More than 4 million Pakistanis have been made homeless by nearly three weeks of floods, the UN said yesterday, making the critical task of securing greater amounts of aid more urgent.
The UN had earlier said that 2 million people had lost their homes in the worst floods in Pakistan’s history.
Aid agencies have been pushing for more funding as they try to tackle major problems such as food supplies, lack of clean water and shelter and outbreaks of disease.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
The economic costs of the floods are expected to run into the billions of dollars, stepping up pressure on Pakistan’s government just after it had made progress in stabilizing the country through security offensives against Taliban insurgents.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it would extend a US$2 billion assistance package for emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction work.
Aid funding has improved, with nearly half the US$459 million needed to fund initial relief efforts secured after days of lobbying donors. However, the situation on the ground remained grim.
“The donors are improving their contribution. They are giving more and more. The response of donors to this crisis is getting better and better, but it is still inadequate,” UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said.
Meanwhile, The US will increase its aid to Pakistan to US$150 million, US Senator John Kerry said yesterday, stressing that Washington did not want Islamist extremism to increase on the back of the crisis.
The US has deployed army helicopters to hard hit areas as part of a package worth US$90 million.
Kerry, who is visiting Pakistan to see the flood damage, said that would increase to US$150 million. The figure was expected to be announced at a UN general assembly meeting in New York yesterday.
Saudi Arabia said it would donate US$80 million to Pakistan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, making it one of the largest donors. The country has for years sought to project its influence in Pakistan and has funded the spread of hardline Islamic theology there.
Recovering from the floods is likely to dominate the agenda of Pakistan’s army and government in coming months.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese