- New Caledonia separatists defy French efforts to unblock roads
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- Iran President Raisi's helicopter found, 'no sign of life'
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- 'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Japan Olympic volleyball manga mania
- Timberwolves rally to knock defending champion Nuggets out of NBA playoffs
- London court set to rule on Julian Assange extradition
- Business and Bollywood votes in India election
- Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'
- Mexico aims to be big economic winner from US-China tensions
- Uncertain future for thousands after deadly Brazil floods
- Schauffele makes the putt of his life for first major win
- Wirtz returns to help unbeaten Leverkusen chase history
- Search for Iran's President Raisi after helicopter goes missing
- DeChambeau's powerful putting has him excited for US Open
- Taiwan to swear in new president as China pressure grows
- Atalanta can end 61-year wait for trophy in Europa League final
- Schauffele birdies final hole to capture PGA for first major win
- Guardiola casts doubt over long-term Man City future
- Hollywood icons Costner and Demi Moore make Cannes comeback
- Pacers shoot down Knicks to reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- Schauffele birdies final hole, captures first major at PGA Championship
- McLaughlin powers to Indy 500 pole in all-Penske front row
- Monaco footballer tapes over LGBTQ badge
- Korda wins sixth LPGA title of year with win at Liberty National
- Pacers put on shooting show to down Knicks, reach NBA Eastern Conference finals
- US envoy touts 'potential' of Israel-Saudi deal in Netanyahu talks
- Dominicans vote for president in poll overshadowed by Haiti crisis
- Brest secure Champions League qualification, PSG win without Mbappe
- Mbappe absent as PSG win final Ligue 1 game
- Still exhausted after arrest, Scheffler closes with 64 at PGA
- Brest secure historic Champions League qualification
- France's Macron calls fresh emergency on New Caledonia unrest
- Taiwan swears in new president as China pressure grows
- Schauffele leads as dramatic PGA back-nine battle begins
- Biden faces silent Gaza protest at Martin Luther King Jr's college
- Ten Hag says Man Utd 'must do everything' to win FA Cup after Premier League flop
- Cannes film follows Egypt feminists on brink of adulthood
- Pep Guardiola: Man City manager addicted to winning
- Jackson wins season opener in Marrakesh with all eyes on Paris
- Things get real as imaginary friend flick 'If' tops N.America box office
- Paris seeks to boost sluggish sales for Paralympic Games
- How a French director pulled off Cannes's crazy Mexican narcos hit
- Man City make case to be ranked as England's greatest-ever team
- Hamdy gives Zamalek second CAF Confederation Cup title
- Rome champion Zverev eyes French Open but wary of Djokovic 'at his best'
- Spain recalls its ambassador to Argentina over 'insult'
- Real Sociedad reach Europa League, Cadiz relegated
- Man City's six Premier League titles in seven years 'insane': Guardiola
Emigrate or waste away: dilemma for Venezuela multiple sclerosis patients
For Venezuelan Jaimar Tuarez, 22, being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis felt like a death sentence in a country unable to provide the drugs she needs to keep her ever-worsening symptoms at bay.
With no means of paying for private treatment or tests, including a spinal tap that costs $800, the psychology student has launched a crowd-funding campaign on GoFundMe that she hopes will allow her to travel abroad in search of medical help.
"For many people the only option is to emigrate," Tuarez, who was diagnosed in 2022, told AFP at her apartment in Charallave, a city some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Caracas.
"I have to get out of here..." she said through tears. "What will happen with my next relapse? Will I lose the ability to speak? I am 22 years old... what will happen to all my dreams, my plans?"
The plight of Tuarez and an estimated 2,000 other Venezuelans with MS -- a potentially disabling disease of the central nervous system -- underlines the difficulties facing people in need of chronic medication in cash-strapped Venezuela.
There is no cure, but drugs can alleviate MS symptoms.
According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR), Venezuela's IVSS social welfare institute stopped providing prescription MS medication years ago.
Venezuela is in the grips of an unprecedented economic crisis, with its once-thriving oil industry all but collapsed and GDP shrinking by 80 percent in eight years of recession until 2022.
Millions have fled in search of a better life elsewhere, many seeking a path to the United States.
- 'We are adrift -
Tuarez has weakened to the point where she can barely stand, forcing her to abandon her psychology studies and quit her job as an online editor that had helped augment the family income.
Now Tuarez and her mother, a stroke survivor, both depend on the meager income of her 72-year-old grandmother, who works at a beauty salon in the capital.
Andres Marcano, a 53-year-old translator diagnosed with MS two decades ago, told AFP his mobility has drastically deteriorated in the last five years after he stopped receiving state-funded medication.
"I find it difficult to speak. I don't walk. I am unable to stand and therefore I move around in a wheelchair," he told AFP via WhatsApp.
The situation "is serious, we are adrift," said another MS sufferer, Maria Eugenia Monagas, 57, who pays privately for treatment thanks to the income of her husband and two children, one of them abroad.
"Many are disabled, or dead, due to a lack of medicines," she said.
The government of President Nicolas Maduro blames the state's failure on US sanctions. But others point to graft allegations against officials from the health ministry and the IVSS in a country with a long history of corruption and mismanagement, according to international observers.
- No options -
Tuarez said her last relapse left her temporarily unable to speak, walk or eat independently.
She was prescribed steroids to ease the symptoms, but could not get any through the IVSS.
In the private sector, the medicines she needs cost as much as $30,000 per year.
Tuarez said she spent Christmas Eve sending out emails to aid organizations in different countries, seeking help to leave the country with her mother, who needs care and cannot be left behind.
So far, she has collected $600 out of her objective of $10,000.
Tuarez is overwhelmed at the thought of leaving behind her family, a beloved dog and two cats, but fears her life is in danger if she does not.
"I wish there were other options, to make a career and live my life (in Venezuela), but there are none," Tuarez said.
B.Shevchenko--BTB