Foreign Tit Bits Today
Pakistan
Floods sack Millions in Punjab
Massive floods triggered by unusually heavy and intense rains caused by the annual monsoon season have afflicted most parts of Punjab in Pakistan .
Hundreds of thousands of residential and other property have been submerged and no fewer than 3 million persons have been impacted.
The rains followed unusually heavy rains that accompanied the annual monsoon season.
Meteorologists say that the tempo of flooding had been worsened by the unusually heavy precipitations over a few hours.
Locals said that in some places, the average monthly tally of rains fell in just a few hours,thus making the already saturated soil unable to absorb much of the storm water.
Evacuations are continuing in most parts of the province as the government in Islamabad struggles to cope with the worst floods in decades.
More than 48 persons have been killed by the floods over the past few days.
Afghanistan
Severe After Shocks Hit Afghanistan after Deadly Sunday Earthquake
..Death Tolly Now 2,200
Two severe after shocks hit the mountainous Eastern parts of Afghanistan late on Thursday, thus compounding the already impaired rescue efforts.
The shocks, measuring 5.6 on the Richter Scale, came as search and rescue operations continued in parts of the hilly country impacted by the quake which initial shocks reached China and India.
Emergency workers,led by the helicopter team, say their efforts were being impaired by the shocks which are affecting their land- based operatives.
Initial rescue efforts were compounded by the effects of the shocks and the landslides that accompanied the quake and emptied mud and other debris onto the narrow roads, thus hindering access by land.
Meanwhile, the Kabul- based Taliban government says the death toll from the quake and its effects have now reached the 2,200 mark, though locals say the tally may still increase as more impacted areas become accessible.
The administration has appealed for support from the international community, though only India, China and the United Kingdom (UK) had officially responded.
Venezuela
Venezuela Drags US To UN
The government of Venezuela has dragged America before the United Nations (UN).
The move followed America ‘s recent deployment of massive military kits, particularly warships, into the area linking both countries, reportedly to confront drug gangs which Washington accuses of dumping tons of hard drugs in the country.
America, via the Presidency of Donald Trump, also declared the Venezuelan President, Nicholas Maduro, a persona non grata and accused him of being behind the dreaded drug gangs.
However it has failed to provide the evidences linking Maduro directly to the gangs, and,.instead, recently bombed a small boat it said was ferrying a massive consignment of hard drugs into America.
By America’s accounts, the small boat had 11 Venezuelan hard drug gang members aboard when, on the order of Trump, it was bombed and obliterated.
Caracas says the allegedly false labelling of Maduro by America as a drug gangster, its heavy deployment of military hardware, as well as the bombing of the boat in international waters constitute parts of a grand design for a possible American fatal assault on Maduro.
After more than two decades in power, Maduro has survived multiple uprisings, including intensely violent ones, some allegedly instigated by America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CI,A).
No date has been fixed for the debate of the Venezuelan protest, but Maduro, who publicly denounces America for its alleged bullish mentality, has warned that America would not find it funny should it attack Caracas.
Russia
Putin Warns Against European Troops in Ukraine
The President of Russia, Vladimir Viktor Putin, has warned against any attempt to station European troops in Ukraine .
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, had on Thursday, hinted that 26 countries had agreed, under the aegis of the Coalition of the Willing, to provide a robust security force for Ukraine as part of its security guarantees, after its war with neighbouring Russia.
Macron urged American President, Donald Trump, to have a buy in on the matter.
However, speaking at an Economic Summit in Vladivostok, East of the country, Putin sounded the alarm that any attempt to station foreign troops in Ukraine would amount, in effect, to a provocation of Moscow, and would be counter–productive.
Putin warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russia, stressing that the attitude of the leaders of the coalition showed that they were not interested in ending the war in Ukraine.
He reiterated that he was willing to meet the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, for talks on ending the war, but stressed that the meeting should hold in Russia.
Neither the EU, the coalition, nor President Trump, who has invested much in diplomatic efforts to end the war between Ukraine and its bigger neighbour Russia, had reacted to the Putin statement , at press time.
Russia currently occupies 20 percent of Ukraine, with full or partial control of four regions.
Israel
Israel Now Controls 40 Per Cent of Gaza City
Israel says it now controls 40 per cent of Gaza City
The Jewish State confirmed this on Thursday night.
Locals say that troops of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had reached the centre of the city of more than 1 million people, after roughly three weeks of its operation to take over the city.
The Israeli military campaign has attracted negative reactions from multiple global interests, including the United Nations, which has warned of the dire humanitarian and legal consequences of the onslaught.
Israel , on Wednesday, rejected a new peace proposal , saying it would only end its military campaign when Hamas, which it designates a terrorist organization,surrenders, disarms and leaves governance of the strip.
The Israeli / Hamas war has led to the death of some 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza and left at least 140,000 others wounded.
Israel,on its part, admits to the loss of around 900 soldiers, with about 3,000 others wounded.
