Category World News

In northern Pakistan, dozens of people have been killed by flash floods after pre-monsoon rains have swept them away.

One extended family of 16 who were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were among the nine people who were killed, according to district administrator Shehzad Mahboob, who confirmed on Friday that they were from the area and were having a picnic breakfast by the Swat River.

When the flood struck, Mahboob explained that the family’s children were in the water taking pictures, and their families rushed in to save them but were trapped in the deluge, which the monsoon rains had made worse.

Four family members are still missing, according to Mahboob, and another four have been found. Four of the family’s bodies have been recovered.

Nearly 100 rescuers from various groups were looking for the tourists who had been swept away, according to Shah Fahad, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency service, earlier on Friday.

Fahad urged the public to heed previous government warnings regarding a potential flash flood in the Swat River, a popular tourist destination in the summer and winter.

In a statement from his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he “expressed his grief over the tourists’ deaths.”

Sharif further stated that he had demanded more stringent safety measures close to rivers and streams.

At least 10 people have died in recent incidents involving rain in eastern Punjab and southern Sindh provinces, according to rescue officials.

Heavy rains have slammed parts of Pakistan since the start of the week, causing damage to homes and blocking roads.

Weather forecasters predict that as the country’s annual monsoon season, which starts in July and runs through September, will continue to rain this week.

Sanctions against Israel were not demanded at a Brussels summit of the European Union (EU).

Throughout the entire war, member states have criticized Germany for blocking actions while others are angry.

What’s the rationale behind the EU’s position regarding Gaza and Israel?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan, &nbsp.

Guests: 

Claudio Francavilla, associate director of human rights watch in Brussels,

Sinn Fein chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with Palestine is Lynn Boylan.

President Donald Trump has criticised Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s claim that Iran won the recent 12-day conflict with Israel, and he also claimed that the US will “absolutely” bomb the nation again if it launches nuclear weapons.

On Friday, the US president allegedly abused Iran’s Supreme Leader, claiming that he had saved Khamenei from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH” and accusing him of “blatantly and foolishly” lying when he claimed victory in the previous day on his Truth Social platform.

In his first appearance since the Israeli-Iran war ended earlier this week, Khamenei had also claimed that in response to US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, Iran “slapped America in the face” by firing missiles at a significant US base in Qatar.

Trump claimed in a Friday post that he had demanded that Israel “pull back” from “the final knockout.”

He declared, “His country was destroyed, his three evil nuclear sites were established, and I knew where he was sheltered, and I would not allow Israel, or the United States Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, to end his life.”

Iran’s nuclear capabilities were questioned by a leaked intelligence report that disproved Trump’s account of events, suggesting that the military’s strikes had rendered the nation’s situation ineffective by just a few months.

The US president claimed Khamenei’s comments, which he called “a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust,” had caused him to refocus on “the possible removal of sanctions, and other things that would have given Iran a much better chance of a full, quick, and complete recovery.”

Nuclear program’s future

At a White House press conference earlier that day, Trump’s rant against Khamenei was prompted by bellicose remarks. When Trump questioned whether he would consider launching additional airstrikes if the recent attacks failed to put an end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, he responded, “Yes, without a doubt, absolutely.”

He stated that Iran’s nuclear sites inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or another reputable organization could inspect them.

However, Iran has approved a law that would end international cooperation with the IAEA, which is widely accepted as a response to the strikes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the statement on Friday that Tehran may decline to invite the agency to visit Iranian nuclear sites.

According to Araghchi, “[IAEA Director General] Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent.” Iran “reserves the right to pursue any defenses of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty.”

Since none have occurred since Israel’s June 13 bombing, Grossi stated on Wednesday that his top priority was to ensure the resumption of IAEA inspections.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to create an enforcement plan against Iran and that his nation might still be at war with Iran.

According to Katz, the plan “includes preserving Israel’s air superiority, preventing nuclear development and missile production, and responding to Iran for supporting terrorist activities against Israel.”

After an expert group investigating the virus’ origins reached an unsatisfying conclusion in its final report released on Friday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “all hypotheses must remain on the table” to determine the origin of the virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2.

In order to prevent future pandemics, Tedros urged China and any other nation that has information about COVID-19 to openly disclose it in order to protect the world from future pandemics.

Millions of people died worldwide as a result of the global pandemic, which started in 2020. Countries have implemented lockdowns to combat the spread of the virus. Information from Wuhan, China, as the first cases were discovered in late 2019, is thought to be essential for preventing future pandemies.

A panel of 27 independent international experts called SAGO (World Health Organization Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens) was founded in 2021 by Tedros.

The group’s chair, Marietjie Venter, stated on Friday that the majority of scientific evidence supports the theory that humans and animals ate the new coronavirus.

Despite numerous requests for more in-depth information from the Chinese government, SAGO was unable to obtain the necessary data after more than three years of work.

Therefore, she stated that this hypothesis could not be investigated or excluded, but that it was deemed to be incredibly speculative, based on political beliefs, and not supported by any scientific evidence.

Venter added that there was no proof COVID had been manipulated in a lab and that there had never been any signs of it spreading before December 2019 anywhere outside of China.

“Remains unconclusive.”

A group of WHO experts traveled to Wuhan in 2021 to examine the virus’ origins alongside Chinese counterparts.

Their joint report by the end of March that year determined that the most likely explanation was an intermediate animal that transported bats to humans.

A lab leak was “extremely unlikely,” they claimed at the time.

However, that investigation was criticized for being lenient with the lab-leak theory and for lacking transparency and access.

SAGO was then launched.

According to the SAGO report, “the weight of the available evidence suggests zoonotic [a disease that spreads between animals and humans] spillover… either directly from bats or through an intermediate host.”

The origins of SARS-CoV-2 entering human populations will remain elusive until more scientific evidence is made, Venter said.

Understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and how it sparked a pandemic is necessary to save lives and livelihoods, she added.

Haitian immigrants will no longer be protected under special laws under the US government.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in a statement on Friday that Haitians would no longer be able to remain in the nation as a result of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation.

TPS allows citizens of nations that are in conflict, a natural disaster, or other extraordinary circumstances to temporarily reside in the US. They are also permitted to travel and work.

The DHS secretary can extend the designation to a period of six, twelve, or 18 months, though it is typically done for a longer period.

Temporary protections like TPS have been withdrawn as part of a larger effort to restrict immigration to the US, however, under President Donald Trump’s administration.

A DHS spokesman said in a statement on Friday that “this decision restores integrity to our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary.

More than a 10th of the population was killed and 1.5 million people were left homeless in Haiti as a result of a devastating earthquake in 2010, which was the first to grant the TPS designation. Particularly in the wake of recent years of worsening gang violence and political instability, the designation has been regularly extended and expanded.

President Trump has attempted to end TPS for Haitians even as the island nation’s situation has deteriorated since taking office from 2017 to 2021.

More than 5, 600 gang-related fatalities occurred in Haiti last year, and 1.3 million people were internally. This has caused a protracted humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Food, water, and medical supplies are extremely difficult to obtain in the capital, where armed groups currently control 90% of the city.

Haiti is listed as a Level 4 nation, the highest warning level, according to the US Department of State’s travel advisory.

Because the designated area has life-threatening conditions, Level 4 means “do not travel.” Due to “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care,” the State Department advises Americans to avoid Haiti.

However, according to the DHS statement, Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, “decided that overall, country conditions have improved to the point where Haitians can return home safely.”

Further, the statement further explains that she concluded that allowing Haitian nationals to temporarily reside in the United States was against the country’s national interest.

TPS is estimated to affect 260 000 Haitians. The statement advises those impacted to either seek refuge in their home country or return.

However, Haitians are not the only population affected by the temporary immigration ban.

The Supreme Court made it possible for the Trump administration to revoke TPS for 350, 000 Venezuelan residents living in the US in early May.

The high court also upheld Trump’s right to revoke the two-year “humanitarian parole” that made it possible for 530, 000 people to remain and work in the US after the high court’s ruling later in the month. Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans, all of whom are facing political repression in their home countries, were among the affected humanitarian parole recipients.