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Europe
Austria
(Sunday), 15.09.2024 Since Friday, water levels in several Austrian rivers have risen dramatically. Lower Austria is experiencing the most severe conditions, where according to local authorities, numerous streams have already burst their banks as a result of the heavy rain. The fire department in some municipalities in Lower Austria north of Vienna reported that they had to rescue trapped people from their homes overnight between Friday and Saturday. Residents living on riverfront streets were asked to leave their homes in several municipalities. Two subway lines in Vienna were partially shut down as a precaution. Austrian authorities on Sunday declared the northeastern province of Lower Austria a disaster area due to the flooding situation, where one firefighter was killed. The situation continues to worsen due to the massive rainfall throughout the country, Governor Mikl-Leitner said in Sank-Polten today morning. “For many, these will probably be the most difficult hours of their lives,’ she added. Lower Austria's designation as a disaster area grants local authorities additional powers, such as ordering evacuations. The Ottenstein reservoir on the Kamp, which is already nearly full, could overflow during the day. This would cause the river's lower reaches to swell dramatically once more, according to Austrian energy supplier EVN. The Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) has forecasted another 60 liters of rain per square meter ’in the coming hours’, with more flooding expected across the country. The situation is particularly precarious along the Kamp and Krems rivers, which flow into the Danube. (Source: aa)
Czechia
(Sunday), 15/09/2024 - 10:26 GMT+2T Severe floods, thousands evacuated in the eastern region of Moravia, and more than 260,000 are without power on Sunday morning. Strong winds caused trees and branches to fall onto power lines downing several utility poles. With the most eastern region of Moravian-Silesia enduring the worst power-cut, as 114,000 customers were affected. Thousands have been evacuated in the region. In Krnov large parts of the town, including the centre, were underwater. The Opava River has risen from one metre to nearly five metres, with a third-level flood alert in effect. The village of Mikulovice in the north-east, which hosts around 2,500 inhabitants, has seen its houses and roads flooded. Yesterday, in the second biggest city Brno, more than 180 patients were evacuated from the Brothers of Mercy Hospital to other facilities. Firefighters have responded to nearly 6,000 incidents in the last three days, severely impacting road and rail transportation. About 40 sections of railway tracks, especially in the Jesenicko area, are closed due to flooding, with the main Prague-Ostrava rail corridor at Studénka station heavily affected. Czechia's Prime Minister Petr Fiala had announced after meeting with emergency services earlier this week that the country needs 'to be ready for the worst case scenarios'. (Source: eurnews / AP)
France
(Sunday), Sep. 15 (2024) Fears of the confrontation escalating into a direct collision between Moscow and the NATO bloc have skyrocketed over the past few days, as the US and its allies reportedly consider authorizing Kyiv to conduct strikes deep in Russian territory using Western weaponry, Le Monde reported on Saturday. While France has announced 'no official position” on the matter, Paris has been concerned about potential escalation and has been trying to avoid it. On Thursday, Putin warned that removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons would directly involve the US and its allies in the conflict and would be met with an appropriate response. The president said that such weaponry relies solely on Western intelligence and targeting solutions, with Kyiv effectively unable to use it on its own. That position has been reiterated by Russia’s envoy to the UN, Nebenzia, who warned the move would constitute an 'open war' between NATO and Russia. "Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kyiv for everything,” Nebenzia stated. (Source: mehrnews * / MNA)
* headquartered Iran
Poland
15/09/2024 - 14:37 GMT+2 Poland's foreign minister Sikorski wants social security benefits for Ukrainian male refugees of draft age in the EU to stop, saying it encourages draft dodgers in Ukraine. There should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine, to ’help Ukraine's war effort’, Sikorski said, during the Yalta European Strategy, a forum for discussing Ukraine’s European future which was held in Kyiv. ’It's not a human right to be paid to avoid the draft, to defend your country,’ he told. Russia still has a strong advantage over Ukraine in terms of soldiers as well as weapons. Earlier this year, Ukraine already implement measures that included lowering the call-up age for combat duty to 25 from 27 to increase the pace of mobilisation into the army. Ending financial aid to Ukrainian men would save countries like the Netherlands and Germany tens of billions of euros if they decided to spend it elsewhere, Sikorski said. According to Sikorski, that money could be spent on the prevention of Russian drones crossing into NATO members' airspace, and could help Ukraine by strengthening the protection of Ukrainian nuclear power plants from air assault. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which came under Russian control in the wake of its full-scale invasion, saw artillery shelling in the area that damaged the facility’s power access. (Source: euronews)
Europe
(Sunday), September 15, 2024 4:19 PM CET Heavy rains moved over Central Europe from Italy in a phenomenon known as the Genoa low - from a low pressure area typically forming near the northern Italian city. The downpours led to increased runoff of water in the rivers, some of them overflowing dams and embankments, washing away bridges and inundating towns. Authorities declared the province surrounding Vienna a disaster area. Parts of the Czech Republic, southern Poland and Romania were underwater today after torrential rains in recent days caused massive flooding. The Czech Republic and Poland ordered evacuations from several flooded towns, while roads were closed and events canceled. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk received flak earlier last week after saying that ’forecasts aren’t overly alarming.’ In the following days became clear that some locations would receive the equivalent of a few months’ precipitation in just four days. The Polish government deployed the army to the most affected areas in scenes similar to the catastrophic floods in 1997 and 2010. European Commission President von der Leyen said the EU 'stands ready to support' areas hit by the flooding, in solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, she said in a post on X today. At least 7 deaths have been reported in the region, following days of heavy downpours - One died in Austria,. two in Poland and four in eastern Romania. Forecasts are for the adverse weather to gradually ease by Tuesday. (Source: politico)
(Sunday), 15/09/2024 - 10:48 Four people are missing in the Czech Republic, authorities said today, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains and flooding. Three were in a car that was swept into a river in the northeastern town of Lipova-Lazne, and another man was missing after being swept away by floods in the southeast. Heavy rains are expected to continue until at least Monday in the Czech Republic and Poland. 'We have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region' on the Polish-Czech border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today morning. Around 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko, and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters on the scene. (Source: france24 / AFP)
(Sunday), 15 Sep 2024 2:44 PM MYT Floods, fatalities, blackouts. Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds, rains and floods triggered by Storm Boris, which has brought widespread disruption to central and eastern Europe. In Austria, firefighters have intervened around 150 times in the capital Vienna since Friday to clear roads blocked by storm debris and pump water from cellars. Emergency services had made nearly 5,000 interventions overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes. Austria registered winds of 146 kilometres an hour in the south. Rail services were suspended in the country’s east early Sunday and several metro lines were shut down in the capital Vienna, where the Wien river was threatening to overflow its banks. Four thousand homes in the Styria region are without power and the 'peak is yet to come', Chancellor Karl Nehammer warned. In mountainous areas of the west, snow halted traffic and rescue services were searching for a man reported missing after an avalanche. Parts of northeast Austria have been declared a natural disaster area. Some areas of the Tyrol were blanketed by up to a metre of snow – an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) last week. Around 100,000 firefighters have been mobilised in the Czech Republic, where nearly 2,900 incidents were recorded on Friday, most of them due to fallen trees and floods. Almost 50,000 homes were without electricity on Saturday, and a hospital in the southeastern city of Brno was evacuated on Saturday morning. in Poland, the government warned the situation would be the most difficult in the southwest going into Saturday afternoon and evening. Authorities have shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks, closed several roads and halted trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa. Four people have died in Romania in floods. In Slobozia Conachi, a village in Galati, 700 homes had been flooded. Hundreds of people have been rescued across 19 parts of the country. Slovakia has declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bratislava. (Source: malaymail / AFP)
North America
United States
15.09.2024 Biden plans to use his remaining months at the White House to focus on Ukraine support, to ensure Ukraine is in the best possible position to prevail in its war with Russia, said National Security Adviser Sullivan yesterday, speaking remotely at a forum in Kyiv. He confirmed that Biden will meet with President Zelenskyy at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month to discuss continued US support. 'President Zelenskyy has said that ultimately this war has to end through negotiations, and we need them to be strong in those negotiations,' Sullivan said, emphasizing that Ukraine would determine the timing for any talks with Russia. Sullivan acknowledged delays in aid delivery, citing logistical challenges, not political hesitation. As the US election looms this fall, Biden's successor will either continue his policies through Democratic Vice President Harris or potentially shift course under the Republican candidate, former President Trump who has signaled he wants the conflict to end. Biden’s term ends in January, making him a so-called lame duck president. (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Ageny (Turkey)
(Sunday, 15 September 2024) 8:49 The UK and the US have reportedly discussed their shared concern that Russia provided nuclear secrets to Iran in exchange for ballistic missiles for its Ukraine war. Prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Biden discussed 'the fact' that Iran and Russia are strengthening their military cooperation during a summit in Washington on Friday, which also covered other key issues around war in Ukraine, including Kyiv’s use of Western long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia. Early last week the US secretary of state Blinken told reporters in the UK that Iran has supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. The weapons would likely be used in the war against Ukraine in the coming weeks. He warned about Russia sharing secret nuclear data with Iran as well as 'some space information'. “Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the FATH-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles. Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine,' he said. The United States, Britain, France and Germany hit Tehran with more sanctions. Iran has denied supplying weapons to Russia, rejecting the claims as 'completely baseless and false”. 'The potential deal' is expected to increase pressure on the US and UK to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles – Britain’s Storm Shadows and US ATACMS – to strike military targets inside Russia. It was a key topic discussed during the Washington summit but no decision was announced. (Source: independent *)
(* headquartered United Kingdom)
South America
Venezuela
Sep 15, 2024 Three American citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in the country on suspicion of plotting to destabilize it through "violent actions," the government in Caracas said. Venezuelan Interior Minister Cabello said that those detained had 'contacted French mercenaries, they contacted mercenaries from Eastern Europe and they are in an operation to try to attack our country.' He added that more than 400 rifles were seized and accused the detainees of plotting 'terrorist acts.' The United States denied Caracas' allegations it was involved. The State Department spokesperson additionally confirmed that a U.S. military member was being held. Tensions between Caracas and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after Venezuelan opposition candidate Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week ago, after being threatened with arrest. Maduro's claim to have won a third term in office sparked mass opposition protests, which claimed at least 27 lives and left 192 people wounded. About 2,400 people, including numerous citizens in their teens, were arrested in the unrest. Maduro's tenure since 2013 has seen GDP drop 80% in a decade, prompting more than 7 million of the country's 30 million citizens to emigrate. (Source: japantimes / AFP-JIJI)
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