Indonesia identifies aggravator of Sumatra flood deaths
After the death toll from cyclone-induced floods in Sumatra surpassed 800 – making it the most deadly natural disaster to hit the Indonesian island since the 2004 tsunami – the Indonesian government has pledged to take action against mining firms that illegally cleared forests, which may have added to the potency of the floods. The environment ministry will also query logging and palm plantations after logs turned into projectiles during the tropical storm. Will it be enough? Some locals are furious with the government for ignoring their protests over deforestation – North Sumatra lost 28% of the tree-covered area of its tree-covered area from 2001 to 2024, according to a monitoring group, contributing to the devastation over the weekend.
Tunisian crackdown widens
Police on Thursday arrested opposition leader Ahmed Nejib Chebbi just days after he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a mass trial of government critics that human rights experts say was a sham. On Tuesday, leading human rights lawyer Ayachi Hammami, a former government official himself, was also arrested. Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab spring in 2011, has been sliding swiftly back towards authoritarianism under the presidency of Kais Saied, a constitutional lawyer known as “robocop” for his lack of charisma. He suspended parliament in 2021, and has ruled virtually unopposed since then.
Washington hosts DRC-Rwanda peace ceremony
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame will sign a symbolic US-brokered peace deal in Washington, even as heavy fighting between Congolese forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels continues in eastern DRC. The process first began in June, but requires Rwanda to withdraw M23 troops and the DRC to eradicate a militia of Hutu extremists within its borders. Neither has yet complied and parallel talks between the Congolese government and the M23 have stalled. Alongside the peace proceedings, the US is also eyeing Congo’s vast mineral wealth.
