WELLINGTON: Australia’s prime minister cautioned that the fallout from a vicious tropical storm over the weekend was “far from over” as parts of two states remained inundated with perilous floodwaters on Monday, even as the initial threat from the deluge continued to recede.
One person was killed and several others injured after heavy rain lashed Australia’s east coast on Saturday, toppling trees and power lines and inundating some parts of Queensland and New South Wales with record downpours. The two states escaped the level of chaos forecast from the tropical low weather system, which was earlier expected to make landfall as the first tropical cyclone to hit south east Queensland in 51 years – before weakening as it approached.
Still, 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in the region on Monday afternoon – after the storm prompted the biggest blackout in Queensland’s history – and more than 700 schools were closed for the day.
Those living near rivers and creeks were urged to evacuate or stay indoors as water levels continued to rise in some areas – with more rain forecast triggering further warnings during the day. Disaster was declared for the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, where a river was expected to flood overnight. People in surrounding suburbs were ordered to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, in other towns where floodwaters began to recede a cleanup began as power was restored for tens of thousands of people. The scale of the damage was not immediately clear.
Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments for up to 13 weeks beginning Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters on Monday.
In the city of Lismore in New South Wales, two military trucks helping with the rescue efforts on Saturday rolled over, injuring 13 of the 36 personnel traveling in them. One remained in hospital on Monday with injuries that were not life-threatening, Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
The single casualty of the crisis was a 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo, police said. His body was recovered on Saturday.
Albanese warned residents of the two stricken states not to be “complacent” as flood warnings lingered.
“If it’s flooded, forget it,” he said, referring to traveling in or entering inundated areas.
Cyclones are common in Queensland’s tropical north but are rare in the state’s temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was last week expected to become the first cyclone since 1974 to cross the Australian coast near Queensland’s state capital of Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city.
But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, defined as carrying sustained winds of less than 63 kph (39 mph).
Authorities had feared similar scenes to those eastern Australia experienced during massive floods in 2011 and in a series of 2022 events – in which more than 20 people died.
Floodwaters still threaten parts of Australia’s east coast as tropical storm cleanup begins
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Floodwaters still threaten parts of Australia’s east coast as tropical storm cleanup begins
- Around 200,000 homes and businesses still without power in the region on Monday afternoon
- Workers whose livelihoods were hampered by the storm will be eligible for welfare payments
UK union leaders say Met police charges against Palestine activists an attack on right to protest
- In January, the Metropolitan Police arrested over 70 people in a pro-Palestine protest, including several prominent activists
- Union leaders called for the Met to drop charges against former NEU executive member, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
LONDON: Over 20 prominent union leaders in the UK have raised concerns about the erosion of the right to peaceful protest in the country and about the Metropolitan Police’s handling of pro-Palestinian marches.
The 22 trade union leaders criticized in a joint statement on Tuesday the Met’s decision to charge former union members who were arrested during a London protest in solidarity with Palestine.
The Met arrested over 70 people in a pro-Palestine protest on Jan. 18 in London. Among those detained were Alex Kenny, a former executive member of the National Education Union; Sophie Bolt, the general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition.
The union leaders referred to the arrests and charges against Kenny and Bolt as a threat to the right to protest.
“Alex Kenny is a long-standing, and widely respected, trade union activist who has organised peaceful demonstrations in London for decades,” they said in a statement.
“We believe these charges are an attack on our right to protest. The right to protest is fundamental to trade unions and the wider movement. The freedoms to organise, of assembly and of speech matter; we must defend them,” they added.
They called for the Met to drop charges against Kenny, Bolt, Nineham, and Jamal.
The signatories include Paul Nowak from the Trades Union Congress, Christina McAnea from Unison, Daniel Kebede from the NEU, Matt Wrack from the Teachers’ Union, Dave Ward of the Communication Workers Union, Mick Whelan of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, and Eddie Dempsey from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.
They said the decision to charge Kenny and Bolt follows the prosecution of Nineham and Jamal.
Amnesty International, along with dozens of legal experts, expressed concerns over the Met’s handling of the pro-Palestine protest in January, with some describing the arrests as “a disproportionate, unwarranted and dangerous assault on the right to assembly and protest.”
At the protest, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell were interviewed under caution and released pending further investigations. MPs and peers have also called on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to review protest legislation introduced by the former Conservative government.
Europeans open to buying US arms for Ukraine under Trump plan but need details
- “Of course we can’t do it on our own, we need others to partner up,” Rasmussen told reporters
- European ministers said they would now need to examine how new purchases of US weapons could be paid for
BRUSSELS: Several European countries said on Tuesday they were willing to buy US arms for Ukraine under a scheme announced by US President Donald Trump, although arrangements still needed to be worked out.
Trump said on Monday that Washington will supply Patriot air defense systems, missiles and other weaponry to Ukraine for its war against Russia’s invasion and that the arms would be paid for by other NATO countries.
But much remains undisclosed, including the amounts and precise types of weapons to be provided, how quickly they would be supplied and how they would be paid for.
US officials have suggested that European countries will be willing to give up some of their own stocks of weapons for Ukraine and then buy replacements from the United States. But some of the countries involved say they still don’t even know what is being asked of them.
Such a move would get weapons to Ukraine more quickly but would leave donor countries’ defenses more exposed until new systems are ready.
“We are ready to participate. Of course we can’t do it on our own, we need others to partner up – but we have a readiness,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of European Union ministers.
Speaking alongside Trump at the White House on Monday, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada want to be part of the new initiative.
Many of those countries have been among the biggest military aid donors to Ukraine, either overall or per capita.
Asked whether Denmark could give US arms from its own stocks as part of the scheme, Rasmussen said: “We don’t have these kind of systems – the Patriot systems – so if we should lean in, and we are absolutely ready to do so, it will be (with) money and we have to work out the details.”
European ministers said they would now need to examine how new purchases of US weapons could be paid for. In many cases, that seems likely to involve countries teaming up to buy US weapons systems.
“Now we need to see how together we can go in and finance, among other things, Patriots, which they plan to send to Ukraine,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told Swedish radio.
In Brussels, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said his country is looking into the plan “with a positive inclination”.
Asked about the scheme, Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik told Reuters that Oslo was “in close dialogue with Ukraine” on military aid and “air defense remains a high priority for Ukraine and for the Norwegian military support”.
“Norway has contributed to significant amounts of air defense for Ukraine, including co-financing the donation of a Patriot system and missiles,” he said.
The Finnish Defense Ministry said Helsinki “will continue to provide material support to Ukraine”.
“The details of the US initiative ... are not yet known and we are interested to hear more about them before we can take more concrete lines on this issue,” it said.
Air India crash: Pilot groups push back against human error narrative
- Initial probe finds aircraft’s engine fuel switches were turned off, but does not specify by whom
- Pilots reject report as ‘inconclusive,’ say it leads media and public to ‘jump to conclusions’
NEW DELHI: Associations of Indian pilots are rejecting claims that last month’s Air India plane crash that killed 260 people was due to human error, after a preliminary investigation sparked speculation implicating the flight crew.
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat on June 12.
A report released over the weekend by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that seconds after take-off, both of the plane’s fuel-control switches moved to the position stopping fuel from the engines.
It did not specify who turned off the switches, only citing the cockpit voice recording, in which “one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off,” while “the other pilot responded that he did not do so.”
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the Airline Pilots’ Association of India have issued statements after the release of the initial findings — and the first media and online reactions to it — rejecting speculative narratives and presumptions over the guilt of the pilots.
Capt. Kishore Chinta, an ALPA member and accident investigator, told Arab News that both associations have “raised red flags on the selective release of information” by the AAIB, which has “left the scope of ambiguity for people to jump to conclusions” and for the media to spin narratives.
“We are left defending those pilots who are not there to defend themselves,” he said. “The Western media has been painting them as if they actually committed suicide-murder.”
The London-bound flight was carrying 242 people — 230 passengers, two pilots and 10 crew members. Only one person, sitting in an emergency exit seat, survived the crash. Another 18 people were killed on the ground as the aircraft fell on a B. J. Medical College and hostel for students and resident doctors of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
Investigators at the crash site recovered both components of the black box — the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, days after the crash. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said at the time that the final report was expected within three months.
The early release of preliminary findings has shaken the Indian aviation community, for which it was unacceptable that experienced pilots who have flown thousands of hours would have turned off the fuel supply.
“Definitely a malfunction caused the disaster — poor maintenance or a hardware/software glitch,” said Sandeep Jain, an Indian aviator based in the US.
“Dead pilots are always the easiest target. They don’t bite back. No litigation, no shareholder value erosion.”
The Federation of Indian Pilots is planning to raise the consequences of the preliminary report with the government.
“We will be taking it up with the government no doubt. We will not let it go quietly. The report should not be open-ended,” Capt. C.S. Randhawa, the federation’s president, told Arab News.
“It is inconclusive. So many things are not answered properly. The report does not say that the pilots have moved the fuel control switches, that is why it is inconclusive, and it is leading to speculations.”
Ukraine’s prime minister Shmyhal resigns
- Zelensky nominated First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko for the post
KYIV: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday he had filed a resignation letter, as a part of a major governmental reshuffle expected this week.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday nominated First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko for the post.
Philippines to strengthen migrant workers’ protection in labor deal with Oman
- Philippines, Oman plan to sign new MoU on labor cooperation in January
- Muscat also wants to boost ties beyond labor, explore business opportunities
MANILA: The Philippines is strengthening labor cooperation with Oman to protect the rights and welfare of Filipino workers, its Department of Migrant Workers said following a meeting with the Omani labor minister in Manila.
The majority of over 2 million overseas Filipinos live and work in Gulf countries.
While most are based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, some 50,000 are in Oman, contributing over $340 million in annual remittance inflows to the Philippines.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi and Labor Minister Mahad bin Said Ba’awin were in the Philippines earlier this week to discuss ways to further relations.
In a meeting with Philippine Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Monday, they held talks over a new agreement on labor cooperation.
“A key highlight of the meeting was the pending Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Labor Cooperation, set to be signed by January 2026,” the department said in a statement.
“The MOU establishes safeguards for Filipino workers through ethical recruitment standards, fair employment terms, joint dispute resolution mechanisms, and regular monitoring through a bilateral Joint Committee.”
According to the DMW, Oman is “actively seeking Filipino domestic workers technicians, port staff, and other skilled professionals,” which could mean new employment pathways for Filipino migrant workers who are qualified.
The Philippines is also seeking to incorporate technology to streamline recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Oman.
“By forging digital partnerships with host countries like Oman, we can make recruitment faster, more transparent, and more worker-friendly. Tech solutions can ensure every step is secure, accountable, and focused on protecting OFWs,” Cacdac said.
While labor relations have been a key aspect of Philippine-Omani ties, the Gulf state is now seeking to also explore business and investment opportunities with Manila.
“For many decades, Oman has been a popular destination for overseas Filipino workers, who have found not just employment but a second home in our country,” Al-Busaidi said at the inaugural Oman-Cebu Investment Forum over the weekend.
“Beyond the labor relations that have long defined our relations, we now open our arms to the business communities and investors of both our nations.”
A “new chapter” of Philippine-Oman relations is possible thanks to the connections created by Filipino migrant workers, he added, while urging Philippine and Omani businesses to collaborate.
“Together, we can craft a future where the thousands of people to people connections created by the overseas Filipino workers can serve as a foundation for a flourishing economic partnership, and a new era of mutual investment,” Al-Busaidi said.
“I invite you all to seize this opportunity and make it a beautiful and rewarding new chapter in the story of Oman and the Philippines.”
