Six In The Morning Sunday 28 August 2022

 

Pakistan floods: Appeals for aid as 119 more die in a day

By Alys Davies
BBC News

Pakistan is appealing for further international assistance as floods devastate the country, leaving people searching for higher, drier ground.

The death toll from the monsoon rains has reached 1,033 - with 119 killed in the last 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority says.

The US, UK, UAE and others have contributed to a disaster appeal, but more funds are needed, officials say.

One man told the BBC his daughter had been swept away by a flooded river.

"She told me: 'Daddy, I'm going to collect leaves for my goat,'" Muhammad Fareed, who lives in the Kaghan Valley in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said.

'Slower burn.' Russia dodges economic collapse but the decline has started

Analysis by Clare Sebastian, CNN

Updated 0420 GMT (1220 HKT) August 28, 2022

Six months after invading Ukraine, Russia is bogged down in a war of attrition it didn't anticipate but it is having success on another front — its oil-dependent economy is in a deep recession but proving far more resilient than expected.

"I'm driving through Moscow and the same traffic jams are there as before," says Andrey Nechaev, who was Russia's economy minister in the early 1990s.

The readiness of China and India to snap up cheap Russian oil has helped, but Nechaev and other analysts say Russia's economy has started to decline and is likely facing a prolonged period of stagnation as a consequence of Western sanctions.

Families flee as India demolishes 100-metre towers outside Delhi

Court-ordered demolition of 850 flats seen as stern warning to developers amid rampant illegal construction

Reuters in Noida

Indian authorities have demolished two illegally constructed skyscrapers in a wide plume of dust debris outside Delhi, razing the tallest structures ever pulled down in the country in less than 10 seconds.

Crowds watching the collapse from rooftops on nearby high-rise buildings cheered and clapped as the 103 metre (338ft) tall towers collapsed during a controlled demolition.

The supreme court last year ordered the destruction of the towers in the Noida area after a long legal hearing found they violated multiple building regulations and fire safety standards.

Pleasure Trips from MoscowHow Putin's Daughter Traveled Unnoticed to Germany

Over the course of several years, Katerina Tikhonova made numerous trips to Bavaria together with an entourage of bodyguards. DER SPIEGEL reporting has revealed that the German authorities knew nothing of the excursions.

By Maria Christoph, Jörg Diehl, Roman Höfner, Ferdinand Kuchlmayr, Roman Lehberger, Frederik Obermaier, Bastian Obermayer und Fidelius Schmid

A "superior double room" in one of Munich's most exclusive hotels was reserved for the woman from Russia. The Mandarin Oriental boasts a five-star rating along with a swanky rooftop bar, and promises guest "timeless, sophisticated charm" combined with "the highest levels of personalized service." It is the kind of ambience in which even the daughter of the most powerful man in Russia can feel right at home.

Katerina Tikhonova, whose father is Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently stayed in the Mandarin Oriental on the night of Dec. 22, 2016, a Thursday. That information comes from booking records obtained by DER SPIEGEL and the Russian investigative portal IStories. In combination with passenger data, passport copies and internal emails from the Russian security apparatus, these documents indicate that Tikhonova has traveled to Germany more than 20 times in recent years – unnoticed by German officials. And she has invariably been accompanied by bodyguards – likely armed – from the Federal Guard Service (FSO), which is in charge of keeping the Russian president and other senior officials safe.

Ethiopia: Fighting flares in Tigray after five-month lull

Security analysts say strong global action is needed after fighting resumed in northern Ethiopia between government forces and Tigray rebels — scuppering a truce and dimming hopes for peace.

Ethiopians on Thursday expressed surprise at the renewed fighting between federal government forces and rebels in the country's Tigray region.

"It is very shocking. Something wrong is happening right now. The Ethiopian people were waiting to know where and when the peace negotiations takes place and by whom," one male resident told DW.

He is now disappointed at the turn of events and wondered why peace efforts have "turned into a war? Why is that? It's not good news."

Iran reviewing US nuclear deal response as Qatar mediates

Media outlet affiliated with Iran’s security apparatus signals an Iranian response is not expected until Friday at least.

By Maziar Motamedi

Published On 28 Aug 202228 Aug 2022

 Iran says its review of the United States’s response to a European-Union drafted text to restore their 2015 nuclear deal will take several more days as Qatar continues to mediate between the sides.

Reviewing the US response at expert levels is ongoing and will take “at least” until the end of the week, Nournews, an outlet affiliated with the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, said in a tweet on Sunday.