Millions marooned as worst floods in 20 years ravage Bangladesh

Floods are a regular menace to millions of people in low-lying Bangladesh and neighbouring northeast India, but many experts say that climate change is increasing the frequency, ferocity and unpredictability.

In the past week after heavy rains in India, floodwater breached a major embankment in Bangladesh’s Sylhet region, affecting around two million people, swamping dozens of villages and killing at least 10.

Arifuzzman Bhuiyan, head of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, said that the floods had hit some 70 percent of Sylhet district and about 60 percent of neighbouring Sunamganj. “It is one of the worst floods in the region,” he said.

But he said the situation would improve further in the next few days after heavy rains stopped.

Police said that a scuffle broke out in the rural town of Companyganj on Saturday as authorities stepped up relief operations for the roughly two million people hit.

“There were more flood-affected people than the estimated relief packs. At one point everyone started to snatch relief goods when police dispersed the crowd,” local police chief Sukanto Chakrobarti said.

Mozibur Rahman, head of Sylhet district, said that the embankment washed away along the Bangladesh-India border was yet to be repaired.

“It is impossible to fix the embankment unless waterflow from India plunges. The inundation scenario in Sylhet city has improved. But outer towns are still underwater,” Rahman said.

“We are trying to send relief and have opened hundreds of shelters for the flood-hit people.” Mofizul Islam, a resident of Sylhet city where floodwaters were slowly subsiding, said that he fell off his motorbike after he hit a pothole hidden under the water on Sunday.

“It is very risky for the people who are going out today,” Islam said.

50 die in India

Over the border in India, around 50 people have been killed in days of flooding, landslides and thunderstorms, according to local disaster management authorities.

In the north-eastern state of Assam, authorities said on Sunday that the death toll from the floods had reached 18.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), almost 3,250 villages were partially or fully submerged.

ASDMA officials said the situation had improved slightly but that it remained critical in some districts.

According to their estimate, more than 92,000 people were in relief camps. The state and national rescue forces, helped by the army, were working to rescue people from villages and distribute food, clean drinking water and other essentials, as well as to clear roads.

West of Assam, at least 33 people were killed in Bihar state in thunderstorms on Thursday.

Bihar, in common with other parts of northern India and Pakistan, has been suffering an intense heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

Many Afghan soldiers fled to Pakistan after Kabul’s fall, says US report

The office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported this week that in July 2021, the Taliban “started seizing border crossings with Pakistan and Iran, depriving the Afghan government of critical customs revenues”.

The report noted that Afghan soldiers started crossing into Pakistan weeks before Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021.

“Many Afghan soldiers reportedly escaped to Pakistan as the Taliban attacks on districts and provincial capitals intensified weeks before the Afghan government’s collapse,” the report added.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR reported early this year that more than 300,000 Afghans had fled to Pakistan between August 2021 and January 2022. But it did not say how many of those were from the military.

On July 26, 2021, the Associated Press news agency reported that 46 members of the Afghan forces, including five officers, crossed into Chitral.

Pakistan among countries exposed to war in Ukraine

A policy brief on “the War in Ukraine: Impacts, Exposure and Policy Issues in Asia and the Pacific” — which was made available online on Sunday — feared that these 12 countries could be hit harder because their economic structure and conditions are more exposed to higher energy and food prices, smaller external financial inflows, rising financial costs and a sudden shift in business sentiments.

The countries are: Armenia, Cambodia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, the Maldives, Pakistan, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Vanuatu.

In terms of energy, the policy paper says Cambodia, Pakistan, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are considered more exposed to rising energy prices than other Asia-Pacific countries. In case of both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the external debt stock and debt service ratios exceed the threshold values. Pakistan is more exposed to external debt and banking sector, it says.

UN policy paper fears 12 countries could be hit hard because of their economic structure

ESCAP is already engaged with many Asia-Pacific countries that are considered more exposed to the war in Ukraine. These include, among others, a readiness assessment for cross-border paperless trade in Armenia and Kazakhstan; training for women entrepreneurs in e-commerce and digital marketing in the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impacts on supply chain connectivity in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan; policy advice on sustainable freight transport in Sri Lanka; and policy options to enhance the fiscal space in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

Surging global energy and food prices are pushing up consumer inflation, which will disproportionately hurt poor households. At the same time, rising interest rates amid surging inflation are impairing households’ balance sheets, investor confidence and governments’ debt service ability.

To shield the poor from rising food prices, governments should step-up provision of subsidies and ensure that existing government assistance and subsidy schemes benefit those in need. This would require, however, strong fiscal positions, which had already deteriorated in many Asia-Pacific economies in the aftermath of the pandemic.

To boost fiscal space and maintain public debt sustainability, various fiscal and financing policy options are available and should be explored on urgent basis.

Amid rising economic uncertainty, global investors are shifting towards safe-haven markets, causing a rise in risk premiums in developing countries worldwide. Through these transmission channels, the war would result in weaker economic growth, wider fiscal and current account deficits and higher financing costs in the region.

Given that most Asia-Pacific countries are net energy and food importers and that food and energy items account for up to 40 per cent of the consumer price index basket in many economies, the region’s average headline inflation rose to 7.3 per cent in March 2022.

Similarly, inflation rate in Pakistan edged up to 13.4 per cent in April 2022, which is more than double the central bank’s inflation target. In addition to weighing down overall household consumption, rising food and energy prices will disproportionately affect poor households.

Suggesting selected policy options, the policy paper says the countries should introduce at least temporarily, trade liberalisation and facilitation measures for affected products as short-term policies in the area of trade and investment. In the medium term, countries can accelerate digital trade facilitation which can help cut trade costs, shorten delivery times, and reduce losses of perishable agricultural products.

The regional countries should explore viable fiscal and financial policy options to boost fiscal space and promote policy credibility. They can cut temporarily consumption taxes on necessary items, and expand the scale and coverage of national emergency financing mechanisms to cope with economic shocks. At the same time, public debt management practices could be enhanced to better manage growing debt stocks and benefit from lower borrowing costs.

The Asia-Pacific region recorded mixed export performance in recent months, but export growth is expected to moderate in the coming months. More broadly, weaker export earnings and declining investment inflows together with adverse terms-of-trade could lead to significant balance-of-payments pressures in some countries.

Some indicators also point to worsening sentiments related to tourism activity. Travel sentiments in Asia and the Pacific, which are based on travel-related web social conversations, have weakened steadily in March and April 2022.

Higher global interest rates and economic uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine are pushing up financing costs for Asia-Pacific governments. In addition to higher financing costs, the war will also weaken fiscal positions of most economies of the region through higher subsidy costs of energy and food items and lower tax revenues. This is a concern considering that the region’s average fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio already increased from 1.3 per cent in 2019 to 5.3 per cent during 2020-2021.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul in support of the leading opposition figure, Canan Kaftancioglu.

Kaftancioglu, who heads the secular Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul branch, smiled and waved to the cheering crowds.

She has received a criminal conviction for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish state.

The 50 year old now faces a suspended prison sentence.

Some of the charges relate to messages published on Twitter 10 years ago.

Canan Kaftancioglu has said the charges against her are politically motivated
During Saturday’s rally protesters unfolded a giant poster of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – the founder of the modern secular Turkish state

Kaftancioglu has repeatedly said the charges are politically motivated.

She was involved in the CHP’s triumph in Istanbul’s mayoral election in 2019, defeating President Erdogan’s governing AK party.

President Erdogan has faced accusations from the West and human rights groups for his crackdown on the judiciary and other state bodies after a failed coup in 2016.

In 2019, Kaftancioglu was sentenced to nine years, eight months and 20 days in prison.

After an appeal the term was reduced to just under five years.

Under Turkish law, sentences of under five years are usually suspended.

Kaftancioglu was accused of “insulting” President Erdogan and the Turkish state in the posts, as well as “spreading terror propaganda”.

The charges related to 2013 anti-government protests and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia’s new leader and will fly immediately to an international summit.

Mr Albanese’s Labor Party defeated Scott Morrison’s conservative government in an election on Saturday.

It remains unclear whether Mr Albanese will form a majority or govern with the support of crossbenchers.

The prime minister left for Tokyo on Monday to meet the leaders of the so-called Quad nations – the US, India and Japan.

Earlier in the day, he was sworn in with four key cabinet members, including new Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is travelling with him to Japan.

Richard Marles is the new deputy prime minister and employment minister, Jim Chalmers is treasurer, and Katy Gallagher is attorney-general and finance minister.

It is Australia’s first Labor government in almost a decade. The party has won 72 lower house seats but counting continues to determine whether they can get the 76 needed to form a majority.

But the primary vote for both major parties fell – almost a third of Australians put the Greens, independents and other minor parties as their first preference.

 

The Quad group is seen as largely aiming to counter growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

It will meet on Tuesday following recent diplomatic tensions in the Pacific, after the Solomon Islands last month signed a security pact with China.

Penny Wong is the first overseas-born person to be foreign minister

The US and Australia hold fears the deal could allow China to build a naval base there.

In a statement ahead of the meeting, Mr Albanese said: “The Quad Leaders’ Summit brings together four leaders of great liberal democracies – Australia, Japan, India, and the United States of America – in support of a free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific.”

Ms Wong – Australia’s first overseas-born foreign minister – signalled they would bring “new energy and much more to the table” on climate action, after “a lost decade”.

Climate change played a huge role in the election result, with a surge in support for candidates wanting urgent action.

Mr Morrison’s government had committed to a 2030 emissions reduction target of 26%-28% – about half that of the UK and US. Mr Albanese’s government has a target of 43%.

The Greens have picked up seats in Queensland, usually considered a conservative heartland

The Greens are expected to pick up four lower seats, adding to seven climate-focused independents. They could put pressure on Labor to take even stronger action, especially if it fails to reach a majority.

Mr Morrison’s unpopularity and his party’s stance on climate have been blamed by some Liberal MPs for wiping out their vote.

Losses included senior party figures, including deputy leader Josh Frydenberg, in traditional Liberal strongholds.

Mr Morrison stepped down as party leader on Saturday and former defence minister Peter Dutton is the favourite to succeed him.

Mr Dutton – from the party’s right – has been a controversial figure at times. Some question whether he could rebuild Liberal support in more progressive, metropolitan areas.

It’s been a busy few days for Mr Albanese. Since Saturday he has won an election, been sworn in as PM, and is now on his way to the Quad.

It’s fitting that Australia’s new leader would hit the ground running. There’s a lot to get to domestically and globally.

Mr Albanese has said the Quad alliance is an absolute priority for Australia. This meeting comes at a crucial and tense time in the region with a growing Chinese influence that’s making Australia and its allies nervous.

The recent China defence deal with the Solomon Islands is seen as a threat to Australia’s status as a strategic partner to Pacific nations. But there’s a fine balance Mr Albanese needs to strike.

He needs to address China’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific while also repairing a relationship with Beijing that’s fractured significantly since the beginning of the pandemic when Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the Covid virus.

China is now a very angry strategic trade partner. And the other Quad members will need to be reassured that Mr Albanese has a plan to manage the complicated relationship.

The prime minister says this trip is a chance for Australia to send a message globally that it is changing its approach on crucial policies such as climate change.

This is now being called the climate election. Mr Albanese wants to tell his allies and the world that under his leadership they’ll be dealing with a new and more globally-engaged Australia.

Nearly 900,000 homes in southern Canada were left without power on Saturday after a severe storm hit the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Seven people were killed by falling trees and a woman died when a boat capsized in the Ottawa River.

Wind gusts reached 82 mph (132km/h) during the storm, according to Environment Canada.

Power company Hydro One, which covers Ontario, said it would take several days to reconnect every home.

Meanwhile, Hydro Quebec said 550,000 homes there lost power, with nearly 400,000 still suffering outages as of 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Sunday evening that the federal government was preparing to step in to help those affected.

“The storms that swept across Ontario and Quebec yesterday caused serious damage, claimed several lives, and left many without power,” Mr Trudeau said.

“We’re thinking of everyone affected, and thanking the crews who are working to restore power – we stand ready to provide federal support if needed.”

Pictures on Canadian media showed firefighters and utility workers trying to untangle downed powerlines and poles that are lying over cars on a road in Ottawa.

The town of Uxbridge, about an hour north of Toronto, has declared a state of emergency after the storm left “significant damage in its wake”, a statement said.

The powerful thunderstorm, which lasted more than two hours, felled many trees, disrupted traffic, damaged homes and saw emergency services inundated with calls for help.

Experts said the storm, which spanned across an area of around 621 miles (1,000km), was caused by a rare phenomenon called “derecho”.

Derenchos are caused when a fast moving group of thunderstorms band together and mostly occur during summer months.

Uprooted and overturned

The seven people killed by falling trees and branches were in the eastern Ontario province.

Provincial Police said a 59-year-old man was killed when a tree was uprooted on a golf course in the capital, Ottawa. East of the city, local media reported that a 44-year-old man was killed in Greater Madawaska.

One person died and two others were injured by an uprooted tree at a campsite about 60 miles (100km) from Toronto, and a woman in her 70s was killed while out walking in the suburb of Brampton, in the Greater Toronto area.

In neighbouring province Quebec, police told local media that a 51-year-old woman drowned when a boat overturned in the Ottawa River, which runs through both provinces.

Anyone at high risk of having caught monkeypox should isolate for 21 days, the latest official guidance says.

The advice, from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), applies to anyone who has had direct or household contact with a confirmed case.

Contacts are advised to provide their details for contact tracing, forgo travel, and avoid contact with immunosuppressed people, pregnant women, and children under 12.

The UK has so far confirmed 20 cases.

More than 80 have also been identified across Europe, the US, Canada, Israel, and Australia.

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa. The disease, first found in monkeys, does not tend to spread easily between people but can be transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse.

Symptoms, which include a high temperature, aches, and a rash of raised spots that later turn into blisters, are typically mild and for most people clear up within two to four weeks.

A person is considered at high risk of having caught the infection if they have had household or sexual contact with, or have changed the bedding of an infected person without wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, said community transmission was occurring in the UK.

“We are finding cases that have no identified contact with an individual from west Africa, which is what we’ve seen previously in this country,” she said.

The UKHSA has said that a notable proportion of early cases have been detected in gay and bisexual men and has urged members of those communities in particular to be alert.

The cases have also been largely concentrated in urban areas.

“We would recommend to anyone who is having changes in sex partners regularly, or having close contact with individuals that they don’t know, to come forward if they develop a rash,” said Dr Hopkins.

She added that there was currently no vaccine for monkeypox, but that close contacts of cases were being given an established smallpox vaccine.

“We’re not using [the vaccine] in the general population,” she said. “We’re using it in individuals who we believe are at high risk of developing symptoms, and using it early, particularly within four or five days of the case developing symptoms.

“For contacts, [this] reduces your risk of developing disease, so that’s how we’re focusing our vaccination efforts at this point.”

Dr Susan Hopkins of the UKHSA encouraged anyone who developed symptoms of monkeypox to come forward

It is not yet clear why this unexpected outbreak is happening now.

One possibility is that the virus has changed in some way, although currently there is little evidence to suggest this is a new variant.

Another explanation is that the virus has found itself in the right place at the right time to thrive.

Monkeypox may also spread more easily than it did in the past, when the smallpox vaccine was widely used.

Smallpox vaccines are around 85% effective in preventing monkeypox infection, and several countries have said they have begun stockpiling them.

The World Health Organization has said it is “working with the affected countries and others to expand disease surveillance to find and support people who may be affected”.

It’s head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the world was facing “formidable” challenges, including Covid, the war in Ukraine and monkeypox.

Asked about the outbreak on Sunday, US President Joe Biden said the spread of the virus was “something that everybody should be concerned about” and that the US was “working hard” on its response.

Civil servant Sue Gray is finalising her report into Downing Street events during lockdown and is expected to publish her findings this week.

The release of the full report had been delayed until an inquiry by the Metropolitan Police concluded.

That inquiry ended last week with 126 fines being handed to 83 people, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A number of people were informed over the weekend they were likely to be named in Ms Gray’s findings.

They had until 17:00 BST on Sunday to register any objections, a development that Whitehall sources told the BBC could have further delayed the release of the report.

Ms Gray’s report is expected to be critical of those overseeing a culture in Number 10 in which lockdown breaches could occur.

 

An interim version, published in January, did not name individuals but did criticise “failures of leadership and judgement”, and said some events should not have “been allowed to take place”.

The evidence in the report is said to include a total of 510 images. The BBC understands it is unlikely all the images will be released, although it is possible some will be published to illustrate the nature of the gatherings.

Asked on BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme whether all the evidence would be released, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi replied: “I would absolutely welcome it. It’s the right thing to do.”

The prime minister is among those who received fines for lockdown breaches

Mr Zahawi also had to rebut claims by opposition figures that a meeting between Ms Gray and the prime minister that took place several week ago but only came to light over the weekend, could undermine confidence in the investigation.

“The [prime minister] has always said that Sue Gray can take the report to wherever the evidence takes her. The prime minister will not interfere or intervene in the report,” he said.

“Sue Gray… is professional and has the highest level of integrity. She is independent.”

The prime minister faces a further inquiry by the Commons’ Privileges Committee about whether he lied to Parliament when he previously told MPs that no laws had been broken in Downing Street.

Under government guidelines, ministers who knowingly mislead the House of Commons are expected to resign.

ScotRail’s new timetable, which will see almost 700 fewer train services a day, begins on Monday as the deadlock over driver pay continues.

The move, which will see the last train on many routes departing before 20:00, follows a third Sunday of disruption.

Drivers’ union Aslef has argued a 2.2% pay rise is not acceptable at a time of soaring inflation.

Employment minister Richard Lochhead said he understood the pressures but urged “sensible” pay claims.

 

Hundreds of trains have been cancelled since 8 May when many drivers opted not to work overtime.

Aslef and the RMT union are both balloting members for strike action after rejecting the pay offer.

Ministers insist that scaling back the number of services under the new temporary timetable will reduce the need for cancellations.

But hospitality and entertainment businesses have warned the transport situation will affect their income, while some commuters are concerned they could be struggling to get home using the rail network.

The original May 2022 timetable had approximately 2,150 weekday services, but from Monday this will be reduced temporarily by a third to 1,456.

Opposition politicians have criticised the move which comes after a Scottish government owned company took over the running of ScotRail last month.

The previous operator Abellio had its franchise ended early amid criticism of the quality of the service.

Speaking on Sunday, when more than 300 services were cancelled, ScotRail’s service delivery director, conceded the temporary timetable would see a reduction in service but said it would also provide customers with “a level of certainty and reliability”.

David Simpson added: “In order to provide a robust timetable with the limited number of available train drivers, we’ve had to make some very difficult decisions and this has meant we’ve been unable to provide a full day’s service across every route.

“We will review the service levels and make any improvements we can as quickly as possible. We’re sorry to our customers for the disruption they’ve faced, and we share their frustration.”

Mr Simpson said the operator wanted to resolve the dispute and remained open to further talks with the trade unions.

Recruitment challenge

It is believed ScotRail needs 130 new drivers to end its reliance on rest-day working.

The operator has been dependent on drivers working extra hours, following delays in training new staff during the Covid pandemic.

Under the new timetable the last train on many routes will now depart up to four hours earlier than usual.

The frequency of many services will also be reduced with, for example, only one direct service a day running from Mallaig, Lochaber to Glasgow at 06:03.

This compares to three under the old timetable and means the only other option is the 18:15 service. It goes via Fort William, where passengers must change to the Caledonian Sleeper.

The Scottish government has said a train driver in Scotland typically earns more than £50,000 a year, and has urged the rail unions to negotiate with ScotRail.

Asked on the BBC’s The Sunday Show if the unions were making reasonable demands, Employment Minister Richard Lochhead said: “My message to all workers in Scotland, in all these sectors, is that we have to sensible.

“Everything has to be affordable because the country is in a very precarious position at the moment and if we take wrong decisions we could end up with a recession.”

But Aslef rejected his comments, saying it was “not sensible” to offer a 2.2% pay increase with inflation running at the current levels.

Scottish organiser Kevin Lindsay called on ScotRail to get back to the negotiating table so the “ridiculous timetable cuts” could be withdrawn.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last week she hoped the timetable would get back to normal “as quickly as possible”.

However, this will depend on either a resolution to the pay row or new drivers completing their training, which is expected to take a few months.

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth has said she expects 38 new drivers to be qualified by the end of the summer, 55 by the end of the year, and 100 by June 2023.

She has previously described the practice of rest day working as “outdated” and that the Scottish government was looking to phase it out.

Tourist plane crash kills five in France: emergency services

Five people, including four members of the same family, were killed in a tourist plane crash in the French Alps on Saturday, rescue services said.

The accident happened in the afternoon shortly after take-off from the Versoud airfield near Grenoble in southeast France, for what should have been a half-hour flight.

Eye-witnesses to the crash tipped off the emergency services, who found the bodies of four adults and a child inside the plane’s burnt-out wreckage.

Around 60 firefighters were deployed to the site to put out the fire.

Grenoble prosecutors have ordered an investigation into what happened, said regional officials.