Hello,
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia have been hit with deadly downpours, while Australia has been pelted with giant hailstones. Heavy rain also caused flooding in the Gaza Strip, submerging the tents of thousands of homeless Palestinians facing the prospect of a harsh winter without sturdy shelter.
Floods have affected more than 980,000 homes and over 2.7 million people in Thailand, the interior ministry said.
In Malaysia, more than 34,000 people have been evacuated nationwide from flooded areas.
Extreme weather events can become more frequent as a result of global warming, with higher sea surface temperatures supercharging tropical storms. Also on my radar today: |
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A man stands in front of his partially submerged home with a car that was swept away by floods, on a flooded street in Hat Yai district, Thailand. REUTERS/Karit Chaui-aksorn |
Floods and storms in Oceania |
Floods have swept through nine Thai provinces and eight states in neighbouring Malaysia for a second successive year.
In Indonesia's province of North Sumatra, a tropical cyclone caused floods and landslides, killing at least 61, with 100 missing. Power outages and damaged bridges and homes hampered rescue efforts, the disaster agency said. Severe floods after a week of heavy rain have killed at least 55 in Thailand and two in neighbouring Malaysia, with tens of thousands huddling in evacuation centres, some after being cut off for days by waters as much as 2 m (7 ft) high.
Last Friday, the city of Hat Yai, Thailand's southern commercial hub, received 335 mm of rain – the most in a single day for 300 years.
In Australia, giant hailstones as large as 14 cm (5.5 inches) rained down in Queensland state this week, damaging cars, solar panels and roofs, leaving more than 95,000 homes without power as a powerful spring storm swept through the country’s east coast.
The wild weather also produced winds up to 100 kph (62 mph) and more than 800,000 lightning strikes, downing power lines and cutting off power for more than 95,000 customers, energy distributor Energex said. |
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Torrential rain has also hit the Gaza Strip this week. The Palestinian Civil Defence Service said thousands of tents housing displaced families had been inundated by rainwater or damaged by torrential rainstorms over the past week.
The large majority of Gaza's 2 million people were forced from their homes in the small, crowded enclave during Israel's two-year ground and air war triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack, with many now living in tents and other basic shelters.
Some tents have been completely washed away as floodwaters rose 40 to 50 centimetres above ground level in some areas, while a field hospital had to suspend operations due to flooding, medics and witnesses said.
"This suffering, this rain – and the low-pressure weather systems haven’t even started yet. It’s only the beginning of winter, and we’re already flooded and humiliated," Um Ahmed Aowdah said outside her tent as rain pelted down on Tuesday. "We haven’t received new tents or tarps. Our tarp is two years old and our tent is two years old - they’re completely worn out."
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, said there was an urgent need for at least 300,000 new tents to house the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced from their homes. Keep scrolling for a very governance-focused ‘Talking Points’. |
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on aboard Air Force One during travel to Palm Beach, Florida, from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden |
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Reuters special report: U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution and pledge to punish political opponents has turned into a guiding principle of governance. Trump and his appointees have used the government to enforce ideology: ousting military leaders deemed “woke,” slashing funds for cultural institutions held to be divisive, and freezing research grants to universities that embraced diversity initiatives. Click here for the full investigation into revealing at least 470 targets of retribution.
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Kenya-EU trade deal case: Kenya will appeal against the Tanzania-based East Africa Court of Justice’s ruling that suspended a trade deal with the European Union, pending the outcome of a case brought by a non-governmental organization, the Centre for Law Economics and Policy, challenging the deal on the grounds that the agreement with the EU violated some provisions of the treaty establishing the East African Community common market, of which Kenya is a member.
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U.S. rights group v Apple: The International Rights Advocates, a U.S.-based advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit in Washington accusing Apple of using minerals linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda despite the iPhone maker's denials. The lawsuit seeks determination by the court that Apple’s conduct violates consumer protection law, an injunction to halt alleged deceptive marketing, and reimbursement of legal costs, but does not seek monetary damages or class certification.
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Aussie teen social media ban case: With only two weeks to go before the world-first law banning children younger than 16 from using social media is set to take effect, a campaign group called the Digital Freedom Project has brought a case to Australia’s highest court in a bid to block the law. The two 15-year-old plaintiffs argue that the ban "robs" young Australians of their freedom of political communication, an implied right in the constitution. Australia does not have an express right to free speech.
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EU age limit on AI and socials: The European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution which calls for a default minimum age of 16 to access social media and AI chatbots to ensure "age-appropriate online engagement". Regulated under the block's Digital Services Act (DSA), online platforms are required to comply with national laws, which leave it up to each country to decide on minimum age requirements.
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ReutersNEXT: From infrastructure to luxury, business leaders are rethinking resilience and sustainability. At our flagship live journalism summit ReutersNEXT on Dec. 4, here’s what’s on the agenda. See the full speaker list and register here for the livestream of World Stage interviews and panel discussions such as: Ferrovial CEO Ignacio Madridejos on building for a future shaped by climate and connectivity; or CEOs Carla Vernón from The Honest Company and Joanne Crevoiserat from Tapestry sharing strategies for resilience in turbulent times.
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Joaquim Avelino Fragoso assists Debora Carvalho to inspect a turtle in Hojiua, at the Longa base in Cuanza Sul province, Angola REUTERS/Cesar Muginga |
Animal conservation continues to take this week’s spotlight as a community in Angola is getting trained up to care for its sea turtles.
Joaquim Avelino Fragoso is one of the many volunteers in Angola’s Longa estuary who works hard to protect the turtles that ply Angola's 1,600 km (1,000 mile) coastline. The local Kitabanga Project covers some 25,000 turtle nests overall.
"I like to watch the turtles when they come out to lay their eggs on land, and then go back into the sea," Fragoso told Reuters in Hojiua village, a place of lush mangroves, lagoons and stretches of sand interspersed with bush and forests. |
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