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Death toll rises after Pakistan hit by flash floods and heavy rains

Death toll rises after Pakistan hit by flash floods and heavy rains

Flash floods and roof collapses over past 36 hours have claimed 19 lives, increasing total toll to 32, authorities say. Heavy rain and flash flooding across Pakistan have killed 32 people since the start of the monsoon season earlier this week, according to the disaster management officials. Flash floods and roof collapses over the past 36 hours have claimed the lives of 19 people, eight of them children, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial disaster management authority said in a statement on Saturday. Of the total deaths, 13 were reported in the Swat Valley. At least 13 people have been killed in the eastern province of Punjab since Wednesday, the area’s disaster management authority said. Eight of the deaths were children, who died when walls and roofs collapsed during heavy rain. Flash flood risk remains Flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also damaged 56 houses, six of which were destroyed, the disaster authority said. The national meteorological service warned that the risk of heavy rain and possible flash floods will remain high until at least Tuesday. Last month, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms in the South Asian nation, which experienced several extreme weather events in the spring, including strong hailstorms. Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million inhabitants are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency. Adblock test (Why?)

‘Hey Daddy’: How different world leaders massage Trump’s ego

‘Hey Daddy’: How different world leaders massage Trump’s ego

Describing Israel and Iran fighting each other at his NATO pre-summit news conference in The Hague this week, US President Donald Trump drew an analogy with children fighting in a schoolyard, who eventually had to be separated. “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Mark Rutte, NATO secretary-general, chimed in. Asked about the comment after the summit, Trump said: “No, he likes me. I think he likes me. If he doesn’t I’ll let you know. I’ll come back and hit him hard, OK? He did it very affectionately. Hey Daddy. You’re my Daddy.” The White House decided Rutte was flattering the US president, and made a reel of Trump’s visit to the Netherlands, set to the music of Usher’s Hey Daddy. Rutte’s flattery of Trump didn’t stop there. On tackling the Russia-Ukraine war, Rutte told reporters before the NATO summit: “When he came in office, he started the dialogue with President Putin, and I always thought that was crucial. And there’s only one leader who could break the deadlock originally, and it had to be the American president, because he is the most powerful leader in the world.” But how sincere are world leaders’ statements about Donald Trump? Do they genuinely serve to improve bilateral relations and does flattery work? Who has handled Trump well and what have the results been? Neither Rutte, nor any other European leader, engaged in any kind of dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a long time after the summer of 2022, the year of his invasion of Ukraine, believing it pointless. Advertisement German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was severely criticised as “defeatist” for phoning Putin last November, while Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, the only European leaders to have visited the Kremlin during the war, have been viewed as openly collaborationist. Yet when Trump started talks with Putin, many Europeans paid him the same compliment as Rutte when they made their inaugural visits to the White House after he took office in January. Keir Starmer, UK “Thank you for changing the conversation to bring about the possibility that now we can have a peace deal, and we will work with you,” said the United Kingdom’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, in the Oval Office in February. Starmer pulled a few rabbits out of hats. Knowing Trump’s fondness for the notion of hereditary power, he drew from his jacket a letter from King Charles III containing an invitation for an unprecedented second state visit to Windsor Castle. Trump was momentarily speechless. “Your country is a fantastic country, and it will be our honour to be there, thank you,” Trump said when he’d gathered himself. Starmer and Trump exchanged a few handshakes while speaking and Starmer repeatedly touched Trump’s shoulder in a sign of affection. But did all this flattery have much effect? Trump announced he was freezing military aid to Ukraine the following month, much to the outrage of the UK, along with Nordic and Baltic countries. Giorgia Meloni, Italy Both Starmer and Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, identified Ukraine as a key issue for Trump, who has made it clear he wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize by ending international conflicts. So far, he has claimed credit for ending this month’s “12-Day War” between Israel and Iran, preventing nuclear war following the May 7 air battle between India and Pakistan, and overseeing a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. Meloni, therefore, tried a similarly flattering approach to Trump. “Together we have been defending the freedom of Ukraine. Together we can build a just and lasting peace. We support your efforts, Donald,” she said during her White House visit in April. Meloni astutely punched all of Trump’s hot-button issues in her opening remarks, saying Italy had policies to combat Fentanyl, an addictive painkiller that Trump has blamed Canada and Mexico for allowing into the country, to invest $10bn in the US economy and to control undocumented immigration. She even adapted Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again, to Europe. “The goal for me is to Make the West Great Again. I think we can do it together,” Meloni said to a beaming Trump. Advertisement None of this has translated into a state visit by Trump to Rome, a move which would cement Meloni’s position as a major European leader, however. Mark Carney, Canada Meanwhile, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was both flattering and firm with Trump last month. He complimented Trump on being “a transformational president” who had sided “with the American worker”, but also shut down Trump’s territorial ambition to annex Canada as the 51st US state. “It’s not for sale, won’t be for sale ever,” Mark Carney said. Relations seemed to have taken a turn for the better following Trump’s friction with Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau. Trump called him “very dishonest and weak” at the 2018 G7 summit in Canada before storming off early. But Carney may not have had much effect at all. On Friday, Trump ended trade talks with Canada and threatened to impose additional tariffs on exports over Canada’s new digital services tax. Which meetings have gone less well? Emmanuel Macron, France There was little warmth in Trump’s White House meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in February. Braced for confrontation with a leader who claims to lead Europe in strategic thought, Trump spoke from lengthy, defensive, scripted remarks which attempted to justify his Ukraine policy. Macron preached that peace in Ukraine must not mean surrender – a sentiment shared by many European leaders, but not expressed to Trump. Trump was cordial with Macron, but not affectionate. Meanwhile, France is holding out on any sort of capitulation to Trump in European Union trade talks. Other members of the EU want to settle for an “asymmetric” trade deal that might benefit the US more than the EU, just to get it done. What’s more, following the G7 meeting in Canada two weeks ago, it was clear no love was lost between

House GOP freshman celebrates young American’s safe homecoming amid Iran-Israel conflict

House GOP freshman celebrates young American’s safe homecoming amid Iran-Israel conflict

Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., welcomed 21-year-old Seth McCready home from Israel this week, as the State Department issued a security alert for U.S. citizens traveling worldwide and the conflict between Israel and Iran raged on.  McCready talked to Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview at the Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday after he traveled from Israel to Jordan to Egypt before catching his final flight home.  The Virginia native was greeted by his father and two brothers at the International Arrivals Gate, all sporting big smiles and embracing as their congressman stood by with red, white and blue balloons and an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol.  “God protected me and the people I was with, and he’s protecting Israel too,” McCready said. “I 100% believe Israel’s gonna pull through, no problem.” REPUBLICANS CONGRATULATE TRUMP AMID IRAN CEASEFIRE AS DEMS HOLD BACK APPLAUSE McGuire’s office was in constant contact with McCready during his days-long journey home from Israel, according to the young American.  TUGBOATS, CRUISE SHIPS AND FLIGHTS: ISRAEL BEGINS EMERGENCY EVACUATION OF CITIZENS AMID IRAN WAR When the Jewish state launched its initial attacks on Iran, which President Donald Trump has referred to as the “12-day war,” McCready was visiting family in Israel. He told Fox News Digital that he was later able to volunteer with a ministry group, preparing rooms and even delivering food to those in need as the strikes continued.  “We did get a couple impacts. There was one that was like a kilometer away from me, and the whole building shook,” McCready said, describing a strike that slipped through Israel’s defenses. McGuire, who joined McCready’s family to welcome him home on Tuesday, said, “I’m just so happy for his family. You can’t always help somebody, but when you can, that’s the best part about this job.” The freshman Virginia congressman said he worked with the State Department to secure McCready’s path home. Both McCready and McGuire thanked his political director, Ramona Christian, for her vital role in getting McCready home.  “It’s just a big team effort, and this is the second young person we helped get home in a week. And now we’ve got a couple of other folks that have reached out to our office, and we’re hoping to be able to help them as well,” McGuire told Fox News Digital in an interview.  McGuire celebrated McCready’s homecoming as the fragile ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel had just begun.  Questions remained about whether the ceasefire would hold when Trump announced on Monday evening that “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.” Trump said the U.S. successfully struck three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night, but questions remain on Capitol Hill as to what degree the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program.  McGuire, a Trump loyalist who secured his endorsement in 2024, said the “ability for Iran to project power has been greatly diminished.” “We had an imminent threat of a nuclear weapon in Iran, and we just couldn’t have that,” McGuire added. “That threat has been eliminated.” Israel had launched a series of coordinated attacks on Iran on June 13, which Iran retaliated against, prompting the countries to exchange strikes for 12 days. After the U.S. struck Iran, the Islamic Republic launched retaliatory attacks on a U.S. air base in Qatar.  But McGuire affirmed he is “very hopeful” that the ceasefire between Israel and Iran will hold and that there will be peace in the Middle East.  The Virginia Republican is a member of the House Oversight Committee and the House Armed Services, bringing his 10 years of experience as a Navy SEAL to the position.