MIAMI: President Donald Trump is to visit storm-ravaged Florida on Thursday as authorities investigate the deaths of eight residents of a nursing home that lost power when Hurricane Irma whipped through the region.
The deaths brought the total number of storm-related fatalities in Florida to 20, and illustrate the urgency of restoring electricity to millions of people across the southern state.
Trump and his wife Melania will head to the city of Fort Myers, where they will be briefed on hurricane recovery efforts along with Vice President Mike Pence, the White House said.
The three will then head to nearby Naples to visit with hurricane victims.
Both cities are on Florida’s west coast, far from Trump’s swank Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, on the state’s east coast.
The visit comes as Florida residents who evacuated ahead of Hurricane Irma trickle back home, and as tens of thousands of utility company workers, many from out of state, work around the clock to restore power to millions of customers.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said he was “absolutely heartbroken” on Wednesday to learn of the deaths of the elderly residents at a retirement home in Hollywood, north of Miami.
Around 115 of the nursing home residents were evacuated after a nearby hospital began receiving patients suffering from heat-related problems as there was no air conditioning due to power outages.
Three of those who died were in their nineties, including 99-year-old Albertina Vega. The youngest was 70, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s office.
“We believe at this time they (the deaths) may be related to the loss of power in the storm,” Hollywood police chief Tomas Sanchez told a news conference.
Scott vowed to “aggressively demand answers” on how this happened. “This situation is unfathomable,” he fumed in a statement.
The governor said he ordered a probe by state authorities, while Sanchez confirmed a criminal investigation has been launched.
Memorial Regional Hospital began receiving patients early on Wednesday, said Dr. Randy Katz, medical director of the hospital’s emergency department.
“(We) quickly identified some issues inside the facility with fire rescue and immediately evacuated the building,” Katz said.
He said most of the patients admitted to hospital have been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related problems.
Florida residents that heeded warnings to evacuate ahead of the storm faced lengthy traffic jams as they returned home after days in shelters or with friends or family.
Irma, which made landfall Sunday morning in the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane, had triggered orders for more than six million people to flee to safety, one of the biggest evacuations in US history.
Some Florida Keys residents faced scenes of devastation as police lifted roadblocks on Tuesday and began allowing people to return to the string of islands off the state’s southern coast.
Daniel Drum, 67, already knew how bad it was because he rode out the storm in his two-story house on Cudjoe Key, where Irma made its first US landfall.
On Wednesday, he climbed down from what had been the upper floor of his home on a ladder, wearing only underwear and flip-flops because the wind blew away his clean clothes.
The first floor was a pile of rubble. The walls were gone, and only the pilings holding up the top floor remained.
“I had two baskets full of clean laundry and they just took to the air. And my pants, my phone, my wallet are all gone. As well as everything else I can think of,” he said.
At least a quarter of the homes in the Keys were destroyed, federal emergency management officials said, and 65 percent suffered some damage.
The storm also cut off power, water and sewage to the islands, home to some 70,000 people.
In the Caribbean, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the island of Saint Barts on Wednesday, a day after traveling to the French-Dutch island of Saint Martin.
France, Britain and the Netherlands have been criticized for the pace of relief efforts for their overseas territories ravaged by the storm.
Islanders have complained of a breakdown in law and order and widespread shortages of food, water and electricity.
Touring Saint Martin, Macron was at times jeered by people waiting for aid supplies or hoping to catch flights to France to escape the devastation across the island.
Macron pledged on Saint Barts, population 9,000, that an emergency relief fund for victims would be operational by Monday.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla on Wednesday and pledged “absolute commitment” to Britons there.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has also toured Sint Maarten, the Dutch side of the island shared with France, meeting residents on Saba island, and was set to travel to Sint Eustatius, which suffered severe damage.
Trump to visit hurricane-hit Florida as agents probe nursing home deaths
Trump to visit hurricane-hit Florida as agents probe nursing home deaths
Rural communities urged to flee east Australia bushfire
- About 600 firefighters battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers west of Melbourne
- State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities
MELBOURNE: Australian authorities urged people in dozens of rural communities to leave home “immediately” Thursday to escape an out-of-control bushfire tearing through a national park.
About 600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of Melbourne, a Victoria state emergency services spokesperson said.
The blaze has persisted for more than a week in hot, windy conditions, scorching 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) — about one-third of the park — so far without causing deaths or destroying homes.
State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities, with populations ranging from as few as six to as many as several hundred.
People in several other communities were told to take shelter indoors because it was unsafe to leave.
Firefighters expected shifting winds to complicate their task during the day, said Victoria state control center spokesman Luke Hegarty.
“We are reaching a critical part of the day when we see the wind change moving through the western part of the state,” he said in an afternoon update.
“We’re expecting strong winds and variable winds to be a concern for us over the next few hours.”
A total fire ban was declared across the whole of Victoria, barring any fires in the open air.
Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead 20 years on
- A 9.1-magnitude earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004 pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia
- A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Tearful mourners prayed on Thursday as ceremonies were held across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters.
A 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip on December 26, 2004, generated a series of waves as high as 30 meters (98 feet) that pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
In Indonesia’s Aceh Province, where more than 100,000 people were killed, a siren rang out at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to kick off a series of memorials around the region, including in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, which the tsunami hit hours later.
People recounted harrowing tales of horror and miraculous survival as giant waves swept in without warning, carrying debris including cars and destroying buildings in its wake.
“I thought it was doomsday,” said Hasnawati, a 54-year-old teacher who goes by one name, at the Indonesian mosque that was damaged by the tsunami.
“On a Sunday morning where our family were all laughing together, suddenly a disaster struck and everything’s gone. I can’t describe it with words.”
At Aceh’s Siron mass grave, where around 46,000 people were buried, emotional relatives recited Islamic prayers in the shade of trees that have since grown there.
Khyanisa, a 59-year-old Indonesian housewife, lost her mother and daughter, searching in vain for them in the hope they were still alive.
“I kept chanting God’s name. I looked for them everywhere,” she said.
“There was a moment where I realized they were gone. I felt my chest was in pain, I screamed.”
The victims included many foreign tourists celebrating Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, bringing the tragedy into homes around the globe.
The seabed being ripped open pushed waves at double the speed of a bullet train, crossing the Indian Ocean within hours.
In Thailand, where half of the more than 5,000 dead were foreign tourists, commemorations began early in Ban Nam Khem, its worst-hit village.
Tearful relatives laid flowers and wreaths at a curved wall in the shape of a tsunami wave with plaques bearing victims’ names.
Napaporn Pakawan, 55, lost her older sister and a niece in the tragedy.
“I feel dismay. I come here every year,” she said.
“Times flies but time is slow in our mind.”
After an interfaith ceremony, Italian survivor Francesca Ermini, 55, thanked volunteers for saving her life.
“I think all of us (survivors), when we think about you, it makes us feel so hopeful,” she said.
Unofficial beachside vigils were also expected to accompany a Thai government memorial ceremony.
A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database.
There was no warning of the impending tsunami, giving little time for evacuation, despite the hours-long gaps between the waves striking different continents.
But today a sophisticated network of monitoring stations has cut down warning times.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people perished, survivors and relatives gathered to remember around 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
The mourners boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed to Peraliya — the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Colombo.
A brief religious ceremony was held with relatives of the dead there while Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies were also organized to commemorate victims across the South Asian island nation.
Nearly 300 people were killed as far away as Somalia, as well as more than 100 in the Maldives and dozens in Malaysia and Myanmar.
Dorothy Wilkinson, a 56-year-old British woman who lost her partner and his parents to the tsunami in Thailand, said the commemorations were a time to remember the best of those who died.
“It makes me happy to come... a bit sad,” she said.
“It’s celebrating their life.”
South Korea opposition says it will vote to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo
- Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if he does not immediately appoint three justices to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court
- The court is trying the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law
SEOUL: South Korea’s main opposition party said it will introduce a bill to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo on Thursday and hold a vote on Friday, a move that could deepen the country’s constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived martial law.
The opposition Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if he does not immediately appoint three justices to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court. Parliament voted in favor of three nominees on Thursday, but they have yet to be formally appointed by Han.
The court is trying the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
“It has become clear that Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo does not have the qualification or the will to safeguard the Constitution,” Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
If Han is impeached, the finance minister will assume the acting presidency. The Democratic Party has majority control of parliament, but there is disagreement between the parties and some constitutional scholars over whether a simple majority or a two-thirds vote is needed to impeach the acting president.
Han said earlier on Thursday that he will not appoint the justices until political parties reach agreement on the appointments, because for him to do so without political consensus will harm constitutional order.
Two of the proposed appointees for the Constitutional Court up for the vote on Thursday were nominated by the Democratic Party and one by Han’s ruling People Power Party. The ruling party objected to the breakdown, saying it had not agreed to it.
Han has been under pressure to make the appointments, but political parties have disagreed on whether he has the authority to do so as acting president.
The court is set to hold its first hearing on Friday in the trial to decide whether to remove Yoon or reinstate him.
Under the constitution, six justices must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the current justices must vote unanimously to remove Yoon. The court has said it can deliberate without the full bench.
Yoon, who was impeached by parliament on Dec. 14 in a vote joined by some members of his center-right party, has not submitted legal papers as requested by the court as of Thursday, court spokesperson Lee Jean told a media briefing.
On Wednesday, he did not respond to the latest summons for questioning in a separate criminal investigation.
Yoon’s repeated defiance has sparked criticism and calls from the opposition for his arrest.
Azerbaijan mourns 38 killed in plane crash in Kazakhstan
- Flight Radar website showed the plane deviating from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau
ASTANA: Azerbaijan began a national day of mourning Thursday after a passenger jet from the flag carrier crashed in western Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It crashed Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijan Airlines reported that 67 people were on board the jet — 62 passengers and five crew members.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told Russia’s Interfax news agency that 38 people had been killed, while the Kazakh emergency situations ministry reported “29 survivors, including three children, have been hospitalized.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday a day of mourning and canceled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet nations.
Aliyev’s office said the president “ordered the prompt initiation of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster.”
“I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the crash... and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Aliyev said in a social media post.
The Flight Radar website showed the plane deviating from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the sea.
Azerbaijan state news agency AZERTAC reported the aircraft’s black box, which records the flight data, has been recovered.
The Kazakh transport ministry said the plane was carrying 37 nationals from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia.
Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the plane “made an emergency landing” around three kilometers (1.9 miles) from Aktau.
The Kazakh emergency situations ministry said its staff put out a fire which broke out when the plane crashed.
It said 150 emergency workers were at the scene.
Kazakhstan said it had opened an investigation into the cause of the crash, which was not immediately clear.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before withdrawing the statement.
“We cannot disclose any investigation results at this time,” the office of Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general said in a statement.
“All possible scenarios are being examined, and the necessary expert analyzes are underway,” it added.
It said an investigative team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan has been dispatched to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site.
A Kazakh woman told the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that she was near where the plane crashed and rushed to the site to help survivors.
“They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help,” said the woman, who gave her name as Elmira.
She said they saved some teenagers.
“I’ll never forget their look, full of pain and despair,” said Elmira. “A girl pleaded: ‘Save my mother, my mother is back there’.”
The health ministry said a special flight was being sent from the Kazakh capital Astana with specialist doctors to treat the injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with Aliyev and “expressed his condolences in connection with the crash,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference.
A Russian emergency situations ministry had been sent to Aktau with medical personnel and other equipment, Putin said later as he opened the CIS leaders’ meeting in Saint Petersburg.
Azerbaijan’s first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country’s first vice president, said she was “deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau.”
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. Wishing them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” she said on Instagram.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines jet who died.”
Kashmir’s ‘bee queen’ sets out to empower women, inspire youth
- Sania Zehra manages about 600 bee colonies, sells products across India
- She created an empowerment group to help aspiring women entrepreneurs
NEW DELHI: For the past four years, beekeeping has become central to Sania Zehra’s life. Every morning, she wakes at about 6 a.m. to tend to her colonies, before spending the rest of the day building the enterprise that turned her into the “bee queen” of Kashmir.
Her beekeeping journey began as a 16-year-old, watching her father hard at work at the family farm in Balhama in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“I first saw my grandfather working with the bees, and then I saw my father doing the same business. When I saw my father working hard, I decided to also contribute and support him,” Zehra told Arab News.
She overcame her initial fear of bee stings and got to work immediately, applying for a government scheme that allowed her to expand the business.
It was not always smooth sailing — she struggled to make a profit in the first couple of years and had to juggle maintaining the hectic routine of beekeeping and selling her products.
But as her hard work of managing hundreds of colonies garnered her the “bee queen” title, today her products are being sold across the country.
“I am selling my product across India (and) I am getting orders from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Dubai, South Africa, Qatar and all,” Zehra said.
Beekeeping is a multi-pronged passion for the 20-year-old, who sees it as a way to protect the environment and preserve her family legacy.
She joins an increasing number of women in Kashmir who are running their own businesses, many of whom access government programs aimed at training and supporting women entrepreneurs.
Despite the social barriers that persist to this day, Zehra found support from her family, especially her mother.
“My mother supports me wholeheartedly. She says ‘I have sons but you have gone ahead of the boys and there is nothing that can stop a woman if she wants to,’” she said.
“For me, it’s a passion as well as a desire to carry the family legacy … I have been fascinated by bees’ social structure and the importance of bees in our ecosystem. I want to contribute to their conversation and produce natural honey and connect with nature. They are an inspiration for me.”
As time went by, she found that beekeeping was not only therapeutic for her mental health but also a way to support the entrepreneurial landscape in Kashmir.
To fuel that mission, Zehra created an empowerment group whose members comprise talented women who lack access to resources.
“My main focus is that I should act as a catalyst for many and help others to grow too,” she said.
With 40 members so far, Zehra is aiming to take it to 100 and help them gain access to the government initiatives that once helped her.
“I want to give employment to all,” Zehra said. “I have a future plan to address the unemployment issue in Kashmir and make Kashmir a wonderful place. I want to inspire young people.”
