Hurricane Beryl is barrelling towards Jamaica after battering the southeastern Caribbean, killing at least six people across the region and flattening some 90 percent of homes on one island in the Grenadines archipelago. Beryl – the earliest storm on record to reach Category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson Scale – was expected to start losing intensity on Tuesday evening. But forecasters said it would still be an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm when it passes near or over Jamaica on Wednesday and near the Cayman Islands on Thursday. Scientists cited human-caused climate change as the likely culprit for the storm’s rapid strengthening. On Tuesday night, the storm was located about 300 miles (480km) east-southeast of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, with top winds of 150mph (250kmph), and officials there warned residents to gather provisions and safeguard their homes. “I urge all Jamaicans to stock up on food, batteries, candles, and water. Secure your critical documents and remove any trees or items that could endanger your property,” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on X. “Everyone, including those living alone, should take these necessary steps now,” he wrote. “It’s better to be prepared than to regret not preparing.” The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the United States said Jamaica appears to be in the direct path of Beryl and that the storm would bring life-threatening winds, heavy rainfall and storm surges to the island nation. “We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island,” said Michael Brennan, the director of the NHC, in an online briefing. “You want to be in a safe place where you can ride out the storm by nightfall [on Tuesday]. Be prepared to stay in that location through Wednesday.” ‘Grim situation’ Beryl has already left a trail of death and devastation in its wake. Three people were reported killed in Grenada and another in St Vincent and the Grenadines, officials said. Two other deaths were reported in northern Venezuela, where five people are missing, officials said. Some 25,000 people in that area also were affected by heavy rainfall from Beryl. In Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said the island of Carriacou, which was struck by the eye of the storm, has been all but cut off, with houses, telecommunications and fuel facilities there flattened. Two of the three deaths recorded in Grenada happened on Carriacou, he said. “The situation is grim,” Mitchell told a news conference on Tuesday. “There is no power and there is almost complete destruction of homes and buildings on the island. The roads are not passable, and in many instances, they are cut off because of the large quantity of debris strewn all over the streets.” Mitchell added: “The possibility that there may be more fatalities remains a grim reality as movement is still highly restricted.” In St Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said the hurricane left “immense destruction” in its wake, including the destruction of some 90 percent of homes on Union Island. He said “similar levels of devastation” were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan. The last strong hurricane to hit the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan 20 years ago, which killed dozens of people in Grenada. Mikey Hutchinson, a Grenadian journalist, told Al Jazeera he had seen destruction in many parts of the mainland, with roofs ripped off homes and agricultural land badly damaged. “I’ve seen nutmeg, I’ve seen cocoa, I’ve seen coconut – I’ve seen just about everything destroyed by this powerful catastrophic hurricane,” he said. “We are very concerned. We’ve experienced back in 2004 a hurricane similar to this one. It was more devastating. It took down about 90 to 95 percent of our houses and so it was really hard to build back. And so having experienced a hurricane of that magnitude and then yesterday again having to experience a Category 4 hurricane with threats of more to come, it raises our anxiety,” he added. One of the homes that Beryl damaged in Carriacou belongs to the parents of United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. In a statement, Stiell said the climate crisis is worsening faster than expected. “Whether in my homeland of Carriacou, hammered by Hurricane Beryl, or in the heatwaves and floods crippling communities in some of the world’s largest economies, it’s clear that the climate crisis is pushing disasters to record-breaking new levels of destruction,” he said. “Disasters on a scale that used to be the stuff of science fiction are becoming meteorological facts, and the climate crisis is the chief culprit,” he added. Beryl is the Atlantic season’s first hurricane, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said it “sets an alarming precedent for what is expected to be a very active hurricane season”. Scientists said climate change likely contributed to Beryl’s early formation, while also driving how quickly it intensified. Global warming has helped push temperatures in the North Atlantic to record highs, said Christopher Rozoff, an atmospheric scientist at the US-based National Center for Atmospheric Research. The warmer waters lead to more evaporation, which fuels more intense hurricanes featuring higher wind speeds, he said. Beryl jumped from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in under 10 hours, according to Andra Garner, a Rowan University meteorologist. That marked the fastest intensification ever recorded before September, the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, she added. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, meanwhile, predicted that the 2024 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, would be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast called for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes. An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/3/hurricane-beryl-kills-six-causes-immense-destruction-in-caribbean

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Fighting Politics and diplomacy Weapons Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/2/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-858

Two terrorist commanders among nine militants were successfully neutralised by the security forces during two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday.   As many as seven terrorists — including terrorist commanders Najeeb aka Abdul Rehman and Ishfaq alias Muavia — were eliminated by the security forces during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in the general area of Tira, Khyber District, the military’s media wing said. The killed militants were actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area and were wanted by law enforcement agencies. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the slain terrorists. In another operation conducted in KP’s Lakki Marwat district, troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location in which two more terrorists were sent to hell, the ISPR said. Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any terrorist found in the area as the security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country, the military’s media wing concluded. Pakistan has witnessed a spike in terrorist attacks, specifically in areas bordering Afghanistan in KP and Balochistan provinces which was attributed to banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan has time and again raised its concerns with the interim Taliban government over the use of Afghan soil by various militant organisations including the TTP to launch attacks inside Pakistan. In continuation of its counter-terrorism drive, security forces had carried out as many as 7,745 anti-terror operations from April 1 to June 10 in their bid to curb the scourge of terrorism facing the country, sources told Geo News last month. These operations were carried out in Balochistan, KP, and Sindh — of which the most 4,902 were conducted in Balochistan followed by 2,701 in KP and 142 in Sindh, the sources added. With a total of 181 militants killed in these operations, 128 were neutralised in KP, whereas, 51 in Balochistan and two were gunned down in Sindh. In a latest move, the federal government last week approved a fresh operation — Operation Azm-e-Istehkam — a reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism drive, to eliminate terrorism from the country. Amid concerns over the impacts of the newly-launched operation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif clarified that it was not a large-scale military operation and that there would be no population displacement. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1205439-security-forces-kill-9-terrorists-in-two-separate-kp-operations

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/2/israel-war-on-gaza-live-residents-flee-khan-younis-amid-artillery-attacks

Unidentified gunmen Thursday opened fire at a car, leaving two brothers dead and two injured near the city’s Guru Mandir area, Geo News reported citing the police. Jamshed Quarter Superintendent of Police Aleena Rajpar said the incident is allegedly a case of target killing in which a car was targeted by six shooters on three motorcycles. According to the police, the killed and injured were identified as brothers who were commuting to the city court for a hearing. The suspects are seen targeting the vehicle in a CCTV footage obtained by Geo News. Informing Geo News about the incident, SP Rajpar said: “Efforts are being made to find out the motive behind the incident.” The SP added a 9mm pistol was used in the firing, while 18 bullet casings have been recovered from the incident’s site. The occupants of the car, the police said, were shifted to a private hospital for treatment during which two of them died and the other two remain severely injured, while one of them is in critical condition. One brother, however, miraculously survived the attack, said the police official. The police said it had collected evidence from the crime scene and added that the gun attack had been allegedly carried out due to enmity. Earlier, SP Rajpar of the Jamshed Quarters, during a presser, said that the police were trying to obtain the CCTV video of the crime scene. She informed the media that both brothers killed in the gun attack were identified as Sajid Aurangzeb and Omair Aurangzeb, while those injured were Wajid and Zubair. Report sought by Sindh governor Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori has sought a report on the incident from the city’s police chief, a spokesperson of the Governor House said. “Those involved in the firing should be immediately arrested,” the governor in his directives, adding that such an incident in the middle of the city is very alarming. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1194929-two-brothers-killed-as-unidentified-gunmen-open-fire-at-car-in-karachi

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/30/israels-war-on-gaza-live-no-safe-shelter-as-dozens-killed-in-rafah

Fighting Politics and diplomacy Weapons Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/29/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-824

At least 28 people have been killed in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan after a bus they were travelling in fell into a ravine, officials say. The bus from Turbat city in southern Balochistan was headed towards the provincial capital of Quetta, about 750km (466 miles) to the north, when it crashed in the mountainous region early on Wednesday morning. Noorullah Essazai, a government health official in Washuk district where the incident happened, confirmed the number of deaths to Al Jazeera, adding that a total of 54 passengers were travelling in the bus. Some of the survivors have sustained serious injuries, he said, and are being treated at a local hospital. “We have eight to 10 critically injured patients and are making arrangements to send them to Quetta by helicopter while some others will be shifted to a hospital in Khuzdar,” said Essazai, referring to a town 120km (75 miles) away. Muhammad Ismail, a government official in Washuk, said the bus crashed through a bridge and fell into a rocky ravine. The bus driver is among the dead. In a statement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences over the incident and directed the authorities to help the injured. “We stand with the bereaved families in this difficult time and express our heartfelt sympathies with them,” said the statement issued by the prime minister’s office. In another statement, Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti expressed his sadness at the loss of lives. “We share the grief of the families who lost their loved ones. We will provide medical facilities at the earliest to those injured in the accident,” said the statement. Road accidents are common in Pakistan, mainly in its mountainous regions in Balochistan and the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Earlier this month, at least 20 people were killed and dozens of others wounded when a passenger bus fell off a ravine in the country’s northern area of Gilgit-Baltistan. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/29/at-least-28-killed-after-bus-falls-into-ravine-in-pakistans-balochistan