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Pakistan Says Cross-Border Attacks from Afghanistan Have Increased

A view of the border fence outside the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan October 18, 2017. (Reuters)
A view of the border fence outside the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan October 18, 2017. (Reuters)
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Pakistan Says Cross-Border Attacks from Afghanistan Have Increased

A view of the border fence outside the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan October 18, 2017. (Reuters)
A view of the border fence outside the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan October 18, 2017. (Reuters)

Pakistan said on Sunday said incidents of its security forces being targeted in cross-border attacks from Afghanistan had risen significantly, and called on Taliban authorities to act against militants, a day after purported air strikes by Pakistan.

The incident has increased already simmering tensions between the neighbors.

Taliban authorities on Saturday summoned Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul on Saturday to protest against the strikes.

A local Taliban official and residents said the strikes were carried out by Pakistani aircraft inside Afghan airspace.

"In the last few days, incidents along Pak-Afghan border have significantly increased, wherein, Pakistani security forces are being targeted from across the border," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement on Sunday.

It added the attacks were being carried out "with impunity" and that Islamabad had repeatedly asked Afghan authorities to act to stop them, but to no avail.

It said seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in the border area of North Waziristan on Thursday.

North Waziristan borders the eastern Afghan province of Khost, where the strikes are said to have taken place on Friday.

Taliban authorities say they have controlled cross-border attacks since taking over the country in August last year.

Pakistan's foreign office did not confirm the strikes, nor addressed if they were carried out by aircraft, which would be the first time a military incursion is officially confirmed.

Pakistan's embassy in Kabul denied it carried out air strikes.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed concern on the incident.

"UNAMA is deeply concerned by reports of civilian casualties, including women and children, as a result of airstrikes in Khost & Kunar provinces," the body said on Twitter, adding it was working to establish the facts and verify losses.

There was no confirmation of the death toll.

A local Taliban official in Khost claimed at least 36 people, including civilians, had been killed.

The Taliban government spokesman released a strongly-worded statement warning Islamabad of "bad consequences" if there was a repeat.

"The defeat of the United States eight months ago was a good lesson to aggressors who want to disrespect Afghanistan's territory and freedom," Zabihullah Mujahid said.

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World

Boy Shot Dead After Perth Stabbing Was in Deradicalization Program, but No Ties Seen to Sydney Teens

Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
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Boy Shot Dead After Perth Stabbing Was in Deradicalization Program, but No Ties Seen to Sydney Teens

Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)
Police and security staff stand in front of the Sydney Opera House on January 14, 2016. (File photo: Reuters)

A 16-year-old boy who was shot dead by police after stabbing a man in the Australian west coast city of Perth had been in a deradicalization program but had no links to an alleged network of teen extremists in the east coast city of Sydney, authorities said.

The boy had participated in the federally funded Countering Violent Extremism program for two years but had no criminal record, Western Australia Police Minister Paul Papalia said Monday.

“The challenge we confront with people like the 16-year-old in this incident is that he’s known to hold views that are dangerous and potentially he could be radicalized,” Papalia told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “... but the problem with individuals like this is they can act at short notice without warning and be very dangerous.”

On the potential for the boy to have been radicalized, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was concerned by social media pushing extreme positions, The AP reported.

“It’s a dynamic that isn’t just an issue for government. It’s an issue for our entire society, whether it be violent extremism, misogyny and violence against women. It is an issue that of course I’m concerned about,” Albanese told reporters.

Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the boy had phoned police late Saturday saying he was about to commit “acts of violence” but did not say where. Minutes later, a member of the public reported to police seeing the boy with a knife in a hardware store parking lot.

Three police officers responded, one armed with a gun and two with stun guns. Police deployed both stun guns but they failed to incapacitate the boy before he was killed by a single gunshot, Blanch said.

The stabbing victim is a man in his 30s who was wounded in his back. He was in serious but stable condition at a Perth hospital, police said.

Blanch said members of the local Muslim community had raised concerns with police about the boy’s behavior before he was killed on Saturday.

Police said the stabbing had the hallmarks of a terrorist attack but have not declared it as such. Factors that can influence that decision include whether state police need federal resources, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organization domestic spy agency.

Blanch said the Western Australia Police Force investigation did not need additional federal resources and he was confidence the situation was different from the one in Sydney.

“We are dealing with complex issues, both mental health issues but also online radicalization issues,” Blanch said Sunday. “But we believe he very much is acting alone and we do not have concerns at this time that there is an ongoing network or other concerns that might have been seen over in Sydney."

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb had declared the stabbings of an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest in a Sydney church on April 15 as a terrorist act within hours. The boy arrested was later charged with committing a terrorist act. In the subsequent investigation, six more teenagers were charged with terror-related offenses.

Police alleged all seven were part of a network that “adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology.”

Some Muslim leaders have criticized Australian police for declaring last month’s church stabbing a terrorist act but not a rampage two days earlier in a Sydney shopping mall in which six people were killed and a dozen wounded. The 40-year-old attacker was shot dead by police.

The man had a history of schizophrenia and most of the victims he targeted were women. Police have yet to reveal the man’s motive.

The church attack is only the third to be classified by Australian authorities as a terrorist act since 2018.

In December 2022, three Christian fundamentalists shot dead two police officers and a bystander in an ambush near the community of Wieambilla in Queensland state. The shooters were later killed by police.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World

Afghanistan’s Only Female Diplomat Resigns in India After Gold Smuggling Allegations

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
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Afghanistan’s Only Female Diplomat Resigns in India After Gold Smuggling Allegations

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)
She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban. (Viral Photo)

An Afghan diplomat in India, who was appointed before the Taliban seized power in 2021 and said she was the only woman in the country’s diplomatic service, has resigned after reports emerged of her being detained for allegedly smuggling gold.

Zakia Wardak, the Afghan consul-general for Mumbai, announced her resignation on her official account on the social media platform X on Saturday after Indian media reported last week that she was briefly detained at the city’s airport on allegations of smuggling 25 bricks of gold, each weighing 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).

According to Indian media reports, she has not been arrested because of her diplomatic immunity.

In a statement, Wardak made no mention of her reported detention or gold smuggling allegations but said, “I am deeply sorry that as the only woman present in Afghanistan’s diplomatic apparatus, instead of receiving constructive support to maintain this position, I faced waves of organized attacks aimed at destroying me.”

“Over the past year, I have encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation not only directed towards myself but also towards her close family and extended relatives,” she added.

Wardak said the attacks have “severely impacted my ability to effectively operate in my role and have demonstrated the challenges faced by women in Afghan society.”

The Taliban Foreign Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment on Wardak’s resignation. It wasn’t immediately possible to confirm whether she was the country’s only female diplomat.

She was appointed consul-general of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the former government and was the first Afghan female diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban.

The Taliban — who took over Afghanistan in 2021 during the final weeks of US and NATO withdrawal from the country — have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed despite initial promises of a more moderate rule.

They are also restricting women’s access to work, travel and health care if they are unmarried or don’t have a male guardian, and arresting those who don’t comply with the Taliban’s interpretation of hijab, or Islamic headscarf.

World

France Opens Probe of TotalEnergies over 2021 Mozambique Attack

French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
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France Opens Probe of TotalEnergies over 2021 Mozambique Attack

French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP
French prosecutors said on May 4, 2024 they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique, following a legal complaint brought by victims' families and attack survivors. © Christophe Archambault, AFP

French prosecutors said Saturday they were investigating oil giant TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 militant attack in Mozambique that killed hundreds.

The probe follows a legal complaint brought by victims’ families and attack survivors, accusing the French energy company, which was developing a major liquefied gas project in the region, of failing to protect its subcontractors, the prosecutors’ office told AFP.

The survivors and families say TotalEnergies also failed to provide fuel so that helicopters could evacuate civilians after ISIS-linked militants killed dozens of people in the Mozambican port town of Palma on March 24, 2021.

The entire attack in Cabo Delgado province lasted several days, claiming several hundred lives. Some of the victims were beheaded and thousands fled their homes.

Contacted by AFP Saturday, a TotalEnergies spokesman reiterated a previous statement saying it “firmly rejects the accusations”.

He said the company’s Mozambique teams had supplied emergency aid and made the evacuation of 2,500 people from the plant possible, including civilians, staff, contractors and sub-contractors.

The French investigation also seeks to establish whether TotalEnergies is guilty of non-assistance to people in danger, prosecutors said.

Seven British and South African complainants – three survivors and four relatives of victims – accuse TotalEnergies of failing to take steps to ensure the safety of subcontractors even before the assault.

The Al-Shabab group – unrelated to the Somali group of the same name – which carried out the attack had been active in Cabo Delgado province since 2017 and drawing ever closer to Palma.

“The danger was known,” said the complainants lawyer Henri Thulliez in 2023 at the time of the lawsuit.

Depending on the outcome of the preliminary probe, the case would either be dropped, or the investigation intensified with a view to bringing possible charges, they said.

World

Death Toll from Kenya Floods Rises to 228

People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved, after floodwater washed away houses, in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved, after floodwater washed away houses, in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
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Death Toll from Kenya Floods Rises to 228

People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved, after floodwater washed away houses, in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People gather on a bridge where a woman's body was retrieved, after floodwater washed away houses, in Kamuchiri Village Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

The number of people killed by flooding and other impacts of the heavy rains battering Kenya has risen to 228, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
The torrential rains that have caused widespread flooding and landslides across the country in recent weeks are forecast to worsen in May, Reuters reported.
In a statement, the ministry said further flooding was "expected in low lying areas, riparian areas and urban areas while landslides/mudslides may occur in areas with steep slopes, escarpments and ravines."
The deluges have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across East Africa's largest economy.
At least 164 people have been injured by the adverse weather, while 212,630 have been displaced, the ministry said.

World

Minister: Russian Attacks on Ukraine Energy System Caused $1 Bln in Damages

Service men of the 13th Brigade of Operational Assignment of the NGU "Khartia" of the National Guard of Ukraine look at screens in a drone command point in Avdiivka direction, Ukraine, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Service men of the 13th Brigade of Operational Assignment of the NGU "Khartia" of the National Guard of Ukraine look at screens in a drone command point in Avdiivka direction, Ukraine, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Minister: Russian Attacks on Ukraine Energy System Caused $1 Bln in Damages

Service men of the 13th Brigade of Operational Assignment of the NGU "Khartia" of the National Guard of Ukraine look at screens in a drone command point in Avdiivka direction, Ukraine, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Service men of the 13th Brigade of Operational Assignment of the NGU "Khartia" of the National Guard of Ukraine look at screens in a drone command point in Avdiivka direction, Ukraine, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Recent Russian massive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian energy system have caused more than $1 billion worth of damage to the sector, Ukraine's energy minister German Galushchenko said on Sunday.
Since March 22, the Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian thermal and hydropower stations as well as main networks on an almost daily basis, leading to blackouts in many regions.
"Today, we are talking about the amounts of losses for more than a billion dollars. But the attacks continue, and it is obvious that the losses will grow," Galushchenko said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Galushchenko said the main damage was to thermal and hydro generation facilities, as well as power transmission systems.
"The system is stable for today, but the situation is quite complicated," he said, adding that thanks to favorable weather conditions, the energy system is currently being supported by wind and solar power generation.

World

Driver Dies after Crashing into White House Perimeter Gate

The White House is photographed from Lafayette Park on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
The White House is photographed from Lafayette Park on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
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Driver Dies after Crashing into White House Perimeter Gate

The White House is photographed from Lafayette Park on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
The White House is photographed from Lafayette Park on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

A driver died after crashing a vehicle into a gate at the White House Saturday night, authorities said.
The driver was found dead in the vehicle following the crash shortly before 10:30 p.m. at an outer perimeter gate of the White House complex, the US Secret Service said in a statement.
Security protocols were implemented but there was no threat to the White House, the agency said.
The driver was not immediately identified.
The Secret Service will continue to investigate the matter, while turning over the fatal crash portion of the investigation to the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, the agency said.

World

Dozens Arrested in Protests on US Campuses

Police grab a protester with his bicycle on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)
Police grab a protester with his bicycle on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)
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Dozens Arrested in Protests on US Campuses

Police grab a protester with his bicycle on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)
Police grab a protester with his bicycle on the campus of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Va., where tents are set up, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (Cal Cary/The Daily Progress via AP)

Police on Saturday arrested at least 25 pro-Palestinian protesters and cleared an encampment at the University of Virginia, the university said in a statement, as US campuses braced for more turmoil during graduation celebrations.
Tensions flared at UVA's campus in Charlottesville, where protests had been largely peaceful until Saturday morning, when police officers in riot gear were seen in a video moving on an encampment on the campus' lawn, cuffing some demonstrators with zip-ties and using what appeared to be chemical spray.
Students across the US have rallied or set up tents at dozens of universities to protest the months-long war in Gaza and call on President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel, to do more to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. They also demand their schools divest from companies that support Israel's government, such as arms suppliers.
The University of Virginia said in a news release that protesters had violated several university policies including setting up tents on Friday night and using amplified sound.
Jim Ryan, UVA's president, wrote in a message that officials had learned that "individuals unaffiliated with the university" who presented "some safety concerns" had joined protesters on campus, Reuters reported.
It wasn't immediately clear how many of those arrested were UVA students.
A group called UVA Encampment for Gaza that said earlier this week it had set up the encampment condemned the university's decision to call in police in a post on Instagram.
Dozens of people were arrested for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration on Saturday after the institute called in police to remove protesters it said were illegally occupying its property, the Chicago Police Department said on X.
Elsewhere, confrontations did not escalate into arrests. In Ann Arbor, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan.
Videos shared on social media showed dozens of students wearing the traditional keffiyeh headdress and graduation caps and waving Palestinian flags as they walked down the center aisle of Michigan Stadium among cheers and boos from a crowd of thousands.
The ceremony continued and campus police escorted the protesters toward the back of the stadium, but no arrests were made, according to Colleen Mastony, a spokesperson for the university.
"Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades," Mastony said in a statement. "The university supports free speech and expression, and university leaders are pleased that today’s commencement was such a proud and triumphant moment."
Contrasting views over Israel's war in Gaza have erupted, sometimes violently, across US campuses over the last couple of weeks.
Many of the schools, including Columbia University in New York City, have called in police to quell the protests.
Police have so far arrested over 2,000 protesters at colleges around the country.
The University of Michigan is one of the many universities which altered their security protocols for graduation ceremonies.
Campus protests have emerged as a new political flashpoint during a hotly contested and deeply divisive US election year.
On Thursday, a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mississippi was met by a larger crowd of counter-protesters singing the national anthem and carrying US flags.
The events at Ole Miss, the state's flagship university, drew widespread outrage and condemnation after a viral video showed a group of mostly white students taunting a Black female protester. Some shouted racist remarks and one individual can be heard making what sounded like monkey noises at the Black student.
While the university's chancellor condemned the "racist overtones" of the incident and said an investigation was underway, Georgia Republican US Representative Mike Collins shared the video on his X account on Friday, writing "Ole Miss taking care of business".
A spokesperson for Collins said he was pointing to examples of "regular everyday students ... pushing back against the very small group of leftist agitators who care only to disrupt and destroy."
Another Republican, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, on Saturday said he was sending Chick-fil-A, a popular US fast food chain, to the counter-protesters who "protected our flag and stood up for America" on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earlier this week.

World

Russia Blames Baltic Countries for the Severing of Most Ties

Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
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Russia Blames Baltic Countries for the Severing of Most Ties

Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system units, drive along a road before a rehearsal for a parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

The "hostile line" of the Baltic countries have led to the severance of most of their ties with Russia, the Russian foreign ministry said in remarks published on Sunday, warning also that Moscow will respond with asymmetric measures.
"Because of the openly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed," Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian foreign ministry told the RIA state news agency, referring to the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
According to Reuters, she added that Moscow will continue to use diplomatic measures of influence on the Baltic countries.
Estonia last week accused Russia of violating international airspace regulations by interfering with GPS signals and the Baltic countries are among those that are "deeply concerned" about activities they called Russian espionage, NATO said last week.
Zakharova, without specifying what steps taken by the Baltic countries she was referring to, told RIA that Moscow will respond to the hostile actions by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, with asymmetric measures.
"We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," she said.
Russian police in February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments.

World

Officials: New York Synagogues, Museum Got Fake Bomb Threats

A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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Officials: New York Synagogues, Museum Got Fake Bomb Threats

A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
A cameraman stands in front of a synagogue that was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat, in New York City, US, May 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

At least three synagogues and a museum in New York received bomb threats on Saturday but none were deemed credible by the New York Police Department, a city official and police said.

Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine said on X the synagogue bomb threats were "a clear hate crime, and part of a growing trend of 'swatting' incidents targeting Jewish institutions."

"This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted," he said, according to Reuters.

Anti-Semitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the US more than doubled last year to a record high as anti-Jewish sentiment spiked after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, the Anti-Defamation League said in a report last month.

A police spokesperson said a number of threats were received on Saturday, including an emailed bomb threat to the Brooklyn Museum and one to a synagogue in Brooklyn Heights, with no evidence of any explosive device detected.

Two synagogues in Manhattan also received bomb threats, including a West Side synagogue that prompted police to evacuate about 250 people, police said, with nothing found.

New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said on X state officials were "actively monitoring a number of bomb threats at synagogues in New York. Threats have been determined not to be credible."

Hochul added, "We will not tolerate individuals sowing fear & anti-semitism. Those responsible must be held accountable for their despicable actions."

World

Heavy Rains in Brazil Kill Nearly 60, Over 70 Still Missing

People wait to be rescued by a Brazilian Army helicopter during an operation in conjunction with firefighters to rescue people trapped in their homes due to a flood, in Canoas, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 04 May 2024. EPA/Isaac Fontana
People wait to be rescued by a Brazilian Army helicopter during an operation in conjunction with firefighters to rescue people trapped in their homes due to a flood, in Canoas, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 04 May 2024. EPA/Isaac Fontana
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Heavy Rains in Brazil Kill Nearly 60, Over 70 Still Missing

People wait to be rescued by a Brazilian Army helicopter during an operation in conjunction with firefighters to rescue people trapped in their homes due to a flood, in Canoas, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 04 May 2024. EPA/Isaac Fontana
People wait to be rescued by a Brazilian Army helicopter during an operation in conjunction with firefighters to rescue people trapped in their homes due to a flood, in Canoas, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 04 May 2024. EPA/Isaac Fontana

Heavy rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul this week killed at least 55 people, local authorities said on Saturday evening, while dozens remain unaccounted for.
Rio Grande do Sul's civil defense authority said 74 people were still missing and more than 69,000 had been displaced as storms in the last few days have affected nearly two thirds of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina, Reuters reported.
The local authority said it is now investigating whether another seven deaths were related to the storms, after earlier in the day it had reported a total of more than 55 deaths.
Floods destroyed roads and bridges in several regions of the state. The storm also triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant. A second dam in the city of Bento Goncalves is also at risk of collapsing, authorities said.
In Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, the Guaiba lake broke its banks, flooding streets.
Porto Alegre's international airport has suspended all flights for an indefinite period.
State Governor Eduardo Leite told reporters on Saturday evening that Rio Grande do Sul would need a "Marshall Plan" to recover from the storms and its consequences, referring to a plan for Europe's economic recovery after World War Two.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had visited Rio Grande do Sul on Thursday, will travel back to the state on Sunday to follow the rescue efforts, his chief of communication Paulo Pimenta said on Saturday.
Lula said on X that his government is in constant contact with state and cities' authorities to support the region with whatever they need.
Rains are expected in the northern and northeastern regions of the state until Sunday, but the volume of precipitation has been declining, and should be well below the peak seen earlier in the week, according to the state meteorology authority.
Still, "rivers water levels should stay high for some days", Leite said earlier on Saturday.