BANDARBAN, Bangladesh: Collecting drinking water from springs in this part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a forested area in southeast Bangladesh, is not for the faint-hearted.
Not only must Changla Mro and other women of the Mro ethnic group trek for hours along steep paths slicing through trees and bamboo, they must also brave snakes, wild pigs and fishing cats that lurk in the thick undergrowth.
But since a water collection and treatment system was installed a year ago, serving about 21 families living in Bandarban district, such dangers have faded into memory.
“Two women were victims of snake bites last time they went to collect water at night time,” Changla Mro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“Now we have no fear of snake bites or wild animals attacking since we collect our drinking and household water from the water plant.”
Around the world, deforestation, greater weather extremes linked to climate change and population growth are putting ever larger demands on the world’s limited supply of fresh water.
Finding innovative ways to capture and conserve it, to keep supplies steady throughout the year, is a growing priority.
Water is a particularly precious commodity in the 5,500 sq mile (14,200 sq km) Hill Tract area of Bangladesh, home to roughly equal numbers of Bengali-speaking settlers and tribal people from 13 ethnic groups.
Years of deforestation have stripped away the soil’s ability to conserve water, leading to shortages in the dry season when most of the surface water evaporates.
This is acutely felt in the districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari where the Mro community live.
Kangchag Mro, 50, said she used to spend hours in search of water in springs and streams, and was afraid of catching waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and cholera.
But now clean drinking water gushes from taps at the community’s water treatment plant, a small, concrete building topped with a sheet of corrugated iron.
“Collecting water in this hilly area is a really hard task. But the water plant makes our job easy,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation with a smile.
A hillside reservoir 500 meters away supplies the water plant, which was built with funding from the Arannayk Foundation, a joint forest conservation initiative of the Bangladesh and US governments.
The man-made reservoir collects water that flows down from the hills. The water then goes through a pipeline to the treatment facility below where it is purified for household use.
The success of the gravity flow water system, which does not require expensive pumps, has prompted plans for a wider rollout.
Chief engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering, Md Wali Ullah, said the government was considering plans to supply water to more indigenous communities in the Hill Tract area.
Ullah said his department had already sent a proposal to other related government ministries.
Mro leader Khamchang Mro said his community now realized the importance of forests, which act as a sponge to collect rainfall during the monsoon season and release it slowly into streams and rivers.
Community members now have been trying to conserve forested areas to ensure a consistent flow of water to springs and canals all year round.
“We reforested the degraded area of our village forests,” Khamchang Mro said. “As a result, our village forest has now gained a healthy condition.”
Farid Ahmed Khan, the executive director of Arannayk Foundation, said local communities had no alternative but to protect their forests.
Water innovation helps Bangladeshi women dodge snakes, shortages
Water innovation helps Bangladeshi women dodge snakes, shortages
A stampede at a religious event in India has killed at least 60 people
- Stampede occurred when thousands rushed to leave makeshift tent following event with Hindu figure Bhole Baba
- Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas
LUCKNOW, India: A stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 60 and left scores injured, officials said Tuesday, adding the toll could rise.
Attendees had rushed to leave the makeshift tent following an event with Hindu figure Bhole Baba, local media reported. Video of the aftermath showed the structure appeared to have collapsed. Women wailed over the dead.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Police officer Rajesh Singh said overcrowding may have been a factor in the stampede in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.
Initial reports suggested that over 15,000 people had gathered for the event, which had permission to host about 5,000.
“People started falling one upon another, one upon another. Those who were crushed died. People there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Bodies were brought to hospitals and morgues by trucks and private vehicles, government official Matadin Saroj said. Government official Ashish Kumar told The Associated Press that at least 60 had reached mortuaries in the district.
More than 150 people were admitted to hospitals, medical official Umesh Tripathi said.
Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the stampede “extremely sad and heart-wrenching” in a post on social media platform X. He said authorities were investigating the cause.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
Man convicted of terrorism offense for planning attack on UK military base
- Farooq was arrested outside St. James’s Hospital in Leeds, where he had previously worked as a student nurse
- Police who attended the scene discovered in Farooq’s bag a pressure cooker with wires attached
LONDON: A British man was convicted on Tuesday of planning an attack on a military base after being arrested with an explosive device in the grounds of a hospital, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said.
Mohammad Farooq was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, in northern England.
The 28-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life, possession of an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances, possession of information likely to be useful to a terrorist, and other offenses.
Farooq was arrested outside St. James’s Hospital in Leeds, where he had previously worked as a student nurse, after showing a member of the public a gun and saying he “felt like killing everyone,” the CPS said.
Police who attended the scene discovered in Farooq’s bag a pressure cooker with wires attached, which bomb disposal experts found to be a viable explosive device.
The CPS said Farooq’s electronic devices revealed evidence of his interest in extremist ideology and research into RAF Menwith Hill, a nearby Royal Air Force base in North Yorkshire.
Farooq had pleaded not guilty to but was convicted of preparing a terrorist attack at RAF Menwith Hill. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Bethan David, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Farooq is an extremely dangerous individual who amassed a significant amount of practical and theoretical information that enabled him to produce a viable explosive device.
“He then took that homemade explosive device to a hospital where he worked with the intention to cause serious harm. Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred toward his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers.
“It is clear from his Internet searches that he was also conducting extensive research of RAF Menwith Hill, with a view to launching a potential attack.”
Indian worker’s employer arrested for murder in Italy
- Antonello Lovato was arrested for second degree murder over the death of Satnam Singh
- “If the Indian, who died due to copious blood loss, had been promptly helped, he would in all likelihood have been saved,” the Latina prosecutors’ office said
ROME: Italian police Tuesday arrested the employer of an Indian farm laborer who was left on the road to die after a work accident that severed his arm and crushed his legs.
Antonello Lovato was arrested for second degree murder over the death of Satnam Singh, who was injured while working on a farm in Latina, a rural area south of Rome where tens of thousands of Indian farmhands work.
“If the Indian, who died due to copious blood loss, had been promptly helped, he would in all likelihood have been saved,” the Latina prosecutors’ office said, citing a medical examiner.
Singh, who was 31 and working without legal papers, had his arm sliced off by a machine which also crushed his legs.
Lovato then dumped Singh and his wife on the roadside, along with the severed limb in a box, according to trade unions who are supporting Singh’s widow.
“The worker’s condition after the accident was so serious as to make the need for prompt assistance clear,” the prosecutors’ office said.
Prosecutors said an ongoing investigation would continue into working conditions on the farm.
Undocumented workers in the region where the farm is located are paid an average of 20 euros ($21) a day for up to 14 hours labor, according to the Osservatorio Placido Rizzotto, which analyzes conditions in the agriculture industry.
Italy’s financial police identified nearly 60,000 undocumented workers from January 2023 to June 2024.
But Italy’s largest trade union CGIL estimates that as many as 230,000 people — over a quarter of the country’s seasonal agricultural workers — do not have a contract.
Ukraine to get ‘good news’ on air defense at NATO summit, US official says
- The Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems
BRUSSELS: Ukraine is expected to get “good news” in its quest for more air defense systems at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.
“We hope we’ll be able to get to the summit and make some new announcements on air defense,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“You’ve heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we’ll have some additional good news for them on that front.”
The official did not provide any further details.
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
Leaders gather for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Washington from July 9 to July 11, intended in part to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.
Accused scammer who claimed to be Irish heiress has been extradited to UK to face charges
- Marianne Smyth faces allegations that she stole more than $170,000 from the victims
- A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the extradition
LONDON: A woman accused of traveling across the U.S. claiming to be an Irish heiress and scamming several victims out of tens of thousands of dollars has been extradited to the United Kingdom, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
Marianne Smyth faces allegations that she stole more than $170,000 from the victims from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Maine ruled in May that there was sufficient evidence for extradition of the American, who accusers say has also fashioned herself as a witch, a psychic and a friend to Hollywood stars.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the extradition, and referred questions to law enforcement officials in Northern Ireland. An attorney for Smyth did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Authorities overseas have said Smyth stole money that she had promised to invest and also arranged to sell a victim a home but instead took the money. Smyth’s victims in the U.S. included Johnathan Walton, a podcaster who warned others about her grifts.
A court in Northern Ireland issued arrest warrants for her earlier this decade. She was arrested in Maine in February.
Smyth drew comparisons to Anna Sorokin, a scammer who impersonated a German heiress to pay for a glamorous lifestyle in New York City, and became subject of a Netflix series. Sorokin, whose real name is Anna Delvey, was convicted in 2019 of conning $275,000 from banks, hotels and swank New Yorkers to finance her deluxe lifestyle.
