On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on a Cuban security minister and a special forces unit. As FP’s Elise Labott writes, from “Cuba to South Africa to Colombia to Haiti, often violent protests are sweeping every corner of the globe” as a perfect storm of preexisting conditions gets exacerbated by new and deadlier waves of the coronavirus-even as much of the developing world remains unvaccinated and completely exposed.Īs new grievances emerge while old wounds fester, this is quickly becoming one of the most unpredictable summers of discontent in recent memory.Ĭuba sanctions. It’s not just the weather and environment that’s wreaking havoc. And there have been deadly wildfires in North America and Russia. Turkey, Japan, and Northern Ireland have set records for high temperatures in recent days. Meanwhile, Germany has been left reeling by floods that killed at least 188 people. In southwestern Iran, hundreds of people have been demonstrating in often violent protests this week because of severe water shortages. And although there’s no way to measure such a claim, there is widespread consensus that extreme climate events are taking place with increased frequency all over the world. Regional officials have described the amount of rainfall as a “ once in a thousand years” event. Apple and Nissan factories are among those wrecked by the flooding.Ĭlimate change. Henan is home to a large number of factories, and as Foreign Policy’s James Palmer noted in this week’s China Brief, consumers can expect several disruptions to global supply chains already rattled by the coronavirus pandemic. And although Zhengzhou is the worst-hit area, smaller cities and villages have been deeply affected. Entire neighborhoods have been submerged. At least 33 people have died so far-a toll that will undoubtedly rise-and more than 250,000 people have been displaced. On Tuesday, the provincial capital of Zhengzhou received the equivalent of one-third of its average annual rainfall in the span of one hour. Since Sunday, record rainfall has led to mass flooding across a region that is home to nearly 100 million people. The government cited flood control along the Yangtze as one of the main reasons for the dam project that forced the relocation of 1.4 million people and cost 156bn yuan.As rescue and recovery efforts continue following heavy flooding, residents of Henan province in central China are bracing for even more rain as a historic crisis worsens for one of the country’s poorest provinces. Xinhua and the state broadcaster China Central Television reported that the Three Gorges Dam was dealing with its highest ever water levels when a flood crest passed the dam. In nearby Sichuan province rescuers searched for 13 missing people after a landslide hit Xujiaping village, burying homes and blocking roads. In all, flooding and landslides from rain-soaked hillsides in Shaanxi have killed 37 and left a further 97 missing. Three people were killed late on Sunday night by landslides in Lingao county in Shaanxi province that also left 17 missing, Xinhua reported. Soldiers have been using bulldozers to plough through debris in search of survivors from separate landslides in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, while workers in other parts of the country scrambled to drain overflowing reservoirs and pile up sandbags to prevent further flooding, the official Xinhua news agency reported. With the flood season far from over, this year is shaping up to be one of the most devastating since 1998, which was the worst in 50 years.įlooding, particularly along the Yangtze river basin, has overwhelmed reservoirs, swamped towns and cities, and broken off hillsides causing landslides that have smothered communities. All the figures, Liu said, were the highest China had seen since 2000. Aside from the dead and missing, 645,000 houses were toppled and overall damage totalled 142.2bn yuan (£13.7bn).
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