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Members of the rescue team from the Egyptian army inspect the damaged areas, following a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hitting the country, in Derna, Libya September 13, 2023.
Libya’s death toll keeps rising
The death toll continues to rise in Libya, where at least 6,000 are now dead after two dams in the eastern part of the country burst due to torrential flooding. Most of the carnage is in the Mediterranean city of Derna.
The statistics are grim. The UN says that as many as 30,000 have been displaced, while other observers estimate that the death toll could rise to a staggering 20,000 as bodies continue to wash up on shore.
So far, the rescue effort has been grueling Debris and mud are hindering access to hard-hit communities. Meanwhile, destroyed roads and bridges are also compounding shortages of food and water.
Making matters worse, Libya has been mired in civil war for a decade, and political factionalism is further complicating rescue efforts.(More on that here.)
As chances of finding victims alive diminish, attention is shifting to how this part of the country became such a deathtrap. Analysts say that the dams had not been maintained by warring authorities for years, and never had any hope of suppressing heavy waters.File photo of a Russian soldier standing guard at an outlook post.
Hard Numbers: Russian death toll, oligarchs’ yachts get away, migrants storm Spanish enclave, Afghan trust fund, space junk
498: At least 498 Russian soldiers have died so far in the Ukraine invasion, Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday. It's the first time Moscow has put a figure on its own casualties since launching the war almost a week ago.
5: President Joe Biden announced in his SOTU address Tuesday night that the US would seize the property of Russian billionaires with ties to Vladimir Putin in response to the Ukraine invasion. Five yachts owned by Russian oligarchs have arrived in the Maldives — which notably has no extradition treaty with the US — since sanctions were placed on Russia.
2,500: On Wednesday, about 2,500 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa tried to cross the border fence that separates Morocco from Melilla, one of Spain’s two enclaves in the North African country. It’s the biggest influx since May 2021, when another wave of migrants crashed the gates in Ceuta — the other Spanish enclave — during a diplomatic clash between Rabat and Madrid over the sovereignty of Western Sahara.
1 billion: The World Bank said Tuesday that it will use more than $1 billion from a frozen trust fund to pay for urgently needed development programs in Afghanistan. The money will go directly to the UN and other agencies on the ground – but not a single cent will go to the Taliban.
5,800: A mass of space junk weighing more than three tons is traveling at 5,800 mph to the far side of the Moon. It will likely crash there on Friday. Experts believe the trash is the remains of a Chinese rocket launched in 2014, but Beijing has declined to confirm it.Protesters demonstrate in support of Ukraine at the White House in Washington, DC.
Hard Numbers: Americans mull response, Ukrainian death toll mounts
20: In a new survey, 20% of Americans say they believe Washington should not be involved in the Ukraine conflict at all. A quarter favor the US taking a major role in the conflict, and just over half say a “minor role” is right.
Exclusive: China’s ambassador to US refutes reports of concealed death tolls
As reports swirl from sources in the U.S. Intelligence Community that China vastly underreported the number of COVID-19 cases and related deaths, China's top diplomat in the U.S., Ambassador Cui Tiankai, joined Ian Bremmer for an exclusive conversation in which he responds to the claim.
"For the accusations that China is hiding the numbers, just think about it. We have such a huge population, such a big country, you cannot hide the cases with such a very vicious virus. Because if you have patients, they are just patients. If people are infected, they're just infected, how can you hide them?" Cui told Bremmer.
The interview is part of a wide-ranging conversation looking back at the origins of the pandemic, the current situation in China, and the state of U.S.–China relations amid this global crisis. GZERO World with Ian Bremmer will devote an upcoming episode to the interview, as well as a look at China's growing importance in the global response to coronavirus. The program begins airing nationally on Friday, April 10, on U.S. public television. Check local listings, and follow GZEROMedia.com for more excerpts throughout the week.