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Dozens of migrants die in boat capsize off Yemen
At least 68 migrants have died after a boat with about 157 people on board sank off the coast of Yemen in bad weather.
The vessel capsized off Yemen’s southern province of Abyan on Sunday, the Yemen chief for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told the BBC. He said 12 people had been rescued, but dozens were unaccounted for.
Most of the victims are believed to be Ethiopian nationals, said the IOM.
Yemen is a major pathway for migrants from the Horn of Africa travelling to Gulf states in search of work. The IOM estimates that hundreds have died or gone missing in shipwrecks in recent months.
Abyan security officials said a large search-and-rescue mission had been launched and many bodies had been found across a wide area of shoreline.
IOM Yemen chief Abdusattor Esoev said the boat was on a dangerous route in the vast coastal area often used by people smugglers.
Mr Esoev also emphasised the importance of strengthening legal safeguards for migrants, to prevent them from being exploited by smugglers.
“What we are advocating for all member states… is to enhance their regular pathways so people can take legal ways in order to migrate, instead of being trapped or deceived by smugglers and taking those dangerous journeys,” he said.
The IOM previously described the journey from the Horn of Africa – composed of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritra – to Yemen as “one of the busiest and most perilous mixed migration routes”.
In March, two boats carrying more than 180 migrants sank off the coast of Yemen’s Dhubab district due to rough seas, with only two crew members rescued.
Migrants arriving at Migrant Response Points in Yemen have also reported people-smugglers becoming more reckless by knowingly sending boats into dangerous conditions to avoid patrols, according to an IOM report.
Despite the risks, many migrants continue to make the trip, with more than 60,000 arriving in Yemen in 2024 alone.
In the last decade, the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project recorded more than 3,400 deaths and missing people along the route – 1,400 of those deaths were due to drowning.
Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war which has lasted more than a decade. The Iran-backed Houthi group has controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, when they ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital, Sanaa.
[BBC]
People living on the northern Pacific coast of Mexico are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Polo, which is forecast to make landfall later on Monday or early on Tuesday.
The category three storm, with maximum sustained winds near 115 mph (185 km/h), is expected to move over the state of Baja California Sur, a region popular with tourists and home to the resort destination of Los Cabos.
Meteorologists at the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) have warned of heavy rainfall which could lead to life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain.
Residents on Sunday stocked up on essentials such as drinking water and food as the storm approached.
The NHC warned of the storm surge Hurricane Polo could unleash, which it said could be accompanied by large and destructive waves.
In Cabo San Lucas, famous for its natural rock arch, the authorities restricted access to the beaches. Some restaurants also closed in the town, which acts as a base for sport fishers and whale watchers.
The regional government of Baja California Sur has ordered schools to remain closed on Monday as a preventive measure.
Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío said temporary shelters had been opened should residents need to be evacuated.
The federal authorities have also deployed thousands of members of the navy and the army along with specialised machinery.
Polo has been slowly moving towards Mexico’s coast line.
Meteorologists said it was being fuelled by extremely warm waters caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon.
(BBC)
Like every year, Pushpraj Rimal, a tour planner and taxi driver in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, was looking forward to September for his business to boom.
But what he got instead was a series of cancellations by tourists after catastrophic floods last month killed more than 1,450 people and destroyed key highways, deeply impacting the Himalayan nation heavily dependent on tourism.
“It is still a lockdown kind of situation,” the 42-year-old told Al Jazeera nearly a month after the disaster.
Pushpraj, who speaks Nepali and Hindi, works on commission for several hotels and trekking companies in Kathmandu and the scenic town of Pokhara, known for its lake nestled in the Annapurna mountain range. Pokhara also serves as a base for Himalayan trekkers.
Nepal’s tourist season peaks after the monsoon ends in August and the skies are clearer. Tourism attracts thousands of international travellers, accounting for nearly 8 percent of Nepal’s gross domestic product and employs more than 1 million people.
Last year, Nepal saw more than 1.15 million tourists visiting the country, nearly a third of them during the September-November season.
But the floods this year, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse along the Nepal-Tibet border in the north, have pushed tourists away from the unaffected areas as well.
“I had rented two cars for two months, but I have done one fourth of the business I usually do in a season. Tourists generally start pouring in from September, but most of them have cancelled this year,” he said.
“I will get no commissions from the hotels or trek organisers, nor has the taxi business worked well. … I am now waiting for the season to end.”
Rimal has two children, Hema, 14, and Rahul, 12, whom he had promised a tablet this Dussain, a prominent Hindu festival that usually falls in October. “But it seems impossible now. I will have to break their hearts and my promise to them for the very first time.”
(Aljazeera)
World javelin leader Rumesh Tharanga lived up to his reputation to win Sri Lanka a highly anticipated gold medal, beating wet weather and track conditions at the Asia Games in Nagoya Japan a little while ago.
He took the lead with a massive 88.33 metres effort in his penultimate throw before sealing the contest with 88.55 metres throw.
He beat a strong field inclusive of reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. (Reemus Fernando)
Mexico’s Pacific coast braces for Hurricane Polo
Washout against Afghanistan sends India into semi-finals
‘Still a lockdown’: Deadly floods hit Nepal tourism as peak season begins
Tharanga wins highly anticipated Asian Games gold
Tharanga on cusp of Asian Games Gold
Rain threat looms over lopsided India vs Afghanistan quarter-final
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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