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India: Heavy rains hinder landslide rescue efforts
Deutsche Welle
31 Jul 2024, 16:07
At least 151 people lost their lives in landslides as of Wednesday, triggered by torrential monsoon rains. The number of casualties is expected to rise.
Landslides in southern India's Kerala state have killed at least 151 people, authorities said on Wednesday, as heavy rains hampered rescue efforts.
The number is casualties is expected to rise. More than 128 people were injured and around 187 are unaccounted for, state officials said.
The landslides on Tuesday, triggered by torrential monsoon rains, struck the Wayanad district, flattening houses and uprooting trees.
Most of the victims were tea estate workers and their families who lived in small houses or makeshift shelters. They were caught unaware by the disaster that occurred in the early morning.
Blocked roads and unstable terrain are hindering efforts, even as hundreds of rescuers are searching for survivors.
More than 3,000 people have been moved to relief camps, with the government providing food, water, and medical aid, officials said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has started constructing an alternate bridge after the main bridge connecting the affected area to the nearest town was destroyed.
'One of the worst natural calamities'
Kerala state's chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a statement that the disaster was 'one of the worst natural calamities Kerala has ever witnessed.'
Amid more rainfall and strong winds lashing the southern region, Vijayan urged the public to 'follow the instructions given by authorities.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences and announced compensation for victims' families.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who until recently represented Wayanad in parliament, said the devastation was 'heartbreaking,' but also called for 'a comprehensive action plan to address the growing frequency of natural calamities.'
In India, monsoon rains from June to September are crucial for agriculture but also bring destructive landslides and floods.
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UN to send fact-finding team next week
The United Nations is sending a UN fact finding team next week to probe atrocities committed during the Student Revolution in July and early this week.
Chief Advisor's Press Wing revealed this information on Thursday (August 15).
UN human rights chief Volker Turk announced the move when he called Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus late Wednesday.
According to a UN official, 'This will be the first time the UN is sending a fact finding mission in Bangladesh since its independence in 1971 to investigate widespread human rights abuses in the country.'
British Prime Minister congratulated Dr Yunus
The Chief Advisor of the interim government is a Nobel Prize-winning economist. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent a letter of warm congratulations to Dr Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday (August 14).
In the letter addressed to Dr Yunus, Keir Starmer said, 'Your leadership is very important in facing various challenges at such an important time in the history of Bangladesh.'
Regarding the bilateral relations between the two countries, the British Prime Minister said that there is a strong relationship between the two countries. The UK values this strong and enduring relationship with Bangladesh.
Expressing grief over the casualties in the anti-discrimination student movement in the letter, he said, 'As friends, we are deeply saddened by the violence and loss of life in Bangladesh in recent weeks. We acknowledge the courage of the students. Who called for a new Bangladesh through peaceful protest.'
Expressing interest in working with Dr Muhammad Yunus, Starmer again said, 'The British government wants to help you restore peace, prosperity and law and order in Bangladesh.'
First German woman set to fly into space with SpaceX
The first German woman is set to fly into space on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket along with four other astronauts, the private space exploration company said on Wednesday.
Rabea Rogge was introduced by SpaceX as a "robotics researcher" who studied electrical engineering and information technology at ETH Zurich. For her doctoral thesis, she transferred to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
The mission, called Fram2, is going to be the first human spaceflight over the Earth's poles. The company said the flight will take place "no earlier than late 2024."
No German woman has ever been to space, according to the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Rogge said she felt incredibly honored to be selected to take part in the mission.
"I'm looking forward to being responsible for the research and getting some cool projects off the ground," she said on X.
During the multi-day flight, the team of astronauts will look at the Earth's polar regions and examine purple lights, known as "Steve" and similar to northern lights, at an altitude of 425 to 450 kilometers (264-280 miles).
SpaceX said the mission will also produce the first X-ray images of humans in space.
The upcoming mission is the latest foray by the aerospace industry into private space tourism, which has grown fast in the United States in recent years.
Wealthy bitcoin pioneer Chun Wang has booked the mission and will be taking part in it.
"From mission proposal, planning, trajectory design, to crew selection, everything has been done by the customer," Wang said in a post on X.
Next to Rogge and Wang, the other "international adventurers" are the Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen and Australian polar explorer Eric Philips.
SpaceX has flown 13 manned missions in the last four years. It carries NASA astronauts to the International Space Station ISS but has also carried out several space tourism missions, including the first in 2021, named Inspiration4. That mission was financed by American billionaire Jared Isaacman.
Signing up for Disney+ prevents death lawsuit, argues Disney
Disney has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit involving a 42-year-old New York doctor whose family claims had a fatal allergic reaction after eating at a restaurant at the Walt Disney World Resort last year.
Disney argues, however, that a Florida court should dismiss the lawsuit because the deceased's widow had agreed to settle any lawsuits against the entertainment conglomerate out of court when he signed up for a one-month trial of Disney+ in 2019, and acknowledged that he had reviewed the fine print.
"The Terms of Use, which were provided with the Subscriber Agreement, include a binding arbitration clause," Disney wrote in its motion. "The first page of the Subscriber Agreement states, in all capital letters, that 'any dispute between You and Us, Except for Small Claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration'."
Jeffrey Piccolo, the widow of Kanokporn Tangsuan, and his lawyer suggest that the notion that 150 million subscribers to the streaming service have waived all rights to sue Disney is "absurd." Mr Piccolo says the case should be heard in front of a jury in a court of law.
Prohibiting lawsuit 'outrageous,' argues lawyer
The idea "that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer's right to a jury trial in any dispute with any Disney affiliate or subsidiary, is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair as to shock the judicial conscience, and this court should not enforce such an agreement," Brian Denney, Piccolo's attorney, wrote in the August 2 filing.
Piccolo's lawsuit was filed in February and claims that he, his wife, and his mother dined at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, an outdoor shopping, eating, and entertainment venue at Disney World, on October 5, 2023.
After telling a staff member several times that she had an allergy to nuts and dairy products and required "allergen-free food," Tangsuan ordered the vegan fritter, scallops, onion rings, and a vegan shepherd's pie.
The person serving the food then "guaranteed" that the order was without allergen, even though some of the items did not have "allergen-free flags" on the menu, the lawsuit states.
Approximately 45 minutes after leaving the eatery, Tangsuan had trouble breathing, collapsed, and eventually died in the hospital, despite self-administering an EpiPen amid the allergic reaction, according to the lawsuit.
A medical investigation later determined that she died from "anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system."
Disney's motion is set to be heard at an Orlando court on October 2.
Associated Press material contributed to this report.
Sweden reports first mpox clade 1 case outside Africa
Sweden's public health agency said on Thursday that the country had recorded the first known case of the newer mpox variant monkeypox virus clade 1 outside Africa.
The news comes a day after the WHO said this strain represented a public health emergency of international concern.
"We have now also during the afternoon had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of mpox, the one called clade 1," Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed told a news conference.
A person had traveled to an at-risk area
The clade 1b strain of the virus has been spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo since roughly September last year.
The person in Sweden was infected during a visit to "the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade 1," state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen said in an official statement.
The patient has "received care," Gisslen said.
The agency said Sweden "is prepared to diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely."
"The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control currently considers very low," it said.
What is mpox?
Mpox was first discovered in humans in the 1970s in what is now the DRC. The disease originates in monkeys, and was previously known as monkeypox.
It causes symptoms including fever, muscular aches, and large boil-like skin lesions. Vaccines exist, at least to counter some strains.
While it originally spread to humans from animals, it can be passed between humans via close physical contact.
The WHO on Wednesday declared the outbreak in DRC and neighboring countries as a public health emergency of international concern. It's the second time the WHO has taken this step with mpox, having declared a 2022 outbreak to be of international concern.
DRC minister says 548 have died this year
The DRC's Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said in a video message on Thursday that the country "has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths since the beginning of the year," with all provinces affected.
The most affected provinces were South Kivu, North Kivu, Tshopo, Equateur, North Ubangi, Tshuapa, Mongala, and Sankuru, Kamba said.
DRC, with a population of almost 100 million, is made up of 26 provinces in all.
He said the government had put in place a "national strategic plan for vaccination against mpox," as well as improving surveillance for the disease at borders and checkpoints.
Kamba said the government had set up working groups to boost contact tracing and try to mobilize other resources to "maintain control of this epidemic."
Firefighters respond to blaze at London's Somerset House
Firefighters on Saturday rushed to tackle a blaze at London's historic Somerset House on the River Thames.
"Fifteen fire engines and around 100 firefighters have now been sent in response to the fire at Somerset House," the London Fire Brigade said on X. "Crews are tackling a fire located in a part of the building's roof."
The London Fire Brigade said the historic building is closed as emergency crews deal with the blaze.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, according to London authorities. Smoke was seen rising from the cultural center at the heart of Britain's capital.
The Somerset House was previously a royal palace and now serves as a complex for various arts and education-related organizations.
The complex has been depicted in multiple James Bond films and is sometimes used to host concerts.
India protests: Doctors strike nationwide, disrupt services
Indian medical professionals on Saturday began a 24-hour shutdown of non-essential medical services across the country, as protests against the rape and murder of a fellow medic intensify.
The shutdown, which began at 6 a.m. (0030 GMT), will cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations in the world's most populous nation, according to a statement by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Essential services would remain operational, the medical body said.
Doctors' association calls for shutdown of services
The protests were triggered by the rape and murder of a female medical trainee last week at the R G Kar government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.
"Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. Both physical assaults and crimes are a result of indifference and insensitivity of the authorities concerned to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers," IMA said in a statement on Friday.
Thousands march through cities to demand better safety
Thousands of people marched through various Indian cities Friday to ask for better security for doctors at work as well as demand accountability for the woman's killing.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally in the state's capital city, Kolkata, on Friday, after students, doctors and residents took to the streets on the eve of India's Independence Day.
Protests have generally been peaceful, but a mob on Wednesday night vandalized the hospital where the medic was killed, with protests having picked up more steam following the incident.
Demonstrators also gathered near Parliament in New Delhi, and people assembled in various other cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Suvrankar Datta, a resident doctor at one of India's top government hospitals in New Delhi, said protests would continue and that hospital services could be hampered in the capital in the following days to come.
Medic had to work a 36-hour shift
The 31-year-old medic had settled down for a short nap after working for nearly 20 hours of a 36-hour shift before she was killed, local media reported. A police volunteer has been detained in connection with the crime.
But state government officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling it. The case has been transferred to a federal agency.
Doctors have repeatedly cited threats to their lives while on the job, with many calling for measures like cameras on university campuses to ensure safety.
Protests have largely also focused on the big problem of sexual violence against women in the country — with female Indian social media users sharing harrowing stories about the many times they have felt unsafe.
