People clean a muddy street in the aftermath of the flooding caused by heavy rains in Massanassa, Valencia, Spain, on Friday (November 8, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“Spain was soaked in its wettest October on record last month, which culminated in catastrophic floods that have killed 219 people and left dozens missing,” the Government said on Friday (November 8, 2024).

“An average of 147 litres per square metre (147 mm) drenched mainland Spain last month, making it the wettest October since records began in 1961,” national weather service AEMET and the Ecological Transition Ministry said.

The deluge was 189% above the 1991-2020 reference period for the month and came as temperatures were 0.9 degrees Celsius warmer than average, they added in a statement.

The downpours peaked during a ferocious Mediterranean storm on October 29 which unleashed torrents of muddy water that desolated the eastern Valencia region in Spain’s deadliest floods in decades.

At one measuring station in the Valencia region town of Turis, 771 mm of rain fell on that day alone.

Although Mediterranean storms are common for the time of year, scientists say climate change driven by human activity is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of extreme weather events.

The rainfall that triggered the floods was 12% heavier and twice as likely compared to the world before global warming, the World Weather Attribution group of scientists said.

Children play on a playground made with recycled materials at the Lamma cafe in the Libyan capital Tripoli on September 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

In Libya’s capital, a cafe’s sleek exterior gives little hint of the vibrant space inside, built entirely from recycled materials to promote sustainability in a country recovering from years of war.

Lamma, which means “gathering” or “hangout” in Arabic, has become a cultural hub for locals and other visitors, featuring an art gallery that showcases Libyan artists, and hosts events and workshops.

But its central mission, its owner said, is raising awareness of an eco-friendly lifestyle in Libya, where green initiatives are scarce as people grapple with the aftermath of a gruelling conflict.

“We use materials that were abandoned in the streets, such as rubber from tyres, wood from trees and construction waste” to build the cafe, said Louay Omran Burwais, an architect who designed and founded Lamma.

“The idea is to show people that what is thrown in the street and may seem ugly or useless is actually still valuable,” he told AFP.

Libya was hurled into war after a NATO-backed uprising led to the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, followed by years of fighting between militias, mercenaries and jihadists.

Power remains split between a UN-recognised government and a rival authority in the east.

A chef is stands in the kitchen of the Lamma cafe in the Libyan capital Tripoli on September 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

‘New mindset’

Behind the long, narrow door into Lamma, visitors are greeted with a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes.

The plant-covered walls contrast with a web of suspended metal scraps, alcoves and slide tunnels that children swoop down through.

Also read: Landing in Libya with war clouds looming

“There are no places like this in Libya,” said Roula Ajjawi, Lamma’s art director. “We base everything on one aspect that we consider very important: recycling.”

Families gather at Lamma on Thursdays, the start of the Libyan weekend, when the cafe holds art workshops for children.

Others borrow books from the venue’s small library.

Burwais says his team hopes recycling and other eco-friendly practices, which remain rare, start up in Libya, which currently has no recycling facilities.

Visitors to Lamma will recognise familiar everyday objects repurposed throughout the space, Burwais said, but they will “start seeing them differently. We are here to foster a new mindset”.

In Libya, the plastic, metal, and glass left from over a decade of civil war destruction are rarely, if ever, reused or recycled, Ajjawi said.

More often, they are abandoned in nature and on the streets, occasionally washed into the Mediterranean by rain and wind.

But with initiatives like Lamma, objects once destined for the landfill are transformed into works of art — a concept now catching on with locals.

“I love this place,” said Riyad Youssef, now a Lamma regular. “The food is great, the service is excellent, and I appreciate the commitment to reducing waste. Every idea here is amazing.”

The Art of Living Foundation is organising a ‘Maha Satsang’ at the Punnami Ghat on the Krishna riverbank, here on November 13. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living, will deliver a spiritual discourse at the event being held in Vijayawada after a gap of 13 years.

Art of Living (AoL) Andhra Pradesh media coordinator Bachu Ramadevi said in a press conference that thousands of people were expected to attend the Maha Satsang from both Telugu States and other regions. It was estimated that over a million people would watch it online.

She said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had gifted ‘Sudarshan Kriya’, an effective remedy for mental stress, to the world and brought peace to millions of his followers through his messages and other activities. The upcoming event would be a blend of wisdom, music and meditation, she added. 

AoL apex body members Peddinti Seethadevi, Kuna Phalguna Rao and Ravikiran, AoL teachers’ coordinator G. Anoop, senior teacher Srinivasa Raju and Krishna district media coordinator Dr. Srivalli Vandan were present.

The entrepreneur-turned-politician said that there is a spiritual revival of American identity after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election 2024. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election will renew national self-confidence, an Indian-American politician and a close confidant of the President-elect Vivek Ramaswamy has said, expressing hope that his comeback will signify America’s comeback.

In a historic election on Tuesday (November 5, 2024), Mr. Trump defeated his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris and was elected the 47th President of the United States, becoming only the second commander-in-chief in over a century to win two nonconsecutive presidential terms.

“America has this great tradition. We believe in our own manifest destiny…We are born to be the greatest nation that sets an example for everybody else of what’s possible for human capacity,” Vivek Ramaswamy told the Tucker Carlson Show in an interview.

“I think that that’s the kind of leader we need right now to bring that back. And that’s Donald Trump as a person. So, in some ways, Trump’s story is America’s story. Trump’s comeback is now hopefully America’s comeback,” Mr. Ramaswamy said in response to a question.

“A Trump win,” he said, “will result in the renewal of national self-confidence.”

“I think that we’re going to be more sure of ourselves as Americans. I think we already are,” the entrepreneur-turned-politician said.

“The markets reflect confidence. The revival of our self-confidence is the most important thing…Everything else, we could talk about the issues, fixing the border, restoring law and order, enforcing the law, ending rampant crime in the country, and growing the economy all of those things require a certain level of self-confidence in America, require a certain sense of spine in who we are to be able to say, an economy grows when people are willing to take risks,” he said.

He said there is a spiritual revival of American identity.

“That was the pinnacle of what we saw on Tuesday (November 5, 2024) night. There was a moment, there was a moment,” he said.

Mr. Ramaswamy revealed that he, Vice President-elect J. D. Vance and his spouse Usha Vance were classmates in Yale Law School.

“We were in the same class. Me, Usha, and J D, we’re all classmates. And my wife was in med school at the same time. So we were all friendly,” he said.

Mr. Trump, he noted, has learned a lot from that first term.

“This time around, he is laser-focused on making sure that the people he puts into those positions actually share broadly his vision for the country, broadly share an allegiance,” Mr. Ramaswamy said.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the presence of Khalistan supporters in Canada but said they do not represent the Sikh community as a whole.

His comments came during Deepavali celebrations at Ottawa’s Parliament Hill recently amid an ongoing diplomatic row with India over the killing of Khalistan extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Also read: Why have India, Canada tensions worsened? | Explained

“There are many supporters of Khalistan in Canada, but they do not represent the Sikh Community as a whole. Similarly, there are supporters of Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi’s government in Canada, but they do not represent all Hindu Canadians,” Mr. Trudeau said.

The relations between the two countries came under severe strain following Mr. Trudeau’s allegations in September last year of a “potential” involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing.

New Delhi rejected Mr. Trudeau’s charges as “absurd”.

India expelled six Canadian diplomats and withdrew its high commissioner Sanjay Verma and other “targeted” officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa’s charges.

India has been maintaining that the main issue between the two countries is that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

Last week, Khalistani supporters disrupted a consular event co-organised by the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton and the Indian Consulate.

The incident was condemned by Mr. Trudeau who said every Canadian has the right to practise their faith freely and safely.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that New Delhi remains “deeply concerned” about the safety and security of Indian nationals in Canada.

The Indian consulate in Toronto said it was scrapping some of the planned consular events this month because of Canadian “security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection” to organisers.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday described as “totally unfounded” U.S. accusations of a plot by Tehran to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump.

The foreign ministry “rejects allegations that Iran is implicated in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement after U.S. prosecutors announced charges over the alleged plot.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan. File
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan stated in a message on X that drugs turned out to a be big menace in the State, and a comprehensive action plan was needed to tackle those involved in its peddling.

“It is another legacy issue inherited by the NDA Government from the previous corrupt and criminal regime,” Mr. Pawan Kalyan said, tagging the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

A special focus was required to check drug mafia, ganja cultivation, and related criminal activities in the State, he observed.

Mr. Pawan Kalyan pointed out that the alleged seizure of cocaine shipment in the Visakhapatnam port and the links of criminals behind the drugs business elsewhere in the country to a trading company in Vijayawada showed that the drug mafia flourished during the YSRCP term.

Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala will host its 61st annual Ayurveda seminar, ASK@61, at its Charitable Hospital at Kottakkal on Sunday (November 10). This year, the event holds special significance, as it will be held for the first time at the Charitable Hospital to mark the hospital’s centenary celebration. The event will focus on avascular necrosis, a medical condition where bone tissue dies due to inadequate blood supply.

The seminar will feature experts in both modern medicine and Ayurveda. Rajesh Kotecha, former vice-chancellor of Gujarat Ayurveda University and currently AYUSH Ministry secretary, will inaugurate the seminar. A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, principal secretary in the Industries department, will deliver the keynote address.

Arya Vaidya Sala managing trustee P.M. Varier will preside over the function. Dr. Kotecha, who won the Padma Shri Award for medicine in 2015, will release a book titled ‘New trends in panchakarma techniques’ written by doctor Praveen Balakrishnan. Sameer Ali Paravath, senior arthroplasty and arthroscopy consultant at Meitra Hospital, Kozhikode, will speak on ‘Current concepts of avascular necrosis – hip’.

Gikku Alias Benny, orthopaedics and proctology chief consultant at Vettukattil Ayurveda Hospital, Muvattupuzha, will speak on ‘Ayurvedic management of avascular necrosis’. Nishant Narayan, chief medical officer at Arya Vaidya Sala, will share his clinical experiences in avascular necrosis. T. Sreekumar, a former professor at Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College, Ollur, will moderate the seminar.

Dr. Varier will give away Arya Vaidya Sala’s annual awards at the seminar.

Passenger planes are seen on tarmac at Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea, on November 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korea’s military said North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for the second-straight day on Saturday (on November 9, 2024), affecting an unspecified number of flights and vessel operations.

Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flaunts his advancing nuclear and missile programme and engages in electronic and psychological warfare, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop trash and anti-South Korean propaganda leaflets in the South.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean operations to manipulate GPS signals were detected from around the western border city of Kaesong and the nearby city of Haeju on Friday and Saturday (November 8 and 9, 2024), and said the activities disrupted dozens of civilian aircraft and several vessels.

While warning aircraft and vessels near western border areas, South Korea’s military did not specify how North Korea was interfering with GPS signals or detail the extent of disruptions.

“We urge North Korea to stop GPS interference provocations immediately and strongly warn that it will be held fully accountable for any resulting consequences,” the South’s joint chiefs said in a statement.

North Korea’s GPS signal disruptions and balloon campaigns highlight the vulnerability of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, its main transportation gateway, analyst Sukjoon Yoon recently wrote on the North Korea-focussed 38 North website.

North Korea boasts of ‘world’s strongest’ missile, but experts say it’s oversized

The airport, which carries 56 million people and 3.6 million tons of cargo annually, is less than 100 km (62 miles) from North Korea.

“No major aviation incidents have resulted to date, but GPS interference can endanger commercial airlines flying in poor visibility, and it is a violation of international conventions on navigational safety,” Mr. Yoon wrote. He said that in 2024, North Korean trash balloons halted the airport’s runway operations 12 different times for a total of 265 minutes.

Mr. Kim has shown more hostility this year toward Seoul’s conservative government — which maintains a hard line on Pyongyang — with the North abandoning its long-standing goals of reconciliation with its war-divided rival and rewriting its constitution to cement South Korea as a permanent adversary.

North Korea also blew up sections of its unused road and rail routes linked with the South in October in a symbolic display of anger toward Seoul, and opened November with a flight-test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile to dial up pressure on Washington.

South Korean officials say North Korean activities to disrupt GPS signals from western border regions increased as the country began launching trash-carrying balloons toward the South in late May, which the North described as a retaliation against South Korean civilian activists flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.

Aside from North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and non-conventional provocations, there’s growing concern over its reported provision of military equipment and troops to Russia to support President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. South Korean officials say the deepening military alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang could possibly result in Russian technology transfers that increases the threat posed by Kim’s military nuclear programme.

File picture of King Charles III, with Prince William, left, in the background
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Britain’s royal family is facing calls for more transparency and reform of their private estates after an investigation alleged they have been profiting from public bodies while benefiting from major tax exemptions.

The U.K. media probe also accused the estates of King Charles III and his eldest son Prince William of making big profits from charities and individual renters while in some cases failing to meet environmental standards.

The centuries-old estates – the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall – have made millions of pounds (dollars) from lucrative deals with the publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) and other cash-strapped ministries, according to the investigation.

Both estates – portfolios of land, property and assets across England and Wales held in trust for the king and his heir – are exempt from paying UK corporation or capital gains taxes.

The extent of their holdings and commercial deals, such as lease agreements, is not publicly disclosed.

But the probe by U.K. television network Channel 4’s Dispatches programme and The Sunday Times claims to have uncovered them for the first time.

It has prompted calls for a review by parliament as well as demands by pro-republicans for the duchies to be abolished.

Norman Baker, a former lawmaker from the centrist Liberal Democrats party and longtime royal critic, told AFP the findings confirmed his view that the royals were “taking the public for a ride”.

“These are Crown lands which belong to the public… all that money should be going into the Crown Estate, which is a public asset,” he said.

‘Pursuing profit’

The royals have long maintained that profits from the duchies fund their public, charitable and private activities.

The duchies, owned by the monarchy since the Middle Ages, were not part of a 1760 agreement which sees the monarch’s Crown Estate profits surrendered to the government.

Fifteen percent of those profits are returned as a Sovereign Grant, which pays for official engagements, staff salaries and the royal palaces’ upkeep.

Next year the grant will total £132 million ($171 million).

Baker notes the vast private estates were not included in that arrangement because at the time they did not generate much income.

But two centuries on, their assets are worth £1.8 billion, with profits topping £50 million in 2023, according to their annual reports.

It has helped keep Charles on The Sunday Times Rich List, which ranks the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the UK, with an estimated worth of £610 million.

Lucrative deals leasing land to the crisis-hit NHS, armed forces, publicly-funded schools, charities and renters have boosted his bottom line, according to the media probe.

In one example, Charles’ estate will earn nearly £12 million over 15 years storing a new fleet of electric ambulances owned by a London hospital in one of its warehouses.

In another, William’s estate will net £37.5 million over 25 years from the Ministry of Justice for leasing the currently empty Dartmoor Prison.

Graham Smith, head of anti-monarchy pressure group Republic, said the investigation “shows how the duchies are doggedly pursuing profit at every turn, at huge expense to the public and charities”.

The duchies have denied any wrongdoing.

‘Within the law’

It is not the first time that they have stoked controversy.

In 2006, an influential parliamentary committee pressured the government over why they benefit from major tax exemptions.

Baker said the Public Accounts Committee should refocus on it. “It’s only under pressure like that that they’ll change,” he added. “Unless they’re forced into doing something, they won’t do it.”

The former MP believes the royals are “in danger of losing public support big time” over the issue.

But David Haigh, head of consultancy firm Brand Finance, argued the duchies are operating like “any large aristocratic family estate”.

“Is it really unreasonable for them to expect market rate rents when they rent properties to government agents and departments? In my opinion it’s not.”

Haigh added the estates were “simply acting within the law in the best interests of their private capital,” comparing them to successful entrepreneurs like James Dyson and Richard Branson.