Muscat (AFP) April 15, 2024 Flooding in Oman has killed at least 16 people, many of them schoolchildren, authorities said following the discovery of the bodies of a child and three adults on Monday. The Gulf sultanate’s official news agency initially reported on Sunday that nine schoolchildren and three other adults had “lost their lives after their vehicles got swept away in gushing wadi waters”. … Continue reading Oman floods kill 16 including schoolchildren

Lahore, Pakistan (AFP) April 15, 2024 At least 41 people have died in storm-related incidents across Pakistan since Friday, including 28 killed by lightning, officials said on Monday. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned of landslides and flash floods because more rain is expected in coming days. Punjab, Pakistan’s largest and most populous province, witnessed the highest death toll, with 21http://dlvr.it/T5ZNp7 Continue reading Lightning, downpours kill 41 people across Pakistan

Madrid (AFP) April 15, 2024 A forest fire that started in abnormally hot temperatures has burned through through more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land in eastern Spain and forced 180 people to flee their homes, officials said Monday. The fire began on Sunday near Tarbena in the Valencia region as temperatures reached 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), which is unusually high for … Continue reading Wildfire rages in eastern Spain as temperatures rise

Port Sudan, Sudan (AFP) April 15, 2024 Six people were killed and several injured amid fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher, in Darfur, one year to the day since the war in Sudan began. The Sudan doctors’ union said late on Sunday that El-Fasher hospital had reported “six deaths and 61 injuries … following clashes” between the army and … Continue reading At least six dead in Sudan’s once refuge El-Fasher

Jakarta (AFP) April 14, 2024 At least 19 people have been found dead and two more are missing after a landslide in central Indonesia, local authorities said on Sunday. The dead and two survivors were evacuated from two landslide-hit villages in Tana Toraja regency, South Sulawesi province on Saturday evening, said local disaster agency head Sulaiman Malia. “There have been 19 fatalities, with 4 deaths … Continue reading 19 dead, two missing after Indonesia landslide

Petropavl, Kazakhstan (AFP) April 14, 2024 Floodwaters in southern Russia on Sunday threatened to submerge thousands more homes in the Kurgan region, where the governor predicted a “very difficult situation” in the coming hours. There is widespread flooding in the Russian Urals regions and neighbouring Kazakhstan, caused by melting ice swelling rivers, exacerbated by heavy rainfall. In some places, only the roofs of houses are … Continue reading Russian governor warns of ‘very difficult’ plight as floods rise

Honiara (AFP) April 15, 2024 China’s growing hold over Pacific nation Solomon Islands is “alarming”, a powerful opposition figurehead told AFP Monday ahead of elections that could further entrench Beijing’s foothold in the region. Solomon Islands has warmly embraced China under mercurial Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, with the two nations inking a murky security pact in 2022. A torrent of Chinese aid and investmehttp://dlvr.it/T5Wryw Continue reading Opposition figurehead decries China’s ‘alarming’ sway in Solomon Islands

Hong Kong (AFP) April 15, 2024 Top Beijing officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs on Monday lashed out at critics of the city’s new national security law, calling them “mantises and flies”. Hong Kong authorities last month enacted the financial hubs’s second national security law, which expanded on legislation Beijing imposed four years ago to quell dissent after massive democracy protests in 2019 were … Continue reading China officials reject criticism of new Hong Kong security law

Beijing (AFP) April 15, 2024 The children of human rights advocates in China are being punished for their parents’ activism as Beijing intensifies a crackdown on civil society, a rights group warned on Monday. China has long stood accused of suppressing human rights, especially in the troubled regions of Xinjiang and Tibet as well as more recently in the former British colony of Hong Kong. … Continue reading China using ‘collective punishment’ against activists’ families: rights group

Honiara (AFP) April 14, 2024 Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has manoeuvered through armed coups, riots and the rise of China during four spasmodic spells as the Pacific nation’s leader. The 69-year-old has been a figure of international intrigue since regaining power in 2019, when he abruptly severed links with Taiwan and embraced overtures from China. But those more familiar with politics in the … Continue reading From toilet cleaner to ‘master of mayhem’: Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare