Category: World

SCHULD, Germany: The death toll from devastating floods in Europe soared to at least 126 on Friday, most in western Germany where emergency responders were frantically searching for missing people. Unsuspecting residents were caught completely off guard by the torrent dubbed the “flood of death” by Germany”s top-selling daily Bild. Streets and houses were submerged by water in some areas, while cars were left overturned on soaked streets after flood waters passed. Some districts were completely cut off from the outside world. “Everything was under water within 15 minutes,” Agron Berischa, a 21-year-old decorator from Bad Neuenahr in Rhineland-Palatinate state, told AFP. “Our flat, our office, our neighbours” houses, everywhere was under water. ” Residents were shocked by the damage as floodwaters continued to rise overnight. “We rushed home and found ourselves waist-deep in water. And overnight another 50 centimetres were added,” said Christoph Buecken in Eschweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Adding to the devastation, several more people were feared dead in a landslide in northern Germany on Friday triggered by floods. Hundreds were unaccounted for in the country, while the death toll in Belgium jumped to 23 with more than 21,000 people left without electricity in one region.

ISLAMABAD: Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred two Kashmiri youth in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Srinagar on Friday. The youth, identified as Irfan and Bilal Ahmad, were killed inside a house, which was destroyed by Indian troops and paramilitary forces, using chemical explosives during a cordon and search operation in Danmar Eidgah area of the city, Kashmir Media Service reported. Indian police in a tweet claimed that two unidentified ‘militants’ were killed and search is going on.

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday blamed the “hasty withdrawal” of US and NATO troops for a rapid deterioration in Afghanistan”s security and warned of instability spreading to neighbouring countries. Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have capitalised on the last stages of the withdrawal of foreign troops to launch offensives, capturing a swath of districts and border crossings, and encircling provincial capitals. “In recent days we have unfortunately seen a rapid deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in comments carried by Russian news agencies. “In light of the hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO troops, there is huge uncertainty around the future of the political and military situation in this country,” he said at a conference in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. Russia hosted Taliban representatives in Moscow last week, where the insurgent group claimed to have control over some 85 percent of Afghanistan. Moscow is closely watching the Taliban”s advance and concerned about the potential for instability reaching neighbouring Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union where Russia maintains military bases. Lavrov said the crisis had increased the threat of terrorism and worsened problems surrounding drug trafficking, which he said had reached “an unprecedented level”. “It”s clear that, in this situation, there is a real risk of instability spreading to neighbouring countries,” he said in Tashkent, according to the TASS news agency.

TASHKENT: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday held the delegation-level talks between their governments, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The talks were held on the sidelines of ‘Central and South Asia 2021: Regional Connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities’ conference, held in the capital of Uzbekistan.

MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday launched military exercises in Tajikistan as the Taliban mount a blistering offensive in neighbouring Afghanistan. The militants in recent weeks have brought huge swathes of the country under their control as foreign troops withdraw, including Afghanistan´s main Shir Khan Bandar border crossing with Tajikistan. Moscow is closely watching the offensive, concerned about the security of countries in ex-Soviet Central Asia where it maintains military bases. On Wednesday some 1,000 troops based at Russia´s 201st military base in Tajikistan´s capital Dushanbe took part in drills, Russian news agency Interfax reported. The agency cited a statement by Russia´s Central Military District as saying the exercises were meant for unit commanders and combat chiefs to ready for “combat operations in a dynamically changing situation”. Interfax reported that the exercises will run through the end of the week. Russia´s defence ministry said in a statement carried by the news agency that servicemen stationed at the military base had “repelled a massive missile strike by a simulated enemy” during the drills on Wednesday.

Berlin: Former US president George W. Bush on Wednesday criticised the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan and said civilians were being left to be “slaughtered” by the Taliban. “I´m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm… They are going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people and it breaks my heart,” Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Asked whether he thought the withdrawal was a mistake, Bush replied: “Yes, I think it is.”

The former Republican president, who sent troops to Afghanistan in autumn 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York´s World Trade Center, said he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel “feels the same way”. Bush said Merkel, who is set to retire from politics later this year after 16 years in power, had brought “class and dignity to a very important position and made very hard decisions”.

BRUSSELS: The European Commission wants to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, under a massive plan to fight climate change unveiled Wednesday. According to one of a dozen draft laws revealed in Brussels, emissions from motor vehicles must fall by 55 percent by 2030 and drop to zero by 2035. “As a result, all new cars registered as of 2035 will be zero emission,” the statement announcing the plan said. This would in practice mean that all cars and light vans sold from that date will be battery-powered electric cars, which currently represent less than a tenth of new registrations in the EU. The move is sure to be fiercely opposed by some in the industry lobby as it makes its way through an intense negotiating and drafting process and scrutiny in the European parliament. The European Automobile Manufacturer´s Association (ACEA) said it supported efforts to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050, as envisaged by draft climate laws. “However, banning a single technology is not a rational way forward at this stage,” it added, referring to plans to reduce road traffic emissions to zero by 2035. Pressure group Transport and Environment welcomed the plan as a “turning point” for green motoring. But executive director William Todts warned: “The problem is carmakers will only have to start selling those cleaner cars in 2030. “Our planet cannot afford another nine years of big talk but little action from the auto industry.” And there is caution among member states like France, Germany, Spain and Italy which have a large sectors manufacturing traditional combustion engine vehicles and hybrids that support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

LONDON: Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Wednesday Britain will work with the Taliban if it enters into a power-sharing government in Afghanistan and respects human rights. “Whatever the government of the day is, provided it adheres to certain international norms, the UK Government will engage with it,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “Just like other governments around the world, if they behave in a way that is seriously against human rights, we will review that relationship. “All peace processes require you to come to terms with the enemy. Sometimes, that”s what it is. ” Wallace”s comments, delivered in an interview with the Telegraph during a visit to the United States, came as the hardline Islamist group has swept through much of Afghanistan in recent months. It said Wednesday fighters had captured a strategic border crossing along the frontier with Pakistan, continuing gains made since foreign forces stepped up their withdrawal from the country after nearly two decades there. The Afghan government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be resupplied by air. Wallace urged the two sides to “show leadership and bring together Afghanistan”, noting Western countries were engaging with the Taliban through international forums and that there were “lots of views” within it.