Toll from devastating floods in Libyan city passes 5,100 dead, authorities struggle to get in aid

Toll from devastating floods in Libyan city passes 5,100 dead, authorities struggle to get in aid
Rescue teams were working day and night to recover many other bodies scattered in the streets and under the rubble in Derna. (Reuters)
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Updated 13 September 2023
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Toll from devastating floods in Libyan city passes 5,100 dead, authorities struggle to get in aid

Toll from devastating floods in Libyan city passes 5,100 dead, authorities struggle to get in aid
  • Authorities were still struggling to get aid to the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna after Sunday night’s deluge washed away most access roads
  • “Wherever you go, you find dead men, women, and children,” Emad Al-Falah, an aid worker from Benghazi, said

DERNA, Libya: Search teams combed streets, wrecked buildings and even the sea for bodies in a devastated eastern Libyan city on Wednesday, where authorities said massive flooding had killed at least 5,100 people, with the toll expected to rise further.
Authorities were still struggling to get aid to the Mediterranean coastal city of Derna after Sunday night’s deluge washed away most access roads. Aid workers who managed to reach the city described devastation in its center, with thousands still missing and tens of thousands left homeless.
“Bodies are everywhere, inside houses, in the streets, at sea. Wherever you go, you find dead men, women, and children,” Emad Al-Falah, an aid worker from Benghazi, said over the phone from Derna. “Entire families were lost.”
Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many towns of eastern Libya on Sunday, but the worst-hit was Derna. Two dams outside in the mountains above the city collapsed, sending floodwaters washing down the Wadi Derna river and through the city center, sweeping away entire city blocks. Waves rose as high as 7 meters (23 feet), Yann Fridez, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Libya, told broadcaster France24.
Mohammed Derna, a teacher in the city, said he, his family and neighbors rushed to the roof of their apartment building, stunned at the volume of water rushing by. It reached the second story of many buildings, he said. They watched people below, including women and children being washed away.
“They were screaming, help, help,” he said over the phone from a field hospital in Derna. “It was like a Hollywood horror movie.”
Derna lies on a narrow coastal plain on the Mediterranean Sea, under steep mountains running along the coast. Only two roads from the south remain usable, and they involve a long, winding route through the mountains.
Aid teams with some supplies managed to get in that way, while authorities in eastern Libya worked Wednesday to repair the faster coastal access routes.
Otherwise, local emergency workers were relying on whatever equipment they already had on hand. Search teams combed shattered apartment buildings and retrieved the dead floating offshore in the Mediterranean Sea, Al-Falah said. Collapsed bridges the river split the city center, further hampering movement.
Ossama Ali, a spokesman for the Ambulance and Emergency Center in eastern Libya, said at least 5,100 deaths were recorded in Derna, along with around 100 others elsewhere in eastern Libya. More than 7,000 people were injured in the city, most receiving treatment in field hospitals that authorities and aid agencies set up, he told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday.
The number of deaths is likely to increase since teams are still collecting bodies from the streets, buildings and the sea, he said. At least 9,000 remain missing, but that number could drop as communications are restored, Ali said.
At least 30,000 people in Derna were displaced by the flooding, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said, adding that the city remained almost inaccessible for humanitarian aid workers.
The startling devastation pointed to the storm’s intensity, but also Libya’s vulnerability. The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west, and the result has been neglect of infrastructure in many areas.
“This is a disaster in every sense of the word,” a wailing survivor who lost 11 members of his family told a local television station as a group of rescuers tried to calm him. The television station did not identify the survivor.
Ahmed Abdalla, a survivor who joined the search and rescue effort, said they were putting bodies in the yard of a local hospital before taking them for burial in mass graves at Derna’s sole intact cemetery.
“The situation is indescribable. Entire families dead in this disaster. Some were washed away to the sea,” Abdalla said by phone from Derna.
Bulldozers worked over the past two days to fix and clear roads to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and heavy equipment. Derna is 250 kilometers (150 miles) east of Benghazi, where international aid started to arrive on Tuesday.
Libya’s neighbors, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, sent rescue teams and aid. President Joe Biden also said the United States is sending emergency funds to relief organizations and coordinating with the Libyan authorities and the United Nations to provide additional support.
Mohammed Abu-Lamousha, a spokesman for the eastern Libyan interior ministry, on Tuesday put the death tally in Derna at more than 5,300, according to the state-run news agency. Dozens of others were reported dead in other towns in eastern Libya, he said.
Authorities have transferred hundreds of bodies to morgues in nearby towns. More than 300, including 84 Egyptians, were brought to the morgue in the city of Tobruk, 169 kilometers (105 miles) east of Derna, the local Medical Center reported.
The victims’ lists reflected how Libya, despite its turmoil, was always a magnet for workers from around the region because of its oil industry.
More than 70 of Derna’s dead all hailed from a single southern Egyptian village, el-Sharif. On Wednesday morning, hundreds attended a mass funeral in the village for some of their repatriated bodies. Another funeral for four others was held in a town in the northern Nile Delta.
Among the dead were the family of Saleh Sariyeh, a Palestinian originally from the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon who had lived in Derna for decades. The 60-year-old, his wife and two daughters were all killed when their home in Derna was washed away, his nephew Mohammed Sariyeh told the AP.
The four were buried in Derna. Because of ongoing gunbattles in Ein el-Hilweh, the family there could not hold a gathering to receive condolences from friends and neighbors, Mohammed said.
Derna, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli, is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is allied with the eastern Libyan government. The rival government in western Libya, based in Tripoli, is allied with other armed groups.
Derna was once a hub for extremist groups in the years of chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.


‘I want to score goals all the time,’ says Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic

‘I want to score goals all the time,’ says Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic
Al-Hilal's on-form Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic. (SPL)
Updated 4 min 1 sec ago
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‘I want to score goals all the time,’ says Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic

‘I want to score goals all the time,’ says Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic
  • The only player ahead of the Serbian striker in the Roshn Saudi League scoring charts is Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Mitrovic looking to maintain goal-scoring streak in the season’s first Riyadh derby on Friday

RIYADH: Al-Hilal’s deadly striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is out to bring down Al-Nassr in the Roshn Saudi League’s first Riyadh derby of the season on Friday. 

Mitrovic has scored 11 goals in 12 games since signing from Fulham in the summer — and was recently dubbed “merciless” by Al-Hilal manager Jorge Jesus.

Only Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of the Serbian striker in the Saudi top flight’s scoring tables, with 15 goals in 13 league games to date during this campaign.

Al-Hilal will go into Friday night’s derby at the King Fahd International Stadium four points ahead of their Riyadh rivals. However, “merciless Mitrovic” has vowed to keep on the goal-hunting trail. 

“I want to score goals all the time and I’ve been lucky to score a lot of goals so far,” he said. “Hopefully there are more to come. It’s my job to score goals. It’s what I do and what I love to do.

“Scoring a goal is something every striker dreams of and every striker wants that feeling, that adrenaline of scoring game by game,” Mitrovic added. “The more you score, the better you feel, and I have scored a lot — I could have scored more, though. It can always be better. There are still a lot of games to play, and big games, such as the derby, so hopefully that’ll include a lot of goals.”

The powerful No. 9 has netted 18 goals in 19 games for Al-Hilal across all competitions this season — the exact same tally as Al-Nassr rival Ronaldo. Mitrovic’s phenomenal scoring record includes two hat-tricks — his memorable Roshn Saudi League treble in the 4-3 triumph over Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad, and in the 6-0 win against Mumbai City in the AFC Champions League.

Each goal has been greeted with deafening chants of “Mitro’s on fire,” to the tune of Eurodance classic “Freed From Desire,” from the adoring Al-Hilal fans. Mitrovic is not only delighted that the Al-Hilal faithful have adopted the song from his time in England but is also overjoyed to hear it as often as possible.

“I didn’t expect that but it’s amazing, to be honest — every game it’s a full stadium and I score goals and you can hear a big roar,” he said. “Of course, I like the song. It’s something (I’ve had) since Newcastle and it’s something that every time I score the people sing, so it’s something I’ve gotten used to. I’m glad they’ve adopted this here and always glad to hear it.”

The Riyadh derby between current Roshn Saudi League leaders Al-Hilal and second-placed Al-Nassr kicks off at 9 p.m. Saudi time on Friday. The match at the 68,000-capacity King Fadh International Stadium is sold out, while millions will watch the game as it is broadcast across the globe.


COP28 must address needs of Global South, delegates from the region insist

COP28 must address needs of Global South, delegates from the region insist
Updated 7 min 58 sec ago
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COP28 must address needs of Global South, delegates from the region insist

COP28 must address needs of Global South, delegates from the region insist

RIYADH: As world leaders, climate experts and global delegations convene in Dubai for the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference, members of African delegations are re-affirming that the needs of the Global South can no longer be neglected. 

Nations in the Global South are on the “receiving end” of the worst of climate change effects and yet contribute fewer amounts to emissions, Nigerian special assistant on climate change, Yusuf Idris Amoke, told Arab News on the sidelines of the event, adding that due to the lack of infrastructure, technology and “know how” needed within the African continent, countries are struggling to adapt.

As one of the top 10 nations most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, Nigerian delegates are looking to ensure that there is a focus on climate finance during the forum, Amoke said, instilling the importance of utilizing the Paris Agreement to hold countries responsible to keeping their promises and commitments to aid less developed countries to adapt to the impacts of global warming.

Calls for these nations to divest from fossil fuels, without providing alternatives, are inherently unjust, the special assistant noted, saying: “Financing third world countries or the Global South is key, as adapting and shifting from fossil fuel can only be done when you have alternatives.”

He added: “We are surviving on fossil fuel. We have for instance, for Nigeria, we have abundant coal resources. We have abundant oil, right. So shifting from those things, to things that don’t exist. It’s impossible … we need to be supported, not just financial support or technical support, we need capacity building. We need understanding of the impacts of climate change.”

The Secretary-General of the Madagascan Ministry of Environment, Mamitiana Adrianmanjato, echoed these notions, noting that as an island in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and has witnessed them firsthand, from cyclones to flooding.

Without the adequate financing needed, the indebted country is currently unable to stifle the consistently “worsening” effects, Adrianmanjato said, stressing his hope that COP28 will be a platform for the nation to encourage members of the party states to replenish the climate fund and ensure that it is distributed justly.

Adrianmanjato added: “There are some countries that have brought forth finance, it is not sufficient. As an island on the Indian Ocean, we are really vulnerable, so our main forecast is first of all adaptation and financing for the adaptation.”

The repercussions witnessed from the lack of ability to adapt within less developed nations are not limited to climate alone. Instead, the equity deficit is causing a rippling effect that impacts health and infrastructure, Susan Chimpokosera, a member of the Malawi delegation, told Arab News.

She posited that the country is witnessing outbreaks of waterborne diseases that result from flooding while simultaneously leading to the displacement of people and damage to infrastructure.

In Nigeria, the effects have translated to struggles in food production. According to Amoke, the northern region, which normally doesn’t experience rain during this time, has been experiencing heavy rainfall. 

This has led to the watering of crops and, therefore, a reduced amount of harvest, affecting food access and farmer livelihood.

The delegate of Malawi underscored that within the forum, calls for countries to focus on climate change and shifting energy sources while unable to keep up with the ever-increasing damages they are witnessing can no longer be sustained. 

“In issues of climate financing, we are being under-supported. We know countries venture into different kinds of energy, some are using gas … but it will not be fair to ask different governments to support climate finances or climate change, when they’re also having other issues to handle. So then the support has to come right from the global region, and then cascading down to other countries,” Chimpokosera said. 

The delegation hopes that as negotiations proceed over the next two weeks, countries no longer neglect the pressing needs of the Global South and that financing for less developed nations most susceptible to the adverse effects will be at the forefront of the talks.


Global GDP set for slowdown in 2024, before return to resilient growth: OECD 

Global GDP set for slowdown in 2024, before return to resilient growth: OECD 
Updated 55 min 13 sec ago
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Global GDP set for slowdown in 2024, before return to resilient growth: OECD 

Global GDP set for slowdown in 2024, before return to resilient growth: OECD 

RIYADH: Persistent inflation and a slowdown are set to push global gross domestic product growth down 0.2 percentage points to 2.7 percent in 2024, with an anticipated increase to 3 percent in 2025, a new report showed.  

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the global economy is facing tighter financial conditions, weak international trade, and lower confidence among businesses and consumers, despite stronger-than-expected growth in 2023. 

The report noted that housing markets and economies relying on bank-based finance, especially in Europe, are experiencing a slowdown, while geopolitical tensions are contributing to uncertainty in the short-term outlook. 

It emphasized that while headline inflation has decreased in most economies, core inflation remains relatively high.  

Emerging-market economies are expected to maintain better growth than advanced economies, with Europe experiencing relatively subdued growth compared to North America and major Asian economies. 

Risks to the global outlook include heightened geopolitical tensions, rising trade restrictions, and potential disruptions to energy markets and trade routes.  

The OECD warned that continuation of cost pressures, increases in energy and food prices, or a drift in inflation expectations could lead to central banks maintaining higher policy rates, impacting financial markets. 

The report stated that key recommended policy priorities include ensuring a durable reduction of inflation, addressing fiscal pressures, and enhancing prospects for sustainable and inclusive growth.   

“Monetary policy needs to remain restrictive in most advanced economies until inflation declines durably,” it added.  

Governments need to manage rising fiscal pressures by withdrawing or better targeting fiscal support measures and implementing credible medium-term fiscal frameworks.  

The OECD stressed that enhanced multilateral cooperation is essential for reviving global trade, and structural reforms are needed to reinvigorate growth, particularly in the face of challenges from aging populations, climate transition, and digitalization.  

In summary, the global economy is projected to experience a mild slowdown with a gradual return to near-trend growth rates, and inflation converging back to central bank targets by 2025. 

The outlook depends on various factors, including geopolitical developments, trade dynamics, and the effectiveness of policy responses.  


COP28 opens in Dubai with calls for accelerated climate action

COP28 opens in Dubai with calls for accelerated climate action
Updated 2 min 18 sec ago
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COP28 opens in Dubai with calls for accelerated climate action

COP28 opens in Dubai with calls for accelerated climate action
  • Up to 200 global leaders will join over 80,000 delegates gathered in Dubai for the UN climate conference

DUBAI: Up to 200 global leaders will join over 80,000 delegates gathered in Dubai for the UN climate conference as governments prepare for negotiations on whether to agree, for the first time, to phase out fossil fuels – the main source of global warming.

With finance also high on the meeting agenda, the COP28 presidency has published a proposal on the eve of the summit for countries to formally adopt the outlines of a new UN fund to cover losses and damages in poor countries being hit by climate disasters like extreme flooding or persistent drought.

READ MORE: Click here for our coverage of COP28

1022 GMT

COP28 President designate Sultan Al-Jaber. (Abdulrahman Fahad Bin shulhub/AN)

In his opening speech, COP28 President designate Sultan Al-Jaber urged delegates as well as oil companies to work together at the UN climate summit. He said, “we must ensure that this COP delivers the most ambitious global stocktake possible.”

He stressed that the COP28 is committed to unlocking finance to ensure that the global south does not have to choose between development and climate action.

While Al-Jaber hailed the initiative of national oil companies to step up, he said “it is not enough.” “They can do more. Every nation, every sector and every one of us has an urgent role to play.”

 

 

“We can bring mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation which includes finance under one umbrella,” according to Al-Jaber, who also runs state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

“I ask you to start this COP with a new mindset, adopt different thinking, be flexible. Ensure the most ambitious global stocktake. I want this COP to be the COP that maximizes mitigation on momentum,” Al-Jaber said.

He stressed that the ‘role of fossil fuels’ must be part of climate deal. “It is essential that no issue is left off the table,” according to the UAE official. He added that “let this be the COP where we deliver our promises from the $100 billion on loss and damage.”

1016 GMT

Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president

“Rather than increasing climate finance from developed countries, actually, it is decreasing in relation to growing needs and the increasing growth of financing in developing countries,” said Shoukry, the COP27 president.

The UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai opened Thursday with a moment of silence for the victims of the conflict in Gaza.

Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister who chaired the previous COP talks in Egypt last year, urged delegates to “stand for a moment of silence” in memory of two climate diplomats who recently died “as well as all civilians who have perished during the current conflict in Gaza”.

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An early breakthrough on the damage fund — which poorer nations have demanded for years — could help grease the wheels for other compromises to be made during the two-week summit.

The UN and hosts the UAE say the COP28 talks will be the most important since Paris in 2015, when nations agreed to limit global warming to well below 2°Celsius since the preindustrial era, and preferably to a safer limit of 1.5°C.

Scientists say the world is not on track to achieve these targets and nations must make faster and deeper cuts to emissions to avert the most disastrous impacts of climate change.

 

 

A central focus will be a stocktake of the world’s limited progress on curbing global warming, which requires an official response at these talks.

“Right now, we’re taking baby steps where we should be taking great leaps and great strides to get us to where we need to be,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Wednesday.

The COP28 climate conference should aim for a complete “phaseout” of fossil fuels, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier said, warning of “total disaster” on humanity’s current trajectory.

“Obviously I am strongly in favor of language that includes (a) phaseout, even with a reasonable time framework,” Guterres said.

Climate change is the biggest threat to human health in Africa and the rest of the world, the head of the continent's public health agency said.

Mitigating that risk was top of his agenda, Jean Kaseya, the director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said as he headed to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.


Explainer: How will countries measure climate action at COP28? 

Explainer: How will countries measure climate action at COP28? 
Updated 58 min 46 sec ago
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Explainer: How will countries measure climate action at COP28? 

Explainer: How will countries measure climate action at COP28? 
  • In September, the United Nations offered an early stocktake assessment that revealed countries were far behind in meeting climate goals
  • It said action required “on all fronts” to keep global average temperature rise limited to 1.5 C beyond which irreversible climate impacts will occur

DUBAI: Countries will for the first time assess how far off track they are to curb global warming at this year’s COP28 climate change summit, a process known as the “global stocktake.” 

Governments will look at progress so far as well as what action is still needed to get the world on track. The aim is to yield a plan by the end of the two-week UN conference in Dubai. 

The assessment could become politically divisive as it sets the stage for the next few years of global action in cutting planet-warming emissions. 

WHY IS A GLOBAL STOCKTAKE IMPORTANT? 

Each country sets its own targets and policies for meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement’s overall goal of holding global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius of preindustrial times, and aiming for just 1.5 C of warming. 

Under the 2015 pact, countries must gauge their progress as of this year, and then every five years afterwards. Based on the results, countries may be pressed to set more ambitious climate policies or to contribute more financing to help developing countries adopt clean energy. 

This year’s stocktake could also offer important guidance as countries prepare to update their emissions-cutting targets again by 2025. For example, the stocktake could advise that CO2-cutting targets should cover a country’s entire economy, not just certain sectors. 

IS THE WORLD OFF COURSE IN MEETING CLIMATE GOALS? 

In September, the United Nations offered an early stocktake assessment that revealed countries were far behind in meeting climate goals. It said action was required “on all fronts” to keep the global average temperature rise limited to 1.5 C — the threshold beyond which scientists say more severe and irreversible climate impacts will occur. 

Despite a huge increase in the number of countries setting CO2-cutting targets since the Paris Agreement, current emissions plans still put the world on track to warm by at least 2.5 C, the UN estimates. 

Many countries also have yet to set strong enough short-term policies to steer their economies toward emissions targets for 2030 and 2050. 

The global average temperature has already warmed by 1.2 C since pre-industrial times, which is causing widespread drought along with more frequent deadly heat waves, wildfires and storms around the world. 

HOW WILL THE STOCKTAKE DRIVE CLIMATE ACTION? 

Before the stocktake has even started, countries are squabbling over the scope of future plans — including whether they should commit to phase out fossil fuel use, end investments in new coal power plants or triple renewable energy capacity within this decade. 

COP28 delegates will also need to decide if the stocktake should recommended action for specific sectors, such as the energy or manufacturing sectors. 

The UN’s report in September urged countries to cut CO2-emitting coal power by 67 percent to 82 percent from 2019 levels by 2030. 

The report also called for more finance to help poorer countries adopt clean energy, and noted that billions of dollars were still being invested in fossil fuels every year. 

The European Union wants the stocktake to produce “concrete policy signals” for countries to follow. 

Some developing countries have suggested the stocktake should focus on pressuring wealthy nations to do more, since they have contributed the most emissions to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, diplomats said. 

“This is where we take stock and see where we are — where are the gaps between the targets and our ambitions, and the actual action. What then needs to be decided... what do we then do from here,” Dan Jorgensen, Denmark’s Global Climate Policy Minister, told Reuters.