‘God is punishing the politicians’: anger at earthquake response grows in Venezuela

‘God is punishing the politicians’: anger at earthquake response grows in Venezuela

Public anger at what many perceive as the Venezuelan government’s botched response to twin earthquakes that killed nearly 4,500 people is growing, with one grieving mother caught on camera berating the son of former president Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro’s politician son received a hostile reception while visiting a semi-destroyed social housing project named after his father’s late mentor Hugo Chávez.

“I didn’t lose a kitchen! I lost a daughter!” the woman, named as Damely Yaneth Díaz, can be seen shouting at congressman Nicolás Maduro Guerra in scenes captured by the Norwegian broadcaster TV2 last week.

Share

With little help, Venezuelans try to rescue themselves: ‘We have only each other’

With little help, Venezuelans try to rescue themselves: ‘We have only each other’

When the ground shook in Venezuela, Alejandro Palombizio was home in Los Palos Grandes, a wealthy Caracas neighborhood. He heard a jarring noise, looked out, and watched the twin towers of an apartment complex fold into a cloud of dust.

The 29-year-old carried an elderly neighbor down the stairs, ran back up to get medicine for another and loaned his phone to people trying to reach family. He stayed at it for most of the next 72 hours. “These were my neighbors,” he said. “People I saw every day. I have to be here.”

Share

Venezuela Is Desperately Searching for 50,000 Missing After Earthquakes

Venezuela Is Desperately Searching for 50,000 Missing After Earthquakes

CARABALLEDA, Venezuela—The government-built high-rise where Alberto Sánchez’s girlfriend lived toppled into a mass of concrete and steel when twin earthquakes hit this Caribbean coastal city last week. He spent four days digging through rubble for her and her family—and found no one.

“Today I feel like I have no energy left,” Sánchez said on Sunday, his face weary as he took a break, blowing dust off his gloves and examining the holes in his sneakers.

Nearly 50,000 people are still unaccounted for, according to an online platform tracking missing loved ones, after Wednesday’s earthquakes flattened whole neighborhoods in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and a string of cities nearby.

Share

Crucial window for rescuing survivors narrows as Venezuela enters third day after deadly twin quakes

Crucial window for rescuing survivors narrows as Venezuela enters third day after deadly twin quakes

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and apartment buildings three days after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out to find survivors.

Authorities announced Friday night that they would block access to La Guaira, the epicenter of the destruction, as chaos and traffic were hampering search efforts. Officials said anyone who wants to enter would now have to seek official permits, but provided few details of who would be allowed in. More than 14,000 members of the military and police are patrolling the area, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on state television Saturday.

Share

Can Utah Save the Great Salt Lake?

Can Utah Save the Great Salt Lake?

Last August, a dust storm swept across northern Utah, crossed the Great Salt Lake, and kept going, carrying toxic sediment more than 50 miles through heavily populated areas. Buildings disappeared into a brown haze. Cars were coated in a fine, pale film. Parents kept children inside. Health officials issued advisories about toxic particles now suspended in the air above one of America’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas.

Share

Ebola moving faster than responders can contain it, warns WHO

Ebola moving faster than responders can contain it, warns WHO

Ebola is racing through the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo faster than health workers can respond, the World Health Organisation has warned, as suspected deaths passed 220.

“At the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the UN agency, said before he arrived in the Congo to oversee the response.

Share

Number of suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo passes 900 as health workers face attacks and shortages

Number of suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo passes 900 as health workers face attacks and shortages

Congolese authorities say that suspected Ebola cases have now passed 900 in the ongoing outbreak in the east of the country.

The Congolese ministry of communication, in a post on X on Sunday, said there were 904 suspected cases and 119 suspected deaths.

Authorities had previously announced more than 700 suspected Ebola cases, and more than 170 suspected deaths, mostly in Ituri province, where the outbreak is centred.

Share

Tour guide company behind nine skiers missing in avalanche breaks silence – as it’s slammed for ‘preventable’ disaster

A tour guide company that organized the trip for a large group of backcountry skiers who went missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe has broken its silence.

Fifteen people are believed to have been hit by the terrifying slide on Tuesday morning as snow battered the region. Six were known to have survived, while nine remain unaccounted for.

Mountain rescue launched a huge operation to find them on skis and snowcats, but has been struggling against horrific conditions that saw the entire region cut off.

WTF?

Share

Can the US Grid Handle the Next Winter Storm Fern – or Major Solar Flares?

Blizzard of 66

US mostly dodged disaster this time. But what if Net Zero mandates aren’t adjusted or ended?

Winter Storm Fern (January 23-27) dumped heavy snow and ice on more than 240 million Americans across 40 states and 2,300 miles, beginning in Arizona and wrapping up in Maine.

Scores died, including 20 in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to close homeless camps or compel “unhoused residents” to move indoors, instead letting them rely on the “warmth of collectivism.”

Share

9.0 quake in B.C. would kill thousands and cost $128 billion, report foresees

VICTORIA – A British Columbia government report foresees more than 3,400 fatalities and more than 10,000 injuries if an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 strikes off Vancouver Island.

The scenario of such a “megathrust” quake also describes costs of $128 billion, the destruction of 18,000 buildings and extensive damage to 10,000.

The analysis is part of the B.C. disaster and climate risk assessment, dated October 2025, and says such a quake is “one of the more likely earthquake scenarios in B.C.”

Share

Elephants flip and trample British tourists’ canoes in Botswana

A canoe carrying British tourists was capsized and trampled by an elephant in a crocodile-filled river in Botswana.

The bull elephant charged at several canoes which were on a wildlife safari in the Okavango Delta on Saturday. It was believed to have been protecting its young after the guides steering the canoes misjudged how close they could get.

Share