International

Fifty People Die In Pakistan Monsoon Floods

Published

2 years ago

July 7, 2023

At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials said Friday.

The summer monsoon brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall between June and September every year.

It is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security in a region of around two billion people — but it also brings landslides and floods.

“Fifty deaths have been reported in different rain-related incidents all over Pakistan since the start of the monsoon on June 25,” a national disaster management official told AFP, adding that 87 people were injured during this period.

The majority of the deaths were in eastern Punjab province, and were mainly due to electrocution and building collapses, official data showed.

In northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the bodies of eight children were recovered from a landslide in the Shangla district on Thursday, according to the emergency service Rescue 1122’s spokesman Bilal Ahmed Faizi.

He said rescuers were still searching for other children trapped in the debris.

Officials in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, said it had received record-breaking rainfall on Wednesday, turning roads into rivers and leaving almost 35 percent without electricity and water this week.

The Meteorological Department has predicted more heavy rainfall nationwide in the days ahead and warned of potential flooding in the catchment areas of Punjab’s major rivers.

The province’s disaster management authority said Friday it is working to relocate people living along the waterways.

Scientists have said climate change is making seasonal rains heavier and more unpredictable.

Last summer, unprecedented monsoon rains put a third of Pakistan under water, damaging two million homes and killing more than 1,700 people.

Storms killed at least 27 people, including eight children, in the country’s northwest early last month.

Pakistan, which has the world’s fifth largest population, is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to officials.

However, it is one of the most vulnerable nations to the extreme weather caused by global warming.

International

Akpabio In Vatican

Published

3 hours ago

April 25, 2025

OhiBaba

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio paying tribute on behalf of President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian People at the Lying-in-State of Pope Francis inside St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, today, 25th April 2025

International

Biden to attend Pope Francis’ funeral

Published

5 hours ago

April 25, 2025

Charles Flames

Former US president, Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday to pay a tribute to their close relationship.

According to the office of the former president, the couple will travel independently, and not on Air Force One with President Donald Trump, who will also be attending the funeral.

The Vatican has said, so far, some 50 heads of state and ten reigning monarchs have confirmed their attendance.

Biden, a devout Catholic, has often expressed affection and admiration for Pope Francis.

The duo had several official and private meetings and Biden reportedly kept a photo of Francis in the Oval Office during his term.

The Democrat had planned to visit the Vatican at the very end of his term in January to personally present the head of the Catholic Church with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour.

However, Biden had to cancel the trip due to violent fires in Los Angeles.

Recall that an ex-US president, George W. Bush in 2005, brought two of his predecessors, Bill Clinton and his father, George Bush Senior, with him to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

International

Pope Francis Burial: Akpabio Leads Nigeria’s Delegation to Vatican City

Other members of the delegation are the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama.

Published

6 hours ago

April 25, 2025

OhiBaba

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent a high-powered delegation to Vatican City to attend the burial of His Holiness, Pope Francis, on Saturday, April 26.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio is at the head of the five-member delegation.

Pope Francis, the revered head of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday, April 21, 2025, at 88, just a day after appearing for Easter Sunday celebrations at the Vatican.

The delegation will formally deliver a letter conveying President Tinubu’s sympathy and condolences on Pope Francis’ passing to the Acting Head of the Vatican.

On Monday, President Tinubu joined the Catholic faithful and Christians worldwide to mourn the death of Pope Francis, who he described as “a humble servant of God, a tireless champion of the poor, and a guiding light for millions.”

In the condolence message, President Tinubu remarked that Pope Francis’s death, coming just after the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, is a sacred return to his Maker at a time of renewed hope for Christians.