South Korea struggles to contain deadly wildfires

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Updated 25 March 2025
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South Korea struggles to contain deadly wildfires

South Korea struggles to contain deadly wildfires
  • More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend
  • The safety minister has reported thousands of hectares burned

UISEONG, South Korea: Deadly wildfires in South Korea worsened overnight, officials said Tuesday, as dry, windy weather hampers efforts to contain one of the country’s worst-ever fire outbreaks.
More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with the safety minister reporting thousands of hectares burned and four people killed.
“The wildfires have so far affected approximately 14,694 hectares (36,310 acres), with damage continuing to grow,” acting Interior and Safety Minister Ko Ki-dong said.
The extent of damage would make the fires collectively the third-largest in South Korea’s history. The largest was an April 2000 blaze that scorched 23,913 hectares (59,090 acres) across the east coast.
More than 3,000 people have been evacuated to shelters, Ko said. At least 11 people have been seriously injured.
“Strong winds, dry weather, and haze are hampering firefighting efforts,” Ko told a disaster and safety meeting.
The government is “mobilizing all available resources,” he said, and today, “110 helicopters and more than 6,700 personnel will be deployed.”
In Uiseong, the sky was full of smoke and haze, AFP reporters saw. Workers at a local temple were attempting to move historical artefacts and cover up Buddhist statues to protect them from possible damage.
The Korea Forest Service said the containment rate for the fire in Uiseong decreased from 60 to 55 percent by Tuesday morning.
More than 6,700 firefighters have been deployed to battle the wildfires, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, with nearly two-fifths of the personnel dispatched to Uiseong.
The government declared a state of emergency in four regions, citing “the extensive damage caused by simultaneous wildfires across the country.”
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.
Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.


A week after catastrophic earthquake, focus turns to humanitarian crisis

A week after catastrophic earthquake, focus turns to humanitarian crisis
Updated 04 April 2025
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A week after catastrophic earthquake, focus turns to humanitarian crisis

A week after catastrophic earthquake, focus turns to humanitarian crisis
  • Myanmar’s military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid

BANGKOK: Search teams in Myanmar recovered more bodies from the ruins of buildings on Friday, a week after a massive earthquake killed more than 3,100 people, as the focus turns toward the urgent humanitarian needs in a country already devastated by a continuing civil war.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who is also the emergency relief coordinator, will visit the area on Friday in an effort to spur action following the March 28 quake. Ahead of the visit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to immediately step up funding for quake victims “to match the scale of this crisis,” and he urged unimpeded access to reach those in need.
“The earthquake has supercharged the suffering with the monsoon season just around the corner,” he said.

FASTFACT

Myanmar’s military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.

Myanmar’s military and several key armed resistance groups have all declared ceasefires in the wake of the earthquake to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid.
But the UN’s Human Rights Office on Friday accused the military of continuing attacks, claiming there were more than 60 attacks after the earthquake, including 16 since the military announced a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.
“I urge a halt to all military operations, and for the focus to be on assisting those impacted by the quake, as well as ensuring unhindered access to humanitarian organizations that are ready to support,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. “I hope this terrible tragedy can be a turning point for the country toward an inclusive political solution.”
Announcing its ceasefire, the military also said it would still take “necessary” measures against resistance groups, if they use the ceasefire to regroup, train or launch attacks, and the groups have said they reserved the right to defend themselves.
Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021 from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has turned into a civil war.
The quake worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.
Myanmar authorities said Thursday that 3,145 people had been killed in the earthquake, with another 4,589 people injured and 221 missing, and did not immediately update the figures on Friday.
Britain, which had already given $13 million to purchase emergency items like food, water and shelter, pledged an additional $6.5 million in funds to match an appeal from Myanmar’s Disasters Emergency Committee, according to the UK Embassy in Yangon.
The World Food Program said so far it has reached 24,000 survivors, but was scaling up its efforts to assist 850,000 with food and cash assistance for one month.
Many international search and rescue teams are now on the scene, and eight medical crews from China, Thailand, Japan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Russia were operating in Naypyitaw, according to Myanmar’s military-run government. Another five teams from India, Russia, Laos and Nepal and Singapore were helping in the Mandalay region, while teams from Russia, Malaysia and the ASEAN bloc of nations were assisting in the Sagaing region.
The Trump administration has pledged $2 million in emergency aid and sent a three-person team to assess how best to respond given drastic cuts to US foreign assistance.

 

 


Rescuers search for a girl missing after boat disaster

Rescuers search for a girl missing after boat disaster
Updated 04 April 2025
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Rescuers search for a girl missing after boat disaster

Rescuers search for a girl missing after boat disaster
  • Turkish authorities had reported the sinking of a boat carrying migrants in the same area on Thursday

GREECE: Greece’s Coast Guard said on Friday that a search and rescue operation off an eastern island near the Turkish coast had still not found any trace of a child reported missing after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants sank, leaving seven people dead and 23 rescued.
The search continued for a second day, after survivors told authorities there had been a total of 31 people in the small dinghy.
A Coast Guard patrol boat came across the vessel, measuring about 5 meters in length, in the early hours of Thursday morning when it was already taking on water and most of its passengers had fallen into the sea, the coast guard said.

BACKGROUND

Greece is one of the main entry points into the EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

The Coast Guard said on Thursday that all those on board were from Afghanistan.
One of the survivors, identified only as a 20-year-old man, was recognized by other passengers as having piloted the boat and was arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
Turkish authorities had also reported the sinking of a boat carrying migrants in the same area on Thursday.
The Canakkale governor’s office said the Turkish coast guard received an emergency call for help from a migrant boat on Thursday morning.
Nine bodies were recovered, while one person was reported missing, and 25 people were rescued, the governor’s office said.
Greece is one of the main entry points into the EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with many making the short but often treacherous journey from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies or other small boats.
Many are unseaworthy, or set out in bad weather, and fatal accidents have been common.

 


Senegal faces a challenging future, warns president

Senegal faces a challenging future, warns president
Updated 04 April 2025
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Senegal faces a challenging future, warns president

Senegal faces a challenging future, warns president
  • The IMF said in March that there were “significant” errors in Senegal’s public debt figures for 2019-23 and called for “corrective measures”

DAKAR: Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has warned in his annual state of the nation speech that the country faces a challenging financial future that would need sacrifices.
Faye spoke after authorities and the International Monetary Fund said the previous government had underestimated the West African nation’s debt levels.
“The state of our country’s public finances, as revealed by the audit, means that we must count first of all on ourselves to redress the situation,” said Faye, who took office one year ago.
He said “collective sacrifices” would be needed but added: “We are very capable, and we will succeed with the mobilization of everyone.”
Social tensions have risen in recent months, and the government’s financial watchdog said in a report released in February that Senegal’s debt was at more than 99 percent of its gross domestic product, higher than the figure given by the last government.
It said the 2023 budget deficit was 12.3 percent of the GDP, when the last government said it was 4.9 percent.
The IMF said in March that there were “significant” errors in Senegal’s public debt figures for 2019-23 and called for “corrective measures.”
Faye called for “active solidarity” to confront the “numerous challenges” facing the country but said that “budget discipline is not negotiable.”

 


Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM

Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM
Updated 04 April 2025
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Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM

Unlikely Belgium would arrest Netanyahu, says PM
  • “I don’t think there is a European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on their territory,” the Flemish conservative leader said
  • “France, for example, wouldn’t do it. I don’t think we would either”

BRUSSELS: Belgium’s premier said the country would likely not arrest Benjamin Netanyahu despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister over the Gaza offensive.
Following a trip by Netanyahu to Hungary on Thursday in defiance of the warrant, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever poured cold water on any expectations that other European nations would act differently.
“I don’t think there is a European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on their territory. France, for example, wouldn’t do it. I don’t think we would either,” the Flemish conservative leader said.
His comments in an interview Thursday with Flemish public broadcaster VRT referred to Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary, which rolled out the red carpet for Netanyahu despite his arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Hungary, under its nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on the same day initiated the procedure to withdraw from the ICC.
But De Wever indicated that Belgium would not go so far as to pull out of the ICC, stressing his commitment to multilateralism and an international rules-based order.
Quizzed about the possibility of a plane carrying Netanyahu making an emergency landing in Belgium, De Wever first deemed it “highly unlikely,” and then said he doubted an arrest would be made in such a scenario.
One of Belgium’s opposition leaders hit out at the premier’s remarks.
“When an international arrest warrant is issued, when international justice speaks, Belgium must respond. Unambiguously,” said Paul Magnette, president of the French-speaking Belgian Socialist Party, arguing there was a “legal and moral obligation.”
Belgian human rights group CNCD 11.11.11 slammed De Wever’s comments as “unacceptable” and accused him of “undermining” international law.


WHO sounds alarm over surging global cholera cases in 2025

WHO sounds alarm over surging global cholera cases in 2025
Updated 04 April 2025
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WHO sounds alarm over surging global cholera cases in 2025

WHO sounds alarm over surging global cholera cases in 2025
  • Dr. Philippe Barboza, cholera team lead at the WHO, said that more than 100,000 cases and 1,300 deaths have already been reported globally in the first few months of 2025

GENEVA: The World Health Organization has raised serious concerns over a sharp global rise in cholera infections and deaths, warning that the disease is spreading to new regions and threatening vulnerable populations already burdened by conflict and climate-related crises.

Speaking in Geneva on Friday, Dr. Philippe Barboza, cholera team lead at the WHO, said that more than 100,000 cases and 1,300 deaths have already been reported globally in the first few months of 2025.

Preliminary data from 2024 revealed 810,000 cases and 5,900 deaths, which marked a significant increase compared to 2023. However, Barboza cautioned that the actual numbers are likely higher due to incomplete reporting.

“Cholera should not exist in the 21st century,” he said. “Yet it is now spreading to countries where it had never been present before, such as Namibia and Kenya.”

In several countries, the case fatality rate has exceeded 1 percent, with Angola standing out as particularly hard-hit.

Barboza, who recently returned from the country, reported a fatality rate of over 4 percent, and warned of the disease’s rapid spread within Angola and to neighboring nations.

Angola currently accounts for 36 percent of all global cholera cases reported in 2025.

The WHO and its partners have responded by dispatching rapid deployment teams, setting up treatment facilities, and conducting staff training across affected regions.

Elsewhere, Myanmar has reported 12,000 acute cholera cases since July 2024, while Haiti is grappling with an outbreak but lacks the necessary funding to manage it effectively.

Barboza emphasized the compounded impact of armed conflict and climate change in accelerating the spread of cholera, stressing the need for joint action and sustained investment to prevent further outbreaks.

As of late March, the WHO had 5.6 million treatment doses stockpiled for emergency responses. However, soaring global demand highlights the urgent need for expanded vaccine production, with Barboza saying: “Cholera should not be killing anyone in the 21st century.”