N’DJAMENA: Severe flooding in Chad since July has claimed 503 lives and affected around 1.7 million since July, the United Nations said Saturday in its latest assessment of the disaster.
The floods have also destroyed 212,111 houses, flooded 357,832 hectares (885,000 acres) of fields and drowned 69,659 heads of cattle, said the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad.
All of the country’s provinces had been hit, Chad’s water and energy minister Marcelin Kanabe Passale told journalists Saturday morning, warning of more trouble to come.
“The waters of the Logone and Chari rivers have reached a critical height likely to cause obvious serious flooding in the coming days,” Passale said.
N’Djamena, Chad’s capital, is located where the Logone and Chari rivers flow into each other.
Passale recommended that all water from private wells be treated with chlorine before consumption.
A flood-monitoring committee had been set up to “assess the risks associated with the pollution of drinking water supplies and rising river levels,” he added.
The UN had already warned in early September of the impact of “torrential rains and severe flooding” in the wider region, particularly in Chad, calling for immediate action and funding to tackle climate change.
This summer has been the hottest ever recorded globally with a slew of record temperatures, heatwaves, drought and severe flooding.
Chad floods killed 503, 1.7 million affected: UN
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Chad floods killed 503, 1.7 million affected: UN
- Floods have also destroyed 212,111 houses, damaged 357,832 hectares of crops and drowned 69,659 heads of cattle
- Water minister says all provinces had been hit, urges that water from private wells be treated with chlorine before consumption
ALPS group urges Sudan’s warring parties to ensure safety of humanitarian relief operations
RIYADH: A coalition of nations working for a resolution of Sudan's civil war urged the warring parties on Saturday to expand access by humanitarian relief groups to famine-stricken areas.
In a joint statement, the coalition known as the ALPS Group said that while humanitarian operations "are now moving across conflict lines from Port of Sudan through Shendi to Khartoum," wider access must be ensured for relief efforts "to reach the heartland of the crisis and contain the famine."
"(T)his expansion of humanitarian access, while a positive sign, remains insufficient to meet both the needs of the people and to ensure the efficient delivery of the hundreds of thousands of tons of additional humanitarian assistance being mobilized for the people of Sudan," the statement said.
(Developing story)
Quad group expands maritime security cooperation at Biden’s farewell summit
- The leaders are planning joint coast guard operations that will see Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spend time on a US coast guard vessel
CLAYMONT, Delaware: Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States are taking new security steps in the Indian Ocean as outgoing US President Joe Biden hosts counterparts from the Quad grouping established due to shared concerns about China.
Biden welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a four-way meeting near his Delaware hometown on Saturday to stress the importance of maintaining the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy achievement, before he leaves office after the Nov. 5 US presidential election.
Leaders from the four nations were rolling out plans to expand an Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness launched two years ago to include the Indian Ocean region, senior Biden administration officials said.
The leaders are planning joint coast guard operations that will see Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spend time on a US coast guard vessel. The countries also plan increased military logistics cooperation, the officials said.
While the White House said the Quad summit was directed at no other country and that Beijing should find no issue with the initiative, Biden started the summit’s group session with a briefing on China.
He described the country as shifting tactics, but not strategy, while continuing to test the United States in the South China and East China Seas as well as the Taiwan Strait.
“We believe (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimize the turbulence in China diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest,” Biden said in remarks carried on an official event feed.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including territory inside exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It also claims territories in the East China Sea contested by Japan and Taiwan. China also views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory.
Xi has objected to the Quad grouping, seeing it as an effort to encircle Beijing and ramp up conflict.
Analysts said new maritime security initiatives would send a message to Beijing. They said it also represents a further shift of emphasis of the Quad’s activities to security issues, reflecting growing concerns about China’s intentions.
The leaders are also stepping up work to provide critical and security technologies, including a new open radio access network, to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia, regions of intense competition with China.
A health initiative by the leaders is aimed at combating cervical cancer, officials said.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security, and a former administration official, said India, which is not part of any military alliance, has been worried about perceptions that the Quad could be militarizing the Indo-Pacific.
“But I think China’s recent maritime aggression could be changing the equation for India and could be prompting India to become a bit more open to the idea of Quad security cooperation,” she said.
Analysts and officials say Biden hosting the Quad is part of efforts to institutionalize the body ahead his departure from office and that of Kishida, who is stepping down after a leadership contest next week and elections in Australia by next year.
Asked about the group’s staying power, Biden grasped Modi by the shoulder and said the group was here to stay.
The Quad met at foreign minister level under the previous administration of Donald Trump, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris in November, and enjoyed bipartisan support, as reflected by the formation of a congressional Quad Caucus ahead of the summit. Biden elevated the Quad to the leader level in 2021.
US urges citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial options available
WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Saturday urged Americans in Lebanon to leave the country while commercial options remain available, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah flares.
“Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department said in an updated advisory.
“At this time, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity. If the security situation worsens, commercial options to depart may become unavailable,” it added.
In late July, the United States raised its travel advisory for Lebanon to its highest “do not travel” classification, after a strike on southern Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander.
Israel on Friday struck southern Beirut again, saying this time it had killed the head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and several other commanders.
The Lebanese health ministry said 37 people were killed in the strike, which followed sabotage attacks earlier in the week on pagers and two-way radios used by Hezbollah, which killed dozens and wounded thousands.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has blamed Israel, which has not commented.
Hezbollah fighters have traded cross-border fire with Israel for nearly a year in stated support of Palestinian ally Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
But the exchanges have escalated in recent weeks, as Israel turns its attention to its northern border after significantly weakening Hamas.
The US State Department reiterated Saturday that Americans should “immediately” leave southern Lebanon, as well as areas near the Syrian border and refugee settlements.
Sullivan expresses worry over escalating Israel-Lebanon tension, calls Hezbollah strike as justice served
- Sullivan said the risk of further escalation is “acute,” following the Israeli strike as well as the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon this month that killed at least 39 and injured roughly 3,000
WILMINGTON, Delaware: US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday said he was worried about escalation between Israel and Lebanon but that the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah leader brought justice to the Iran-backed group.
Sullivan, speaking with reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, said he still sees a path to a ceasefire in Gaza but that the US is “not at a point right now where we’re prepared to put something on the table.”
Sullivan said the US is continuing to work with Qatar and Egypt as the two countries talk with Hamas, but that Washington, as it talks with Israel, is not in a position to propose a deal that could be accepted by both parties.
“Could that change over the course of the coming days? It could,” Sullivan said.
Hezbollah overnight said 16 of its members including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another top commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among the 37 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were killed in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb on Friday.
The Israeli airstrike, which the Lebanese health ministry said killed three children and seven women, was the deadliest in its conflict with Hezbollah since Oct. 8, when the group began firing rockets into Israel in sympathy with Palestinians in the nearly year-old Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza.
Sullivan said the Friday strike served justice to Aqil, who was wanted by the US for two 1983 Beirut truck bombings that killed more than 300 people at the American embassy and a US Marines barracks.
“Any time a terrorist who has murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good outcome.”
Sullivan said the risk of further escalation is “acute,” following the Israeli strike as well as the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon this month that killed at least 39 and injured roughly 3,000. Those attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
“While the risk of escalation is real, we actually believe there is also a distinct avenue to getting to a cessation of hostilities and a durable solution that makes people on both sides of the border feel secure,” Sullivan said.
An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City on Saturday
killed at least 22 people
including 13 children and six women, Gaza’s health ministry said. Israel said it was targeting a Hamas command center it said was embedded in the school.
Al-Hilal stroll past Al-Ittihad in top of the table Clasico clash
Al-Hilal defeated Al-Ittihad 3-1 in the Saudi Clasico on Saturday to make it four wins from four and move three points clear above the visitors at the top of the Saudi Pro League standings.
It was all too easy for the defending champions as they were three goals up by the end of the first half, in what was an ominous performance for the rest of the league. Red-hot striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored goals seven and eight this season before Salem Al-Dawsari put it beyond the Jeddah team with an exquisite strike.
While Al-Hilal had won all of their last seven games against Al-Ittihad in all competitions, such a comfortable victory was not expected, as this was not only the first Saudi Clasico of the season, but also a highly anticipated meeting between a top two in great form. With Ettifaq losing 3-0 to Al-Nassr on Friday, the two teams were the only ones left with maximum points, and something had to give in the capital. Before Saturday, Al-Ittihad had been looking very good, indeed, and had enjoyed plenty of rest. But it was not enough.
Al-Hilal, who went to Qatar midweek to defeat Al-Rayyan in the first game of the AFC Champions League Elite, made the early running, roared on by their fans. In just the third minute they were ahead. Ruben Neves floated over a perfect cross from the right and there was Mitrovic at the far post to send a perfect header into the net. The former Fulham forward has been on fire this season.
It was not the start that Al-Ittihad wanted but it got worse 10 minutes later. Brazilian fullback Renan Lodi went over in the area, the referee pointed to the spot and Mitrovic fired home goal number eight of the season. The task for Al-Ittihad became even harder eight minutes before the break but even the impressive number of away fans in Riyadh must have appreciated the third goal.
Al-Dawsari advanced down the left, entered the area and then flicked the ball over Predrag Rajkovic in beautiful fashion. It was a goal from a player at the top of his game playing for a team that simply does not lose. Al-Hilal have won 19 league titles and do not give up three-goal leads. From that impudent strike, it was just a question as to what the scoreline would be.
At halftime, Laurent Blanc had much to do, but the Frenchman is not the first Ittihad boss to struggle against Al-Hilal. Ittihad’s record against their blue rivals has become a real concern. In 24 clashes since 2016, the Tigers had won just one and lost 18. All players present for Ittihad on Saturday knew that winning would be a huge statement to the rest of the league and, indeed, to themselves and their fans. Now the number is 19 losses.
The second half was not quite as dramatic as the first. Al-Dawsari headed over from a good position but Hilal did not seem to be too concerned about getting a fourth.
It was Al-Ittihad who scored next even if it was too little, too late, as it came four minutes from the end. Moussa Diaby, who recorded four assists last week, broke free down the middle and squared the ball left to Karim Benzema, who side-footed the ball into the net for his fifth goal of the season so far. The Frenchman scored once more deep into injury time but it was ruled out by the referee.
In the end, it was a straightforward victory for the Riyadh giants, though the biggest positive for Al-Ittihad and the rest of the league is that there is still much more — and plenty of excitement — to come.
