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☆ Gulmarg: Snow has returned to Asia’s highest ski resort. Here’s what visitors going there now can expect
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Ramaa Reddy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —In early January, anyone who visited the ski resort village of Gulmarg in Indian-administered Kashmir with hopes of actually skiing was out of luck. A severe snow shortage, blamed on dry weather, threatened to derail the entire winter season, leaving both travelers and tourism operators disappointed. Regardless of whether you’re a full-time athlete or someone who enjoys skiing and snowboarding for fun, Gulmarg offers a winter experience like no other. Today, travelers headed for Asia’s highest ski resort can enjoy over 1,330 vertical meters (4,363 feet) of skiable terrain, with lifts offering access to four separate skiing zones on Mount Apharwat. Many of those visitors don’t ski but just ride up the gondola to play in the snow and take in the views at the top.

Persons: Mukhtar Ahmad, Nanga Parbat, ”, Brian Newman, Newman, “, ” Mehmood Ahmad Lone, –, nans, Kababs, Rogan Josh, Kati, It’s, Mount Apharwat, Colonel Mirza Zahid Baig, Gulmarg, Javedh Ahmad Reshi Organizations: CNN, El, El Nino, Adventure, Hindustan Times, Newman’s, US Department of State, Warfare, USA Locations: Gulmarg, Kashmir, India, Mount Apharwat, British, Apharwat, Nanga, Colorado, Europe, North America, Pakistan, Khyber, Highland, Hilltop, Kashmir’s, Srinagar, Mount

☆ Tackling Climate Change in the Birthplace of Oil
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Manuela Andreoni | More About Manuela Andreoni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the second year in a row, the United Nations climate summit known as COP will take place in a petrostate. COP29 will be in Baku, Azerbaijan, and overseen by Mukhtar Babayev, who worked for more than two decades at Socar, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company. There’s a precedent: Last year’s climate summit was controversially hosted by the United Arab Emirates and led by Sultan Al Jaber, who also runs the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It remains to be seen whether Babayev, a former low-ranking executive who is now Azerbaijan’s environment minister, will have the same impact. But there is also a poignant historical resonance to COP29: By some measures, Azerbaijan is where the modern oil industry began.

Persons: Mukhtar Babayev, There’s, Sultan Al Jaber, Al Jaber’s, COP28 Organizations: United Arab, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: United Nations, Baku, Azerbaijan, Socar, Azerbaijan’s, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi

☆ ‘Bad case of déjà vu’: Oil industry veteran to lead next round of UN climate talks in Azerbaijan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Azerbaijan's Minister for ecology and natural resources and formerly an executive at state oil company SOCAR Mukhtar Babayev (C) visits at the Norm cement plant in Baku, on February 23, 2023. Azerbaijan named on January 5, 2024, Mukhtar Babayev minister to preside over the November 2024 COP29 meeting, in Baku, on January 6, 2024. A former executive of Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas firm SOCAR has been picked to lead U.N. climate talks in Baku later this year, prompting critics to decry a "bad case of déjà vu." It means that a minister with vast experience in oil and gas will lead negotiations at the U.N.'s biggest and most important annual climate conference for the second consecutive year. Campaign group Global Witness said Babayev's appointment as the person to lead COP29 discussions was a "bad case of déjà vu."

Persons: SOCAR Mukhtar Babayev, Mukhtar, decry, Mukhtar Babayev, Babayev, Jaber, COP28, Alice Harrison, Harrison Organizations: Norm, United, Emirates, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Global, United Nations, CNBC Locations: Baku, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan's, Sultan Al, Dubai, Abu Dhabi

Now they say they have nowhere to hide from intense flooding as rainfall exacerbated by the weather phenomenon El Nino pummels large parts of Somalia. Somalia's federal government declared a state of emergency in October after extreme weather exacerbated by El Nino destroyed homes, roads and bridges. Scientists believe climate change is making El Nino stronger. Hakima said her family may be safe from flooding in their camp, but they are hungry and desperate for warm shelter. At least 53 people have been confirmed killed by flooding across Somalia, said Hassan Issee, who manages emergency operations at the Somalia Disaster Management Agency.

Persons: Nino, Hakima Mohamud, “, El Nino, El, Beledweyne, Hakima, ”, Mukhtar Moalim, Hassan Issee, Hamza Abdi Barre Organizations: El Nino, Information Management, Somalia Disaster Management Agency Locations: MOGADISHU, Somalia, Ethiopia, Beledweyne, Shabab, Somali, Kutiimo, Horn of Africa, Kenya, Hiran, Mogadishu, Dollow, Gedo, Africa, africa

☆ Libya floods: what caused them and why are they so bad?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Aerial view of Derna city, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya September 14, 2023. After pummelling other Mediterranean countries, the powerful Storm Daniel swept into Libya at the weekend, unleashing record amounts of rain as it made landfall. The rain dumped by the storm filled a normally dry riverbed, or wadi, in the hills south of Derna. The pressure was too much for two dams built to protect the city from floods. He cited five floods since 1942, and called for immediate steps to ensure regular maintenance of the dams.

Persons: Ayman Al, Storm Daniel, hydrologist, Omar Al, Mukhtar, Abdulmenam Ghaithi, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, OCHA, Ghaithi, Muammar Gaddafi, Derna, Tom Perry, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, World Meteorological Organization, Mukhtar University, Infrastructure, Humanitarian Affairs, Reuters, International Federation of, Red Crescent Societies, United Arab, Rescuers, Derna, Thomson Locations: Derna, Libya, Libyan, Egypt, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Tripoli

☆ Devastation in Derna
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Swathes of Derna, a city of 125,000 residents, were obliterated by the flood on Sunday night, bringing down multi-storey buildings while families were asleep. Map showing the footprint of buildings in Derna, highlighting those which appear to be completely washed away. Drone shots of Derna, Libya. REUTERS Drone shots of Derna, Libya. A view shows the damaged cars, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya.

Persons: Abdulmenam, Ghaithi, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, Mustafa Salem, “, hydrologist, Omar Al, Mukhtar, Storm Daniel, ”, Suzanne Gray, Muammar Gaddafi, Omran Organizations: Planet Labs PBC, Reuters, REUTERS, Plant Labs, Mukhtar University, Britain's University of Reading, Al, National Meteorological Centre, NATO, of National Unity, Fetori Locations: Libya, Derna, Greece, Tripoli

General view of flood water covering the area as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Al-Mukhaili, Libya September 11, 2023, in this handout picture. As the storm moved along the North African coast, Egypt's authorities sought to calm its worried citizens by telling them Daniel had finally lost its strength. For Greece, the storm that formed on Sept. 4 followed a period of blazing heat and wildfires. Before Storm Daniel struck, hydrologist Abdelwanees A. R. Ashoor of Libya's Omar Al-Mukhtar University had warned that repeated flooding of the wadi posed a threat to Derna. Yet even better-resourced Greece struggled to deal with the power of Storm Daniel.

Persons: Daniel, Storm Daniel, Suzanne Gray, Christos Zerefos, Leslie Mabon, hydrologist, Omar Al, Mukhtar University, Edmund Blair, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Ahram, Britain's University of Reading, International Federation of, Red Crescent Societies, Academy of Athens, The Open University, Homes, Thomson Locations: Mukhaili, Libya, Handout, Greece, Derna, ATHENS, LONDON, Thessaly, Britain

"We can confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far," he told reporters via video link. 'NEVER FELT AS FRIGHTENED'[1/6]People are stuck on a road as a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Shahhat city, Libya, September 11. At Tripoli airport in northwest Libya, a woman started to wail loudly as she received a call saying most of her family were dead or missing. "If a huge flood happens the result will be catastrophic for the people of the wadi and the city," the paper said. Pope Francis was among world leaders who said they were deeply saddened by the deaths and destruction in Libya.

Persons: Daniel, Storm Daniel, Abu Chkiouat, Derna, Al Jazeera, Tamer Ramadan, Martin Griffiths, Ali Al, Saadi, Mostafa Salem, Salem, wail, Walid Abdulati, Karim al, Al, Khalifah, hydrologist, Omar Al, Mukhtar, Pope Francis, Tarek Amara, Ayman Werfali, Ahmed Elumami, Al Bayda, Laila Bassam, Friedrieke Heine, Angus McDowall, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Clauda Tanios, Jana Choukeir, Gavin Jones, Emma Farge, Tom Perry, Ingrid Melander, Alison Williams, Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: UN, Storm, Reuters, International Federation of, Red Crescent Societies, United, REUTERS, Libyan, Mukhtar University, Norway's Refugee, Thomson Locations: Libya's, Libya, Derna, Benghazi, United Nations, Turkey, Tripoli, Al Jazeera, NATO, Misrata, Norway's, Tunisia, Al

☆ Sudanese City Becomes Center of ‘New Phase’ of War
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Abdi Latif Dahir | More About Abdi Latif Dahir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As the war in Sudan heads into its fourth month, Omdurman — the city across the Nile River from the capital, Khartoum — has become the site of some of the most fierce fighting between the two forces battling for power: the army and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Patients were admitted in droves in recent days to one of the few functioning health facilities left in Omdurman, their bodies riddled with bullets or sliced by shrapnel from airstrikes. Some victims were dead by the time they were brought in, their passage hindered by street battles in Omdurman, once a bustling business hub and home to many universities, hospitals and political and cultural institutions. “It’s been like hell,” said Dr. Rashid Mukhtar Hassan, the human resource manager at the health facility, Al-Nau Teaching Hospital, in a phone call.

Persons: “ It’s, ”, Rashid Mukhtar Hassan Organizations: Rapid Support Forces, Nau Teaching Hospital Locations: Sudan, Omdurman, Khartoum —, Al

☆ Blinken holds talks with Central Asian nations in wake of Ukraine anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Central Asia Tuesday to meet officials from all five former Soviet republics following the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Blinken's visit to the capitals of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is his first to the region as the Biden administration's top diplomat. The trip comes just days after the Feb. 24 anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which has tested Moscow's influence in a region that also includes Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Blinken will meet the foreign ministers of all five Central Asian states in Astana on Tuesday before traveling on to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In Astana on Tuesday, Blinken told Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi that Washington supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan, which won independence from Moscow in 1991.

☆ How Russian ally Kazakhstan is taking a stand against the Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Russian ally Kazakhstan has been subtle but firm in its opposition to the Ukraine war. Kazakhstan's official position on the war is to call for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution, Magzhan Ilyassov, Kazakhstan's new ambassador to the UK, said in a press briefing attended by Insider. Following the invasion of Ukraine, fears have also been stoked that Russia could turn its sights to Kazakhstan next. Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesAlthough it has not outright criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, Kazakhstan has made its position clear. Ilyassov said that Russian troops were there among others from all member states and left after nearly two weeks without being involved in any action.

CNN —Several passengers on board a commercial flight operated by Precision Air which crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday have been rescued, the airline and local officials said. Boats with emergency response personnel were deployed to the crash site at Africa’s largest lake near Bukoba airport. The flight had taken off from Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam but was “involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba airport and crash landed in Lake Victoria,” the carrier said. Video circulating on social media taken by onlookers on the shores of Lake Victoria showed the aircraft submerged in the water with emergency responders coordinating rescue efforts from nearby boats. “I have received with sadness the information of the crash of the Precision Air flight at Lake Victoria, in the Kagera region,” President Samoa Suluhu wrote on Twitter Sunday.

☆ Kenya drought: Hundreds of elephants, wildebeests and zebras reported dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Idris Mukhtar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Hundreds of elephants, wildebeests, and zebras have died across Kenya amid the nation’s longest drought in decades. “The Kenya Wildlife Service Rangers, Community Scouts, and Research Teams counted the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffalos, 49 Grevy’s zebras, and 12 giraffes in the past nine months,” a report released Friday by the country’s Ministry of Tourism said. An elephant keeper rests next to a month-old calf at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Samburu, Kenya on October 12, 2022. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images“The drought has caused mortality of wildlife, mostly herbivore species,” Malonza said. According to the ministry, Kenya had just 36,000 elephants left last year.

CNN —At least 100 people were killed after two car bombs exploded near Somalia’s education ministry in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamist group al-Shabaab has claimed other recent attacks. The two car bombs exploded near a busy intersection in the capital and near the Ministry of Education, according to an official with the president’s office. Mohamed Muhudin/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesMohamed Moalim, who owns a restaurant near the ministry, said his wife, Fardawsa Mohamed, a mother of six, tried to help victims of the blast. “We recognized the number plate of the tuk tuk, which was now rubble,” Aden said.

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