Tremors have been felt in the capital Caracas and across several states as far as neighboring Colombia

At least ten powerful earthquakes struck northwest Venezuela on Wednesday and early Thursday, sending tremors across the South American country as far as the capital Caracas.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis) said several tremors exceeded magnitude 5.8, including two that came in over 6.

The epicenter was near Mene Grande in the oil-rich state of Zulia, about 600km (370 miles) west of Caracas. The strongest, at magnitude 6.3, struck at 5:21 pm local time.

At least 21 aftershocks have been recorded in the past seven hours. Local seismologists are monitoring ongoing activity in the region.

No casualties have been reported, but videos and photos shared online showed cracked walls in high-rises and damaged roads.

Un fuerte sismo de magnitud 6.2 sacudió #Venezuela, con epicentro en Mene Grande.

Circulan videos en redes sociales del momento del movimiento telúrico en el país sudamericano. #Temblor #Terremoto pic.twitter.com/KyqICpS38D

— Nación Digital (@naciondigitall) September 25, 2025

The tremors were felt most strongly in the country’s western states, in particular the city of Maracaibo, where residents evacuated buildings as cracks appeared.

🇻🇪 | Momento del sismo de magnitud 6.1 registrado en Venezuela con epicentro en el estado Zulia. pic.twitter.com/o3h3Qm6VdK

— Alerta News 24 (@AlertaNews24) September 25, 2025

Zulia Governor Luis Caldera said there was damage to some hospitals and to the iconic Santa Barbara Church, with footage posted online showing that a cross had fallen from one of its domes.

Un vídeo de una cámara de seguridad en Maracaibo, captó el momento del fuerte sismo de 6.4 que sacudió anoche en Venezuela. Una vivienda colapsó, pero afortunadamente no había nadie en su interior. #Temblor pic.twitter.com/11y7Pr9mrg

— Carlos Juan Semidey (@Centinela_35) September 25, 2025

Valera also reported that structural cracks had been reported and that tremors had been felt in the Andean cities of San Cristobal and Merida.

#24Sep #Zulia #Sismo #Temblor
Bomberos evalúan daños en la iglesia Santa Barbara de Maracaibo tras fuerte sismo – @CaraotaDigital pic.twitter.com/5bkCs4wuHa

— Reporte Ya (@ReporteYa) September 25, 2025

The earthquake was also felt in Caracas, where buildings shook and many residents left their apartments, local media reported.

⚠️🚨 ÚLTIMA HORA:⁰Se han sentido temblores en diversos estados de Venezuela.⁰El más fuerte, de 7.2, ocurrió esta madrugada.
📍 Zulia: así se vivió el sismo.⁰📍 Trujillo: miren este edificio… estremecedor.
🇻🇪 Mientras el país tiembla, Maduro sigue gobernando por decreto.… pic.twitter.com/FfJGiftjQW

— Fabian Dicosta (@fabiandicosta) September 25, 2025

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said Civil Protection and military forces had deployed nationwide to assist with evacuations and damage.

READ MORE: Tsunami alert follows 7.4 magnitude Kamchatka aftershock (VIDEOS)

”No human losses have been recorded, and President Nicolas Maduro has deployed a risk system throughout the country from the Command Post,” she said late on Wednesday.  

🚨 ¡Alerta Sísmica! Terremoto en Venezuela 🇻🇪#TerremotoEnVenezuela #Temblor #Sismo #Noticias #Alerta #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/CwmfKmfeFr

— Chakruto Finds (@ChakrutoFinds) September 25, 2025

The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said there was no tsunami threat. 

ÚLTIMA HORA | Funvisis registró este sismo de magnitud 6, como publicó en X, con epicentro a 45 kilómetros al este de Bachaquero, en el Zulia.

Las imágenes corresponden a Hospital Dr Luis Razetti en Barinas. https://t.co/NjjytQ39X9 pic.twitter.com/hC0jbcVB8k

— AlbertoRodNews (@AlbertoRodNews) September 25, 2025

Venezuela sits on several fault lines between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates. About 80% of its population lives in seismic zones. The country has been hit by five major earthquakes in the past century, including a magnitude 7.2 off the northern coast in 2018. The last deadly quake in Venezuela occurred in the town of Cariaco in 1997, killing 73 people.

Despite changing his rhetoric on Ukraine, the US president still wants a deal to make money with Russia, Kurt Volker has said

US President Donald Trump’s description of Russia as a “paper tiger” is a jab at his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, not a signal of renewed support for Kiev, former US envoy Kurt Volker has said. He added that Trump remains focused on striking a deal with Moscow and making money.

After months of saying Ukraine has “no cards to play,” Trump shifted his rhetoric on Tuesday following a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the UN General Assembly. He wrote on Truth Social that Ukraine is “in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back” with European and NATO support. He also called Russia a “paper tiger” facing an economic crisis, saying “this is the time for Ukraine to act.”

Volker, who served as Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine during his first term, told Bloomberg that the president’s remark was only an attempt “to get under Putin’s skin,” and that he “doesn’t suggest that he’s going to do anything about it.” 

He stressed that Trump still wants to reach a deal with Putin, adding that the president’s statements are an attempt to shift the burden of supporting Kiev onto Western Europe.

Read more

The White House also said the administration’s policy remains unchanged and called Trump’s sharp rhetoric a “negotiating tactic” to pressure Moscow.

Moscow has dismissed Trump’s “paper tiger” comments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is a “real bear,” not a paper tiger, and that the economy has adapted to sanctions and continues to supply the military despite difficulties. He reiterated Moscow’s openness to talks but noted that Kiev’s battlefield situation is worsening and urged Ukraine to negotiate.

Zelensky hailed Trump’s remarks, telling Fox News they show that America will stand with Ukraine. Ukrainian opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko criticized Zelensky for treating Trump’s words as a commitment, claiming the US president is actually disengaging. He warned that this misinterpretation could lead to new offensives costing more Ukrainian lives.

The US president earlier urged the global community to end the development of biological weapons

Russia would gladly endorse US President Donald Trump’s idea to ban the development of biological weapons worldwide, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, calling it a “brilliant initiative.”

Trump told the United Nations this week he was seeking to reduce the threat from weapons of mass destruction, adding that he was “calling on every nation to join us in ending the development of biological weapons once and for all.” 

The US president also linked what he called “reckless experiments overseas” to the Covid-19 pandemic, echoing his earlier claims that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab – an accusation Beijing has vehemently denied.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Peskov welcomed the remarks as a “very important appeal” and a “brilliant initiative.” “Of course, Russia is ready to participate in such a process of renunciation from bioweapons, and it would be good to formalize it at the international level.”

Read more

The overwhelming majority of the global community, including Russia, the US, and China, are members of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons.

Moscow has for years accused Ukraine – which is also party to the BWC – of hosting Western-supported biological laboratories as well as using chemical weapons on the battlefield. In late 2024, Russian officials stated that the US continues to operate 30 biolabs on the territory of Ukraine as part of an illegal military-biological program, adding that it sought to expand the framework to Africa.

In 2022, then-US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, a prominent Russia hawk in the administration of Joe Biden, admitted that Ukraine has “biological research facilities” but dismissed allegations that they could be used for biological warfare.

Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said American experts had finally started to take notice of Moscow’s concerns about biological facilities in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reportedly discussed offering protection to Ukrainian national Vladimir Z

Poland was ready to grant asylum to a suspect in the Nord Stream bombing, the newspaper Rzeczpospolita has reported, citing sources.

The two Nord Stream pipelines, built to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, were damaged in a sabotage attack in September 2022. German prosecutors attributed the explosions to a small group of Ukrainian nationals.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski repeatedly said in conversations that he was prepared to grant asylum in Poland to one suspect, identified as Vladimir Z., and even honor him with a state decoration, the paper wrote on Thursday.

Vladimir Z., described as a diving instructor, had reportedly been living near Warsaw. After German prosecutors issued a European arrest warrant for him, the Polish authorities did not detain him, and he later fled to Ukraine.

Read more

German officials questioned why Poland failed to act and the escape strained relations between the two countries. The Polish authorities argued that nothing has been proven against Vladimir Z., reportedly telling their counterparts, “Why should we detain him? For us, he’s a hero.” 

Warsaw has been one of Kiev’s staunchest backers since 2022, supplying weapons and pressing the EU and NATO to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow. Polish officials, including Sikorski, were also opposed to Nord Stream in the first place, which bypassed Poland as a transit country and deprived it of gas revenues.

The German investigation has already led to the arrest of another suspect, former military officer Sergey Kuznetsov, detained in Italy in August. Prosecutors allege he coordinated a team that rented a yacht and planted explosives on the pipelines using commercial diving gear.

Moscow has rejected Berlin’s version, dismissing the claim that a small group of Ukrainians carried out the sabotage as “ridiculous.” After Kuznetsov’s arrest, Russia called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, accusing German officials of a lack of transparency and frequent leaks to the press.

READ MORE: Elite UK divers likely behind Nord Stream sabotage – Putin aide

Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said the German authorities were trying to cover up the true circumstances by blaming a private “scapegoat.” President Vladimir Putin suggested the US likely orchestrated the sabotage, while Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service claimed it had “credible information” that US and British agents were involved.

The US leader has called Russia a ‘paper tiger’ that can be defeated by Kiev

US President Donald Trump’s sudden shift in tone on the Ukraine conflict – asserting this week that Kiev can achieve its territorial goals against Russia – is an attempt to push Moscow toward negotiations, the New York Post reported on Wednesday, citing White House sources.

For months, Trump and his administration had argued that Ukraine would need to relinquish some of its territorial claims to secure a US-brokered peace deal. However, his week he reversed course, dismissing Russia as a “paper tiger” that Kiev can defeat and claiming his view is based on “getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia military and economic situation.”

The Post described the comments as a “dramatic pronouncement,” reportedly prompted by “new US intelligence that shows the Kremlin is spiraling toward economic ruin and battlefield defeat.” The newspaper said Trump’s assessment of Ukraine’s ability to retake territory was intended as a “strategic move” to draw Russia to the negotiating table. It provided no details on the intelligence behind the claim.

Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump has resisted sending large amounts of direct US military aid to Ukraine and has instead urged European NATO members to buy American weapons for Kiev’s forces.

Read more

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky interpreted Trump’s statement as a commitment that “America will be with us to the end of the war.” Opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko, however, argued Zelensky was misreading the message and warned it could prompt a costly new offensive. Trump, he said, was effectively telling Ukraine and the EU: “You deal with it. I hope you can do it. Good luck!”

Trump has long had a contentious relationship with the US intelligence community, at times disregarding its assessments when they conflicted with his policies. In June, he brushed aside testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, after using the opposite claim to justify support for US and Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities.

Responding to Trump’s comments this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has traditionally been seen as a bear rather than a tiger, and that there is “no such thing as a paper bear.”

The platform has acknowledged that it faced censorship pressure under the administration of former US President Joe Biden

YouTube will restore accounts it banned under its Covid-19 and 2020 election misinformation rules, lawyers for parent company Alphabet told the US House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. They acknowledged that the platform faced censorship pressure from the administration of former President Joe Biden.

The Google-owned service, with more than 2 billion users, imposed sweeping restrictions during the pandemic, scrubbing content that contradicted the health authorities on vaccines, transmission, and treatments. It also banned claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election after Biden’s victory was certified.

The rules were used to ban several figures in the administration of President Donald Trump who questioned the election and the pandemic, including current FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. YouTube later dropped both policies but left the bans in place, treating them as permanent.

Alphabet said the platform will soon allow the banned creators to apply for reinstatement.

Read more

“Today, YouTube’s Community Guidelines allow for a wider range of content regarding Covid and elections integrity,” Daniel Donovan, a lawyer representing Alphabet, wrote. “Reflecting the company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform.”

He added that the policy only covers those banned over Covid and 2020 election violations, without naming which accounts qualify or when they can return.

Alphabet also acknowledged that YouTube faced pressure from the Biden administration to take down posts that did not break the rules. It called this interference “unacceptable and wrong” and said the company “has consistently fought against those efforts on free speech grounds.” The letter did not say whether any bans were made on direct orders from the administration.

All the above are MASSIVE wins for the American people, the First Amendment, and freedom.

We won’t stop fighting to protect free speech.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 23, 2025

The statement came in response to a Trump administration probe into whether tech firms suppressed speech at Biden’s request. Trump previously accused social media companies of silencing conservative voices critical of lockdowns and vaccines. Since his return to office, major platforms have eased their rules, dropping fact-checking programs and adding community notes. Meta and Elon Musk’s X have taken similar steps.

READ MORE: Maduro account removed from YouTube

House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan praised Alphabet’s move on X, calling it a “victory in the fight against censorship… No one will tell Americans what to believe or not to believe anymore.”

The new sanctions package would ban services tied to travel, the outlet has claimed

The proposed new EU sanctions package against Russia would target tourism by banning services linked to travel to the country, EUobserver reported on Thursday, citing sources. No new hurdles are planned for Russian tourists visiting the EU, the article said.

The draft seen by the outlet would prohibit the provision of services “directly related to tourism activities in Russia.” The aim of the restrictions is said to be aimed at “reduc[ing] the revenues that Russia derives from such services and to deter the promotion of non-essential travel and leisure activities to Russia.” 

However, unnamed diplomats told the outlet that “Russian tourists can keep coming to the EU” despite earlier reported discussions on the matter.

Nordic and Baltic states, the Czech Republic, and Poland had pressed for tighter restrictions on Russian tourists on security and boycott grounds, EUobserver reported, adding that the EU Commission opted for a different policy.

Read more

The Commission also plans a separate, non-binding “strategy” on Russian tourists coming to the EU by year-end, an unnamed EU diplomat told the outlet.

EU ambassadors are due to discuss the 19th sanctions package in Brussels on Friday, which will require unanimous approval by all 27 member states. EU officials have said the new sanctions would primarily target Russia’s financial, energy, and shipping sectors.

Earlier this month, Greek outlet ProNews reported that Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and Hungary opposed restrictions on Russian tourists. In 2024, Schengen countries approved about 552,000 visas to Russians, with Italy, France, and Spain among the biggest issuers.

Entries from EU states to Russia totaled about 469,000 in 2024, down 16% from the previous year. In the first quarter of 2025, more than 21,000 EU citizens crossed the Russian border as tourists, according to statistics cited by RIA.

Moscow has repeatedly said it has no plans to restrict EU arrivals. “We believe that human contacts, tourism, business, and humanitarian ties must be maintained. Our country seeks to build bridges between people despite efforts within the EU to tear them down,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

An EU court previously admonished the European Commission for its failure to submit its president’s messages for public scrutiny

The European Commission is under a new investigation over its failure to record and archive President Ursula von der Leyen’s communications, European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho announced on Tuesday.

The inquiry focuses on a text message von der Leyen reportedly received in January from French President Emmanuel Macron via the encrypted Signal app. The commission declined to release the message under a freedom of information request, saying it had been auto-deleted.

The text was related to EU negotiations on a contentious trade agreement with Mercosur, a bloc of Latin American nations. The deal was finalized last December but has yet to take effect.

Macron has publicly criticized the deal, which French farmers fear will expose them to heavy competition from Brazilian and Argentinian beef producers. Politico described Macron’s message as an attempt to “blow up” the treaty.

Read more

Journalist Alexander Fanta of investigative outlet Follow the Money said he filed the complaint after the commission refused to provide the text. He accused von der Leyen’s chief of staff of allowing the erasure after his formal request for it, calling that “an absolute no-no.” He added that the commission’s explanation of auto-deletion “sounds like an excuse” and should not stand.

Fanta previously sought access to von der Leyen’s text exchanges with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla about an EU Covid-19 vaccine supply deal. The EU’s Court of Justice ruled in May that the commission’s failure to retain those messages and make them available for scrutiny was unlawful. The commission in response pledged to review its record-keeping practices.

Von der Leyen is currently facing two separate censure motions – one from the right and another from the left in the European Parliament – filed after her mid-September State of the Union speech. Lawmakers cited the Mercosur deal as one of the factors eroding confidence in her leadership.

The air-to-air missile was fired by a Dutch F-35 fighter jet, and not as had previously been claimed, by a Polish F-16, Onet has claimed

A three-meter-long air-to-air missile that hit a rural home in Poland while NATO jets were responding to an alleged drone incursion, was fired by a Dutch – and not Polish – fighter jet, the Onet news outlet reported Wednesday, citing insider sources.

Warsaw responded to a series of airspace violations by unarmed UAVs on the 9 September by scrambling NATO jets and accusing Russia of being behind the incident – an allegation Moscow has strenuously denied.

One of the Dutch F-35 warplanes taking part in the overnight response launched the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile which failed to properly fire and landed on a modest country home near Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship, according to Onet.

The report contradicts the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, which attributed the debacle to one of Warsaw’s F-16s. Earlier accounts claimed that a “Russian drone” had caused the damage to the house.

🇵🇱 #Poland: Several Russian drones flew into Poland's airspace whilst attacking Ukraine last night.

At least one Russian drone damaged a home in the village of Wyryki in east Poland when it crashed after being shot down by Polish air defence.

(via https://t.co/iXWCFEGLkc) pic.twitter.com/xM32lOEWK7

— POPULAR FRONT (@PopularFront_) September 10, 2025

Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky noted this week that the only damage from the incident came from the unexploded air-to-air missile, which he described as “Polish”.

Read more

Last week, Estonia accused Russia of sending MiG-31 fighter jets into its airspace, a claim Moscow says is not supported by evidence.

Moscow has accused Poland and Estonia of using disinformation to portray Russia as a threat to the European Union and to pressure the United States to continue supporting Kiev in its conflict with Moscow.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has praised the bloc’s handling of the incidents but declined to promise that Russian aircraft would be shot down in future cases, saying such decisions “are taken in real time and are always based on available intelligence regarding the threat posed by the aircraft.”

US President Donald Trump has said NATO nations should be ready to shoot down Russian jets, calling Russia a “paper tiger” and asserting that a truly strong power would have overwhelmed Ukraine quickly. He added that Ukraine, equipped with European-funded American weapons, could still achieve all its territorial objectives.

According to The New York Post, the remarks were based on “new US intelligence” suggesting Russian economic weakness and were intended as a “strategic move” to extract concessions from Moscow, rather than as a literal assessment of Ukraine’s military strength.

Fire crews have been battling a blaze that followed the explosion in Swindon, where a major drone factory is planned

An explosion at an industrial estate in South West England has triggered a major emergency response overnight, with multiple fire crews battling a large blaze.

The blast at the Groundwell Industrial Estate in Swindon – a town where construction of a major drone factory is planned – occurred shortly after 7:30pm local time on Wednesday in a building used by a printing company, the BBC confirmed. Witnesses said the explosion shook homes across the town. The fire prompted the evacuation of the estate and the closure of several nearby roads.

At least 12 fire engines and specialist vehicles, including an aerial ladder platform and water carriers, were deployed, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) reported.

Eyewitnesses said flames engulfed the warehouse within minutes. Footage online showed a fireball lighting up the night sky, followed by a thick column of black smoke drifting across north Swindon.

🚨BREAKING: Dashcam footage from the explosion in Swindon, UK.

A dozen emergency vehicles are currently at the scene on Groundwell Industrial Estate battling the aftermath of the explosion which was seen and felt around the town. pic.twitter.com/AJH2qFDIet

— World Source News 24/7 (@Worldsource24) September 24, 2025

Wiltshire Police described the incident as “serious,” with a large cordon in place. Local residents were asked to remain indoors and close windows due to smoke.

WATCH: 'Serious explosion' at warehouse in Swindon in Wiltshire, England, police say. pic.twitter.com/L26kSkLnUU

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) September 24, 2025

The cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed. In a 9:40pm update, DWFRS said a fire investigation officer was on site and would begin work “as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Ain’t putting that out any time soon #swindon #explosión pic.twitter.com/ohxuayPM2P

— nevs (@Neville7hedevil) September 24, 2025

Swindon Borough Council confirmed its emergency response team is working with police and fire crews. “Work is going on to understand what happened, determine if anyone was hurt and make the area safe,” council leader Jim Robbins said.

Huge explosion in Swindon. Shock the house. pic.twitter.com/gbJK6vicou

— Rob🇺🇦 (@hirobmay) September 24, 2025

Wiltshire Search and Rescue said its team remained on standby Thursday morning, unable to enter the site until the blaze was under control. Authorities have reported no casualties and said there is no indication anyone was inside the building.

READ MORE: Suspect in airport cyberattack held in UK

The blast also caused a power outage affecting about 80 properties, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) reported. The utility said power was isolated “due to a safety concern on our network” following the incident.

Earlier this month, the UK government announced plans for a major drone factory in Swindon. The 254,000 sq ft facility, to be operated by aerospace and defense firm Tekever, will employ about 1,000 staff and is scheduled to open in 2026 to produce surveillance and intelligence drones. There is no indication that Wednesday’s blast is connected to the new site.