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Landslides Kill 20 After Monsoon Rains In India’s Mumbai

By
Zoe Maven
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At least 20 people have been killed in landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in the Indian city of Mumbai.

India’s National Disaster Response Force said 17 people were killed and two others were injured after a wall collapsed on several slum houses in the Mahul area of the city early Sunday. The injured were recovering in a hospital.

Heavy monsoon rains have waterlogged several parts of Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital. Train services in the city have also been disrupted.

Building collapses triggered by landslides are common in India during the monsoon season when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly built.

Annual monsoon rains hit the region in June-September. The rains are crucial for rain-fed crops planted during the season but often cause extensive damage.

In a separate incident, three people were killed in Mumbai’s Vikhroli neighborhood after half a dozen huts located at the base of a hillock collapsed on top of each other late Saturday night.

Dozens of rescuers were clearing the debris in search of at least 15 other people who were likely trapped under the rubble.

U.N. Security Council Asked To Authorise More Troops For Mali Mission

By
Zoe Maven
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the Security Council to authorise additional troops for the peacekeeping mission in Mali in response to rising violence by Islamist militants.

The proposed increase of 2,069 soldiers and police officers would take the authorised size of the mission, known as MINUSMA, to 17,278 uniformed personnel, the largest since it was established in 2013.

Guterres made the proposal in a report to Security Council members that is dated July 15 but has not yet been released publicly.

He said additional personnel were needed to respond to Islamist militants, many tied to al Qaeda and Islamic State, who have expanded their operations from their strongholds in the desert north into Mali’s centre and neighbouring countries.

The additional 2,069 personnel would include 1,730 soldiers and 339 police officers. Three quick reaction force companies, comprising 750 personnel in total, and two helicopter units with 260 members would be created.

In central Mali, the epicentre of the conflict in recent years, additional troops would be used to create forward operating bases “to expand the reach and mobility of the Mission”, the report said.

Guterres said the plan could only work in concert with stepped-up efforts by Malian authorities to bolster security and enhance governance.

But the proposal comes as Malian forces increasingly pull back from the hotspots in the countryside where they have suffered steep losses, effectively ceding control to the militants.

Meanwhile, Mali is mired in political uncertainty after military officers in May conducted their second coup in nine months.

Libya PM Unaware Of Russia, Turkey Deal On Foreign Fighters

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Zoe Maven
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Libya’s unity government Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah says he was unaware of any understanding between Russia and Turkey on a withdrawal of their foreign fighters, but that such a move would be welcomed.

Speaking in New York, Dbeibah also said he was committed to holding elections on Dec. 24, but warned that some lawmakers may be reluctant to give up power.

Dbeibah, a businessman appointed interim prime minister in February, said he has not yet decided whether to run for office.

Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, then head of state.

A U.N.-led peace process brought a ceasefire last summer, after fighting between rival factions paused, and then a unity government.

Following a U.N.-backed conference in Berlin last month, German and U.S. officials said Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Libya, reached an initial understanding

Russia’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the Security Council on Thursday that Moscow supported a “step-by-step phased withdrawal of all foreign forces and contingents.”

“At the same time, we need to make sure that the current balance of forces on the ground not be disrupted, because it is thanks to this balance that the situation in Libya remains calm and no threats of armed escalation emerge.

Addressing the Security Council, Dbeibah said the continued presence of foreign fighters poses “a real and serious risk to the current political process and it also threatens the efforts to continue the ceasefire” and to uniting the army in Libya.

Nigeria Seeks $1 Bln For Key Gas Pipeline

By
Zoe Maven
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Nigeria is seeking $1 billion so work can continue on a gas pipeline costing up to $2.8 billion after Chinese lenders which had pledged to offer most of the funds did not disburse cash as quickly as expected.

It is the latest sign of falling Chinese financial support for infrastructure projects across Africa, after years of major Chinese lending for railway, energy and other projects.

A spokesman for state oil company NNPC, which is building the 614-km (384-mile) Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline, said it was still negotiating with the Chinese lenders – Bank of China and Sinosure – to cover $1.8 billion of the project cost.

But the company was now, reportedy, was approaching others, including export-import institutions, to continue work on the pipeline that will run through the middle of the West African country to its northern economic hub Kano.

Chinese lenders had originally been lined up to fund the bulk of the estimated $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion cost of the project, which is central to President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to develop gas resources and boost development in northern Nigeria.

NNPC, which was funding 15%, said last year it had used its own funds to start construction. The sources said the Chinese lenders would not agree to disburse the cash NNPC had expected by the end of the summer, prompting it to turn to others.

Bank of China said it would not comment on specific deals. Sinosure did not respond to a request for comment.

With the continent facing an estimated annual $100 billion infrastructure investment deficit, the loss of Chinese funding leaves a big gap to fill.

At Least Seven Missing After Ship Sinks Off Liberian Coast

By
Zoe Maven
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Liberia’s country’s Maritime Commissioner says at least seven people are missing after a cargo ship that had been barred from sailing sank off the coast of.

The Liberian-registered Niko Ivanka left the capital Monrovia on Saturday morning for a port in the country’s south, despite being under a Liberia Maritime Authority detention order.

Maritime Commissioner Eugene Nagbe told a news conference said the vessel sent out a distress signal that afternoon notifying the coast guard that it had taken on water and that by the time authorities arrived, it had already partially sunk.

Nagbe said an investigation has been commissioned into how a vessel that was detained for failure to meet rudimentary safety requirements managed to get on the sea with passengers and cargo.

The vessel’s owner, a Chinese national, was arrested on Sunday afternoon and is now in police custody, Nagbe told Reuters.

The search continued on Sunday afternoon as teams from Liberia’s coast guard scoped nearby shores and riverbanks in collaboration with a ship from anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd, Nagbe said.

The ship’s manifest showed 18 people on board at the time of departure but authorities suspect that more could have been on board, given that the vessel was not licensed to carry passengers in the first place, Tonpoe said.

Among those listed on the manifest was a Swedish captain, a Chinese crew member, and nine members of West Africa’s regional school examinations body.

Ethiopia’s Tigray Forces Say They Freed 1,000 Captured Soldiers

By
Zoe Maven
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Forces in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have released around 1,000 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, as both sides prepared for a showdown over contested land in the west of the region.

Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told News men by satellite phone late on Friday that they have released 1,000 low-ranking soldiers.

He said More than 5,000 (soldiers) are still with us, and we will keep the senior officers who will face trial.

He added the soldiers had been driven to Tigray’s southern border with the Amhara region on Friday, but did not say who received them or how the release was negotiated.

A military spokesman said he was not immediately available to comment on Saturday, and the spokesman for the Amhara regional administration said he had no information on the release.

Officials in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office and a government taskforce on Tigray did not answer calls seeking comment.

Fighting broke out in Tigray in November when the government accused the TPLF of attacking military bases across the region, which the party denied. The government declared victory three weeks later when it took control of the regional capital, Mekelle, but the TPLF kept fighting.

In a dramatic turn, the TPLF retook Mekelle and most of Tigray at the end of June, after the government pulled out its soldiers and declared a unilateral ceasefire.

However, the TPLF vowed to keep fighting until it had regained control of disputed territory in the south and west of Tigray that was seized during the fighting by the government’s allies from Amhara.Abiy said this week that the military would repel any TPLF threat, effectively abandoning the self-declared truce. Amhara and three other regions said they were mobilizing forces to support the national army in its fight against the TPLF.

South African Authorities Probe Coastal Chemical Spill In Durban

By
Zoe Maven
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South African authorities in the port city of Durban say they were investigating a coastal chemical spill that may have been caused by a warehouse fire during unrest this week.

Other possible sources are also being investigated as the cause of the spill, which is affecting marine and bird life, the eThekwini municipality said late on Friday, urging local residents not to use beaches in the area

The municipality said in a statement and said extensive environmental impacts are being reported at uMhlanga and uMdhloti lagoons and beaches in the vicinity,  that have killed numerous species of marine and bird life

KwaZulu-Natal province’s head of environmental affairs, Ravi Pillay, said water samples would be tested on Monday.

“We will see the results from there,” Pillay told Reuters. “We have some evidence of some limited impact on marine life. Our team is satisfied that there is no impact on public health.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa sid on Friday the unrest that ripped through several parts of the country in the past week was stabilising and calm had been restored to most affected areas.

Protests broke out after former President Jacob Zuma was jailed for failing to appear at a corruption inquiry and swiftly degenerated into looting and arson which has killed more than 200 people and destroyed hundreds of businesses.

The municipality also said some residents were reporting smoke residue from burned chemical products. It advised people to close windows and doors and put wet cloths over vents until the smoke cleared.

Pillay said air quality testing was being undertaken.

Russian Human Rights Association Suspends Work

By
Zoe Maven
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FILE PHOTO: Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer defending Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in an extremism case, speaks with journalists after a court hearing in Moscow, Russia May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

A group of human rights lawyers linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s group has suspended work to protect its team after Moscow authorities blocked its website due to a request from prosecutors.

The lawyers’ association, Komanda 29 or Team 29 is led by Ivan Pavlov, who has defended Navalny’s group.

Pavlov has been under criminal investigation since April when Russia accused him of disclosing classified information relating to one of his clients

Meanwhile, Russian authorities have moved ahead of September’s parliamentary election to restrict opposition groups and independent media which the authorities say are hostile and foreign-backed.

The association said in a statement that the Prosecutor General’s Office identifies Komanda 29 with the Czech-registered NGO Společnost Svobody Informace, which is listed as an undesirable organisation (in Russia)

It said, Komanda 29 disagrees and has no relationship with the Czech NGO, adding that its lawyers would challenge the identification.

Navalny’s allies have already suspended their groups to protect their supporters, acting before a ruling which handed authorities the formal power to jail activists and freeze their bank accounts if they continue their activities.

Navalny and his associates have instigated numerous investigations into what they say is high-level corruption. The Kremlin says the reports are malicious inventions as part of a foreign-backed plot to destabilise the state.

Navalny himself is in jail for parole violations over an embezzlement case he says was trumped up. He was arrested in Moscow this year after flying back from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia.

Germany’s Angela Merkel Visits Areas Devastated By Floods

By
Zoe Maven
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Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday visited flood-ravaged areas of Germany to survey the damage and meet survivors after days of extreme rainfall in western Europe left at least 190 people dead and dozens missing.

Merkel travelled to the village of Schuld in Rhineland-Palatinate state, one of the two hardest-hit regions in western Germany where the swollen Ahr river swept away houses and left debris piled high in the streets.

The chancellor said she was overwhelmed by the “surreal, eerie” devastation she had seen. she told reporters she could almost say  that the German language doesn’t have words for the destruction that has been unleashed

Merkel also pledged that a short-term relief programme would be launched by the government on Wednesday and said the devastation underscored the importance of combating climate change, saying: We “must hurry”.

At least 159 people have died since Wednesday in Germany’s worst flooding in living memory, police said in an update Sunday morning. In Rhineland-Palatinate state alone, police reported 110 dead and 670 injured.

At least 31 people have also lost their lives in neighbouring Belgium, officials said Sunday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo visited the flooded areas of Rochefort and Pepinster together on Saturday

Zuma Graft Trial To Resume Despite Deadly S.Africa Protests

By
Zoe Maven
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The corruption trial of South Africa’s jailed former president Jacob Zuma will resume virtually on Monday, despite deadly violence that swept the nation after his imprisonment.

Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering related to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms when he was deputy president.

He is also accused of taking bribes from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.

The trial started in May after numerous postponements and delays, as Zuma’s legal team worked fervently to have the charges dropped.

The 79-year-old Zuma appeared in person for the opening and said he was innocent.Thales also pleaded not guilty, and the next hearing was set for Monday.

However, things took a nasty turn when on June 29, Zuma was found guilty of contempt of South Africa’s top court for snubbing graft investigators probing his tenure as president. He was jailed a week later.

The incarceration sparked protests in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, which snowballed into a week of looting and arson that spread to the economic hub Johannesburg, claiming over 200 lives.

Zuma has retained a fervent support base within the ANC and among the general public, viewed by many as a “people’s man” and a defender of the poor.

Analysts are warning that Monday’s hearing could reignite tensions that had eased late last week.

However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who came to office promising to curb graft, said the riots were a “coordinated and well-planned attack” on the country’s young democracy.

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