Turkish Leader Declares State of Emergency as Turkey-Syria Quake Death Toll Passes 5,100

By Ece Toksabay & Huseyin Hayatsever | Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces devastated by two earthquakes that killed more than 5,100 people and left a trail of destruction across a wide area of southern Turkey and neighboring Syria.

Referendum Gamble Backfires for Ecuador’s Center-Right Leader

By Joe Parkin Daniels | Financial Times (free)

Ecuador’s center-right president, Guillermo Lasso, suffered unexpectedly heavy defeats in a referendum on key reforms and mayoral contests, sparking calls from the leftist opposition for an early election in the Andean country.

More from WPR: Ecuador’s Protests Leave Lasso in a Catch-22

In a First, South Korea Is Ordered to Compensate a Vietnam War Victim

By Choe Sang-Hun | The New York Times

A​ court in Seoul ruled Tuesday that South Korean marines were guilty of committing a massacre of unarmed villagers during the Vietnam War​ and ordered the South Korean government to compensate one of the Vietnamese victims.​

Harris Announces Funding to Address Root Causes of Migration Crisis

By Michael D. Shear | The New York Times

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday announced almost $1 billion in new pledges by private companies to support communities in Central America, part of the Biden administration’s effort to keep migrants from fleeing toward the U.S. border.

More from WPR: Biden’s ‘Root Causes’ Approach to Migration Meets Resistance in Central America

U.S. Military Failed to Detect Prior Chinese Incursions, General Says

By Alex Horton, Dan Lamothe & Ellen Nakashima | The Washington Post

The top U.S. general responsible for protecting North American skies said Monday that past incursions by Chinese balloons went undetected by the Pentagon, exposing what he characterized as a worrisome deficiency that must be addressed.

More from WPR: Rising or Falling, China Is a Serious but Manageable Competitor