International
Tropical Storm Ana leaves trail of destruction in Madagascar
AFP
Residents in an inundated neighbourhood of Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo are returning with dread to see what remains of their homes and harvests, three days after Tropical Storm Ana relented.
Flooding has killed 51 people on the large Indian Ocean island off southeastern Africa since 10 days of intense rain began on January 17.
The storm formed to the east of Madagascar last week, causing floods and landslides and affecting around 130,000 people, with many made homeless overnight.
Ana then hit Mozambique and Malawi on the African mainland, killing 90 people across the three countries.
Rescue crews are still battling to access regions where roads and bridges have been swept away after the storm cut off tens of thousands and left them without power.
Travelling on makeshift boats, small groups row through water and a common floating plant called tsifakona normally given to pigs as food.
Some refused to spend the 300 Malagasy ariary ($0.08) for transport and are forced to carry their children where the water level remains high.
“I woke up at three o’clock in the morning to go to the toilet and found my house full of water,” said Ulrich Tsontsozafy, 66.
Recalling the ordeal from the top of a pile of chairs in his waterlogged room, the retired soldier is trying to find ways to avoid having his feet constantly in the water.
“It ruins your skin. It chafes and it infects,” he said of the floodwater, showing a fine white film that has developed on the skin between his toes.
– Humanitarian emergency –
Residents in Antananarivo’s swampy Betsimitatatra plain are used to living with water thanks to an ingenious system of wooden pontoons that usually connect houses.
But the storm has engulfed everything with a brownish water that reeks of silt, while rats seeking food swam at the surface for a few days.
Tsontsozafy’s rice paddy, coconut tree and avocado tree were destroyed.
His wife, Juliette Etaty, 65, managed to save some bags of rice, heaped up with pans and clothes in a pile that reaches their ceiling.
Their grand-daughter Luciana, 17, remembered waking up in the middle of the night with her feet dipped in water.
“The first thing I thought of was my school notebooks,” she said.
Gyms and schools in the capital have been requisitioned and turned into emergency shelters.
But the family preferred not to go for fear of catching Covid-19 in a crowded space and leaving their home vulnerable to burglars and the elements.
Toky Ny Nosy, an unemployed 42-year-old, took shelter in a school as she thought her home was about to collapse under the weight of the deluge.
She also suffers from asthma and said the water was preventing her from breathing properly.
Despite coming back to her neighbourhood every day for almost two weeks, the water still reaches her hips.
Hundreds of families huddled in a classroom converted into an emergency shelter watch the arrival of a truck laden with food for the evening.
But “there’s never enough,” said Toky.
International
Merengue concert turns to mourning as Jet Set collapse claims 136 lives
Dominican rescue teams will end search and recovery operations on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Jet Set nightclubin Santo Domingo, where the building collapsed during a live concert.
Authorities estimate that the final 20 bodies will be recovered from the rubble today, bringing the official death toll to 136. This includes 12 additional bodies found overnight in the disaster zone, adding to the previously confirmed 124 fatalities.
Outside the collapsed nightclub, desperate relatives of the missing continue to gather, clinging to hope for news. Many also visited nearby hospitals and morgues in search of their loved ones.
A list of confirmed victims has been posted on a tent set up near the site, where the bodies are being transferred for identification.
The tragedy occurred during a performance by renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among the deceased.
Central America
Colombia to host fourth EU-CELAC Summit in November
The Fourth Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will take place on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by the Colombian government and the European Council.
The summit will be co-chaired by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, and European Council President António Costa, the statement added.
The last EU-CELAC summit took place in July 2023 in Brussels, when both blocs agreed to hold these meetings every two years.
The summit brings together the 27 EU member states and the 33 CELAC countries, representing 14% of the global population, 21% of global GDP, and one-third of the members of the United Nations, the communiqué noted.
International
Russia and US to Meet in Istanbul for Diplomatic Talks on April 10
The Kremlin confirmed today a forthcoming meeting with the United States to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, which will take place in Istanbul.
“Our participation will be through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, during his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov was responding to a question about who would represent Russia in the new round of negotiations, which is supposedly scheduled for April 10.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the delegations will be led by the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Alexandr Darchiev, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
These are the same negotiators who met in late February in Istanbul, where the expert-level negotiation format was the same, according to the source.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said a few days ago that the next meeting would be held in the Turkish city, though he did not confirm a date.
Lavrov, who participated in only one of these meetings, clarified that the upcoming discussions would address the issues still dividing Moscow and Washington diplomatically, referring to the operations of both countries’ embassies.
The Kremlin asserted that Washington has not yet responded to Russia’s security concerns, preventing a ceasefire declaration on land, sea, and air.
Meanwhile, Trump expressed discontent with Russia’s recent attacks, including one last week that killed 20 people in Krivi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
So far, Russia has rejected a cessation of hostilities and only declared a 30-day ceasefire on March 18 against attacks on energy infrastructure, which was extended by Kyiv a week later.
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