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Typhoon death toll rises to 90 in Philippines with some areas still submerged

Special Typhoon death toll rises to 90 in Philippines with some areas still submerged
Relief workers operate in Naga, Camarines Sur on Oct. 25, 2024 after heavy rains brought by tropical storm Trami flooded the area. (AFP)
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Updated 27 October 2024

Typhoon death toll rises to 90 in Philippines with some areas still submerged

Typhoon death toll rises to 90 in Philippines with some areas still submerged
  • More than half a million Filipinos displaced and nearly 28,000 houses damaged by Trami
  • Authorities are bracing for tropical storm Kong-rey, which may affect Luzon in coming days

MANILA: The death toll from tropical storm Trami has risen to at least 90 in the Philippines, officials said, with 36 people reported missing. Some of the worst-affected areas were still submerged on Sunday.

Trami, known locally as Kristine, caused widespread flooding and triggered landslides that forced more than half a million people from their homes and damaged nearly 28,000 houses. It caused power disruptions in more than 150 cities and municipalities, according to the Office of Civil Defense.

It was the 11th and deadliest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2024, affecting people across Luzon, the country’s most populous island, and in Visayas islands and parts of Mindanao, along the Philippines’ eastern coast.

Relief workers were struggling to reach some of the worst-hit areas in the province of Camarines Sur and particularly Naga City, located in Luzon’s Bicol region.

“The situation, particularly in the five towns of Camarines Sur, is still the same. There is still heavy flooding …  (and) very little change, the waters have receded by just less than a foot,” Claudio Yucot, regional director at the OCD in Bicol, told Arab News.

Floods were above head-level in some areas, he said, adding that the destruction left by Trami was “unprecedented,” citing local residents who said they have never experienced such strong rains.

“There was no wind, in fact the storm was far from us, we were outside of the cone of uncertainty. But the amount of rain dumped in our area was really unprecedented.”

Authorities were bracing for yet another tropical storm, Kong-rey, which was moving over the Philippine Sea on Sunday with similar wind speeds. While the storm, known locally as Leon, may not make landfall in the Philippines, weather authorities say it may still affect northern Luzon in the coming days.

OCD administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said in a radio interview that authorities were still unable to access some areas on Sunday, due to the floods caused by Trami.

“We need to use boats or rubber boats, we cannot reach them via ordinary vehicles. But we are reaching them albeit slowly because land vehicles still cannot pass through,” he said.

Trami also triggered deadly landslides in Talisay and Batangas, killing at least 20 people in the village of Sampaloc.

 “Due to the non-stop heavy rains, the mountain gave way and when the landslide happened, many people were killed. Twenty bodies have already been recovered and there is still one missing,” Hibirio Garcia, Sampaloc village head, told Arab News.

“The houses are gone, because most (of them) are huts, they are not made of cement, just made of wood.”

The Philippines is the country most at risk from natural disasters, according to the 2024 World Risk Report.

Millions of Filipinos are affected by storms and typhoons every year, which have grown more unpredictable and extreme due to the changing climate.

Last month, more than a dozen people were killed when Typhoon Yagi, known locally as Enteng, hit the country’s east.


Bolivia votes in runoff election, marking pro-market shift and US embrace

Bolivia votes in runoff election, marking pro-market shift and US embrace
Updated 58 min 54 sec ago

Bolivia votes in runoff election, marking pro-market shift and US embrace

Bolivia votes in runoff election, marking pro-market shift and US embrace
  • The race pits centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz against conservative former president Jorge Quiroga
  • Runoff between two pro-market candidates from privileged backgrounds signals an epochal shift for Bolivia

LA PAZ: Bolivians vote in a presidential runoff on Sunday that marks a decisive rejection of the socialist government and a likely foreign policy shift closer to the United States after decades of frosty relations. The race pits centrist Senator Rodrigo Paz against conservative former president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga. Both candidates have pledged to strengthen diplomatic ties with Washington – strained since 2009 – and seek US-backed financial support to stabilize Bolivia’s fragile economy. The runoff between two pro-market candidates from privileged backgrounds signals an epochal shift for Bolivia, following two decades of dominance by the leftist Movement to Socialism party, founded by Evo Morales and once backed by the country’s Indigenous majority.
For some voters the finalists echo the conservative governments of the 1990s, which championed privatization and close relations with the United States. Morales, who took power in 2006 and was Bolivia’s first Indigenous leader, pursued alliances with Cuba, Venezuela and Russia, and nationalized the oil and gas industry.
“This election marks a political turning point,” said Glaeldys Gonzalez Calanche, analyst for the Southern Andes at International Crisis Group. Regardless of the outcome, “Bolivia is heading in a new direction,” she said.
Quiroga has promised “radical change,” including deep cuts to public spending and closing or privatizing loss-making state-owned companies. Paz favors a more gradual approach, maintaining social programs for the poor while promoting private-sector growth. Opinion polls show Quiroga with a narrow lead. A September Ipsos survey gave him 47 percent support to Paz’s 39 percent, though Paz outperformed expectations in the August first round.
Voting stations open at 8 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) and close at 4 p.m., with initial results expected after 9 p.m. The winner will take office on November 8.
Voters want economic change
Paz in late September announced plans for an economic cooperation deal worth $1.5 billion with US officials to ensure fuel supplies, while Quiroga is pushing for a $12 billion international bailout backed by multilateral lenders.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that both presidential candidates “want stronger, better relations with the United States,” after decades of anti-American leadership. “This election is a transformative opportunity,” he said on Wednesday. Some Bolivians have voiced fears of austerity measures such as those seen in neighboring Argentina under President Javier Milei, though Paz has rejected drastic spending cuts and Quiroga insists his policies will benefit ordinary Bolivians. Support for the Movement to Socialism all but collapsed in the election’s first round.
Inflation has surged to 23 percent since the start of the year, while fuel and dollar shortages have crippled consumer demand. Natural gas exports – once Bolivia’s economic engine – have plummeted, straining the boliviano currency and limiting fuel imports.
In La Paz’s commercial district, appliance stores are shuttered and shops empty of customers. “There are months with zero sales,” said Mercedes Quisbert, head of the local Importers’ Association. Up until this year, shopkeepers and street-sellers had been just about managing to weather the crisis, she said – but not anymore.
Bolivia has one of Latin America’s highest rates of informal employment, with around 84 percent of the population working outside the formal labor market, according to official data. Millions rely on buying and selling goods to make a living.
“We’re basically surviving,” said Marcela Martinez, 52, as she compared prices at a market in La Paz. She was planning to vote for Paz on Sunday. “We need new people to come in.”


Japan’s LDP, Ishin agree to form coalition government, Kyodo says

Japan’s LDP, Ishin agree to form coalition government, Kyodo says
Updated 19 October 2025

Japan’s LDP, Ishin agree to form coalition government, Kyodo says

Japan’s LDP, Ishin agree to form coalition government, Kyodo says
  • Sanae Takaichi’s path to succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had seemed all but certain
  • But then the long-ruling LDP’s junior partner, Komeito, quit their 26-year coalition

TOKYO: Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party have broadly agreed to form a coalition government, setting the stage for the country’s first female prime minister, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.
Sanae Takaichi, leader of the conservative LDP, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of the smaller right-leaning group, known as Ishin, are set to sign an agreement on their alliance on Monday, Kyodo said.
Calls to the LDP and Ishin headquarters to seek comment went unanswered outside business hours.
Ishin’s co-head, Fumitake Fujita, raised expectations for a deal on Friday, saying the two parties had made “big progress” in coalition talks.
Ishin lawmakers will vote for Takaichi in an election to choose the prime minister in parliament on Tuesday, but the party does not plan to send ministers to Takaichi’s cabinet initially, the news agency said.
Takaichi’s path to succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had seemed all but certain after she won her party’s presidency early this month. But then the long-ruling LDP’s junior partner, Komeito, quit their 26-year coalition, setting off a flurry of negotiations with rival parties to select the next premier.
In an effort to get Ishin on board, the LDP offered to keep working toward banning donations from companies and other organizations and exempting food items from Japan’s sales tax, Kyodo said.
Ishin has proposed eliminating the tax on food items for two years.


Tropical storm kills family of five as hits Philippines

Tropical storm kills family of five as hits Philippines
Updated 19 October 2025

Tropical storm kills family of five as hits Philippines

Tropical storm kills family of five as hits Philippines
  • The family, including two children aged two and 11 years old, were crushed to death when a tree fell on their house
  • Fengshen hovered over Manila Bay late morning Sunday with gusts of up to 90 kilometers an hour

MANILA: Tropical Storm Fengshen killed a family of five Sunday as it plowed across the Philippines’ main island Luzon, police and disaster officials said.
The family, including two children aged two and 11 years old, were crushed to death when a tree fell on their house at daybreak, police official Sonny Ombajino said by telephone.
The incident occurred at a village near the town of Pitogo, about 153 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of Manila, as the storm raked across the southeastern section of Luzon overnight.
Fengshen hovered over Manila Bay late morning Sunday with gusts of up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) an hour and was poised to strike provinces north of the capital Manila, the state weather service said.
At least 47,000 people left their homes and headed to government-designated temporary shelters across southeast Luzon since Saturday, local disaster officials said, as the weather service warned of possible coastal flooding and landslides.
The Philippines is hit by around 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking areas where millions of people live in poverty.
Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful as the planet warms due to human-driven climate change.
Fengshen comes as the country reels from a series of major earthquakes that killed at least 87 people over the past three weeks.


Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Qatar talks

Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Qatar talks
Updated 15 min 39 sec ago

Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Qatar talks

Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Qatar talks
  • The agreement was arrived at during a round of negotiations mediated by Qatar and Turkiye on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement
  • Clashes have killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the worst violence between the two neighbors since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” at talks in Doha, after at least 10 Afghans were killed in Pakistani air strikes that broke an earlier truce.

For more than a week, the South Asian neighbors have engaged in bloody border clashes — their worst conflict since the return of the Taliban government in 2021.

A 48-hour truce briefly put a stop to the fighting, which has killed dozens of troops and civilians, until Friday’s air strikes.

After peace talks in Doha, Qatar’s foreign ministry said early Sunday that “the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries.”

They also agreed to follow-up meetings in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire, the foreign ministry added.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that a ceasefire agreement had been reached and said the two sides would meet again in Istanbul on October 25.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The two sides agreed to follow-up meetings in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire

• Since the Taliban returned to power, Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic spike in militant attacks

• The cross-border violence flared on October 11, days after explosions rocked Kabul

“Terrorism on Pakistani soil conducted from Afghanistan will immediately stop. Both neighboring countries will respect each other’s sovereignty,” Asif posted on social media.

Afghanistan’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid also confirmed the “signing of an agreement.”

“It was decided that both countries will not carry out any acts of hostility against each other,” he wrote on X on Sunday.

“Neither country will undertake any hostile actions against the other, nor will they support groups carrying out attacks against the Government of Pakistan.”

The defense ministers posted a picture on X shaking hands after the signing.

Afghan relatives and mourners offer prayers during the funeral ceremony of victims, killed in aerial strikes by Pakistan, at the Urgun district of Paktika province on Oct. 18, 2025. (AFP)

‘Still afraid’

Security issues lie at the heart of the clashes.

Since the Taliban returned to power, Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic spike in militant attacks, mainly near its 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan.

Analysts say Islamist fighters have been emboldened by the neighboring insurgency’s success following the withdrawal of US forces in 2021.

Islamabad alleges that hostile groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), operate from “sanctuaries” in Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban government routinely denies.

Pakistan ceremonial guards lay a wreath during the funeral ceremony of a Frontier Corps paramilitary personnel, killed during the Afghanistan-Pakistan border clashes, in Kohat on Oct. 17, 2025. (AFP)

The cross-border violence flared on October 11, days after explosions rocked Kabul during an unprecedented visit by the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India, Pakistan’s archrival.

The Taliban then launched a deadly offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response.

Ahead of the Doha talks, a senior Taliban official said that Pakistan had bombed three locations in Paktika province late Friday, and warned that Kabul would retaliate.

A hospital official in Paktika said that 10 civilians, including two children, were killed and 12 others wounded. Three cricket players were among the dead.

Zabihullah, the Taliban spokesman, wrote on X that their forces had been ordered to hold fire “to maintain the dignity and integrity of its negotiating team.”

Saadullah Torjan, a minister in Spin Boldak in Afghanistan’s south, said: “For now, the situation is returning to normal.”

“But there is still a state of war, and people are afraid.”


Nigeria denies officers arrested over coup plot

Nigeria denies officers arrested over coup plot
Updated 19 October 2025

Nigeria denies officers arrested over coup plot

Nigeria denies officers arrested over coup plot
  • “The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) wishes to categorically state that the claims by the said publication are entirely false,” said a statement from Tukur Gusau, director of defense information, without specifying which outlet he meant

ABUJA: Nigerian authorities on Saturday denied that more than a dozen officers had been arrested over a coup plot, pushing back on local media reports.
The west African country has seen several military takeovers in its history and spent much of the 20th century under junta rule since its independence from Britain.
A fresh coup would turn back the clock on more than a quarter century of civilian rule.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) wishes to categorically state that the claims by the said publication are entirely false,” said a statement from Tukur Gusau, director of defense information, without specifying which outlet he meant.
But Sahara Reporters, an online publication, and Premium Times, based in the capital Abuja, both said Saturday that at least 16 officers were planning to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
The military had announced earlier this month that 16 officers had been arrested over “issues of indiscipline.”
The two media outlets, citing defense sources, reported that the arrests were in fact linked to a coup plot.
The military is fighting a long-running insurgency against Boko Haram and Daesh West Africa Province in the northeast.
While the violence has waned since its peak a decade ago, attacks continue — including deadly assaults on military bases — seemingly with no end in sight.
Analysts have warned of a rise in jihadist violence this year, while troops have at times reported unpaid wages and poor conditions.
The military is stretched thin on other fronts as well, including fighting armed gangs known as “bandits” in the northwest and separatists in the southeast.
Earlier this month, the army announced that “a routine military exercise has resulted in the arrest of sixteen officers over issues of indiscipline and breach of service regulations.”
The statement added: “Investigations have revealed that their grievances stemmed largely from perceived career stagnation caused by repeated failure in promotion examinations, among other issues.”
In Saturday’s statement, Gusau said the investigation was “a routine internal process aimed at ensuring discipline and professionalism is maintained within the ranks.”