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Death toll in Indonesian floods, volcanic mud flows rises to 41

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The heavy rain swept mud down the slopes of Mount Marapi (Aljazeera)

At least 41 people have now been confirmed dead after hours of torrential rain triggered flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano in western Indonesia over the weekend.

A local disaster official told the AFP news agency that 17 other people remained missing after the downpour on Saturday night swept ash and large rocks down Mount Marapi, the most active volcano on Sumatra island.

Three people are missing in the Agam district and 14 in Tanah Datar, both the worst-hit areas of the flood and home to hundreds of thousands of people, Ilham Wahab, an official with the West Sumatra disaster mitigation agency, told AFP.

About 400 people, including police, soldiers and local rescue squads, have been deployed to search for the missing, using at least eight excavators and drones.

Marapi erupted in December killing more than 20 people.

Cold lava, also known as lahar, is volcanic material such as ash, sand and pebbles carried down a volcano’s slopes by rain.

The rain turned roads into muddy rivers, swept vehicles away and damaged homes and other buildings.

Damage to the roads has hampered rescue efforts.

Indonesia is prone to landslides and floods during the rainy season.

In 2022, about 24,000 people were evacuated and two children were killed in floods on Sumatra island, with environmental campaigners blaming deforestation caused by logging for worsening the disaster.

A man clambers over debris following Saturday night's disaster.
Residents clamber over debris after Saturday night’s flash floods (Aljazeera)

(Aljazeera)



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Zimbabwe Women set for maiden tour of Pakistan

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Pakistan and Zimbabwe will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is [Cricbuzz]
Zimbabwe Women are set for their maiden tour to Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20Is.

The ODIs kick off on May 3 and will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29. The T20I series will be played from May 12. All six matches will take place at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi.

Pakistan are currently placed fifth on the Women’s Championship table after a 2-1 series loss to South Africa. Zimbabwe are placed seventh after a three-match series loss to New Zealand.

Zimbabwe are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on April 29.

Date Match
May 3 1st ODI
May 6 2nd ODI
May 9 3rd ODI
May 12 1st T20I
May 14 2nd T20I
May 15 3rd T20I

[Cricbuzz]

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Bangladesh advance match timings to save energy

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BCB aim to wrap up the matches by sunset, which is around 6:30 pm local during this time of the year [Cricbuzz]
The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced that they have decided to change match timings of the upcoming international assignments of the national cricket team in order to support the government’s energy-saving initiative.

As a result, the match timings of the upcoming men’s white-ball series against New Zealand and the women’s T20I series against Sri Lanka have been changed.

“The board has decided to readjust the match timings of the forthcoming Bangladesh vs New Zealand ODI and T20I series to support the energy saving initiative of the Bangladesh Government. The revised timing  will aim to make maximum use of daylight in the day-night games,” the BCB said in a statement.

The board said they will bring the start time forward by three hours for all three ODIs scheduled in Dhaka and Chattogram, with the aim to finish the matches by sunset, which is around 6:30 pm during this time of the year. The ODIs will start at 11:00 am. The three T20Is will start from 2:00 pm with an aim to finish them by 5:30 pm.

Instead of the originally planned 6 pm starts, women’s T20Is will begin at 1:30 pm at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The women’s T20Is are scheduled on April 28 and 30, and May 2.

New Zealand are scheduled to arrive on April 13 for the tour, which comprises three ODIs and three T20Is. The first two ODIs will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on April 17 and 20, before the teams travel to Chattogram for the third match on April 23 at the Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium.

The first two T20Is will be held in Chattogram on April 27 and 29, with the final game scheduled in Dhaka on May 2. Bangladesh began their preparations for the series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on March 27.

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Israel to hold direct talks with Lebanon but no ceasefire, Netanyahu says

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Israel launched a blitz of air strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting over 100 targets in 10 minutes (BBC)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his government to begin direct talks with Lebanon, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Netanyahu said the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese political and militant group, and establishing peaceful relations.

A US State Department official confirmed it would host a meeting next week “to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon”.

Lebanese officials called for a ceasefire before the talks begin, but Netanyahu in a subsequent address to residents of northern Israel said: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.”

The Israeli military continued to strike Lebanon on Thursday – targeting what it described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south. It also issued a new evacuation warning for residents in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that this included the Jnah area, which includes two major hospitals.

“At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,” he said.

Among those being treated at the hospitals, Tedros added, were some of the 1,150 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were wounded in Wednesday’s massive wave of Israeli strikes. At least 303 people were killed.

Tedros also said that the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health, which “hosts five shelters accommodating more than 5,000 people”, is in the evacuation area.

That ceasefire began with confusion over whether Lebanon, Israel’s second front, was to be included. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan said it was, US and Israeli officials said clearly that it was not.

Amid the confusion, the wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon – the heaviest since the conflict began six weeks ago – prompted Iran to declare that Israel was break8ng the terms of the ceasefire, once again halt passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and to threaten retaliatory strikes.

Israel’s military continues to occupy a large part of the south of Lebanon, where it has destroyed villages in recent days. Without a commitment to a temporary ceasefire at least, it is not clear how productive talks could proceed between the two sides.

(BBC)

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