APRIL 25

Inside APRIL 25, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 4/24/19 8:43 PM Page 3
•The Red Cross helped local officials
evacuate homes around the town of Sokndal
where the fires were most dangerous
Europe wildfires: Norway police evacuate hundreds in Sogndal
HUNDREDS OF people have
had to leave their homes in Norway
as emergency services try to
extinguish forest fires raging in
the south of the country.
Some 148 homes were evacuated
around the town of Sokndal,
where fires have been burning
since Tuesday.
Police said the fires were still
out of control and warned that
heavy winds could help them to
spread.
April is very early for forest
fires in Norway, and experts have
warned of a dramatic increase
across the continent.
This month alone, wildfires
have broken out in Sweden, Germany
and the UK.
Fires in Europe "are way
above the average" for this time
of year, an official at the EU's European
Forest Fire Information
System (Effis) told the BBC.
"The season is drastically
worse than those of the last
decade."
The official added that a "very
dry winter in most of Europe"
and persistent drought had contributed
to the rise in forest fires,
and that the "long term forecast is
not promising for an improvement".
BBC
DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
World news in 4 stories
South Africa floods: Death toll
after Durban rains rises to 60
FLOODS AND mudslides
in the South
African city of Durban
and the wider KwaZulu-
Natal province have
killed at least 60 people,
officials say.
A six-month-old baby and a
young child are among the dead.
More than 1,000 people have
been displaced according to President
Cyril Ramaphosa who has
flown into the region to visit the affected
areas.
Southern and eastern parts of
• President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has
led Algeria since 1999
• Riek Machar (l) and Salva Kiir shook hands in their "final final" peace deal last year
•The rains have led to landslides destroying property and roads
the country have been badly hit by
torrential rain in the last few days.
More flooding and strong winds
are expected in coastal areas and a
severe weather warning is still in
place.
The raging floods damaged
businesses, homes and at least two
universities - while hundreds of
people have been displaced.
South Africa's President Cyril
Ramaphosa has been visiting those
who lost family members in the
floods.
The BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports
that the president laid a
wreath at a place where eight died.
He was also seen pushing away his
bodyguards who tried to block people
from talking to him.
"It was important to come and
see what has happened. We pass
our condolences to the families of
those who have died in this disaster.
We are saddened by what has happened
here. The loss of life is never
easy, especially when so unexpected,"
he said on the ground.
BBC
•Most of the victims were children
More than 200 rescued
from human traffickers
ALMOST 220 victims of
human trafficking have been
rescued by police in Benin
and Nigeria, in an operation
coordinated by the International
police agency Interpol.
Those affected include
157 children aged between 11
and 16 and the victims were
from Benin, Burkina Faso,
Niger, Nigeria and Togo.
Many of the rescued minors
were moved across the
border between Nigeria and
Benin as "merchandise" and
made to work in markets, or
as housemaids, according to
Interpol.
Some were the victims of
sexual exploitation.
The police found a boy
who had been forced to carry
bags of rice weighing up to
40kg (88lb) across the border
between Nigeria and Benin.
The victims were rescued
in the first half of April.
About 100 officers carried
out raids and identity checks
at markets, air and sea ports,
as well as in settlements at
the border between Nigeria
and Benin.
Some 47 people have
been arrested, and their possessions
seized.
The operation was part of
an Interpol Global Task
force, set up to increase international
cooperation in combating
human trafficking.
BBC
Egypt president could rule until 2030
EGYPTIANS HAVE overwhelmingly
approved in a referendum
constitutional changes
that could allow President Abdul
Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power
until 2030.
The National Election Authority
said 88.8% of those who
took part endorsed the proposals.
The turnout was 44.3%.
Mr Sisi's second term has
been extended from four to six
years, and he will be allowed to
seek one more term in 2024.
The changes also expand the
military's power to intervene in
politics and give Mr Sisi more
power over the judiciary.
In 2013, Mr Sisi led the military's
overthrow of Egypt's first
democratically elected president,
Mohammed Morsi, following
protests against his rule.
Since then, he has overseen
what human rights groups say is
an unprecedented crackdown on
dissent that has led to the detention
of tens of thousands of
people.
National Election Authority
chairman Lashin Ibrahim announced
on Tuesday night that
26.4m valid votes were cast in
the three-day referendum, which
took place from Saturday to
Monday. Another 831,000 ballots
were deemed to be void.
BBC
• More than 23.4 million people voted in favour of
the constitutional changes, officials said