26/06/2026

FRIDAY | JUNE 26, 2026

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Venezuela quakes kill at least 32, 700 injured

ICE custody death rate at decade high

NEW YORK: The rate of people dying in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has reached its highest level in over a decade amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, rights groups said yesterday. At least 52 deaths have been reported in ICE holding facilities since Trump’s second term began in January 2025, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Physicians for Human Rights. Trump has made combatting illegal immigration a top priority of his second term, with authorities rounding up thousands of individuals and expanding detention centres. From January 2025 to January 2026, the annual mortality rate in ICE custody was up 140% compared with a year earlier, an increase disproportionate to the higher detainee population, the report said. The death rate is nearly four times that seen under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, and over two times higher than during the Republican’s first term from 2017 to 2021. “We have seen the death rate in ICE custody skyrocket,“ said report co-author and HRW researcher Reagan Williams. “Instead of taking action to address this crisis and protect the lives and health of those in custody, we have seen the administration pour its resources into subjecting more and more people to prolonged detention.” One case highlighted in the report was a 44-year-old man from Ukraine who suffered a stroke in detention and was not given suitable medical care despite having clear signs of an emergency, including seizure-like movements. Another instance was of a 39-year-old Mexican man, who reportedly died from cardiac arrest that likely arose from septic shock after his requests for medical help on an infected abscess were mishandled. ICE has faced criticism for its hardline tactics and this year underwent a leadership shuffle after agents in Minneapolis shot dead two US citizens. A spokesperson for the US Homeland Security Department, which oversees ICE, denied the reported spike in deaths. “Consistent with data over the last decade, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population,“ the spokesperson said. “As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold US citizens, including providing access to proper medical care. For many illegal aliens, this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.” However, the report found that as immigration detention centres have grown, medical care has been lagging, partly due to crowding and people remaining longer in custody. Harvard Medical School pediatrics assistant professor and report co-author Katherine Peeler said the US government is “failing on all counts” to protect ICE detainees. “In the cases in which we do have access to ICE and outside hospital records, we are seeing a breathtaking abdication of duty of care,“ said Peeler, who is also an advisor at Physicians for Human Rights. The report also highlighted a high number of people dying by suicide in ICE custody, with seven such deaths from January 2025 to January 2026, compared with one in 2024. HRW analysed trends in ICE custody death rates from October 2015 to June 2026, and compared it with existing research on deaths going back to 2004, the year after ICE was established. The New York-based group also interviewed family members, attorneys and former cellmates of the deceased. – AFP

CARACAS: At least 32 people have been killed and more than 700 have been injured in powerful earthquakes in Venezuela, said Acting President Delcy Rodriguez yesterday, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti. “At the moment, we have data on 32 deaths, not counting the figures that the state of La Guaira can provide, and more than 700 victims admitted to the emergency departments of public hospitals and private medical centres.” Rodriguez declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as two massive earthquakes caused buildings in the capital to crumble and forced the closure of the country’s main airport, prompting US President Donald Trump to offer aid. She said 20 aftershocks have followed the earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, which struck the same area of Venezuela, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The quakes triggered panic in the capital and drove people into the streets, AFP journalists witnessed. On Wednesday, Trump said: “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. “The United States stands ready, willing and able to help. I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good.” The first quake, with an epicentre 21km west of the coastal town of Moron, occurred at 2204 GMT, USGS said. Within a minute, a 7.5-magnitude quake struck about 45km away. “This earthquake was the second event in a doublet. This 7.5-magnitude mainshock was preceded by 39 seconds by a 7.2 foreshock,” it said. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello asked o United States stands ready, willing and able to help: Trump

Residents looking at a collapsed building in the Altamira neighbourhood. – AFPPIC

survey under Germany’s Constitution while participation is voluntary for women. The ministry said about 298,000 questionnaires had been sent by June 18. More than one in five male respondents expressed interest in military service and around 530 individuals have been selected to begin service this year. Germany suspended compulsory military service in 2011. The new system remains voluntary but includes additional incentives to attract recruits. – Bernama-dpa Colombia’s Seismological Network coordinator Freddy Tovar said they have received more than 200 reports of tremors nationwide. “The conditions of this seismic event mean that some aftershocks may occur, which could also be widely felt across Colombian territory.” The Colombian disaster management agency UNGRD ruled out the possibility of a tsunami taking place in the aftermath. “No tsunami, no danger from a recent earthquake,” the US National Tsunami Warning Centre said. Some of the strongest tremors in earthquake-prone Venezuela’s recent history occurred in the northeast in 1997, killing 73 people, and in Caracas in 1967, when 236 individuals died.– AFP National

the public to leave their homes, adding that gas supplies have been cut to several buildings as a precaution. “We have some damaged structures and we do not want any kind of accident involving gas to occur.” The Maiquetia International Airport, near Caracas, was closed due to “serious damage” to its infrastructure, said Rodriguez. The tremors struck at a depth of 22km and 10km respectively. The states of Trujillo, Carabobo, Miranda and La Guaira were the hardest hit, according to Cabello. The quake was felt as far away as the Colombian capital of Bogota, where alarms sounded and some residents evacuated buildings as a precaution.

New system draws increase in German army applications BERLIN: Applications to join Germany’s armed forces have risen sharply since the launch of a revamped military service programme aimed at boosting troop numbers, German Press Agency reported, citing the Defence Ministry on Wednesday. Jan 1 as Germany seeks to meet higher Nato force targets, adopted in response to an increased security threat stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Berlin aims to increase the size of its active armed forces from just over 180,000 currently to 260,000 personnel and build a reserve force of 200,000. As part of the programme, questionnaires have been sent to young people approaching the age of 18 to assess their willingness to serve. Men are required to complete the

Germany has received about 38,500 applications across all military career tracks this year, up 24% from the same period in 2025, while enlistment rose 13% to around 11,000, the ministry said. The new military service law took effect on

France isolates possible Ebola patients PARIS: France has identified and isolated five individuals who may have been exposed to Ebola after sharing a flight with a doctor who tested positive for the virus, reported Xinhua. French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Wednesday the doctor had worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before returning to France.

“The man was placed in isolation at hospital as soon as his flight landed. He will remain there for 21 days, the duration of the incubation period.” The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that the risk of infection for those living in Europe is very low. – Bernama-Xinhua

She said the patient is an experienced doctor returning from a mission who did not know he had contracted the virus. “He had no symptoms when he boarded the plane and he was not contagious. As he is a doctor and developed headaches on the plane, he raised the alert so that he could be taken care of upon arrival in Paris.