Flash flood in Afghanistan kills at least 95, sweeps away thousands of homes

Crisis-hit Afghanistan loses lives in flash floods. Apart from deaths, homes have been swept away leaving the people stranded. The country is reeling from an economic and humanitarian crisis. These are because of Western sanctions imposed after the Taliban returned to power last year. It is now the people who are suffering and are at the receiving end. The extreme weather is aggravated by the flooding in neighboring Pakistan. Its Disaster Management Authority reveals floods have killed 820 people since mid-June. Moreover, thousands of homes are damaged or destroyed as are many bridges. These have disturbed the lives of the people and limited the travel options. Nearly 100 dead in Afghanistan floods, officials say.

Deputy Minister of Disaster Management of Afghanistan informed a section of the media that food assistance had been dispatched to many flood-affected areas. Moreover, there are promises from aid organizations for delivery of emergency assistance. However, these might fall short of actual requirements. With winter around the corner, the affected families with women and children would face difficult times. They have lost their shelters. To add to their miseries, they have lost their agricultural farms and orchards. Either these are destroyed or their harvest has been damaged. In fact, their survival is at stake and the situation will worsen in the coming weeks and months. They need help to return to normalcy as soon as possible. An earthquake in Afghanistan in June killed more than 1,000 people and the country has been through a number of natural disasters and extreme weather events. Hence, aid organizations, the United Nations and the global community have to extend help to the flood-affected Afghans. The immediate need is for basic amenities like food, shelter and medicine apart from homes, livelihood and drinking water sources.

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British Airways resumes flights to Tehran after four years

With the lifting of sanctions against Iran after four years, direct flights to the country has been resumed by British Airways. The airline has described Tehran as "an important destination" and it will operate six return flights per week between London Heathrow and the Iranian capital of Tehran. This could increase to a daily service later this year.
It may be recalled that the service had been suspended in October 2012 due to instability in the Middle Eastern country.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 September 2016.

Sanctions had been imposed on Iran because of its involvement in the field of nuclear related activities and, in January, the sanctions were lifted after the international nuclear watchdog confirmed that the Tehran government had met all its obligations under a deal with six world powers.
The first BA flight to Iran will be a Boeing 777 that will take off from Heathrow on Thursday at 9.10pm. It had been expected that flights would resume in July, but it was delayed while the route was established. Air France had resumed flights between Paris and Tehran in April after an eight year hiatus.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Ukraine imposes sanctions on Russia by banning direct flights between Ukraine and Russia when flights between the two countries would stop at midnight on Saturday. Moscow initially termed it as ‘madness’ but retaliated by banning flights from Russia to Ukraine. The ban would affect up to 70,000 passengers every month.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 24 October 2015.

The sanctions that have been imposed are to punish Russia for annexing Crimea and also for supporting armed rebels in eastern Ukraine. However, Russia feels Ukraine is shooting itself in the foot because most passengers who fly to Russia are Ukrainian travelling to work in Russia, visiting relatives or in transit.
Russia's transport minister has estimated that the loss in ticket sales to both countries will be of the order of around $110m every year.
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The Prime Minister has expressed his feelings by saying that the Russian president has ‘ripped up’ the rule book and could not expect still to have access to international markets and finance. He has given an indirect threat of take sanctions against Russia to a ‘whole different level’ if Vladimir Putin goes ahead with his tactics of aggression.
He has also hinted that the West must be prepared to ‘settle in for a long and determined position’ against the Moscow government and that in case there are further incursions into Ukraine, those should not be treated lightly but be punished.
Britain’s Prime Minister was sharing a piece of his mind with the Wall Street Journal and commented that if Russia is going to rip up the rule book of the 21st century and destabilize a sovereign country, then it should be told that such actions cannot be condoned. There will be repercussions and its effects would be felt by Russia in different areas like having access to international markets, international finance, and international systems.

Iranians hang Obama’s effigy from gallows even as Kerry pursues nuclear deal with Iran

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It has been reported in foxnews.com dated 25 February 2015 that Iranians had shown an effigy of President Barack Obama hanging from the gallows at a huge Tehran-sponsored rally held to mark the Islamic Revolution’s 36th anniversary. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been depicted as a devious fox.
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The bone of contention is Iran’s nuclear ambitions – while the U.S. and other superpowers want to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, Iran continues to justify its stand by insisting that its nuclear intentions are peaceful. The U.S. and the other superpowers have been trying to work out a deal with Iran so that Iran’s nuclear program is put on hold and, in exchange, the U.S. would lift billions of dollars in sanctions that have damaged Iran’s economy. However, nothing seems to be happening.