JALALABAD, Afghanistan: A suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad killed 33 people and injured more than 100 on Saturday outside a bank where government workers collect salaries, the city’s police chief said.
Police were investigating whether there was a second explosion after people rushed to the scene to help, the police chief, Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, told a news conference.
“It was a suicide attack,” Sherzad said, adding police had yet to determine if the attacker had worn the explosives or had placed them in a car. “It is early to say what kind of suicide bomber.”
Taleban insurgents denied responsibility. The militants, who were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in 2001, rarely claim attacks that kill large groups of civilians, saying their activities are restricted to foreign or Afghan military and government targets.
“It was an evil act. We strongly condemn it,” the Islamist militants’ spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters.
Police said another blast that shook Jalalabad was a controlled detonation after experts discovered a further bomb close to the scene of the first explosion.
Local media reported a former spokesman for the Pakistani Taleban claimed responsibility for bombings in the eastern city on behalf of the Islamic State in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The spokesman could not be reached and his connection to the group could not be verified by Reuters.
Elsewhere in the east, the Taleban announced the execution of three men accused of murdering a couple during a robbery, saying they had been tried by an Islamic court.
The killing was carried out in front of a crowd by Taleban fighters who fired at the men with AK-47s, according to a Reuters witness. Footage seen by Reuters show the men were made to sit on the ground with their eyes blindfolded and their hands tied at the time of their execution.
“(They) killed a female doctor and her husband ... inside their house and then they took all their assets, jewelry and cash,” the Taleban said in a statement.
The executioners, one stood behind each man, also had their faces covered, and were dressed in white salwar kameez and turbans. After the initial shots were fired, one continued to shoot at the bodies while the crowd of villagers cheered.
This is the first year Afghan forces are facing the Taleban with very limited international support on the ground, although help with intelligence and special operations will continue through 2016.
On Saturday, parliament approved the nomination of 16 ministers, leaving only the position of defense minister vacant because the president and his coalition have been unable to agree on a candidate.
The vacancy has frustrated military officials who say the army has been left rudderless in the face of escalating violence by the Taleban.
NATO, which at its peak had 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, has only a small contingent of around 12,000 troops left and most are involved in training.
Afghanistan suicide blast kills 33, targets government workers
Afghanistan suicide blast kills 33, targets government workers
Met Office warns of glacial floods in Pakistan’s north amid rising temperatures
- A heatwave is expected to hit Pakistan this week, with temperatures in certain areas surging past 40 degrees Celsius
- Pakistan this year experienced its ‘wettest April since 1961,’ with at least 144 people killed in rain-related incidents
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Monday warned of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, citing higher temperatures due to an expected heatwave from May 21 onwards.
A heatwave is expected to hit parts of Pakistan this week and temperatures in certain areas of the southern Sindh and eastern Punjab provinces may surge past 40 degrees Celsius, according to the country’s disaster management authorities.
Heatwaves, which occur in summer, are caused by slow-moving high-pressure systems leading to prolonged high temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization defines a heatwave as five or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature surpasses the average maximum temperature by 5 °C (9 °F) or more.
“The daytime temperatures in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) are expected to remain 4-6°C higher than normal from May 21 to 27 with chances of gusty wind/thunderstorm,” the PMD said in its GLOF alert.
“This atmospheric condition [will be] potentially increasing the likelihood of triggering a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) event or flash floods in the vulnerable snow-covered and glaciated areas of GB and Chitral.”
The Met Office advised the district administrations as well as local organizations and communities to remain vigilant during this period and take precautionary measures to avoid any untoward situation.
Pakistan experienced its first severe heat wave in June 2015 when temperatures as high as 49 degrees Celsius struck the country’s south, causing the deaths of about 2,000 people from dehydration and heatstroke. A heat wave in Sindh’s provincial capital of Karachi that year alone claimed 120 lives.
Increased exposure to heat, and more heat waves, have been identified as one of the key impacts of climate change in Pakistan, with people experiencing extreme heat and seeing some of the highest temperatures in the world in recent years. The South Asian country of more than 241 million, one of the ten most vulnerable nations to climate change impacts, this year experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” with at least 144 people killed in thunderstorms and house collapses.
Climate change-induced extreme heat can cause illnesses such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and hyperthermia. It can make certain chronic conditions worse, including cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular disease and diabetes-related conditions, and can also result in acute incidents, such as hospitalizations due to strokes or renal disease.
Keeping the weather predictions in view, the government in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Monday announced the closure of public and private schools from May 25 till May 31.
“In view of the surge in temperature and heat wave in the province, all public and private schools shall remain closed for seven days with effect from 25th May 2024 to 31st May 2024,” the Punjab education department said in a notification, adding that exams could be conducted during these days with necessary precautions in place.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, nearly 10,000 Pakistanis have died while the country has suffered economic losses worth $3.8 billion due to climate change impacts between 1999 and 2018.
In 2022, torrential monsoon rains triggered the most devastating floods in Pakistan’s history, killing around 1,700 people and affecting over 33 million, a staggering number close to the population of Canada. Millions of homes, tens of thousands of schools and thousands of kilometers of roads and railways are yet to be rebuilt.
Siblings trying to make US water polo teams for Paris Olympics
- Chase and Ryder Dodd are trying to make the men’s roster, alongside Dylan and Quinn Woodhead, while Ella Woodhead is in the mix for the loaded women’s squad
- The women’s team is going to be announced on May 30, and the men’s team will be unveiled on June 18
WALNUT, California: Chase Dodd started swimming when he was just a kid. Once he began playing water polo, he was hooked.
When Ryder Dodd got a chance to follow his older brother, he was in.
“When I was around 6 years old, my mom was just like, ‘You want to hop in and play?’” Ryder Dodd said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I do.’”
That’s how it started for the Dodds, the very beginning of their road to USA Water Polo and, quite possibly, the Paris Olympics this summer. For Dylan, Quinn and Ella Woodhead, it’s a similar story.
The US water polo teams for this year’s Olympics could have a much deeper connection than just a mutual love of their grueling sport. Chase and Ryder Dodd are trying to make the men’s roster, alongside Dylan and Quinn Woodhead, while Ella Woodhead is in the mix for the loaded women’s squad.
The women’s team is going to be announced on May 30, and the men’s team will be unveiled on June 18.
“It’s interesting, just seeing the brotherly dynamic,” US men’s captain Ben Hallock said, “how they’re different, how they’re similar, what makes them special. ... So sort of seeing the traits that make them so good, but also a little bit of bickering and competitiveness is also fun to see.”
An invaluable connection
Dylan Woodhead, a 6-foot-7 defender who turned 25 in September, made his Olympics debut when the US finished sixth in Tokyo. Quinn, a 6-4 attacker, turns 24 next month, and Ella, a 5-10 defender, is 20.
“To have my brother here who I grew up playing with basically my whole career, it’s just special,” Dylan Woodhead said. “My sister, too, going through the same process, it’s just people that you’re more comfortable with. ... Playing with Quinn and talking through things with Ella, you can be brutally honest and that’s invaluable in this line of work.”
The Woodhead siblings are from Northern California. Their mother, Laura, was a swimmer at Stanford, and their father, Jeff, was a rower at California. Dylan and Quinn helped the Cardinal win NCAA title in 2019, and Ella will go back to Stanford after redshirting this season to try out for the US team.
The siblings grew up going to the Big Game — the annual college football showdown between Stanford and Cal. Dylan and his dad rooted for the Bears, and Ella and Quinn joined their mom in cheering for the Cardinal.
“(Dylan) was the first one to decide on Stanford, so kind of flipped the tide right there,” Quinn said.
A grinning Dylan offered a careful description of his father’s reaction to his college choice.
“I don’t know if he ever told me, but my mom said, ‘You know, it really hurt him,’” he cracked. “I think he’s OK with it now, there are worse schools to pick than Stanford in his eyes.”
A family falls for water polo
Dylan, Quinn and Ella got an early start on swimming through their mother. They had a pool in their backyard, and they played water basketball games that occasionally resulted in Ella being put in a headlock by one of the brothers to keep her from scoring.
With water polo, the brothers “found a really good community when we first started playing that we really enjoyed,” Quinn said. Ella vividly remembers going to their games as a kid.
“I was like 7 and 8, up in the stands, watching Dylan and Quinn play, taking stats on my own. Homemade stat sheet that I made,” she said. “So I think before I started playing, I kind of just fell in love with the tactical aspects of the game.”
The Woodhead siblings act as a sounding board for each other as they try to get better at water polo. Dylan and Ella talk about playing defender, and Quinn offers tips on shooting.
Dylan and Quinn also are very competitive, especially when they run into each other at US practice. It’s a similar dynamic with Chase and Ryder Dodd, who are from Southern California.
Chase Dodd, a 6-3 attacker who turned 21 last month, scored 39 times for UCLA during the 2022 season before taking this year off to train with the US team. Ryder, an 18-year-old attacker, is considered one of the sport’s rising prospects.
“We have a really competitive relationship. Almost everything we do is a game,” Chase Dodd said. “Everything we do is competition. It’s always go, go, go, go, go. I think that’s perfect for us playing this game.”
Other siblings to watch at the Paris Olympics
The US track team might have its own family ties. Noah Lyles likely will be among the 200-meter favorites, and his younger brother, Josephus, another sprinter, also is looking to make the US team. The American roster also could have Devon Williams for the decathlon and his sister, Kendell, in the heptathlon.
Siblings Karolien and Finn Florijn are looking to row for the Netherlands in Paris, following in the footsteps of their father, Ronald, who won gold at the Seoul and Atlanta Olympics. Tom and Emily Ford, two more rowing siblings, are hoping to medal for Britain.
Brothers Henrik, Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway are hoping to run in Paris this summer. Ron Polonsky and his sister, Leah, are looking to swim for Israel.
More than 569 tons of aid delivered across floating pier into Gaza, says US CENTCOM
CAIRO: The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday more than 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered so far across a temporary floating pier to Gaza, but not all the aid has reached warehouses.
Aid deliveries began arriving at a US-built pier on Friday as Israel comes under growing global pressure to allow more supplies into the besieged coastal enclave.
The UN said that 10 truckloads of food aid — transported from the pier site by UN contractors — were received on Friday at a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza.
But on Saturday, only five truckloads made it to the warehouse after 11 others were cleaned out by Palestinians during the journey through an area that a UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said has been hard to access with humanitarian aid.
The UN did not receive any aid from the pier on Sunday or Monday.
University of California academic workers strike to stand up for pro-Palestinian protesters
- Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry
SAN FRANCISCO: Graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz walked off their jobs and went on strike Monday, the first campus to do so as part of a systemwide protest against a public university they say has violated the speech rights of pro-Palestinian advocates.
United Auto Workers Local 4811 represents 48,000 graduate students who work as teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and other academic employees on the 10-campus UC system. Organizers said the campuses will not strike all at once, opting instead for rolling strikes, to protest the arrests and forcible ejection by police of union members who participated in demonstrations calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Rebecca Gross, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student in literature and union leader, said at least 1,500 people were on strike Monday and had no plans to return to work until the union reaches a deal with the university. Students and researchers are not teaching, grading or working in their labs, and they are withholding data, she said.
“Police were unleashed and given the go-ahead to arrest protesters,” at the Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine campuses, she said.
University officials say the strike is unlawful and in violation of the union’s contract, which prohibits work stoppages. Both sides have filed unfair labor practice complaints with the California Public Employment Relations Board.
The union is demanding amnesty for all academic employees, students and faculty who face disciplinary action or arrest due to the protests. It’s also seeking divestment from UC’s investments in weapons makers, contractors and companies aiding Israel in its war against Hamas, among other issues.
Tobias Higbie, a labor historian and director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UCLA, said it is not unusual for unions to flex their muscle over broad workplace issues that are not narrowly tied to wages and benefits.
“They’re not everyday events, and maybe not even every year events,” he said. “But they’re not unheard of.”
The union’s action may be surprising to some, but so was what happened at UCLA earlier this month, Higbie said. On May 1, police in riot gear ordered the dispersal of more than a thousand people gathered on campus to support Palestine, and warned that those who refused to leave would face arrest.
The night before, police had waited to intervene as counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, causing injuries. California Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced the delay.
Scott Hernandez-Jason, an assistant vice chancellor with UC Santa Cruz, said afternoon classes are being conducted remotely Monday.
“Our primary goal is to minimize the disruptive impact, especially given the many educational and research challenges that have affected students and researchers in recent years,” he said in an email. “Academic and operational continuity is essential to the University of California’s education and research mission and a core responsibility to our students.”
Yale graduates stage pro-Palestinian walkout of commencement
- Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, denied that his nation was trying to mislead the world. Backed by China and others, he called the vote “a unique moment of truth for our Western colleagues”
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: Scores of graduating students staged a walkout from Yale University’s commencement exercises on Monday, protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, Yale’s financial ties to weapons makers and its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Ivy League campus.
The walkout began as Yale President Peter Salovey started to announce the traditional college-by-college presentation of candidates for degrees on the grounds of Yale’s Old Campus, filled with thousands of graduates in their caps and gowns.
At least 150 students seated near the front of the audience stood up together, turned their backs to the stage and paraded out of the ceremony through Phelps Gate, retracing their steps during the processional into the yard.
Many of the protesters carried small banners with such slogans as “Books not bombs” and “Divest from war.” Some wore red-colored latex gloves symbolizing bloodied hands.
Other signs read: “Drop the charges” and “Protect free speech” in reference to 45 people arrested in a police crackdown last month on demonstrations in and around the New Haven, Connecticut, campus.
The walkout drew a chorus of cheers from fellow students in the crowd, but the protest was otherwise peaceful, without disruption. No mention of it was made from the stage.
Yale is one of dozens of US campuses roiled by protests over the mounting Palestinian humanitarian crisis stemming from Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip following the bloody Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Jewish settlements by Hamas militants.
The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony altogether, and dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement last week to protest its guest speaker, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who has supported Israel throughout the war in Gaza.
ACADEMIC WORKERS STRIKE UC SANTA CRUZ
Fallout from a violent attack weeks ago on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at the University of California, Los Angeles, reverberated on the UC Santa Cruz campus on Monday as academic workers there staged a protest strike organized by their union.
Much of the student activism has been aimed at academic institutions’ financial ties with Israel and US military programs benefiting the Jewish state.
Protests in sympathy with Palestinians have in turn been branded by pro-Israel supporters as antisemitic, testing the boundaries between freedom of expression and hate speech. Many schools have called in police to quell the demonstrations.
At UC Santa Cruz on Monday, hundreds of unionized academic researchers, graduate teaching assistants and post-doctoral scholars went on strike to protest what they said were the university’s unfair labor practices in its handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
The strikers are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811, which represents some 2,000 grad students and other academic workers at UC Santa Cruz, and about 48,000 total across all 10 University of California campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Last week, the UAW 4811 rank-and-file voted to authorize union leaders to organize a series of “standup” strikes through the end of June on individual or groups of UC campuses rather than across the entire university.
The Santa Cruz strike marked the first union-backed protest in solidarity with the recent wave of pro-Palestinian student activists, whose numbers, according to the UAW, include graduate students arrested at several University of California campuses.
Union leaders said a major impetus for the strike was the arrest of 210 people at the scene of a pro-Palestinian protest camp torn down by police at UCLA on May 2.
The night before, a group of pro-Israel supporters physically attacked the encampment and its occupiers in a melee that went on for at least three hours before police moved in to quell the disturbance. The university has since opened an investigation of the incident.
The strikers also are demanding amnesty for grad students who were arrested or face discipline for their involvement in the protests.
UC Santa Cruz issued a statement saying campus entrances were briefly blocked in the morning by demonstrators, prompting the school to switch to remote instruction for the day.
The University of California has filed its own unfair labor practice complaint with the state Public Employee Relations Board asking the state to order a halt to the strike.
