DEATH TOLL FROM NORTHERN TURKEY FLOODS RISES TO 58
Flash floods that have swept through towns in the Turkish Black Sea region have killed 58 people, authorities said on August 15, in the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this month. The floods brought chaos to northern provinces just as authorities were declaring wildfires had been brought under control after raging through southern coastal regions for two weeks. Forty-eight people died as a result of floods in Kastamonu province, another nine people died in Sinop and one in Bartin, the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said. Emergency workers were searching demolished buildings for the missing. Torrents of water tossed dozens of cars and heaps of debris along streets, destroyed buildings and bridges closed roads, and cut off electricity to hundreds of villages. More than 2,000 people were evacuated from affected areas, some with the help of helicopters and boats, AFAD said.
DEATH TOLL FROM FOREST FIRES RISES IN ALGERIA
The death toll in Algeria from wildfires has risen to 69, including 28 soldiers and 41 civilians, while France has announced plans to help the North African country contain the flames. Algeria has signed an aircraft leasing agreement with the European Union to support its fight against the blazes, the Algerian Prime Ministry said in a statement. The two planes hired from the EU were previously used in firefighting operations in Greece and will be used to contain forest fires in Algeria. Algerian state television said most of the deaths were reported in Tizi Ouzou province. According to the broadcaster, 12 hospitalised soldiers are in critical condition. Meanwhile, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has declared three days of national mourning. As many as 18 Algerian provinces have for days witnessed massive fires that were exacerbate.
SAUDI ARABIA TO ALLOW 2M PILGRIMS MONTHLY FOR UMRAH
Saudi Arabia has announced that applications from Muslim pilgrims wishing to perform umrah from abroad will be received and 2 million requests will be accepted per month which includes pilgrims from inside and outside the kingdom. A total of 60,000 umrah performers divided in eight operating periods will increase to 2 million per month. Applications will be made through an integrated system of services and preventive measures. Pilgrims coming from outside the kingdom must present an authorised Covid-19 vaccination certificate from the official authorities in the pilgrim’s country. The certificate must be attached within the request to perform the rituals, with the condition that the vaccines are approved in the kingdom. Meanwhile, The Technical and Service Authority at the Grand Mosque has intensified its preparations for the Umrah season through conducting sterilisation and scenting processes.
ISLAMIC BONDS UNDER WATCH AFTER GARUDA INDONESIA DEFAULT
Investors in the booming global market for Islamic bonds, or sukuk, have little clarity on how defaults in the sector will be resolved, even as issuance tears toward an annual record. The uncertainty has been brought to the fore in recent weeks after the airline Garuda Indonesia defaulted on a payment, while attempts to standardise the industry remain in their infancy. With sukuk only starting to take off in recent years, there have been very few defaults to date and most, if not all, were resolved out of court. And with the coronavirus pandemic potentially driving more defaults and requests for extensions and restructuring, questions are increasing as to whether sukuk holders will be able to enforce their contractual rights and redeem the debt if a non-payment occurs.
ISRAEL DEMOLISHES PALESTINIAN HOME IN EAST JERUSALEM’S SILWAN
Israeli forces tore down a Palestinian house in Silwan town in occupied East Jerusalem. “Israeli bulldozers backed by police forces demolished the two-apartment house,” Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of a local land committee in Silwan informed. The home is in the Be’er Ayyoub area in Silwan and that the soldiers closed the entire area and prevented the Palestinians from entering or leaving it. The soldiers then forced the family to remove their furniture and belongings from the property before demolishing it, rendering 12 Palestinians homeless. International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.
ONE SPORT HAS GIFTED INDONESIA ALL ITS OLYMPIC GOLDS
Indonesia has won Olympic gold in only one sport that is badminton. The world’s fourth most populous nation notched another badminton victory when Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu claimed gold in the women’s doubles event. It was the first gold for Indonesia at the Tokyo Games and the eighth in the country’s Olympic history. Badminton is a national sport in Indonesia, where shuttlers take whatever space, they can find to play: a clearing in a palm-oil plantation, a jetty on a far-flung island or a strip of cement between high rises.