Chile power outage leaves millions without electricity

Published

1 year ago

2025/02/26

Priyan

An officer directing traffic in Santiago, where the power outage has affected traffic signals and other transport, including the city's metro [BBC]

Millions of people are thought to be without electricity across Chile after a large nationwide power outage.

According to the national service for disaster prevention and response (SENAPRED), an area spanning most of the country is impacted, including the capital city, Santiago.

The exact scale of the outage, which began earlier on Tuesday, is not yet known but SENAPRED has said it covers the regions of Arica and Parinacota in the north to Los Lagos in the south.

Reuters news agency has also reported that the world’s largest copper mine, Escondida, is without power, citing a source close to the matter.

LATAM Airlines said that some of its flights may also be disrupted while power supplies were down, and urged passengers to check their journey status.

In a post on X, the Santiago Metro operator said its service had been temporarily suspended due to the ongoing power outage, with stations being evacuated and closed.

Footage from the city showed passengers evacuating stations by walking up switched-off escalators, while traffic signals were also shown not working.

There were also long queues for buses which were still running on the city’s roads.

Maria Angelica Roman, 45, told AFP news agency: “They let us leave work because of the power cut, but now I don’t know how we will get home because all the buses are full.”

Chile’s interior minister, Carolina Toha, also posted on X to say that a meeting would be called to discuss ongoing measures to restore services.

SENAPRED added that electricity companies across the impacted area were investigating the fault and attempting to restart services, and no emergency situations had been reported.

[BBC]

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Iran begins 40-day mourning after Khamenei killed in US-Israeli attack

Published

13 hours ago

2026/03/1

Priyan

People mourn at the Enghelab Square in Tehran [Aljazeera]

Iran has begun 40 days of mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media.

Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime”, according to a statement from his office. He also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40-day mourning period.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said people were pouring into the streets of the capital following the news of Khamenei’s killing.

“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Protests denouncing Khamenei’s killing were also reported elsewhere, including Shiraz, Yasuj and Lorestan.

Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, with several people seen crying and collapsing in grief.

The killing also led to protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protesters confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.

Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed demonstrators waving flags and shouting slogans, with witnesses saying some were attempting to mobilise towards the US Embassy. Footage also showed protesters blocking vehicles at a roundabout near one of the entrances to the area.

Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite armed groups gather after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad — *Protesters demonstrate near the entrance of the Green Zone after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026 [Aljazeera]*

There was also a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where footage, verified by Al Jazeera, showed people setting fire to and smashing the windows of the US consulate.

However, there have also been reports of celebrations in Iran, with the Reuters news agency quoting witnesses as saying some people had taken to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj and the central city of Isfahan.

Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected.

Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic revolution a decade earlier.

While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both its domestic control and its regional influence.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge and said it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Briton among 19 killed in Nepal bus crash

Published

6 days ago

2026/02/24

Priyan

A 24-year-old British man is among 19 people who were killed in a bus crash in Nepal, police say.

The bus – which had been carrying tourists – had been travelling to the capital, Kathmandu, when it lost control and fell 200m on to the bank of the Trishuli river, in the country’s central Dhading district, in the early hours of Monday morning.

There were 44 people onboard including the driver, 25 of whom suffered injuries. The bus had been travelling from Pokhara, a popular tourist spot.

Nepal’s Home Ministry has created a five-member taskforce to investigate the cause of the incident. The UK Foreign Office said it was assisting the family of the Briton who was killed.

Nepalese authorities identified him as Stewart Dominic Ethan. His name has not been confirmed by the Foreign Office.

Nepalese police say they have identified all 19 bodies, including a 40-year-old Chinese woman and a 32-year-old man from India. Among the injured is a Chinese national and a New Zealander.

All the injured had been taken to hospitals in the capital, they added. Children were among those onboard.

Multiple teams were sent to the site, including police units, the army and a rescue team of divers, authorities said.

Police spokesman Abinarayan Kafle said 17 people died at the scene, with two more dying while receiving treatment, BBC Nepali reported.

Road accidents are relatively commonplace in Nepal, due to a range of factors including poor road maintenance and narrow paths in mountainous areas.

In 2024, at least 14 people died after a bus travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu fell into the Marsyangdi river in the Tanahun district.

“We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Nepal and are in contact with the local authorities,” a Foreign Office spokesman told the BBC.

Nepal is a popular destination for many international visitors, especially climbers, who travel there to access a key section of the Himalaya mountain range that includes Mount Everest.

Home to eight of the world’s tallest peaks, mountaineering is a significant source of revenue for the country – in 2024 climbing fees brought in $5.9m.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Mexico’s most wanted drug lord ‘El Mencho’ killed in military operation

Published

7 days ago

2026/02/23

Priyan

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as 'El Mencho', was leader of the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug cartel [BBC]

Mexico’s most wanted man and the leader of the feared Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug cartel has been killed during a security operation to arrest him, the defence ministry has said.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, died on Sunday as he was being taken to the capital Mexico City, after being seriously injured in clashes between his supporters and the army.

Four CJNG members were killed in the town of Tapalpa, the central-western Jalisco state. Three army personnel were also injured. The US had given Mexico with information that assisted the operation.

CJNG retaliated by setting cars alight, building roadblocks and attacking security forces in eight states.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo later urged people to remain “calm”.

In a post on X, she wrote that “in most parts of the country, activities are proceeding normally”.

The CJNG cartel – which had its original power base in Jalisco – is now present across Mexico.

El Mencho, a 59-year-old former police officer, ran a vast criminal organisation responsible for trafficking huge quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US.

It had offered a $15m (£11.1m) reward for information leading to El Mencho’s capture.

In a statement, the Mexican defence ministry said the operation was “planned and executed” by the country’s special forces.

Aircraft from the Mexican Air Force and the National Guard were also deployed.

It also said that several armoured vehicles and weapons – including rocket launchers – were seized during the operation.

The US had been providing information to Mexico that assisted its operation, the statement said.