Foreign Tit Bits Today
By Yadnom Awu/Asaba
Sudan
1,000 Killed In Sudan Landslides
More than 1,000 persons are feared dead in the landslides that accompanied the torrential Sunday rains in Tarassin area of the Marra Mountains area of the Darfur Region of Sudan.
The rains triggered the slides which swept down villages, taking away houses, lives and lives estimated to be in excess of 1,000.
In one of the impacted villages, only one person survived.
The victims were mainly people who had fled the nearly two -year war in the country.
The Rapid Support Force ( RSF), the rebel group which controls much of the area, said that the tally of fatalities could rise exponentially as rescue efforts continue.
The United Nations (UN) Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Antoine Gerald, said that emergency humanitarian supplies were in short supply and access impeded by the difficult terrain of the mountainous region.
The RSF has been locked in a titanic military conflict with the government in Khartoum for nearly two years.
Afghanistan
Death Toll In Afghan Quake Reaches 1,124-.Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent ( ICRC), says the death toll in Sunday night’s earthquake in Afghanistan has exceeded the 1,000 mark.
It said that the toll now stood at 1,124, warning that it could exponentially increase as rescue efforts continue .
Meanwhile, rescue efforts, led by the helicopter team of the Afghan Air Force, resumed this morning as officials of the Taliban government and emergency workers try to reach the remote impacted area of the mountainous Eastern Region of the country.
Locals say that, given that the access roads are largely narrow and blocked by the deposits of mud left by the slides, it could still take much time before the epicentre of the quake could be reached.
The Taliban government which has been running the country for four years running now, has sought for international support.
Already, China, Indian and the United Kingdom (UK) have separately vowed support.
While India has ferried grains to impacted areas, the UK has vowed the donation of the equivalent of $1.2million.
Caught in the throes of a prostrate economy,a persisting that has affected 19 of its 24 provinces, hunger and dwindling receipts from donor governments and agencies, Afghanistan faces a tough task taking care of the more than 4,000 non- fatal victims of the quake.
The country lost more than an estimated 4,000 persons to two last major earthquakes in the last four years.
North Korea
North Korean Leader, Un, Leaves For China India Armoured Train
North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un, has crossed into China across their common border, in an armour-plated train.
It is the first foreign trip for the iron fist leader in the past six years.
He is due to attend tomorrow “s military parade in Beijing.
More than 24 world leaders are to grace the drills in the city of 21 million people.
Major world leaders due to attend include Vladimir Viktor Putin of Russia, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Tecep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye, and Prime Minister Modi of India.
The leaders of Iran, Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia, are also expected to attend the parade which is to be mounted by more than 30,000 troops.
China is displaying its advanced military assets at the show.
Beijing, which recently hosted a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tiajin, East of the country, is using the parade to display its major military inventions and creations, as well as depict its desire to help create a new world order where multilateralism, rather than unipolarism, reigns.
Israel
Israel May Annex Parts of West Bank -Sources
Israel may annex parts of the West Bank in response to the plan by several Western nations to recognize the state of Palestine.
Highly placed credible sources in Tel-Aviv said that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had mooted the idea and taken it to a meeting of his cabinet.
But the sources said no decisions had been taken on it
The move comes after Israel recently approved the construction of 3,410 new illegal settlements in the West Bank, whch it occupies, along with East Jerusalem, the proposed capital of a prospective Palestinian State.
The move , long on the drawing board of the Netanyahu administration, has been declared illegal by both the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations (UN), Israel’ s Western allies and almost the entire global South.
Israel is mounting a high heel military campaign on Gaza City which it says it would seize as part of efforts to defeat Hamas and enhance its security .
The move comes as more countries, including France, Britain ,Canada, Belgium, Australia, Portugal and New Zealand said they would recognize the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this month.
America has already barred the issuance of travel visas to officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) and the Palestine Authority ( PA) in a controversial move intended to bar official Palestinian representation at the crucial meeting of UNGA.
UK To Warn Foreign Students Against Overstaying Visa Validity Limits
The United Kingdom (UK) is to issue warnings to foreign students against overstaying the validity limits of their visas.
Besides, those on asylum visas are also to be warned against bringing in their families.
The UK government which gave the hint on Monday, said that the warnings could be sent by Short messages service (SMS) or social media posts, to the subscriber identification modules (SIMs) of the students.
About 130,000 foreign students are in the country, and the move comes as the UK government struggles to cope with the social, economic and political costs of its immigration policy..
