Around 30 dead in Congo capital flooding, authorities say
KINSHASA, April 6 (Reuters) - Around 30 people have died in flooding in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, the provincial health minister said on Sunday, as torrential rains over the weekend destroyed homes and roads.
"The death toll is provisional, but so far there are around thirty dead," Patricien Gongo Abakazi told Reuters.
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The Ndjili River, which runs through part of the city of around 17 million, overflowed its banks on Friday night, blocking the main national road and leaving drivers stranded since Saturday evening.
"On the way home from the airport last night to welcome a friend, we spent the night in the car because there was no safe place to park," said Patricia Mikonga, a Kinshasa resident.
Several neighbourhoods were left without power.
Kerene Yala, a resident of Makala district, said the main problem in the area was the water supply cutoff.
Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba Lubaki said the water infrastructure had been affected but that supply would be reinstated within two or three days.
In a televised speech, he blamed illegal housing for some of the deaths and threatened to evict people from unplanned settlements.
Hydrologist Dr. Raphael Tshimanga Muamba said the river had been affected by human activity over time.
"These are anthropogenic actions where rivers are degraded; their dimensions no longer represent their initial capacity to contain floods," he told Reuters.
The flooding comes at a vulnerable moment for the Central African nation. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have intensified an offensive in the turbulent east of the country since the start of the year, with more than 7,000 people killed in the fighting in the first two months of the year.
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Reuters
4 hours ago
- Reuters
Brazil's fiscal package to include higher tax on interest on equity
BRASILIA, June 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday that the government's new fiscal package includes an increase in the income tax rate levied on so-called interest on equity (JCP) payments to 20% from 15%. JCP is a form of shareholder remuneration that allows companies to deduct such payments from their corporate tax base. Speaking to reporters, Haddad said that the decision to include the measure - previously proposed by the government but not voted on by Congress - came at the request of lawmakers. Haddad also confirmed that the fiscal package includes the unification of income tax rates on financial investments at 17.5%, replacing the current sliding scale of 15% to 22.5%, which varies according to the investment's holding period. The new rate would apply to all investments, including stocks and bonds, except those currently exempt from income levy, which would begin to be taxed at 5%, as Haddad had already disclosed on Sunday. The minister, who spoke after returning from a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the additional revenue generated by the package would be used primarily to revise the previously imposed financial operation tax (IOF) hike on forfait operations. The IOF decree, which had been introduced to boost public revenues and also raised the tax on private pension funds and some credit and foreign exchange transactions, triggered strong pushback from both Congress and market players, prompting the government to seek an alternative path as lawmakers threatened to overturn the measure. Haddad defended the new fiscal measures on Tuesday, arguing that they are likely to support the strengthening of the Brazilian currency, pave the way for interest rate cuts, and help ensure compliance with this year's and 2026 fiscal targets.
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Inside Syria's ‘human slaughterhouse' prisons where sick guards threw ‘execution parties' & floors were carpet of bodies
IT was one of the most fearsome regimes in the Middle East, ruling Syria with an iron grip and 'disappearing' hundreds of thousands of people during the country's brutal civil war. But President Bashar Al-Assad's dramatic toppling in December last year exposed the true horrors of his 'human slaughterhouse' prisons. 15 Rebels swarmed the now-empty prisons after the collapse of the Assad regime Credit: Getty 15 Saydnaya Prison near Damascus was the most notorious prison in the country Credit: Getty 15 The Assad regime collapsed in December 2024. Pictured: a former inmate demonstrates how he was forced to line up naked for a medical check before being taken to a solitary confinement cell at the basement of Saydnaya Credit: Reuters Here detainees were fed from buckets and tortured day and night by sadistic guards who often assassinated them and threw sick 'execution parties' - before disposing of the dead in mass graves. Now a harrowing new BBC documentary, on tonight, delves into what really went on in jails that let Assad keep his grip on power for so long - and hears not only from the inmates detained in them, but the people who ran them. 'When the prisoners heard my name, they would tremble,' said Hussam, a military policeman who worked in the notorious Saydnaya Prison. 'I beat them with all my strength. I showed them no mercy at all.' With the dictator gone, outsiders were free to explore the labyrinth of concrete corridors that only a few months before were filled with the echoing screams of gaunt prisoners. The floors were littered with files and photographs of detainees - some partially burnt in an attempt to cover up the crimes - just part of the meticulous records kept by the state of everyone who passed through the prison walls, their names replaced by a number. Families of the missing and imprisoned are seen in the documentary desperately crawling over rubble hunting for a trace of their loved ones - or at least the truth about what happened to them. Since 2000, dictator Bashar Al-Assad presided over a Syria where dissent was crushed and human rights abuses were rife. Crucial to his hold on power were his security services, who showed little mercy to prisoners accused of threatening the regime. 'As security officers we had the right to kill as we please. We wouldn't be held accountable,' said Colonel Zain, a former Air Force Intelligence officer interviewed on the documentary. Assad torture victims reveal horror of 'burned bodies' & forgetting their names – amid hunt for tyrant's thugs '[Our] mission, like any other agency, was to protect the ruling regime. You have unlimited authority." To them, these were terrorists - and death was the least they deserved. In 2011, protests in Tunisia turned into a call for better human rights across the Middle East and North Africa, a movement called the Arab spring. But when those protests swept into the squares of Syria's capital, Damascus, they were met with a fierce crackdown. Instead of toppling Assad, the country was plunged into a brutal civil war as different factions wrestled for control. During the 13 years of fighting, more than one million people were detained by the regime. Street kidnappings 15 A new BBC documentary tells the story of those who were locked up by Assad - and the officers administering the brutal torture Credit: EPA 15 The floors are littered with the belongings of former inmates Credit: Getty 15 A giant iron press was allegedly used to crush and torture prisoners Credit: Getty Shadi Haroun was one of the first organising protests back in 2011, along with his brother Hadi. After dodging shots from snipers on rooftops, he was bundled into a car and taken to what looked like an ordinary house in the suburbs of Damascus. But this was no home. It was an interrogation centre - and Shadi was to get his first taste of the Assad regime's determination to stamp him out. 'The soldier told me to open my mouth,' Shadi recalled. 'He put his gun inside, and said: 'You're going to get tortured to death. So why don't I make it easier and put you to rest?'' Soon after he was transferred to Mezzeh Air Force Intelligence base, one of the regime's most notorious detention sites. Like all those who opposed Assad, Shadi was deemed a terrorist - with torture their chosen method of extracting a confession. 'He called the investigator and said to him, 'This man, flay him and break his bones. Kill him, do whatever you want, but I need his confession on my desk',' said Shadi. This man, flay him and break his bones. Kill him, do whatever you want, but I need his confession on my desk Security official 'He told me to lie down. They handcuffed my hands behind my back, and then cuffed my feet and joined my hands and feet together. 'They wrapped me in a blanket, like being inside a pipe. I was sweating and the smell of blood was very strong. I stayed wrapped like that for about a week." Eventually Shadi was released. Undeterred, he began organising protests again, more determined than ever to bring down the regime. Carpet of bodies 15 Thousands still don't know the whereabouts of their imprisoned family members - be they dead or alive Credit: Reuters 15 Hundreds swarmed the now-open prisons, pleading for any sign of their loved ones Credit: Getty 15 Saydnaya was particular well-known for its inhuman conditions and human rights abuses that went on inside Credit: AFP Within nine months of the protests, thousands had been arrested, many bundled off the streets like Shadi and taken to secretive locations where they were tortured until they 'confessed'. At least 3,000 had already been killed. Syria's security forces had a network of spies and informants across the country that tracked people like Shadi's every move. 'You could find informants wherever you go,' said Sergeant Omar, an officer in the Air Force Intelligence. 'They could be a taxi driver, they could be a plumber, a mobile phone shop owner, a guy selling cigarettes. 'People were living in fear. This is why we'd say, 'the walls have ears'.' It wasn't long before soldiers pulled up to the house Shadi and his brother were hiding in. Arrested once again, they were taken to the notorious Air Force Intelligence branch in Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus. Those who entered would walk over the bodies of the detainees - you couldn't see the floor Colonel Zain Colonel Zain was second in command at the time. 'The place I worked in was very famous for its bloody practices and the number of detainees held there,' he said. 'We would pack 400 detainees in a room that was eight by ten metres. Those who entered would walk over the bodies of the detainees - you couldn't see the floor.' Shadi returned to Harasta with the documentary crew and showed them round the bare walls that once imprisoned him. 'The temperature was around 40 degrees, because it was so crowded,' said Shadi. 'We saw strange cases of disease amongst prisoners, I think due to oxygen deficiency because of overcrowding. These psychotic episodes soon turned into physical symptoms.' 'Torture parties' 15 Prisoners were executed with a noose around their neck Credit: Getty 15 Piles of clothing now litter the floors where once inmates were tortured for hours on end Credit: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett 15 Prison guards relished in administering beatings Credit: Getty Inside is a changing room, where inmates were stripped, and solitary confinement cells where prisoners would spend months, or even years, locked up. In a neighbouring room, Shadi is reminded of when he was chained up with his brother before being interrogated from pipes on the ceiling. 'We were taken there and hung by our handcuffs from the pipes,' he said. 'It was unbearable - for almost 72 hours, three days, in the same position, without food or drink.' Colonel Zain recalled: 'The interrogation room was right underneath my office. 'Everyone heard the screams. Everyone knew how the interrogations were conducted.' Four months into their detention, a truck pulled up that was normally used to transport meat and they were moved to Saydnaya, a prison with a reputation for brutality that preceded anywhere else in the country. Brainwashed guards treated prisoners like animals, subjecting detainees to continuous beatings. 'We were tortured for hours, and stopped keeping track of time,' recalled Hadi. 'If someone cried during a beating, the beating would get worse." Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive Intelligence officer Putting his arms up against a door, Shadi said: "They'd bring a cable and suspend us like this. This is the 'Ghost Method'. "They'd pull us up and we'd be on our toes - you'd last 30 minutes then you'd pass out." Up to 13,000 prisoners were executed here alone in the first four years of the civil war, according to Amnesty. 'I beat them with all my strength,' said Hussam, a military policeman. 'Our superiors would say, 'Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party… put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive'. 'When they'd call me to go and torture them, the prisoners would go back to their cells bloody and exhausted.' 'Execution parties' 15 Compartments uncovered in the prisons were filled with shoes belonging to executed prisoners Credit: Getty 15 Bodies of the dead were taken to military hospitals where their deaths were recorded as 'heart and respiratory failure' Credit: Getty Occasionally a prisoner would be dragged out of their cell, finally receiving a respite from the torture. But they were on their way to a secret trial - and death was the usual sentence. 'On Wednesday mornings, we'd have an 'execution party'," Hussam recalled. 'Our role during executions was to place the rope on the prisoner - only an officer could push the chair. 'One time, the chair was pushed, but after 22 minutes he didn't die. So I grabbed him and pulled him downwards, so another guard who was bigger and stronger said, 'Go I will do it.' 'Before he died he said one thing: 'I'm going to tell God what you did'.' The bodies of the dead - be it from execution, torture, or disease - were then taken to military hospitals where their deaths were registered. 'Most of the bodies suffered acute weight loss, resembling a skeleton,' said Kamal, an army nurse. 'Most of them suffered from skin lesions and rashes due to lack of hygiene - and most of them had torture marks." He added: 'It was forbidden to record the cause of death as torture. Even those killed from gunshots were recorded as heart and respiratory failure.' All the decision makers who had a role in oppressing the Syrian people escaped, and are now in hiding Shadi With the bodies piling up, mass graves were the only solution. At least 130 grave sites have been found across Syria so far - but dozens more are believed to be out there, known only to those who dug them out. There is little hope of identification for the thousands dumped there. Many of the guards and officers defected from Assad's regime, joining the rebels or fleeing the country. By 2019, the rebellion had largely been suppressed. Shadi and his brother were released at last, fleeing to exile in Turkey. Then, in December this year, rebel forces overwhelmed Damascus and Assad fled the country and claimed asylum in Russia. With the collapse of the regime, Shadi set to work helping others locate their missing friends and family. But for many there is little hope of ever finding out what really happened to them. 'Everyone, the detainees, and families of the missing, should keep talking about this,' he said. 'All the decision makers who had a role in oppressing the Syrian people escaped, and are now in hiding. 'They've left everybody to pick up the pieces - to deal with what they left behind.' Surviving Syria's Prisons airs tonight on BBC Two at 9pm.
North Wales Chronicle
9 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Deadly shooting by Israeli forces near Palestinian aid site in Gaza
The Israeli military said it fired warning shots at people it referred to as suspects who it said had advanced toward its troops hundreds of yards from the aid site prior to its opening hours. Experts and humanitarian aid workers say Israel's blockade and 20-month military campaign have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. #Gaza, another day of aid distribution another day of death traps. Day after day, casualties & scores of injured are reported at distribution points manned by Israel & private security companies. This humiliating system continues to force thousands of hungry & desperate people… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) June 10, 2025 Around 130 people have been killed in a number of shootings near aid sites run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which are in military zones that are off-limits to independent media. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots on previous occasions at people who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner. The foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points themselves. But it has warned people to stay on designated access routes and it paused delivery last week while it held talks with the military on improving safety. Two men and a child were killed and at least 130 were wounded on Tuesday, according to Nader Garghoun, a spokesperson for the al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. He said most were being treated for gunshot wounds. Witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces opened fire at around 2am local time (midnight BST), several hundred yards from the aid site in central Gaza. Crowds of Palestinians seeking desperately needed food often head to the sites hours before dawn, hoping to beat the crowds. Mohammed Abu Hussein, a resident of the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp, said Israeli drones and tanks opened fire, and that he saw five people wounded by gunshots. Abed Haniyah, another witness, said Israeli forces opened fire 'indiscriminately' as thousands of people were attempting to reach the food site. 'What happens every day is humiliation,' he said. 'Every day, people are killed just trying to get food for their children.' Israel and the United States say they set up the new food distribution system to prevent Hamas from stealing humanitarian aid and using it to finance militant activities. The United Nations, which runs a longstanding system capable of delivering aid to all parts of Gaza, says there is no evidence of any systematic diversion. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to decide who receives aid and by forcing Palestinians to relocate to just three currently operational sites. The other two distribution sites are in the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah, which Israel has transformed into a military zone. Israeli forces maintain an outer perimeter around all three hubs, and Palestinians must pass close to them to reach the distribution points. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken of creating a 'sterile zone' in Rafah free of Hamas and of moving the territory's entire population there. He has also said Israel will facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza's two million Palestinians to other countries – plans rejected by much of the international community, including the Palestinians, who view it as forcible expulsion. While people in #Gaza have lost everything and need everything, the Israeli authorities have blocked the delivery of safe and dignified aid at scale to the people of Gaza for over three months now. We are not asking for the impossible. Allow us to do our work: assist people in… — UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 9, 2025 Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, when Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. They still hold 55 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population, often multiple times.
