Wayanad: Relentless downpours and howling winds hampered Wednesday’s search for survivors of landslides that struck Indian tea plantations and killed at least 150 people, most believed to be laborers and their families.
Days of torrential monsoon rains have battered the southern coastal state of Kerala, with blocked roads into the Wayanad district disaster area complicating relief efforts.
With the only bridge connecting the worst-hit villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai washed away, rescue teams were forced to cart bodies on stretchers out of the disaster zone using a makeshift zipline erected over raging flood waters.
Several who managed to flee the initial impact of the landslides found themselves caught in a nearby river that had burst its banks, volunteer rescuer Arun Dev told AFP at a hospital treating survivors.
“Those who escaped were swept away along with houses, temples and schools,” he said.
Senior police officer M.R. Ajith Kumar told AFP that around 500 people had been rescued since successive landslides struck before dawn on Tuesday.
“So far we have got more than 150 bodies,” he said.
“Still large areas are to be explored and searched to find out whether live people are there or not.”
Wayanad is famed for the tea estates that crisscross its hilly countryside, which rely on a large pool of laborers for planting and harvest.
A number of brick-walled row homes built to accommodate seasonal workers were inundated by a powerful wall of brown sludge as laborers and their families slept inside.
Other buildings were caked with mud as the force of the landslide scattered cars, corrugated iron and other debris around the disaster site.
“Catastrophic debris flows are extremely violent, so survival is very difficult,” Hull University earth scientist Dave Petley told AFP.
“This will have been exacerbated by the timing — in the early hours when people were asleep — and by flimsy structures that offered little protection.”
More than 3,000 people were sheltering in emergency relief camps around Wayanad district, the state government said.
At least 572 millimeters (22.5 inches) of rain fell in the two days leading up to the landslides, according to state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala’s disaster agency said more rain and strong winds were forecast for Thursday with the likelihood of “damage to unsafe structures” elsewhere in the state.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who until recently represented Wayanad in parliament, said he had been unable to go through with a planned visit to the disaster.
“Due to incessant rains and adverse weather conditions we have been informed by authorities that we will not be able to land,” he said in a post on social media platform X.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Wayanad at this difficult time,” he added.
Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies.
They are vital for agriculture — and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers, and food security for South Asia’s nearly two billion people — but they also bring regular destruction.
The number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years, and experts say climate change is exacerbating the problem.
“Events like landslides, they are part of these climate-change-triggered heavy rainfall disasters,” Kartiki Negi of the Indian environment think tank Climate Trends told AFP.
“India will continue to see more and more of these kinds of impacts in the future,” she added.
Damming, deforestation and development projects in India have also exacerbated the human toll.
India’s worst landslide in recent decades was in 1998, when rockfalls triggered by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 220 people and buried the tiny village of Malpa in the Himalayas.
India landslide toll hits 150 as rain hampers rescue work
https://arab.news/2paj2
India landslide toll hits 150 as rain hampers rescue work
- Days of torrential monsoon rains have battered the southern coastal state of Kerala, with blocked roads into the Wayanad district disaster area complicating relief efforts
Ethiopia PM issues warning over sovereignty
- Ethiopia is currently a major contributor to ATMIS, which is helping Somali forces in the fight against the Al-Shabab jihadist group
NAIROBI: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned Sunday that his country would “humiliate” any nation that threatens its sovereignty, as tensions spiral in the volatile Horn of Africa.
Africa’s second most populous nation is locked in a dispute with neighboring Somalia over a maritime deal it signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland. Relations with Egypt are also fraught over Ethiopia’s mega-dam on the Blue Nile.
“We will not be touched! However, we will humiliate anyone who dares to threaten us in order to dissuade them,” Abiy said at a Sovereignty Day ceremony in the capital Addis Ababa.
“We won’t negotiate with anyone on Ethiopia’s sovereignty and dignity,” he was quoted as saying by the official Ethiopian News Agency.
Ethiopia last month accused unnamed actors of seeking to “destabilize the region” after Egypt sent military equipment to Somalia following the signing of a military cooperation pact between Cairo and Mogadishu.
Egypt has also offered to deploy troops to Somalia under a new African Union-led mission that will replace the current peacekeeping force known as ATMIS next year.
Ethiopia is currently a major contributor to ATMIS, which is helping Somali forces in the fight against the Al-Shabab jihadist group.
But Mogadishu is furious over a deal signed in January between Ethiopia and Somaliland that gives Addis Ababa long-sought after access to the sea, saying it was an attack on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Under the pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast.
In return, Somaliland has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although this has never been confirmed by Addis Ababa.
Turkiye has been mediating indirect talks between Ethiopia and Somalia to try to resolve the dispute, but they have made no significant breakthrough.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate of 4.5 million people, declared independence in 1993 but the move is rejected by Mogadishu and not recognized by the international community.
Cairo and Addis Ababa have been at loggerheads for years, trading incendiary words over Ethiopia’s massive hydroelectric dam project, which Egypt says threatens its fragile water security.
NATO members Romania, Latvia report Russian drones breach airspace
- Romanian lawmakers plan to consider legislation at their current session on enabling Romania to shoot down drones invading the country’s airspace in peacetime
BUCHAREST: Romania and Latvia, both NATO members and supporters of Ukraine in its 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia, on Sunday were investigating instances of Russian drones that crashed after breaching their airspace, authorities in both countries said.
The incidents prompted officials to call for measures to act jointly to counter Russia air incursions.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana denounced the incidents as “irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” while saying there was no indication of a deliberate attack on Alliance member-states.
The Romanian defense ministry said the “radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited toward Ukraine.”
Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the incursion. Residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover.
“From existing data, the possibility of an impact zone on national territory was identified, in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava,” the ministry added.
Ministry personnel were searching the area of impact.
In Latvia, which borders both Russia and its close ally Belarus, President Edgars Rinkevics posted on social media platform X that his government sought a common NATO response.
“The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively,” Rinkevics wrote.
The LETA news agency quoted the defense ministry as saying initial investigation showed that the drone had entered Latvian airspace from Belarus and crashed near the city of Rezekne.
Leonids Kalnins, Commander of Latvia’s Joint Headquarters, said experts believed the drone “did not have a specific purpose to fly into Latvia.”
Defense Minister Andris Spruds, quoted by LETA, said the incident was “confirmation that we need to continue the work we have started to strengthen Latvia’s eastern border, including the development of air defense capabilities and electronic warfare capabilities...”
Ukraine’s newly-appointed Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, wrote on X that the two cases were “a stark reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine” and called for maximum support from Ukraine’s allies.
Romania shares a 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone fragments stray into its territory repeatedly over the past year. Romanian territory lies a few hundred meters from Ukrainian Danube River ports, frequent Russian targets.
“There weren’t serious issues on the ground,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters on Sunday after consulting with the defense minister.
“(Attacks) will continue. That is it, we have a war on the border.”
Romanian lawmakers plan to consider legislation at their current session on enabling Romania to shoot down drones invading the country’s airspace in peacetime.
Six bodies found off Sicily coast, likely victims of recent migrant shipwreck, media say
- The survivors told rescuers they had set off from Libya on Sept. 1 and that 21 of the 28 people on board, including three children, had fallen into the sea in rough weather
MILAN: Italy’s coast guard recovered six bodies off the coast of Sicily, believed to be some of the 21 missing from a migrant shipwreck earlier this month, Italian media reported on Sunday.
The Italian coast guard said on Wednesday that seven people, all male Syrian nationals, were picked up from a semi-sunken boat southwest of the island of Lampedusa after a shipwreck.
The survivors told rescuers they had set off from Libya on Sept. 1 and that 21 of the 28 people on board, including three children, had fallen into the sea in rough weather.
Italian news agency AGI reported that rescuers believe the six bodies are some of the 21 missing from the shipwreck, based on the coordinates of where they were found.
The central Mediterranean is among the world’s deadliest migration routes. According to the UN migration agency (IOM), more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year, and 1,116 since the beginning of the year.
The latest figures from the Italian interior ministry recorded that just over 43,000 migrants had reached Italy so far in 2024, well down from previous years.
From Dubai to LA, ube is the purple gateway to Filipino cuisine
- Ube is a main component of many celebratory dishes, delicacies in the Philippines
- As Filipino cooks abroad feature the tuber in their menus, they become popular internationally
MANILA: For the uninitiated, the experience of ube begins with its vividly purple hue. That is often how the tuber native to the Philippines catches the attention of foodies around the globe, as Filipino cooks turn them into the stars of a variety of snacks and desserts, from traditional rice cakes to ice creams and pastries.
From Dubai to LA, ube has featured as a novelty in Filipino-owned restaurants and shops. In the UAE’s commercial capital, visitors can find ube at Kooya Filipino Eatery, which has it in the form of a latte and milkshake, as well as a topping on halo-halo, the Philippines’ beloved shaved ice dessert.
Even in LA, Filipino-American Chef Andre Guerrero has ube milkshake on his menu at The Oinkster, which many credited as one of the first establishments to bring the purple yam into mainstream culinary consciousness in the US.
“We’re so … proud of it, and we should be; when we invite our new communities to try these brightly colored foods from our strange homeland, we’re attaching it to a good memory,” Manila-based food writer Michiko Manalang told Arab News.
For centuries, ube has been part of the Filipino table as a main component of celebratory dishes and special-occasion treats.
Often confused with the taro root, it is an indigenous staple of the Philippines that has a mellow, sweet and earthy flavor, as well as a striking hue. The root vegetable often used in desserts also conveys certain parts of Philippine culture.
Ube halaya, a rich purple jam made from boiled and mashed ube and thickened with coconut milk or condensed milk and butter, is an example. Typically served cold, the festive delicacy is believed to be more modern than widely perceived, as it would require some refrigeration.
“If someone can serve genuine ube halaya, it’s a subtle sign that they’re well-to-do,” Manalang said.
“Ube lends itself well to a lot of themes of Filipino cooking and culture. We’re a colorful bunch and we like our sweets, our rich textures,” she added. “Ube is good and fun on its own, but if I’m being honest, it’s our pride in it and our willingness to share that might be giving it and other Filipino foods that edge."
In the Philippines, local businesses have recently gotten more creative with ube on their menus, as seen in homegrown favorite Lola Nena’s ramp-up of its traditional doughnut offerings with an ube and cheese variant in May, to one of Manila’s new restaurants, TMBrew + Bistro, introducing Ube & Stracciatella Mozzarella in their menu.
Throughout the years, well-loved Filipino pastries have used ube in them, including the sweet, brioche-like pastry known as ensaymada and the dense, mooncake-like pastry of Chinese origin called hopia, said food and lifestyle writer Diane Go.
“When you think of something purple, automatically ube comes to mind, since it is a rare color in food and hard to attain the same vividness that it provides,” she said.
Ube’s eye-catching qualities have made ube a preferred gift item for travelers and migrant workers and offered an introduction to Filipino cooking, Go added.
“People, after all, eat with their eyes, which is why visual appeal is just as important. That’s why ube is usually the pasalubong (souvenir) of choice for foreigners and OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), and the first entryway into local cuisine.”
Ube is “considered to be a unique and important dessert item in the Philippines,” said Raymond Macapagal, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines’ Center for International Studies.
“It can be appreciated on its own or used to give an attractive purple color to other desserts … Ube is almost exclusively used as a dessert in Philippine cuisine. However, there are more recent recipes that have tried to incorporate it into savory (dishes).”
Though ube has been gaining more ground internationally, Macapagal is optimistic that purple yam will retain its Filipino roots.
“Despite other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand having ube or purple yam products, it seems as if ube has been very well-associated with Filipino cuisine,” he said. “So as long as ube is featured in Filipino-themed meals here and abroad, ube will retain its distinct Filipino-ness.”
French largely satisfied with Macron’s choice of PM: Poll
PARIS: The French are largely satisfied with the appointment of the center-right Michel Barnier as prime minister, but believe he will not last long in his new post, a poll said on Sunday.
According to the Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche, 52 percent of people polled said they were satisfied with the appointment of 73-year-old Barnier, a former foreign minister who acted as the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, as head of government.
By comparison, 53 percent of respondents approved the nomination of Barnier’s predecessor, Gabriel Attal, when he was appointed prime minister in early January, becoming France’s youngest-ever prime minister at 34.
The poll was released after more than 100,000 left-wing demonstrators rallied across France on Saturday to protest against the nomination of Barnier as prime minister and denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s “power grab.”
Barnier’s appointment marks a potential turning point following two months of political chaos in the wake of snap elections called by Macron that left no group close to an overall majority in the National Assembly lower house of parliament.
According to the Ifop poll, a majority of respondents see Barnier, the oldest prime minister in the history of modern France, as competent (62 percent), open to dialogue (61 percent) and likeable (60 percent).
However, the left has vowed to topple Barnier with a no-confidence motion, and 74 percent of respondents polled believe he would not last long in the post, according to the survey. Ifop polled 950 adults online on Sept. 5-6. The margin of error was up to 3.1 points.
