States of Emergency Declared in France and Germany amid Rising Floodwaters

Tens of thousands evacuated as deadly floods sweep through France and Germany

French President has declared a State of Emergency in the areas devastated by floods, while German authorities declared  the “disaster alarm,” said reports.

Extreme rain events have triggered widespread flooding from Bavaria, Southern Germany, to Paris, France, killing at least a dozen people and destroying or damaging thousands of properties, roads and other public infrastructure.

The most affected city has been Nemours, south of Paris, where around 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes after the floods.

Soldiers have been deployed to help emergency personnel rescue stranded residents and motorists.

Meteo France, the country’s main weather agency, has put Paris region and six other departments on orange alert, the second-highest warning level on risk of floods, while the Seine-et-Marne department has been put on red alert.

The River Seine was forecast to peak six meters (19ft) above its normal level – the highest level since the 1910 Great Flood of Paris.

“New ‘Flesh-Eating’ Disease Spreading Across Syria and the Middle East”

Cases of Leishmaniasis up from 23,000 before the war to 41,000 in 2013: Syrian Ministry of Health

The disease is spreading across Syria, with cases also reported in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey, according to reports.

“Between 2000 and 2012, there were only six reported cases of the disease in Lebanon.”

However, in 2013 alone, some 1,033 cases were reported in Southern Lebanon, of which 96 per cent occurred among the displaced Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Ministry of Health has said.

Refugee settlements in Nizip, southern Turkey, have reported several hundred cases of the disease.

Speaking to Mail Online, Dr Waleed Al-Salem, one of the authors of the research was carried out in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: ‘It’s a very bad situation. The disease has spread dramatically in Syria, but also into countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and even into southern Europe with refugees coming in.

‘There are thousands of cases in the region but it is still underestimated because no one can count the exact number of people affected.

‘When people are bitten by a sand-fly – which are tiny and smaller than a mosquito – it can take anything between two to six months to have the infection.

‘So someone might have picked it up in Syria but then they may have fled into Lebanon or Turkey, oreven into Europe as they seek refuge.

‘Prior to the outbreak of war there was good control of diseases, parasites and sand flies but when the conflict started no one cared, conditions worsened and the health system broke down, which has created an ideal environment for disease outbreaks.’

Of course, it wasn’t that “no one cared.” It was that no one was able to provide adequate care because the United States, Israel, the GCC, and NATO had overrun the country with savage terrorists and destroyed the infrastructure, not to mention the Western sanctions imposed upon the country which, alone, would have made it difficult to treat.

Iraq Death Toll: More Than 2,300 Killed or Wounded in May

More than 2,300 people killed or wounded in Iraq last month

A total of 867 Iraqis were killed and another 1,459 were wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in May 2016*, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

The number of civilians killed in May was 468 (including 19 federal police, Sahwa civil defense, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department), and the number of civilians wounded was 1,041 (including 96 federal police, Sahwa civil defence, Personal Security Details, facilities protection police, fire department).

A total of 399 members of the Iraqi Security Forces (including Peshmerga, SWAT and militias fighting alongside the Iraqi Army but excluding Anbar Operations) were killed and 418 were wounded.

The overall casualty figures have risen over the previous month of April, where a total of 741 were killed and 1,374 were wounded.

The figures for May are likely to increase because they do not include the casualties from Anbar Governorate, scene of heavy combat in recent days and where the ongoing conflict has made any kind of verification extremely difficult.

“Iraqi civilians going about their daily life have been the target of terrorist suicide bombers and car bombs. In some of these attacks, pilgrims have been singled out. Residential neighbourhoods have sustained heavy damage. Armed clashes have spared no one. But the will of the Iraqi people, despite all the carnage, remains unshaken and this gives hope for the future. Joining the people of Iraq, in particular the residents of Baghdad where a number of attacks took place, I urge the Government to make every effort to prevent the occurrence of such outrages,” said The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq.

According to the casualties recorded for May, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 1,007 civilian casualties (267 killed and 740 wounded. Ninewa 56 killed, Diyala 49 killed and 93 wounded, Muthana 41 killed and 75 wounded, Salahadin 35 killed and 55 wounded, while Kirkuk had 7 killed and 62 wounded.

* CAVEATS: In general, UNAMI has been hindered in effectively verifying casualties in conflict areas. In some cases, UNAMI could only partially verify certain incidents. UNAMI has also received, without being able to verify, reports of large numbers of casualties along with unknown numbers of persons who have died from secondary effects of violence after having fled their homes due to exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care. For these reasons, the figures reported have to be considered as the absolute minimum.