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☆ Nepal rains: Rescuers use zip lines and boats to reach survivors as flooding and landslides kill nearly 200 people
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-30 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Days of heavy monsoon rains in Nepal have triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the Himalayan nation, killing almost 200 people and causing widespread destruction. Nepal's Armed Police Force rescues stranded people using a zip line from a flooded river in Lalitpur, Nepal, on September 28, 2024. Sunil Pradhan/Anadolu/Getty ImagesNepal Army personnel evacuates an infant using a kayak from a flooded residential area in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 28, 2024. Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty ImagesA woman carrying a chair walks along a muddy street that was flooded by the overflowing Bagmati River following heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 29, 2024. Navesh Chitrakar/ReutersA man cleans mud from his house in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on September 29, 2024.

Persons: Subaas Shrestha, Sunil Pradhan, Dil Kumar Tamang, Navesh Chitrakar, Ellie Wirth, “ I’ve, ”, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Prakash Mathema Organizations: CNN, Nepal's Armed Police Force, Anadolu, Getty Images Nepal Army, Nepal Armed Police Force, Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Reuters, Nepal Police, Associated Press, International Centre, Integrated Mountain Development, Getty Locations: Nepal, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Dhading, Bhimeshwor, Dolakha, Pokhara, “, Katmandu, AFP, South Asia, Asia

☆ Nepal closes schools as heavy rains kill more than 150
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 151 people, with 56 missing, officials said on Sunday. Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair. “There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely,” he said. Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The level in the Koshi river in Nepal’s southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region’s top bureaucrat.

Persons: ” Lakshmi Bhattarai, Govinda Jha, ”, “ I’ve, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Ram Chandra Tiwari Organizations: Authorities, Reuters, International Centre, Integrated Mountain Development Locations: Nepal, Kathmandu, Bay, Bengal, India, Nepal’s, Bihar

☆ Ukraine appears to strike a powerful electronic warfare system previously dubbed the 'backbone' of Russia's jamming technology
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine said it struck a powerful Russian electronic warfare system this week. Footage appears to show it had destroyed a Borisoglebsk-2 EW jamming station. it had destroyed a Borisoglebsk-2 EW jamming station. AdvertisementUkraine's special operations forces (SSO) said on Wednesday that it had targeted a Russian Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare (EW) system. The SSO said that the EW system was first used against Ukraine in 2014 during Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, 3rd SSO Regiment, International Centre for Defence, Security, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Donetsk, Crimean, Russia

More than 10 intelligence and police officials in five European countries including Britain, Germany and France told Reuters they are increasing surveillance of Islamist militants. A British security official said the war in Gaza was likely to become the biggest recruiter for Islamist militants since the Iraq war in 2003, and that calls for attacks on Jewish and Western targets had risen in Europe. Two Islamist militant attacks in France and Belgium last month killed three people, and these two countries, Austria, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have raised their terrorism threat alert levels. LONE WOLVESSecurity officials say the main danger for Europe is probably from attacks by "lone wolves" — assailants who are radicalised, often online, but have no formal links to more established groups. Although a truce has come into effect in Gaza, both sides have said the war is far from over.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, radicalised, Mark Rowley, al, Jochen Kopelke, It's, Kopelke, Israel, Peter Knoope, Knoope, Iman Atta, Germany's Kopelke, influencers, Europol, Thomas Renard, Juliette Jabkhiro, Angelo Amante, Johan Ahlander, Phil Blenkinsop, Timothy Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, London, British, Islamic State, Islamic, WOLVES Security, Hamas, Dutch National, International Centre for, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, BERLIN, Israel, Britain, Germany, Russia, China, Iran, Gaza, Iraq, Europe, Belgium, Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Italy, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Qaeda, Afghanistan, Syria, United States, British, al, West

Saleemul Huq, a pioneering climate scientist from Bangladesh who pushed to get the world to understand, pay for and adapt to worsening warming impacts on poorer nations, died of cardiac arrest Saturday. “Saleem always focused on the poor and marginalized, making sure that climate change was about people, their lives, health and livelihoods,” said University of Washington climate and health scientist Kristie Ebi, a friend of Huq’s. Huq, who died in Dhaka, directed and helped found the International Centre for Climate Change and Development there. He was an early force for community-based efforts to adapt to what climate change did to poor nations. United Nations climate negotiators last year approved the creation of that fund, but efforts to get it going further have so far stalled.

Persons: Saleemul Huq, “ Saleem, ”, Kristie Ebi, Huq’s, Huq, Queen Elizabeth II, ” Huq, “, Harjeet Singh, That’s, Joel Smith, he’s, ” Ebi, ” Smith, Smith, Ebi, ___, Seth Borenstein Organizations: University of Washington, International, International Institute for Environment, Development, Nations, . Environmental Protection Agency, Twitter, AP Locations: Bangladesh, Dhaka, London, England, British, Nations

☆ Fourteen Dead, 102 Missing After Indian Glacial Lake Bursts Bank in Heavy Rain
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed and 102, including 22 army personnel, were missing in northeast India on Thursday after heavy rain caused a glacial lake to burst its banks, triggering flash floods down a mountain valley, officials said. A cloudburst dropped a huge amount of rain over a short period on the Lhonak glacial lake on Wednesday, triggered flash floods down the Teesta valley, about 150 km (93 miles) north of Gangtok, capital of Sikkim state, near the border with China. The state disaster management agency said 26 people were injured and 102 were missing, as of early Thursday. Eleven bridges were washed away. (Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi, Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar; editing by Robert Birsel)

Persons: Pema Gyamtsho, Tanvi Mehta, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Robert Birsel Organizations: Twitter, Integrated, Development Locations: DELHI, India, Asia's, Teesta, Gangtok, Sikkim, China, Pakistan, Nepal, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar

☆ Fourteen dead, 102 missing after Indian glacial lake bursts bank in heavy rain
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - At least 14 people were killed and 102, including 22 army personnel, were missing in northeast India on Thursday after heavy rain caused a glacial lake to burst its banks, triggering flash floods down a mountain valley, officials said. A cloudburst dropped a huge amount of rain over a short period on the Lhonak glacial lake on Wednesday, triggered flash floods down the Teesta valley, about 150 km (93 miles) north of Gangtok, capital of Sikkim state, near the border with China. The state disaster management agency said 26 people were injured and 102 were missing, as of early Thursday. Eleven bridges were washed away. Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi, Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pema Gyamtsho, Tanvi Mehta, Krishn Kaushik, Jatindra, Robert Birsel Organizations: Twitter, Integrated, Development, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, Asia's, Teesta, Gangtok, Sikkim, China, Pakistan, Nepal, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar

☆ How New Zealand's plan for English and te reo Māori road signs took an unexpected turn
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

But plans to introduce bilingual road signs featuring both the English and te reo Maori languages have sparked a divisive, racially charged debate ahead of the country’s looming general election. Slightly less than a quarter of New Zealand’s 892,200 Maori speak te reo Maori as one of their first languages, according to the latest government data. Part of the reason that te reo Maori is not so widely spoken is that back in New Zealand’s colonial era there were active efforts to stamp it out. The Native Schools Act 1867 required schools to teach in English where possible and children were often physically punished for speaking te reo Maori. “The primary objective of these standards is to guarantee that all road signs are unambiguous, uniform, and legible to all,” he said.

Persons: Simeon Brown, Chris Hipkins, “ I’m, ”, Marty Melville, Awanui Te, Tania Ka’ai, “, ” Ka’ai, –, Kasem Choocharukul, Kasem, Huw Fairclough, James Griffiths ,, Puakea Nogelmeier, Nogelmeier Organizations: CNN, reo, Zealand, Waka, NZ Transport Agency, New, National, Labour Party government, National Party, Labour, Getty, Native, Victoria University of Wellington, Zealanders, The International, Language, Auckland University of Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Research, University of Leeds, Wales –, New Zealand, Welsh, Welsh Language Society, Gaelic, Constitutional Convention, Hawaiian, University of Hawaii, Hawaii’s Department of Transportation, Wales Locations: Aotearoa, Wellington , New Zealand, AFP, New, New Zealand, Zealanders, Wales, United Kingdom, Thailand, Tredegar , Wales, Republic of Ireland, Hawaii, Olelo Hawai’i, Llanfair, Anglesey, Europe, Hawke’s

☆ Russian land mines pose a persistent and deadly threat in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

What lies beneath Land mines left by Russian forces in Ukraine pose a deadly threat to Kyiv's military - and civilians in liberated territory. On average, anti-vehicle mines caused more incidents with multiple fatalities than anti-personnel mines did. GICHD has documented at least 12 types of anti-personnel mines and nine types of anti-vehicle mines in use in Ukraine. Formerly occupied towns in Kyiv; Sumy, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts all saw a large number of mines, especially anti-personnel mines, left in place, Mathewson said. Ukraine is a signatory to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, and had been destroying its anti-personnel mines when the war began.

Persons: Mark Hiznay, ”, Adam Komorowski, Tymur Pistriuha, Hiznay, PARM, GICHD, Andro Mathewson, “, Komorowsi, Mick Ryan, Mathewson, Nacho Doce, Pistriuha, Komorowski, ” Ryan, Ryan, Jack Watling, Watling, ” Watling, demining Organizations: Russian, Reuters, HALO Trust, Human Rights Watch, Advisory, Geneva International Centre, Humanitarian, Ukrainian Deminers Association, Ukrainian, U.S . Army, Australian Army, REUTERS, HALO, Mines, Royal United Services Institute, United, Surveyors, State Emergency Service, Dnipro River’s Locations: Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian, Russia, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Eastern Europe, South America, Caribbean, Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Germany, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Kherson, Iraqi, Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, ”, Vuhledar, United Nations, Nova, Izium

☆ Unusual type of stellar object discovered beaming out radio waves
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In those moments, it became the brightest source of radio waves viewable from Earth through radio telescopes, acting like a celestial lighthouse. The object, dubbed GPM J1839−10, released radio waves every 22 minutes. “The object we’ve discovered is spinning way too slowly to produce radio waves — it’s below the death line,” Hurley-Walker said. “Assuming it’s a magnetar, it shouldn’t be possible for this object to produce radio waves. The intense, millisecond-long bursts of radio waves have unknown origins, but magnetars have been pinpointed as a potential cause.

Persons: Tyrone O’Doherty, ”, Natasha Hurley, Walker, Hurley, ” Hurley, it’s Organizations: CNN —, Curtin University, Curtin, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Giant Locations: Australia, Western Australia, South Africa, India, USA

CNN —Russia has a stockpile of cluster munitions and will consider using them against Ukraine “if they are used against us,” President Vladimir Putin said. “Russia has a sufficient supply of various types of cluster munitions,” the Russian leader said during an interview with a pro-Kremlin journalist. What are cluster munitions? Cluster munitions contain multiple explosives that are released over an area up to the size of several football fields. Putin also claimed that Russia has not yet used cluster munitions, despite evidence to the contrary.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, “, ”, Connie Chen, Henrik Pettersson, Joe Biden, Putin, Biden, Jen Psaki Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, Geneva International Centre, US Defense Department, White House, United Nations Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s

☆ Putin's comment on funding Wagner shows link to Ukraine -prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Anthony Deutsch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Putin said last week that Wagner and its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had received almost $2 billion from Russia in the past year. Among more than 93,000 incidents of potential war crimes Kostin's office was investigating were many atrocities Wagner forces committed, Kostin said. They are "among the most severe crimes against our civilians and our prisoners of war," Kostin said. Kostin appealed to allies, including the U.S. and Britain, to classify Wagner as a terrorist organisation so it can be prosecuted and its assets frozen. "Prigozhin is already a suspect in criminal proceedings in Ukraine, but the main thing is to stop the activity of such groups," he said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Wagner, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Andriy Kostin, Kostin, Putin's, Anthony Deutsch, Josie Kao Organizations: HAGUE, International Centre, U.S, Thomson Locations: Russia, The Hague, Geneva, Ukraine, Latin America, Africa, Britain

TALLINN, June 20 (Reuters) - Estonia's parliament approved on Tuesday a law to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first central European country to do so. Same-sex marriage is legal in much of western Europe but not in central European countries which were once under communist rule and members of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact alliance but now members of NATO and, largely, the EU. In the largely secular Baltic country of 1.3 million, 53% of the population supported same-sex marriage in a 2023 poll by the Centre for Human Rights. Same-sex marriage is opposed by the ethnic-Russian minority, which constitutes a quarter of the country, with only 40% of them supporting it. Latvia and Lithuania, the other two Baltic countries which were previously annexed by the Soviet Union, have same-sex partnership bills stuck in their parliaments.

Persons: Kaja Kallas, Kallas, Tomas Jermalavicius, Janis Laizans, Terje Solsvik, Ed Osmond Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Centre for Human Rights, Gay, International Centre for Defence, Security, Andrius Sytas, Thomson Locations: TALLINN, Europe, Moscow, Warsaw, EU, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Soviet Union, Tallinn, Andrius, Vilnius

☆ Himalayan glaciers could lose up to 80% of their ice by 2100 as temperatures rise, report warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The report found that glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain range region melted 65% faster in the 2010s compared with the previous decade, which suggests higher temperatures are already having an impact. With between 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius of warming, the world’s highest mountain region stands to lose 30% to 50% of its volume by 2100, the latest report said. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain range region are melting faster than expected. Courtesy Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMODRapid warming and glacial meltAbout 240 million people live in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, many of their cultures dating back thousands of years, and another the 1.65 billion live downstream. “The glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a major component of the Earth system.

Persons: Saleemul Huq, Bajracharya, Amina Maharjan, Maharjan, yaks, ”, Izabella Koziell Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, International Centre, Integrated Mountain Development, World Meteorological Organization Scientists, International Locations: Hong Kong, Nepal, Afghanistan, Myanmar, China, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Asia, Murree Hills

The Hindu Kush Himalaya stretches 3,500 km (2,175 miles) across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. At 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2C of warming above preindustrial temperatures, glaciers across the entire region will lose 30% to 50% of their volume by 2100, the report said. At 3C of warming — what the world is roughly on track for under current climate policies — glaciers in the Eastern Himalaya, which includes Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75% of their ice. THE FULL PICTUREScientists have struggled to assess how climate change is affecting the Hindu Kush Himalaya. “We have a better sense of what the loss will be through to 2100 at different levels of global warming.”LIVELIHOODS AT RISKWith this newfound understanding comes grave concern for the people living in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

Persons: Tika Gurung, “ We’re, we’re, ”, Philippus Wester, Wester, Tobias Bolch, “, “ We’ve, Amina Maharjan, Gloria Dickie, Frances Kerry Organizations: Integrated Mountain Development, United, “, Graz University of Technology, Thomson Locations: Langtang, Nepal, 1.5C, Asia’s, Kathmandu, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, North, Rocky, United States, it’s, Austria, Wester, ”, London

☆ Himalayan Glacier Loss Speeding Up, New Report Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The report from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu finds that glaciers in the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain range region melted 65 percent faster from 2010 through 2019 than in the previous decade. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that the consequences of climate change are speeding up, and that some changes will be irreversible. Nearly two billion people who live in more than a dozen countries within the mountain region or in the river valleys downstream depend on melting ice and snow for their water supply. “Things are happening quickly,” said Miriam Jackson, a cryosphere researcher at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and one of the authors of the report. And I think that’s a surprise for lots of people, that things are just happening so fast.”

Persons: ”, Miriam Jackson, “, there’s Organizations: International Centre, Integrated Mountain Development Locations: Nepal, Kathmandu

Shareholders of Credit Suisse and UBS were not granted a vote on the deal that was sealed over one weekend in March. Officials for QIA, UBS, the Swiss finance ministry and Credit Suisse declined to comment. QIA's investment in Credit Suisse dates back to the global financial crisis of 2008. The sovereign wealth fund had increased its stake in Credit Suisse to just under 7%, only trailing largest shareholder Saudi National Bank's roughly 10% stake, according to a January filing. Among them, Middle Eastern backers which own more than 20% of Credit Suisse face the largest hit.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy visits war crimes court in The Hague seeking justice
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tosterling Bart H. Meijer | Bart H. Meijer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, May 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for suspected deportation of children from Ukraine. Zelenskiy, dressed in his trademark khaki, was welcomed at the court by its president, judge Piotr Hofmanski. In his first official trip to the country, Zelenskiy was due to deliver a speech later in the morning, also in The Hague, titled "No Peace Without Justice for Ukraine". The Ukrainian leader has visited several foreign capitals including London, Paris and Washington since Russia's 2022 invasion. The ICC can prosecute genocide in Ukraine but has no jurisdiction over alleged crimes of aggression by Russia there.

WHO IS INVESTIGATING WAR CRIMES IN UKRAINE? Ukrainian war crimes prosecutors are working with mobile justice teams supported by international legal experts and forensic teams. A total of 296 individuals have been charged with war crimes. War crimes can be defined under customary international law or national law. A number of mostly European states have universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to prosecute Ukrainian war crimes.

☆ Germany has evidence of war crimes in Ukraine 'in three-digit range' - prosecutor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Germany has collected evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the country's prosecutor general said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, adding that he saw a need for a judicial process at international level. So far, prosecutors have pieces of evidence in the "three-digit range", he added, without elaborating. Germany began collecting evidence in March 2022 to prosecute possible war crimes, including by interviewing Ukrainian refugees and evaluating publicly available information, Frank said, adding that German prosecutors were not yet investigating specific individuals. Ukraine is pushing for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war. Moscow has rejected allegations by Kyiv and Western nations of war crimes.

☆ Is Patagonia the end game for profits in a world of climate change?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Trevor Laurence Jockims | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

As far back as 1985, Patagonia deployed portions of its profits to the environment, via an "Earth tax." "The Patagonia model is a little more sophisticated." It often is very attractive from a corporate tax perspective, too, which has been noted of both the Ikea and Patagonia business models. One hundred percent of Patagonia profits are now committed to its new non-profit Holdfast Collective — which owns all of the company's non-voting stock (98% of the total stock). "What people fail to understand about Patagonia, both the past and the future, is that we are unapologetically a for-profit business, and we are extremely competitive," Ryan Gellert said.

☆ COP27 summit to begin with plea to discuss climate compensation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. climate summit, COP27, opens in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on Sunday amid growing calls for rich countries to compensate poorer nations most vulnerable to climate change. Much of the tension surrounding COP27 is expected to relate to loss and damage -- compensation funds provided by wealthy nations to vulnerable lower-income countries that bear little responsibility for climate-warming emissions. Diplomats from more than 130 countries are expected to push for the creation of a dedicated loss and damage finance facility at COP27. "I'm hopeful that it will get on the agenda," Matthew Samuda, a minister in Jamaica's economic growth ministry, told Reuters. "We know the Europeans are supporting us," said Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development.

The COP27 climate summit gets underway in Egypt from Nov. 6. Climate Change Conference will see more than 30,000 delegates convene in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss collective action on the climate emergency. Loss and damage funding, meanwhile, is recognized by many as the third pillar of international climate policy. Kerry's openness to talks on loss and damage funding marked an abrupt change in tone from just one month earlier. Singh said political mobilization over loss and damage funding makes COP27 the most important COP yet.

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