Mourners pay tribute to controversial former leader of Inkatha Freedom Party who died last week aged 95
Thousands of mourners gathered in South Africa’s eastern town of Ulundi on Saturday for the state funeral of veteran politician and Zulu prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
Buthelezi, a controversial figure during the apartheid liberation struggle because of his bitter rivalry with the African National Congress (ANC), died last week aged 95.
Continue reading...Journalists who reported on last week’s catastrophic storm say the country’s bloody political tussle has contributed to the collapse of services
Early last week, Mohamed Eljabo travelled to the eastern provinces of Libya, passing through Derna, Al Bayda and Sousa, and what he saw he describes as “shock beyond comprehension”.
“I have visited these cities before and I know them well,” he says. “I expected to find these cities when I made the journey from Tripoli. I expected to see the neighbourhoods and towns. But these were gone. Erased. It was horrifying.”
Continue reading...Free speech advocate Hisham Kassem sentenced for defaming former minister Kamal Abu Eita
A court in Cairo has sentenced a former newspaper publisher, free speech advocate and rights activist to six months in prison, in a trial observers say constitutes an attack on a leading critic of the Egyptian state.
Hisham Kassem, the former publisher of Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, received six months in detention and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately £523) for slandering and defaming Kamal Abu Eita. Abu Eita is a former minister and current member of Egypt’s presidential pardon committee, tasked with granting clemency towards some of the tens of thousands of detainees in the Egyptian prison system.
Continue reading...WHO says aid to help 250,000 people has arrived in Benghazi as death toll estimated at more than 11,000
International aid is arriving in Libya from the UN, Europe and Middle Eastern countries, offering some relief to thousands after flooding submerged the port city of Derna.
The World Health Organization said “the bodies of 3,958 people have been recovered and identified”, with 9,000 more still missing, as it announced 29 tonnes of aid had arrived in the eastern city of Benghazi, enough to help 250,000 people.
Continue reading...Small vessel rescued en route to island of Lampedusa, which has received 8,500 people this week
A newborn baby has been found dead on a boat carrying people to the Italian island of Lampedusa during a rescue operation, the Ansa news agency has reported.
The baby was born during the journey and died soon after birth, Ansa reported, adding that about 40 people were onboard.
Continue reading...Charity that runs boarding houses to help girls in remote Atlas mountains get to school scrambles to find out what facilities remain
When a powerful earthquake struck deep below Morocco’s Atlas mountains last Friday night, the school year had only just begun. Staff from a girls’ education charity who had stayed late at work suddenly found themselves jolted by the force of a 6.8 magnitude quake as the walls of their offices crumbled around them to expose the cold mountain air.
“Many of the girls who we know are at least alive have lost mothers, brothers, fathers, family members and it looks like many of their houses have also been completely destroyed,” said Sonia Omar, the head of Education for All Morocco, her voice cracking. The charity supports a network of six boarding houses for girls across the Atlas, all situated in villages around the epicentre of the quake.
Continue reading...The aftermath of an earthquake in Morocco and flooding in Libya has shown up the state of the two nations
Not one but two disasters have struck in recent days – the earthquake in Morocco and devastating flooding in Libya.
At least 2,900 people are known to have died in the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains a week ago, and the authorities say the death toll will rise.
Continue reading...Relatives grieve and search in desperation as Derna’s mayor fears death toll from floods may exceed 20,000
Omar al-Rifadi has been searching for his missing 20-year-old daughter ever since disaster struck the Libyan city of Derna on Sunday, when she disappeared, lost in the darkness amid a catastrophic flood that claimed the lives of thousands and swept many into the sea.
“I walked on foot to look for her. I went to all the hospitals and schools. But luck was not on my side,” the 52-year-old said, tears streaming down his face.
Continue reading...Travel and tour operators are getting involved in the country’s relief effort, knowing how vital tourism is to its economy
“My family is safe,” our tour guide Sara Chakir said as we huddled in the streets outside Fez’s medina, waiting for aftershocks until the early hours. Morocco’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake had struck last Friday, 350 miles away in the Al Haouz region of the High Atlas mountains at just after 11pm. It was enough to send our riad swaying, but there was no apparent damage to people or place. It was only in the morning that the scale of destruction elsewhere was clear. Another tour guide, Hossain ait Mhand, said: “My family is fine, but others in their town are not so lucky – homes have been flattened.”
I was on my way to a conference in Marrakech, about 40 miles north of where the earthquake was centred, but detoured home. Those already in the city saw blood bank queues snaking around the streets after a government call out. Marrakech’s medina experienced damage, and 50 people were reported to have died there. Tourists trickled out of the city.
Continue reading...Country hit by record rainfall that followed Mediterranean storm with similarities to tropical cyclone
After battering Greece last week, Storm Daniel caused further devastating floods, this time affecting Libya. As the storm moved across the Sahara, it developed into what is informally known as a medicane, a storm in the Mediterranean that develops characteristics similar to those seen in tropical cyclones, notably a central eye. The particularly warm Mediterranean water fuelled by the extreme heat seen over southern Europe this summer, helped strengthen Daniel as it approached Libya.
By Saturday 10 September, Daniel had reached north-eastern Libya, with winds of 70-80mph, according to Libya’s National Meteorological Centre. The devastation then came from extreme rainfall, as 24-hour totals of 150mm-240mm were widely recorded in the region. One station in the city of Al-Bayda recorded a rainfall total of 414.1mm in 24 hours, a new record for the area. These torrential rains caused two dams to collapse, which resulted in devastating flash flooding that has killed thousands of people.
Continue reading...Mustafa al-Trabelsi attended a meeting about state of the dams days before Storm Daniel hit city
In Derna, and indeed across Libya, everyone is sharing a poem called The Rain, written by a poet from the city, Mustafa al-Trabelsi, who died in the floods. On 6 September, days before writing the poem, he had attended a meeting at the Derna house of culture to discuss the risk of a flood in the city and the state of the dams.
The poem is short but pertinent. It reads:
The rain
Exposes the drenched streets,
the cheating contractor,
and the failed state.
It washes everything,
bird wings
and cats’ fur.
Reminds the poor
of their fragile roofs
and ragged clothes.
It awakens the valleys,
shakes off their yawning dust
and dry crusts.
The rain
a sign of goodness,
a promise of help,
an alarm bell.
Nearly 1 million children denied education, along with many more across eight countries in central and west Africa, new report warns
A quarter of schools are now closed in Burkina Faso after a sharp rise in fighting between militants and the government, according to a new report that warns of a looming education crisis in the region.
The number of schools closed in the country rose by almost a third over the past year to 6,149, affecting close to 1 million students.
Continue reading...Trip by foreign affairs committee blocked with no reason given, raising questions about country’s partnership with EU
A group of MEPs from the European parliament have been refused entry to Tunisia, raising questions about the controversial partnership on migration that Tunisia signed with the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen and the Italian leader, Giorgia Meloni, this summer.
The foreign affairs committee, chaired by the German MEP Michael Gahler, was due to arrive in the country on Friday. “We have cancelled the trip. We have not been given reasons for the refused entry, that would be speculation,” he said.
Continue reading...Boat travelling from north Africa capsized near tiny Italian island, with all other passengers rescued
A five-month-old boy has drowned during a rescue operation off the Italian island of Lampedusa after a boat carrying people from north Africa capsized.
The tragedy occurred as migrant landings on Lampedusa surged, leaving the small island struggling to cope. About 1,850 people landed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of migrants in Lampedusa to more than 6,700, the Ansa news agency said.
Continue reading...French president addresses Moroccans directly amid political rift between Rabat and Paris
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has attempted to soothe tensions with Morocco over the supply of humanitarian aid, after a deadly earthquake centred high in the Atlas mountains.
Search and rescue teams backed by the Moroccan military continued a frantic search to locate and airlift the wounded from remote mountainous villages in the Atlas mountains where the 6.8 magnitude quake struck last Friday. But as rescue efforts continued for a fifth day, the chances of finding survivors were fading.
Continue reading...Storm Daniel was by no means the only factor behind the devastation wrought on the city of Derna
When the climate crisis meets a failed state, the outcome is the kind of disaster that Libya is witnessing in Derna.
Any city would have struggled with the extraordinary level of precipitation that Storm Daniel visited upon Libya’s northern coast. In its earlier, milder form, the storm caused severe damage in Greece before it crossed the Mediterranean.
Continue reading...Full scale of devastation in north African nation still not clear as aid agencies struggle to reach cut-off areas
International aid is slowly starting to reach the devastated port city of Derna as questions are raised over how as many as 20,000 people may have died when Storm Daniel hit the northern coast of Libya on Saturday night.
Ten thousand people were declared missing by official aid agencies such as the Libyan Red Crescent, but the ominous higher estimate of 20,000 deaths came from the director of al-Bayda medical centre, Abdul Rahim Maziq.
Continue reading...Egypt, Vietnam and Indonesia among countries sending delegations to four-day DSEI at ExCeL
Europe’s biggest ever arms fair got under way in London on Tuesday with record numbers expected to attend, boosted by interest from countries with controversial human rights records.
Authoritarian Egypt and Vietnam are among those sending delegations, defence sources said, as well as Indonesia and India – all countries whose arms-buying strategies have been affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Outdoor event hosted by bride’s family meant no one was trapped when buildings collapsed
A wedding celebration saved all the people of a Moroccan village during Friday’s deadly earthquake, which destroyed their stone and mud-brick houses while they were enjoying traditional music in an outdoor courtyard.
The marriage of Habiba Ajdir, 22, and Mohammed Boudad, 30, an apple farmer, was due to take place at his village of Kettou on Saturday, but by custom the bride’s family held a party the night before the wedding.
Continue reading...Complicated rescue effort continues as questions remain about king and government’s response
Hope of finding earthquake survivors trapped under their homes in some of the remotest parts of the Atlas mountains in Morocco was fading rapidly as rescue efforts continued into their fourth day.
Search and rescue teams were still attempting to reach the smallest hamlets and villages in the mountainous region of Al Haouz, close to the epicentre of the 6.8-magnitude quake that struck on Friday night.
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