KABUL: At least 35 people were killed and 230 injured on Monday after heavy rain in eastern Afghanistan, a local official said.
“On Monday evening, stormy rains killed 35 people and injured 230 others in Jalalabad and certain districts of Nangarhar” province, Quraishi Badloon, head of the department of information and culture, told AFP.
The casualties were caused by heavy storms and rains that collapsed trees, walls and roofs of people’s houses, Badloon said.
“There is a possibility that casualties might rise,” he went on, adding that the wounded as well as victims’ bodies were brought to Nangarhar regional hospital and Fatima-tul-Zahra hospital.
Images shared by Badloon’s department showed medical personnel wearing white and blue uniforms giving treatment to the wounded.
Other pictures on social media showed battered buildings and power masts.
Nangarhar authorities said on X that 400 houses were damaged, while electricity was out of service in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
They added that several citizens had donated blood at the hospital to support the recovery efforts.
A camp at the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan, built for Afghans returning to their country, was particularly devastated as tents were swept away.
“We share the grief of the families of the victims,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban government.
“The relevant institutions of the Islamic Emirate have been directed to go to the affected areas as soon as possible,” Mujahid wrote on X, adding they would provide shelter, food and medicine to displaced families.
The tragedy comes after flash floods killed hundreds of people in Afghanistan in May and swamped agricultural lands in the country, where 80 percent of the population depends on farming to survive.
Among the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan is particularly exposed to the effects of climate change.
This year, it saw an unusually wet spring after an extremely dry winter.
Heavy rains kill at least 35 in eastern Afghanistan — official
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Heavy rains kill at least 35 in eastern Afghanistan — official
- The storms and rains collapsed trees, walls and roofs of several houses in Jalalabad and Nangarhar
- The tragedy comes after flash floods killed hundreds of people and swamped agricultural lands in May
Afghan women arrive to study medicine in Scotland after 3-year campaign
- Students were banned from studying after Taliban takeover
- ‘We endured a thousand days of suffering to reach this point’
LONDON: A group of female trainee doctors from Afghanistan have traveled to Scotland to complete their medical degrees after being forced to abandon their studies by the Taliban.
It follows a three-year campaign by the parents of slain Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The Linda Norgrove Foundation pushed for the 19 Afghan female students to receive safe passage to Edinburgh and free university tuition. They arrived in the UK on Tuesday.
John and Lorna Norgrove said the women had “in effect been confined to their homes” in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021.
Through their foundation, the Norgroves worked with officials from the UK and Scottish governments to help the Afghan medical trainees.
John Norgrove praised the cooperation between the UK and Scottish governments on the project.
“Finally these 19 incredibly talented young women get their future back with the opportunity of a tremendous education and a career. The alternative for them in Afghanistan wasn’t good,” he said.
The women have been given places at four medical schools in Scotland, and were granted domestic student rights.
A number of legal and bureaucratic challenges were overcome during the campaign, including organizing English-language tests and hosting university entrance interviews on Skype.
The Afghan students traveled to the UK via Pakistan, where they applied for visas for both countries.
In Pakistan, they were required to apply for UK student funding, bank accounts and accommodation.
The foundation spent about $80,000 in bringing the students to Scotland.
One of the students, Omulbanin Sultani, said in a statement that the foundation “had saved our lives in every sense of the word. It fills me with immense pride and joy to stand here today on this beautiful day.
“But let me tell you, being here was not as easy as these words make it seem. We endured a thousand days of suffering to reach this point.”
Another student, 19-year-old Zahra Hussaini, described arriving in the UK as a “dream,” but said she hopes that by the time she completes her studies, it will be safe to return to Afghanistan.
Hussaini had completed her first year of medicine when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan.
“Our journey here will be long enough, maybe for eight years, nine years, and I think during this time many alterations and changes will come to Afghanistan,” she said. “I am hopeful that the situation won’t remain the same.”
Philippines readies to showcase talent at Esports Olympics in Saudi Arabia
- Esports, especially mobile games, are increasingly popular in the Philippines
- Kingdom will host the inaugural Olympic Esports Games in 2025
MANILA: Following its finest-in-decades Olympic performance in Paris, the Philippines is now setting its sights on showcasing its talent during next year’s Olympic Esports Games in Saudi Arabia.
Last month, Saudi Arabia and the International Olympic Committee announced an agreement to host the inaugural Esports Games in the Kingdom in 2025.
Sports events are a key part of Vision 2030, a transformation program spearheaded by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which aims to pivot the Saudi economy away from dependence on oil. The first formal deal with the IOC and Saudi Arabia is the latest addition to the Kingdom’s broad portfolio of sports events.
In the 2025 Esports Olympics, Filipinos are pinning hopes especially on mobile esports, or games that can be played on a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet, a discipline that has been gaining popularity in the Southeast Asian nation for the past decade.
“We, the Philippines, are actually known for very good, I would say, esports achievements for the mobile category,” Marlon Marcelo, executive director of the Philippine Esports Organization, told Arab News on Wednesday.
“The goal is to make sure that we actually prepare and (ensure) that we can actually give the country its first ever Esports Olympics medal.”
Established in 2011, the Philippine Esports Organization is the national governing body for esports in the Philippines.
“We’re hoping that some of the esports games that we play in the Philippines hopefully will be included in the Esports Olympics, which will happen for the first time in 2025,” Marcelo said.
“We’re very much excited … The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has all the infrastructure and they seem to actually know all the needs for an esports athlete to become successful. That’s why, I guess, the IOC was actually happy to host the first-ever Esports Olympics. That says a lot about the preparedness of KSA in terms of infrastructure, equipment and the manpower to make sure that this happens.”
But before the Philippines gets the chance to showcase its talent, it will first have to prepare to qualify for the games.
“We still need to make sure that we qualify, overcome all the hurdles, so that we’ll make it to the Esports Olympics itself. Number two, making sure that we have funding along the way … We have a very great chance to get medals in the mobile games category,” Marcelo said.
“It’s a long shot, but the dream is still alive. We see this as an opportunity to showcase the Filipinos’ talents, not only in traditional sports, but of course, the new and upcoming sports, which is esports. In esports, there’s no tall, or fat, thin, or big body. It’s all fair, so Filipinos have a great chance to hopefully get the medals.”
Paolo Barcelona, president of the Philippine Esports Press Corps and an esports journalist, was equally enthusiastic about next year’s event in the Kingdom.
“We’re a nation that is known, at least in Southeast Asia, to be strong at various forms of mobile esports, and while the private sector and the country’s National Sporting Association have been helping, the government should make the same level of commitment and long-term investments for Philippine esports,” he told Arab News.
“The hope is that our country can win medals … Once we win a medal, especially a gold one, it can help change the perception of many Filipinos that esports is all about fun and games. Like in traditional sports, athletes spend hours mastering the game, competing from grassroots up to campus and the pro level. We need to show the nation that this can be one more source of national pride.”
Ukraine parliament votes to join International Criminal Court
- The ICC prosecutes grave offenses like genocide and crimes against humanity
- Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba calls Wednesday’s move ‘historic’
KYIV: Ukraine’s parliament voted on Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), as Kyiv seeks to bring Russia to justice over war crimes it is alleged to have committed throughout its invasion.
The ICC prosecutes grave offenses like genocide and crimes against humanity, and has the power to issue arrest warrants that its 124 members are obliged to execute.
Ukraine signed the Rome Statute that founded the court in 2000, but had not ratified it, as some political and military figures expressed fears Ukrainian soldiers could face prosecution.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called Wednesday’s move “historic” after Parliament adopted the ratification of the statute.
“This has been a long journey full of challenges, myths, and fears. None of them have been true. And today, we are finally there,” he said in a post on X.
The ratification controversially included a reference to Article 124 of the Rome Statute, which would exempt Ukrainian citizens from being prosecuted for war crimes for seven years, ruling party lawmaker Yevgeniya Kravchuk said on Facebook.
“The ratification of the Rome Statute will simultaneously facilitate greater opportunities for punishing Russians and increase the isolation of Russia,” she said.
Last year, the court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-controlled territory.
Kyiv had long faced pressure from rights groups to ratify the treaty as well as from the European Union, which Ukraine has sought to join.
Pakistan is making good progress with IMF, finance minister says
- The IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pakistan’s external financing needs
KARACHI: Pakistan is making good progress with the International Monetary Fund and hopes to get board approval in September for a new $7 billion loan program, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday.
Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement for the 37-month loan program in July. The IMF said the new Extended Fund Facility program is subject to approval from its Executive Board and obtaining “timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”
“We are making good progress with IMF for Board approval in September,” said Aurangzeb in text message to Reuters.
Rollovers or disbursements on loans from Pakistan’s long-time allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China, in addition to financing from the IMF, have helped Pakistan meet its external financing needs in the past.
The IMF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Pakistan’s external financing needs and the executive board’s meeting on Pakistan’s loan program.
Hope fading as search for Sicily yacht missing enters third day
- The British-flagged ‘Bayesian’ was anchored with 10 crew and 12 passengers on board when it was struck by a waterspout before dawn on Monday
PORTICELLO, Italy: Searches resumed for a third day Wednesday on the wreck of a luxury yacht that sank off Sicily, with hope fading that the six missing passengers would be found alive.
The search operation, which involves specialist divers aided by an underwater drone, continued until late on Tuesday and resumed at first light on Wednesday morning, firefighters said.
The 56-meter (185 feet) British-flagged “Bayesian” was anchored with 10 crew and 12 passengers on board when it was struck by a waterspout — akin to a mini-tornado — before dawn on Monday.
One body was found in the hours after the sinking, believed to be the yacht’s chef, and 15 people were rescued.
But UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah, his lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy remain missing.
Firefighters said on Tuesday evening that divers had entered the inside of the wreck, but that it was a “long and complex” operation.
The yacht is largely intact, resting on the seabed some 50 meters down.
Despite eyewitness testimonies that the 75-meter mast had snapped, reports on Wednesday suggested that it too, survived the incident.
A coast guard official, Captain Vincenzo Zagarola, had told Italian radio on Tuesday morning that it was “difficult to imagine” that the search would end well.
But experts noted that superyachts such as “Bayesian” were designed with watertight subdivisions.
“There are records of survivors found in such air pockets,” noted Dr. Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a UK engineering expert and fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, in a commentary provided by the Science Media Center.
He noted the case of Nigerian sailor Harrison Okene, who was rescued in 2013 after spending nearly three days trapped in an air pocket after his ship capsized in rough seas off the Nigerian coast.
But he added: “Whether air pockets formed on the Bayesian is simply impossible to predict.”
The passengers were guests of Lynch — an entrepreneur sometimes referred to as Britain’s Bill Gates — to celebrate his acquittal in a massive US fraud case.
The 59-year-old was acquitted on all charges in a San Francisco court in June after he was accused of an $11 billion fraud linked to the sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.
