Afghan Embassy closes in India citing a lack of diplomatic support and personnel
By ASHOK SHARMA
NEW DELHI (AP) — The Afghan Embassy said it is closing in New Delhi from Sunday due to a lack of diplomatic support in India and the absence of a recognized government in Kabul.
But it will continue to provide emergency consular services to Afghan nationals, it said in a statement.
“There has been a significant reduction in both personnel and resources available to us, making it increasingly challenging to continue operations,” the statement said.
India has not recognized the Taliban government, which seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. It evacuated its own staff from Kabul ahead of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago and no longer has a diplomatic presence there.
The Afghan Embassy in New Delhi has been run by staff appointed by the previous government of ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, with permission from the Indian authorities.
There was no immediate comment by India’s External Affairs Ministry, but an official said last week that the Afghan ambassador left India several months ago and other Afghan diplomats have departed for third countries reportedly after receiving asylum.
India has said it will follow the lead of the United Nations in deciding whether to recognize the Taliban government.
The Afghan Embassy statement said that it wanted to reach an agreement with the Indian government to ensure that the interests of Afghans living, working, studying and doing business in India are safeguarded.
Afghans account for around one-third of the nearly 40,000 refugees registered in India, according to the U.N. refugee agency. But that figure excludes those who are not registered with the U.N.
Last year, India sent relief materials, including wheat, medicine, COVID-19 vaccines and winter clothes to Afghanistan to help with shortages there.
In June last year, India sent a team of officials to its embassy in Kabul.
As migration surges in Americas, ‘funds simply aren’t there’ for humanitarian response, UN says
By MEGAN JANETSK
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Countries in the Americas are reeling as the flow of migrants reaches historic levels, but international “funds simply aren’t there” for humanitarian needs, a United Nations official said.
Ugochi Daniels, deputy director of operations for the International Organization for Migration, said a larger and coordinated regional effort is necessary for a longer term solution to the steady movement of vulnerable people toward the United States.
But other global crises — among them the war in Ukraine, conflict in Sudan, Morocco’s earthquake — have pulled global funds away, Daniels said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The U.N. estimated that this year through August, it needed $55.2 billion to take on compounding global crises, but it received funds for only 71% of that.
A growing number of countries like Panama and Costa Rica are pleading for international aid in handling the flood of migrants, though Daniels would not say who should pay the tab.
“Obviously, it’s not an issue that can be solved by any one country,” she said. “The unprecedented flows in the region require attention — international attention.”
The flood of migrants to the Mexico-U.S. border has swelled in recent years, with recent days seeing thousands of people crossing daily just into Texas. In fiscal year 2017, U.S. authorities stopped migrants 310,531 times on the border, while in the first 11 months in fiscal year 2023, they recorded more than 1.8 million stops.
The crush of people — many of them Venezuelans — is overwhelming Latin American governments, many of which lack the funds to take care of their own citizens. On Wednesday, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves announced a state of emergency due to the number of people entering the country.
“We all know that there is a migration crisis throughout the entire American continent. We are fundamentally a country of passage for migrants, people who come, who pass through Costa Rica largely trying to reach the United States,” Chaves said.
Lack of aid dollars is not a new problem, and has been especially notable in the mass migration from Venezuela.
As more than 7.2 million people have fled the South American nation’s economic and political turmoil, the mass migration has received pennies on the dollar in aid compared to other global migration crises like Syria’s. For years, countries receiving the bulk of Venezuelan migrants like Colombia, Peru and Ecuador have pleaded for more support.
In September, a U.N. report said that $400 million was required to address the Venezuelan migration, but that the international body had received only a third of that.
“Aid dollars are clearly insufficient,” said Juan Pappier, deputy director of the Americas for Human Rights Watch. “But it’s also a reflection of the insufficient attention that Latin America gets, and the insufficient interest that Latin American governments have in properly addressing this issue.”
Pappier said the lack of aid to help pay for migrant services generated resentment and xenophobia in many South American nations, which led to more restrictive policies. Such policies pushed Venezuelans to travel north through routes like the Darien Gap, helping fuel the new flood of migration to the U.S., he said.
Analysts and Daniels note the international response has been defined by largely short-term patchwork measures.
Pressures by the U.S. on countries to keep migratory flows at bay and create new barriers has produced temporary pauses of arrivals to the border, but that has been followed by new surges, said Adam Isacson, an analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America.
“They’re just looking for new ways to keep pushing the numbers down for as long as they can,” Isacson said. “It’s not permanent, it’s super super short term.”
Daniels said governments really need to address the root causes of migration, such as poverty, corruption, crime and political repression.
But in the meantime, she said, instead of putting up restrictions, governments should do more to help migrants, such as creating work programs. She also urged countries to provide legal pathways for migrants to travel, so they don’t have to turn to smugglers, which she said rake in between $7 billion and $10 billion a year annually just on the U.S.-Mexico border.
She urged countries to resolve their squabbling over the flood of migrants, and praised Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for announcing this week that he would convene a meeting of 10 regional nations to discuss the recent wave of migrants.
“I’ve heard some people talking about migration control, closing borders, and we know that it doesn’t work. We know that what people will do is still find a way to move, but it will be more risky and they’ll be more vulnerable,” Daniels said. “You can’t control migration; you can manage it.”
New York begins drying out after being stunned and soaked by record-breaking rainfall
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ, BOBBY CAINA CALVAN AND JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City began drying out Saturday after being soaked by one of its wettest days in decades, as city dwellers dried out basements and traffic resumed on highways, subways and airports that were temporarily shuttered by Friday’s severe rainfall.
Record rainfall — more than 8.65 inches (21.97 centimeters) — fell at John F. Kennedy International Airport, surpassing the record for any September day set during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.
Parts of Brooklyn saw more than 7.25 inches (18.41 centimeters), with at least one spot recording 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, turning some streets into knee-deep canals and stranding drivers on highways.
More rain was expected Saturday but the worst was over, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday morning during a briefing at a transportation control center in Manhattan.
“We’ve seen a whole lot of rainfall in a very short period of time,” the governor said. “But the good news is that the storm will pass, and we should see some clearing of waterways today and tonight.”
The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments. Although no deaths or severe injuries have been reported, Friday’s storm stirred frightening memories.
Ida killed three of Joy Wong’s neighbors, including a toddler. And on Friday, water began lapping against the front door of her building in Woodside, Queens.
Cars move along Brooklyn Bridge under heavy rain on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 in Brooklyn borough of New York. Photo: Andres Kudacki/ AP
“I was so worried,” she said, explaining it became too dangerous to leave. “Outside was like a lake, like an ocean.”
Within minutes, water filled the building’s basement nearly to the ceiling. After the family’s deaths in 2021, the basement was turned into a recreation room. It is now destroyed.
City officials received reports of six flooded basement apartments Friday, but all occupants got out safely.
Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams declared states of emergency and urged people to stay put if possible.
Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays. Metro-North commuter rail service from Manhattan was suspended for much of the day but began resuming by evening. The Long Island Rail Road was snarled, 44 of the city’s 3,500 buses became stranded and bus service was disrupted citywide, transit officials said.
Some service interruptions continued Saturday.
Traffic hit a standstill earlier in the day on a stretch of the FDR Drive, a major artery along Manhattan’s east side. With water above car tires, some drivers abandoned their vehicles.
On a street in Brooklyn’s South Williamsburg neighborhood, workers were up to their knees in water as they tried to unclog a storm drain while cardboard and other debris floated by. Some people arranged milk crates and wooden boards to cross flooded sidewalks.
Flights into LaGuardia were briefly halted in the morning, and then delayed, because of water in the refueling area. Flooding also forced the closure of one of the airport’s three terminals for several hours. Terminal A resumed normal operations around 8 p.m.
Hoboken, New Jersey, and other cities and towns near New York City also experienced flooding.
Why so much rain? The remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia over the Atlantic Ocean combined with a mid-latitude system arriving from the west, at a time of year when conditions coming off the ocean are particularly juicy for storms, National Weather Service meteorologist Ross Dickman said. This combination storm parked itself over New York for 12 hours.
The weather service had warned of 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 13 centimeters) of rain and told emergency managers to expect more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) in some places, Dickman said.
The deluge came less than three months after a storm caused deadly floods in New York’s Hudson Valley and swamped Vermont’s capital, Montpelier.
As the planet warms, storms are forming in a hotter atmosphere that can hold more moisture, making extreme rainfall more frequent, according to atmospheric scientists.
In the case of Friday’s storm, nearby ocean temperatures were below normal and air temperatures weren’t too hot. Still, it became the third time in two years that rain fell at rates near 2 inches (5 centimeters) per hour in Central Park, which is unusual, Columbia University climate scientist Adam Sobel said.
The park recorded 5.8 inches (14.73 centimeters) of rain by nightfall Friday.
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Associated Press journalists Deepti Hajela, Joe Frederick and Karen Matthews in New York, Anthony Izaguirre in Albany and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed.
Taiwan unveils first domestically made submarine to help defend against possible Chinese attack
BY HUIZHONG WU
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president launched the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing Thursday at a port in Kaohsiung.
The submarine, if successful in its tests, will be a major breakthrough for Taiwan in shipbuilding and design.
“In the past, a domestic-made submarine was considered impossible, but today a submarine designed and built by our countrymen is in front of you,” President Tsai Ing-wen said at the launch ceremony.
“Building a submarine is the concrete realization of our resolution to protect our country. Submarines are an important piece of equipment for the Taiwan navy to develop asymmetric combat power in terms of strategy and tactics,” she said.
The U.S. has been pushing Taiwan to develop asymmetric warfare strategies by investing in smaller and lighter weapons such as the reduced-size submarine.
The process was “torturous,” said Cheng Wen-lon, head of Taiwan’s CSBC Corp., which led the construction of the submarine.
“Although we have worked quietly during the past several years, it doesn’t mean the process was very smooth,” he said at the ceremony held in CSBC’s shipyard.
After seven years of design and construction, the prototype will begin tests in the harbor before heading to the ocean.
The submarine is named Hai Kun after a fish in Chinese mythology called kun with legendary proportions.
It will only be handed over to the military after passing both its harbor and ocean-faring tests. Taiwan plans to build another submarine if successful, with both to be deployed by 2027, according to the semi-official Central News Agency.
Taiwan began the expensive and time-consuming task of building its own submarines after Beijing prevented it from purchasing such craft from abroad through the use of economic and diplomatic threats.
A group of navypersonal pass through Taiwan’s domestically-made submarine during the naming and laumching ceremony of domestically-made submarine at CSBC Corps shipyard in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Photo : Chiang Ying/AP
In recent years, China has stepped up its military exercises aimed at the island, sending fighter jets and navy vessels to patrol and hold drills in the waters and skies near Taiwan.
China’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the submarine’s construction was Taiwan “heading down the path of its own destruction.”
“No matter how many weapons the Democratic Progressive Party buys, it will not obstruct the greater trend of reunification with the motherland,” said Col. Wu Qian, a spokesperson in China’s Ministry of National Defense.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, center, poses with the model of submarine prototype during the naming and launching ceremony of domestically-made submarine at CSBC Corps shipyard in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. Photo : Chiang Ying/AP
He described the Chinese military’s recent live-fire exercises near Taiwan as routine drills that are part of its annual plan. They tested troop effectiveness and joint-operation capabilities with different weapons and among different branches, Wu said at a monthly news conference.
In attendance at the ceremony were the heads of the U.S. de facto embassy, Sandra Oudkirk, and the Japanese and South Korean trade delegations based in Taiwan.
Journalists were given a tour inside the submarine’s shipyard but were not allowed to take close-up photos for security reasons.
Details about the ship’s size or capability were also not disclosed during the ceremony, which was also attended by Sandra Oudkirk, Washington’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, as well as the representatives from the Japanese and South Korean missions in Taipei.
US allows Israeli citizens to travel to US visa-free as Israel joins a select group of countries
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is admitting Israel into a select group of countries whose citizens are allowed to travel to the United States without getting a visa in advance.
The decision announced Wednesday comes despite Washington’s concerns about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinian Americans and marks a major accomplishment for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has sparred frequently with the Biden administration.
Under the waiver program, as of Nov. 30, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for business or leisure purposes for up to 90 days without a visa simply by registering with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization. But even if they are authorized to travel under that system, U.S. officials at the airport can still bar them from entering the country.
Israel had been facing a Saturday deadline, the end of the U.S. government’s budget year, to gain admission to the program without having to requalify for eligibility next year.
The Department of Homeland Security administers the program, which currently allows citizens of 40 mostly European and Asian countries to travel to the U.S. for three months without visas.
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the agreement, after more than a decade of work, “will enhance our two nations’ collaboration on counterterrorism, law enforcement and our other common priorities” and make the allies more secure.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a joint statement with Mayorkas, cited enhanced “freedom of movement for U.S. citizens, including those living in the Palestinian Territories or traveling to and from them.”
Israel’s admission has been a priority for successive Israeli leaders. It comes as Netanyahu is facing months of mass protests against his proposed remake of Israel’s judicial system that critics say will make the country less democratic.
“Today we mark an important and joyful moment for all citizens of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “This will save you, citizens of Israel a lot of time, a lot of trouble and a lot of money.”
He described the decision as “further evidence of the strong ties between Israel and the Untied States” and thanked President Joe Biden and other officials who helped make it possible.
Palestinian diplomats complained that the U.S. had allowed Israel into the program without the country fulfilling its commitments of equal treatment for Palestinian Americans. Palestinian advocacy groups have reported that even during the test phase of the visa waiver agreement, Palestinian Americans have faced discrimination and harassment by Israeli authorities at airports and checkpoints.
“At a time when the U.S. administration has repeatedly said that its goal is for Israel to provide the same opportunities of freedom, equality, prosperity and security for both Palestinians and Israelis, we expect the Biden administration to implement what it believes, works on and promises,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Countries that want to take part in the visa program have to meet three critical benchmarks.
Israel met two of those benchmarks over the past two years: a low percentage of Israelis who applied for visas and were rejected and a low percentage of Israelis who have overstayed their visas. Israel had struggled to meet the third, for reciprocity that essentially means all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans, must be treated equally when traveling to or through Israel.
Aside from the reciprocity requirement, which is disputed by some Palestinian American groups, a rejection of Israel would mean the country would have again had to meet U.S. standards for low rates of visa application refusals and visa overstays.
Israel had not met those criteria for years, but the numbers for both came down significantly in part due to coronavirus travel restrictions and an educational campaign in Israel sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and the Israeli government to discourage Israelis with questionable eligibility for visas from applying in the first place. Some officials said it was not clear whether Israel would have been able to meet those statistical standards in the next U.S. budget year.
Claiming national security reasons, Israel has long had separate entry requirements and screening processes for Palestinian Americans. Many complained that the procedures were onerous and discriminatory. Americans with Palestinian residency documents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were largely barred from using Israel’s international airport. Instead, like other Palestinians, they were forced to travel through either Jordan or Egypt to reach their destinations.
U.S. officials have stressed that Israel’s status in the program will be constantly monitored and if it is seen to fall out of compliance, the special visa waiver status can be revoked.
But even before the announcement was official, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said it had filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stop Israel from being allowed into the program. The group claims that despite American assertions, Palestinian Americans were still facing discrimination when traveling to Israel.
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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
UNPKFC celebrated International Day of Peace 2023 in the Collaboration with UNESCO Jamaica and Adventure of Humanity
BANGKOK (DIPLOMAT TIMES) – On the eve of International Day of Peace 2023, UNPKFC celebrated it on internationally in Bangkok the capital of Thailand.
World Peace Day, also known as the International Day of Peace, is observed annually on September 21st. It is a day devoted to promoting peace, both within and among nations. Established by the United Nations in 1981, the International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, communities, and nations to come together to work towards a more peaceful world.
On this day, various events, activities, and initiatives are organized around the globe to raise awareness about the importance of peace and to encourage dialogue, understanding, and cooperation among different cultures and nations. The aim is to inspire people to take concrete actions to promote peace and harmony within their communities and worldwide.
Promoting to this Peace activity of United Nations, UNPKFC celebrated this day with great pomp in Bangkok. The program started with the national anthem of Thailand.
After this, taking the program forward, the chairperson of the organization, Aphinita Chaichana, welcomed all the guests, Peace Ambassadors, Young Peace Ambassadors, & International organization and told people about the work being done by the organization and how the organization is promoting peace and SDG goals.
Education plays a crucial role in promoting a culture of peace. It enlightens minds, instills values, and fosters a sense of unity. We should educate ourselves and the younger generation about the virtues of tolerance, acceptance, and peaceful coexistence, She said.
UNPKFC Chairperson Aphinita Chaichna addressing the media/News channels . Photo : UNPKFC team
Lieutenant General Thanyasit Kitdecharat, Director of Budget and Finance Office, Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), who arrived as the chief guest, while speaking in his speech said that peace very important in this period of conflicts.
Peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but a state of harmony where individuals coexist in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, and compassion. It is a collective endeavor, a journey we must all embark upon together. Peace is about fostering respect, empathy, and love for one another, regardless of our differences.
In a world that often seems divided by numerous issues and conflicts, the importance of peace cannot be overstated. Peace is the cornerstone upon which progress and prosperity are built. It’s the foundation for sustainable development, social justice, and the safeguarding of human rights he said.
APPOINTMENT OF YOUNG PEACE AMBASSADOR
UNPKFC appointed Young Peace Ambassador while promoting peace and Young Peace Ambassador was also honored with Peace Ribbon and Award for promoting peace.
H.E. ML Wanchan Navarutn(Royal Family) Honoring to Young Peace AmbassadorsH.E. ML Wanchan Navarutn(Royal Family) Honoring to Young Peace Ambassadors
APPOINTMENT OF PEACE AMBASSADOR
Taking the program forward, the chairperson of the organization also appointed Women Peace Ambassador, to Ms. Ferris Phattharaphon wang, Who Miss Supranational Thailand 2023, Queen of Asian Model Miss Supranational 2023 and Mr. Tonkla Nipun, Mister Supranational 2021 as Men Peace Ambassador.
Chairperson of the organization, Aphinita Chaichana posing with the Peace Ambassadors.
PEACE DANCE BY BERRY BERRY BAND
And at the end of the program, peace activists were honored with Peace and Humanitarian Awards, many activists from the country and abroad especially participated in this peace event, the main attraction of one program was the Beri Beri Band who performed their dance to promote peace.
A fire at a wedding hall in northern Iraq has killed around 100 people and injured 150
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — A raging fire seemingly caused by fireworks set off to celebrate a Christian wedding consumed a hall packed with guests in northern Iraq, killing around 100 people and injuring 150 others as authorities warned Wednesday the death toll could still rise.
Authorities said that flammable building materials also contributed to the latest disaster to hit Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority. In the fire’s chaotic aftermath, officials offered conflicting death tolls and security officials said they had detained staff at the wedding hall as part of their investigation.
The fire happened in the Hamdaniya area of Iraq’s Nineveh province, authorities said. That’s a predominantly Christian area just outside of the city of Mosul, some 335 kilometers (205 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
There was no official word on the cause of the blaze, but the Kurdish television news channel Rudaw aired footage showing pyrotechnics shooting flames up from the floor of the event and setting a chandelier aflame.
Multiple witnesses, including 50-year-old wedding attendee Faten Youssef, said the fire started as the bride and groom began their slow dance. The flames raced through plastic decorations and the ceiling started collapsing, she said.
“Flames started falling on us,” Youssef told The Associated Press. “Things were falling down and blocked the way to the exit.”
She said her family found their way out through a kitchen, after the family struggled through smoke and flames and her son failed to kick through a jammed exit door. Outside, video shot by a bystander showed a desperate effort to help those trapped inside, with one man trying to knock through a wall with an excavator.
A view shows the aftermath of a fire that broke out during a wedding celebration, in the district of Hamdaniya, Nineveh province, Iraq, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)
It wasn’t immediately clear if the bride and groom were among those hurt.
Survivors arrived at local hospitals in bandages, receiving oxygen, as their families milled through hallways and outside as workers organized more oxygen cylinders. Some of those burned included children. Ambulance sirens wailed for hours after the fire as paramedics brought out the injured.
Extravagant wedding ceremonies are common in Iraq, like many countries in the Middle East. Families often invite hundreds of relatives and members of the broader community, spending heavily on spectacular ceremonies with elaborately decorated halls, music and entertainers, often including pyrotechnics.
Casualty figures fluctuated in the hours after the incident, which is common in Iraq.
An initial Health Ministry statement, carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency, said the blaze killed over 100 people and injured 150. Health officials in Nineveh province put the death toll at 114, while Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari later put the death toll at 93.
A Health Ministry official, speaking to the AP at midday Wednesday on condition of anonymity as he did not have authorization to talk to journalists, said that 30 bodies have been identified by their relatives, but the rest are so badly burned that will require DNA identification.
He put the death toll at 94, with around 100 people still receiving medical treatment. “The death toll is expected to rise as some are in critical condition,” he said.
Ahmed Dubardani, a health official in the province, told Rudaw that many of those injured suffered serious burns.
“The majority of them were completely burned and some others had 50 to 60% of their bodies burned,” Dubardani said.
Father Rudi Saffar Khoury, a priest at the wedding, said “It was a disaster in every sense of the word.”
The number of Christians in Iraq today is estimated at 150,000, compared to 1.5 million in 2003. Iraq’s total population is more than 40 million.
Over the past two decades, Iraq’s Christian minority has been violently targeted by extremists first from al-Qaida and then the Islamic State militant group. Although the Nineveh Plains, their historic homeland, was wrested back from the Islamic State group six years ago, some towns are still mostly rubble and lack basic services, and many Christians have left for Europe, Australia or the United States.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the fire and asked the country’s Interior and Health officials to provide relief, his office said in a statement online.
Hamdaniya is on Iraq’s Nineveh Plains and under the control of its central government, though it is close to and claimed by Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish regional government. Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdish region, ordered hospitals there to help those hurt in the blaze.
The United Nations’ mission to Iraq offered its condolences over the blaze as well, describing its staff as “shocked and hurt by the huge loss of life and injuries” in the blaze.
Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said that the primary forensic report described a “lack of safety and security measures” at the venue. Iraqi security forces arrested nine workers at the venue as part of their investigation, said Abdullah Al-Jabouri, a security official who heads the Nineveh Operations Command.
One of the owners of the venue, Choony Naboo, declined to comment when contacted by the AP. “I can’t talk right now, I’m very busy,” he said before hanging up.
UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, expressed sadness over terribale accident, and tweets, Shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninewa’s Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy. Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.
Shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninewa’s Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy. Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.#Iraqpic.twitter.com/Fxw1u4BZ4J
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; Kareem Chehayeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Climate change made storm that devastated Libya far more likely and intense, scientists say
Tripoli (AP) – The devastating storm that dumped torrential rains along the Libyan coast this month was up to 50 times more likely to occur and 50% more intense because of human-caused climate change, according to an analysis released Tuesday.
Before crossing the Mediterranean, the storm raged for four days and caused extensive damage in central Greece and parts of Bulgaria and Turkey, a region where such extreme storms are up to 10 times more likely and up to 40% more intense because of climate change, scientists said.
Heavy one-day rains from Mediterranean storm Daniel caused massive flooding across eastern Libya that overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water through the coastal city of Derna that destroyed entire neighborhoods and swept bridges, cars and people out to sea. The death toll has varied, with government officials and aid agencies giving tallies ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000 dead.
Rescuers search for bodies of the flood victims at the Corniche of the city of Derna, Libya, Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Abdulaziz Almnsori)
The analysis was conducted by the World Weather Attribution group, which aims to quickly evaluate the possible role of climate change in extreme weather events.
It also acknowledges that the impacts of the storms were made worse by other factors such as deforestation and urbanization in Greece that changed the landscape and exposed more people to flooding, and by conflicts in Libya that likely led to lack of maintenance on the dams and communications failures. What’s more, the dams might not have been designed to withstand such an extreme rainfall in the first place, they say.
“Through these events, we are already seeing how climate change and human factors can combine to create compounding and cascading impact,” said Maja Vahlberg from the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre in the Netherlands and one of 13 researchers who collaborated on the analysis.
Researchers looked at one-day maximum annual rainfall in a region over Libya, calculating that this month’s storm was a once in 300- to 600-year event in today’s climate. They also looked at four-day maximum rainfall in the summer season over a region that includes Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, finding the recent deluge would be expected to occur once every five to 10 years.
To assess the role of climate change, researchers then combined observations of rainfall and climate models to determine if there had been changes in the likelihood and intensity of those maximum rainfalls.
Researchers acknowledged that there was high uncertainty in their estimates, and the data includes the possibility that warming played no role because the climate models could not accurately capture the very intense heavy rainfall events.
But they gave equal weight to their observations and the climate models, and said they were confident in their findings because it’s well-established physics that warming causes the atmosphere to retain more water vapor — about 7% more for every 1 degree Celsius of warming — and nothing else occurred to counteract that effect.
“It would be really careless to say there was no change (based on the models),” because of what they know from physics about the effects of warming on the intensity of rainfall in low-pressure systems, said Friederike Otto, a scientist at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute.
Florida State University climate scientist Michael Diamond, who wasn’t involved in the study, said he doesn’t disagree that a warmer atmosphere probably contributed. But he said the analysis differs from most traditional climate studies that start with the baseline assumption that global warming is not changing extreme precipitation, then determine if that is right or wrong.
Even so, the attribution analysis’ approach is useful to those who must act on climate change, including deciding how to build infrastructure that’ll be in place for decades to come, he said. In that case, assuming storms will get worse makes sense, “because that’s probably what’s going to happen just based on the fundamental physics that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor … (and) we have to be prepared for it.”
University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, who was not involved in the analysis, said such weather attribution studies are somewhat useful but don’t capture all the ways that climate change affects weather events. Notably, models used in the analyses don’t account for the fact that, as the poles warm faster than the subtropics, the jet stream is becoming locked into a stationary wavy pattern associated with persistent weather extremes.
“For this reason, my belief is that these attribution studies actually underestimate the impact human-caused climate change is having on these events,” Mann said in an email.
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Netanyahu tells UN that Israel is ‘at the cusp’ of a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that Israel is “at the cusp” of a historic breakthrough leading to a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, without outlining a clear path over the significant obstacles facing such an accord.
He struck an optimistic tone throughout his roughly 25-minute address — and, once again, used a visual aid. He displayed contrasting maps showing Israel’s isolation at the time of its creation in 1948 and the six countries that have normalized relations with it, including four that did so in 2020 in the so-called Abraham Accords.
“There’s no question the Abraham Accords heralded the dawn of a new age of peace. But I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough, an historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Netanyahu said. “Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East.”
There are several hurdles in the way of such an agreement, including the Saudis’ demand for progress in the creation of a Palestinian state — a hard sell for Netanyahu’s government, the most religious and nationalist in Israel’s history.
The Saudis are also seeking a defense pact with the United States and want help in building their own civilian nuclear program, which has fueled fears of an arms race with Iran.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Fox News this week that the two sides are getting closer to an agreement, without providing much detail about the U.S.-led negotiations. He declined to specify what exactly the Saudis are seeking for the Palestinians.
Netanyahu said the Palestinians “could greatly benefit from a broader peace,” saying: “They should be part of that process, but they should not have a veto over the process.”
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down more than a decade ago, and violence has soared over the past year and a half, with Israel carrying out frequent military raids in the occupied West Bank and Palestinians attacking Israelis. Netanyahu’s government has approved thousands of new settlement homes in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians want for the main part of their future state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who addressed the General Assembly on Thursday, made no direct reference to efforts to reach a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. But he reiterated the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has only worsened since the Abraham Accords were signed.
“Those who think that peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full and legitimate national rights are mistaken,” Abbas said.
Netanyahu has often seemed to revel in using the podium of the General Assembly to lambast Israel’s enemies.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Photo : Richard Drew/ AP
He famously held up a picture of a cartoon bomb in 2012 to illustrate Iran’s advancing uranium enrichment. In 2020, he claimed Hezbollah was stockpiling explosives near Beirut’s airport, prompting the Iran-allied militant group to organize an immediate visit by journalists, who saw heavy machinery but no weapons.
The map he held up this year made no reference to the West Bank, Gaza or east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in 1967 that the Palestinians want for their future state. The map appeared to show Israel encompassing all three.
The chamber was largely empty during his address, though there was a group of Netanyahu supporters who clapped several times during his speech. Protesters and supporters of Netanyahu demonstrated across the street from the U.N. headquarters.
Netanyahu referred to the cartoon bomb when he held up the maps, pulling out a red marker and drawing a line showing a planned trade corridor stretching from India through the Middle East to Europe. The ambitious project, unveiled at this month’s Group of 20 summit, would link Saudi Arabia to Israel.
He also reprised his longstanding criticism of Iran, which Israel views as its greatest threat. Netanyahu referred to Iran’s crackdown on protests, its supplying of attack drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, and its military activities across the Middle East.
Netanyahu called for stepped-up sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, which has steadily advanced since the United States withdrew from a landmark agreement with Iran and world powers to which Israel had been staunchly opposed.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, who also attended the General Assembly, urged the U.S. to lift sanctions in order to return to the nuclear deal. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but the U.S. and others believe it had a secret weapons program until 2003.
Raisi also denied Iran had sent drones to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. and European officials say the sheer number of Iranian drones being used by Russia shows that the flow of such weapons intensified after hostilities began.
In an ambiguous turn of phrase during his address, Netanyahu said that “above all, Iran must face a credible nuclear threat.”
Israel, which is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has never publicly acknowledged them, has repeatedly said all options are on the table to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
India stops new visas for Canadians, asks Ottawa to downsize missions as spat worsens
NEW DELHI(Reuters) – India on Thursday suspended new visas for Canadians and asked Ottawa to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country, sharply escalating a spat triggered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations linking New Delhi to a Sikh separatist’s murder.
India was willing to look into specific information in connection with the accusations, its foreign ministry said, adding that Canada has not shared anything so far.
A blanket suspension of new visas by India for a Western country is unheard of and marks the lowest point of India-Canada relations.
The announcement came hours after Canada’s high commission in India said it would temporarily “adjust” staff presence in the country after some diplomats received threats on social media platforms. The mission did not specify the nature of the threats, and India has said it would provide “all security and all support” to foreign diplomats.
Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India suspended issuing new visas to Canadian citizens due to “security threats” to its staff in its consulates in Canada.
India did not give details of the nature of these security threats, and Canada’s public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc said in response that Canada was a safe country.
“Accordingly our high commission and consulates are temporarily unable to process visa applications,” he told reporters at a weekly briefing on Thursday, adding that the security situation would be reviewed regularly.
Canada is the fourth largest source of foreign tourists with 350,000 visitors in 2019, a number which fell following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Indian government data.
‘RISK TO REPUTATION’
The unprecedented tensions flared up on Monday after Trudeau said Ottawa was investigating “credible allegations” about the potential involvement of Indian government agents in the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government denied any links to the alleged murder.
Canadian officials have so far declined to say why they believe India could be linked to Nijjar’s murder.
The two countries, whose relations have been fraying in recent years over the issue of Sikh separatists, have since announced tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats and issued tit-for-tat travel advisories.
Bagchi said India was “willing to look at any specific information, we have conveyed this to the Canadian side, made it clear to them…but so far, we have not received any such specific information”.
Canada has discussed the issue with key allies such as the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance, which includes the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, with Washington, London and Canberra expressing concern.
Asked if any of these countries, with whom India also enjoys close ties, had raised the issue with New Delhi, Bagchi said: “We have been discussing with them, we have conveyed our position how we see these developments.”
Bagchi also said Canada should be worried about damage to its reputation and not India, when asked about the risk posed by the row to New Delhi’s global standing.
“If there is any country that needs to look at it, it is Canada, its growing reputation as a safe haven for terrorists, extremists and for organised crime,” he said, adding that India had in vain sought action against more than 20 individuals.
India has not provided any details of acts of terrorism carried out by Sikh separatists against its interests in Canada.
THREAT TO TRADE TIES
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside the northern Indian state of Punjab, with about 770,000 people reporting Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.
A bloody Sikh insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s in Punjab killed tens of thousands of people before it was suppressed. The separatists wanted the creation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
Although there is hardly any support for the insurgency left in India, small groups of Sikhs in Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States support the separatist demand and occasionally stage protests outside Indian embassies.
New Delhi, which remains wary of any revival of the insurgency, has long been unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada.
The spat is also threatening trade ties, with talks on a proposed trade deal frozen last week.
Canada is India’s 17th largest foreign investor, while Canadian portfolio investors have put billions of dollars in Indian financial markets.
Since 2018, India has been the largest source of international students in Canada, with their numbers rising 47% in 2022 to nearly 320,000.
Industry estimates show the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Canada and India could boost two-way trade by as much as $6.5 billion.
