International News
Over 200 Dead In Afghanistan Flash Floods
More than 200 people were killed in flash floods that ripped through multiple Afghan provinces, the United Nations said on Saturday, as authorities declared a state of emergency and rushed to rescue the injured.
Heavy rains on Friday sent roaring rivers of water and mud crashing through villages and across agricultural land in several provinces, with northern Baghlan one of the hardest hit.
More than 200 people were killed and thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged in Baghlan alone, the UN’s International Organization for Migration told AFP
In one district, Baghlani Jadid, up to 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed and “more than 100 people died”, Mohammad Fahim Safie, the National Programme Officer leading IOM’s emergency response said, citing government figures.
Officials from the Taliban government had said 62 people had died as of Friday night.
“Hundreds of our fellow citizens have succumbed to these calamitous floods,” government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted to X on Saturday.
He did not differentiate between the numbers of dead and injured, but told AFP dozens had been killed
Rains on Friday also caused heavy damage in northeastern Badakhshan province, central Ghor province and western Herat, officials said.
Emergency personnel were rushing to rescue injured and stranded people, according to the defence ministry.
“In addition to human casualties, these floods have also caused huge financial losses to the people,” said Ahmad Seyar Sajid, head of the natural disasters management department in northern Takhar province, where he estimated 20 people have died in the flooding.
State of emergency
The defence ministry ordered multiple branches “to provide any kind of assistance to the victims of this incident with all available resources”.
The air force said it had started evacuation operations as the weather cleared on Saturday, adding that more than a hundred injured people had been transferred to hospital, without specifying from which provinces.
“By announcing the state of emergency in (affected) areas, the Ministry of National Defense has started distributing food, medicine and first aid to the impacted people,” it said.
Video footage seen on social media from Friday showed huge torrents of muddy water swamping roads and bodies shrouded in white and black cloth.
In one video clip, children are heard crying and a group of men are looking at floodwaters, in which bits of broken wood and debris from homes can be seen.
Since mid-April, flash flooding and other floods had left about 100 people dead in 10 of Afghanistan’s provinces, with no region entirely spared, according to authorities.
Farmland has been swamped in a country where 80 percent of the more than 40 million people depend on agriculture to survive.
Afghanistan — which had a relatively dry winter, making it more difficult for the soil to absorb rainfall — is highly vulnerable to climate change.
The nation, ravaged by four decades of war, is one of the poorest in the world and, according to scientists, one of the worst prepared to face the consequences of global warming.
AFP
South African police have arrested five suspects after rescuing a 25-year-old e-hailing driver who was allegedly kidnapped, raped and held for ransom in Cape Town.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement on Sunday that Steenberg police rescued the driver after he was allegedly raped by two female suspects and held at ransom by the group.
Police were alerted by the victim’s brother after the suspects contacted him and demanded R4,000 in cash for the driver’s release.
According to SAPS, the police used the victim’s vehicle tracker to locate him at Southampton Road in Heathfield, where he was rescued.
“Steenberg police rescued a 25-year-old e-hailing driver after he was raped and held at ransom by two female suspects and three males yesterday,” the police said.
The victim had reportedly met one of the female suspects the previous week through his e-hailing business.
According to police, the two exchanged telephone numbers and communicated throughout the week before arranging to meet.
“When he went to meet her, he was kidnapped by the suspects and the females raped him,” SAPS said.
Police subsequently arrested the two female suspects, aged 23 and 34, as well as three male suspects aged 16, 42 and 48.
The five suspects are expected to appear before the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, September 14, 2026.
SAPS said they would face charges relating to the alleged kidnapping and rape.
A 31-year-old woman in the United Kingdom will spend more time in prison after falsely accusing 10 men of rape, following intervention by Attorney General Ellie Reeves.
Bolton, had her sentence increased by two years and six months after Reeves referred her case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Sharples contacted men on Facebook and dating apps between 2013 and 2020, arranged to meet them in person, and then made false claims of rape against them to the police.
The court heard how the convict repeated and sustained the accusations, which led to eight separate police investigations involving ten innocent victims.
The government said the majority of those wrongfully accused were arrested and held in custody, resulting in months of investigations and over 550 hours of police time.
The victims described the impact that false allegations had on their daily lives, including loss of relationships, employment, and lasting damage to their mental health.
“Anyone who seeks to exploit or undermine genuine acts of violence against women and girls must be held to account,” said Attorney General Reeves.
The top justice official advised genuine victims to come forward, saying every report of rape is rightly taken seriously and treated with the care it deserves.
On March 11, March, Sharples was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment for 10 counts of obstruction of justice. The Court of Appeal increased it to 7 years on September 9.
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has lost her husband, Hafidh Ameir Hassan, who died on Monday while receiving treatment for a heart condition at a hospital in Zanzibar.
Ameir died at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the Emilio Mzena Memorial Hospital, according to Vice-President Deogratius Ndejembi, who announced his death.
Ndejembi said funeral arrangements were already being made in Kizimkazi, a village on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar.
The vice-president also expressed condolences to President Hassan, Ameir’s family and friends following his death.
Kenyan President William Ruto joined those mourning Ameir, saying he received news of his death with “deep sorrow”.
“President Samia has lost a lifelong companion, her children a beloved father, and Tanzania a distinguished son,” he wrote on social media.
Ameir, an agricultural academic, largely stayed away from the public spotlight despite being married to Tanzania’s president. He became the country’s first First Gentleman after Hassan assumed office in 2021.
His appearances alongside President Hassan were uncommon, although he occasionally accompanied her at official engagements.
Ameir and Hassan married in 1978, before she began her political career, and had four children together — three sons and a daughter.
Their daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, has also followed a political career and currently serves in Zanzibar’s House of Representatives in the National Assembly.
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