As she boarded a vessel to attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, activist Greta Thunberg claims that being silent is riskier than sailing to Gaza. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla had to abandon its final attempt on May 2 due to bombing.
The US’s democracy is slipping, according to former Human Rights Watch director Ken Roth in an interview with Harvard professor Stephen Walt.
Stephen Walt, a long-time foreign policy columnist and professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, fiercely criticizes how liberal democracy has been practiced around the world, describing liberal hegemony as liberal hegemony. His books include The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, as well as The Hell of Good Intentions, which were recently published in the New York Times.
As his government unveils a 1.5 billion pound (approximately $2 billion) plan to build at least six new weapons and explosives factories, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned the UK must be prepared to confront and defeat hostile states with modern military capabilities.
We must be prepared to fight and win, Starmer wrote in Sunday’s The Sun newspaper. “We are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces. Our armed forces’ “we will restore Britain’s commitment to war-fighting readiness as its main goal.”
A Strategic Defense Review (SDR), which Starmer is scheduled to release on Monday, was the subject of the announcement. The review will examine the risks that the UK faces as a result of Donald Trump’s call for NATO allies to strengthen their defenses in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Following Trump’s assertion that Europe should bear more responsibility for its security, European countries have recently stepped up their armed forces.
The planned investment, according to Defence Secretary John Healey, serves as a clear warning to Moscow and will help revive the UK’s sluggish economy.
Healey told the BBC on Sunday that “we are in a world that is changing right now” and that there are growing threats. Russian aggression is growing, it says. It’s those every day cyberattacks, new nuclear threats, and rising global tensions.
Up to 7, 000 long-range missiles would be produced domestically, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. In the current legislative term, the government will spend approximately 6 billion pounds (approximately $8 billion) on munitions.
The UK’s Defence Ministry has not responded to reports from The Sunday Times that the government is considering purchasing US-built jets that can launch tactical nuclear weapons.
Following the Labour Party’s victory in the July 2024 election, the upcoming SDR will outline the emerging threats and the military might needed to combat them. By 2027, Starmer has pledged to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with a goal to eventually reach 3 percent.
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for aid near a distribution center in Rafah, home to the contentious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, killing at least 30 of its members. The US-backed ceasefire proposal’s text is the subject of controversy.
More than a decade after being banned by the country’s largest Muslim party by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, Bangladesh has now reinstated its registration.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party can now be officially listed with the Election Commission thanks to Sunday’s Supreme Court ruling, which will allow the interim government to hold its election by June 2020.
The ruling, according to Jamaat-e-Islami lawyer Shishir Monir, would “give the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people” a “democratic, inclusive, and multiparty system.”
Regardless of their ethnicity or religious identity, we hoped that Bangladeshis would support Jamaat and that the parliament would be spirited with constructive debates, Monir told journalists.
Following the ouster of Hasina’s government in August 2013 by a student-led nationwide uprising, the party had filed an appeal for a review of a 2013 high court order revoked its registration.
Hasina, 77, fled to India and is currently facing an absentee trial for her crackdown on protesters last year, which the United Nations described as a “systematic attack” that resulted in the death of up to 1,400 people.
Following Tuesday’s overturning of a conviction against ATM Azharul Islam, one of the party’s top leaders, the Supreme Court issued a decision regarding Jamaat-e-Islami.
During Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, Islam was sentenced to death in 2014 for rape, murder, and genocide. Pakistan was backed by Jamaat-e-Islami during the war, a position that still elicits resentment from many Bangladeshis today.
After Islam’s conviction was overturned, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman said, “We are not beyond making mistakes,” without stating what he was referring to.
If we commit any wrongdoing, he said, “We seek your pardon.”
The party’s members were Awami League’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who would become Bangladesh’s founding president, in opposition to Hasina’s father.
During her time in power, Hasina outlawed Jamaat-e-Islami and retaliated against its leaders.
At least 150 people have been killed and thousands have been relocated since Thursday due to flash floods caused by heavy rains in central Nigeria, according to rescue workers, and the death toll is expected to rise.
As roads are reportedly flooded down the Niger River and homes destroyed, search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
What is known about the floods and how susceptible is Nigeria to them.
Mokwa, a market town in the north-central of Nigeria, was a victim of flash floods. The Nigerian Red Cross Society reports that it came after a heavy downpour started at 3 a.m. (02:00 GMT) on Thursday.
The trade center in the south and the north’s food growers meet at Mokwa, which is a crucial meeting and transit point. East of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, is about 350 kilometers (217 miles) by road. Niger, the fourth-largest state by area, has a population of 400, 000 people, compared to 400, 000 for Mowa, which has a larger area than Belgium or Switzerland.
While search teams continue to find and find missing people and recover bodies, more than 150 people have been confirmed dead.
According to Ahmed Idris, a journalist from Mokwa, the death toll is likely higher because many victims are thought to have been swept down the Niger River.
When an official says 151 people are dead or missing, “you are likely to multiply that by two, three, or four,” he said.
According to Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, at least 3, 018 people have been displaced, 265 homes have been destroyed, and two bridges have been washed away during the floods.
More than 100 people are missing, according to Gideon Adamu, the head of the Red Cross in Niger State, who was speaking to the AFP news agency on Saturday. 121 of those injured are currently in hospitals.
As long as there are families crying out, Adamu said, “We can’t give up the search.”
In the deluge, Farida Auwalu, the only child from a 16-person family, lost seven children. Four of Farida’s children’s bodies have been discovered and interred.
She told Al Jazeera, “My hope is to see the remaining bodies, give them a decent burial, and have closure.”
According to experts, climate change, unregulated construction, and poor drainage infrastructure have increased Nigeria’s frequency and severity.
Residents of Mokwa also believe a dam burst, which is a bigger issue, according to Idris, who is not yet verifying that. A fourth dam, Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro, is being constructed in the state of Nigeria.
According to Ugonna Nkwunonwo, a flood risk analyst at the University of Nigeria, there has been a lack of political will to implement the solutions for them despite the identification of flood risks. People aren’t prepared for that kind of rainfall, he told Al Jazeera, and the amount of rain you can expect could probably arrive in one or two months.
In many places, there are inadequate drainage systems, and even the most effective ones frequently have clogged waste, accumulating water on the streets after heavy rains. Additionally, building construction in flood-prone areas has been hindered by rapid urban development and poor planning, which has reduced the land’s ability to absorb water. The land’s capacity to absorb rainfall is further diminished by deforestation for agriculture and development, which causes the land to flow more water.
Local leaders and residents want state and federal authorities to step in and offer long-term assistance and infrastructure to help them rebuild their neighborhoods and protect them from flooding.
Authorities have issued warnings to those living along river banks or those who live nearby, especially at the height of the rains, but every year, we continue to see more lives and property ruined as a result, Idris said.
Search and rescue operations are conducted by local volunteers, the Nigerian Red Cross, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Additionally, President Bola Tinubu has mandated that emergency measures include temporary shelter and aid.
In a social media post on Saturday, Tinubu stated that “search-and-rescue operations are ongoing, and all relevant federal agencies have mobilized to support the state government’s efforts.”
Rescue and recovery efforts are hampered by the damage to roads and bridges, though.
Some flood survivors are battling to get basic medical care. No one helped the victims by bringing any money or food. Many people don’t have a place to sleep, Hassan Umar told Al Jazeera in Mokwa.
A major bridge that runs through the region’s northern and southern regions collapsed, causing stranded drivers and preventing vehicles from moving across the area.
At least 30 people were killed and nearly half a million people were displaced by severe flooding in the northwestern city of Maiduguri in Borno State in September, causing the city’s two-thirds to submerged.
A prison that had been damaged by floods also had more than 200 prisoners escaping. The Alau dam collapse and weeks of heavy rain in northeastern Nigeria caused the disaster.
More than 1,200 people died and 1.2 million were displaced by flooding in at least 31 of the 36 states in 2024, according to NEMA.
From Wednesday through Friday, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency issued a warning about flash floods in 15 of the country’s 36 states, including Niger.
Low-lying states like Bayelsa, Rivers, and Delta in the Niger Delta region frequently experience flooding because of their coastal locations. Because they are located near major rivers, the northern states of Kogi, Benue, and Borno are also susceptible to floods.
The rainy season in the nation typically begins in April and lasts until October, when it is the wettest month. Because of inadequate drainage and the destruction of infrastructure during this time of year, problems arise every year.