SYDNEY: Australia’s southeast on Sunday sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large swathes of New South Wales state.
The nation’s weather forecaster said temperatures would be up to 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in some areas, with Sydney, the capital of Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, set to hit 36 C (96.8 F).
At Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport, the temperature was 34.6 C (94.3 F) at 2 p.m. (0300 GMT), more than 11 degrees above the October mean maximum temperature, according to forecaster data.
Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season following the onset of an El Nino weather event, recently announced, which is typically associated with extreme events such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.
State Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib announced the start of an official bushfire danger period, with the “scorching” heat lifting the risk for the week ahead.
“Not only is it hot, it’s dry and it’s windy and those conditions combined are the perfect storm,” Dib said.
Fire authorities on Sunday issued nine total fire bans for parts of the state to reduce the chance of bushfires.
Further south in Victoria state, authorities issued an emergency evacuation order for a rural area in the Gippsland region, about 320 kilometers (198 miles) east of the state capital Melbourne, due to an out-of-control bushfire.
Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 “Black Summer” of bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkiye and killed 33 people. In Sydney, local resident Sandy Chapman said she was worried about the mix of extreme heat and wind.
“It doesn’t take long to start a fire and have it burning and it’s very scary,” Chapman said.
Sydneysider Katie Kell hoped there would be no repeat of bushfires on the same scale as 2019-20.
“I don’t know, with how hot it’s been since the start of spring, I’m not too confident,” Kell said.
Australia swelters through ‘scorching’ heat lifting bushfire risk
https://arab.news/b7k69
Australia swelters through ‘scorching’ heat lifting bushfire risk

- Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season following the onset of an El Nino weather event
- Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 ‘Black Summer’ of bushfires
Trump to meet Putin in Saudi Arabia for first meeting since taking office

- Announcement came after phone conversation in which Trump ang Putin discussed ending Ukraine war
- A date for the meeting “hasn’t been set” but it will happen in the “not too distant future,” US president said
RIYADH: US President Donald Trump will see his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for their first meeting since taking office in January.
Trump’s announcement came after an almost 90-minute phone conversation with the Russian leader, where they discussed in ending the nearly three-year Moscow offensive in Ukraine.
“We ultimately expect to meet. In fact, we expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there, and we’re gonna meet also probably in Saudi Arabia the first time, we’ll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something something done,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
الرئيس ترامب يقول انه سيجتمع مع الرئيس الروسي بوتين في السعودية، لمناقشة إنهاء الحرب في أوكرانيا، بحضور ولي العهد السعودي الأمير محمد بن سلمان :
— محمد|MFU (@mfu46) February 12, 2025
"بوتين وأنا نعرف ولي العهد جيداً، والسعودية ستكون المكان المناسب للقائنا الأول". pic.twitter.com/k7dXV1J67o
A date for the meeting “hasn’t been set” but it will happen in the “not too distant future,” the US president said.
He suggested the meeting would involve Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We know the crown prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to meet.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier announced that Putin had invited Trump and officials from his administration to visit Moscow to discuss Ukraine.
“The Russian president invited the US president to visit Moscow and expressed his readiness to receive American officials in Russia in those areas of mutual interest, including, of course, the topic of the Ukrainian settlement,” Peskov said.
The invitation followed Trump’s announcement Wednesday that peace talks would start “immediately” and that Ukraine would probably not get its land back, causing uproar on both sides of the Atlantic.
Afghan held after suspected ramming attack injures 28 in Germany

- Passenger car drove into street demonstration of striking workers in Munich
- Incident comes on eve of high-profile international conference in Germany city
MUNICH: An Afghan asylum seeker was arrested after a suspected car ramming attack injured at least 28 people in the southern German city of Munich on Thursday, police said.
The incident comes on the eve of a high-profile international conference in Munich and amid an election campaign in which immigration and security have been key issues after a spate of similar attacks.
A passenger car drove into a street demonstration of striking workers from the Verdi trade union near the city center and was then shot at by officers, said the deputy head of Munich police Christian Huber.
The driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, was arrested at the scene, Huber said.
Earlier a fire service spokesman told AFP that several of those hurt were “seriously injured, some of them in a life-threatening condition.”
The state premier of Bavaria Markus Soeder told a press conference that the incident was “just terrible” and that “it looks like this was an attack.”
Soeder’s Bavarian CSU party and its national sister party the CDU have demanded tougher curbs on migration after a series of similar attacks which have shocked the country.
“This is not the first incident... we must show determination that something will change in Germany,” Soeder said. “This is further proof that we can’t keep going from attack to attack.”
The ground at the scene of the incident was littered with items including glasses, shoes, thermal blankets and a pushchair.
Eyewitness Alexa Graef said she was “shocked” after seeing the car drive into the crowd “which looked deliberate.”
“I hope it’s the last time I see anything like that,” she said.
An eyewitness who was among the striking workers told the local BR42 website that he “saw a person lying under the car” after it drove into the crowd.
The president of the Verdi union Frank Werneke said in a statement: “We are deeply upset and shocked at the awful incident during a peaceful demonstration by our Verdi colleagues.”
The incident comes a day before the city is due to host the high-profile Munich Security Conference.
US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among those arriving on Thursday to attend the two-day security meet.
The latest suspected attack comes amid an already inflamed debate on immigration after several similar incidents, most recently in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month.
Two people were killed in a knife attack including a two-year-old child.
After that attack a 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested whom authorities say has a history of mental illness.
UN estimates 1,400 killed in Bangladesh protests that toppled ex-PM Hasina

- Actual number of casualties is at least double what UN investigators initially assessed
- Special tribunal in Dhaka to rely on findings in proceedings against former government
DHAKA: At least 1,400 people were killed in Bangladesh during student-led protests last year, with the majority shot dead from military rifles, the UN’s human rights office said in its latest report investigating the events that led to the ouster of the country’s longtime prime minister.
Initially peaceful demonstrations began in early July, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions. Two weeks later, they were met with a violent crackdown by security forces and a communications blackout.
In early August, as protesters defied nationwide curfew orders and stormed government buildings, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, ending 15 years in power of her Awami League party-led government.
The new interim administration, led by Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has pledged to cooperate with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure justice and accountability for all the violence committed during the month-long uprising.
UN investigators arrived in Bangladesh in late August and on Wednesday released their first fact-finding report.
“OHCHR assesses that as many as 1,400 people could have been killed during the protests, the vast majority of whom were killed by military rifles and shotguns loaded with lethal metal pellets commonly used by Bangladesh’s security forces,” they said in the document.
“Thousands more suffered severe, often life-altering injuries. More than 11,700 people were arrested and detained, according to information from the Police and RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) provided to OHCHR.”
More than three-quarters of all deaths were caused by firearms “typically wielded by state security forces and not readily available to civilians in Bangladesh.”
The number of casualties is at least double what was initially assessed by the investigators, who also indicated that around 3 percent of those killed were children subjected to “targeted killings, deliberate maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention in inhumane conditions, torture and other forms of ill-treatment.”
The UN’s human rights office has concluded that between July 15 and Aug. 5, 2024, the former government and its security and intelligence apparatus, together with “violent elements” linked to the Awami League, “engaged systematically in serious human rights violations and abuses in a coordinated effort to suppress the protest movement.”
A special tribunal in Dhaka, which in October issued arrest warrants for Hasina and her Cabinet members and began trial procedures in cases related to the killings, said it will rely on the OHCHR’s findings and recommendations in its proceedings.
“It will facilitate the ongoing trial in the International Crimes Tribunal. The information we have received through the investigation aligns with the UN report, which will also validate our findings. This will add credibility to the results of our investigation,” the tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Tajul Islam, told Arab News on Thursday.
Established in 2010 during Hasina’s rule, the International Crimes Tribunal is a domestic court tasked with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The most important takeaway of the report was that it had identified the ousted prime minister and her government as the “responsible authority” behind the rights abuses, Islam said.
“The report clearly identified the attacks as widespread and systematic, targeting students and civilians. Sheikh Hasina and her administration were the primary orchestrators of these attacks, utilizing all of the state’s security and law enforcement ... Since it (the probe) was conducted by the UN, it has a neutral character.”
Sri Lanka, UAE agree to boost economic ties, investment during Dissanayake visit

- Sri Lanka president was in Dubai to address the World Governments Summit
- UAE was Sri Lanka’s 8th largest source of foreign direct investment in 2019
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka and the UAE have signed an agreement to strengthen economic ties during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s first visit to the Middle East, his office said on Thursday as the island nation seeks to attract more foreign investment.
Dissanayake, who secured the country’s top job in September, returned to Colombo on Thursday after addressing the main session of the 2025 World Government Summit in Dubai and meeting with other world leaders, including UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.
The UAE visit was his third international presidential trip, after India and China.
In Dubai, Sri Lanka and the UAE reached an agreement on reciprocal promotion and protection of investments, the president’s media division said in a statement.
“The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate and strengthen foreign investments between the two nations by ensuring investor rights protection, promoting economic cooperation, and establishing comprehensive investment protection mechanisms, dispute resolution frameworks, and policy structures,” it said.
The deal was signed by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and the UAE’s Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed Bin Hadi Al-Hussaini.
It is expected to “contribute to strengthening global economic partnerships and creating opportunities for exploring new investment prospects in Sri Lanka.”
The island nation of 22 million people is still struggling to emerge from the 2022 economic crisis — the worst since its independence in 1948 — and the austerity measures imposed under a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Under Dissanayake, Sri Lanka’s new left-leaning government is working to fulfill his campaign promises of sweeping reforms, including to revive the economy.
Its latest deal with the UAE is part of the country’s “commitment to enhancing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and fostering a more attractive investment landscape,” the president’s media division said.
In 2019, the UAE was the 8th largest source of FDI in Sri Lanka.
M. Shiham Marikar, secretary-general of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka, said the agreement offers “substantial benefits” for Sri Lankan businesses.
“This partnership is a vital step toward fostering economic growth, securing foreign investments, and strengthening trade relations between Sri Lanka and the UAE,” Marikar told Arab News.
“One of the most significant advantages is enhanced market access to the UAE and the broader Middle Eastern region … The agreement also paves the way for new partnerships and joint ventures, particularly in high-potential sectors like tourism and real estate. Moreover, Sri Lankan businesses, especially SMEs, will benefit from greater access to foreign capital, funding opportunities, and new markets.”
UN estimates 1,400 killed in Bangladesh protests that toppled ex-PM Hasina

- Actual number of casualties at least double initial assessment by UN investigators
- Special tribunal in Dhaka to rely on findings in proceedings against former government
DHAKA: At least 1,400 people were killed in Bangladesh during student-led protests last year with the majority shot dead by military rifles, the UN’s human rights office has said in its latest report investigating the events leading up to the ousting of the country’s long-serving prime minister.
The initially peaceful demonstrations, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions, began in early July. Two weeks later they were met with a violent crackdown by security forces and a communications blackout.
In early August, as protesters defied nationwide curfew orders and stormed government buildings, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, ending 15 years in power for her Awami League party-led government.
The new interim administration, led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has pledged to cooperate with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure justice and accountability for all violence committed during the month-long uprising.
UN investigators arrived in Bangladesh in late August and, on Wednesday, released their first fact-finding report.
“OHCHR assesses that as many as 1,400 people could have been killed during the protests, the vast majority of whom were killed by military rifles and shotguns loaded with lethal metal pellets commonly used by Bangladesh’s security forces,” read the document.
“Thousands more suffered severe, often life-altering, injuries. More than 11,700 people were arrested and detained, according to information from the police and RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) provided to OHCHR.”
More than three-quarters of all deaths were caused by firearms “typically wielded by state security forces and not readily available to civilians in Bangladesh.”
The number of casualties is at least double the initial assessment by investigators, who also indicated that around 3 percent of those killed were children subjected to “targeted killings, deliberate maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention in inhumane conditions, torture and other forms of ill-treatment.”
The UN’s human rights office has concluded that between July 15 and Aug. 5, 2024, the former government and its security and intelligence apparatus, together with “violent elements” linked to the Awami League, “engaged systematically in serious human rights violations and abuses in a coordinated effort to suppress the protest movement.”
A special tribunal in Dhaka, which in October issued arrest warrants for Hasina and her cabinet and began trial procedures in cases related to the killings, said it would rely on the OHCHR’s findings and recommendations in its proceedings.
“It will facilitate the ongoing trial in the International Crimes Tribunal. The information we have received through the investigation aligns with the UN report, which will also validate our findings. This will add credibility to the results of our investigation,” the tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Tajul Islam, told Arab News on Thursday.
Established in 2010 during Hasina’s rule, the International Crimes Tribunal is a domestic court tasked with dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The most important takeaway of the report is that identifies the ousted prime minister and her government as the “responsible authority” behind the rights abuses, Islam said.
“The report clearly identified the attacks as widespread and systematic, targeting students and civilians. Sheikh Hasina and her administration were the primary orchestrators of these attacks, utilizing all of the state’s security and law enforcement ... Since it (the probe) was conducted by the UN, it has a neutral character.”