International
Peru leads global mortality rate after adjusting Covid toll
AFP/Editor
Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.
The government said it had raised the count from 69,342 to 180,764 on the advice of a panel of health experts, which found there had been an undercount.
With the adjustment, Peru now has the highest coronavirus mortality per capita of any country, with 5,484 deaths per million inhabitants, according to an AFP count.
The country of about 33 million people previously ranked 13th in the world with 2,103 deaths per million, according to AFP’s data.
Hungary is in a distant second place with 3,077 deaths per million.
Peru has registered more than 1.9 million infections to date, and has in recent months suffered acute shortages of oxygen to treat coronavirus patients.
Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez said the toll was adjusted on the advice of a panel which suggested modifying Peru’s record-keeping criteria.
– Change in methodology –
The panel said in a report the existing methodology generated “an under-representation in the number of deaths due to Covid-19.”
The criteria were broadened beyond people who tested positive for the virus to include “probable” cases with “an epidemiological link to a confirmed case.”
They will also now include people thought to be infected with the virus who present “a clinical picture compatible with the disease.”
The panel, convened in April, was composed of experts from public and private health entities in Peru and from the World Health Organization.
“Thanks to the work of this team… we will have more exhaustive figures and figures that will be very useful to monitor the pandemic and take the appropriate measures to confront it,” Bermudez said.
Peru started its vaccination campaign on February 9, but it has been slow and has so far reached five percent of the adult population with at least one shot.
The Andean nation has battled a second pandemic wave since December, with a record of almost 13,000 infections on April 1.
There are nearly 12,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital, but the health system has been able to breathe a little since the peak of 15,547 occupied beds recorded on April 20.
The adjustment of the death toll came six days before Sunday’s presidential runoff race between right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Pedro Castillo, both of whom have promised to speed up Peru’s immunization campaign.
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
UN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America4 days agoPetro questions Ecuador’s vote, cites reports of military control and arrests
-
International3 days agoArsenal stun Real Madrid at the Bernabéu to reach Champions League semifinals
-
International3 days agoDominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
-
Central America3 days agoNicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations
-
International3 days agoBogotá residents line up for yellow fever vaccine amid national alert
-
International3 days agoDeSantis’ immigration crackdown sparks alarm in Venezuelan Communities in Doral
-
International1 day agoACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
-
International3 days agoMexico refuses to restore ties with Ecuador while Noboa remains in office
-
Central America1 day agoUN complaint filed against Costa Rica over detention of migrant children
-
International4 days agoColombia: Search continues for missing limb of italian scientist found dismembered
-
International5 hours agoThousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy