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Rubio's Plane Returns after Mechanical Issue, Unclear if he Can Make Zelenskiy Meeting

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks a plane as he returns to Joint Base Andrews after the plane experienced a mechanical issue while flying him to the Munich Security Conference and turned around, in Maryland, US, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks a plane as he returns to Joint Base Andrews after the plane experienced a mechanical issue while flying him to the Munich Security Conference and turned around, in Maryland, US, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool
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Rubio's Plane Returns after Mechanical Issue, Unclear if he Can Make Zelenskiy Meeting

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks a plane as he returns to Joint Base Andrews after the plane experienced a mechanical issue while flying him to the Munich Security Conference and turned around, in Maryland, US, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks a plane as he returns to Joint Base Andrews after the plane experienced a mechanical issue while flying him to the Munich Security Conference and turned around, in Maryland, US, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool

A US Air Force plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Munich was forced to return to Washington on Thursday after experiencing a mechanical problem, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

"The Secretary intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate aircraft," Reuters quoted Bruce as saying in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether Rubio would be able to make it to a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, planned for Friday morning on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference.

The mechanical issue in the C-32 plane, a converted Boeing 757, related to a crack in the cockpit windshield, a US official said, forcing the plane to turn around about 90 minutes after taking off.

Rubio’s plane landed safely at Joint Base Andrews just outside the capital around 10 p.m. It had taken off around 7 p.m.

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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.