International News
World Coming To An End’: Kenyan Town Copes With Life Underwater
Abdi Hussein sat alone on a Kenyan road strewn with ramshackle tents bound with plastic strings and covered with tarpaulins, peering into the sea of rust-coloured flood water.
The deluge had claimed his livelihood, his home and his wife, leaving the 32-year-old bereft as he pondered what was left of his life.
“It has been like the world is coming to an end,” he told AFP, his forehead resting on his palm.
“The water kept rising and rising and it swallowed everything.
Garissa town in eastern Kenya is no stranger to rain-related disasters, but its residents told AFP that the ongoing monsoon has brought a catastrophic level of flooding that shocked them.
Kenya is grappling with floods that have killed 257 people across the East African nation, following weeks of torrential rainfall scientists have linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Almost 55,000 households have been displaced, with the rains submerging entire villages, blocking roads and hampering delivery of basic goods.
The downpour inundated five dams, unleashing massive overflows of water downstream across Garissa, Tana River and Lamu — a region home to more than 1.5 million people.
“We haven’t seen much rain ourselves but our biggest undoing is living downstream,” said Mwanajuma Raha, whose house was torn down by the deluge that also swept away all her possessions.
Unrelenting
At 27, Suleiman Vuya Abdulahi has been displaced by floods seven times,
including when he was just an infant.
But nothing prepared the soft-spoken farmer with tired brown eyes for this year’s disaster.
Marooned and unable to swim, he spent days on a rooftop, barely above the water, waiting anxiously for help as he watched the rains take over the land.
Displaced in November for three months, he had barely picked up the pieces of his life before the monsoons forced him to leave home again.
“We, ordinary citizens, are really struggling,” he told AFP.
Some people are refusing to leave their homes for fear of seeing them looted, choosing to live on rooftops and wading or swimming to nearby roads when they need food supplies.
The main road into Garissa, a key commercial hub near the border with Somalia, has been cut off, forcing all deliveries to be made by air or boat and causing prices to soar.
“We have never seen such a thing in our region,” said 64-year-old village elder Boya Ali Karani, now sleeping on the roadside after the rains destroyed his house.
No food, no sleep
At the makeshift pier outside Garissa, motorboats — which used to ferry tourists on Lake Naivasha more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) away — are in constant demand as they cart people and supply desperately needed food.
But the journey can be deadly, with a packed passenger boat capsizing last month. Seven bodies, including that of a schoolgirl, have been retrieved. A dozen people are still missing.
Boatman Mohamed Mansur Ali, 36, who was involved in the rescue operation, said the work was “very difficult.”
“First, you don’t get any sleep and it is very tiring because you arrive at work at 6:00 am and finish work at 6:00 pm,” he told AFP.
“You could be resting but then again get a call about a patient who needs to go to the hospital.”
The authorities have put some restrictions in place since the accident, with the navy stationed at the pier to ensure every passenger wears a life jacket and boats are not overloaded.
There are fears that the crisis could worsen as the rains continue, with the massive Masinga dam in central Kenya already at “historic” highs.
Daud Ahmed Shalle, the regional coordinator for the Kenya Red Cross, said the situation was “dire” in the 11 camps housing nearly 6,500 families in Garissa county.
“We have a lot of people in the… camps whose basic need, or most pressing need right now, is lack of food,” he told AFP.
Campaigners have called for more financing to tackle the crisis, pointing out that the worst affected communities are the ones contributing the least to extreme weather phenomena.
“The impact of climate change on communities is irreversible and will only worsen, leading to a continuous rise in the global demand for humanitarian assistance,” said Melaku Yirga, East and Southern Africa regional director for US development charity Mercy Corps.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Premier League is the top league in terms of player contributions to the 2026 World Cup, sending 162 players to the 48-team tournament.
With the World Cup squad lists finalized, and despite last-minute withdrawals due to injury, such as Belardi from Argentina and Kahr from Germany, it can be concluded that the Premier League is once again leading the world’s major leagues. England’s top flight has solidified its position as the largest source of players for the 48 World Cup teams.
As of June 7th, out of the 1244 confirmed selected players, 13% play in the Premier League, totaling 162 individuals, with 5 clubs contributing at least 10 players each.
Manchester City leads the clubs contributing national team players to the World Cup with 19 players. Following closely among English teams are Arsenal with 16, Manchester United with 12, Crystal Palace with 12, and Liverpool with 11. The English top flight has once again proven its representation in football, and this advantage is now reflected on the World Cup stage.
Although there is a gap with the Premier League, the Bundesliga is still the second-highest contributor of players to the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Specifically, 100 participating players currently play in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich being the largest contributor from the Bundesliga, with 17 players selected. Borussia Dortmund contributed 11 players. In recent years, the Bundesliga’s global influence has continuously increased, with Hoffenheim having 9 World Cup players and Eintracht Frankfurt having 8.
Without Barcelona, La Liga’s presence would be much smaller. Including Gündoğan, Barcelona will have 16 players participating in the World Cup, making it one of the clubs contributing the most players to this World Cup. La Liga has a total of 81 players selected, only half that of the Premier League. After Barcelona, Atlético Madrid is the Spanish club with the most players contributed, with 12, surpassing Real Madrid’s 10, as Real Madrid also suffers from the impact of a poor season performance.
Ligue 1 has a total of 78 players participating in the World Cup, with Paris Saint-Germain accounting for a large proportion. Among these 78 players, nearly 20% come from this newly crowned European champion, specifically 15 players. Following Paris Saint-Germain among Ligue 1 clubs are Lille and Nice, both with 8 players selected.
Italy once had the best league in the world, and now Serie A contributes 66 players to this most important football event, which is also related to the Italian team missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time. AC Milan, which finished fifth in Serie A, is the Italian club with the most World Cup players, with 10.
Another data point that demonstrates the strength of English football is that the EFL Championship, England’s second-tier league after the Premier League, has 36 players participating in the World Cup, which is more than the total of other major European second-tier leagues, such as the 2. Bundesliga with 6, Ligue 2 with 6, Serie B with 5, and Segunda División with 5. In fact, the Championship is among the top ten leagues contributing the most World Cup players, even higher than the Brazilian and Dutch leagues.
June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.
Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million
Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million
Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million
Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million
Kounde decreased by 5 million to 60 million
Balde decreased by 5 million to 50 million
De Jong decreased by 10 million to 35 million
Casado decreased by 2 million to 18 million
Christensen decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Cancelo decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Lewandowski decreased by 1 million to 7 million
Szczesny decreased by 100,000 to 800,000
Unchanged (Euros)
Yamal 200 million
Pedri 150 million
Fermin 100 million
Cubarsi 80 million
Olmo 60 million
Ferran Torres 50 million
Rashford 40 million
Gavi 30 million
Bernal 30 million
Araujo 20 million
Bardghji 15 million
Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.
The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.
The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.
AFP
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