JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers were searching Friday for people who went missing in landslides triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia ’s Java island. Authorities reported three confirmed deaths with 20 others missing.
Several days of heavy rainfall in the region caused the landslides that hit dozens of houses in three villages in Indonesia’s Central Java province on Thursday evening.
Indonesian authorities said they plan to evacuate residents from 28 houses in the landslide-prone area, according to a statement released by the National Disaster Management Agency on Friday.
“We are going to evacuate those in vulnerable areas so that they leave their homes before any further landslides happen and cause additional casualties,” said Suharyanto, the chief of the agency. He said 200 rescuers and heavy equipment were deployed in the search.
Footage released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed rescuers searching for victims buried under the rubble of houses.
Rescuers reported the discovery of a third body on Friday and said they were still searching for 20 others.
“The unstable ground conditions posed a challenge for the search and rescue team in searching for victims during the golden hour,” the disaster management agency's spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement.
Rescuers used heavy equipment, extraction tools and manual tools to reach difficult areas.
Heavy seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.
In January, more than 20 residents were killed after being swept away in floods and landslides after torrential rains in Central Java province.
In this undated photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, rescuers search for victims after a landslide on Thursday, Nov. 13 hit a village in Cilacap, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this undated photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, rescuers search for survivors after a landslide on Thursday, Nov. 13 hit a village in Cilacap, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Wednesday vowed to continue releasing prisoners detained under former President Nicolás Maduro during her first press conference since Maduro was ousted by the United States earlier this month.
Rodríguez served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, running Venezuela’s feared intelligence service and managing its crucial oil industry. A 56-year-old lawyer and politician, Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president two days after the Trump administration snatched Maduro from his fortified compound and claimed the U.S. would be calling the shots in Venezuela.
Addressing journalists from a red carpet at the presidential palace, Rodríguez said the process of releasing prisoners had begun under Maduro and “has not yet concluded.”
“That process remains open,” she said, adding that the releases sent a message that Venezuela was starting “a new political moment that allows for understanding of divergence and of political and ideological diversity."
That comment seemingly alluded to detainees held on what human rights groups say are politically motivated charges. Venezuela’s leading prisoner rights organization, Foro Penal, has verified at least 68 prisoners freed since the government under Rodríguez promised to release a “significant number” of prisoners.
The move was seen as an effort to comply with Washington's demands.
Despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term, President Donald Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales. To ensure the former Maduro loyalist does his bidding, he threatened Rodríguez with a “situation probably worse than Maduro,” who faces federal charges of drug-trafficking from a Brooklyn jail.
In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump sidelined María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for her campaign to restore the nation’s democracy. Machado is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
Relatives and friends of political prisoners hold banners and candles calling for their loved ones to be set free outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 after the government announced prisoners would be released. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Narwin Gil cries as she waits for news of her detained sister, Marylyn Gil, outside El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Mileidy Mendoza, center, waits at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where her fiancé Eric Diaz is being held as a political detainee in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, after the government announced prisoners would be released.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Students lay out photos of people they consider political prisoners at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President, her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, as they prepare to make a statement at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
