International

Floods, landslides leave 16 dead in Bosnia

Published

2 months ago

October 6, 2024

The area worst hit by flash floods and landslides was around Jablanica

Floods, landslides leave 16 dead in Bosnia

Flash floods and landslides in central Bosnia-Herzegovina have left at least 16 people dead, with towns and villages cut off and reports in some places of homes being almost submerged.

Some of the worst scenes were in the area around Jablanica, a town on the main route between the cities of Mostar and the capital, Sarajevo, about 70km (40 miles) to the north-east.

A number of other people have been reported missing and a state of emergency has been declared.

Development minister Vojin Mijatovic said the country had witnessed a terrible disaster and appealed for calm.

Officials from the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton said 13 deaths had been confirmed in the area, rather than 16 as earlier reported.

In the town of Fojnica, three other deaths were confirmed.

Search and rescue work continues, with ten people still unaccounted for in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

Rivers burst their banks after an overnight storm and aerial photos showed many towns and villages left inundated.

Roads, bridges and railway tracks were washed away or blocked by debris, while landslides left houses buried in rocks and earth as high as their upper storeys.

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The main M-17 route, which runs alongside the River Neretva was covered in debris close to Jablanica and a 17km-stretch of railway was badly damaged between nearby Ostrozac and Grabovica to the west. One 200m stretch of track was left hanging in the air by a landslide close to the river south of Jablanica.

The local authority in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton warned drivers to avoid dangerous roads around Jablanica.

Further east along the Neretva river, one homeowner told Bosnian media that water had flooded house at 03:30 on Friday and that they barely managed to save their son before escaping to neighbours and seeing their house collapse.

Meanwhile, 20km to the west of the capital around around Kiseljak, a torrent of water flooded the streets, leaving cars submerged.

The flooding was not confined to Bosnia. In neighbouring Montenegro, roads were washed away leaving the village of Komarnica cut off.

Water levels were also rising in some of Croatia’s rivers, and the government in Zagreb said there was a risk of some areas in the city of Karlovac being flooded close the Kupa river.

Much of Central Europe was hit by floods last month, with some of the worst devastation in Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said one four-day period had been the rainiest ever recorded in the region. They said the floods had been made much worse by climate change.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent. The last five years were on average around 2.3C warmer than the second half of the 19th Century, according to the Copernicus climate service.

Floods, landslides leave 16 dead in Bosnia

BBC

International

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

Published

4 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.

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Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.

As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

ARAB NEWS

International

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Published

5 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

President-elect Donald Trump

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.

He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.

In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”

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Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.

He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.

Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

International

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

Published

6 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

A United States federal jury sentenced two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years in prison for scamming certain US citizens $3,500,000.

This was mentioned in a news statement made public on the US Department of Justice website on Monday.

According to the statement, the Nigerians, Ibekie and Aniukwu mislead their victims by informing them that they had received big inheritances that required payment to claim.

The couple would then ask their victims to transfer money, promising to refund them after the inheritances were claimed.

It also stated that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.

It read, “An undercover law enforcement investigation has resulted in federal prison sentences for two Nigerian nationals residing in the Chicago suburbs who conducted online inheritance scams and other fraud schemes.

“Using aliases, Anthony Emeka Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants in order to claim it.

“In addition to the inheritance scam, the pair carried out an online romance scam that involved communicating with victims via social media and dating websites, building trust with the victims through a purported online romance, and convincing them to send money to a predetermined recipient. Aniukwu and Ibekie also orchestrated a ‘business email compromise’ scam that targeted corporate email accounts.

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“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”

According to the statement, after being arraigned on 14 charges, the duo pleaded guilty to their different alterations.

Following their guilty pleas, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday, and Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 8.

The statement continued, “A federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, 59, of Oswego, Illinois, on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison.

“Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to 10 years in prison.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Gosha, an accomplice of the Nigerians and a US citizen, is expected to be sentenced on December 18 after pleading guilty.

“A third defendant, Jennifer Gosha, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on December 18, 2024,” the statement concluded.