence struggle. He was given the nickname “the Snake” for his ability to evade Serbian forces during the conflict. Thaci became a prominent political figure after the war but resigned as president to defend himself before the court in The Hague. Esther Major, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Europe, said the convictions “show that senior officials are not above the law.” About 13,000 people were killed during the Kosovo war, most of them ethnic Albanians. A 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian forces brought the conflict to an end, while about 1 million ethnic Albanian Kosovars were forced from their homes. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognize it. Relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense despite years of EU-mediated negotiations backed by the United States.

An Argentine federal judge on Wednesday ordered British and Israeli companies to suspend development of an oilfield near the Falkland Islands, creating a new legal front in the decades-old sovereignty dispute between Argentina and Britain that Argentine President Javier Milei has intensified in recent weeks. The injunction issued by Judge Mariel Borruto, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, targets the Sea Lion oil project about 220 kilometers (140 miles) north of the British-controlled islands in the South Atlantic. The order bars drilling, offshore installations and port construction until Argentine authorities can conduct an environmental assessment and make a decision. In practice, however, the ruling is unlikely to stop the project's progress. Borruto acknowledged that enforcement “depends on international cooperation and the conduct” of the two companies involved — Israel's Navitas Petroleum and Britain's Rockhopper Exploration. Both companies have already said they intend to continue with the project despite Milei's threats to impose tougher sanctions on them and other businesses operating around the islands. Rockhopper declined to comment, while Navitas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the injunction. Commercial oil production from Sea Lion is expected to begin in 2028, raising the stakes in a territorial dispute that led Argentina and Britain into a brief but bloody war in 1982. For the islands' roughly 3,500 residents, the oil project could transform an economy that has long relied on fishing. Argentina, which refers to the islands as the Malvinas, considers the oil resources its own and opposes foreign companies extracting them. Argentina's claim to the archipelago, located about 480 kilometers (300 miles) off its coast, is enshrined in the country's constitution and remains a deeply rooted part of its national identity, receiving support across political divisions. Trump comments add uncertainty U.S. President Donald Trump, a close ally of Argentina's libertarian president, has introduced further uncertainty into the dispute in recent weeks. Citing Britain's lack of support for his war against Iran, Trump has suggested that Washington could reconsider its traditionally neutral position on the sovereignty of the islands. Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Saturday, Trump again questioned whether Britain would be able to retake the Falklands as it did following Argentina's 1982 invasion under military rule. “I don't know if they're going to be willing to travel that far,” he said. Milei seized on what he described as “winds of change” following Trump's comments earlier this month. In a national address on Sept. 3, he announced measures against companies developing oilfields around the islands. He said the projects represented a “clear and urgent danger” to Argentina's sovereignty claim and pledged to use all “diplomatic, economic, judicial and legal tools” available to defend it. His government is preparing legislation to expand sanctions against companies involved in oil projects around the islands. It has also filed three criminal complaints against Tel Aviv-listed Navitas and nine other companies and their executives, accusing them of violating Argentine law by conducting oil operations without authorization from Argentina. The potential impact of the charges on the Sea Lion project remains unclear. Britain rejects Argentina's legal campaign Britain has responded defiantly to Argentina's legal actions, arguing that the people living in the Falklands should determine the territory's status. It points to a 2013 referendum in which island residents overwhelmingly voted to remain a British territory. “Argentine domestic law does not apply within the Islands,” the British government said Tuesday in guidance intended to reassure businesses operating there. Wednesday's ruling by the federal court in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina's southernmost province, came from a separate civil lawsuit filed by environmental lawyers and veterans of the 1982 war. The plaintiffs are seeking to prevent environmental damage from the oil project. Their complaint cites potential ecological risks including chemical pollution, underwater noise, increased ship traffic and possible oil spills. Borruto warned that allowing drilling and construction to continue could cause changes to the marine ecosystem that might be difficult to reverse. “The risk is neither hypothetical nor remote,” she wrote, noting that work on the project's infrastructure had already begun.

A building weakened by Israeli strikes collapsed suddenly in Gaza City early Wednesday, killing at least 21 people, including 11 children, as they slept, with rescuers forced to search through the rubble with their bare hands. The collapse of the building, which had been considered unstable since it was damaged in earlier Israeli strikes during the war, highlighted the increasingly dangerous living conditions faced by much of Gaza’s population as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas remains stalled. Almost a year after the ceasefire was agreed, no reconstruction work has taken place. Israel has said it will not allow rebuilding until Hamas disarms, while only a limited number of excavators have been permitted to enter Gaza. Asked whether machinery would be allowed into Gaza to assist with the collapse, COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for coordinating aid to the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli government’s policy allows heavy machinery to enter Gaza. Six Palestinian families sheltered in the building By Wednesday afternoon, the death toll included 11 children and five women, Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi said. At least 14 others were injured, he said, adding that rescuers had completed their search of the rubble. About six displaced Palestinian families had been sheltering in the building despite knowing that it was at risk of collapsing, according to Gaza’s civil defense. “The lack of options and alternatives left them with no other choice,” said Aboud Majdalawi, a civil defense rescuer. Around 2 million people in Gaza are now living in an area covering less than half of the enclave. They depend heavily on humanitarian aid and remain surrounded by Israeli troops, who continue to conduct strikes or attacks almost daily. Rescuers search for bodies with bare hands Following the collapse, residents desperately searched for relatives and loved ones. Men were seen carrying the headless body of a child, while others sat on the rubble and frantically pulled at flashes of color they thought might be clothing worn by a survivor. Instead, they found dust-covered blankets trapped beneath the debris. The collapse occurred as rescue workers across Gaza continued efforts to recover hundreds of bodies from buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes earlier in the war. Only a few excavators are operational, while fuel supplies are running low. The U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday that he feared the bodies recovered so far represented only the “tip of the iceberg.” “It is heartbreaking that the loved ones of those missing for so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed,” he said. “Much of Gaza has been flattened by Israeli bombing or demolition and clearing by heavy machinery and explosives.” Many Palestinians living in unsafe structures More than one-fifth of the buildings assessed in Gaza City by the Norwegian Refugee Council in March were found to be structurally unsound, but residents said they had no other place to go. The council leads a coalition of shelter providers operating in Gaza. The coalition said in an assessment released in August that two-thirds of Palestinian households in the enclave were living in tent camps. Among households living in buildings, 72% were staying in structures that had suffered minor or moderate damage. The war began after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Many hostages later described prolonged starvation, physical and psychological abuse and, in some cases, sexual abuse. Although an October ceasefire has significantly reduced fighting in Gaza, Israel has continued conducting strikes that have killed at least 1,375 people since the agreement took effect, according to local health officials. The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 73,789 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, keeps detailed records that U.N. agencies and international organizations generally consider reliable. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says women and children account for about half of the deaths.

An Argentine court on Friday approved an agreement clearing the way for the return of an 18th-century portrait looted from a prominent Jewish art dealer during World War II to his surviving heir. The agreement allows Patricia Kadgien, daughter of a former senior Nazi official, and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, to give up their claim to the painting in exchange for avoiding a criminal trial and remaining under court supervision for two years. The work, known as “Portrait of a Lady,” will be returned to Marei von Saher, the sole surviving heir of Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Goudstikker's extensive art collection was forcibly sold to Nazi officials after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. The couple had been charged with aggravated cover-up last year after authorities alleged they concealed the painting despite knowing that investigators were searching for it. Under the court-approved deal, the couple must remain under judicial supervision for two years, make payments to a hospital in Mar del Plata, where they live, and regularly report their whereabouts to authorities. The painting was rediscovered after Dutch journalists investigating Friedrich Kadgien, a former Nazi financial official who fled to Argentina after the war, spotted it in an online property listing for his daughter's home in Mar del Plata in August 2025. The listing was removed shortly after a Dutch newspaper published the discovery. Argentine police searched the property several times without finding the artwork before Kadgien's lawyer eventually handed it over to authorities. The portrait had long been attributed to Italian Baroque painter Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi. However, an examination ordered by the court and conducted by Argentina's National Academy of Fine Arts attributed it to Italian painter Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti. Experts confirmed that the painting had belonged to Goudstikker's collection and estimated its value at about 250,000 euros ($290,000). Goudstikker was among Europe's leading art dealers before World War II and owned works by renowned painters including Rembrandt and Vermeer. He died in a shipwreck while fleeing the Netherlands with his family as German forces invaded in May 1940. About 1,100 works from his collection were illegally sold to Hermann Göring, one of Adolf Hitler's most powerful associates and a major collector of looted art. It remains unclear how the portrait later came into the possession of Friedrich Kadgien, who served as Göring's financial adviser and was involved in handling foreign currency, precious metals and confiscated property for the Nazi regime. Kadgien escaped Europe after the war, eventually settling in Argentina, where he died in 1978 without being arrested or prosecuted for war crimes. Von Saher, who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, has spent decades seeking the return of artworks stolen from her family. Her lawyers said she has agreed to have the portrait exhibited in Argentina before it is returned to her. Argentine authorities also recovered two 19th-century paintings, along with prints and engravings, during searches last year of properties belonging to Kadgien and her sister in Mar del Plata. Investigators are examining whether any of those works were also looted during World War II.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States has reached a major agreement with Venezuela that could give an American-backed private company access to the South American nation's vast oil reserves. Trump described the agreement as the “biggest oil deal in world history”, saying it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Rodríguez's government said the agreement covers the development of 17 oil fields with proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It estimated that the deal could attract around $100 billion in investment and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for Venezuela. Under the agreement, the United States would partner with an unnamed private operator to establish a new company to develop the oil fields, according to a U.S. official familiar with the deal. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly, said Rodríguez had granted the company rights to develop the fields for 100 years. The company would give the United States an effective 55% share of its output, including an ownership stake and the right to purchase oil at cost, the official said. If realized, the company would become the world's second-largest corporate holder of proven oil reserves after Saudi Aramco. Trump under pressure over high fuel prices The announcement comes as Trump faces pressure to reduce high fuel prices in the United States amid the ongoing war in Iran and disruptions to global energy supplies. The U.S. government has been drawing from its strategic petroleum reserves, which fell below 300 million barrels in early August, more than 100 million barrels lower than at the beginning of 2026. The conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has sharply reduced the flow of Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a major global energy route that previously carried about 20% of the world's petroleum. The average U.S. gasoline price was around $4.09 per gallon on Friday, compared with $3.21 a year earlier, according to AAA. However, experts said the Venezuelan agreement is unlikely to bring immediate relief at the gas pump. Increasing Venezuela's oil production substantially would require years of investment to repair and expand its badly damaged infrastructure. Major U.S. oil companies could also be reluctant to return because of Venezuela's political uncertainty and their previous experiences operating in the country. After Maduro's removal, Trump met oil executives at the White House and urged them to return to Venezuela. Although executives showed interest, some remained cautious. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods had previously described Venezuela as an “un-investable” market. Trump has maintained that his administration has helped bring greater stability to Venezuela. He has also accused the country of taking U.S. oil after former President Hugo Chávez nationalized hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those belonging to American oil companies. Venezuela opens oil sector to private investment Rodríguez moved to open Venezuela's oil industry to greater private investment after taking power, reversing a key policy of the socialist movement that has governed the country for more than two decades. Rubio said the new agreement would bring billions of dollars in private investment to Venezuela while helping reduce fuel prices in the United States. The U.S. official said oil purchased from the new company would be used to replenish the American strategic petroleum reserve and for military purposes. Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven crude oil reserves, estimated at around 303 billion barrels, or approximately 17% of global reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of the country's oil deposits have already been identified, but aging infrastructure has severely limited production. Venezuela currently accounts for only about 1% of global oil output. Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro remains jailed in the United States. He has pleaded not guilty to federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

At least 23 people were killed and five others injured when a minibus and a truck collided head-on in Brazil’s southern Parana state early Wednesday, police said. The crash occurred around 3:30 a.m. on a highway near Ipiranga, a city about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Sao Paulo, according to traffic police. Preliminary investigations suggest the truck, which was empty at the time, crossed into the opposite lane and struck the minibus head-on. The minibus was traveling from nearby Imbituva, while the truck was registered in Erechim city in the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul. The minibus was carrying healthcare workers, patients and several family members, authorities said. Among the dead were 13 women, eight men and two children, according to the company operating toll facilities on the highway. Three of the five injured people were in serious condition and were being taken to hospitals, police said. Emergency personnel and police remained at the scene for several hours following the crash. The highway was closed for about seven hours as rescue and recovery operations continued. Television footage showed the badly damaged minibus and the truck lying beside the road, with broken glass and passengers’ belongings scattered around the crash site. The accident was the deadliest in the region since 2021, when 19 people were killed after a bus crashed near Curitiba. Parana Gov. Ratinho Júnior declared three days of mourning following the tragedy.

Aid from regional partners began arriving in Colombia on Wednesday as rescue teams intensified their search for survivors in the rubble left by a powerful earthquake that destroyed buildings, damaged roads and crushed vehicles. The disaster has put pressure on Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as they work to coordinate the emergency response, while civil society groups are also mobilizing assistance for the hardest-hit communities. De la Espriella said Wednesday evening that at least 265 people had been killed in Monday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia. Nearly 500 people were officially reported missing, although civilian-run databases put the number at more than 4,100. More than 25,800 families have been affected, the president said. “Our efforts are focused on the disappeared,” he told reporters in the capital, Bogotá. Rescue teams continued searching through collapsed structures in the worst-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo as the chances of finding survivors alive diminished with each passing hour. Aid agencies say the first 48 to 72 hours are especially critical for rescue operations, although people trapped under rubble can sometimes survive longer if they have access to food and water. Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, said Wednesday afternoon that rescue workers were still finding indications that people remained alive beneath the rubble. “The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people alive,” he said. “Every minute is vital.” Survivors pulled from rubble In Pereira, rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the debris late Tuesday after a difficult 12-hour operation. Crews created a small opening to free her trapped arm, while a doctor administered intravenous fluids to stabilize her. Wrapped in a blue blanket, the young woman was carried to an ambulance as firefighters embraced and residents cheered. In another rescue operation in the same city, however, a man was pulled from a damaged building dead and covered with a white blanket. Authorities across the coffee-growing region, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, have turned sports arenas, schools and other public buildings into temporary shelters for thousands of displaced people. Ebert Jonathan Morales, a resident of Cali, said his family had lost everything. “My house was completely destroyed. We can't live there,” Morales said. “It collapsed. The floor collapsed, the walls cracked. The roof came down.” In Pereira and Cali, many families have been sleeping in parks, either because they fear aftershocks and further collapses or because they no longer have homes to return to. Colombia’s geological service has recorded 130 aftershocks since the main earthquake. “We have the most important things: a roof over our heads, food, water and, in my case, medical care,” said Edith Penagos, 48, who was staying with her teenage son in a white tent in a Pereira park. Rodrigo León Loya, a seismologist and geosciences professor at the University of the Andes, said the likelihood of another earthquake of similar strength occurring in the same area is low, but he cautioned that further seismic activity cannot be ruled out. “Let's remember that Colombia is full of active fault lines,” he said. “The question isn't whether it can happen again. The question is rather when an earthquake of similar magnitude will occur at another of Colombia's seismic sources.” Humanitarian crisis complicates responseThe official response has been particularly difficult in many parts of Choco, the region where the earthquake was centered. The area has long struggled with severe poverty and armed conflict that has displaced people for decades. The full extent of the earthquake’s impact in the remote, jungle-covered northwest remains unclear because cellphone services have been disrupted and many affected communities can only be reached by river. “This earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,” said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Several humanitarian organizations were already operating in Choco, supporting the 2016 peace agreement between the government and leftist rebels and responding to continued violence involving other armed groups. Those organizations were able to quickly shift their operations toward earthquake relief, said María José Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia. “We have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be there, present with the people, I think, has increased exponentially,” Torres said in a statement Tuesday. International aid arrives Meanwhile, assistance from foreign governments and international organizations continued to arrive in Colombia. The U.S. State Department said disaster response teams began arriving Monday. Washington has also offered more than $15 million in aid. Mexico said it sent two military aircraft carrying 19.5 tons of nonperishable food and 19 members of its security forces to Pereira. It plans to send another 39 tons of aid in the coming days. Another 255 military specialists and 20 dogs are on standby to deploy to Colombia if needed. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele offered to send two planes carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid. Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday expressed support for those involved in the recovery effort and said he was praying for those killed, injured and otherwise affected by the earthquake. “I want to express my solidarity with my Colombian sisters and brothers who have suffered the effects of the recent earthquake,” he said.

The search for survivors trapped under the rubble of Colombia’s powerful earthquake became increasingly urgent Wednesday as rescue teams raced against time to find signs of life. The disaster has put new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government under pressure as they work to respond to the emergency, while civil society groups are trying to deliver assistance to vulnerable communities hardest hit by the quake. By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the magnitude 7.4 earthquake had killed at least 181 people and injured 2,595 others in western Colombia. He said at least 195 people remained missing, although databases maintained by civilian groups put the number closer to 4,000. Search teams worked through the night in the worst-affected cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo, as the chances of finding victims alive diminished with each passing hour. Aid organizations consider the first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster critical for rescuing survivors, although the period can be extended when victims have access to food and water. There have been moments of hope amid the destruction, including rescuers pulling a dust-covered baby through a gap in a concrete wall and crowds cheering as a woman was carried from the rubble on a stretcher. In many areas, the government’s disaster response has been complicated by long-standing poverty and decades of armed conflict that have displaced large numbers of people. “This earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,” said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. The 2016 peace agreement between the government and rebels, along with the country’s continuing armed conflict, could help humanitarian organizations distribute food and other emergency supplies more quickly, said María José Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia. Humanitarian organizations already have a presence in several conflict-affected areas as a result of the peace process, including Choco, which was at the epicenter of the earthquake. “We have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be there, present with the people, I think, has increased exponentially,” Torres said in a statement Tuesday. Meanwhile, international governments and nonprofit organizations continued sending assistance to Colombia. The United States has pledged more than $15 million in aid, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country was ready to deploy hundreds of search-and-rescue and health workers, along with tons of medical supplies and other equipment. On Tuesday afternoon, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said El Salvador would send two planes carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid in the coming days. “Our prayers are with the families of the victims, the wounded and all the Colombian people,” Bukele wrote on X.

At least 132 people have been killed and more than 480 injured after one of Colombia's strongest earthquakes in years struck the country, prompting the government to declare a national disaster as rescue teams searched for people believed to be trapped beneath collapsed buildings. The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck at 7:34 am local time Monday at a depth of 103 kilometers (64 miles) in Chocó province, according to Colombia's geological service. The powerful tremor was felt across a vast area of western Colombia. Many of the deaths were reported in Pereira, a city in the country's coffee-growing region, while surrounding areas and the Valle del Cauca region also suffered significant damage. The epicenter was near the village of San José del Palmar in Chocó province. Despite damage to roads leading in and out of the village, local mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said there were no reported deaths or injuries there. Colombia's Association of Capital Cities said more than 480 people had been injured in the earthquake. Pereira, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) from the epicenter, was among the hardest-hit cities. Videos verified by the BBC showed at least one building collapsing in Plaza Bolívar, the city's main square, leaving debris and clouds of dust scattered across the area. Local authorities reported at least 40 deaths in Pereira's metropolitan area and said 65 buildings had collapsed. People were believed to be trapped inside 15 of those structures. A curfew was imposed in parts of Pereira until 5am Tuesday. In Cali, about 160 kilometers south of Pereira and roughly 200 kilometers from the epicenter, 32 buildings collapsed. Dan Cutler, 29, a London resident who has been traveling in Colombia with his partner for about two months, was in Cali when the earthquake struck. "I've never experienced anything like it," he told the BBC, saying they ran outside in their pajamas after being awakened by the tremor. He said their hotel suffered no major structural damage, although there were cracks in the walls and some paint and plaster had fallen away. Deaths were also reported in Manizales, Quibdó and Medellín, as well as in the Chocó and Valle del Cauca regions. At least two people were killed in Manizales. Angélica Ávila, who was staying at a hotel in Manizales, said cracks appeared in the walls as the earthquake struck. "Everyone was screaming," she told BBC World Service, adding that she saw dust coming from neighboring buildings and bricks falling from walls. Journalist and meteorologist Luis Felipe Molina, who was at home in Manizales, about 150 kilometers from the epicenter, said the city has strict seismic-resistant building regulations because of previous earthquakes. He said his building withstood the impact, although most of the books on his shelves fell and there were sounds of breaking glass and people screaming. Colombia's aviation authority reported damage at several regional airports, including those in Pereira, Manizales, Quibdó, Armenia, Cartago and Buenaventura. In the capital Bogotá, trees and traffic lights shook violently, and some buildings developed cracks, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage to major infrastructure. Tremors were also felt in neighboring Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama. The earthquake struck less than two months after twin earthquakes devastated northern Venezuela, killing more than 6,300 people. President Abelardo de la Espriella declared a national disaster situation, giving authorities special powers to respond to the emergency and reallocate funds. The president, who took office only Friday, said more than 1,500 homes had been damaged. As the scale of the destruction became clearer, several countries offered support. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was closely monitoring the situation and was ready to assist. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU's Copernicus satellite system was being used to support rescue efforts. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele expressed solidarity with Colombia and offered personnel and equipment to help with rescue operations. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that about 1.5 million people experienced shaking close to magnitude 7. The agency said deep earthquakes such as Monday's are generally less dangerous than those occurring closer to the Earth's surface. However, they can still release energy capable of damaging buildings and may produce fewer but potentially stronger aftershocks. #From BBC

The death toll from the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela last month has climbed to 5,069 as recovery and debris removal operations continue, authorities said on Friday. In a statement, the interim government of President Delcy Rodriguez said the number of injured remained unchanged at 16,740, the same figure reported over the past 11 days. Officials said the higher death toll resulted from ongoing search and recovery efforts, particularly in the coastal state of La Guaira, which suffered the worst damage from the June 24 earthquakes near the Caribbean Sea. Authorities have recorded 1,331 aftershocks since the twin earthquakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5. According to the government, the quakes damaged 856 buildings, while 190 structures collapsed completely. Hundreds of other facilities, including bridges and roads, also sustained varying degrees of damage. Rescue, recovery and damage assessment operations are continuing in the affected areas, officials said.