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Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city
Stunned Palestinians found their home city unrecognizable Monday as they filtered in to salvage what they could from the vast destruction left by Israeli troops who withdrew from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis a day earlier after months of fighting and bombardment.
With thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged, families tried to find their homes along streets bulldozed down to the dirt, surrounded by landscapes of rubble and debris that were once blocks of apartments and businesses. On other blocks, buildings still stood but were gutted shells, scorched and full of holes, with partially shattered upper floors dangling off precipitously.
The scenes in Khan Younis underscored what has been one of the world’s most destructive and lethal military assaults in recent decades, leaving most of the tiny coastal territory unlivable for its 2.3 million people. It also portended what is likely to happen in Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah, where half of Gaza’s uprooted population is now crowded, if Israel goes ahead with plans to invade it.
Top UN court will hold hearings in a case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel's Gaza conflictIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated his pledge to take the offensive to Rafah, declaring in a video statement Monday, “It will happen. There is a date,” without elaborating. He spoke as Israeli negotiators were in Cairo discussing international efforts to broker a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
In a call with Blinken, the father of a killed aid worker urges tougher US stance on Israel in GazaMagdy Abu Sahrour was shocked to see his house in Khan Younis flattened.
“I couldn’t find my home because of all the destruction,” he said, standing in front of the rubble. “Where is my place, where is my home?”
Israel sent troops into Khan Younis in December, part of its blistering ground offensive that came in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and hostage-taking into southern Israel. Its withdrawal brought Israeli troops in the tiny coastal enclave to one of the lowest since the war began.
The war, now in its seventh month, has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and roughly 250 people taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Israel is pulling some troops from southern Gaza. Now the plan is to clear Hamas from Rafah
Many of the thousands who came to Khan Younis by foot and on donkey carts on Monday have been sheltering in Rafah. The withdrawal gave them a chance to see the wreckage of their homes and retrieve some possessions. But with the city now unlivable, they said they had little immediate chance to return.
An estimated 55% of the buildings in the Khan Younis area – around 45,000 buildings – have been destroyed or damaged, according to Corey Scher of City University of New York and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University, two mapping experts who have been using satellite imagery to track destruction.
“Where do I sleep? Where do I go?” Heba Sahloul’s aged mother sobbed in despair, sitting amid the rubble of the family’s living room. Her daughters searched for anything they could take with them. The room’s walls were blown away and the floor was piled with chunks of concrete, slabs of the ceiling and broken countertops. Only the columns painted pink gave any sign it had once been their home.
Sahloul said Israeli troops ordered them to leave during the fighting. “We left all our things here, and we went out with only our clothes,” she said. Her father was killed earlier in the assault, leaving Sahloul, her sisters and her mother. “We are only six women at home and we do not know where to go,” Sahloul said.
One woman clambered over collapsed concrete slabs atop a mountain of her home’s wreckage. Her son crawled on all fours into a hollow under the rubble and twisted rebar, clearing away concrete blocks.
“There are no words to describe the pain inside me,” the woman said, her voice breaking. “Our memories, our dreams, our childhood here, our family … It’s all gone.” The woman, who identified herself only by her first name, Hanan, put a few items they found into a backpack, including a plastic red flower.
Khan Younis’ main Nasser Hospital was trashed inside, with debris strewn around the wards and ceiling panels collapsed. The exterior appeared largely intact, but the extent of the damage was not immediately clear. Israeli troops stormed the facility during the offensive, saying they believed the remains of hostages were inside, though they did not report finding any.
Israel said Khan Younis was a major Hamas stronghold and that its operations there killed thousands of militants and inflicted heavy damage to a vast network of tunnels used by Hamas to move weapons and fighters. It also claimed to have found evidence that hostages were held in the city.
With the troops’ withdrawal, Hamas could seek to regroup there as it has in northern Gaza, where the military scaled back forces earlier.
Israel plans to invade Rafah, which it says is Hamas’ last major stronghold, have raised global alarm over the fate of the around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there. Israel’s top ally, the U.S., has said invading Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded a credible plan to protect civilians.
Israel is purchasing 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of Rafah, an Israel official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. It was not clear where they would be set up and how many people they could house. Allowing people to return to Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah, but many have no homes to return to.
In northern Gaza, the Israeli military has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where it says Hamas regrouped. Last month, troops stormed Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, in a raid that triggered two weeks of fighting in and around the facility. Israel says it killed some 200 Hamas fighters in the raid, but hospital officials say many civilians were among the dead.
On Monday, forensic experts from Gaza’s Health Ministry were still removing bodies from the yard of Shifa Hospital, where the main buildings were left as burned-out shattered husks. Workers lifted body parts out of the dirt and put them into plastic sacks. It was not clear how many were recent dead and how many came from a mass grave that was dug in the hospital in November to bury war casualties.
Hussein Muhaisen, director of ambulances in the Gaza Strip, said the number of dead was still not known. He said he found the bodies of a woman and children whose hands were bound. His account could not be independently confirmed. Israel says no civilians were killed during its raid.
Israel says its war aims to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and return the roughly 130 remaining hostages, a quarter of whom Israel says are dead.
Negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. over a cease-fire and exchange of captives continue. But Israel and Hamas appear to remain far apart. In a statement Monday, Hamas said the latest response it has received from Israel does not include a permanent crease-fire or the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. It has repeatedly said both terms are unnegotiable, while Israel has firmly rejected them.
Netanyahu vows to carry out Rafah invasion, which US says would be a mistake
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has escalated his pledge to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is filled with around 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
“It will happen. There is a date,” Netanyahu declared in a video statement Monday, without elaborating.
Germany accused of UN Genocide Convention breach over military exports to Israel
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has said a ground operation into Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Netanyahu spoke as Israeli negotiators are in Cairo discussing international efforts to broker a cease-fire deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israeli troops withdrew Sunday from Khan Younis, another city in southern Gaza, ending a key phase of the war. Defense officials say they’re regrouping ahead of a push into Rafah.
Palestinians who visited Khan Younis on Monday say the city is now unlivable, offering them little immediate chance to return. Many have been sheltering in Rafah.
The Palestinian death toll from the war has passed 33,200, with nearly 76,000 wounded, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Israel is pulling some troops from southern Gaza. Now the plan is to clear Hamas from RafahThe war began Oct. 7 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
Top UN court will hold hearings in a case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel's Gaza conflict
Preliminary hearings open Monday at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Israel strongly denies its military campaign amounts to breaches of the Genocide Convention.
While the case brought by Nicaragua centers on Germany, it indirectly takes aim at Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry. Its toll doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it has said women and children make up the majority of the dead.
“We are calm and we will set out our legal position in court,” German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said ahead of the hearings.
“We reject Nicaragua’s accusations,” Fischer told reporters in Berlin on Friday. “Germany has breached neither the genocide convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will set this out in detail before the International Court of Justice.”
Nicaragua has asked the court to hand down preliminary orders known as provisional measures, including that Germany “immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment in so far as this aid may be used in the violation of the Genocide Convention” and international law.
The court will likely take weeks to deliver its preliminary decision and Nicaragua's case will probably drag on for years.
Monday’s hearing at the world court comes amid growing calls for allies to stop supplying arms to Israel as its six-month campaign continues to lay waste to Gaza.
The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population. Food is scarce, the U.N. says famine is approaching and few Palestinians have been able to leave the besieged territory.
“The case next week in The Hague will likely further galvanize opposition to any support for Israel,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.
On Friday, the U.N.’s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel. The United States and Germany opposed the resolution.
Also, hundreds of British jurists, including three retired Supreme Court judges, have called on their government to suspend arms sales to Israel after three U.K. citizens were among seven aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen killed in Israeli strikes. Israel said the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by “misidentification.”
Germany has for decades been a staunch supporter of Israel. Days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained why: “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,” he told lawmakers.
Berlin, however, has gradually shifted its tone as civilian casualties in Gaza have soared, becoming increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and spoken out against a ground offensive in Rafah.
Nicaragua's government, which has historical links with Palestinian organizations dating back to their support for the 1979 Sandinista revolution, was itself accused earlier this year by U.N.-backed human rights experts of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity.” The government of President Daniel Ortega fiercely rejected the allegations.
In January, the ICJ imposed provisional measures ordering Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and acts of genocide in Gaza. The orders came in a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention.
The court last week ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-ravaged enclave.
On Friday, Israel said it’s taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into northern Gaza.
Nicaragua argues that by giving Israel political, financial and military support and by defunding the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.”
Israel strongly denies that its assault amounts to genocidal acts, saying it is acting in self defense. Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker told judges at the court in January that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”
Biden urges Egypt, Qatar leaders to press Hamas to come to agreement for Israeli hostages in Gaza
President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for a hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a cease-fire in the six-month-old war in Gaza.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private letters, said Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will meet Monday with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages who are believed to still be in Gaza.
The letters to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, come as Biden has deployed CIA Director William Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.
David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, and negotiators from Egypt and Qatar are expected to attend. The Hamas side of the talks is indirect, with proposals relayed through third parties to Hamas leaders sheltering in tunnels beneath Gaza.
Biden tells Netanyahu future US support for Gaza war depends on new steps to protect civilians and aid workers
White House officials say negotiating a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel is the only way to put a temporary cease-fire into effect and boost the flow of badly humanitarian aid into the territory.
Biden, in his conversation with Netanyahu, “made clear that everything must be done to secure the release of hostages, including American citizens,” and discussed “the importance of fully empowering Israeli negotiators to reach a deal,” according to the official. The first phase of the proposed deal would secure the release of women and elderly, sick and wounded hostages.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said earlier Friday that Biden underscored the need to get a hostage deal done during the Thursday conversation with Netanyahu that largely focused on Israeli airstrikes that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen.
“We are coming up on six months — six months that these people have been held hostage. And what we have to consider is just the abhorrent conditions" the hostages are being held in, Kirby said. “They need to be home with their families.”
Biden: Netanyahu 'hurting Israel' by not preventing more civilian deaths in Gaza
Biden had expressed optimism for a temporary cease-fire and a hostage deal during the runup to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but an agreement never materialized.
The White House said in a statement Thursday following Biden's call with Netanyahu that the U.S. president said reaching an “immediate cease-fire” in exchange for hostages was “essential” and urged Israel to reach such an accord “without delay.”
White House officials acknowledge that Biden has become increasingly frustrated with Israel's prosecution of a grinding war that has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, is among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. Within two months, researchers say, the offensive already has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.
The White House has maintained its support for Israel amid growing domestic and international wariness with Israel’s prosecution of the war, and repeatedly said that a temporary cease-fire could have already come had Hamas agreed to release the sick, the wounded, the elderly, and young women.
But the pressure on Biden has only mounted since this week’s airstrikes that killed the World Central Kitchen workers.
The Israeli government acknowledged “mistakes” and announced some disciplinary measures against officers involved in ordering the strikes. Israel also approved a series of steps aimed at increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including the reopening of a key crossing that was destroyed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the World Central Kitchen incident is part of a broader problem with how the Israeli military is carrying out the war. Nearly 200 humanitarian aid workers have killed since start of the conflict.
“But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again,” he said. “Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable change on the ground.”
Deadly severe weather roars through several states in US, spawning potential tornadoes
Thousands of homes and businesses were without power Tuesday as severe weather roared through several states, causing at least one death and spawning possible tornadoes.
In West Virginia, about 140,000 customers were without electricity Tuesday afternoon, or about 14% of all customers tracked in the state by poweroutage.us.
Northeastern Oklahoma was hit with a strong weather system containing heavy rains that produced three suspected tornadoes. The storms were blamed for the death of a 46-year-old homeless woman in Tulsa who died inside a drainage pipe, police said.
Hailstorm lashes Moulvibazar, Sylhet districts
Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson Andy Little said the woman’s boyfriend told authorities the two had gone to sleep at the entrance of the drainage pipe and were awakened by the floodwaters. Up to 1.5 inches (3.81 centimeters) of rain fell in Tulsa in about one hour, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Darby said.
“It wasn’t a whole lot. But when it came down, it was pretty rapid,” Darby said.
In Ohio, firefighters rescued two people who were trapped under a bridge Tuesday when a river began rising. The two people were sleeping around 8:45 a.m. when the Scioto River started to rise, preventing them from returning to shore, the Columbus Fire Department reported. A fire department boat was sent to rescue them. No injuries were reported.
Weather forecast: Rain across Bangladesh with thunderstorms in some areas, BMD says
In southern Ohio, Mindy Broughton rushed into her mobile home Tuesday morning as hail began and winds picked up at the RV Park where she lives near Hanging Rock.
Broughton and her fiance hunkered down as the mobile home quickly began rocking. Broughton said her fiance used his body to shield her as the winds raged outside.
“I said I think we may die today,” she said.
In a matter of seconds, the winds died down. When Broughton opened her mobile home door, she saw the RV Park littered with debris and overturned RVs. Luckily, Broughton said there was no one inside the overturned mobile homes.
Residents in Wisconsin were experiencing a spring snowstorm Tuesday afternoon that forecasters warned could dump more than a foot (30 cenitmeters) of snow in eastern parts of the state, including the Green Bay area. The state’s top election official, Meagan Wolfe, urged residents planning to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primaries to consider voting earlier in the day to avoid travel woes.
The National Weather Service said snowfall totals could range from 4 to 8 inches over central Wisconsin and 8 to 14 inches (20 to 35 centimeters) over eastern Wisconsin, while wind gusts of 30 mph to 50 mph (48 kph to 80 kph) will create very limited visibility and make travel difficult.
The storm will bring “a very heavy, wet snow,” meteorologist Scott Cultice with the weather service’s Green Bay office said.
“Just three weeks ago, we were in the 70s. So that kind of got people thinking spring is right around the corner — and here we’re in April and we’re getting a major snowstorm," Cultice said. “As people say, ‘That’s springtime in Wisconsin.’"
More than 67,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin had lost power as of Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us.
Severe storms also swept through far southwestern Indiana on Tuesday morning, toppling trees and causing power outages, leading several local school districts to cancel the day’s classes. More than 18,000 homes and businesses were without power shortly before noon Tuesday, including in Vanderburgh County, home to Evansville, Indiana’s third-largest city.
In West Virginia, a storm blew off part of a vacant building’s roof in Charleston, littering the street with bricks and closing the roadway to traffic Tuesday afternoon. Trees were dislodged from the earth by the roots and lay in roads, lawns and in some cases, on top of cars.
Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for several counties because of the storms, which he said had also caused flooding and power outages. Justice urged people to “exercise extreme caution.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency after severe storms swept through the state Tuesday morning.
“We have reports of substantial damage to a number of structures – and thankfully, as of right now we are not aware of any fatalities,” Beshear said in a statement. “We need all Kentuckians to stay weather aware."
Another round of storms Tuesday afternoon led to multiple tornado warnings in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.
In Louisville on Tuesday night, Mayor Craig Greenberg reported “serious” storm damage in the nearby city of Prospect and throughout the county, but said no injuries or deaths had been reported. He said fire crews were checking on people street by street in the most impacted areas and that he had declared a county-wide state of emergency.
Beshear said Tuesday night on Facebook that he was headed back to Kentucky from an out of state trip and that he'd provide an update on storm response efforts on Wednesday.
All Kentucky executive branch state office buildings had closed Tuesday afternoon and some universities canceled in-person classes because of the storms.
Northeast of Cincinnati, part of Interstate 75 northeast of Cincinnati was blocked Tuesday afternoon when about a half-dozen power poles toppled in high winds near Wetherington, WLWT-TV reported.
Areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia were under tornado watches into Tuesday night. Flash flood warnings were issued in Pittsburgh and southern Ohio.
The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in northeast Tennessee on Tuesday. A funeral home and a house were damaged in the town of Sunbright, a town of about 500 people, Matthew Brown, Morgan County’s 911 director, told The Associated Press. Power lines and trees were down, and some roads were closed, he said.
The utility company in Memphis, Tennessee, reported that about 40,000 homes and businesses lost power temporarily Tuesday morning after an electric substation was struck by lightning, which then affected two other substations.
The storm was expected to move into New England on Wednesday night into Thursday, with forecasts of 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 centimeters) of snow in parts of New Hampshire and Maine and lesser amounts in other areas, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph (80 kph) in some places, bringing the possibility of power outag
Debt, trade barriers and uncertainty will drag on Asian economies in 2024, World Bank report says
Asian economies are not doing as well as they could and growth in the region is forecast to slow to 4.5% this year from 5.1% in 2023, the World Bank said in a report released Monday.
Debt, trade barriers and policy uncertainties are dulling the region's economic dynamism and governments need to do more to address long-term problems such as weak social safety nets and underinvestment in education, the report says.
Asia's economies are growing more slowly than before the pandemic, but faster than other parts of the world. And a rebound in global trade — trade in goods and services grew by only 0.2% in 2023 but is projected to grow by 2.3% this year — and easing financial conditions as central banks cut interest rates will help offset weaker growth in China.
External debt servicing crosses $2 billion in 8 months of current fiscal, up 43% year on year
"This report demonstrates the region is outperforming much of the rest of the world, but it's underachieving its own potential," Aaditya Mattoo, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific, said in an online briefing.
"The leading firms in the region are not playing the … role that they should," he added.
A key risk is that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks might keep interest rates higher than before the pandemic. Another comes from the nearly 3,000 trade-distorting measures, such as higher tariffs or subsidies, that were imposed in 2023, the report said.
Most of those policies were set by major industrial economies such as the U.S., China and India.
China's ruling Communist Party has set an official target for about 5% growth this year, just below the 5.2% annual pace of last year.
The World Bank is forecasting that growth will slow to 4.5%.
"China is aiming to transition to a more balanced growth path but the quest to ignite alternative demand drivers is proving difficult," the report says.
Economy under pressure for debt interest payment, but it’s not severe: Finance Minister
Mattoo said Beijing still has a way to go in shifting its economy away from reliance on real estate construction to drive business activity, and just spending more money won't fix the problem.
"The challenge for China is to choose efficient policies," he said. "Fiscal stimulus will not fix structural imbalances," he said. What is needed are stronger social welfare and other programs that will enable households to spend more, boosting demand that will then encourage businesses to invest.
The region could be doing much better with improved productivity and greater efficiency, Mattoo said.
Vietnam, for example, is drawing huge amounts of foreign investment as a favored destination for foreign manufacturers, but its growth rate of about 5% is below its potential.
"To be happy that Vietnam is growing at 5% reflects the kind of underachievement we should not be happy about," Mattoo said in an online briefing.
One key problem highlighted in the report is lagging improvements in productivity, the report said. Leading companies in Asia are far behind the leaders in wealthier nations, especially in technology-related areas.
Per capita debt is around $365, Finance Minister tells JS
The report faults governments for imposing restrictions on investment that prevent foreign companies from entering key parts of regional economies, a need to build skills and weak management. Opening to more competition and investing more in education would help, it said.
Girl, 8, only survivor of bus crash that kills 45 Easter pilgrims on South Africa's deadly roads
An 8-year-old girl was the lone survivor after a bus full of pilgrims making their way to a popular Easter festival in rural South Africa slammed into a bridge on a mountain pass and plunged into a ravine before bursting into flames, killing all 45 others onboard.
It was a tragic reminder of how deadly South Africa's roads become during the Easter period, when millions crisscross the country during the long holiday weekend. Authorities repeatedly warn motorists of the danger and had issued multiple messages urging caution just a day before Thursday's horrific crash.
The girl somehow survived after the bus carrying worshippers from neighboring Botswana careened off the bridge, fell more than 150 feet (50 meters) and caught fire as it hit the rocks below, according to authorities.
Bus plunges off bridge in South Africa killing 45 people
The girl was in a stable condition in the hospital after being admitted with serious injuries and was "in safe hands,” an official with the local health department said Friday. Details of her injuries were not released.
Forensic investigators retrieved what they believed were 34 of the 45 bodies but couldn't be certain of the exact number, reflecting the gruesome nature of the crash. Many of the victims trapped inside the bus were burned beyond recognition, authorities said.
Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, an official with the Limpopo provincial health department, said only nine of the bodies recovered were likely to be identifiable.
South African businessmen keen to invest in Bangladesh’s jewellery industry
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the victims, who appeared to all be from Botswana, were on their way to the rustic town of Moria in Limpopo province for the Easter weekend pilgrimage that attracts hundreds of thousands of followers of the Zion Christian Church.
The church has its headquarters in Moria and it was the first time the full pilgrimage was being held since the COVID-19 pandemic. Worshippers flocked to the small town which features a giant star — the church’s emblem — and the words “Zion City Moria” painted in white on a hillside.
The church was formed in South Africa in the early 1900s as a Christian denomination that also retains some African traditions. It has an estimated 7 million followers across the southern African region.
Ramathuba said South African authorities had asked church leaders from Botswana to come and help identify the victims.
Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays in South Africa and many of its neighbors, when millions travel into, out of and across the nation. For some South Africans, it’s a chance to return to their home towns and villages from jobs in the cities. Migrants also travel back to their home countries to see family. Some, like the pilgrims that died on Thursday, make religious trips.
Road travel can be treacherous; South Africa's Road Traffic Management Corporation reported that 252 people died in road crashes between Holy Thursday and Easter Monday last year.
Authorities said it appeared the bus driver lost control and the vehicle slammed into the barriers along the side of the bridge and then went over the edge. The driver was among the dead.
South African Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga was in Limpopo province attending a road safety campaign when she was informed of the “devastating news” of the crash, according to the national Department of Traffic.
Ramathuba said she had been at an Easter prayer meeting when she was called to the crash scene on the Mmamatlakala bridge near the town of Mokopane, which is about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the South African capital, Pretoria.
“I attended the scene of the accident, but now our focus as the health department is on the brave little survivor. She is in safe hands in a hospital with experts looking after her,” Ramathuba told reporters. She declined to give details of the child's injuries, but authorities released a photograph of the child lying in a hospital bed and being examined by a doctor.
Ramathuba also declined to say if the child's parents or other family members were on the bus, saying authorities needed time to trace and inform families of the dead, who were mostly in Botswana.
Meanwhile, forensic investigators worked through the wreckage amid the rocks and steep cliffs. At least 11 bodies were believed still inside what was left of the charred bus, which was almost crushed flat.
“We were at the scene,” said local resident Simone Mayema, who said he was one of the first to arrive after the crash. “We tried to help (but) there was nothing we could do because there was flames.”
UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings for aid into Gaza
The top United Nations court on Thursday ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-ravaged enclave.
The International Court of Justice issued two new so-called provisional measures in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel denies it is committing genocide. It says its military campaign is self defense and aimed at Hamas, not the Palestinian people.
Thursday’s order came after South Africa sought more provisional measures, including a cease-fire, citing starvation in Gaza. Israel urged the court not to issue new orders.
In its legally binding order, the court told Israel to take measures “without delay” to ensure “the unhindered provision” of basic services and humanitarian assistance, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies.
Israeli bombardment hits 212 schools in Gaza: UN
It also ordered Israel to immediately ensure that its military does not take action that could that could harm Palestinians' rights under the Genocide Convention, including by preventing the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The court told Israel to report back in a month on its implementation of the orders.
Israel declared war in response to a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage. Israel responded with a campaign of airstrikes and a ground offensive that have left over 32,000 Palestinians dead, according to local health authorities. The fighting also displaced over 80% of Gaza's population and caused widespread damage.
The U.N. and international aid agencies say virtually the entire Gaza population is struggling to get enough food, with hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, especially in hard-hit northern Gaza.
South Africa welcomed Thursday's decision, calling it “significant.”
“The fact that Palestinian deaths are not solely caused by bombardment and ground attacks, but also by disease and starvation, indicates a need to protect the group’s right to exist,” the South African president said in a statement.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the order.
Victory' in Gaza only 'a few weeks away', Netanyahu tells US Congress members
In a written response earlier this month to South Africa's request for more measures, Israel said the claims by South Africa were “wholly unfounded," “morally repugnant" and "an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court itself.”
After initially sealing Gaza’s borders in the early days of the war, Israel began to permit entry of humanitarian supplies. It says it places no restrictions on the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to properly organize the deliveries.
The U.N. and international aid groups say deliveries have been impeded by Israeli military restrictions, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order.
Israel has been working with international partners on a plan to soon begin deliveries of aid by sea.
Israel has repeatedly feuded with the United Nations, particularly UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and main provider of aid in Gaza. Israel accuses the agency of tolerating and even cooperating with Hamas — a charge UNRWA denies.
The court said in its order that “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine ... but that famine is setting in." It cited a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that said at least 31 people, including 27 children, have already died of malnutrition and dehydration.
783 million people face chronic hunger. Yet the world wastes 19% of its food, UN says
The world court said earlier orders imposed on Israel after landmark hearings in South Africa’s case “do not fully address the consequences arising from the changes in the situation” in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the army said it inspected 258 aid trucks, but only 116 were distributed within Gaza by the U.N.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, has also run pilot programs to inspect the humanitarian aid at Israel’s main checkpoints in the south and then use land crossings in central Gaza to try to bring aid to the devastated northern part of the Strip. The agency had no immediate comment on the ICJ ruling.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before it collided with Baltimore bridge, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent “routine engine maintenance” in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday, as divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water when it collapsed. The others were presumed dead, and officials said search efforts had been exhausted.
Investigators on Wednesday began collecting evidence from the vessel that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge the previous day. The bodies of the two men were located in the morning inside a red pickup submerged in about 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water near the bridge’s middle span, Col. Roland L. Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, announced at an evening news conference.
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He identified the men as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, who was from Mexico and living in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, who was from Guatemala and living in Dundalk, Maryland.
The victims, who were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Butler said.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore addressed their families in Spanish during the news conference, saying, “Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre,” which means, “we are with you, now and always.”
All search efforts have been exhausted, and based on sonar scans, authorities “firmly” believe the other vehicles with victims inside are encased in superstructures and concrete from the collapsed bridge, Butler said. Divers are to return to search for remains once the waters are clear of debris.
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo the maintenance.
“As far as the engine goes, we were not informed of any problems with the vessel," he said. “We were informed that they were going to conduct routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port. And that’s the only thing we were informed about the vessel in that regard.”
Baltimore bridge collapses after powerless cargo ship rams into support column; 6 presumed dead
The investigation ramped up as the Baltimore region reeled from the sudden loss of a major transportation link that's part of the highway loop around the city. The disaster also closed the port, which is vital to the city's shipping industry.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board boarded the ship to recover information from its electronics and paperwork and to do interviews with the captain and other crew members, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a separate news conference. Twenty-three people, including two pilots, were on the ship when it crashed, she said.
The vessel was also carrying 56 containers of hazardous materials including corrosives, flammables and lithium ion batteries, Homendy said. She added that some containers were breached, and that a sheen on the water from those materials would be handled by authorities.
The agency also is reviewing the voyage data recorder recovered by the Coast Guard and building a timeline of what led to the crash, which federal and state officials have said appeared to be an accident.
The ship’s crew issued a mayday call early Tuesday, saying they had lost power and steering just minutes before striking one of the bridge’s columns.
At least eight people initially went into the water, and two of them were rescued Tuesday, officials said.
The debris complicated the search, according to a Homeland Security memo described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the document or the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gov. Moore said the divers faced dangerous conditions.
“They are down there in darkness where they can literally see about a foot in front of them,” Moore said, adding that they were also trying to navigate mangled metal.
One missing worker, a 38-year-old man from Honduras who came to the U.S. nearly two decades ago, was described by his brother as entrepreneurial and hard-working. He started last year with the company that was doing the bridge maintenance.
Video showed the ship moving at what Maryland’s governor said was about 9 mph (15 kph) toward the 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) bridge. Traffic was still crossing the span, and some vehicles appeared to escape with only seconds to spare. The crash caused the bridge to break and fall into the water within seconds.
A last-minute warning from the ship allowed police just enough time to stop traffic on the highway. One officer parked sideways across the lanes and planned to drive onto the bridge to alert a construction crew once another officer arrived. But he did not get the chance as the powerless vessel barreled into the bridge.
Attention has also turned to the container ship Dali and its past.
Synergy Marine Group, which manages the ship, said the impact happened while it was under the control of one or more pilots, who are local specialists who help guide vessels safely in and out of ports.
The ship, which was headed from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Danish shipping giant Maersk said it had chartered the vessel.
The vessel passed foreign port state inspections in June and September 2023. In the June 2023 inspection, a faulty monitor gauge for fuel pressure was rectified before the vessel departed, Singapore’s port authority said in a statement Wednesday.
The ship was traveling under a Singapore flag, and officials there said they will conduct their own investigation in addition to supporting U.S. authorities.
The sudden loss of a highway that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and the disruption of the vital port will affect not only thousands of dockworkers and commuters but also U.S. consumers who are likely to feel the impact of shipping delays.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important the port is just to everything,” said Cat Watson, who used the bridge to get to work every day and lives close enough that she was awakened by the collision. “We’re going to be feeling it for a very long time.”
The Port of Baltimore is a busy entry point for new vehicles made in Germany, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom, along with coal and farm equipment.
Ship traffic has been suspended indefinitely. Windward Maritime, a maritime risk-management company, said its data shows a large increase in ships that are waiting for a port to go to, with some anchored outside Baltimore or nearby Annapolis.
At the White House, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Biden administration was focused on reopening the port and rebuilding the bridge, which was completed in 1977. But he avoided putting a timeline on those efforts. He noted that the original bridge took five years to construct.
Buttigieg also planned to meet Thursday with supply chain officials.
Barges, including some with cranes, were on their way to Baltimore to help remove the wreckage, Gilreath said.
Homendy said the NTSB investigation could take 12 to 24 months but the agency may issue urgent safety recommendations sooner. A preliminary report should come in two to four weeks.
“It’s a massive undertaking for an investigation,” Homendy said. “It’s a very tragic event.”
From 1960 to 2015, there were 35 major bridge collapses worldwide due to ship or barge collisions, according to the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
783 million people face chronic hunger. Yet the world wastes 19% of its food, UN says
The world wasted an estimated 19% of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to a new United Nations report.
The U.N. Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report, published Wednesday, tracks the progress of countries to halve food waste by 2030.
The U.N. said the number of countries reporting for the index nearly doubled from the first report in 2021. The 2021 report estimated that 17% of the food produced globally in 2019, or 931 million metric tons (1.03 billion tons), was wasted, but authors warned against direct comparisons because of the lack of sufficient data from many countries.
The report is co-authored by UNEP and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), an international charity.
Researchers analyzed country data on households, food service and retailers. They found that each person wastes about 79 kilograms (about 174 pounds) of food annually, equal to at least 1 billion meals wasted worldwide daily.
Most of the waste — 60% — came in households. About 28% came from food service, or restaurants, with about 12% from retailers.
“It is a travesty,” said co-author Clementine O’Connor, the focal point for food waste at UNEP. “It doesn’t make any sense, and it is a complicated problem, but through collaboration and systemic action, it is one that can be tackled.”
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The report comes at a time when 783 million people around the world face chronic hunger and many places facing deepening food crises.
Food waste is also a global concern because of the environmental toll of production, including the land and water required to raise crops and animals and the greenhouse gas emissions it produces, including methane, a powerful gas that has accounted for about 30 percent of global warming since pre-industrial times.
Food loss and waste generates 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a country, it would rank third after China and the U.S.
Fadila Jumare, a Nigeria-based project associate at Busara Center for Behavioral Economics who has studied prevention of food waste in Kenya and Nigeria, said the problem further disadvantages many people who are already food insecure and cannot afford healthy diets.
“For humanity, food waste means that less food is available to the poorest population,” said Jumare, who wasn't involved in the report.
Brian Roe, a food waste researcher at Ohio State University who wasn't involved with the report, said the index is important to tackling food waste.
“The key takeaway is that reducing the amount of food that is wasted is an avenue that can lead to many desirable outcomes — resource conservation, fewer environmental damages, greater food security, and more land for uses other than as landfills and food production,” said Roe, who wasn’t involved in the report.
The report showed notable growth in coverage of food waste in low- and middle-income countries, the authors said. But it may fall to wealthier nations to lead in international cooperation and policy development to reduce food waste, they said.
The report said many governments, regional and industry groups are using public-private partnerships to reduce food waste and its contributions to climate and water stress. Governments and municipalities collaborate with businesses in the food supply chain, whereby businesses commit to measure food waste.
The report said food redistribution — including donating surplus food to food banks and charities — is significant in tackling food waste among retailers.
One group doing that is Food Banking Kenya, a nonprofit that gets surplus food from farms, markets, supermarkets and packing houses and redistributes it to schoolchildren and vulnerable populations. Food waste is an increasing concern in Kenya, where an estimated 4.45 million tons of food is wasted every year.
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“We positively impact the society by providing nutritious food and also positively impact the environment by reducing the emission of harmful gases,” said John Mukuhi, the group's co-founder and executive director.
The report’s authors said they found that the differences in per capita household food waste between high-income and lower-income countries were surprisingly small.
Richard Swannel, a co-author and director of Impact Growth at WRAP, said that shows food waste “is not a rich world problem. It's a global problem.”
“The data is really clear on this point: that here is a problem right around the world and one that we could all tackle tomorrow to save ourselves money and reduce environmental impact," he said.