Weather tracker: Typhoon Saudel causes mass evacuations in south-east ChinaTorrential rain causes widespread damage; while north-west South Africa hit by thunderstorms and central-southern US faces oppressive heatTyphoon Saudel brought days of torrential rain to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces in south-east China last week. The city of Putian, in Fujian province, recorded 416.5mm of rain in a 24-hour period between Thursday and Friday, with surrounding villages recording more than 500mm in the same period. In Fujian, authorities estimate that almost 600,000 people were evacuated from high-risk, flood-prone areas. A further 128,000 people in 53 counties were also affected across Jiangxi, with emergency evacuations affecting 9,000 people.Flooding, landslips and infrastructure damage were reported widely in the region. More than 2,500 teachers and students were trapped in a school compound in the Zhejiang city of Wenzhou on Wednesday after extreme rainfall caused flash floods in low-lying areas. At least 1,260 people reportedly had to be rescued in Putian after a river embankment collapsed on Thursday, flattening 100 homes. On Saturday, a landslip in a village of Suichuan county, in Jiangxi province, killed three people and nine others remaining missing. Continue reading...
Egyptian TV presenter among 12 sentenced to death for drug crimeSarah Khalifa, 39, charged with forming organised criminal gang to manufacture and traffic drugsAn Egyptian court sentenced a well-known television presenter and 11 others to death for manufacturing and trafficking narcotics in a sprawling drug case, official media reported on Saturday.The presenter, Sarah Khalifa, 39, is best known for her programme Mission Impossible, which dealt with issues concerning security and crime. Continue reading...
UN votes to adopt new world map that shows Africa's true scaleTogo-sponsored resolution called to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to GreenlandThe United Nations has voted to adopt a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa's size.In a session at its headquarters in New York, the UN general assembly officially retired the 16th-century Mercator projection in favour of one based on the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design. Continue reading...
Spain's PM says no evidence 'whatsoever' Morocco behind Ceuta border breachPedro Sánchez continues to defend Rabat after police report claiming border forces helped 70,000 cross border Spain has seen no evidence "whatsoever" that Morocco planned or facilitated a mass border breach into its north African territory of Ceuta, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has told parliament.The address on Thursday followed the emergence of a police report, commissioned by a judge and widely quoted in the media, claiming Moroccan border forces had actively aided about 70,000 people to cross the border in late July. Continue reading...
'We continue to suffer': victims of apartheid-era Sharpeville massacre demand compensationClaim relating to 1960 attack on hundreds of protesters part of wave of litigation over apartheid crimes in South AfricaThe day dawned brightly on 21 March 1960, as residents of the South African township of Sharpeville gathered to protest against pass laws, which forced "Black, Indian and Coloured" South Africans to carry documents at all times specifying where they were allowed to be.Abraham Mofokeng joined the march, one of dozens organised nationwide by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a breakaway group from the African National Congress (ANC). "The weather was very nice, the sun was out. You could not have suspected that the day would go so horribly," said Mofokeng, who was then a 20-year-old factory worker. Continue reading...
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