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Dozens dead as tail end of Typhoon Gaemi lashes China

Dozens dead as tail end of Typhoon Gaemi lashes China

Storm has hit China with deadly rain and mudslides, devastating homes, roads and crops. The tail end of Typhoon Gaemi has hit China and North Korea with torrential rain, floods and mudslides, with dozens reported to have died. Reports early on Tuesday said that seven people had been added to the casualty list from the previous day, when a mudslide killed at least 15 people. The update brings the total number reported killed since Sunday to 22. Xinhua News Agency reported that four bodies had been found in Zixing city. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the bodies of three other missing people were found in a village nearby. Heavy rains have been falling on Hunan for days as Tropical Storm Gaemi moved inland after making landfall at typhoon strength in the neighbouring Fujian province on the Chinese coast. The storm hit Taiwan hard last week. All of the deaths in China have been recorded in Hunan province. Three more people were reported to be missing on Tuesday. Xinhua added that the rains have damaged close to 1,000 homes, prompted the evacuation of more than 11,000 people, and caused 1,345 road collapses in Zixing. Some areas of the city experienced record rainfall, with some areas receiving 645mm (25 inches) in just 24 hours. At the same time, elsewhere in the province, nearly 4,000 residents were evacuated due to a dam breach. The floods come after a landslide on Sunday destroyed a guesthouse in Hunan, killing 15 people. China is experiencing a summer of extreme weather. Heavy rains are affecting swaths of the country while other regions endure intense heatwaves. On Monday, China’s National Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert, the second-highest level, for rainstorms across much of the country’s south, southwest, and centre, as well as Beijing, Hebei province, and Tianjin in the north. The deluge has seen major dams breached, leading to the flooding of swaths of agricultural land. CCTV reported that the Ministry of Finance has earmarked funds of 238 million yuan ($33m) for disaster prevention and agricultural aid. Weather experts blame the devastating rains on a combination of the southwest monsoon and Gaemi. The combination has also seen storms in northeastern China and North Korea, with the rainfall increasing levels in the Yalu River, which divides the two countries. Serious flooding has been reported in the Chinese border city of Dandong and on the North Korean side. Adblock test (Why?)

‘It’s evil’: Breast ironing leaves long-term scars for women in Nigeria

‘It’s evil’: Breast ironing leaves long-term scars for women in Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria – When children turn 10, their first double-digit milestone is usually a time of excitement. But not for Elizabeth John, who could only feel dread about what was to come. A day after her 10th birthday, three older women held her legs down firmly as her mother pressed a burning hot pestle against her still-developing breasts, unyielding even as the child screamed in pain. Nearly two decades later, the 27-year-old Cameroonian refugee who grew up in Nigeria’s Cross River State vividly remembers that day – as she grapples with the years of damage the ordeal inflicted. John said her life changed after her mother forced her to undergo breast ironing in an attempt to shield her from sexual abuse. Breast ironing, or “breast flattening”, is a cultural practice whereby young girls’ breasts are ironed or pounded down with brutal or heated objects to delay their development or disguise the onset of puberty, according to the Africa Health Organization. The AHO says communities who practise breast ironing believe it will make girls less attractive to men, thus protecting them from harassment, rape, abduction, and early forced marriage, and also keeping them in school. However, health bodies and rights groups say it is a form of physical mutilation that harms a child’s social and psychological wellbeing and contributes to the high school dropout rate among girls who suffer from it. The United Nations (UN) says breast ironing affects some 3.8 million women in Africa and is one of the five most under-reported crimes related to gender-based violence. Some 25 to 50 percent of girls in countries like Cameroon and certain parts of Nigeria are affected by the practice, according to data from the journal, Annals of Medical Research and Practice. Done in secret In John’s home community in Cross River State in southern Nigeria, the procedure is culturally imposed on most girls and typically performed by their mothers or other maternal figures. For years after her breasts were ironed, John suffered from pain. Her breasts developed unevenly, and the muscles are still weak and saggy today. At age 19, the pain was so bad that she had trouble sleeping, she said. Despite visiting doctors, her family did not believe breast ironing was the cause, adhering to their cultural beliefs. “Before I married, I would buy painkillers for the breast pain, but it worsened after marriage [and pregnancy] when I was trying to breastfeed my child,” she told Al Jazeera. Elizabeth John, a survivor of breast ironing [Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi/Al Jazeera] In 2021, as she was about to give birth, a doctor explained that breast ironing had damaged her glandular tissue, which would make breastfeeding difficult, and suggested a medical procedure that could help her. “After the doctor told me that the ironed breasts might affect me during childbirth, my husband and I couldn’t afford the treatment, which was $5,700,” she lamented. “I am jobless, and my husband works in furniture,” she explained. After giving birth, she struggled to breastfeed correctly. The doctor recommended using formula, but the couple could not afford it. They lost the baby when he was four months old. Ushakuma Michael Amineka, a gynaecologist at the Benue State Teaching Hospital and the second vice president of the Nigeria Medical Association, explained that breast ironing can leave long-term effects. “The immediate consequences can include pain because the breast is very soft tissue. If compressed, it can cause pain and even distort the normal anatomy of the breast tissue,” he told Al Jazeera. “Long-term consequences could include difficulties with lactation, as it can destroy breast tissue and lead to infections, causing long-term pain and reduced breast milk production.” According to 2021 research published by the United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH), the harmful practice is typically carried out by close female relatives, and sometimes with the help of traditional midwives. It is maintained in secret by female members of the family and community, and typically hidden from men. Traditional and household tools are usually used to perform the procedure, including grinding stones, cast iron, coconut shells, calabashes, hammers, sticks or spatulas. Additionally, it can involve tightly wrapping the breasts with a belt or cloth, the NIH said. The lack of good data and empirical studies on breast ironing has also limited a broader understanding of the practice and its prevalence, NIH added. Longstanding tradition “This cultural practice is horrible and inhuman,” David Godswill, a Nigerian human rights activist, told Al Jazeera. Those who practise it “believe that if breasts develop, they will attract men”, he said, but he emphasised that the procedure is just cruel. The effects can be traumatic, causing women and girls physical pain and shame about their bodies. “It’s evil what they do to women’s breasts, and many have suffered health issues because of it,” he said. A stick used for breast ironing is seen on a fire at a survivor’s home in Cameroon [File: Joe Penney/Reuters] For John, the health effects of breast ironing have caused her years of personal pain and struggle. Now, living in Gbagyi, an Indigenous community in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, every day is a reminder of her childhood trauma. Breast ironing is a longstanding tradition in Gbagyi and many young girls in the community have had their breasts ironed, John told Al Jazeera. When she tried to warn their mothers about the health risks based on her own experience, they did not believe her and thought she wanted to encourage intimacy between men and younger girls. Conversations Al Jazeera had with seven local women in Gbagyi revealed that nearly all had experienced breast ironing. They also pushed their daughters into having the procedure to protect them from male attention and sexual abuse. Many said their mothers and grandmothers also underwent this practice. One woman, Roseline Desmond, told Al Jazeera that when a group came three years ago to raise awareness about the health implications of breast ironing, some women promised to stop while others remained unconvinced. “In this community, some

Landslides caused by heavy rains kill dozens in India’s Kerala

Landslides caused by heavy rains kill dozens in India’s Kerala

Landslides in southern India triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed dozens of people with hundreds more feared trapped under mud and debris, according to officials. The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by heavy rains and the collapse of a key bridge at the disaster site in Wayanad district has hampered rescue efforts, according to local media reports. PM Manoj, press secretary to Kerala’s chief minister, said the landslides had killed at least 49 people so far, while district official DR Meghasree said 45 people were killed and local media reported 66 deaths. Images published by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) showed rescue crews trudging through mud to search for survivors and carry bodies on stretchers out of the area. Homes were caked with brown sludge as the force of the landslide’s impact scattered cars, corrugated iron and other debris around the disaster site. The Indian Army said it had deployed more than 200 soldiers to the area to assist state security forces and fire crews in search and rescue efforts. “Hundreds of people are suspected to have been trapped,” it said in a statement. More rainfall and strong winds were forecast in Kerala on Tuesday, the state’s disaster management agency said. The number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years, and experts say climate change is worsening the problem. Damming, deforestation and development projects in India have also exacerbated the human toll. Nearly 500 people were killed across Kerala in 2018 during the worst flooding to hit the state in almost a century. India’s worst landslide in recent decades was in 1998, when a rockfall triggered by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 220 people and completely buried the tiny village of Malpa in the Himalayas. Adblock test (Why?)

Biden caters to ‘far-left’ dark money groups with Supreme Court ‘gimmick,’ critics say

Biden caters to ‘far-left’ dark money groups with Supreme Court ‘gimmick,’ critics say

President Biden’s push to impose radical changes to the Supreme Court caters to the left-wing base of the Democrat party from an administration that was once billed as a “moderate,” critics argue. On Monday, Biden and Vice President Harris, who is now running at the top of the presidential ticket for Democrats in November, backed drastic measures for Congress to adopt, including term limits, ethics rules and a constitutional amendment to limit presidential immunity. Biden, in an op-ed published in the Washington Post, said he has “great respect for our institutions and separation of powers” but “what is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.” The move marks a nearly 180-degree pivot for Biden, who had generally bucked plans even from within his own party to make such changes to the high court.  ‘STOP PRETENDING’: CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST WANTS DEMS BEHIND SCOTUS ETHICS RULES TO TAKE THEIR OWN MEDICINE During the early years of his political career in the Senate, Biden called President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plans to place term limits on older justices and packing the court “a bonehead idea.” Packing the court, or court packing, is a term for increasing the number of justices on a court. On the campaign trail in 2020, he resisted calls to expand the size of the court, saying that it would undermine its credibility. With Monday’s announcement, Biden hasn’t said he wants to pack the court. But on his way out the Oval Office door, he’s endorsing plans from the most radical wing of his party. “The far-left calls to destroy the Supreme Court were answered first by a candidate desperate to save his failing campaign,” said Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Network. BIDEN, HARRIS CALL FOR SUPREME COURT TERM LIMITS, CODE OF CONDUCT, LIMITS ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY “Now they will be championed by a candidate who needs to cater to dark money groups in the Arabella Advisors network like Demand Justice, Fix the Court and a host of other pop-up groups funded by liberal billionaires,” she added. Arabella Advisors is a dark money fund that feeds various left-wing causes. Notably, Harris’ communications director, Brian Fallon, is the former head of Demand Justice, which is an Arabella-funded group that advocates for court packing. Fix the Court, another Arabella-connected group, pushes for term limits for Justices. “[Biden is] trying to gin up his base with this gimmick,” said GOP strategist Matt Gorman. TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION  “The idea that Joe Biden would advocate for term limits is laughable. The left can’t stand that they don’t control the court, so they’ll do whatever they can to take it by legislative force,” he said. The ideological swing of the high court shifted when former President Trump appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The conservative block is certainly not always in a lockstep vote, but Democrats in Congress and in the White House have nevertheless claimed that about the Republican-appointed majority. “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris want to end-run the Constitution and destroy the Supreme Court because they can’t control it,” said Severino. “Biden and Harris are declaring war on the separation of powers with this announcement,” she added. The Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, “As he stands up for the rule of law and the integrity of the Supreme Court, President Biden is grateful for the support these proposals are receiving from bipartisan legal experts, members of Congress, and large majorities of the American people.  ‘DANGEROUS’ DEMOCRAT JUDICIAL ETHICS BILL WOULD ALLOW ANY ‘JACKALOON’ TO DEMAND A RECUSAL, SEN. KENNEDY SAYS “Now, congressional Republicans have a choice to make: will they safeguard conflicts of interests on our nation’s highest court and help presidents remain above the law, or will they side with Joe Biden, conservative former judges, and their own constituents to protect principals that should override any partisanship?” said Bates.  Notably, the Supreme Court last year adopted a new code of conduct after months of scrutiny from Democrats in Congress.  “For the most part, these rules and principles are not new: The Court has long had the equivalent of common law ethics rules, that is, a body of rules derived from a variety of sources, including statutory provisions, the code that applies to other members of the federal judiciary, ethics advisory opinions issued by the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct, and historic practice,” a statement signed by all the justices said. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP “The absence of a Code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the Justices of this Court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this Code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct,” it said. 

Crucial southwestern battleground holds Senate, House primaries today

Crucial southwestern battleground holds Senate, House primaries today

The key southwestern general election battleground state of Arizona holds primaries on Tuesday, which will set the stage for likely competitive autumn showdowns that may determine control of the House and Senate. The contest grabbing the most national attention is the race to succeed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat-turned-independent who is not seeking a second six-year term in the Senate. Kari Lake, the front-runner for the Republican Senate nomination, on the eve of the primary teamed up with former President Trump for a tele-rally. Lake is a top surrogate for the former president as he seeks to regain the White House and gave an address two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. SINEMA’S BLOCKBUSTER 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT Lake, the former TV anchor and major MAGA supporter who never acknowledged her narrow 2022 election defeat for governor, enjoys Trump’s backing as she runs for the Senate in a race that is one of a handful that may determine if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority. WATCH: KARI LAKE OFFERS OLIVE BRANCH TO THESE VOTERS IN ARIZONA Besides enjoying the Republican presidential nominee’s support, Lake also has a major fundraising advantage over her two GOP primary rivals: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and neuroscientist Elizabeth Reye. When Sinema announced in March that she wouldn’t run for re-election, she was already facing a challenge from Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, who launched his Senate campaign last year. Gallego is unopposed in Tuesday’s primary for the Democrat nomination. Democrats control the Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states Trump easily carried in 2020: West Virginia, Montana and Ohio. Five other seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In the race for the House, the GOP holds a fragile majority in the chamber. And in Arizona, Democrats are aiming to unseat two vulnerable Republican incumbents in districts Biden carried four years ago. In the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of northeast Phoenix and surrounding suburbs, seven-term GOP incumbent Rep. David Schweikert is the front-runner in a field of primary rivals that includes businessman Robert Backie and former FBI agent and corporate investigator Kim George. There’s a crowded field of Democrats vying for their party’s nomination. In the southeastern part of the state, Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani is running for a second term in a district that includes much of suburban Tucson. He’s facing off on Tuesday in a GOP primary that includes challenger Kathleen Winn, who came in third in the 2022 nomination race. If Ciscomani wins the primary as expected, he’ll face off in November against Democrat Kisten Engel in a rematch of their extremely close 2022 election showdown. Meanwhile, in the red-leaning 8th Congressional District, Trump has endorsed both major candidates in the Republican primary, Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and state attorney general in 2022. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.