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Venezuela earthquakes: at least 32 dead, 700 injured and dozens of buildings collapsed, says interim president – latest updates

If you’re just joining us, here are some of the latest updates, as rescuers continue to search for survivors after two back-to-back earthquakes hit Venezuela. At least 32 people are dead and another 700 injured following the twin earthquakes that rocked northern Venezuela around 6pm Wednesday, local time. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km (100 miles) west of Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency after the earthquakes collapsed buildings and led to the closure of the main airport. Donald Trump has pledged support to Venezuela, including aid and personnel, adding there were “a devastating number of deaths”. Rescuers from others countries were arriving in Venezuela over the coming hours. Images and videos show flattened buildings, homes, hotels and dust and debris lining the streets of Caracas and nearby regions. Eyewitnesses described the terror of walls cracking and shaking around them, and watching people food into the streets screaming. Rescuers have been working through the night to try to find people who may still be trapped and many residents have reported feeling too scared to return home due to the possibility of big aftershocks. Read the full report here:

Thursday briefing: Why EU-Taliban talks have sparked outrage among Afghan women

Good morning. It’s a slap in the face. That’s the phrase I kept hearing – in furious overnight messages, in blazing opinion columns – as Afghan women responded to the meeting between EU officials and the Taliban that took place in Brussels on Tuesday. The talks, to discuss how to scale up the deportation of Afghan migrants, were met with widespread outrage, and disbelief that Europe would countenance offering legitimacy to a regime that affords a bird better protections than a woman. For today’s First Edition, I spoke to our European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam about the reaction to this meeting, what it tells us about European migration policy and the insidious consequences of normalisation. But first the headlines. Five big stories World news | Venezuela’s interim leader has declared a state of emergency after the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes that collapsed dozens of buildings and killed at least 32 people, with experts warning the death toll could rise significantly. Heatwave | The UK has broken its all-time temperature record for June and France has recorded its hottest day ever for the second day running, as a heatwave affecting more than 90 million people sweeps across swathes of Europe. UK politics | Donald Trump has labelled Andy Burnham “extremely liberal”, in his first public comments about the former Greater Manchester mayor since he emerged as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer. Europe news | The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in France, the country’s health ministry has said, in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission to an area affected by the outbreak in the DRC. UK news | A little-known system in which US military personnel are tried through a court martial for alleged crimes committed in the UK is under growing scrutiny. In depth: ‘Our suffering doesn’t amount to anything’ In the five years since the Taliban regime swept back to power in Kabul after the chaotic 2021 withdrawal of US and Nato troops, the rights of women and girls have been mercilessly constricted: no schooling beyond the age of 11, exclusion from the job market and public spaces, and a brutal new marriage law that perpetuates domestic violence and child abuse. “This is something that the EU has been very vocal in condemning,” Ashifa says, pointing me to consecutive resolutions passed by the European parliament, earlier this year stating “Afghan women and girls have been subjected to systematic persecution.” “Women’s lives have shrunk incredibly and it’s been horrific to watch from the outside,” Ashifa continues. And yet after 20 member states called for concrete pathways to deport Afghans without legal residence permits, the European Commission confirmed a meeting with the Taliban was being arranged. The talks, which took place on Tuesday, would focus on those who “pose a security threat” to the EU, a spokesperson said. And that’s an apparent piece of legerdemain right there, says Ashifa, speaking to me from Spain. “When European officials did admit they were having talks, they emphasised that deportations would focus on people who had committed crimes or were seen as security threats. But when the invitation letter went to Taliban officials, it referenced Afghans with no legal right to be in the EU. That’s two very different things.” Following angry protests outside the Brussels parliament and condemnation from human rights campaigners, the EU stands accused of allowing the far right’s anti-immigration rhetoric to set its policy agenda, putting lives in danger and legitimising a repressive regime. The European parliament has shifted its centre of political gravity over recent years, with a record number of right wing MEPs elected in 2024. *** The story of asylum According to EU data, member states received about 1 million asylum applications from Afghans between 2013 and 2024, with roughly half approved. While numbers have fallen since 2022, people from Afghanistan still made up the highest number of applicants last year, with many in Germany, which has the largest Afghan community in the bloc. Many Afghans fled after the Taliban’s return to power, fearing reprisals for working with US and allied forces, directly or indirectly, and for opposing their oppressive theocratic regime. In fact Ashifa reminds me that in 2021, when the Taliban’s return was imminent, EU countries made significant efforts to evacuate embassy staff and others at risk including journalists, human rights campaigners and prominent women. Contrary to the standard trope that asylum seekers are younger males, “women came over, and we know that they would be in huge danger if they were sent back”. “You could also be deporting people who were opponents of the Taliban when the US had its puppet regime there, who face persecution if they return”. There’s no official breakdown from member states on who is applying from Afghanistan, how long they’ve been in the EU or what happens when their claims are rejected. A report published by the UN last year found that many Afghans who were returned to the country, most by Pakistan and Iran, experienced arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill treatment at the hands of the authorities. Moreover, Ashifa points out that the country is in the grip not just of a human rights crisis but a humanitarian one: about 40% of the population is affected by hunger. “What happens if we send people back to this country that is not in any kind of shape to be receiving them?” she asks, “and how can the EU say that it’s guaranteeing the rights of the people it is deporting?” Ashifa tells me about a group of teenagers, some as young as 16 and 17, she met last October in Serbia, who were trying to make it into the EU without papers . “They were children who should’ve been in high school or university. And instead they’re being tortured by human traffickers because they’re so desperate to earn money for their starving families.” *** The hardening of EU migration policy This shift in dealing with the Taliban is part of a broader hardening of the EU’s policy on asylum and migration and it’s critical, says Ashifa, to understand the context of “a parliament that is very focused on the idea of deportation and willing to steamroll its international rights obligations”. In June, the parliament passed a tranche of updates to the EU migration and asylum pact, which human rights organisations warn could facilitate “ICE-style” detection, raids, detention and offshore return practices across Europe. As soon as it was passed, Ashifa recalls, the parliament erupted with cheers from right wing MEPs and chants of “send them back”, countered with shouts of “shame on you” from progressives . “International law states that asylum cases must be considered individually, but what you saw there was a group rejection,” she says. “That moment captured how for some lawmakers in the EU, international human rights obligations are secondary to the imperative of getting rid of these people and fortifying borders.” There is, however, a notable exception in Spain, where Ashifa is based. “Like most of Europe, there’s a looming demographic crisis here. But unlike the rest of Europe, the centre left coalition government has led a facts-based conversation on the importance of migration.” *** What next and any hope? It is worth taking a moment to absorb the potential consequences of a diplomatic transaction that normalises gender apartheid. There has been no official read out of what was agreed or discussed at the meeting – even the venue was kept secret – but the leader of the Afghan delegation has said discussions included possible resumptions of consular services. “So we know that the EU wants to send back these people. But what is the Taliban getting out of this?” asks Ashifa. “Are the EU willing to send cash to the Taliban? Are they going to legitimise them by having more Taliban officials across the continent, which then becomes a safety issue for these diaspora communities?” Although EU officials have insisted this meeting does not amount to any kind of recognition of the Taliban, “it’s definitely normalising,” says Ashifa. “You can’t host a meeting in Brussels and give out visas without legitimising them”. Zahra Nader is editor-in-chief of Zan Times, a newsroom-in-exile that regularly collaborates with the Guardian. Like our other long-term partners Rukshana Media, they are journalism collectives run on an absolute shoestring that employ Afghan women working undercover, often at substantial risk. Messaging on the day of the EU-Taliban meeting, her fury was palpable. “It is indeed a slap in the faces of Afghan women,” she told me. “The EU is telling us that our suffering, being stripped of our most basic rights for five years now, doesn’t amount to anything. That a regime can erase women from public life entirely, and still be worth sitting down with”. “It is a complete disregard for human rights, and it is especially painful coming from countries that claim to champion women’s rights when it’s convenient, and then abandon that claim the moment it isn’t.” What else we’ve been reading I was gripped by the story of how wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir inadvertently discovered the “ghost of the desert” in Libya. Patrick Who doesn’t love a quirky collection? Elizabeth McCafferty shares the story behind her new book about airline sick bags, Sicko. Libby From care homes to zoos, Guardian correspondents have been speaking with different sectors about how they are handling the heat. Patrick World Cup 2026 On the pitch Scotland 0-3 Brazil | Scotland’s World Cup dream is hanging by a thread after a brace from Vinícius Júnior and a goal from Matheus Cunhaconfirmed Brazil as group winners. Meanwhile Morocco scored a thumping 4-2 win against Haiti, in an action-packed game. Group A | Mexico are Group A winners after three second-half goals secured victory against a disappointing Czechia; South Africa progressed into their first World Cup knockouts with a win over South Korea, who now face an anxious wait. Group B | Switzerland have won the group, Canada have secured second place, while Bosnia must wait to see if four points and a goal difference of -1 is enough to progress deeper into the tournament. Off the pitch Fans | Take a look at this beautiful photoessay of World Cup viewing parties around the world. It is hard to beat Jordan’s Roman amphitheatre. Third place teams | The knockout stage is just days away. Cara Graham and Malaika Khan explain who needs what to go through to the next round – and the devilishly complicated iterations for the third place league table. World Cup Daily podcast | Max and Barry are hard at work in North America throughout the tournament producing an episode of the Guardian’s football podcast every day. You can watch or listen the all of the episodes at this link or on your favourite podcast platform. Today’s Fixtures Curaçao v Côte d’Ivoire, 9pm on BBC Ecuador v Germany, 9pm on BBC Japan v Sweden, midnight on BBC Tunisia v Netherlands, midnight on BBC Paraguay v Australia, 3am on ITV Turkey v United States, 3am on ITV Sport Rugby union | Qatar Airways has put its £80m sponsorship of rugby union’s new Nations Championship on hold due to the fallout from the war in the Middle East. The new competition will kick off next week without a title sponsor. The front pages The Guardian leads on the heatwave today with “The new normal”. On the maternity scandal, the Times writes “‘Cruel’ maternity care left hundreds dead or injured”, the Mail says “Arrogance of the men who wouldn’t listen” and the Mirror splashes “Never again”. The i Paper says “Failing water firms face state control under Burnham plans for power”, while the Telegraph has “Burnham cools on Miliband as chancellor”. The FT writes “Burnham plots ‘No10 of the north’ in push for radical devolution of power”, and Metro’s headline is “Kemi lashes out at Andy!”. Today in Focus: The Latest Hundreds of mothers and babies died or harmed at ‘toxic’ hospital trust A shocking report into the biggest ever maternity care scandal in the NHS has revealed more than 500 mothers and babies died or were harmed as a result of inadequate care in Nottingham. The review, led by the senior midwife Donna Ockenden, found there had been a dismissive attitude to women’s concerns, failures in maternity care, staff shortages, a toxic culture and racism at Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s UK health and inequalities correspondent Tobi Thomas. Cartoon of the day | Nicola Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad The dazzling sight of more than 60m stars at the heart of our galaxy has been captured by a cutting edge space telescope. This new, breathtaking image, taken by the European Space Agency, is the largest and most detailed picture ever taken of the Milky Way. The €1bn (£862m) Euclid telescope is tasked with mapping the cosmos, in the hope of shedding fresh light on the mysterious dark forces that shape it. This image was taken after Euclid was pointed at the heart of the Milky Way for 26 hours. It marks the start of a new era of planetary exploration outside Earth’s solar system. “This data fires the starting pistol in a new age of exoplanet discovery,” says astrophysicist Dr Eamonn Kerins. And, it’s rather beautiful to (star)gaze at, too. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Martin Belam’s Thursday news quiz Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

‘It’s like a furnace’: French struggle with heat-trap homes as climate inequality grows

Living in a sweltering, seventh-floor flat on a concrete housing estate south of Paris, Samira said she was feeling desperate as France experienced its highest temperatures on record this week. “Yesterday I sat down and cried, I thought I’m going to die,” said the 35-year-old single parent and former building caretaker. Her flat in Ris-Orangis in Essonne is, like millions of apartments in France, poorly insulated and lacking in outside window shutters. “Blazing sun hits my windows all day – I can’t breathe, I feel dizzy, there is no air,” she said. “My home is an oven, it’s unbearable. I can only use a fan for short bursts, for fear of electricity costs. I only get two hours’ sleep a night. I’m exhausted. The days feel endless trying to protect my son from the heat. And I know these temperatures are only going to get worse in time. The government only ever acts at the last minute. Not enough is being done long-term to protect people.” Samira’s 10-year-old son, Issam, attends one of the 1,800 schools in France that have been closed because they are dangerously hot. “My classroom on the top floor reached 40 degrees inside,” he said. “It was too hot to have lessons, so we just played games.” He normally goes to bed at 9pm but he has been up until midnight because it’s only manageable to be outside very late or very early. Samira said: “I feel shut in, physically and mentally.” More than 44 million people in France, out of a total population of 67 million, have been under the highest red alert for heat this week, with daytime temperatures exceeding 40C in many places and staying dangerously hot at night. The extreme heat has led to higher air pollution, a rise in hospital admissions, school closures and train cancellations. It has caused power cuts to thousands of homes from Brittany to the south-east, leaving people unable to ventilate their homes with electric fans or close electric blinds. French nuclear energy output was reduced as high temperatures limited access to cooling water. Hundreds of thousands of ⁠poultry have perished in the heat, overwhelming carcass collection services. The impact of the heatwave has been made considerably worse by the high proportion of French buildings and infrastructure not designed to cope with high temperatures. Paris, one of Europe’s most densely populated cities, known for its poorly insulated housing stock, has for years been considered to have the highest heatwave mortality risk of any capital on the continent. The French government has been criticised for a lack of preparation and for cutting funding for projects designed to adapt infrastructure to the climate crisis. Half of all French homes have insufficient protection from high temperatures, leaving inhabitants dangerously overheated, a report for the NGO Fondation pour le Logement (Foundation for Housing) found this month. About 66% of French people struggle to tolerate the heat in their homes. Maïder Olivier, the head of climate advocacy at the NGO, said France had a “massive and worsening problem of heat-trap housing”. She said climate inequality in France was growing, with low-income, suburban housing estates suffering the worst from heatwaves. “One of the aggravating factors is having no possibility of escape,” she said. Many residents on heavily concreted estates had a lack of green space around their homes, often worked jobs in high temperatures without air conditioning, had to travel on crowded, hot buses and could not afford to leave on holiday in the summer. In Grigny, one of the poorest towns in the greater Paris area, Aboubakar, 60, who once worked in a hotel kitchen, wept as he stood below his fourth-floor flat, which he felt could reach 40C inside. “I’m suffocating,” he said. “I can’t afford to buy a fan. There are no shutters on my flat. At night I can’t sleep, it’s like a furnace.” He said the heatwave had affected his mental health: other problems, such as his illness and housing insecurity, felt much worse in the heat. “It’s impossible to be inside my flat during the day so I come down and sit under a tree,” he said. Roland, 20, a student doing a youth work apprenticeship, had woken at 7am to have breakfast with his girlfriend on a bench under some trees before the temperatures rose too high to be outside. “We try to close the shutters and stay in the dark in our flat but there’s no air,” he said. “It can be depressing. We only dare open a window in the middle of the night. We don’t use electric fans because it costs too much.” Inès Seddiki, the founder of the organisation Ghett’up in Seine-Saint-Denis north of Paris, said young people from suburban housing estates were particularly suffering in the extreme heat. “They are not causing the climate crisis but they are the least protected from its consequences,” she said. “There is a lack of medical facilities in their areas for health support, their homes are heat traps, and the heatwave has exposed the racism in our society against them.” She said when young people from the banlieue left their areas to try to seek respite, for example at the seaside, “some French commentators talk about an ‘invasion’ because it is a group of 15-20 young people who are Black or north African”. She said the heatwave had revealed the “inequality and segregation in French society”. Several towns in the richest area west of Paris, including Neuilly-sur-Seine, this week banned access to their municipal swimming pool for anyone coming from other towns. Noah, 22, on her way to a communications apprenticeship near Grigny, lives, like many students, in a small, top-floor flatshare in Paris, under a badly insulated zinc roof, with no shutters on the windows. She said: “There’s no air, we can never sleep more than four hours. We have tiny balcony space so we’ve put a children’s paddling pool on it and sit in there. What else can we do?”

Papua New Guinea at risk of food shortages as El Niño brings frost and drought

Families across Papua New Guinea’s Highlands are facing depleted harvests and the threat of hunger after the El Niño weather pattern brought frost and prolonged dry conditions that have destroyed food gardens providing sustenance and income for thousands of households. The effects of El Niño emerged in recent weeks, bringing drought conditions, falling water levels and frost that are threatening food security in some of the country’s most agriculturally productive regions. According to Oxfam PNG, Papua New Guinea is currently the Pacific’s worst-hit country from the impacts of El Niño. The aid agency said rainfall had been below average for almost a year and, combined with frost in the Highlands and invasive pests, had destroyed crops and livestock. Oxfam PNG estimates that up to 3 million people could be affected nationwide, including a projected 1.9 million in the Highlands region. Communities that rely heavily on farming are already experiencing severe food shortages, with some reporting that food supplies may last only two to three months. The agency warned that households forced to reduce meals and eat less variety are at increased risk of malnutrition. Papua New Guinea’s National Weather Service says El Niño is causing severe drought and damaging frost by shifting rainfall away from the country and reducing moisture levels. The lack of cloud cover allows heat to escape rapidly at night, causing temperatures in the Highlands to drop below freezing and triggering frosts that can destroy crops. In Tambul, Western Highlands province, farmer John Wankar woke last week to find his food garden covered in frost, with vegetables and staple crops damaged. Wankar said his family relied entirely on the garden for food and income and now faced uncertainty about how they would survive in the coming weeks. In Chimbu’s Kundiawa-Gembogl district, 62-year-old Martha John described a similar experience after frost swept through her community. “Last week Wednesday, all our gardens were covered in frost,” she said. “We wept, as these gardens are not only for us to eat but also our income. We have been growing potato and selling them in bulks, and all my children and grandchildren depend on this food for eating and also for income.” The worsening conditions are also affecting access to clean water. Oxfam PNG said many rivers and creeks had dried up, forcing communities to seek alternative water sources. Some schools have reportedly reduced operating hours because of heat and water shortages. While Papua New Guinea is experiencing the most severe impacts, Oxfam PNG said countries across the Pacific were also being affected. As many as 4.7 million people faced increased risks of hunger, poverty and disease due to El Niño-related droughts, erratic rainfall and frost. Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga were experiencing worsening drought conditions, while Kiribati and Tuvalu were expected to face flooding and rising sea levels. The country’s national disaster minister, Billy Joseph, said assessments conducted in the region confirmed reduced rainfall, declining water sources and moisture stress affecting food gardens. The prime minister, James Marape, has directed provinces and districts nationwide to prepare for the possibility of an extraordinary and prolonged dry season. “This is a time for preparedness, not panic,” he said. “Every district and every province must know its vulnerable areas, know its water sources, protect its people and prepare early.” Evidence of the growing crisis is already emerging across several Highlands provinces. National Agriculture Research Institute officers recently assessed frost-affected areas in Tambul, reporting that one potato farmer lost half of his crop to frost. Under normal conditions, the harvest would have generated more than K10,000 (US$2,200) through Tininga’s Highlands Fresh, which buys potatoes at K3 a kilogram, the officiers said. Reports from Gembogl in Chimbu, Upper Mendi and Imbonggu in Southern Highlands province, and parts of Hela province indicate frost has affected food gardens in a number of communities. The National Weather Service director, Jimmy Gomoga, said El Niño conditions were expected to influence weather and climate patterns across Papua New Guinea for the coming months. But with some families already feeling the effects, many Highlands communities are increasingly worried about where their next meal will come from.

What is China’s SpaceSail, and could it rival Elon Musk’s Starlink?

Elon Musk’s Starlink has long dominated the satellite internet industry, but a Chinese government-backed project is aiming to challenge its position. SpaceSail has just a few hundred satellites in low Earth orbit compared with Starlink’s 10,000-plus. But the company says it now has enough satellites to begin its first commercial application, is scaling up at speed, and is reportedly negotiating with dozens of countries to provide satellite internet coverage. According to Blaine Curcio, founder of Hong Kong-based firm Orbital Gateway Consulting, SpaceSail is “deliberately targeting” places where Starlink has faced “political or regulatory issues”. Speaking to the Rest of World news outlet, he compared its playbook to Chinese electric car maker BYD, which utilised billions in government subsidies to overtake Tesla in global sales. The company’s recent fundraising round was dwarfed by Starlink owner SpaceX’s record-breaking $85.7bn initial public offering, but could China’s growing global strength enable SpaceSail to make headway? What is SpaceSail? The project – officially called the SpaceSail Constellation in English, or Qianfan (Thousand Sails) in Chinese – was launched in 2023 by state-backed firm Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), with the goal of providing “high-speed, secure and reliable” broadband internet worldwide. Lan Xinzhen, a commentator with the state-affiliated Beijing Review magazine, said SpaceSail was also launched with national security in mind, and that it would eventually support “overseas projects, ocean trade and diplomatic missions” free from reliance on western firms or infrastructure. SSST is backed by state-run research institute the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, which provided its initial funding of 6.7bn yuan ($943m). It remains an entirely China-funded project, with investment limited to China-based corporate entities or economic organisations, excluding Hong Kong and Macao. Publicly available information on the scale of SpaceSail’s operation is limited, but according to Qichacha, a Chinese business information platform, SSST had 343 employees in 2024, the latest data available. Its official LinkedIn page lists 201-500 employees, while Chinese career platform Jobui says the firm recruited for 224 positions in 2024, a significant increase on the previous year. How many satellites has it launched so far? SpaceSail launched its first satellites in August 2024, sending up 18 flat-panel satellites aboard a Long March 6A rocket. A second group of 18 satellites was launched two months later, before a third group of 18 in December. There are now at least 200 active SpaceSail satellites in Earth’s orbit, following the 12th and most recent launch aboard the Long March 8 rocket in June this year. The firm said it now has enough satellites to begin its first commercial application, tracking maritime vessels at sea. The company aims to begin broader commercial services by the end of 2026, when its total number of active, orbiting satellites is expected to reach 648. Its constellation will eventually consist of more than 15,000 satellites, enough to provide full global coverage, according to SSST. How does SpaceSail compare to Starlink? Starlink is an industry leader with more than 12 million active users across 160 countries and territories. It operates a constellation of around 10,413 satellites, with plans to eventually expand to 42,000. SpaceSail lags far behind, but it has big ambitions. The firm says it will have more than 10,000 satellites operating in low-altitude orbit by the end of 2030. Analyst Curcio cautions that SpaceSail’s success is far from guaranteed, and that it also faces competition from within China. SpaceSail must compete for rockets and funding with domestic rival SatNet – another Chinese state-owned firm building its own similarly sized constellation of satellites, called Guowang. SpaceSail, however, remains a more natural competitor to Starlink, with SatNet primarily focused on domestic telecoms and national security. SpaceSail is reportedly negotiating with 30 countries to launch its service, already finding success as a Starlink alternative where agreements with Musk’s company have broken down. It has already secured a major contract in Brazil, where authorities clashed with Musk in 2024 over the billionaire’s alleged failure to moderate content on his social media platform X. In February, Brazil’s telecoms regulatory agency Anatel authorised SpaceSail to commence commercial services. SpaceSail has also made headway in Kazakhstan, registering a subsidiary in the country in January 2025, after talks with Starlink broke down over data-storage and security requirements. In December, it signed a deal with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to include SpaceSail as an in-flight wifi option.

Venezuela earthquake: fatal back-to-back earthquakes in Caracas as experts warn of heavy death toll

Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has declared a state of emergency after the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes that collapsed dozens of buildings and killed at least 32 people, with experts warning the death toll could rise significantly. Rodríguez said that hundreds were injured, and more casualties were expected. In a televised broadcast on Wednesday night she urged citizens to evacuate damaged structures: “We ask the population to remain calm and united,” Rodríguez said. The quakes – among the largest in Venezuela’s history – occurred in quick succession and were felt in many parts of the country. But the worst destruction appeared to have taken place in and around the capital Caracas where videos on social media showed scenes of panic as passengers raced through the corridors of Maiquetía airport seeking cover from falling debris. Rodríguez said that airport had been closed after suffering “severe damage” and announced that the metro and train systems had been halted. “We send our immediate condolences to those who have lost relatives,” the acting president added, although she did not say how many casualties or fatalities there had been. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said Venezuela had been hit by two quakes: a magnitude 7.5 “mainshock” and a 7.2 “foreshock” 39 seconds earlier. The epicentre was west of the community of Moron, located along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, about 168 kilometres (104 miles) west of Caracas. The quake had a depth of 13 kilometres (8 miles). “High casualties and extensive damage ⁠are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” ⁠the USGS said. Reuters news agency reported that three people were killed in the Baruta district in Caracas after two buildings collapsed, according to the district mayor. One person was killed and four buildings had completely collapsed, Gustavo Duque, the mayor of Chacao district in Caracas told journalists. Twenty-two people had been moved to hospital. US president Donald Trump said the US was ready, willing and able to help in the disaster. “The two major earthquakes that just hit the great people of Venezuela are both massive in scale and have left a devastating number of deaths,” Trump said. The country’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, told the state broadcaster VTV: “A seismic event that everything suggests was considerably above 7 points has taken place. There are several complicated areas … very alarming areas from the visual point of view, with buildings and homes that have collapsed.” “Normally this kind of event is followed by aftershocks, which could also bring down some structures that were damaged by the main event,” Cabello warned. A Guardian reporter saw at least three buildings that had collapsed in Altamira, an upmarket area of Caracas that is home to many foreign embassies, after the quakes hit shortly after 6pm on Wednesday afternoon. Some people were reportedly trapped under the rubble although the number of victims and the death toll was not immediately clear. Outside one of the buildings a person was seen weeping and crying out the name of his grandmother who he feared was inside. Nearby rescue workers and volunteers searched for survivors. “It was horrible,” said Olky Barrero, a 56-year-old teacher, as she joined the search effort outside the collapsed six-floor building. “We hope to God that there are as few victims as possible. We’re praying.” “Where I was, it felt like the walls were going to fall on top of us, they were shaking back and forth, this way and that,” added Barrero as two victims, at least one of them still alive, were hauled out of the building’s ruins. José Morillo said several members of his family were inside the building. “My brother, my son and nephews are all inside. I have faith. I believe in God a lot. I hope everyone is OK – but uncertainty is torture,” the 61-year-old added as rescue workers combed the wreckage. Thick columns of dust could be seen rising from the city while images showed residents fleeing badly damaged buildings with their belongings and pets. One of the worst hit areas appeared to have been La Guaira, a port city just north of Caracas on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. La Guaira is home to Venezuela’s main international airport, the Simón Bolívar International Airport, and is also close to some of the hillside communities that came under attack by US forces, when Donald Trump ordered the 3 January attack on Venezuela this year to abduct its president Nicolás Maduro. One large beachfront hotel in La Guaira, Eduard’s Hotel Boutique, was almost completely destroyed. Nearby in Catia La Mar, Venezuela’s naval academy and a number of tall residential buildings were also severely damaged. The US embassy in Caracas urged its citizens to avoid damaged areas, not to enter damaged buildings and to seek secure shelter. “There are many injured people inside. It’s a disaster,” one man could be heard saying in footage shot outside a building that had collapsed in San Bernardino, an area of northern Caracas. In Baruta, a suburb of Caracas, civil defence workers used stretchers to carry victims from shattered buildings after a landslide triggered by the earthquake. Baruta’s mayor, Darwin González, posted social media footage of a woman being recused from the rubble. “We call on people to remain calm and civil at this time,” he wrote. The exiled opposition leader and Nobel laureate, María Corina Machado, wrote on X: “My heart, my infinite embrace, and my prayers are with every Venezuelan home in these hours of anguish. May strength, serenity and solidarity prevail among us in the face of this difficult moment.”

Israel says IDF is staying in southern Lebanon, undermining Iran peace talks

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that Israeli troops would not withdraw from southern Lebanon, further complicating Iran peace talks as fighting in Lebanon continues to be an obstacle to permanent peace. Speaking on stage in an interview in Tel Aviv, Katz said Israeli troops would remain in south Lebanon – echoing sentiments from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “The IDF is prepared … and we are not retreating. We announced that in any case we are not withdrawing, and as of this moment – and this is a political achievement – there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” Katz said. The US and Iran signed an accord last week extending a fragile ceasefire and setting the stage for 60 days of talks meant to lead to a permanent peace. The first hiccups to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) came last week after Israel continued its campaign in south Lebanon, leading Iran to threaten closure of the strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump on Wednesday put a positive spin on the talks, saying Iran was “being very nice” and “agreeing to everything that I want”. But in fact the US and Iran’s interpretation of the MOU has significantly differed, particularly over Lebanon. Iran has insisted that Israel needed to stop its war there and withdraw its troops in the south of the country. Israel has occupied large swathes of south Lebanon in what it calls a “security zone”. In the latest violence there, an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle near the town of Kfar Rumman, killing two people on Wednesday, according to Lebanese state media. Hezbollah accused Israel of another “violation” of the ceasefire. The Israeli military had said earlier it targeted two Hezbollah fighters near the city of Nabatieh and that it would continue operating to “remove immediate threats”. It later said it also targeted a vehicle “carrying suspects”. Israel and the Lebanese government are engaged in US-mediated talks, which, among other things, seek to arrange an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. Israel is seeking a phased approach whereby it will hand off territory to the Lebanese army, tasked with keeping the area free of Hezbollah fighters. These talks do not involve Hezbollah, however, calling into question how effective they can be. Iran, which is not a part of the Israel-Lebanon talks, has worked hard to link a ceasefire with Iran to an end to fighting in Lebanon. “For us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is as important as a ceasefire in Iran and, further, an end to the war in Lebanon is as important as an end to the war in Iran,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Wednesday. During remarks in the Oval Office, Trump suggested the US would deny involvement in a Tomahawk missile attack that struck a girl’s elementary school on the first day of the war, killing more than 150 people and probably dozens more. “I have to wait for it to be completed,” he said of the investigation. “I don’t know they’re ever gonna solve that problem. You could ask Pete. Maybe it wasn’t our missile.” The US is the only party to the conflict with Tomahawk missiles. He also indicated he would be willing to share F-35 fighter jet technology with President Recep Erdoğan as he planned to travel to Turkey for a Nato summit next month where jittery European leaders are expected to try to persuade Trump to remain committed to the alliance. “I’m going to probably do something that’s gonna make him very happy,” Trump said during a meeting with Mark Rutte, the alliance’s chief. “Except for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdoğan, I don’t think I would have gone to it.” Trump again suggested that the US had been “let down” by Nato, which he admitted he had not informed of his plans to strike Iran. “We demolished [Iran] in literally the first week but it would have been nice if they would have said: ‘We’d like to help,’” he said. Fighting started in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on 2 March in retaliation for the killing of the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering an Israeli invasion. Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,200 people in Lebanon since then, while Hezbollah attacks have killed at least 36 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and three Israeli civilians. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah mediated by the US on Saturday has stopped most fighting in the country, with some exceptions. Israeli drones struck a car outside the city of Nabatieh on Wednesday, killing two people, according to the Lebanese ministry of health. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, was on day two of his three-day tour of the Arab Gulf. His visit to Gulf allies was his first high-profile visit to the region after the signing of the MOU last week, and was meant to allay concerns that the Iran deal was too conciliatory. Rubio arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to kick off his tour of the Gulf, having lunch with the president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as the foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Rubio is also slated to visit Kuwait and Bahrain. All three countries were hammered by Iranian strikes during the four-month war with Iran, bombings that Iran said were a result of their hosting US bases that were used to carry out attacks on Iran. The Gulf countries, which are close allies of the US, are concerned that the proposed Iran-US deal is too conciliatory to Iran. All countries faced civilian deaths and lasting economic damages from the Iranian attacks, particularly the UAE, which relies on tourism and expatriate labour for much of its non-oil revenues. In particular, there are worries that a proposed $300bn fund to Iran and the waiving of sanctions on the country would allow for the reconstruction of its military and for future threats against Gulf countries. Rubio emphasised the US’s commitment to the UAE’s security, as well as discussing the safe transit of oil and gas through the strait of Hormuz, during a meeting with the UAE president, a state department read-out said. The strait was mostly shut by Iran during the four-month war, disrupting shipping through the vital sea passage and sending energy prices soaring globally. Gulf states, which rely heavily on oil and gas exports, lost billions of dollars of revenues due to the strait’s closure. Asked by reporters if he would address allies’ concerns over the Iran deal, Rubio told journalists that the topic would “most certainly come up in these discussions”. “We want to hear from our partners,” Rubio said as he arrived in Abu Dhabi. “We want to make sure that their views are taken into account, and we understand their security concerns, their regional economic concerns as well.” Views in the Gulf over Iran see-sawed during the war, with monarchies at first furious with the Trump administration for starting a war without prior consultation. As Iranian strikes ramped up on Gulf countries, some then pushed the US to take a harder stance on diplomacy with Iran, disturbed by the extent to which Iran was willing to bomb them. The US has sought to reassure Gulf countries that the deal would not provide Iran with a windfall, nor would it allow Iran to control the strait of Hormuz. Trump said on Wednesday no money had been given to Iran and any unfrozen funds would be used to buy medical supplies and food from US farmers – something that Iran denied. Iran is also pushing for transit fees for ships going through the strait of Hormuz, a diplomat close to talks on the waterway told Reuters. Trump said on Wednesday the US had been told by Iran that there would be no tolls charged on ships sailing through the strait. Disagreements also emerged over inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, after Trump said the country had agreed to allow inspections into “infinity” as part of last week’s MOU. The US said preventing Iran from reaching a nuclear weapon was one of its key aims when it attacked the country on 28 February, while Iran said its nuclear programme was purely civilian. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said no meeting had been held with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi, despite his request, and there were no plans to conduct inspections of nuclear facilities until a final agreement had been signed.

Germany’s railways grind to halt as IT maintenance snag takes down network

Germany’s rail network ground to a halt late on Tuesday as a result of maintenance work that went wrong, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers unable to get home as the national operator faced widespread criticism over the chaos. The Deutsche Bahn (DB) meltdown was initially thought to have been caused by a cyber-attack, but it later emerged that it was likely to have been triggered by a scheduled attempt to replace an ageing component in the railway’s internal communication network, without which the trains are unable to run. Trains were brought to an abrupt halt as a precaution, leaving many stuck on tracks far between stops or standing in stations. Passenger and freight trains were affected. A system reset was carried after two hours, in the early hours of Wednesday, but undoing the chaos took much longer. The railway operator delivered a grovelling apology on Wednesday. “We are analysing the exact cause of the disruption meticulously and with the highest priority, to ensure that the same problem can’t recur,” said Philipp Nagl, the chief executive of DB InfraGO, the state-owned company responsible for railway infrastructure. “Currently it appears the cause of yesterday’s disruption to the GSM-R digital radio system was the planned replacement of a technical component.” The nationwide chaos comes on the back of years of mounting problems with the railway, including frequent delays, cancellations and interruptions. Once the envy of the world, and a byword for efficiency and punctuality, DB has faced growing problems caused by underinvestment and overcapacity. Punctuality stood at just 59% in February, compared with 66% a year ago, with one in three long-distance trains arriving late. At its height in the early 1990s, punctuality was about 85%. As Germany goes through a period in the economic doldrums, the state of the railways is viewed as a bellwether of the country’s fiscal and structural standing, and is often listed alongside creaking bridges and dilapidated roads and school buildings as an example of the catchup it needs. A pessimistic mood among the population over whether it can succeed is very palpable. The rail network is undergoing a multi-billion-euro overhaul which is leading to further frequent disruption on major routes. DB’s chief executive, Evelyn Palla, has said any significant improvement was likely to take several years. The fact that the communications system that broke down is based on 1990s 2G technology used in the first mass mobile phones is reflective of the wider problems. A 5G network is not scheduled to be introduced until about 2035 – leaving the operator scrambling to find and buy up old components around the world, which it is stockpiling to ensure it can continue to fix the system when needed. DB has unsurprisingly become the focus of the nation’s ire and mirth, and the butt of many jokes. Even much of the widespread infrastructure around the rail network is viewed as fragile. Most of the 52 escalators at Berlin’s sprawling central station malfunctioned recently and engineers had to be flown in from Finland to fix them. Europe’s biggest economy has a 20,750-mile (33,400km) rail network that carries about 50,000 trains a day, making it Europe’s biggest and busiest. DB was converted from a state administrative organisation into a private joint-stock company in 1994. The German government has always kept its 100% equity stake in the company. There were angry reactions across the political divide to the latest chaos. “That all the rail traffic in Germany ground to a halt because of a technical defect is a new low in what are already poor operating standards,” Oliver Krischer, the regional transport minister for North-Rhine-Westphalia state, told local media.