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Venezuela quake death toll rises to nearly 3,000; foreign rescue teams begin winding down operations

Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes killed nearly 3,000, updated official figures showed on Saturday, as international rescue teams began winding down search operations for survivors in the rubble of the disaster. Fatalities jumped by more than 300 from Friday to 2,954, following the June 24 disaster that has left thousands homeless in the streets and sheltering in camps. Tens of thousands more are still reported missing. The government has not given any estimates, but the United Nations has estimated as many as 50,000 are unaccounted for following the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude shocks. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital, Caracas, where scores of residential complexes were flattened. Ten days after the double shocks, which came just 38 seconds apart, rescue teams are starting to wrap up searches for survivors while families still try to recover bodies of loved ones from the wr...
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Foreign women abduction case: Police ordered to treat 'minister-linked suspect' like any other criminal

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Faisal Kamran said on Sunday that the police were ordered to treat a suspect — reportedly linked to a senior government minister — in the case of alleged abduction and assault of two foreign women like “any other criminal”. On Thursday, the police booked five suspects over alleged abduction and sexual assault after the two women were rescued. Four of the suspects, including a close relative of a senior political personality, were arrested and later sent on a five-day physical remand . Addressing a press conference, he recounted the events leading up to the recovery of the women and the subsequent arrest of the suspects. “Our priority was to ensure the recovery of the women. We carried out raids in Sargodha and several other locations; at the same time, when we found the family tree of one of the suspects and after speaking to inhabitants at one of the raided houses, it emerged that the family of suspect used to live in the house some...
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'Hero of Kargil': Military top brass pays tribute to Karnal Sher Khan on 27th martyrdom anniversary

The leadership of the Pakistan armed forces paid tribute to Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed for his “unmatched courage, unwavering devotion, and supreme sacrifice” on the 27th anniversary of his martyrdom, the military’s media wing said on Sunday. Khan was martyred on July 5, 1999, while fighting against Indian forces in the snow-capped mountains in Kargil. The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said that Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, and Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and the armed forces of Pakistan paid “profound tribute” to Khan to his “unmatched courage, unwavering devotion, and supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation”. Khan had displayed “extraordinary gallantry and resolute leadership while defending the motherland against overwhelming odds” during the 1999 Kargil conflict, the ISPR statement said. “Leading from the front with exceptional determination, he embraced ...
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India eyes oil exploration expansion after Middle East war shortages

Hit by the biggest energy supply shock in decades during the Middle East war, import-dependent India is expanding domestic crude exploration, its oil minister says. India, the world’s third-largest importer of oil and the second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas, faced major disruptions due to restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict between the United States and Iran. With a temporary US-Iran deal in place to pause hostilities, oil and gas shipments are flowing through the Gulf waterway again, and restrictions and price hikes in India are being rolled back. But Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the energy crunch provided fresh impetus for India’s expansion of domestic supplies. “We are currently in the process… to bid out about 250,000 square kilometres (96,500 square miles) of unexplored area,” Puri told AFP. India is a modest producer in global terms. Domestic crude production in 2025-2026 was 25.98 million metric tonnes, ac...
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Hosts Canada, Mexico and USA thrive in their FIFA World Cup

Canada have already made World Cup history, while Mexico and the USA are also on course to beat their best-ever runs in the tournament as home advantage has paid dividends. AFP Sports looks at how all three co-hosts have thrived while others have struggled with the sprawling tournament spread over three countries and 17 cities. Mexico Swept along by fanatical support in the stadiums and the streets, Mexico have already ended a 40-year wait to win a knockout game by beating Ecuador to make the last 16. El Tri are confident of eliminating England in what could be a World Cup classic on Sunday. Javier Aguirre’s side made the most of a kind group-stage draw to ease past South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic. But the first-half destruction of Ecuador, who beat Germany in the group stages and finished second to Argentina in South American qualifying, served as a warning to England. Winger Julian Quinones has been Mexico’s breakout star wit...
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In pictures: Iranians chant ‘revenge, revenge’ as they gather for supreme leader Khamenei’s funeral

Mourners beat their chests and chanted “revenge, revenge” as thousands gathered in Tehran early on Saturday for a final farewell to assassinated supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, was killed in US-Israeli attacks on February 28 that sparked a regional war. “We have come not for the funeral but for revenge,” a eulogist at the event chanted. “We’re never going to give up your blood, which is the reddest line.” The mourners, some in tears, made their way through strict security towards the courtyard where Khamenei’s coffin was placed for people to pay their respects. “We must rise up and, God willing, avenge the blood of our leader,” Hamidreza Shabani, an 18-year-old student, told AFP. The coffin, wrapped in an Iranian flag, was unveiled on a stage from behind dark blue velvet drapes after recitations from the Quran. It stood on a raised platform accompanied by the coffins of his family memb...
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1,000 days of genocide: A tally of devastation in Gaza

More than 90pc of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed and more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 1,000 days since Israel started bombarding the besieged enclave following the retaliatory Hamas attack of Oct 7, 2023, according to the local government’s media office. The Palestinian government’s media office released key statistics on the destruction and death toll on Thursday, marking 1,000 days since the start of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. As of July 2, Israel has seized control of more than 80pc of the Gaza Strip, while 2.4 million people in the territory were being subjected to genocide, starvation and ethnic cleansing, the statement said. A plume of smoke rises above buildings in Gaza City on October 7, 2023 during an Israeli air strike. — AFP/File Of those killed by the Israeli military, more than 21,500 were children and more than 12,500 were women. More than 1,000 of the children killed were under the age of one, the state...
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