International
Landslide kills many in Papau New Guinea
![](https://newstrends.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landslide-kills-many-in-Papau-New-Guinea.jpg)
Landslide kills many in Papau New Guinea
Numerous people are thought dead after a terrible landslide devastated Papua New Guinea’s highlands on Friday, according to local officials and relief organisations.
Around three in the morning local time, the tragedy struck Kaokalam village in the isolated Enga province of Papua New Guinea.
Peter Ipatas, the provincial governor, told AFP that there had been “loss of life and property” due to the devastating landslide.
Photos from the site revealed a sizable portion of rock and earth split off from a hill covered with thick vegetation.
A vast and expansive rift of dirt, downed trees, and stones the size of cars extended towards the valley’s bottom.
At the base of an enormous landslide, the remnants of numerous corrugated tin shelters were visible.
READ ALSO:
- Judge trying to stop Sanusi’s reinstatement currently in America, says Gov Yusuf
- 50-year-old man opts for prison than refund client’s N15m
- Troops kill 253 terrorists, arrest 172 in one week
Numerous local men and women clambered over the dirt and rock heaps, excavating, calling out, keeping an ear out for survivors, or just standing there staring in shock at the scene.
A few quickly transformed into rescuers, putting on headgear, Wellington boots, and grabbing machetes and long-handled axes to assist in clearing the debris.
Cries came from youngsters who were being carried on their mothers’ backs as they moved.
“The landslide hit around three last night, and it looks like more than 100 houses got buried. It is not yet known how many people were in those houses,” Vincent Pyati, president of the local Community Development Association, told AFP.
“The number of victims is unknown.”
Aid organisations, such as CARE and the Red Cross of Papua New Guinea, reported that they had proof of the landslip and were investigating further.
The region, which is somewhat south of the equator, has severe rains frequently. There has been a lot of rain and flooding this year.
Landslide kills many in Papau New Guinea
International
Minister arrested over alleged witchcraft
![](https://newstrends.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Fathimath-Shamnaz-Ali-Saleem.jpg)
Minister arrested over alleged witchcraft
A high-ranking politician in the Maldives has been arrested and detained, reportedly on suspicion of casting spells against the country’s president.
Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem, State Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Energy, was taken into custody along with her ex-husband and two other accomplices.
The group has been ordered to remain in jail for a week pending an investigation.
The arrests have sent shockwaves through the political landscape of the Maldives, a nation known more for its idyllic beaches and tourism than for allegations of sorcery at the highest levels of government.
READ ALSO:
- Tenure of FCT council chairmen expires in 2026, INEC clarifies
- I lost over N10m to Abuja market fire, trader laments
- Tale of woes in Abuja market after fire outbreak
The Maldives police have not officially stated the reasons behind the arrest of the minister. However, they have declined to confirm or deny media reports suggesting that the charges involve ‘black magic’ directed at President Mohamed Muizzu.
The accusations have sparked widespread speculation and concern among the public and within political circles.
Fathimath Shamnaz Ali Saleem has been a prominent figure in the government, actively involved in shaping policies related to climate change and sustainable development.
Her sudden arrest on such unusual charges has raised many questions about the underlying political dynamics at play.
Minister arrested over alleged witchcraft
International
Israeli forces arrest 28 Palestinians in raids in occupied West Bank
![](https://newstrends.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Israeli-forces-detain-28-Palestinians-in-West-Bank-raids.jpg)
Israeli forces arrest 28 Palestinians in raids in occupied West Bank
The Israeli military has arrested 28 Palestinians in a series of raids across the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian rights group.
The overnight raids, part of Israel’s increasingly violent assault on the occupied territories, targeted the governorates of Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and el-Bireh, Nablus and Jerusalem, said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society on Thursday.
Israeli forces had doled out “severe beatings” and made threats against detainees’ families, said the group, which keeps a daily tally of arrests.
Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before Israel’s current war on Gaza erupted in October, has since escalated with frequent army raids on Palestinian groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages, and deadly Palestinian street attacks.
Reporting from Ramallah, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the Israeli military had “dramatically” increased its operations, conducting about 38 raids a day, with an uptick in detentions. Home demolitions have gone up by 25 percent since last year, displacing more than 1,000 Palestinians.
In Jenin, where nine Palestinians were arrested, armed confrontations broke out in the city and its refugee camp in the early hours of Thursday.
READ ALSO:
- Palestinians in Lebanon ready to fight if Israel starts war with Hezbollah
- Biden struggles during heated debate with Trump ahead the 2024 US presidential election
- President Tinubu exposes Nigeria’s big thieves
Palestinian media said Israeli forces had raided a pharmacy near Jenin Government Hospital, on the outskirts of Jenin refugee camp, transferring detainees to an unknown destination.
A resident said Israeli bulldozers destroyed infrastructure inside the camp and in the city of Jenin.
During the raid, Palestinian fighters attacked Israeli armoured vehicles with explosive devices, killing one soldier and wounding 16.
“There were two explosions. The first one caused injuries. The second, that’s where the death happened,” said Odeh.
“According to preliminary Israeli investigations, the devices were buried or located a metre and a half into the ground, so deeper than the Israeli military vehicles usually dig to be able to find those improvised devices,” she said.
The Israeli military confirmed the death. The soldier “fell during operational activity in the area of Jenin”, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Wafa news agency reported that four Palestinians were arrested in an overnight swoop on Hebron.
Israeli forces had stormed the town of Yatta, south of the city of Hebron, arresting three people, including a female university student. Another man was arrested in the town of Dura, southwest of Hebron.
The Israeli military also arrested a man after shooting him in the foot in the Qalandiya refugee camp, while another man was taken into custody in Deir Ghassana village, northwest of Ramallah.
Since October 7, Israel has carried out a total of 9,430 arrests in the West Bank in near daily raids.
The United Nations’ human rights chief Volker Turk warned this month that the situation in the West Bank was “dramatically deteriorating”, saying earlier that people there were being “subjected to day after day of unprecedented bloodshed”.
Israeli forces arrest 28 Palestinians in raids in occupied West Bank
International
Palestinians in Lebanon ready to fight if Israel starts war with Hezbollah
![](https://newstrends.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-PFLP-GC-has-a-presence-in-Palestinian-refugee-camps-across-Lebanon.jpg)
Palestinians in Lebanon ready to fight if Israel starts war with Hezbollah
Shatila refugee camp, Beirut, Lebanon – Palestinians in Lebanon have watched Israel’s assault on Gaza with simmering anger and are now facing the prospect of a similar fate if Israel wages an all-out war against the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah began engaging Israel almost immediately after the latter began its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 people and uprooted almost the entire population.
The Lebanese group has repeatedly said it would stop its attacks on Israel once a ceasefire took hold in Gaza and Israel stopped its bombardment on the people living there.
Israel’s assault followed a Hamas-led surprise attack on Israeli communities and military outposts on October 7, in which 1,139 people were killed and 250 taken captive.
Ready to go home
In the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, many people involved in resistance movements told Al Jazeera that they’re not scared, and would fight to support Hezbollah and the wider “axis of resistance” in the region against Israel.
READ ALSO:
- Biden struggles during heated debate with Trump ahead the 2024 US presidential election
- President Tinubu exposes Nigeria’s big thieves
- Three persons injured in Jigawa farmers-herders clash
But they fear for their families and civilians, worrying that Israel would deliberately target densely populated residential areas in Lebanon, like the Palestinian camps, where tens of thousands of people live packed tightly together.
“The Israeli army has no ethics. They don’t abide by human rights or consider the rights of children,” said Ahed Mahar, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command [PFLP-GC] in Shatila.
-
metro1 day ago
Hajj: Chief Imam Ayilara hits back at Soun of Ogbomosho over query
-
Entertainment3 days ago
#Chivido2024: Davido, Chioma wed in Lagos, with Obasanjo, Ooni, govs, celebs attending
-
News13 hours ago
Sanusi remains Kano emir, Nasarawa palace a distraction – state govt
-
Business3 days ago
Naira goes for N1,500/$ at parallel market
-
Opinion15 hours ago
President Tinubu exposes Nigeria’s big thieves
-
News14 hours ago
Wike slams Ozekhome for defending election riggers, says Shehu Sani failed as senator
-
International3 days ago
Pentagon chief seeks urgent diplomacy to avoid Israel-Hezbollah war
-
Sports3 days ago
Osimhen’s attitude, character scaring European clubs, says ex-striker Peter Ijeh