Category World News

At least 56 people have died as a result of a deadly tropical storm, Cyclone Ditwah, which swept across Sri Lanka on Friday as a result of floods and landslides.

What we know is as follows.

What has occurred?

Wind speeds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) were recorded early on Friday morning in the island nation, which primarily affected the eastern and central regions of the island nation.

Heavy rain is produced before and after a tropical cyclone or storm makes landfall. Between Thursday and Friday, there was a heavy torrential downpour of over 300mm (11.8in) in Sri Lanka.

Numerous fatalities have been caused by flooding and landslides as a result of the rain.

What are the casualties’ status known to us?

On Friday, there were 56 deaths in Sri Lanka.

More than 25 people were reported killed in landslides in Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, which are both tea-growing regions in the central mountainous region, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Colombo, the capital. In other parts of Sri Lanka, others perished in landslides.

According to the government’s disaster management center, 14 people have been injured and 21 are still missing in the Badulla and Nuwara Eliya areas. 23 people are currently missing across the nation.

What harm and disruption occurred?

Four houses have been destroyed by the heavy downpour, and more than 600 have been damaged.

Additionally, it has obstructed numerous roads and railroad lines and caused trees and mud to fall.

Flight disruptions have been caused by the bad weather.

Local media reported that on Thursday and through Friday afternoon, 15 flights, including those from Muscat, Dubai, New Delhi, New Delhi, and Bangkok, were diverted from Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in southern Sri Lanka, as well as to Trivandrum and Kochi in India.

What has the government done?

Local media reported on Friday morning that the country’s Disaster Management Center (DMC) had evacuated 43, 991 people from 12 313 families to shelters in schools and other public places.

On Thursday in Hanwella, a town in Sri Lanka’s Colombo District, the media released footage of three military helicopters rescuing three people who were stranded on the roof of their home. Additionally, the police and the navy used boats to evacuate people.

On Friday, the government announced the government would shut down all of its offices and schools.

Additionally, the Colombo Stock Exchange announced an early trading conclusion and train services were suspended.

After landslides caused rocks, mud, and trees to fall onto roads and rail lines, some of which were also submerged by floodwaters, the authorities closed several roads across the nation.

What causes this kind of storm?

Over warm ocean waters close to the equator, tropical storms form. A zone of low pressure is created when warm air rises. This air cools down as more rising warm air from below moves in, creating a constant cycle that results in heavy rain and strong winds.

A calm, clear, and eye-catching pattern forms at the center, marked by very low air pressure as the system expands and its rotation accelerates.

The system is categorized as a cyclonic or tropical storm once wind speeds reach 63 km/h (39 mph). Cyclone Ditwah has a 65 km/h wind speed, giving it the current technical name for a storm. It turns into a tropical cyclone if the winds are 119 km/h (74 mph) or higher.

What has recently happened on the ground?

On Friday, government buildings and schools were closed. Additionally, road and train closures are in effect.

For the next 48 hours, the irrigation department has issued a red-level flood warning for low-lying areas along the Kelani River valley, indicating that Colombo, the capital, is included in the risk zone.

What is the current state of Sri Lanka’s economy?

As part of a bailout loan package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sri Lanka elected leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake as its president last year. He had pledged to end painful austerity measures imposed by his predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Although Dissanayake initially opposed the IMF deal, it still stands as he works to boost the nation’s economy.

At a landmark event, Pope Leo XIV pleaded with Christian leaders from around the Middle East to end centuries of thorny divisions during his first overseas trip as head of the Catholic Church.

In an effort to build bridges and spread peace amid raging global conflicts, the first American pope has chosen Turkiye, which has a Muslim majority, as his first overseas destination.

Leo, a leader of the ancient Turkish town of Iznik, who created the Nicene Creed that is still used by most Christians today, declared at a ceremony at a ceremony on Friday that “the entire humanity, afflicted by violence and conflict, is crying out for reconciliation.”

He reaffirmed that “we must firmly reject the use of religion to justify war, violence, or any other form of fundamentalism or fanaticism.” The paths to follow are those of fraternal interaction, discussion, and cooperation.

Leo’s four-day visit to Turkiye was primarily Muslim, and the main reason for it was Friday’s ceremony, at which the Church leaders lit candles near the underwater ruins of a fourth-century basilica and performed prayers in English, Greek, and Arabic.

The pope’s first visit to Turkiye was reported by Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, who claimed the country is “inextricably” linked to the country’s history.

He said that encounters like this are valuable in bringing the Christian divide together because the pope and the patriarch are both interested in doing so.

In light of the pope’s visit, Hull emphasized that the pope’s visit places emphasis on establishing a religion’s unity in the face of global conflict.

In a few days, he said, “He will send that message to Lebanon, urging peace there.”

The 1.4 billion Catholics who make up the world’s population gathered for a prayer service at Istanbul’s Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Friday before heading to Iznik.

Police in Istanbul blocked Leo’s entourage’s main thoroughfare so they could pass through a major thoroughfare in the nation’s largest city.

Pilgrims gathered at Holy Spirit Church, and hundreds more waited patiently outside the courtyard to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. Getting up early, you’ll be on the front line.

Catherine Bermudez, a Filipino immigrant worker in Istanbul, stated to Al Jazeera that she was “very excited” to be chosen to greet the pope inside the church.

Leo, who was clearly moved by his church reception, appeared to be smiling and looking much more at ease than he did on Thursday, urging his flock to stay positive and remembering that the church’s true strength is in its littleness.

He urged Turkiye to give “special attention” to helping the nearly three million refugees and migrants who live in Turkiye, the majority of whom are Syrians, in his address, praising the church’s “small community, yet fruitful” community.

Major papal stop in Iznik

The 70-year-old pontiff traveled to Iznik to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops who, despite the separation of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, compiled a foundational statement of faith that is still fundamental to Christianity today.

Leo traveled by helicopter to Iznik, where the Patriarch of Constantinople, the leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, invited him to a cult-fidel service near the ruins of a basilica from the fourth century.

According to reports, Turkish police had taken Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who fatally wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981 in Rome, from Iznik on Thursday.

Agca, who was released from prison in 2010, stated his desire to meet the pope, saying, “I hope we can sit down and talk for two or three minutes in Iznik, or Istanbul, or.”