International
Suspect, 15, in custody over latest US mass shooting
AFP
The gunman believed to have killed five people in North Carolina in America’s latest mass shooting is a 15-year-old boy, in critical condition after being shot by police, officials said Friday.
Two more people were wounded in the Thursday night shooting, the motive of which remains under investigation, Raleigh police chief Estella Patterson told a news conference in the state capital.
She said the fatalities included a 29-year-old off-duty police officer who was on his way to work. The four other victims were a 16-year-old boy and three women aged 35, 49 and 52.
A 59-year-old woman also remained hospitalized in critical condition.
“The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh,” Governor Roy Cooper said. “This is senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence.”
President Joe Biden condemned the shooting and said gun violence in America is now so rampant that some killings no longer make the news.
“Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings,” Biden said in a statement.
He renewed his appeal for a ban on high-power assault rifles commonly used in these massacres — a proposal that has repeatedly failed due to opposition from Republicans in Congress.
The shooter in this latest case opened fire in Raleigh on and near a popular walking trail called the Neuse River Greenway.
Patterson and other officials gave few details of how the mass shooting unfolded.
After an hours-long standoff in a house, the suspect was shot and taken into custody, police said.
“My heart is heavy because we don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Patterson said.
Gun violence is an urgently pressing problem in the United States, where more than 34,000 people have been killed by firearms so far in 2022 alone, more than half of them from suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.
The North Cabrolina shooting occurred after a jury earlier in the day rejected the death penalty and backed life imprisonment for Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 people at a Florida high school in 2018.
Mass shootings have repeatedly stunned the nation, reigniting debate on the divisive issue of gun control — but there has been little headway in Congress.
However, several of the most recent gun rampages, including a shooting at a school in Texas and a supermarket frequented by African Americans in New York state, prompted lawmakers to agree in June, for the first time in 30 years, to pass modest reform of gun control laws.
Nearly 400 million guns are in circulation among the civilian population in the United States, or 120 guns for every 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey project.
International
Paraguay launches dengue vaccination for children in high-risk areas
Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, remains a persistent threat in tropical and subtropical countries such as Paraguay, where it claimed the lives of 132 people among nearly 100,000 infections during the 2023–2024 Southern Hemisphere summer, according to official data. However, that figure was lower than the record set in the 2012–2013 season, when 252 deaths were reported among roughly 130,000 infections.
“Today marks a very important step toward protecting our children and bringing peace of mind to families,” Paraguay’s Minister of Health, María Teresa Barán Wasilchuk, said in a speech on Wednesday.
The vaccine will be administered to children between 6 and 8 years old in municipalities with the highest incidence of dengue cases in the past five years. Authorities will use TAK-003 (Qdenga), developed by Takeda—one of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical companies—which was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2024.
“We celebrate this step, which positions Paraguay as a country with one of the most robust immunization programs,” said Héctor Castro, director of the Acosta Ñu Pediatric Hospital. “We will work tirelessly to ensure this government decision becomes a success in the fight against this scourge.”
Vaccinating children against dengue “is not only a historic and public health milestone, but also a humanitarian one,” Castro added during remarks delivered at the hospital in San Lorenzo, near the capital, Asunción.
International
President Paz dismisses Vidovic Over 2015 corruption sentence
Justice Minister Freddy Vidovic took office on November 9 after taking the oath of peace for a five-year term. However, his tenure was short-lived: he was removed from the position on Thursday after a past criminal conviction came to light.
In 2015, Vidovic was sentenced to three years in prison for bribery in favor of Peruvian businessman Martín Belaúnde, a former adviser to ex-president Ollanta Humala. Belaúnde was captured in Bolivia ten years ago and handed over to Peruvian authorities, who sought him for alleged involvement in a corruption case that also implicated Humala, who later served time for corruption charges.
At the time, Vidovic was part of Belaúnde’s legal defense team. He was accused of assisting the former presidential adviser in a failed attempt to escape while in Bolivia.
Following the revelation of the conviction, President Paz dismissed Vidovic and appointed Jorge Franz García as the new Justice Minister, according to the decree published on Thursday.
On Wednesday night, Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo confirmed the three-year sentence against Vidovic, noting that this background meant he “could not hold public office.”
Before his dismissal was made public, Vidovic acknowledged on his Facebook account that he had been convicted, but claimed he had been a victim of “kidnapping and torture” and argued that the ruling was “invalid and tainted.”
International
International organizations push for expanded kidney transplant access in SICA region
A group of international organizations held a high-level meeting in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala, to address transplantation as a key component in the comprehensive management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA).
The meeting was organized by Spain’s National Transplant Organization (ONT), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SECOMISCA). It was conducted within the framework of the Triangular Cooperation Program of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and endorsed by the Ibero-American Donation and Transplant Network/Council (RCIDT).
The purpose of the gathering was to promote kidney transplantation as a priority option for renal replacement therapy, given its superior cost-effectiveness and health outcomes compared with dialysis.
According to a joint press release, the participating organizations also sought to encourage political commitment to advance equitable access to kidney transplantation and to identify common priorities for regional cooperation.
During the event, institutions presented the current status of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and access to kidney transplantation in SICA countries, as well as the 2019–2030 Regional Donation and Transplant Strategy (CD 57R11). The meeting also facilitated a regional political dialogue aimed at incorporating transplantation into the comprehensive management of CKD, with the goal of generating recommendations to ensure equitable and progressive access to renal replacement therapies.
Additionally, the organizations explored opportunities to improve CKD registry systems, including transplantation data.
The meeting was convened in response to the growing burden of Chronic Kidney Disease across the World Health Organization (WHO) regions.
Paraguay launches dengue vaccination for children in high-risk areas
President Paz dismisses Vidovic Over 2015 corruption sentence
El Salvador reaches 270 homicide-free days in 2025, PNC reports
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
-
International4 days agoSinger seriously injured after knife attack in Tokyo’s Akasaka District
-
International3 days agoArmed Men Kidnap 25 Schoolgirls in Northwestern Nigeria, Police Report
-
International3 days agoTrump: “I Don’t Rule Out Anything” When Asked About Troops for Venezuela
-
International3 days ago79-Year-Old ICE Detainee Faces Hearing as Family Warns His Health Is Rapidly Deteriorating
-
International3 days agoArmed Civilians Block Roads in Michoacán Amid Operation Targeting Criminal Leader
-
International2 days ago“Promises delivered”: Milei celebrates milestone and pushes ahead with structural reforms
-
Internacionales2 days agoOne killed, 188 evacuated as wind-driven blaze rips through Kyushu neighborhood
-
Internacionales2 days agoIndonesia’s Mount Semeru erupts, sends ash 13 km high and forces evacuations
-
International11 hours agoParaguay launches dengue vaccination for children in high-risk areas
-
Central America11 hours agoEl Salvador reaches 270 homicide-free days in 2025, PNC reports
-
International11 hours agoInternational organizations push for expanded kidney transplant access in SICA region
-
International3 days agoU.S. House poised to approve bill requiring declassification of Epstein files
-
International11 hours agoPresident Paz dismisses Vidovic Over 2015 corruption sentence
-
International3 days agoChile’s glaciers to lose half their water supply capacity by 2100, study warns
-
International3 days agoHaitian authorities mobilize nationwide as gangs threaten confrontation with police
-
International3 days agoFive mexicans detained in North Carolina immigration raids, Sheinbaum confirms
-
International3 days agoSheinbaum to Trump: Cooperation yes, U.S. military intervention no
-
International3 days agoPeru pauses safe-conduct decision as dispute over political asylum deepens