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Pakistan’s caretaker premier is to be sworn in as people celebrate Independence Day
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is to be sworn in Monday as Pakistan's prime minister to head a caretaker national government that will oversee parliamentary elections.
Kakar, who is comparatively new to politics, has been representing his Baluchistan province in the Senate since 2018.
On Sunday, Kakar quit as the head of his small Baluchistan Awami Party and quit as a senator after being named by outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raza Riaz to oversee the vote and run the day-to-day affairs of the government until the people elect a new government. It is normal practice in Pakistan to appoint a caretaker administration for the election period.
Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar named caretaker PM to oversee Pakistan's elections
Under the constitution, the election should take place in the next 90 days.
The swearing-in is taking place as Pakistanis celebrate the country's 76th Independence Day. But the day comes amid a deepening political turmoil, which started after the removal of former premier Imran Khan from power last year.
Pakistan gained independence when the departing British left India and split the subcontinent in 1947.
Monday's festivities began with gun salutes in the capital, Islamabad, and in each of the four provincial capitals. In Islamabad, President Arif Alvi hoisted the national flag at a ceremony attended by officials and other dignitaries.
Pakistani court seeks 'government response' over Imran Khan's appeal, refuses to release him
Security was high across the nation following multiple attacks at the weekend, including an assault in which Chinese working on a construction project escaped unharmed but two militants were killed when troops quickly returned fire in the coastal town of Gwadar in Baluchistan province.
In his overnight farewell address to the nation, Sharif asked his countrymen to "make the right decision" when they go to vote. He blamed Khan for the economic crisis the country was facing when he came to power.
Sharif replaced Khan in April 2022 when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament.
Khan was sentenced to three years in prison in a graft case earlier this month and is currently being held at the high-security Attock prison in eastern Punjab province.
UN chief calls for due process in proceedings against Pakistan's Khan
But Khan remains a popular opposition politician and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is expected to give a tough time to his main rival Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League party in the elections.
Khan himself would be unable to take part in the election unless his conviction is overturned as no one with a criminal conviction can lead a party, run in elections or hold public office. He has appealed the conviction.
Prison probably isn’t the end of the political road for Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan
Two-year timeline of events in Afghanistan since 2021 Taliban takeover
Here is a look at key dates since the Taliban came back to power two years ago, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country:
Aug. 15, 2021 — The Taliban march into Kabul as internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani flees the country.
Aug. 26, 2021 — Islamic State group suicide bombers and gunmen kill over 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops in an attack on the crowds trying to be evacuated at Kabul's airport.
March 23, 2022 — On the day high schools are opening, the Taliban suddenly reverse a promise to allow girls above the sixth grade to attend schools. Girls who showed up for the first day of classes are told to go home.
The Taliban are entrenched in Afghanistan after 2 years of rule. Women and girls pay the price
May 7, 2022 — The Taliban Virtue and Vice Ministry issues orders that women in public must wear all-encompassing robes and cover their faces except for their eyes. It advises them to stay home unless they have important work outside the house.
June 22, 2022 — A powerful earthquake hits a remote region of eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,100 people. The Taliban struggle with rescue efforts, underscoring a lack of resources and a reliance on aid groups.
July 31, 2022 — The U.S. kills al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike on a safehouse in Kabul where he has been staying for months. U.S. officials accuse the Taliban of sheltering him in violation of the Doha Agreement.
Sept. 5, 2022 - An IS suicide bombing kills two diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Kabul, a rare assault on a foreign diplomatic mission. Russia is among the handful of countries with a working embassy in Afghanistan, and the only European one.
Afghan women mourn loss of 60,000 jobs due to Taliban ban on beauty salons
Sept. 30, 2022 - A suicide bomber strikes an education center in a Shiite area of the capital, killing dozens of people, including teenagers taking university entrance exams.
Nov. 10, 2022 - A nationwide ban on women using gyms and parks comes into force. The Taliban they they imposed the ban because women allegedly disobeyed gender segregation rules or didn't wear hijabs, or Islamic headscarves, properly.
Nov. 20, 2022 - The Taliban lash 19 people, including alleged adulterers, in the first public flogging since the return to Taliban rule.
Dec. 8, 2022 - The Taliban execute a convicted killer before hundreds of spectators in the first public execution since the takeover.
Dec. 21, 2022 - The Taliban bar female students from attending university, having already banned girls from middle school and high school.
Taliban ban women's beauty salons in Afghanistan
Dec. 24, 2022 - The Taliban bar Afghan women from working with national and international nongovernmental groups, after already excluding them from most jobs.
March 9, 2023 - The U.N. says Afghanistan has become the most repressive country in the world for women and girls, depriving them of virtually all their basic rights.
April 6, 2023 - The Taliban's chief spokesman relocates his office from Kabul to Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the movement and the base of the supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. It's the clearest sign yet of a power shift to the south.
Rights groups slam severe Taliban restrictions on Afghan women as ‘crime against humanity’
April 10, 2023 - The U.N. warns that its Afghan operations remain severely under-funded. It previously said that Afghanistan is its lowest-funded operation globally, despite being the world's biggest humanitarian crisis.
July 4, 2023 - The Taliban order beauty salons to shut down for offering un-Islamic services like eyebrow shaping. The decision affects as many as 60,000 female entrepreneurs and further restricts meeting places for women outside the home.
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks, UN says
July 19, 2023 - The Taliban use stun guns on women protesting a ban on beauty salons, spraying the demonstrators with water and firing into the air to break up the crowd.
The Taliban are entrenched in Afghanistan after 2 years of rule. Women and girls pay the price
The Taliban have settled in as rulers of Afghanistan, two years after they seized power as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war.
The Taliban face no significant opposition that could topple them. They have avoided internal divisions by falling in line behind their ideologically unbending leader. They have kept a struggling economy afloat, in part by holding investment talks with capital-rich regional countries, even as the international community withholds formal recognition. They have improved domestic security through crackdowns on armed groups such as the Islamic State, and say they are fighting corruption and opium production.
But it's their slew of bans on Afghan girls and women that dominated the Taliban's second year in charge. They barred them from parks, gyms, universities, and jobs at nongovernmental groups and the United Nations – all in the space of a few months – allegedly because they weren't wearing proper hijab — the Islamic head covering — or violated gender segregation rules. These orders followed a previous ban, issued in the first year of Taliban rule, on girls going to school beyond sixth grade.
Here is a closer look at Taliban rule and where they are headed.
Afghan women mourn loss of 60,000 jobs due to Taliban ban on beauty salons
WHY DID THEY EXCLUDE WOMEN FROM HIGHER EDUCATION, MOST JOBS AND PUBLIC SPACES?
The Taliban say they are committed to implementing their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in Afghanistan. This leaves no space for anything they think is foreign or secular, such as women working or studying. It's what drove them in the late 1990s, when they first seized power in Afghanistan, and it propels them now, ever since they took control again on Aug. 15, 2021.
Their supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has praised the changes imposed since the takeover, claiming life improved for Afghan women after foreign troops left and the hijab became mandatory again.
Taliban ban women's beauty salons in Afghanistan
WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE TO THESE BANS?
Foreign governments, rights groups, and global bodies condemned the restrictions. The U.N. said they were a major obstacle to the Taliban gaining international recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Overseas aid is drying up as major donors stop their funding, pulled in different directions by other crises and worried their money might fall into Taliban hands.
The lack of funds, as well as the exclusion of Afghan women from delivering essential humanitarian services, is hitting the population hard, pushing more people into poverty.
WHAT ARE LIVING CONDITIONS LIKE IN AFGHANISTAN?
Nearly 80% of the previous, Western-backed Afghan government's budget came from the international community. That money — now largely cut off — financed hospitals, schools, factories and government ministries. The COVID-19 pandemic, medical shortages, climate change and malnutrition have made life more desperate for Afghans. Aid agencies have stepped into the breach to provide basic services like health care.
Afghanistan is struggling with its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions, the ongoing collapse in families' income, and restrictions on international banking. It's also still suffering from decades of war and natural disasters.
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks, UN says
HOW IS THE ECONOMY DOING?
The World Bank said last month that the local currency, the afghani, gained value against major currencies. Customers can withdraw more money from individual deposits made before August 2021 and most civil servants are being paid. The World Bank described revenue collection as "healthy" and said most basic items remained available, although demand is low.
The Taliban have held investment talks with countries in the region, including China and Kazakhstan. They want sanctions removed and billions of dollars in frozen funds to be released, saying these measures will alleviate the suffering of Afghans. But the international community will only take such steps once the Taliban take certain actions, including lifting restrictions on women and girls.
HOW LIKELY ARE THE TALIBAN TO CHANGE DIRECTION?
It's largely up to the Taliban leader, Akhundzada. The cleric counts like-minded government ministers and Islamic scholars among his circle. He is behind the decrees on women and girls. His edicts, framed in the language of Islamic law, are absolute. The bans will only be lifted if Akhundzada orders it. Some Taliban figures have spoken out against the way decisions are made, and there has been disagreement about the bans on women and girls. But the Taliban's chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid slammed these reports as propaganda.
"The secret of their success is that they are united," Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as the Taliban envoy to Pakistan when they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, said. "If someone expresses his opinion or his thoughts, it doesn't mean someone is against the leadership or will go to another side," said Zaeef who spent several years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after the 2001 U.S. invasion. "Disagreements are put in front of the emir (Akhundzada) and he decides. They follow his word."
Taliban leader claims women are provided with a 'comfortable and prosperous life' in Afghanistan
WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION?
Aid officials say the Taliban view recognition as an entitlement, not something to be negotiated. The officials also cite high-level meetings with powerful states like China and Russia as signs that the Taliban are building bilateral relations in their own way. Qatar's prime minister met Akhundzada in the southwestern Afghan city of Kandahar in June, the first-such publicly known meeting between the supreme leader and a foreign official.
Even though the Taliban are officially isolated on the global stage, they appear to have enough interactions and engagement for ties with countries to inch toward normalization. Cooperation with the Taliban on narcotics, refugees and counter-terrorism is of interest globally, including to the West. Countries like China, Russia and neighboring Pakistan want an end to sanctions.
"The political interactions are such that no country in the region is thinking of bringing Afghanistan under their power or control," said Zaeef. He said the Taliban's foreign outreach is hampered by blacklists preventing officials from traveling, and by lacking common ground with the rest of the world.
WHAT OPPOSITION IS THERE TO THE TALIBAN?
There's no armed or political opposition with enough domestic or foreign support to topple the Taliban. A fighting force resisting Taliban rule from the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul is being violently purged. Public protests are rare.
The Islamic State has struck high-profile targets in deadly bombings, including two government ministries, but the militants lack fighters, money and other resources to wage a major offensive against the Taliban.
Coup leaders appear to have gained the upper hand in Niger, analysts say
One week after a deadline passed for mutinous soldiers in Niger to reinstate the country's ousted president or face military intervention, the junta has not acquiesced. No military action has been taken and the coup leaders appear to have gained the upper hand over the regional group that issued the threat, analysts say.
The West African bloc ECOWAS had given the soldiers that overthrew Niger's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum until last Sunday to release and reinstate him or they threatened military action. On Thursday, the bloc ordered the deployment of a “standby” force to restore constitutional rule in Niger, with Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Ivory Coast saying they would contribute troops.
But it's unclear when, how or if the troops will deploy. The move could take weeks or months to set into motion, and while the bloc decides what to do the junta is gaining power, some observers say.
“It looks as though the putschists have won and will stay ... The putschists are holding all the cards and have cemented their rule,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank.
ECOWAS is unlikely to intervene militarily and risk dragging Niger into civil war, he said, adding that ECOWAS and Western countries would instead likely press the junta to agree to a short transition period.
Europe and the United States will have little choice but to recognize the junta in order to continue the security cooperation in the region, Laessing said.
The July 26 coup is seen as a major blow to many Western nations, which viewed Niger as one of its last partners in the conflict-riddled Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert that they could work with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The U.S. and France have more than 2,500 military personnel in the region and together with other European countries have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training Niger's forces.
There was still little clarity about what would happen days after ECOWAS announced the "standby" force deployment.
A meeting of the region’s defense chiefs was postponed indefinitely. The African Union is expected to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss Niger’s crisis. The group's Peace and Security Council could overrule the decision if it felt that wider peace and security on the continent were threatened by an intervention.
The delay of the defense chiefs' meeting to discuss the “standby” force shows that ECOWAS views the use of force as a last resort, said Nate Allen, an associate professor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
“Given the likely challenges an intervention would face, (the use of force would) require a high degree of consensus and coordination not just within ECOWAS, but within the African Union and international community writ large,” he said.
But those with ties to the junta say they are preparing for a fight, especially since the soldiers are unwilling to negotiate unless ECOWAS acknowledges its leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who overthrew the president, as the new ruler.
Read: International pressure mounts on coup leaders in Niger while hundreds rally in support of junta
“ECOWAS is demanding that (the junta) immediately release President Bazoum and restore him as head of state. Is this a joke?” said Insa Garba Saidou, a local activist who assists Niger’s new military rulers with their communications and says he is in direct contact with them. “Whether Bazoum resigns or not, he will never be Niger's president again."
As time drags on, there is mounting concern for the safety of Bazoum, who has been under house arrest with his wife and son since the coup. Those close to him say his situation is deteriorating with no water, electricity and a lack of food. Niger’s junta told a top U.S. diplomat that they would kill the deposed president if neighboring countries attempted any military intervention to restore his rule, two Western officials told The Associated Press.
Most Nigeriens are trying to go about their lives as the standoff continues between the coup leaders and regional countries.
For the most part, the streets in the capital, Niamey, are calm with sporadic pockets of pro-junta demonstrations. Any pro-Bazoum demonstrations are quickly silenced by security forces.
On Sunday people marched, biked and drove through downtown Niamey, chanting “down with France” and expressing anger at ECOWAS.
“Niger is in a deplorable situation. We are very happy there was a coup d'etat. Now everyone can go into the streets without a problem ... (but) if ECWOAS allows people to attack Niger, it will cross a red line,” said resident Saidou Issaka.
Read: Niger crisis deepens as France plans evacuation and coup leaders get support from neighboring juntas
On Friday hundreds of people, many waving Russian flags, marched toward France's military base demanding the French leave. Mercenaries from the Russian-linked Wagner group already operate in a handful of other African countries and are accused of committing human rights abuses. Earlier this month during a trip to neighboring Mali, which is also run by a military regime and cooperates with Wagner, the junta reportedly asked the mercenaries for help.
Boubacar Adamou, a tailor in the capital, said he had made at least 50 Russian flags in the weeks since the coup.
But many Nigeriens don't have time for protests and are more focused on feeding their families.
The country of some 25 million people is one of the poorest in the world and the harsh travel and economic sanctions imposed by ECOWAS are taking a toll.
Moussa Ahmed, a food seller in Niamey, said the prices of food items such as cooking oil and rice had increased by 20% since the coup and there wasn't enough electricity to power the fridges in his shop. Niger gets up to 90% of its power from neighboring Nigeria, which has cut off some of its supply.
Aid groups that were already grappling with the challenges of helping more than 4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance say the crisis will exacerbate an already dire situation.
“We cannot overstate the impact on civilians, both in terms of humanitarian and protection needs, when military imperatives take precedence over civilian governance," said Jan Egeland, secretary general for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Read more: Jihadists in Niger kill at least 100 in mounting violence
The sanctions and suspensions of development aid are expected to have a dramatic impact on living conditions for a country already under heavy strain, he said.
Russia evacuates 2,000 in Far East flooding
Over 2,000 people have been evacuated from flooded areas of the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, emergency officials said Sunday.
The heavy downpours that flooded villages in the region were slated to bring double the monthly rainfall to some areas over the weekend, according to Russian state media.
Read: Deadly flooding is hitting several countries at once. Scientists say this will only be more common
“More than 2,000 people, including 405 children, have been evacuated in Primorye,” the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Telegram.
Over 4,300 residential buildings were flooded and 28 settlements cut off by floodwaters, with 16 of the region’s districts affected.
Read: Beijing records heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years, causing severe flooding and 21 deaths
On Friday, local officials said that downpours had already caused floods in seven districts and killed at least three people — a woman and two children, ages 10 and 12.
The rain was from the remnants of Typhoon Khanun, which earlier battered Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Read more: 11 dead and 27 missing in flooding around Beijing after days of rain
North Korea's Kim orders sharp increase in missile production, days before US-South Korea drills
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made another inspection tour of major munitions factories and ordered a drastic increase in production of missiles and other weapons, state media said Monday, days before South Korea and the U.S. begin annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
Kim’s push to produce more weapons also comes as U.S. officials believe Russia’s defense minister recently talked with North Korea about selling more weapons to Russia for its war with Ukraine.
The Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited factories producing tactical missiles, mobile launch platforms, armored vehicles and artillery shells on Friday and Saturday.
During a stop at the missile factory, Kim set a goal to “drastically boost” production capacity so the facility can mass produce missiles to meet the needs of frontline military units, KCNA said.
“The qualitative level of war preparations depends on the development of the munitions industry and the factory bears a very important responsibility in speeding up the war preparations of the (North) Korean People’s Army,” Kim said, according to the report.
Visiting other factories, Kim called for building more modern missile launch trucks and said there is an urgent need to boost production of large-caliber multiple rocket launcher shells “at an exponential rate,” the report said. Kim also drove a new utility combat armored vehicle, KCNA said.
Kim has been focusing on enlarging his nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes diplomacy with then U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Since the start of 2022, Kim’s military has conducted more than 100 missile tests, many of them in the name of warning the U.S. and South Korean over their expansion of joint military training exercises.
Read: South Korea, US troops to hold massive live-fire drills near border with North Korea
North Korea could perform more weapons tests soon as the U.S. and South Korea are set to start their summer military exercises later this month. North Korea calls the U.S.-South Korean training a practice for an invasion. The allies say they have no intentions of attacking North Korea.
KCNA quoted Kim as saying North Korea must have “an overwhelming military force and get fully prepared for coping with any war” with the power to “surely annihilate” its enemies.
Many experts say Kim eventually aims to use his modernized weapons arsenals to wrest U.S. concessions, such as sanctions relief, whenever diplomacy resumes with Washington.
Earlier this month, the White House said U.S. intelligence officials had determined that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke to North Korean officials during a visit to Pyongyang last month about increasing the sale of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
Read: US, Filipino forces show power in drills amid China tensions
North Korea has denied American claims that it shipped artillery shells and ammunition to Russia. But the North has publicly supported Russia over the war and hinted at sending workers to help rebuild Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
Kim has been trying to beef up ties with China and Russia in the face of U.S.-led pressure campaigns over its nuclear program and pandemic-related economic difficulties.
Read more: China says Taiwan encirclement drills a ‘serious warning’
Google set to remove news links in Canada over online news law
Google said Thursday it will remove links to Canadian news on its platforms across Canada over a new law that will require digital giants to compensate media outlets for content they share or otherwise repurpose.
The tech giant said it will remove Canadian news links from Google News — a personalized aggregator service available by web or app that highlights local news — and from Google Discover, a feature on mobile phones that helps people find content.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez accused Google of trying to bully Canadians, but added that “big tech isn’t biggr than Canada.”“Big tech would rather spend money changing their platforms to block news from Canadians instead of paying a small share of the billions they make in advertising dollars,” Rodriguez tweeted.
Google said it informed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government of its decision. It did not say exactly when it would begin to remove news, but indicated it would happen before the law takes effect by the end the year. That law was passed last week.
Only Canadian news will be blocked, so Canadian users will still be able to see content from outlets like Fox News or BBC, for example.
Meta made a similar announcement last week, saying it would remove news from its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram before the law comes into force. It is also ending existing deals with local publishers.
Meta is already running a test to block news for up to 5% of its Canadian users. Google ran a similar test earlier this year.
Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, said the law is “unworkable.”
Read: Google should break up digital ad business over competition concerns, European regulators say
In a blog post published to Google’s website Thursday, Walker said the bill creates a price on links, resulting in an uncapped financial liability “simply for facilitating Canadians’ access to news from Canadian publishers.”
“We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible,” Walker wrote.
The Online News Act requires both Google and Meta to enter into agreements with news publishers to pay them for news content that appears on their sites if it helps them generate money.
Google had been seeking assurances about how much that could cost it and how the bargaining process would unfold. Those details are likely to become clear after the bill’s regulatory process is complete.
Legacy media and broadcasters have praised the bill, which promises to “enhance fairness” in the digital news marketplace and help bring in more money for shrinking newsrooms. Tech giants including Meta and Google have been blamed in the past for disrupting and dominating advertising, eclipsing smaller, traditional players.
Read: Google Pixel 7a Review: Mid-range Smartphone with Enhanced Camera Features
Rodriguez had previously expressed hope the government could come to a positive resolution with both companies to prevent them from removing news. He also said the government would continue to support newsrooms if Google and Meta pulled news from their platforms, though he did not say exactly how that would be done.
Since 2008, nearly 500 newsrooms have closed across Canada, Rodriguez said.
Read more: Google is giving its dominant search engine an artificial-intelligence makeover
As death toll from Maui fire reaches 89, authorities say effort to count the losses is just starting
As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 89, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century.
Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.
“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” noting that the death toll is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.”
He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains.
Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal." Two people have been identified so far, he said.
Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colorless landscape.
“It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced,” Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. "We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.”
At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86% were residential. Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to $6 billion. He said it would take “an incredible amount of time” to recover."
At least two other fires have been burning on Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said.
Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96% were residential.
Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.
He encouraged those with missing family members to go to the family assistance center.
Read: Survivors of Maui's wildfires return home to blackened ruins as death toll rises to 67
“We need you to do the DNA test. We need to identify your loved ones,” Pelletier said.
Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.
Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.
Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.
Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.
“God took a really good man,” Weber-Bogar said.
The newly released death toll surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.
The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency alert system with sirens that are tested monthly.
Read: Death toll from train derailment in Pakistan rises to 30 with 60 others injured
Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate the warning sirens sounded before fire hit the town. Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.
Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.
“It outpaced anything firefighters could have done in the early hours,” U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell said, adding that it moved horizontally, structure to structure and “incredibly fast.”
“It was a low-to-the-ground fire. It was grass-fed by all evidence that we could observe today,” she said.
The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.
Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure.
Maui’s firefighting efforts may have been hampered by limited staff and equipment.
Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association, said there are a maximum of 65 county firefighters working at any given time, who are responsible for three islands: Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
Green said officials will review policies and procedures to improve safety.
“People have asked why we are reviewing what’s going on and it’s because the world has changed. A storm now can be a hurricane-fire or a fire-hurricane,” he said. “That’s what we experienced, that’s why we’re looking into these policies, to find out how we can best protect our people.”
Lahaina resident Riley Curran said he doubted that county officials could have done more, given the speed of the onrushing flames. He fled his Front Street home after seeing the oncoming fire from the roof of a neighboring building.
Read more: Israel presses on with hunt for West Bank militants. The death toll rises to 10 and civilians flee
“It’s not that people didn’t try to do anything," Curran said. “The fire went from zero to 100.”
At least 10 killed in southwest Congo as intercommunal violence worsens over land rights and taxes
A militia group armed with guns and machetes killed at least 10 people in intercommunal violence in southwestern Congo, local authorities said.
The attack is the latest episode in a deepening crisis that has been overshadowed by conflict on the other side of the vast Central African nation.
According to provincial government spokesperson Adelard Nkisi, a militia group known as the Mobondo attacked civilians and burned down several houses in the village of Ipongi, just over 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of the capital Kinshasa, on Friday.
An unknown number of people were tied up and kidnapped by the militia members, who fled into the bush, Nkisi said. The provincial government sent defense and security forces to restore security in the area.
Read: 9 killed in violence as India's West Bengal votes for rural body elections
Tensions flared in June 2022 over land rights and customary taxes in Congo’s southwest, between the Teke, historical inhabitants of the region, and farmers from various other ethnic groups including the Yaka, who settled near the Congo River more recently.
According to spokesperson Nkisi, Friday’s violence broke out after a leader of the Yaka-majority Mobondo militia was arrested and taken into custody in a town nearby.
The incident is the latest in a cycle of violence that killed at least 300 people between June 2022 and March 2023 amid disagreements between Teke and Yaka communities about tax increases and access to farming land, according to Human Rights Watch.
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Symphorien Kwengo, vice-president of a regional civil society organization, called for community dialogue with the Mobondo militia to ease the deadly tensions in southwest Congo.
Meanwhile, an older, larger-scale conflict across the country displaced hundreds of thousands of people in 2022 alone, according to the UN refugee agency. In Congo’s northeastern provinces, close to the borders with Rwanda and Uganda, more than 120 armed groups continue to fight for control of valuable mineral resources and some to protect their communities. Frequent mass killings by rebel groups trigger exoduses of civilians, which in turn drive food insecurity, sexual violence, and the spread of disease.
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Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar named caretaker PM to oversee Pakistan's elections
A first-time senator from Pakistan’s southwest will head the national caretaker government as the country moves towards parliamentary elections, the prime minister’s office said Saturday.
Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar, from the southwest province of Baluchistan, will lead the government that oversees the elections. He was chosen following a second round of meetings between incumbent Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz.
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Riaz told reporters that he was the one who suggested the name.
Kakar's nomination was later signed into effect by Pakistani President Arif Alvi.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolved the parliament last week as its five-year term came to an end. Usually, such a step is a formality and a general election would typically have to be held within 90 days.
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Kakar is comparatively new in the political field. He has represented the province in the senate since 2018 as an independent candidate and is currently a member of the Baluchistan Awami Party.
Baluchistan is the least populated and least developed province among the four but the largest in area.