Deadly Typhoon Pummels Philippines, Kills Seven

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, PHILIPPINE STAR (Philippines)

MANILA - Seven people have been confirmed killed from the onslaught of typhoon Saola (also named typhoon Gener) in the Philippines, the Philippine STAR reports. Several others are still missing.

Philippines' National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that 8,298 families or 40,477 persons in 14 provinces were affected by the tropical storm that strengthened into a typhoon late Monday, adding that about 20,000 persons were displaced and had to be welcomed in government-run evacuation centers.

Typhoon Saola is expected to leave the Philippines' area and fade away in the direction of Taiwan by Thursday – altough heavy to torrential rains, together with strong to gale force winds, will continue to ravage the region for the next couple of days, with risks of flashfloods and landslides.

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Geopolitics

pope francis africa

Minerals And Violence: A Papal Condemnation Of African Exploitation, Circa 2023

Before heading to South Sudan to continue his highly anticipated trip to Africa, the pontiff was in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he delivered a powerful speech, in a country where 40 million Catholics live.

Vatican Media/ANSA/ZUMA Vatican Media/ANSA/ZUMA

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — You may know the famous Joseph Stalin quote: “The Pope? How many divisions has he got?” Pope Francis still has no military divisions to his name, but he uses his voice, and he does so wisely — sometimes speaking up when no one else would dare.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (the former Belgian Congo, a region plundered and martyred, before and after its independence in 1960), Francis has chosen to speak loudly. Congo is a country with 110 million inhabitants, immensely rich in minerals, but populated by poor people and victims of brutal wars.

That land is essential to the planetary ecosystem, and yet for too long, the world has not seen it for its true value.

The words of this 86-year-old pope, who now moves around in a wheelchair, deserve our attention. He undoubtedly said what a billion Africans are thinking: "Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered!"