International
Death toll in Mexico from Cyclone John rises to 29
Deaths caused by Cyclone John in the state of Guerrero, southern Mexico, amounted this Sunday to 23, after the authorities confirmed four new deaths, which gives a total figure of 29 throughout the country since the impact of the cyclone last Monday.
Local authorities confirmed four more deaths in the entity, marked by the ravages of the hurricane, such as damage and collapsed buildings. The 23 deaths in Guerrero are added to the five deaths reported in neighboring Oaxaca, and one more in Michoacán, giving a total of at least 29 deaths throughout the country.
In Chilpancingo, capital of the state, municipal authorities confirmed on Saturday afternoon, the location of a deceased person, in the Alpuyeca ravine, of the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood, whose body was rescued by Civil Protection personnel.
The other death corresponds to the commissioner of El Ciruelar, Crispín Barrientos, swept away by the current of the river, when he tried to cross it to ask for help because the town was affected by the rains and flood of the river.
Town isolated by John in Mexico
The inhabitants pointed out that the town is completely isolated because the bridges to enter have collapsed and that they did not have food to survive.
While a worker of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), identified as David, died electrocuted in the town of Nuevo Tecomulapa, in the municipality of San Marcos, while carrying out electrical power reconnection work.
Finally, an 18-year-old was found buried by mud and stones inside his house in the Altos de Miramar neighborhood, in the upper part of Puerto Marqués, in Acapulco, where at least 13 restaurants collapsed.
The body was rescued by members of the Michoacán fire department, who reported that they went to the port to help with the search and rescue work, after four hours of maneuvering and removing debris.
Collapsed restaurants
María Antonieta Ramos, a resident of the town in the Diamante area of Puerto Marqués, recalled that the restaurants of the third block already had some damage, but they did not resist due to two large sinkholes that formed, together with the strong waves that were recorded.
“It’s very sad. Right now many people are without food, without food, because they took everything, and let’s see, we are waiting to see if they bring us help or something because we are left without clothes, the only one is the one I have on,” Ramos shared.
In addition to the homes damaged by John, some tourists were stranded in the entity, so the Secretary of Tourism of Guerrero, Simón Quiñones, assured that some humanitarian exits have been enabled to leave the port.
In the case of the hotel infrastructure, Quiñones said that there is no record of damage, compared to the devastating hurricane Otis, which affected almost 20,000 rooms in October 2023.
Sheinbaum will visit Guerrero on his first day of government
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take over on October 1, reported this morning that on her first day of government on Wednesday 2 in the afternoon she will visit the state to assess the damage caused by the phenomenon.
While the outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, regretted on Saturday on his networks the death of eight people due to the collapses caused by John in Acapulco.
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
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