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In the wake of relentless monsoon rains and subsequent flooding, the death toll in southeastern Bangladesh has risen to 48, with a number of individuals still reported missing.

Authorities confirmed on Friday that floodwaters have finally begun to recede, offering a glimmer of hope to the flood-ravaged region.

Since Monday, at least 1.2 million people across four southeastern districts – Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Bandarban, and Rangamati – have been severely affected by the floods, which have left thousands stranded and numerous homes destroyed. Among the casualties, two Rohingya refugees were tragically among the deceased.

In a concerted effort to provide aid and support, ten military units have joined hands with civil administration to conduct rescue and relief operations. The past four days have seen non-stop efforts to reach affected communities and deliver essential supplies.

Rakib Hasan, a senior official in Chattogram district, reported that while the waters are slowly receding, several areas remain marooned by floodwaters. He emphasised the ongoing necessity for potable water and sustenance for the affected populace. “We, with the assistance of army personnel and locals, continue the relief operation as people require potable water and food,” Hasan said.

The district of Bandarban, nestled in the hills, witnessed 10 fatalities and around 15,000 residents grappling with the aftermath of the floods. The deluge managed to destroy 3,700 homes, leaving families without shelter.

As the country’s largest man-made lake, Kaptai Lake in Rangamati district played a significant role in the flooding, causing water levels to surge. Even now, floodwaters persist in low-lying areas, exacerbating the crisis. The situation has led to the destruction of homes, crops, livestock, and fish pounds, leaving the locals in dire need.

With meteorologists predicting monsoon rains until August 15, the challenge for relief and rescue teams remains daunting.

Despite losing their last piece of territory in Syria in 2019, IS has maintained hideouts in the vast Syrian desert from which it has carried out ambushes and hit-and-run attacks.

IS “members targeted a military bus” in Deir Ezzor province on Thursday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The number of dead has risen to 26” soldiers, it said, revising an earlier toll of 23 and calling it the extremists’ deadliest attack on government forces this year.

The jihadists surrounded the bus and opened fire in Deir Ezzor province’s Mayadeen area, in Syria’s vast Badia desert, the Observatory added.

Eleven other soldiers were wounded, with some in critical condition, while troops previously thought to be missing were on other buses that managed to reach safe areas, said the Britain-based group which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

The official Syrian news agency SANA said the “terrorist attack” had caused a number of military casualties, citing an unidentified army source.

Syrian government forces and their allied pro-Iranian armed groups deployed in the area were on high alert on Friday morning, the Observatory reported.

The war monitor’s Rami Abdel Rahman said IS “has recently been escalating its deadly military attacks… aiming to cause as many deaths as possible”.

By doing so, the jihadists are trying to show that IS “is still active and powerful despite the targeting of its leaders”, he told AFP.

Last week, IS announced the death of its leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi, who it said was killed in clashes in northwestern Syria.

A spokesman for the group announced a new leader, known as Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, in a recorded message on its channels on the Telegram messaging app.

Spate of IS attacks

In March 2019, IS lost the last territory it held in Syria to a Kurdish-led counteroffensive backed by a US-led coalition, but jihadist remnants continue to carry out deadly attacks.

Targets have included civilians and Kurdish-led fighters as well as government troops and allied pro-Iranian fighters.

IS members in recent weeks have increased their attacks in Syria’s north and northeast.

Thursday’s attack was the third carried out by the jihadists this month alone.

Earlier this week, 10 Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed in an IS attack in the former jihadist stronghold of Raqa province, the Observatory said.

Last week, the jihadists attacked a convoy of oil tankers guarded by the army in the Syrian desert, killing seven people including two civilians.

And last month, IS claimed responsibility for a rare bombing in Damascus that killed at least six people near the capital’s Sayyida Zeinab mausoleum, Syria’s most visited Shiite pilgrimage site.

The Sunni Muslim extremist group’s brutal rule was marked by beheadings and mass shootings.

IS has had five leaders since it lost the last remnant of the once sprawling “caliphate” it proclaimed across large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

Four of them were killed, including the group’s first “caliph”, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died in a US raid in October 2019.

Civil war first broke out in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad’s government crushed peaceful protests in 2011. It has since drawn in foreign powers and global jihadists.

The conflict has killed more than half a million people and driven half of the country’s pre-war population from their homes, with many seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.

The fires became the deadliest natural disaster in the state’s history, surpassing that of a tsunami that killed 61 people on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1960, a year after Hawaii joined the United States.

Officials have warned that search teams with cadaver dogs could still find more dead from the fire that torched 1,000 buildings and left thousands homeless, likely requiring many years and billions of dollars to rebuild.

“Nobody has entered any of these structures that have burned down and that’s where we unfortunately anticipate that the death toll will rise significantly,” U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii told MSNBC.

He later told CNN that Lahaina resembled a bombed-out war zone where the heat melted engine blocks.

The Lahaina fire that spread from the brush to town was still burning but 85% contained, Maui County said in a statement. Two other wildfires on the island were 80% and 50% contained.

Three days after the disaster, it remained unclear whether some residents had received any warning before the fire engulfed their homes.

The island includes emergency sirens intended to warn of natural disasters and other threats, but they did not appear to have sounded during the fire.

“I authorized a comprehensive review this morning to make sure that we know exactly what happened and when,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN, referring the warning sirens.

Officials have not offered a detailed picture of precisely what notifications were sent out, and whether they were done via text message, email or phone calls.

Green described multiple, simultaneous challenges, with telecommunications down and firefighters concentrating on other major wildfires when the greatest threat to Lahaina arose.

In any event, he said, “We will do all that we can to find out how to protect our people more going forward.”

Maui County Fire Chief Bradford Ventura said at a Thursday press conference that the fire’s speed made it “nearly impossible” for frontline responders to communicate with the emergency management officials who would typically provide real-time evacuation orders.

“They were basically self-evacuating with fairly little notice,” he said, referring to residents of the neighborhood where the fire initially struck.

County Mayor Richard Bissen told NBC’s “Today” show on Friday that he did not know whether sirens went off but said the fire moved extraordinarily quickly.

“I think this was an impossible situation,” he said.

The disaster began unfolding just after midnight on Tuesday when a brush fire was reported in the town of Kula, roughly 35 miles (56 km) from Lahaina. About five hours later that morning, power was knocked out in Lahaina, according to residents.

In updates posted on Facebook that morning, Maui County said the Kula fire had consumed hundreds of acres of pastureland, but that a small three-acre (1.2-hecatre) brush fire that cropped up in Lahaina had been contained.

By that afternoon, however, the situation had turned more dire. At around 3:30 p.m., according to the county’s updates, the Lahaina fire suddenly flared up. Some residents began evacuating while people, including hotel guests, on the town’s west side were instructed to shelter in place.

In the ensuing hours, the county posted a series of evacuation orders on Facebook as the fire spread through the town.

Some witnesses said they had little advance notice, describing their terror when the blaze consumed Lahaina in what seemed a matter of minutes. Several people were forced to leap into the Pacific Ocean to save themselves.

The Lahaina evacuation was complicated by its coastal location next to hills, meaning there were only two ways out, at best, said Andrew Rumbach, a specialist in climate and communities at the Urban Institute in Washington.

“This is the nightmare scenario,” said Rumbach, a former urban planning professor at the University of Hawaii. “A fast-moving fire in a densely populated place with difficult communications, and not a lot of good options in terms of evacuations.”

In a major development as the nation is heading towards general elections, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif would return to the country next month and face the law.

In an interview with Geo News’ Capital Talk programme host Hamid Mir, the outgoing premier said he would travel to London to meet his elder brother Nawaz as soon as the caretaker government took charge.

 

“Nawaz Sharif will come back to Pakistan next month and will face the law and lead the election campaign,” the incumbent prime minister said without giving the exact date of Nawaz’s homecoming who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 owing to health reasons.

Nawaz went to London in November 2019 for medical treatment after he was convicted by an accountability court in graft cases and he has been living there since then.

In 2016, Nawaz stepped down as the prime minister after the Supreme Court disqualified him for life for concealing assets.

Later, the PML-N supremo was convicted in the Al-Azizia and the Aveinfeild Apartment references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which emerged in the aftermath of the Panama Papers leak.

His appeals against the conviction are currently pending in the relevant courts.

“He [Nawaz] will neither wear a hat nor a bucket,” PM Shehbaz said in today’s interview while taking a thinly veiled jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan who dons a bulletproof helmet while appearing for court hearings.

Shehbaz, who is also the PML-N president, hoped that his party will win the next general elections and he will work as an activist of the party under the Nawaz-led government.

His statement comes as the process to appoint caretaker setup formally kicked off with the dissolution of the National Assembly prematurely a day earlier on August 9.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the multi-party alliance, decided to dissolve the assembly three days ahead of its constitutional completion to allow the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections in the country within 90 days instead of 60 days stipulated time period if legislature completes its term.

However, the general elections in the country are likely to be delayed as the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approved the 2023 census, requiring the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out fresh delimitation — an exercise likely to take three to four months.

Caretaker PM

Speaking about his meeting with NA Opposition Leader Raja Riaz to deliberate on the interim PM name, the PM said: “It is hoped that the name of caretaker prime minister will be agreed upon before three days.”

Under the Constitution, the PM and the opposition leader have three days to finalise the caretaker PM name. In the first round of consultation earlier today, they failed to reach a consensus on the interim PM name.

“It has been decided that another round of consultation will be held tomorrow (Friday). Till a name is not finalised no name will be revealed,” said the NA opposition leader following the meeting.

His statement indicated that both sides are keeping cards close to their chest. However, Riaz did confirm that he had shared the names of his candidates with the premier, hoping that things will clear out tomorrow.

“I will meet [NA opposition leader] again tomorrow to hold consultation on the name of caretaker prime minister,” the PM added.

PM Shehbaz said he will also consult his brother Nawaz regarding the appointment of caretaker prime minister.

Amid concerns that polls might be delayed, PM Shehbaz said general elections should be held as soon as possible, adding that the ECP is responsible for holding elections in the country, not the caretaker setup.

Downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm, Khanun made landfall on the southeast coast, and was heading towards the South Korean capital Seoul.

Khanun could also strike North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, early on Friday and state media there reported that the military and the ruling party had been ordered to prepare flood-mitigation measures and salvage crops.

Schools closed, over 14,000 people evacuated from flood-hit areas

In South Korea, some 350 flights and 450 train routes were cancelled, and more than 14,000 people were moved to safety, the interior ministry said.

One person was missing in the south-eastern city of Daegu after falling into the river in a wheelchair, the ministry said, adding it was looking into the death of another person in the same city.

The storm brought up to 60 mm (2.4 inches) of rain per hour in some east coast towns, and maximum wind speeds of 126 kilometres per hour in the port city of Busan, the weather agency said.

Khanun losing a little speed as it moved northwards at 23 kph toward the greater Seoul area.“I’m worried that people living in lowlands or making a living by farming and fishing would suffer,” said Kim Wi-jeong, a 33-year-old office worker living in the capital.

Lashing out at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for grave human rights violations, atrocities and annexation of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) by revoking its special status in 2019, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday said that the “Butcher of Gujarat” will become a slaughterman of the disputed territory.

Addressing a presser to highlight the achievement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during his tenure, Bilawal reiterated that Pakistan’s stance over its relations with India was very clear and consistent; unless it revoked its illegal and unilateral acts of 2019 over occupied Jammu and Kashmir, there was no space to meaningful engagement, APP reported.

India had not only violated international laws and the United Nations Security Council resolutions but also the bilateral agreements between the two countries, he added.

“There is no space left for Pakistan to meaningfully engage with India,” the foreign minister added.

Bilawal said he had already maintained during the previous government’s tenure that they should not expect anything good from Modi, who was a “butcher of Gujarat” and was quite different from Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

SCO summit

Kashmir issue had been a consistent component of the foreign policy, he said and enumerated Pakistan’s efforts to address issues of Islamophobia and desecration of the Holy Quran, leading to the adoption of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council.

To a quarry, the foreign minister said he went to Goa to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting despite serious reservations and carrying head money, to present Pakistan’s stance and tried to utilise the space available for the pronounce Pakistan’s interests.

He said due to his participation in SCO where he presented Pakistan’s stance clearly, India went on the back foot and held the SCO heads of states summit virtually.

About sending Pakistan national team to contest the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, he said contrary to India’s indulgence in immature acts, Pakistan always maintained that there should be a difference between politics and sports, adding that they still had security concerns as the security of the national team could not be compromised; and they had conveyed such to the ICC and India.

Pakistan was not interested in the bloc politics and did not want to be part of any polar world because they wanted to serve their 224 million population, he said, adding that if they were drawn into others’ interests, then they would be distracted.

Uptick in terror incidents

Responding to a question about Afghanistan, the foreign minister said that certain opinions were being formed across the world on the basis of ground realities.

If they wanted diplomatic recognition, the Afghan interim government would have to address the international concerns, but if they continued with their statements, it would create complications and the Afghan people would continue to suffer, he added.

The foreign minister said that after the fall of Kabul, there was a sharp spike in terrorist incidents in Pakistan and stressed that cooperation and engagement between the two countries was necessary to tackle the issue.

He said Pakistan remained engaged with the Afghan leadership. About women’s education issue, he said, Pakistan had a very open and clear stance.

Terming the fight against terrorism as their own fight, the foreign minister said that Pakistan had been the largest country in the world affected by the curse of terrorism.

He said that they wanted to save the next generations and would not allow the enemies of the religion, country and people to cause any further harm.

The foreign minister also expressed strong opposition to the previous government’s policy over the terrorists hiding in Afghanistan.

The foreign minister expressed the satisfaction that at the diplomatic front, they moved ahead with ‘damage control’ during the last 16 months.

He regretted that the PTI’s government had caused damage to the country’s relations with world capitals and strongly disagreed with the gesture of the former prime minister waving a letter sent by the EU in public.

Ukraine conflict

About the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said that Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of the issue.

He said they did not want to see the relationship with Russia through the prism of the ongoing issue, as they wanted to collectively unlock the immense potential between the two countries. They prayed that diplomacy and peace would prevail, he added.

The foreign minister said Pakistan was committed to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

Earlier, the foreign minister highlighted the achievements of his ministry on the diplomatic fronts and global fora with increased outreach and extensive engagements with the international community.

He said Pakistan engaged with the US, Europe and the UK through bilateral and multilateral meetings.

Removal from FATF’s grey list and hosting of the Geneva conference were some of the conspicuous achievements for f Pakistan, he added.

Visa facilitation and cooperation in science and technology resulted in the opening of doors for Pakistanis seeking jobs abroad, he said, adding they had corrected the diplomatic course.

The foreign minister said that during his tenure in office, they never compromised on the core issue of Kashmir and effectively advocated for the oppressed people of Kashmir at all fora.

The foreign minister thanked the UN Secretary-General for his efforts to support Pakistan during last year’s floods.

He said that they would provide 2 million climate-resilient houses to the flood-affected people in Sindh, adding that a huge number of educational institutions and roads network were also affected by that natural calamity.