International

The death toll in Hawaii from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century was expected to cross the 100-mark amid criticism that an inadequate official response contributed to the heavy loss of life.Officials updated the toll to 93 late on Saturday, but warned that the figure is likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs continued the grim task of searching burned out homes and vehicles in the epicentre of Lahaina.Days after the inferno, crews of firefighters were still battling flare-ups as survivors and officials grappled with the scale of the disaster.“Right now, we are still in the throes of the acute phase of this recovery, meaning that we’re still recovering the tragic loss of life,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green told MSNBC yesterday. “We’re at 93 (victims) now ... it’s a war zone, but the help is incredible.”The historic coastal town on the island of Maui was almost completely destroyed by the fast-moving inferno early on Wednesday morning, with survivors saying there had been no warnings.When asked yesterday why none of the island’s sirens had been activated, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said she would wait for the results of an investigation announced by the state’s attorney-general.“I’m not going to make any excuses for this tragedy,” Hirono, a Democrat, told CNN’s State of the Union. “We are really focused, as far as I’m concerned, on the need for rescue, and, sadly, the location of more bodies.”More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, leaving thousands homeless.“The remains we’re finding are from a fire that melted metal,” said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. “When we pick up the remains ... they fall apart.”The cost to rebuild Lahaina was estimated at $5.5bn, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).FEMA Director Deanne Criswell said the agency had 150 people on the ground, with additional search teams and dogs arriving within a day or two.Among the ruins in Lahaina, a town of more than 12,000 and former home of the Hawaiian royal family, an iconic, 150-year-old banyan tree remained standing but severely burned, AFP journalists saw.President Joe Biden said yesterday that he is “looking at” the possibility of visiting the island.The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the non-profit research group the National Fire Protection Association.The death toll surpassed 2018’s Camp Fire in California, which virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people.Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cellphones.No emergency sirens were sounded, and many Lahaina residents have spoken of learning about the blaze because of neighbours running down the street.Some people were forced to wade into the Pacific Ocean to escape.“The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack,” resident Vilma Reed, 63, told AFP. “You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us.”Reed, whose house was destroyed, said she is depending on handouts and the kindness of strangers, while sleeping in a car with her daughter, grandson and two cats.In its emergency management plan last year, the State of Hawaii described the risk wildfires posed to people as being “low”.Some residents who fled the flames have also expressed anger at a roadblock put up preventing them from returning to their homes.Maui police said members of the public would not be allowed into Lahaina while safety assessments and searches were ongoing – even some of those who could prove they lived there.Some residents waited for hours hoping to be allowed in to comb through the ashes or look for missing pets or loved ones.When asked about growing anger at the response, Hirono told CNN that she understood the frustration because “we are in a period of shock and loss”.Maui’s fires follow other extreme weather events in North America this summer, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heat wave baking the US southwest.Europe and parts of Asia have also endured soaring temperatures, with major fires and floods wreaking havoc.Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more likely and more deadly.

China yesterday condemned a brief US visit by Taiwan Vice-President William Lai, saying he was a separatist and “troublemaker through and through” and Beijing would take strong steps to protect its sovereignty, drawing a rebuke from Taipei.Lai, front-runner to be Taiwan’s next president at elections in January, arrived in New York late on Saturday for what is officially a transit on his way to Paraguay for the inauguration of its president.China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly denounced Lai’s trip, which includes another stopover in San Francisco on Wednesday on his way back to Taipei.In a statement issued shortly after Lai landed in New York on a scheduled flight from Taipei, China’s foreign ministry said it opposed any form of visit by “Taiwan independence separatists” to the US.“Lai stubbornly adheres to the separatist position of Taiwan independence and is a troublemaker through and through,” the ministry said.Taiwan is the “core of China’s core interests” and facts have shown again and again that the reason for the rise in tensions in the Taiwan Strait is Taiwan trying to “rely on the US to seek independence”, it said.“China is closely following developments and will take resolute and vigorous measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”Taiwan’s China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council said China was the real troublemaker, pointing to its standoff this month with the Philippines in the South China Sea and continued military harassment of Taiwan, among other actions.“Our government firmly defends national sovereignty and security, guards the lines of defence of democracy and freedom, and will never back down, let alone capitulate,” the council said in a statement.China has an especial dislike of Lai, who has previously described himself as a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”, though he has repeatedly said on the campaign trail he is not seeking to change the status quo, but that only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.A person familiar with the trip’s planning said Lai will join receptions with overseas Taiwanese during the stopover in New York, during which he will make a speech.He will not meet US lawmakers, the person said, adding Lai will keep the visit “low key”, in line with Taipei and Washington’s shared position to “jointly manage risks when facing an authoritarian region at this sensitive time”.Lai, greeted by supporters waving flags as he arrived at his New York hotel, wrote on social media platform X he was “looking forward to seeing friends and attending transit programmes in New York”.

Cambodia’s next leader Hun Manet said he met China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the capital Phnom Penh yesterday and they pledged to boost ties between the two countries.Wang arrived in Cambodia on Saturday, the first Chinese official to visit since Hun Manet was appointed prime minister on Monday, as part of a three-day tour of Southeast Asia.Beijing’s top diplomat also visited Singapore and Malaysia after tensions flared with the Philippines over the South China Sea.Wang met outgoing leader Hun Sen, his son Hun Manet, and other Cambodian officials.Hun Manet was appointed by the king but he and his cabinet must still win an August 22 vote in parliament, where his father’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) dominates the lower house.Hun Manet posted on his Telegram channel that he and Wang “pledged to promote co-operation between the two countries”.He also reaffirmed in a Facebook post his government’s “unchanged position” towards the One-China policy and promised no interference in Chinese national affairs.Hun Manet is scheduled to visit China in September and October.Wang also met his Cambodian counterpart and reaffirmed Beijing’s “unwavering commitment” to respecting Cambodian sovereignty and conveyed Beijing’s support for the kingdom, according to a Cambodian foreign ministry statement.His visit follows diplomatic clashes between Beijing and Manila over their claims to the South China Sea. China insisted a Philippine navy vessel grounded on a reef in the Spratly Islands be removed from the hotly contested waters, long a flashpoint between them, after the Philippines accused the China Coast Guard of firing water cannon at boats on a resupply mission last weekend.Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which is in talks with China over a code of conduct in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.Phnom Penh has become one of China’s strongest allies in the region under Hun Sen, who ruled for almost four decades, receiving huge sums of Chinese investment.Hun Sen’s CPP won all but five of the 125 seats in the lower house in July polls, which were widely decried as a sham after the main opposition party was barred from running.

Chinas foreign ministry on Sunday condemned a brief visit by Taiwan Vice President William Lai to the United States."China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the Taiwan region," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.aThe ministry also condemned the US decision to arrange the stopovers that it said undermined Chinas "sovereignty and territorial integrity.""China is closely following the developments of the situation and will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry said.Lais stopovers in New York and California are scheduled to take place on his way to and from Paraguay for the inauguration of its new president. Lai is also the presidential candidate of Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the elections front-runner.

Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatists attacked a convoy carrying Chinese engineers to the Beijing-financed Gwadar Port in Pakistan's southwest on Sunday, the group said.Various Baloch militant groups have claimed attacks on projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the past, with thousands of security personnel deployed to counter threats against Beijing's interests."BLA Majeed Brigade today targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in Gwadar. The attack is still ongoing," the separatist group said in a statement.Security sources confirmed an attack, but there was no immediate official response.However, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, a senator and former provincial interior minister, said on Twitter, now rebranded as X, that no Chinese nationals were killed in the attack."I strongly condemn the heinous terror attack on Chinese workers convoy in Gwadar," he posted."Thankfully, no loss of life happened, but there are reports that the ambush has been repulsed and the attackers have been killed."State Radio Pakistan, citing the military's public relations wing, said the situation was under control."One terrorist was killed and three others injured in exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in Gwadar," it said.Baloch separatists frequently exaggerate their battlefield successes, while the Pakistan military's public relations department also plays down attacks, or delays reporting them.Three Chinese academics and their Pakistani driver were killed when a woman suicide bomber detonated her device as they were driving into the University of Karachi's Confucius Institute in April 2022.The BLA claimed responsibility for that attack.A year earlier, five people were killed in an attack claimed by Pakistan's Taliban at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta.Also in 2021, 12 people -- including nine Chinese workers -- were killed by a blast aboard a bus carrying staff to the Dasu dam site.Islamabad blamed that explosion on a "gas leak" but Beijing insisted it was a bomb attack.Balochistan is Pakistan's least populous province but rich in mineral resources.Baloch people have long complained they do not get a fair share of the province's profits, giving rise to more than a dozen separatist groups.The CPEC project is the cornerstone of Beijing's massive Belt and Road Initiative and seeks to link China's western Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in the southwest.Since its initiation, CPEC has seen tens of billions of dollars funnelled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects.Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng was in the Pakistan capital last month to mark the 10th anniversary of the project.

US President Joe Biden's landmark climate action plan may have been trailed by billions of dollars in clean energy investment, but its potential to reshape trade lines has strained ties with allies.The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law on August 16 last year, directs some $370 billion in subsidies toward America's energy transition, including tax breaks for US-made electric vehicles and batteries.But the incentives, which boost American manufacturing after years of offshoring, have triggered fears that they could draw businesses out of other countries."This was really the United States coming into the game in a big way," said Joshua Meltzer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.Europe had been subsidizing the development of clean technologies since before the IRA, as had China and others, Meltzer noted.But Washington's entry "meant that for these subsidies to remain competitive they had to be continued or raised," he told AFP.- 'Unintended consequences' -The legislation had some "unintended consequences" in constraining trade with key US allies, said Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.A sticking point was a consumer tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) assembled in North America.To qualify for the full credit, vehicle batteries should also have a percentage of critical minerals sourced from America or countries with which it has free-trade pacts, leaving the European Union and, initially, Japan in the cold.This drew ire from those countries, and US officials eventually expanded access to the clean vehicle subsidies, noting in March that the free trade agreement requirement could also include newly negotiated critical minerals deals.This includes one that Japan had inked with the United States just shortly earlier -- opening doors to benefits from some subsidies."Part of the initial friction was because... the last revisions of the IRA were done in haste and in secret," said Schott.There appeared to be a "lack of understanding that US allies were not all US free-trade partners," he added, leading to some "creative accounting" by the Treasury Department in defining how the law would be implemented.Meltzer said that the United States "quite quickly tried to respond to these concerns by negotiating these kind of bilateral deals," referring to Japan's pact and the EU's efforts toward a similar accord.This alleviated many concerns, he said.- Partnerships and relocations –Canada, which warned about the risks of a subsidy war, has since responded by matching certain IRA incentives with those of its own.In April, it announced up to 13.2 billion Canadian dollars ($9.8 billion) in subsidies over 10 years for Volkswagen's first overseas battery plant in Ontario.Elsewhere, South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai is hoping to produce US-assembled electric cars eligible for subsidies at a site under construction in Georgia.Other South Korean companies have forged partnerships with US ones to build assembly lines meeting IRA requirements, such as battery maker Samsung SDI's joint venture with General Motors to build an EV battery plant in the US."The IRA would benefit the US through additional output and lower strategic dependence vis-a-vis China," said an analysis by three European Central Bank economists in July."The US would gain from positive relocation effects, increasing production by six percent to 30 percent in electrical and optical equipment," the economists said in a column on the Centre for Economic Policy Research's policy portal.This comes mainly at China's expense, and to a smaller degree the EU's, the economists said.While the relocation involves a relatively small share of total output, losses in specific sectors can be more substantial.Since the climate law was signed, at least $75 billion in new manufacturing investments has been announced, according to policy analyst Jack Conness of think tank Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology.IRA green subsidies may be "of similar size" to those available in the EU, but the US clean-tech subsidies are "simpler and less fragmented," said European think tank Bruegel in a report this year.Such factors could make the US subsidies more attractive to businesses, at a time when Europe also faces rising energy costs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine."If you're in an energy-intensive sector such as chemicals... the US looks increasingly attractive," Meltzer said."It's a broader set of factors, I think, that are creating competitive challenges in Europe," he said. "The IRA is a part of that... but it's not everything."

The Russian authorities have evacuated more than 2,000 people from flooded areas in Primorye Krai, in the far east.Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said, in a statement, that more than 2,000 people, including 405 children, have been evacuated in Primorye, adding that nearly 5,000 buildings had been flooded in the region.The Russian authorities also established water crossings using boats to reach 28 flooded towns, while electricity is still completely or partially cut off from 13 towns and villages in the region due to damage to energy facilities as a result of the floods.Rescuers had set up 13 temporary accommodation centers in the region, the ministry said, while hundreds of emergency workers are working to clear the effects of the floods.Russia declared a state of emergency on Saturday in nine municipalities in the far east due to Typhoon Khanun, which hit Japan last week.

China on early Sunday sent a new satellite into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.The satellite, L-SAR4 01, was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket, and entered its planned orbit successfully, according to China's News Agency (Xinhua).The satellite will be mainly used to provide remote sensing information services.The launch was the 483rd flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

Google, the internet and technology services company, announced that it is working on launching a new feature in Android 14 that allows users to manually withdraw permission for apps to display full-screen notifications.Commencing with Android 14, the "USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT" permission utilized by apps to present full-screen notifications can be toggled on or off by users.By deactivating this permission, apps should have more trouble showing intrusive full-screen pop-ups. While this permission is not the sole method apps employ to deliver full-screen ads, it is one avenue that can be exploited by ad providers.Google even takes the measures one step further and says that starting sometime at the end of 2023, any newly installed app from the Play Store on Android 14 will have the permission disabled by default, except for apps that handle calls and alarms.

Sudan's war has left university lecturer Ali Seif without pay for months. To make ends meet, he has turned to making soap in his room at a makeshift displacement camp.Out of work as fighting rages between the forces of rival generals, many Sudanese have been forced to find creative ways to support themselves and their families.Until April 15, when the conflict erupted between the army headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Seif had worked at a Khartoum university.Now the engineering lecturer and his family live in Wad Madani, a city where most of the nearly three million people displaced from the capital fled for safety with the few belongings they could bring.Wad Madani has been spared the violence so far, but air strikes and fighting are taking place around 150 kilometres (95 miles) to the north.Like many others, Seif said his house was "robbed" by paramilitaries, and he told AFP he has not received a salary since March with banks closed.In order to survive, he has started selling soap."Misfortune makes you creative," said Seif."I noticed there was no soap left on the market even though everyone wanted some, so I decided to make soap bars," he recalled, surrounded by plastic pots he uses to mix soap paste before pouring it into ice cube trays to mould the bars.- 'No choice' -Like Seif, Michelle Elia Moussa used to stand in front of a classroom full of students.But since the war turned her life and country upside down, she has spent her days standing in front of a stall at Al-Hasaheisa market, halfway between Khartoum and Wad Madani."I've given up hope and shelved my ambitions of being a brilliant teacher," she said, glasses on her nose and apron around her waist, as she looks over her cakes."Without a job, I can't support myself," she said, in a poverty-stricken country where the spectres of famine, epidemics and widespread war crimes now loom large."It's the first time I've worked in a market," she told AFP."I'm not comfortable, I'm ashamed, but it's a war. I have no choice," she added, expertly spreading a light dough on cast-iron plates to make thin wafers with holes.Eshraqa Mousa, another woman who fled Khartoum, has opened a small stall to sell tea. Without it, she said, she could "only provide one meal a day" for her children.- Leaving 'everything behind' -Her family's hasty departure from the capital at the start of a war that has killed at least 3,900 people and displaced four million is still fresh in Mousa's memory."We left everything behind... so I came here and bought this little stall to sell tea," she said, draped in her long, multicoloured veil.In a conservative society where tea sellers, though numerous, are often stigmatised and harassed, the move was an act of bravery she had never imagined she would achieve.But with the war, such taboos were shattered, and survival and resourcefulness took over."We were forced to find alternatives," said Mohammed Ali.A former civil servant in the capital, he "teamed up with some colleagues to open a small mobile food stall", he said.Made of white sheet metal and powered by a generator, it's "in the style of those you find in Khartoum, which don't exist in Wad Madani."Every day, he now sells mashed beans, falafel and other snacks loved by his compatriots, and he makes enough to feed his family.That is, until the next storm: the streets of Wad Madani are buzzing with speculation that the war could soon come to this city.

"Crossing the Channel, it's playing with our lives," Hajji Mahmud acknowledged.But despite the dangers, the Afghan migrant remained determined to attempt the crossing, even after the deaths of at least six of his countrymen early Saturday when their vessel sank.In the makeshift camp at Loon-Plage on the north coast of France, some 15 tents were scattered behind an embankment near a pile of burning rubbish.Mahmud lives there with a group of other Afghans, some of them very young, and hoping for a better life in Britain."If we had a good life in Afghanistan, a good government, a good education system...," he said.He entered the European Union through Croatia. What he would like, he says, is for the French and English police to help him cross the Channel without having to risk his life.But he knows he won't get that."We'll suffer until we manage to cross," he said.The French and English coastguard said two people were still missing late Saturday after this latest disaster, when the boat carrying more than 60 people capsized.Many of those on board -- most of the around 60 people rescued -- were Afghans, like him, plus a few Sudanese people with them. A few of those on board were minors.- 'We will try again' -For France's State Secretary for the Sea Herve Berville, it was "a terrible human tragedy", adding to what is already a grim toll.Five migrants died at sea and four went missing while trying to cross to Britain from France last year.In November 2021, 27 migrants died when a boat capsized in the Channel.But many migrants are still willing to risk the crossing. According to the authorities on the north coast of France, there are currently around a thousand people waiting to take their chance.Bilal and Basir are two of them, camped out on an old canape installed under a tarpaulin sheet.If their families knew about the latest sinking, they would never let them attempt the crossing, they said.They had in fact meant to try to get across the previous night but they had missed the boat, they said. Nevertheless, they insisted they will try again."My sister, my uncle, are in England," said Basir, aged 22."My dream is to learn because we know English and we (would) like to learn in their universities, or college," said 20-year-old Bilal.But 36-year-old Kurdish Iraqi exile Abu Mohamed admitted he was having second thoughts about risking the journey."If I see that it's very risky, I'm going to try to stay in France," he told AFP.- 'There will be other tragedies' -Some 30 kilometres away, at the French channel port of Calais, two 16-year-old Sudanese were among the survivors."In France, it's complicated for us," said one of them."There's racism, nobody wants us, we sleep in the street and nobody cares, we can't work."They will keep trying to make the crossing to England, they told AFP, hopeful of reaching there safely and studying computing.Saturday's deaths were "a predictable and avoidable drama", says Pierre Roques who works at the L'Auberge des Migrants ("Migrants Inn") -- an alliance of associations offering migrants support."The United Kingdom is moving towards completely extreme solutions to stop the crossing, which will have no effect apart from increasingly endangering people," he added.He cited Britain's controversial plans to outlaw asylum claims by all arrivals via the Channel -- transferring them instead to third countries, such as Rwanda -- or the plan to house some migrants on barges off the coast, also fiercely by rights groups.For the people he was working with, these policies add to their worries, but will not stop them risking the crossing."There will be other tragedies," said Regis Holy, captain of a lifeboat that brought five of the survivors back to Calais.The migrants who had given everything to get this far, would keep risking everything to make the crossing."It will never stop," he warned.The groups working with the migrants have repeatedly denounced the policy of the local authorities to regularly force the migrants from their makeshift camps, to keep them moving.Jean-Claude Lenoir, who runs one such group, Salam, said 12 vans of riot police had dismantled at least four camps around Calais on Saturday.Given what had happened, he argued, they might have spared them that -- especially since in his opinion those operations were pointless."The migrants go back to their places as soon as the police have left," he noted.

The Miss Universe Organization has cut ties with its Indonesia franchise, it announced days after allegations of sexual harassment, and will cancel an upcoming Malaysia edition.In the complaint, more than a half dozen women said all 30 finalists for Miss Universe Indonesia were unexpectedly asked to strip for a supposed body check for scars and cellulite two days before the pageant's crowning ceremony in Jakarta.Their lawyer said Tuesday that five of the women had their pictures taken."In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards, ethics, or expectations," the US-based Miss Universe Organization posted Saturday night on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.It said that it had "decided to terminate the relationship with its current franchise in Indonesia, PT Capella Swastika Karya, and its National Director, Poppy Capella."It thanked the contestants for their bravery in coming forward and added that "providing a safe place for women" was the organization's priority.Jakarta police spokesman Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said Tuesday that an investigation into the women's complaint has been launched.The Indonesia franchise also holds the license for Miss Universe Malaysia, where there will no longer be a competition this year, according to the New York-based parent organizer.In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram, Indonesia franchise director Capella denied involvement in any body checks."I, as the National Director and as the owner of the Miss Universe Indonesia license, was not involved at all and have never known, ordered, requested or allowed anyone who played a role and participated in the process of organizing Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 to commit violence or sexual harassment through body checking," she wrote.She added that she is against "any form of violence or sexual harassment."The Jakarta competition was held from July 29 to August 3 to choose Indonesia's representative to the 2023 Miss Universe contest, and was won by Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld.Miss Universe said it would make arrangements for her to compete in the finale, scheduled for November in El Salvador.This year's Indonesia pageant also came under fire for announcing a "significant change in this (year's) competition guidelines" with the elimination of its minimum height requirement after it had crowned a winner.In its statement, the Miss Universe Organization said it wanted to "make it extremely clear that there are no measurements such as height, weight, or body dimensions required to join a Miss Universe pageant worldwide."

Over 80% of major companies in Japan expect the country's economy to expand in 2024, supported by a recovery in personal consumption following the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, a recent survey by Japan News Agency (Kyodo) showed.In the survey of 114 companies, including Toyota Motor Corp. and the Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing Co., 82% said they project economic expansion, up from 55% the previous summer, when firms were concerned over price surges.The results showed optimism over the economy even as firms grapple with rising material and energy costs, with 94% of those forecasting an expansion citing recovery of consumer spending as one of the main drivers.With multiple answered allowed, 67% cited recovery in capital expenditure, while 55% chose departing from the coronavirus pandemic. A significant number also pointed to hopes for increased spending by foreign tourists visiting Japan.

A raging wildfire that swept through a town on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week has killed at least 89 people, making it the deadliest US wildfire of the past century.Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said that the number would continue to rise."There are 89 fatalities that have been measured," he said at a news conference. "Its going to continue to rise. We want to brace people for that."Search and recovery crews were continuing to comb through fire-scorched communities, including historic Lahaina town in West Maui, where the worst of the fires struck swiftly after the blazes began Tuesday.Officials in Maui said that up to 4,500 people need shelter.According to officials, the wildfires, which are now the countrys worst in terms of casualties in more than 100 years, could end up being the deadliest disaster in the states history.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz agreed yesterday to name Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker premier to oversee elections, the Prime Minister Office said.Kakar, 52, a little-known politician from the southwestern province of Balochistan, will name a cabinet and head a government to steer the nation through economic and political crises until a new government is elected.“The prime minister (Sharif) and leader of opposition have jointly signed the advice which will be sent to the president for approval,” the statement said.President Arif Alvi approved Kakar’s appointment, the president’s office said in a statement.Under Pakistan’s constitution, a neutral caretaker government oversees national elections, which must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the parliament’s lower house — which in this instance means early November.The choice of caretaker prime minister has assumed greater importance because the candidate will have extra powers to make policy decisions on economic matters, while the elections may be delayed by up to six months.The Election Commission has to draw new boundaries for hundreds of federal and provincial constituencies and, based on that, it will give an election date.Riaz told broadcaster Geo News that he believed elections would take place in February next year, and not as scheduled before November.Kakar, who Riaz said was the opposition’s candidate for premiership, has been serving a six-year term in Pakistan’s Senate since 2018, but his selection came as a surprise as he had not even been mentioned earlier as a prospective candidate.His mineral-rich home province of Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest by size, but smallest by population, and has been a hotbed of violent nationalist insurgency for decades.Kakar is listed as an independent politician by the Senate, but is reported by local media to be a part of the Balochistan Awami Party, which is widely considered to be close to the country’s powerful military.The military continues to have a huge role behind the scenes in Pakistan. It has ruled the country directly for over three decades of its 76-year existence, and wields significant power in politics.Political analysts say that if the caretaker set-up stretches beyond its constitutional tenure, a prolonged period without an elected government would allow the military to consolidate control.The party of former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently in jail and barred from contesting elections for five years following his disputed conviction for corruption, expressed hope that Kakar would ensure free, fair and credible elections.“If there are questions over the credibility of elections, there will be no political stability, which is critical for economic certainty,” former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is currently leading Khan’s party, said in a TV interview.Economic stabilisation is the top challenge with the $350bn economy on a narrow recovery path after an International Monetary Fund bailout averted a sovereign debt default. Economic reforms have already fuelled historic inflation and interest rates.Political uncertainty is a factor after Khan’s jailing and ban. There was no violence following his arrest, unlike in May when his supporters went on the rampage, but his continued detention will raise questions about the credibility of the election.“We first agreed that whoever should be prime minister, he should be from a smaller province so smaller provinces’ grievances should be addressed,” opposition leader Riaz said.Political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi told AFP that Kakar “has a limited political career and not much weight in Pakistani politics”, but that could work in his favour.“This can be an advantage because he has no strong affiliation with the major political parties,” he said.“But the disadvantage is that being a lightweight politician he may find it difficult to cope with the problems he’s going to face without the active support of the military establishment.”The country has been in political turmoil since the legendary former international cricket star Imran Khan was dismissed as premier by a no-confidence vote in April 2022, culminating in him being jailed last weekend for three years.He has been disqualified from standing for office for five years, but is appealing against his sentence and conviction.Authorities backed by the military have cracked down hard against Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in recent months, crushing his grassroots power by rounding up thousands of his supporters and officials.Analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, noting Kakar had done courses at the National Defence University — formerly the military’s war college — said he would be close to the establishment.“It seems that the establishment has struck and they have found somebody who will be watching over their interests rather than that of politicians,” she said.Data from the latest census carried was finally published last weekend and the outgoing government said the election commission needs time to redraw constituency boundaries.Asked this week on television if a vote would take place this year, interior minister Rana Sanaullah replied: “An absolutely straightforward answer — No.”The election commission has yet to comment.Last month parliament rushed through legislation that gives the caretaker government more power to negotiate with global bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, another clue it may be around for a while. Some analysts think the delay could give time for the main coalition partners — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — to figure out how to address the challenge of Khan’s immensely popular PTI.“But in reality, delaying the election could simply anger the public more and galvanise an opposition that has already suffered through months of crackdowns,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.The United States said this week it was watching with “concern” the prospect of election violence, but steered clear of commenting on the widely reported rights violations faced by Khan’s party and his disputed conviction on graft charges and jailing. Instead, it chose to describe it as Pakistan’s “internal matter”.

Dressed up and ready for battle, around 10,000 Pokemon fans have descended on Yokohama in Japan this weekend, looking for fun but also collector’s item cards potentially worth serious money.Since the launch of Pokemon cards in 1996 following the hit computer game of the same name – meaning “pocket monsters” – an astounding 53bn cards have been printed.Almost 30 years on, the card game remains hugely popular as contestants take each other on with cards representing the monsters and their different attributes.The Pokemon World Championships, being held this weekend in Japan for the first time ever, will see the world’s best players of the video and the card game battle it out for cash prizes at an event attended by thousands.“I have been playing since I was a kid,” Ajay Sridhar, 33, who travelled halfway around the world from New York to attend with his cards, told AFP as he explained why he was hooked.“It’s just the competition, it’s the community ... many my oldest friends I’ve met through Pokemon,” he said.“It’s kind of like chess, where if you didn’t play chess and you were watching a high-level chess match, you wouldn’t know what was going on,” said Gilbert McLaughlin, 27, from Scotland. “But once you get to a certain skill level, there is a lot of depth and complexity to it.”Ranging from Pikachu the mouse to Jigglypuff the balloon to the jackal-headed Lucario, there are now more than 1,000 different Pokemon characters, with new “generations” released every few years.While they have always been swapped and collected, the cards’ value has exploded in recent years, not just among fans of the game but also among investors with little or no past interest.Factors determining value include the cards’ rareness, the character (Mew, Mewtwo, Pikachu and Charizard tend to be more valuable) and the artist, who is indicated on the card.Websites have sprung up dedicated to helping people understand the dizzying array of different cards and their myriad markings, complete with charts showing their value over time.The most expensive ever sold was in 2021 when US YouTuber Logan Paul paid – in a Dubai hotel room to a “mystery” seller – $5.28mn for a supposedly unique, mint-condition “PSA Grade 10 Pikachu”.The following year, Logan, 28, hung the card – inside a protective plastic case attached to a gold chain – around his neck at a WWE wrestling event in Texas.Hiroshi Goto is an expert in Pokemon cards who has written a book with advice on how to make money from them.He said that when he ran a shop selling the cards in the 2000s, his customers were mostly “schoolkids with their dads taking part in tournaments together”.However, since the 20th anniversary in 2016, “the perception of cards evolved into being not just toys for children but also items appreciated by adults, collector’s items with a tangible value”.Demand is such that the Pokemon Company has had to increase production.In Japan and the United States there have been instances of physical fights, including one outside a shop in the Japanese city of Osaka in July that went viral on social media.There have been cases of shops selling Pokemon cards being broken into in normally low-crime Japan in recent months.The gold-rush has also sparked a boom in fake cards.Paul, for instance, paid $3.75mn in 2021 for a “sealed & authenticated” box of first-edition booster packs that turned out to contain G.I. Joe cards instead, according to one of his videos.On the sidelines in Yokohama, collectors were busy swapping and selling their cards, including Jeffrey Ng, happy after buying 10 cards for $1,700. He now hopes to sell them for a profit.“Conventions like this one are a good place to meet other collectors,” he told AFP.All cards are painstakingly conceived and designed in the same place, the Tokyo offices of Creatures Incorporated, which along with Nintendo and Game Freak own the Pokemon Company.Creatures executive Atsushi Nagashima said while the firm was “very happy” about the success of the cards, “that doesn’t change how we do our job”.Creatures employs 18 testers who spend their working days playing Pokemon to make sure that the new cards fit harmoniously with the massive number of existing ones.“(But) we never hire people from competitions,” said Kohei Kobayashi, another manager at Creatures. “We want to leave the good players where they are, there where they shine.”

Six Afghans died when a migrant boat heading to Britain sank in the Channel yesterday, French officials said, as a search continued to find those still missing.“This shipwreck is a terrible human tragedy,” French State Secretary for the Sea Herve Berville told reporters at the port of Calais, the hub for rescue operations.He denounced “criminal traffickers” who send migrants “to their death” and pledged to fight their smuggling networks.The deputy public prosecutor for the coastal city of Boulogne, Philippe Sabatier, told AFP all six fatalities were Afghan men believed to be in their 30s.The rest of the passengers were “almost all Afghans with some Sudanese, mostly adults with some minors”, he added.The French and British coastguard services rescued 61 survivors, said Berville.French coastal authority Premar said up to two people could still be missing and that search efforts would continue until nightfall.“My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic loss of life in the Channel today,” British interior minister Suella Braverman said on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne posted that her “thoughts go out to the victims” as she praised the efforts of the rescue teams.“It’s pretty tough, they’re humans. You will never get used to bringing back dead bodies,” said Regis Holy, the captain of a boat that retrieved five of the victims. “There will be even more tragedies... they (migrants) risk everything, it will never stop,” he added.A spokesperson for the Utopia56 humanitarian group blamed border “repression” for the tragedy, telling AFP the difficulty of securing legal passage only “increases the dangerousness of crossings and pushes people to take more and more risks to reach England”.Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart of the right-wing Republicans party denounced a “failure” by the French government to stop such crossings and demanded migrants be moved inland.In England, the MP for the Channel port of Dover, Natalie Elphicke, a member of the ruling Conservative Party, also called for more effective French government action.

Niger's detained president was seen by his doctor on Saturday, his entourage said amid mounting concern for his condition, while Nigerian religious leaders met the officers who seized power last month to try to defuse the crisis.The Muslim leaders visited the capital Niamey with the blessing of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, head of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, a source close to the delegation told AFP.ECOWAS has approved the deployment of a "standby force to restore constitutional order" in Niger as soon as possible, but scrapped a Saturday crisis meeting on the coup that deposed Mohamed Bazoum.Bazoum, 63, was toppled on July 26 by his presidential guard, which has since held him and his family at his official Niamey residence.The European Union, the African Union and the United Nations joined others in sounding the alarm for Bazoum on Friday after reports described worsening detention conditions.Bazoum "had a visit by his doctor today", a member of his entourage told AFP, adding the physician had also brought food for Bazoum, his wife and son."He's fine, given the situation," the source added.Human Rights Watch said it had spoken with Bazoum earlier this week. The ousted leader had described the treatment of himself, his wife and their unwell 20-year-old son as "inhuman and cruel", HRW said."My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor," the group quoted him as saying. "They've refused to let him get medical treatment."UN rights chief Volker Turk on Friday said Bazoum's reported detention conditions "could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law".Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said he was "dismayed" by the military's refusal to release Bazoum's family as a "demonstration of goodwill".The delegation of Nigerian religious leaders was received by newly appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine in Niamey, and then strongman General Abdourahamane Tiani, according to Niger's national television.The group was headed by Sheikh Bala Lau, leader of the Izala Salafist movement in Nigeria, Niger's ANP press agency reported.A source close to the delegation told AFP they had left on the mandate of Tinubu "to douse tension created by the prospect of military intervention by ECOWAS"."The clerics are in Niamey to explain to the junta leaders that Nigeria is not fighting Niger and that the decisions taken on Niger are not Nigeria's but those of ECOWAS as a regional bloc," the source added.Lau had earlier in the week led a delegation of clerics who met with Tinubu in Nigeria's capital Abuja where the mission was discussed, the source said.On Friday, West African leaders suspended the crisis meeting that had been set for Saturday in Ghana's capital Accra. Chiefs of staff from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) cited "technical reasons".Sources said the meeting was originally set up to inform the organisation's leaders about "the best options" for activating and deploying the standby force."The military option seriously envisaged by ECOWAS is not a war against Niger and its people but a police operation against hostage takers and their accomplices," Hassoumi Massaoudou, foreign minister in the ousted civilian government, said Saturday.ECOWAS is determined to stop the sixth military takeover in the region in just three years.It has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies and closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to one of the world's poorest countries.ECOWAS had previously issued a seven-day ultimatum to the coup leaders to reinstate Bazoum, but the generals defied the deadline, which expired on Sunday.Thousands of coup supporters rallied in Niamey on Friday to protest against the ECOWAS plan to send troops.Protesters gathered near a French military base on the outskirts of Niamey shouting "Down with France, down with ECOWAS".Niger's new leaders have accused former colonial power France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the hardline ECOWAS stance.France has around 1,500 troops in Niger as part of a force battling an eight-year jihadist insurgency.It is facing growing hostility across the Sahel, withdrawing its anti-jihadist forces from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso last year after falling out with military governments that ousted elected leaders.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris jumped into another divisive American issue ahead of the 2024 re-election campaign on Friday, vowing support for activists trying to end gun violence and accusing gun law opponents of “hypocrisy”.Harris, who has embraced a more combative role as President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign kicks into gear, took a swipe at Republicans who have blocked Democrats’ proposed gun safety laws, saying that such changes are no threat to Americans’ constitutional gun rights.“There are some people who are just trying to sell a false choice ... that you’re either in favour of the Second Amendment, or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” she said.The “very people who refuse to engage in a meaningful debate and discussion on this, who refuse to pass reasonable laws are the same ones who talk about accountability all the time”, she said at a Chicago event organised by Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun violence organisations. “The hypocrisy of that.”The US Constitution’s Second Amendment protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms”, citing the necessity of a “well-regulated militia”.Gun rights groups have fought any legislative attempt to curb those rights, calling them an infringement on the Constitution, even as most Americans say they favour stronger gun laws.Biden last year signed into law the first major federal gun reform in years and has pursued executive actions on the issue.However, he has been unable to secure votes for a renewed ban on large-capacity and semiautomatic “assault” weapons, even as the US has suffered a surge in mass shootings since the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.Harris was speaking at Everytown’s “Gun Sense University” in Chicago, an annual event where activists and survivors of gun violence, many of them members of the 10mn-strong “Moms Demand Action” group, gather for training and political organising.The United States has by far the highest rate of gun deaths among rich countries, and gun deaths became the top cause of death for children and teens in 2020.The Biden campaign are hoping that anger at gun violence could help propel young people to vote and regard engaging them as critical to delivering the president another four-year term in office.Now, they plan to deploy Harris increasingly to engage with that segment of voters, according to a person familiar with those plans.“Your generation is critical,” Harris said to loud applause when a student asked her what role she could play. “We are counting on you. We need you.”On Thursday, four major gun safety groups, including Everytown, endorsed Biden’s 2024 re-election bid, which unlocks donations by the interest groups’ political action groups.Everytown is founded by billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $1bn on his 2020 Democratic presidential bid before becoming the largest donor supporting Biden and other Democrats.Makayla Jordan, a 19-year-old member of Students Demand Action, said that mass shootings are just one part of the country’s “everyday” gun violence epidemic.The danger of being shot on the way to school was higher than that of in-school shootings for many black children, she said.

West African leaders deferred a crisis meeting due on Saturday on dealing with the coup in Niger after approving the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” as soon as possible.The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc had approved a military force to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who was ousted by members of his guard on July 26.Chiefs of staff from member states of the West African bloc were scheduled to attend a meeting on Saturday in the Ghanaian capital Accra but later indefinitely suspended it for “technical reasons”. Sources said the meeting was originally set up to inform the organisation’s leaders about “the best options” for activating and deploying the standby force.“The military option seriously envisaged by ECOWAS is not a war against Niger and its people but a police operation against hostage takers and their accomplices,” Niger’s Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said on Saturday.ECOWAS is determined to stop the sixth military takeover in the region in just three years and has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies and closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to one of the world’s poorest countries.Thousands of coup supporters rallied in the Niger capital Niamey on Friday to protest against the ECOWAS plan to send troops.Protesters gathered near a French military base on the outskirts of Niamey shouting “Down with France, down with ECOWAS”. Niger’s new leaders have accused former colonial power France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the hardline ECOWAS stance.Many protesters brandished Russian and Niger flags and shouted their support for the country’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani. “We are going to make the French leave! ECOWAS isn’t independent, it’s being manipulated by France,” said one demonstrator, Aziz Rabeh Ali.France has around 1,500 troops in Niger as part of a force battling an eight-year insurgency. It is facing growing hostility across the Sahel, withdrawing its anti-terror forces from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso last year after falling out with military governments that ousted elected leaders.Niger’s new leaders scrapped defence agreements with France last week, while a hostile protest outside the French embassy in Niamey on July 30 prompted Paris to evacuate its citizens. The European Union and the African Union joined others in sounding the alarm for Bazoum on Friday.UN rights chief Volker Turk said Bazoum’s reported detention conditions “could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law”.German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that the “coup plotters must face harsh consequences should anything happen” to Bazoum or his family.Top US diplomat Antony Blinken said he was “dismayed” by the military’s refusal to release Bazoum’s family as a “demonstration of goodwill”. A source close to Bazoum said: “He’s OK, but the conditions are very difficult”. The coup leaders had threatened to assault him in the event of military intervention.Human Rights Watch said it had spoken to Bazoum earlier this week. The 63-year-old described the treatment of himself, his wife and their 20-year-old son as “inhuman and cruel”, HRW said. “I’m not allowed to receive my family members (or) my friends who have been bringing food and other supplies to us,” the group quoted him as saying.“My son is sick, has a serious heart condition, and needs to see a doctor,” he was quoted as saying. “They’ve refused to let him get medical treatment.”Under pressure to stem a cascade of coups among its members, ECOWAS had previously issued a seven-day ultimatum to the coup leaders to return Bazoum to power.But the generals defied the deadline, which expired on Sunday without any action being taken. The coup leaders have since named a new government, which met for the first time on Friday.Meanwhile, Nigerian religious leaders arrived in Niger on Saturday to meet members of the military who seized power last month, a source close to the regime told AFP. Newly appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine received the delegation in the capital Niamey as West African leaders seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis without ruling out using force.The delegation is made up of Muslim religious leaders, Niger’s ANP press agency reported.It also said the group had met the president of West African bloc ECOWAS, Nigerian leader Bola Tinubu, in Abuja at the start of the week seeking to mediate between the regional body and Niger.ECOWAS has yet to provide details on the force or a timetable for action, and the leaders have emphasised they still want a peaceful solution. After the coup, the bloc gave the military leaders a deadline of last Sunday to reinstate Bazoum, who is being held at the presidential palace in Niamey, or face the potential use of force.So far the coup leaders have remained defiant, and the ultimatum passed without action.The threat of a military intervention has proved highly divisive among ECOWAS members and other African nations wary of sparking a conflict with an unpredictable outcome.An attempt this week to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN and African Union representatives to Niamey was rejected by the coup leaders.Niger President Mohamed Bazoum who has been detained since being ousted by members of his guard last month was seen by his doctor Saturday, his entourage said, amid mounting concern. The president “had a visit by his doctor today”, a member of his entourage told AFP, adding the physician had also brought food for Bazoum, his wife and son who are being held with him. “He’s fine, given the situation,” the source added.Fears have been mounting over the health and detention conditions of democratically elected Bazoum, his wife and 20-year-old son since the military seized power and took them captive on July 26.