Floods threaten Niger’s historic ‘gateway to the desert’

Floods threaten Niger’s historic ‘gateway to the desert’
Three-wheelers drive past an earthen mud mosque in Agadez in northern Niger. (AFP/File)
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Updated 26 September 2024
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Floods threaten Niger’s historic ‘gateway to the desert’

Floods threaten Niger’s historic ‘gateway to the desert’

AGADEZ, Niger: Its winding alleys, ancient mosque, and ochre earthen houses helped bestow on Agadez its UNESCO World Heritage status, but the town in Niger is now under threat from flooding.

Overflowing rivers are no longer a rarity in the vast, arid nation on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

But the rainy season this year has been particularly devastating, killing at least 270 people and affecting hundreds of thousands.

In Agadez — known as the gateway to the desert — forecasters say it’s “regularly” raining, even in areas where normally “rain never falls.”

Former Mayor Abdourahamane Tourawa called the downpours “particularly aggressive.”

“The old town in Agadez is suffering a lot of damage. Ponds are overflowing, and many houses collapsed. Even the Grand Mosque was not spared,” he said.

The town, nearly 1,000km northeast of the capital, Niamey, was an important crossroads in the trans-Saharan caravan trade.

Atop the 16th-century mosque stands an imposing mud-brick minaret 27 meters tall.

The Sultan’s Palace from a century earlier is a testament to the past glory of the Tuaregs, known as the Blue Men due to the indigo dye of their robes and turbans.

Agadez means “to visit” in the Tuareg language, Tamashek.

Once a tourist magnet and legendary staging post on the Paris-Dakar rally when the race crossed the Sahara, jihadist attacks plaguing the region have scared visitors away.

Other gems include the house where influential German explorer Heinrich Barth stayed in 1850.

The baker’s house, richly decorated with shells and arabesques, provided the backdrop for the 1990 film “The Sheltering Sky” by Bernardo Bertolucci.

“Climate change causing heavy rains represents a danger for the old town ... Around a hundred houses and walls have already collapsed,” town curator Ali Salifou warned.

Scientists have long warned that climate change driven by manmade fossil fuel emissions increases the likelihood, intensity, and length of extreme weather events such as torrential rains.

Symbolic monuments are still “in an acceptable state,” but “homes and other monuments of historic and religious value are under threat,” Salifou said.


Indonesia and Russia to hold first joint naval drills

Indonesia and Russia to hold first joint naval drills
Updated 52 sec ago
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Indonesia and Russia to hold first joint naval drills

Indonesia and Russia to hold first joint naval drills
  • The region’s biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in great power competition between Washington and Beijing
JAKARTA: Indonesia and Russia will hold their first joint naval drills next month, Jakarta’s navy said Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian archipelago’s new leader seeks to boost ties with Moscow.
The region’s biggest economy maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in great power competition between Washington and Beijing.
But newly inaugurated Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to be bolder on the world stage and in July visited Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin.
The Indonesian navy said the drills would take place from November 4 to 8 in the Java Sea near a naval base in Surabaya.
“(It) is a milestone bilateral exercise between TNI AL and the Russian navy,” the navy said in the statement, using its Indonesian acronym.
Russia will send three corvette class warships, a medium tanker ship, a military helicopter, and a tugboat, it said.
Russian ambassador to Indonesia Sergey Tolchenov confirmed the drills and said they were not aimed at any rival power.
“It’s... just to increase the capabilities and potential of our two fleets,” he told a press briefing Monday.
Indonesia has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s years-long invasion of Ukraine.
Former president Joko Widodo became the first Asian leader to visit both Kyiv and Moscow since the outbreak of war in February 2022.
Kyiv derided Prabowo in June 2023 when he was Indonesia’s defense minister over what it called a “strange” peace proposal he made at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore.
His plan included demilitarized zones and referendums in disputed areas of eastern Ukraine.
Indonesia last week also started the process of becoming a member of the BRICS bloc led by Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, newly appointed foreign minister Sugiono, who goes by one name, said at a BRICS Plus summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

Mother crashes car through Australian school fence, killing a child and injuring 4 others

Mother crashes car through Australian school fence, killing a child and injuring 4 others
Updated 6 min 9 sec ago
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Mother crashes car through Australian school fence, killing a child and injuring 4 others

Mother crashes car through Australian school fence, killing a child and injuring 4 others

MELBOURNE: A mother collecting a child crashed a car through a Melbourne school fence on Tuesday, fatally injuring one child and leaving four others seriously hurt, police said.
The 40-year-old mother had collected a child from the Auburn South Primary School and was making a U-turn on the road outside when she crashed through a fence and into an outdoor table where five children were seated after 2:30 p.m. local time, Police Insp. Craig McEvoy said.
“It appears it is a tragic accident,” McEvoy told reporters.
An 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital with critical injuries and later died, a police statement said.
Two girls, aged 11, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.
The driver was arrested at the scene and remained in custody, police said. Neither she nor her student passenger was uninjured.
Police were questioning the mother, McEvoy said but had no further updates. Specialist accident investigation detectives were at the scene gathering evidence.
Video showed the station wagon with obvious damage to its front-left fender had came to a halt after passing through a shade-cloth covered recreation area.


Pope Francis’s commission against clerical child abuse to publish first report

Pope Francis’s commission against clerical child abuse to publish first report
Updated 33 min 47 sec ago
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Pope Francis’s commission against clerical child abuse to publish first report

Pope Francis’s commission against clerical child abuse to publish first report
  • Pontiff set up the independent panel of experts in December 2014 amid an avalanche of revelations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy across the world, and its cover-up

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican on Tuesday publishes its first annual report on protecting minors in the Catholic Church, a move requested by Pope Francis amid pressure for more action to tackle clerical child sex abuse.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said its report will be a “first step toward a process of data gathering and reporting,” and will document “where risks remain, and where advances can be found.”
Pope Francis set up the independent panel of experts in December 2014 amid an avalanche of revelations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy across the world, and its cover-up.
But the commission has faced strong criticism over its organization, funding and role, with several high-profile members quitting.
In 2022, Francis incorporated the commission into the Roman Curia — the government of the Holy See — and asked for an annual, “reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change.”
The first of these will be published on Tuesday, launched at the Vatican by the commission’s president, US Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the former archbishop of Boston who has spent decades listening to abuse survivors.
In a statement ahead of the launch, the commission described the report as a “new tool,” part of a process to set out clear standards on protecting children and vulnerable adults.
It will be divided into four areas — a review of safeguarding policies in 15 to 20 local churches each year, trends across continents, policies within the Vatican and the Church’s broader role in society.
“It collects resources and practices to be shared across the Universal Church, and makes specific recommendations to promote further progress in safeguarding,” it said.
Since becoming pope in March 2013, Francis has taken numerous measures to tackle abuse, from opening up internal Church documents to punishing high-ranking clergy, while making it compulsory to report suspicions of sexual assault to Church authorities.
But clergy are still not required to report abuse to civil authorities, unless the laws of that country require it, while any revelations made in confession remain private.
“The global church must implement true zero tolerance on sexual violence by clergy,” Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the US group Bishop Accountability, which documents abuse in the Church, said earlier this year.
She called for the Church to name convicted priests and insisted that “any priest found to have abused a child or vulnerable adult or credibly accused of abusing a child or adult must be permanently removed from public ministry.”
For all his efforts so far, she said “Pope Francis has shown an absolute aversion to transparency.”
Maud de Boer Buquicchio, a Dutch lawyer and former UN special rapporteur on the sexual exploitation of children who chaired the abuse commission report, said last week it would help promote a “change of mindset in the Church that embraces accountability and transparency.”
During its compilation, “we have been able to explore many of the concerns about the lack of available data,” she added.
Members of the abuse commission are directly appointed by the pope and are experts in fields related to safeguarding, from clinical psychology to law as well as human rights.
But two members representing abuse survivors resigned in 2017, while last year, influential German Jesuit priest Hans Zollner also quit, complaining about “structural and practical issues.”
Francesco Zanardi, founder of Italian survivors group Rete L’Abuso (The Abuse Network), said in 2023 that the commission was “absolutely useless.”


Ghana’s African American diaspora split as US election looms

Ghana’s African American diaspora split as US election looms
Updated 47 min 37 sec ago
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Ghana’s African American diaspora split as US election looms

Ghana’s African American diaspora split as US election looms

ACCRA: Sporting a scarf emblazoned with an image of Kamala Harris, shop owner Jimmie Thorne watched US election coverage on TV from his printing shop in Ghana’s capital Accra.
As US election day draws near, the 70-year-old is among a unique set of African American voters closely following the presidential race from the other side of the Atlantic.
In 2019, Ghana launched a program encouraging members of the African diaspora to relocate to the West African country and reconnect with their roots.
Since the so-called “Year of Return,” which commemorated 400 years since the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, many African Americans have moved to Ghana and found a sense of belonging.
Launched by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, the program also attracted high-profile visitors such as television presenter Steve Harvey, actor Samuel L. Jackson and rapper Usher, boosting Ghana’s image as a global tourism destination.
But those who have made the move permanent often feel they have a dual identity. Many still vote in US elections despite the distance, with some even influencing their peers back home through advocacy and social media.
It is no secret that Thorne is one such voter.
He spoke to AFP wearing a stars-and-stripes shirt, surrounded by Democratic Party paraphernalia.
“I’m voting for Kamala Harris because democracy is at stake,” he said. “She is the better of the two choices for sure. I have absolutely no doubt.”
Thorne expressed concern about the consequences of a win for Republican Donald Trump, for the United States and Africa.
“If Donald Trump is elected, it’s not good for Africa — he’s called us ‘shithole countries’, and that’s how he sees us.”
Other African American voters in Ghana said they were throwing their weight behind Harris too.
Delia Gillis, an emeritus professor of Africana Studies who moved from the United States to Ghana in 2019, said she was thrilled by Harris’s candidacy, especially as a woman of color.
“It’s exciting to see someone who looks like me running for the highest office,” Gillis told AFP.
“African American women in particular... have been stalwarts in the election process,” she said. “Now we have an opportunity to elect someone presidential in demeanour.”
Not everyone supports Harris, of course.
“I believe Trump deserves another chance,” said Marcus Wright, an African American visitor to Ghana weighing up whether to make the move permanent.
“His economic policies during his administration helped create jobs and gave the US a much-needed economic boost. I think he could do it again.”
Some African Americans in Ghana think their attention is wasted on US politics.
“I don’t care about the US elections,” said Durah Davies, 65, who has lived in Ghana for 15 years.
“The United States has committed unspeakable atrocities, and its policies have historically oppressed Africans globally.
“My focus is on Africa and the well-being of our people here.”

Ghana’s political future
For Thorne and Gillis, Ghana’s political future is as important as the US polls.
Ghana is preparing for its own elections in December, and the contest between Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition leader John Mahama is intensifying.
Gillis believes whoever wins in Ghana must focus on youth empowerment.
“The continent’s future lies in the hands of its young people,” she said.
Having gained citizenship two years ago, Thorne will vote in Ghana for the first time in December.
“I feel like a real citizen now,” he said. “My voice counts, and I’m excited to contribute to the future of my new home.”


China confirms detention of South Korean citizen on suspicion of violating anti-espionage law

China confirms detention of South Korean citizen on suspicion of violating anti-espionage law
Updated 58 min 53 sec ago
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China confirms detention of South Korean citizen on suspicion of violating anti-espionage law

China confirms detention of South Korean citizen on suspicion of violating anti-espionage law

BEIJING: China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it confirms China has detained a South Korean citizen on suspicion of violating its anti-espionage law.