26-07-2021

MOnDAY, JULY 26, 2021
7
Out-of-state crews headed to Montana Saturday to battle a blaze that injured five firefighters as the U.S.
West struggled with a series of fires that have ravaged rural lands and destroyed homes. Photo : AP
Wildfires blasting through West
draw states to lend support
BLY, Ore : Out-of-state crews headed to
Montana Saturday to battle a blaze that
injured five firefighters as the U.S. West
struggled with a series of fires that have
ravaged rural lands and destroyed
homes.
Progress was being made on the
nation's largest blaze, the Bootleg Fire
in Oregon, but less than half of it was
contained, fire officials said.
The growth of the sprawling fire had
slowed, but increased fire activity was
expected Saturday, and thousands of
homes remained threatened on its
eastern side, authorities said, reports
UNB.
"This fire is resistant to stopping at
dozer lines," Jim Hanson, fire behavior
analyst, said Saturday in a news release
from the Oregon Department of
Forestry. "With the critically dry
weather and fuels we are experiencing,
firefighters are having to constantly
reevaluate their control lines and look
for contingency options."
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on
Friday declared a state of emergency
for four northern counties because of
wildfires that he said were causing
"conditions of extreme peril to the
safety of persons and property." The
proclamation opens the way for more
state support.
On Saturday, fire crews from
Israeli carrier
launches
direct flight
to Morocco
JERUSALEM : Israeli carrier
Israir launched the first direct
commercial flight between
the Jewish state and Morocco
on Sunday since the countries
normalised diplomatic
relations in a US-brokered
deal last year.
About 100 passengers were
on the flight that departed
from Tel Aviv to Marrakesh,
Israir spokeswoman Tali
Leibovitz told AFP, adding
that two to three flights per
week were planned on the
route.
Israeli Foreign Minister
Yair Lapid said last week that
he would visit Morocco
shortly after the Israir service
was launched.
Morocco was one of four
regional states to normalise
ties with Israel in 2020, along
with Bahrain, Sudan and the
United Arab Emirates.
The move came as the
administration of former US
president Donald Trump
recognised Morocco's
sovereignty over Western
Sahara, a disputed and
divided former Spanish
colony.
Morocco is home to North
Africa's largest Jewish
community, which numbers
around 3,000. Some 700,000
Jews of Moroccan origin live
in Israel.
Rabat had a liaison office in
Tel Aviv but relations came to
a halt during the 2000-2005
second Palestinian intifada,
or uprising.
The normalisation deals
between Arab states and
Israel have been deemed a
"betrayal" by the Palestinians,
who believe the process
should only follow a
resolution of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
California and Utah were headed to
Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte
announced. Five firefighters were
injured Thursday when swirling winds
blew flames back on them as they
worked on the Devil's Creek fire
burning in rough, steep terrain near the
rural town of Jordan.
They remained hospitalized Friday.
Bureau of Land Management
spokesperson Mark Jacobsen declined
to release the extent of their injuries,
and attempts to learn their conditions
Saturday were unsuccessful. Three of
the firefighters are U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service crew members from
North Dakota, and the other two are
U.S. Forest Service firefighters from
New Mexico.
In California, the Tamarack Fire
south of Lake Tahoe continued to burn
through timber and chaparral and
threatened communities on both sides
of the California-Nevada state line. The
fire, sparked by lightning July 4 in
Alpine County, has destroyed at least 10
buildings.
In Butte County, California, the Dixie
Fire continued to burn in rugged and
remote terrain, hampering firefighters'
efforts to contain the blaze as it grows
eastward, becoming the state's largest
wildfire so far this year.
Heavy smoke from both huge fires
lowered visibility and may at times
ground aircraft providing support for
fire crews. The air quality south of Lake
Tahoe and across the state line into
Nevada deteriorated to very unhealthy
levels.
In north-central Washington,
firefighters battled two blazes in
Okanogan County that threatened
hundreds of homes and again caused
hazardous air quality conditions
Saturday. And in northern Idaho, east
of Spokane, Washington, a small fire
near the Silverwood Theme Park
prompted evacuations Friday evening
at the park and in the surrounding area.
The theme park was back open on
Saturday with the fire half contained.
Although hot weather with afternoon
winds posed a continued threat of
spreading blazes, weekend forecasts
also called for a chance of scattered
thunderstorms in California, Utah,
Nevada, Arizona and other states.
However, forecasters said some could
be dry thunderstorms that produce
little rain but a lot of lightning, which
can spark new blazes.
More than 85 large wildfires were
burning around the country, most of
them in Western states, and they had
burned over 1.4 million acres (2,135
square miles, or more than 553,000
hectares).
Typhoon In-fa hits China's
east coast, canceling flights
SHANGHAI : Typhoon In-fa hit China's east
coast south of Shanghai on Sunday, after
airline flights and trains were canceled and
the public was ordered to stay indoors,
reports BSS.
The typhoon made landfall in Zhoushan in
Zhejiang province, state TV reported, citing
the national weather agency. It forecast
rainfall of 250-350 millimeters (10-14
inches).
"People should not willingly go outdoors,"
the bureau said.
The typhoon was packing winds of 155
kilometers (95 miles) per hour and gusts up
to 191 kph (120 mph) when it dumped rain
on Taiwan. It knocked down tree branches
but no deaths or injuries were reported.
Hundreds of flights at Shanghai Pudong
and Shanghai Hongqiao airports were
canceled and more were expected to be
canceled on Monday, state TV reported.
Shanghai closed parks and the riverfront
Bund district, a popular tourist area.
The international airport in Hangzhou,
southwest of Shanghai, also canceled flights.
Train service to Ningbo, a port city south of
Shanghai, was suspended, according to state
TV. The Zhoushan Bridge that connects
islands near Ningbo was closed, as were
schools, markets and businesses in Zhejiang
province.
On Saturday, large container ships were
moved from Yangshan Port in Shanghai, one
of the world's busiest shipping centers. State
TV said a ship lock in Nantong, which abuts
Shanghai to the north, stopped releasing
vessels into the Yangtze River.
Meanwhile in central China, the death toll
rose to 58 after record rains hit the major city
of Zhengzhou on Tuesday, state TV reported.
The rains flooded a Zhengzhou subway
tunnel where at least 12 people died,
knocked out power to a hospital and other
buildings and left streets filled with mud.
Rescuers used bulldozers and rubber boats
to evacuate residents of areas that still were
underwater, according to the Shanghai news
outlet The Paper.
Typhoon In-fa hit China's east coast south of Shanghai on Sunday,
after airline flights and trains were canceled and the public was
ordered to stay indoors.
Photo : AP
Afghan forces
capture four
Taliban for Eid
rocket attack
KABUL : Afghan forces have
captured four Taliban
fighters including a militant
commander for carrying out
this week's rocket attack
targeting the presidential
palace in Kabul during the
Muslim Eid al-Adha
prayers, officials said
Sunday, reports BSS.
At least three rockets
landed near the palace on
Tuesday as President Ashraf
Ghani and his top officials
performed outdoor prayers
to mark the start of the
Muslim holiday.
The interior ministry said
police had arrested four
Taliban fighters in an
operation in Kabul who were
behind the attack, which was
claimed by the jihadist
Islamic State group.
"A Taliban commander,
Momin, along with his three
other men, have been
arrested. They all belong to
the Taliban group," ministry
spokesman Mirwais
Stanikzai told reporters in a
video message.
Residents say flood-hit German
towns got little warning
AHRWEILER, GERMANY : Like other
residents of his town in Germany, Wolfgang
Huste knew a flood was coming. What
nobody told him, he says, was how bad it
would be, reports UNB.
The 66-year-old antiquarian bookseller
from Ahrweiler said the first serious warning
to evacuate or move to higher floors of
buildings close to the Ahr River came
through loudspeaker announcements
around 8 p.m. on July 14. Huste then heard
a short emergency siren blast and church
bells ringing, followed by silence.
"It was spooky, like in a horror film," he
said. Huste rushed to rescue his car from an
underground garage. By the time he parked
it on the street, the water stood knee height.
Five minutes later, safely indoors, he saw his
vehicle floating down the street. He
estimates the losses in his store, where books
dating back to the early 1500s were
destroyed, at more than 200,000 euros
($235,000).
"The warning time was far too short,"
Huste said.
With the confirmed death toll from last
week's floods in Germany and neighboring
countries passing 210, almost 150 people still
missing and the economic cost expected to
run into the billions, many have asked why
the emergency systems designed to warn
people of impending disaster didn't work.
Sirens in some towns failed when the
electricity was cut. In other locations, there
were no sirens at all; volunteer firefighters
had to knock on people's doors to tell them
what to do. The German weekly Der Spiegel
reported that in one suburb of Wuppertal,
north of Cologne, people were warned by a
monk ringing a bell.
Huste acknowledged that few could have
predicted the speed with which the water
would rise and rip through towns. But he
pointed across the valley to a building that
houses Germany's Federal Office for Civil
Protection, where first responders from
across the country train for possible
disasters.
"In practice, as we just saw, it didn't work,
let's say, as well as it should," Huste said.
"What the state should have done, it didn't
do. At least not until much later."
German authorities did receive early
warnings from the European Flood
Awareness System. These made their way
through official channels, putting firefighters
on heightened alert as well as smartphone
users who had installed disaster warning
apps, but such apps aren't widely used.
Local officials responsible for triggering
disaster alarms in the Ahr valley on the first
night of flooding have kept a low profile since
the deluge. At least 132 people were killed in
the Ahr valley alone.
Like other residents of his town in Germany, Wolfgang Huste knew a flood was coming. What
nobody told him, he says, was how bad it would be.
Photo : AP
India logs 39,742
new cases, 535
fresh fatalities
NEWDELHI : India added
39,742 new cases of
coronavirus infection taking
the total tally of COVID-19
cases to 3,13,71,901, while
the death toll rose to
4,20,551 with 535 fresh
fatalities, according to the
Union Health Ministry data
updated on Sunday.
The active cases have
declined to 4,08,212 and
comprise 1.30 per cent of the
total infections and the
national COVID-19 recovery
rate has been recorded at
97.36 per cent, the data
updated at 8 am showed.
A decline of 765 cases has
been recorded in the active
COVID-19 caseload in a
span of 24 hours.
India's COVID-19 tally had
crossed the 20-lakh mark on
August 7, 30 lakh on August
23, 40 lakh on September 5
and 50 lakh on September
16.It went past 60 lakh on
September 28, 70 lakh on
October 11, crossed 80 lakh
on October 29, 90 lakh on
November 20 and surpassed
the one-crore mark on
December 19. India crossed
the grim milestone of two
crore on May 4 and three
crore on June 23.
As many as 17,18,756 tests
were conducted on Saturday
taking the total cumulative
tests conducted so far for
detection of COVID-19 in
the country to 45,62,89,567.
The daily positivity rate
was recorded at 2.31 per cent
. It has been less than three
per cent for 34 consecutive
days, the ministry said,
adding the weekly positivity
rate was recorded at 2.24
per cent.
The number of people who
have recuperated from the
disease surged to
3,05,43,138, while the case
fatality rate stands at 1.34
per cent, the data stated.
India monsoon death toll
climbs to 124 as rescuers
search for missing
MUMBAI : The death toll from flooding and
landslides triggered by heav monsoon rains
in India climbed to 124 Sunday, officials said,
with rescuers searching for dozens more
missing.
The country's western coast has been
inundated by torrential rains since
Thursday, with the India Meteorological
Department warning of further downpours
over the next few days.
In Maharasthra state, 114 people have
been killed, including more than 40 in a large
landslide that hit the hillside village of Taliye,
south of Mumbai, on Thursday, reports BSS.
Villager Jayram Mahaske, whose relatives
remained trapped, told AFP that "many
people were washed away as they were trying
to run away" when the landslide hit.
It flattened dozens of homes in a matter of
minutes, leaving just two concrete structures
standing and cutting off power supply, local
residents told AFP.
Rescuers were scouring the mud and
debris for 99 others still missing.
"My entire team is engaged in rescue
operations now," National Disaster
Response Force Inspector Rajesh Yawale,
who was coordinating rescue operations in
the village, told AFP Saturday.
He said many bodies were washed away,
with some found stuck among trees
downstream.
A dozen others were killed in two separate
landslides, also south of Mumbai.
In parts of Chiplun, water levels rose to
nearly 20 feet (six metres) on Thursday after
24 hours of uninterrupted rain submerged
roads and homes.
Eight patients at a local Covid-19 hospital
also reportedly died after power supply to
ventilators was cut off by the floods.
In neighbouring Goa, a woman drowned,
the state government told the Press Trust of
India, in what Chief Minister Pramod
Sawant said were the "worst floods since
1982".
In the coastal plains spanning
Maharashtra and Goa, floodwater levels
remained elevated after rivers burst their
banks.
Terrified residents climbed onto rooftops
and upper floors to escape swelling waters.
Further south in Karnataka state, the
death toll rose from three to nine overnight,
with four others missing, officials said.
Power supply was disrupted in the 11
affected districts and officials added that
there were crop losses across vast swathes of
land.
Flooding and landslides are common
during India's treacherous monsoon season,
which also often sees poorly constructed
buildings buckle after days of non-stop rain.
Four people died before dawn on Friday
when a building collapsed in a Mumbai
slum, authorities said.
The incident came less than a week after at
least 34 people lost their lives when several
homes were crushed by a collapsed wall and
a landslide in the city.
Six soldiers killed in
Boko Haram attack in
Cameroon: governor
YAOUNDE : At least six Cameroon soldiers
were killed Saturday in an attack by Boko
Haram in the far north of the country, the
governor of the region said on state television.
Heavily armed Boko Haram fighters "arrived at
around four o'clock in the morning on six
vehicles", the governor of the Far North Region,
Bakari Midjiyawa, told CRTV television.
"We deplore the deaths of our six soldiers,
who died in action, and four more were
injured."The attack took place in Sagme, a few
dozen kilometres from the border with Nigeria,
from where Boko Haram originates.
According to a police report, confirmed by
several local sources, eight soldiers were killed.
Boko Haram and its breakaway faction
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)
have increased their deadly attacks against
security forces and civilians in the far north of
Cameroon in recent years, as well as in the
border regions with three neighbouring
countries, Nigeria, Niger and Chad.
They have also frequently kidnapped
civilians, particularly women and children.
Fighting with Boko Haram and ISWAP
jihadists has killed more than 36,000
people since 2009 and driven almost two
million people from their homes in
northeastern Nigeria.