AID Archives - MDNtv

Jordan and UAE Drop Aid in Gaza Amid Limited Ceasefire

Tshepiso Mofokeng — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 19:22:25 +0000

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have carried out aid drops over Gaza, as Israel begins what it’s calling a “tactical pause” in military operations—a move intended to help ease a growing humanitarian crisis.

Jordan’s military aircraft, in coordination with the UAE, delivered around 25 tonnes of aid in three separate drops. Simultaneously, a convoy of trucks entered Gaza from Egypt, with another expected to arrive via Jordan.

The Israeli government has announced that it will suspend military activity for 10 hours daily in specific areas of Gaza, claiming this is part of an effort to refute accusations of using starvation as a weapon. Still, violence and airstrikes have continued despite these declarations. In central Gaza, reports indicate that nine people were killed and dozens injured near a designated aid route. Shortly after the temporary pause began, an airstrike also hit a residential building in western Gaza City.

Scenes of desperation played out near food distribution points, where crowds of Palestinians rushed aid trucks in hopes of getting basic supplies like flour. Despite the aid, many residents remain hungry and anxious.

One woman in Gaza City, a mother of four, expressed cautious optimism. “I feel a bit of hope again,” she said. “But I’m worried this will be temporary, and hunger will return once the pause ends.” Another mother shared that her family hasn’t eaten any fresh food in months. “No meat, no eggs, no vegetables—just expired canned goods and flour,” she said.

Local journalists noted that many air drop packages are landing in evacuated or dangerous areas, often under military control, making them nearly impossible to access without risking one’s life.

As this limited ceasefire unfolds, international voices continue to urge for a broader, more sustainable solution. Airdrops offer temporary relief, but experts agree that only land routes can reliably meet the massive humanitarian needs of Gaza’s population.

The pause in fighting is currently limited to three areas—Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City—where aid corridors are set to operate from early morning until evening. The goal is to allow the safe movement of food and medicine into Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel’s leadership has maintained that it has always allowed humanitarian aid and placed the blame for the crisis elsewhere. Yet, with rising death tolls and widespread malnutrition, the pressure to open more effective and secure aid pathways continues to mount.

Since the start of the war last October, tens of thousands of people have been killed in Gaza, and the humanitarian situation has deteriorated dramatically. While the latest aid efforts bring a glimmer of relief, many in Gaza say what’s really needed is not just food—but a lasting end to the suffering.

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Nearly a Third of Gaza Residents Going Days Without Food

Tshepiso Mofokeng — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 07:02:31 +0000

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening, with almost one in three people reportedly enduring days without eating. Malnutrition is spreading rapidly, and tens of thousands of women and children are in urgent need of medical treatment.

The number of deaths from malnutrition continues to rise, highlighting the severity of the situation. While authorities controlling access to Gaza insist there are no restrictions on aid, the growing hunger suggests otherwise.

In response to the worsening crisis, the UK has expressed interest in supporting airdrops of aid into Gaza. The government has faced increased pressure to take more decisive action, including from lawmakers calling for recognition of a Palestinian state. Aid airdrops, although considered a last resort by experts due to their inefficiency, are now being explored as a way to reach desperate civilians.

Efforts are also underway to evacuate children needing critical medical care. While some nations have announced plans to assist with aid drops, permissions and logistical challenges remain.

The deteriorating conditions have prompted strong international reactions. Several countries have called for the immediate lifting of restrictions on humanitarian aid and for an end to the ongoing conflict. These calls emphasize the need for all parties to respect international humanitarian obligations and ensure civilians are protected.

Global leaders have voiced frustration over what they see as widespread indifference and lack of meaningful action. Reports from the ground indicate a tragic pattern: civilians are being killed while attempting to collect food, and the civilian infrastructure has been devastated.

Eyewitnesses, including former contractors working in aid delivery, have described scenes of extreme violence, claiming that civilians have come under fire at food distribution sites. These accounts paint a grim picture of what many are calling indiscriminate use of force.

Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages appear to have stalled. Statements from involved parties suggest uncertainty and miscommunication, with some claiming talks are ongoing while others have withdrawn their negotiating teams.

The conflict began after a deadly attack that killed over a thousand people and led to the capture of hundreds of hostages. In response, a full-scale military offensive was launched, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread displacement.

A total blockade of aid deliveries earlier in the year led to warnings of famine from global experts. Although access has since been partially restored, the shortage of food, medicine, and fuel persists. Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced multiple times, and the vast majority of homes have been damaged or destroyed.

In a significant political development, one European country recently announced plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state later this year. This decision has intensified diplomatic tensions and added new urgency to international discussions about a two-state solution. In the UK, political leaders are facing similar pressure but have indicated that any recognition would need to be part of a broader peace strategy.

The human toll of the conflict continues to rise, with heartbreaking stories emerging from the ground: mothers caring for severely malnourished children, families mourning loved ones lost while searching for food, and communities struggling to survive amid destruction and despair.

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Crisis in Gaza: Aid Restrictions, Starvation, and International Calls for Action

Tshepiso Mofokeng — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 19:17:34 +0000

The governments of the UK, France, and Germany have urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, describing the withholding of basic supplies as unacceptable. They emphasised that the war must end to prevent further suffering, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages.

The situation on the ground has become dire. Gaza’s health ministry reported nine more deaths from malnutrition in the past day alone, raising the total to 122 since the conflict began, including 83 children. Aid organisations are warning of “catastrophic levels of malnutrition”, especially among children, who are the most vulnerable to the effects of hunger.

One mother described how her 14-year-old son has lost over half his body weight. Another mother spoke tearfully of her toddler, who weighs just 6kg after severe malnutrition left him too weak to sit or stand. She said she works tirelessly to buy formula milk but cannot provide enough, adding simply, “I’m so tired.”

International efforts to get food into Gaza have faced significant challenges. Airdrops are being considered as an emergency measure, but humanitarian leaders warn they are expensive, inefficient, and dangerous, sometimes leading to injuries or deaths when parachutes fail or crowds scramble for supplies.

Currently, over 6,000 truckloads of food and medical aid remain stuck in Egypt and Jordan, awaiting approval to enter Gaza. Meanwhile, almost a third of people in Gaza are not eating for days at a time.

In the political sphere, France has pledged to recognise the state of Palestine in September, hoping to generate diplomatic momentum for peace talks. The UK has not committed to immediate recognition, saying it should form part of a broader plan for a two-state solution.

While Israel maintains that Hamas steals aid and is responsible for the crisis, humanitarian experts argue that without urgent changes to allow unrestricted delivery of food and medicine, famine declarations will soon follow. One former US official warned that starvation has reached a tipping point, with deaths occurring daily from hunger or related diseases that would otherwise be treatable.

Many are calling for an end to the war, arguing that protecting civilians and meeting their most basic needs must come before political disputes. Without swift action, the population faces the threat of a total humanitarian collapse.

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Aid Turns Deadly: Dozens Killed in Gaza as Desperation Grows

Tshepiso Mofokeng — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:46:23 +0000

At least 67 people were killed in northern Gaza while waiting for much-needed food aid. The victims had gathered in hopes of receiving supplies from a humanitarian convoy when gunfire broke out. The scene quickly turned tragic as what began as an effort to ease hunger ended in chaos and bloodshed.

The situation in Gaza has become increasingly desperate. Humanitarian workers reported being met by massive crowds of starving people, many of whom were too weak to stand. In some cases, medical teams described seeing people arrive at hospitals barely clinging to life due to extreme exhaustion and malnutrition.

Doctors at Gaza City’s Shifa hospital struggled to keep up. The facility was overwhelmed, and staff were forced to send patients to other makeshift clinics. Outside the hospital, a woman, visibly distressed, described the anguish of watching children suffer. “There’s nothing left — no food, only water and salt. Children are dying of hunger,” she said.

Sunday was particularly deadly. Health officials reported a total of 88 deaths across the territory, with six more people killed while trying to collect aid in other areas and over 150 wounded. Eighteen people reportedly died from starvation within a single day.

In addition to the deadly incidents near aid distribution points, the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders. Residents of Deir al-Balah, a densely packed area that hadn’t seen a ground offensive before, were told to flee immediately. Leaflets dropped from the sky urged people to move south toward the coast, warning of potential attacks.

The sudden announcement sent thousands of people scrambling to escape once again. Many of them had already been displaced multiple times since the conflict began. Makeshift camps in the area are filled with families living in tents, unsure of where to go next.

Concerns also mounted among Israeli families who believe hostages are still being held in these newly targeted zones. Some reports suggest that around 20 of the remaining 50 hostages taken during earlier violence may still be alive.

As the violence escalates and humanitarian access remains limited, calls for peace are growing louder. A global religious leader recently urged an immediate halt to what he described as senseless brutality. His appeal came shortly after a church in Gaza was hit in an airstrike, an incident the Israeli government said it regretted.

Since the conflict began in October 2023, tens of thousands have died. Nearly every family in Gaza has been affected — displaced from their homes, grieving loved ones, or struggling to survive amid worsening famine and fear.

The death toll continues to rise as hope for a peaceful resolution remains uncertain.

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Thousands Displaced as Torrential Rains Devastate Cape Town Communities

Tshepiso Mofokeng — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 12:08:56 +0000

Cape Town is reeling from the impact of relentless overnight rains that have submerged roads, destroyed homes, and displaced thousands of residents across informal settlements.

Hardest hit were communities in the Cape Flats, including Mfuleni, Gugulethu, and Khayelitsha, where widespread flooding followed the bursting of the Vygieskraal canal. In Vygieskraal informal settlement alone, around 500 structures were inundated, affecting roughly 2,000 people. Additional damage occurred in Haji Ebrahim Crescent and nearby RDP housing, displacing more than 1,700 people combined.

Emergency services have been deployed to assess the extent of the damage and coordinate relief efforts. The City of Cape Town is providing basic aid, including sandbags, plastic sheeting, blankets, and meals. However, humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers has also launched a major response, delivering clothing, food, and other essentials to more than a dozen flood-stricken areas.

“We’ve received hundreds of distress calls since dawn,” said Ali Sablay, the organisation’s project coordinator. “Many families have lost everything, including food supplies and bedding.”

Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre has urged residents to report emergencies and avoid flood-prone areas. While traffic disruptions have been minimal, the Borchard’s Quarry link from the N2 was closed due to water accumulation. Authorities are encouraging drivers to slow down, keep headlights on, and maintain safe following distances.

Power outages were reported in Langa, Athlone, Crawford, and Rondebosch. Efforts are under way to restore electricity.

The SPCA has also launched a rescue mission, saving animals found chained and shivering in the rain. With more rescues expected, the organisation is appealing for urgent donations of towels, blankets, and pet food to care for affected animals.

Meanwhile, residents have been reminded to check their stormwater systems. Officials warned that illegal connections between gutters and the sewer network are worsening overflows. “These systems can’t handle rainwater,” said Councillor Zahid Badroodien. “We urge everyone to ensure proper drainage to protect homes and public infrastructure.”

The South African Weather Service has issued a Level 4 warning for continued disruptive rainfall, and authorities are preparing for the possibility of further flooding in low-lying areas.

Despite the challenges, communities and support organisations are rallying together to provide relief—and hope—amid the devastation.

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Biden says U.S. is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future

MDNtv — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:18:38 +0000

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden introduced an settlement geared toward bolstering commerce ties between the United States and Africa on Wednesday after years through which the continent took a again seat to different U.S. priorities as China made inroads with investments and commerce.

“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future,” Biden instructed African leaders attending a three-day summit in Washington.

Biden’s remarks, and the summit, goal to place the United States as a accomplice to African international locations amid its competitors with China, which has sought to increase its affect by funding infrastructure initiatives on the continent and elsewhere. Chinese commerce with Africa is about 4 occasions that of the United States, and Beijing has change into an vital creditor by providing loans with much less stringent circumstances than Western lenders.

Biden stated a brand new U.S. settlement with the African Continental Free Trade Area will give American firms entry to 1.3 billion folks and a market valued at $3.4 trillion. He listed firms that had made offers on the summit, together with General Electric Co (GE.N) and Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O).

“When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds. Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” the president stated.

Delegations from 49 international locations and the African Union, together with 45 African nationwide leaders, are attending the three-day summit, which started on Tuesday, the primary and is the primary of its form since 2014. Washington has provided $55 billion in assist for Africa underneath the Biden administration for meals safety, local weather change, commerce partnerships and different points.

After his remarks, Biden considered a few of the World Cup semifinal match between Morocco and France with Morocco’s prime minister, Aziz Akhannouch, and different leaders attending the summit, the White House stated.

This afternoon, Biden will host leaders going through 2023 elections, together with from Gabon and Liberia for a dialogue on elections and democratic rules. Then Biden and his spouse, Jill, will host African leaders and their spouses at a White House dinner with Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.

The summit is a part of a renewed push to spice up ties with a continent as China good points affect with commerce, funding and lending drives. Beijing has held its personal high-level conferences with African leaders each three years for greater than 20 years.

Some U.S. officers have been reluctant to border the gathering as a battle for affect. Biden did not point out China in his remarks, and Washington has toned down its criticism of Beijing’s lending practices and infrastructure initiatives.

Biden is anticipated to announce his assist for the African Union’s becoming a member of the G20 group of the world’s largest economies as a everlasting member throughout Thursday’s summit occasions.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai instructed African counterparts on Tuesday she needs to enhance the continent’s U.S. commerce preferences program to spice up funding.

Reuters Graphics

“We are not looking for a relationship that is transactional, that’s extractive, that is burdensome, or leaves various countries in a more fragile, poor state after a deal is done,” State Department spokesman Ned Price instructed reporters on Monday.

[1/7] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers keynote remarks at a U.S.-Africa Business discussion board on the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, U.S., December 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

On Wednesday, White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby highlighted the significance of U.S. investments in Africa and serving to international locations there play a extra energetic position within the world financial system.

“It’s a two-way discussion that we want to have with Africa about trade, investment and opportunities for economic growth,” he instructed reporters.

At a gap commerce discussion board on Wednesday, African leaders referred to as for extra funding.

“Instead of exporting commodities, the U.S. should find an opportunity in investing,” Kenyan President William Ruto stated. “They have the machinery, they have the know-how, so that they can produce for the African continent in Africa.”

Ruto cited projections that Africa’s agribusiness sector will greater than triple to $1 trillion by 2030 and stated U.S. capital might help resolve the continent’s bodily infrastructure deficit to unlock this progress.

CHINA-AFRICA TRADE

According to a Eurasia Group evaluation, in 2021 China-Africa commerce, at $254 billion, enormously outstripped U.S.-Africa commerce, which stood at $64.3 billion. Those figures are up from $12 billion and $21 billion, respectively, in 2002.

Beijing’s lending to Africa has led to Western expenses that China has mired African international locations in debt.

Beijing’s ambassador to Washington rejected the concept forward of the summit, citing a report that African international locations owe 3 times extra debt to Western establishments, whereas noting that Chinese-built hospitals, highways, airports and stadiums are “everywhere” in Africa.

China stays the area’s largest bilateral investor, however its new mortgage commitments to Africa have declined lately.

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics

It’s not all about financial sway – Washington has been alarmed by China’s efforts to ascertain a navy foothold in Africa, together with on the Atlantic coast in Equatorial Guinea.

For their half, many African leaders reject the concept they want to decide on between the United States and China.

“The fact that both countries have different levels of relations with African countries makes them equally important for Africa’s development,” Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador, Taye Atske Selassie Amde, instructed Reuters. “However, it should be known each African country has the agency to determine their respective relationship and best interest.”

Additional reporting by David Lawder, Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Don Durfee, Leslie Adler, Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukrainians brace for bleak winter as Russian strikes cripple power capacity

MDNtv — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 14:20:13 +0000

Ukrainians with little or no heating after bombardments
Temperatures in a number of areas already under freezing
Kherson residents get supply to evacuate to safer areas
Ukraine safety service raids well-known Kyiv monastery

KYIV, Nov 22 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Ukrainians to preserve vitality amid relentless Russian strikes which have halved the nation’s power capacity, as the United Nations well being physique warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine this winter.

Authorities stated thousands and thousands of Ukrainians, together with within the capital Kyiv, may face power cuts not less than till the top of March because of the missile assaults, which Ukraine’s nationwide grid operator Ukrenergo stated had wreaked “colossal” injury.

Temperatures have been unseasonably gentle in Ukraine this autumn, however are beginning to dip under zero and are anticipated to drop to -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) and even decrease in some areas through the winter months.

Russia’s focusing on of Ukrainian vitality amenities follows a sequence of battlefield setbacks which have included a pullout of Russian forces from the southern metropolis of Kherson to the east financial institution of the mighty Dnipro River that bisects the nation.

“The systematic damage to our energy system from strikes by the Russian terrorists is so considerable that all our people and businesses should be mindful and redistribute their consumption throughout the day,” Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video deal with.

Ukrenergo’s chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi stated on Tuesday that virtually no thermal or hydroelectric stations had been left unscathed, although he dismissed the necessity to evacuate civilians.

“We cannot generate as much energy as consumers can use,” Kudrytskyi instructed a briefing, including that after a short chilly snap on Wednesday temperatures had been anticipated to rise once more, offering a possibility to stabilise the power producing system.

‘DARKEST DAYS’

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated tons of of Ukrainian hospitals and healthcare amenities lacked gasoline, water and electrical energy to fulfill individuals’s primary wants.

“Ukraine’s health system is facing its darkest days in the war so far. Having endured more than 700 attacks, it is now also a victim of the energy crisis,” Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, stated in an announcement after visiting Ukraine.

Workers are racing to restore broken power infrastructure, in line with Sergey Kovalenko, the pinnacle of YASNO, which supplies vitality for Kyiv.

“Stock up on warm clothes, blankets, think about options that will help you get through a long outage,” Kovalenko stated. “It’s better to do it now than to be miserable.”

In a Telegram message for Kherson residents – particularly the aged, ladies with kids and people who are ailing or disabled – Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk posted various methods residents can specific curiosity in leaving.

“You can be evacuated for the winter period to safer regions of the country,” she wrote.

Russia’s strikes on vitality infrastructure are a consequence of Kyiv being unwilling to barter, the state information company TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying final week.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated Russia was bombarding Kherson from throughout the Dnipro River now that its troops had fled. “There is no military logic: they just want to take revenge on the locals,” he tweeted late on Monday.

[1/5] A lady walks previous a statue within the central sqaure after Russia’s army retreat from Kherson, Ukraine November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Ukraine’s Suspilne information company reported contemporary explosions in Kherson metropolis on Tuesday.

Moscow denies deliberately focusing on civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of nationalists and defend Russian-speaking communities.

Kyiv and the West describe Russia’s actions as an unprovoked, imperialist land seize within the neighbouring state it as soon as dominated inside the former Soviet Union.

The nine-month warfare has killed tens of hundreds of individuals, uprooted thousands and thousands and pummelled the worldwide economic system, driving up meals and vitality costs. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated on Tuesday the world’s worst vitality disaster because the Seventies would set off a pointy slowdown, with Europe hit hardest.

Meanwhile Ukraine on Tuesday acquired a brand new 2.5 billion euro ($2.57 billion) tranche of economic help from the European Union, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko stated.

RAID ON MONASTERY

Ukraine’s SBU safety service and police raided a 1,000-year-old Orthodox Christian monastery in Kyiv early on Tuesday as a part of operations to counter suspected “subversive activities by Russian special services”, the SBU stated.

The sprawling Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complicated – or Monastery of the Caves – is a Ukrainian cultural treasure and the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that falls underneath the Moscow Patriarchate.

Russia’s Orthodox Church condemned the raid as an “act of intimidation”.

Battles continued to rage within the east, the place Russia has despatched among the forces it shifted from round Kherson within the south, urgent an offensive of its personal alongside a stretch of frontline west of town of Donetsk held by its proxies since 2014.

“The enemy does not stop shelling the positions of our troops and settlements near the contact line (in the Donetsk region),” Ukraine’s armed forces General Staff stated on Tuesday.

“Attacks continue to damage critical infrastructure and civilian homes.”

Four individuals had been killed and 4 others wounded in Ukraine-controlled areas of the Donetsk area over the previous 24 hours, regional governor Pavlo Kyryleno stated on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling additionally hit a humanitarian help distribution centre within the city of Orihiv in southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing a volunteer and wounding two ladies, the regional governor stated.

Orihiv is about 110 km (70 miles) east of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station which has been shelled once more up to now few days, with Russia and Ukraine buying and selling blame for the blasts.

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) toured the location on Monday. The company, which has repeatedly referred to as for an instantaneous cessation of hostilities within the space to keep away from a significant catastrophe, stated the specialists discovered widespread injury however nothing that compromised the plant’s important techniques.

The Kremlin stated on Tuesday that no substantive progress had been made in the direction of making a safety zone across the nuclear reactor complicated, Europe’s largest.

Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Maria Starkova in Kyiv, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg; Writing by Shri Navaratnam and Gareth Jones; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Alex Richardson and Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine’s Kherson races to restore power, water after Russian retreat

MDNtv — Sun, 13 Nov 2022 12:54:26 +0000

Key infrastructure in Kherson mined by Russians -governor
Kherson’s humanitarian state of affairs ‘very tough’ -official
Authorities working to restore crucial companies
Fighting rages on in jap Donetsk and Luhansk areas

KHERSON, Ukraine, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Utility firms in Kherson had been working to restore crucial infrastructure broken and mined by fleeing Russian forces, with most properties within the southern Ukrainian metropolis nonetheless with out electrical energy and water, regional officers stated on Sunday.

The governor of Kherson area, Yaroslav Yanushevych, stated the authorities had determined to keep a curfew from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. and ban folks from leaving or coming into town as a safety measure.

“The enemy mined all critical infrastructure objects,” Yanushevych advised Ukrainian TV.

“We are trying to meet within a few days and (then) open the city,” he stated, including that he hoped cell phone operators may resume service quickly.

Ukrainian troops arrived within the centre of Kherson on Friday after Russia deserted the one regional capital it had captured since its invasion started in February. The withdrawal marked the third main Russian retreat of the struggle and the primary to contain yielding such a big occupied metropolis within the face of a serious Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken elements of the east and south.

The head of Ukrainian state railways stated prepare companies to Kherson had been anticipated to resume this week.

Another regional official, nevertheless, stated that whereas mine clearance was underneath manner and authorities had been working to restore crucial companies, in humanitarian phrases the state of affairs within the metropolis “remains very difficult”.

“Most houses have no electricity, no water and problems with gas supplies,” Yuriy Sobolevskiy, first deputy chairman of Kherson regional council, advised Ukrainian TV.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated in a video tackle on Saturday that “before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure: communications, water, heat, electricity”.

While jubilant residents welcomed arriving Ukrainian troops in Kherson, Ukraine’s normal workers reported continued fierce combating alongside the jap entrance within the Donetsk and Luhansk areas.

Over the previous 24 hours its forces repelled Russian assaults alongside a number of settlements in each areas, it stated in its morning replace, whereas reporting Russian rocket and artillery hearth within the jap areas of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia.

Zelenskiy credited Ukraine’s success in Kherson and elsewhere partly to stiff resistance within the Donetsk area regardless of repeated Russian assaults.

“There it is just hell – there are extremely fierce battles there every day,” he stated on Saturday.

‘TWENTY YEARS YOUNGER’

Hundreds of residents lined the streets of Kherson on Saturday waving nationwide flags, chanting “thank you, thank you” and adorning Ukrainian servicemen with blue and yellow ribbons.

“It is impossible to express in words what I feel now. Never in my life before had I felt such joy as now,” Kherson resident Natalia Koloba stated.

“Our brothers, our protectors have come and we are free today. This is unbelievable.”

Earlier on Saturday, on the street to Kherson, villagers holding flowers waited to greet and kiss Ukrainian troopers as they poured in to safe management of the west financial institution of the Dnipro River after the Russian retreat.

“We’ve become 20 years younger in the last two days,” stated Valentyna Buhailova, 61, simply earlier than a Ukrainian soldier jumped out of a small truck and hugged her and her companion Nataliya Porkhunuk, 66, in a hamlet close to the centre of Kherson.

But volleys of artillery hearth surrounded the worldwide airport and police stated they had been establishing checkpoints in and across the metropolis and sweeping for mines left behind.

The street to Kherson from Mykolaiv was lined with fields scarred by miles of deserted Russian trenches. A destroyed T72 tank lay with its turret tossed the other way up.

The deserted trenches had been affected by refuse, blankets and camouflage netting. An irrigation ditch was crammed with discarded Russian gear and a number of other anti-tank mines had been seen on the aspect of street.

Reporting by David Ljjungren, Jonathan Landay, Gleb Garanich and Pavel Polityuk
Writing by Clarence Fernandez and Tomasz Janowski
Editing by William Mallard, Frances Kerry and David Goodman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine warns of more attacks on infrastructure, as mayor urges Kyiv to prepare for the worst

MDNtv — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 05:35:42 +0000

Russia might be making ready more attacks on vitality websites -Zelenskiy
4.5 mln Ukrainians with out energy as winter closes in
Biden aide held talks with prime Russian officers
U.S. urges Ukraine to be open to talks with Russia -report

KYIV/WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Sunday in opposition to more potential Russian attacks on vitality infrastructure, whereas the mayor of Kyiv urged residents to think about making ready to go away quickly if the capital misplaced water and energy provides.

In common nightly remarks, Zelenskiy stated Russia was “concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure. First of all, energy.”

More than 4.5 million shoppers have been already with out energy, he added, amid considerations that assist for Ukraine may waver as the struggle’s influence on vitality and meals costs persists into winter.

U.S. nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan, who travelled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington’s “unwavering and unflinching” assist for Ukraine, has held undisclosed talks with Russian officers designed to keep away from additional escalation, the Wall Street Journal stated on Sunday.

News of these contacts adopted a report that Washington was urging Kyiv to sign an openness to talks with Russia.

Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated earlier on Twitter that Ukraine would “stand” regardless of Russian attacks on its vitality infrastructure, by marshalling air defence, defending infrastructure and optimising consumption to achieve this.

The nation confronted a projected shortfall of 32 % in energy provide on Monday, Sergei Kovalenko, the chief government of YASNO, a serious supplier of vitality to the capital, stated on his Facebook web page.

The warnings adopted remarks by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urging residents to “consider everything”, together with a worst-case state of affairs during which the capital loses energy and water.

Residents ought to think about “spending some time” with pals or household outdoors the metropolis, he stated in a tv interview on Saturday, during which he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of intentionally focusing on civilian infrastructure.

“His task is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so that he can have it. That’s what the aggressor wants to achieve,” Klitschko added.

In the south, Russia and Ukraine continued to commerce accusations as Ukraine advances on the metropolis of Kherson. Reuters was unable to instantly confirm battlefield accounts from both aspect.

Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych stated Russian forces destroyed about 1.5km of energy strains, slicing provide to the metropolis of Beryslav.

“It is likely that there will be no electricity in Beryslav until it is fully freed from occupation,” Yanushevych wrote on the Telegram messaging app, including that energy strains to Kherson had additionally been destroyed.

On Sunday, Russian information businesses stated shelling by Ukrainian forces broken Ukraine’s huge Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam, upstream of Kherson on the Dnipro river. They gave no supporting proof, and Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm the studies.

Russian state-owned TASS quoted an emergency providers consultant as saying a rocket launched by a U.S.-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam’s lock, damaging it.

The official referred to as the incident an “attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe” by breaching the dam.

DIPLOMACY

The warnings got here as the Wall Street Journal stated Sullivan held confidential conversations in current months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev that weren’t disclosed publicly.

Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officers have been made public in current months, as Washington has insisted that any talks on ending the struggle in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.

The White House declined to remark on the report, responding solely with a press release attributed to National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson: “People claim a lot of things.”

On Saturday, the Washington Post stated the United States is privately encouraging Ukraine to sign an openness to negotiate with Russia, as the State Department stated Moscow was escalating the struggle and didn’t critically want to have interaction in peace talks.

The paper cited unidentified sources as saying the request by American officers was not aimed toward pushing Ukraine to the negotiating desk, however a calculated try to guarantee Kyiv maintains the assist of different nations.

Zelenskiy signed a decree on Oct. 4 formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Putin “impossible” however leaving the door open to talks with Russia.

The White House National Security Council had no speedy remark on the accuracy of the report.

A State Department spokesperson responded: “We’ve said it before and will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.”

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Simon Lewis and Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Diane Craft and Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Pakistani hospital overwhelmed as water-borne illnesses spread

MDNtv — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 11:23:41 +0000

Hospital in Sehwan, southern Pakistan, is overwhelmed
Patients pour in from flood-affected areas
Thousands are affected by water-borne illnesses
WHO warns of ‘second catastrophe’ after catastrophic floods

SEHWAN, Pakistan, Oct 3 (Reuters) – The emergency ward on the major authorities hospital in Sehwan, a small city in southern Pakistan, is overwhelmed.

On a current go to, Reuters witnessed a whole lot of individuals crammed into rooms and corridors, desperately looking for therapy for malaria and different illnesses which are spreading quick after the nation’s worst floods in a long time.

Amid the crush, Naveed Ahmed, a younger physician within the emergency response division of the Abdullah Shah Institute of Health Sciences, is surrounded by 5 – 6 individuals making an attempt to get his consideration.

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The 30-year-old retains his cool as stretched emergency providers wrestle to deal with 1000’s of sufferers arriving from miles round after their properties have been submerged below water when heavy rains fell in August and September.

“We become so overworked at times that I feel like collapsing and going on an intravenous drip,” a smiling Ahmed advised Reuters as he sipped a cup of tea within the hospital’s canteen throughout a brief break.

“But it’s because of the prayers of these patients that we keep going.”

Ahmed is on the frontline of the battle to restrict illness and demise throughout southern Pakistan, the place a whole lot of cities and villages have been minimize off by rising waters. The deluge has affected round 33 million individuals in a rustic of 220 million.

Most of the estimated 300-400 sufferers arriving at his clinic every morning, a lot of them kids, are affected by malaria and diarrhoea, though with winter approaching, Ahmed fears different illnesses will grow to be extra frequent.

“I hope people displaced by the floods can get back to their homes before winter; (if not) they will be exposed to respiratory illnesses and pneumonia living in tents,” he stated.

Hundreds of 1000’s of Pakistanis who fled their properties live in authorities camps set as much as accommodate them, or just out within the open.

Stagnant floodwaters, spread over a whole lot of sq. kilometres (miles), could take two to 6 months to recede in some locations, and have already led to widespread circumstances of pores and skin and eye infections, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid and dengue fever.

The disaster hits Pakistan at a very dangerous time. With its financial system in disaster, propped up by loans from the International Monetary Fund, it doesn’t have the sources to deal with the long run results of the flooding.

Nearly 1,700 individuals have been killed within the floods attributable to heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers. Pakistan estimates the price of the harm at $30 billion, and the federal government and United Nations have blamed the disaster on local weather change.

Over 340 individuals have died of ailments attributable to the floods, authorities have stated.

‘SECOND DISASTER’

Naveed Ahmed, 30, a health care provider, provides medical help to flood-affected woman Hameeda, 15, affected by malaria at Sayed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences in Sehwan, Pakistan September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

According to the well being division of Sindh province, the worst-affected area, 17,285 circumstances of malaria have been confirmed since July 1.

Anticipating the danger of illness outbreaks after the rescue and reduction part of the floods, the Sindh authorities is making an attempt to rent greater than 5,000 well being professionals on a brief foundation in districts most in danger.

“We are short of human resources considering the magnitude of the burden of disease following the unprecedented rains and floods,” Qasim Soomro, provincial lawmaker and parliamentary well being secretary of the Sindh authorities, advised Reuters.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concern about an impending “second disaster” of water-borne ailments spreading throughout the nation, notably in Sindh.

In the hospital ward in Sehwan, a younger man with a excessive fever was having suits on a mattress exterior the primary emergency room. His mom ran to Ahmed, who attended the affected person and requested a male nurse to position chilly pads on his brow.

The air was heavy with humidity, and there weren’t sufficient air conditioners to chill temperatures in overcrowded corridors lined with beds. The wards have been crammed to capability and a handful of beds had a couple of affected person on them.

Ahmed, a graduate of a college in China, described the strain he and different medics have been below.

“With such influx, we … cannot wait for test results for each patient to start the treatment,” he stated, including he begins administering medication for malaria as quickly as he sees some signs.

The institute in Sehwan serves individuals from neighbouring cities and districts, together with these dwelling in camps whereas the waters recede and rebuilding can start.

Jagan Shahani’s daughter fell unconscious after getting a fever round every week in the past. He used a ship to get out of his flooded village of Bhajara and flagged down a automobile on the close by street that took them to Sehwan.

“Doctors said she had malaria,” he stated late final week. “This is our fourth night here. There is nothing here to eat but Allah has been very kind to provide everything,” added Shahani, whose 15-year-old daughter Hameeda is now recovering.

On the outskirts of city, a whole lot of displaced individuals queued up for rations being distributed at Lal Bagah, a tent settlement the place displaced households ready tea and breakfast on open fires.

The Indus Highway that runs previous Sehwan is dotted with tent camps for displaced individuals.

Some are starting to return house the place waters have retreated far sufficient, however not all are so fortunate.

“There is no one here to help me but Allah. I pray to Allah that the waters recede in my village and I can return to my home,” stated Madad Ali Bozdar.

Bozdar, 52, is from Bubak, a city positioned on the north-eastern financial institution of Manchar Lake. Speaking on Friday, he stated his village was nonetheless below 10 to 12 ft (3-4 metres) of water. He anticipated to have the ability to return in round two months’ time.

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Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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