Karachi mayor warns against unnecessary movement with more rain expected from potential cyclone

Dawn , Pakistan,

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab warned citizens against unnecessary movement on Thursday as more rain is expected due to a potential cyclone over the Rann of Kutch in India that is likely to emerge along the Sindh coast tomorrow morning.

According to an alert from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued at 10pm today, a deep depression over the Rann of Kutch has very slowly moved west/southwest over the last 12 hours and now lies around 250 kilometres east/southeast of Karachi.

“The system is likely keep moving further west/southwestwards, emerge into northeast Arabian Sea along Sindh coast by tomorrow morning and intensify further into a cyclonic storm due to favourable environmental conditions, sea surface temperature, low/moderate vertical wind shear and upper-level divergence,” the statement read.

According to Zoom Earth’s live radar, the system has a high chance of developing into a tropical cyclone in the next 24 hours.“It’s been raining since last three days and in the next few hours, it is expected that there will be heavier rainfall with strong winds,” Mayor Wahab said on X as he urged people to avoid unnecessary movement.

Under the system’s influence, widespread rain and thunderstorms, along with scattered heavy/very heavy and isolated extremely heavy falls, are likely till August 31 in the Karachi division as well as Tharparkar, Badin, Thatta,Sujawal, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Jamshoro, Dadu and Shaheed Benazirabad districts.

Sea conditions are likely to remain very rough with squally winds of 50 to 60 km/hour, the PMD alert warned. It advised fishermen not to venture into the sea till August 31.

“PMD’s cyclone warning centre in Karachi is monitoring the system and will issue the update accordingly,” the statement said. “The concerned authorities are requested to keep them abreast through PMD advisory.”

The powerful weather system made its presence felt early on Tuesday morning with a windstorm and heavy showerslashing Karachi, disrupting life and damaging civic infrastructure.

The PMD’s forecast of up to 200mm of rain in Karachi and 500mm in other cities in Sindh has kept the authorities on their toes to take urgent measures to deal with the potential risk of urban flooding.

With Pacific policing deal, Australia curtails China influence in long diplomatic game

The Straits Times,

SYDNEY – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been cutting down on his international travel recently as he prepares for an election in early 2025, but he spent three days in the small Pacific nation of Tonga this week for a summit that he could not afford to miss.

Since 2018, when newly appointed leader Scott Morrison stayed at home, Australian prime ministers have made sure that they attend the annual leaders’ summit of the Pacific Islands Forum, an 18-member grouping that includes Australia and New Zealand.

This heightened interest in the Pacific has been prompted by concerns in Canberra, Wellington and Washington about China’s rising influence in the region.

In 2019, China persuaded two Pacific countries – Solomon Islands and Kiribati – to switch allegiance to it from Taiwan. Nauru switched in January 2024. China also signed a secret security deal with the Solomon Islands in April 2022, raising concerns in Canberra that it could lead to the establishment of a military base.

But Australia has been fighting back and trying to limit China’s influence –and this week’s summit delivered Canberra a significant diplomatic victory in the form of a new regionwide policing deal.

The Pacific Policing Initiative, to be funded by Australia at a cost of A$400 million (S$354 million) over five years, will involve training police from across the region in Brisbane, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, and three other Pacific cities to be determined.

Pacific officers will then be able to deploy across the region to assist in dealing with crises such as national disasters or civil unrest, or to protect major events such as an upcoming Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Samoa.

Associate Professor Graeme Smith, an expert on China-Pacific relations from the Australian National University, told The Straits Times that the new police initiative is much needed, especially to combat transnational crimes such as drugs and human trafficking.

But he said the initiative also delivered a win for Canberra in its bid to counter China’s reach, especially as Beijing has been seeking to secure policing deals with countries such as Papua New Guinea.

“Given transnational crimes in the Pacific, this initiative is pretty necessary,”he said. “It is a victory for Australia, but not one they should celebrate too loudly.”

Indeed, Mr Albanese was careful to insist that the initiative was requested and backed by Pacific leaders. “This is Pacific-led,” he told ABC Radio on Aug 30.“Having that consistency,interoperability, will mean that all of the police forces can be more effective.”

Male-dominated gov’t-funded forum rushes to add female speakers over UK ambassador’s boycott

The Korea Times,

This year’s Global Korea Foum (GKF), an annual international conference hosted by the Ministry of Unification, has added more female panelists after being criticized for its lack of diversity.

According to the website of the GKF 2024, Friday, the panel speakers for next Tuesday’s forum are comprised of 20 men and seven women, significantly increasing the female presence from its previous 4.7 percent — 20 men and one women — to over 25 percent.

The addition came after British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks decided not to participate in the event, citing concerns over the lack of gender diversity among the invited speakers, as reported by The Korea Times on Wednesday.

The British Embassy at the time officially confirmed the ambassador’s withdrawal from the event, stating:The ambassador is unable to take part in the Global Korea Forum (scheduled for Sept. 3).The British Embassy is committed to gender equality. We believe that events are enriched by the diversity of perspectives of those participating.

British ambassador to Korea withdraws from gov’t forum due to women’s underrepresentation An official from the unification ministry said the ministry had accepted the criticism that the forum should be conducted in line with the values of gender equality.

The newly added female panelists include Korea Institite for Defense Analyses (KIDA) research fellow Kwon Bo-ram, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses head of security strategy Lee Ho-ryoung,Kangwan National University professor Chung Ku-youn, Renmin University of China professor Ahn Yin-hay, National Institute for Unification Education professor Jeong Eun-chan and Korea Peninsula Future Women’s Institute Director Hyun In-ae.