News

‘Heartbreaking’: Afghan-Canadians say earthquake could make humanitarian crisis worse

Published

2 years ago

June 24, 2022

Some Afghan-Canadians say they are worried Wednesday’s magnitude 6 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan could heighten the country’s already dire humanitarian crisis.

Afghan state media said the earthquake’s death toll is now 1,150, with about 3,000 people injured, after a 4.2 magnitude aftershock took more lives on Friday. Close to 3,000 homes have also been destroyed or badly damaged, according to the reports.

“I was very shattered,” said Nooria Kamran, the co-founder and executive director of Children Without Borders, an Afghan-Canadian organization addressing child labour in Afghanistan.

“It was very shocking because what’s been going on in Afghanistan, every day you wake up, there’s something new, there’s something more shocking than what happened yesterday,” she said.

So far, the humanitarian response has lagged in both size and speed due to the lack of pre-positioned supplies and the level of hunger and poverty that already exist in Afghanistan. Heavy rains and winds have also hampered rescue efforts.

Children Without Borders had personnel on the ground delivering food packages and funds for medical treatment in Paktika province, the earthquake’s epicentre. Kamran said the province’s rural and mountainous landscape is making it more difficult for organizations to deliver aid.

“There’s a lack of medical treatment, there’s a lack of food, there’s all kinds of needs in Afghanistan right now,” Kamran said.

Houses in the area also have a weaker structure than those in Afghan cities, making them more susceptible to collapse, she said.

Thousands of stone and mud-brick homes crumbled in the quake, often trapping whole families in the rubble. Many of those who survived spent the first night outside in a cold rain. Since then, villagers have been burying their dead and digging through the rubble by hand in search of survivors.

Afghanistan was already facing the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history after the Taliban took control of the country last year, and an earthquake on top of that is “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking,” said Adeena Niazi, the founder and executive director of the Toronto-based Afghan Women’s Organization.

Afghanistan is grappling with staggering poverty at a time when the country as a whole is spiralling deeper into an economic crisis after many countries pulled back critical financing and development aid in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover.

“The health system in Afghanistan has almost collapsed, hospitals are closed because they don’t receive aid,” Niazi said.

“It’s already a huge crisis with medical services but now with this earthquake, I don’t know what will happen,” she said, adding that many Afghans stuck under rubble could die without access to medical treatment.

Niazi said she is worried the international community my not rush to aid earthquake victims in Afghanistan out of hesitance to hand funds and resources over to the Taliban-controlled government.

The country’s international isolation is also complicating relief efforts since fewer aid organizations have a presence in the country.

To show that aid for earthquake victims is welcome, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, who hardly ever appears in public, asked the international community and humanitarian organizations “to help the Afghan people affected by this great tragedy and to spare no effort.”

The current government in Afghanistan is desperate to get help to its people, Niazi said. “I know (the Taliban) are against women, they are against women’s education, but … they don’t have the capacity, they don’t have the resources, they cannot do anything,” she said.

“The people are victimized by the Taliban and also they are easy to ignore. They are punished by the international community because they are ruled by the Taliban,” Niazi added.

Global Affairs Canada said the federal government remains deeply concerned about the continuing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

“Canada is saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life as a result of the recent earthquake in Afghanistan. Canada offers its heartfelt sympathies to all victims and their families,” it said in a statement.

The department said it is not aware of any Canadians affected by the earthquake but will continue to monitor the situation closely and continue to support experienced humanitarian organizations that meet all of its requirements to respond to the needs of vulnerable Afghans.

In March, Canada allocated $143 million in humanitarian assistance to support vulnerable populations in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries.

— With files from Jordan Omstead and The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2022.

Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press

News

Flames re-sign defenceman Ilya Solovyov, centre Cole Schwindt

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Ilya Solovyov and centre Cole Schwindt, the NHL club announced Wednesday.

Solovyov signed a two-year deal which is a two-way contract in year one and a one-way deal in year two and carries an average annual value of US$775,000 at the NHL level.

Schwindt signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.

The 24-year-old Solovyov, from Mogilev, Belarus, made his NHL debut last season and had three assists in 10 games for the Flames. He also had five goals and 10 assists in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers and added one goal in six Calder Cup playoff games.

Schwindt, from Kitchener, Ont., made his Flames debut last season and appeared in four games with the club.

The 23-year-old also had 14 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Wranglers and added a team-leading four goals, including one game-winning goal, in the playoffs.

Schwindt was selected by Florida in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2019 NHL draft. He came to Calgary in July 2022 along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade that sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

Source link

News

Oman holds on to edge Nepal with one ball to spare in cricket thriller

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Anne Joseph

KING CITY, Ont. – Oman scored 10 runs in the final over to edge Nepal by one wicket with just one ball remaining in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Wednesday.

Kaleemullah, the No. 11 batsman who goes by one name, hit a four with the penultimate ball as Oman finished at 223 for nine. Nepal had scored 220 for nine in its 50 overs.

Kaleemullah and No. 9 batsman Shakeel Ahmed each scored five in the final over off Sompal Kami. They finished with six and 17 runs, respectively.

Opener Latinder Singh led Oman with 41 runs.

Nepal’s Gulsan Jha was named man of the match after scoring 53 runs and recording a career-best five-wicket haul. The 18-year-old slammed five sixes and three-fours in his 35-ball knock, scoring 23 runs in the 46th over alone when he hit six, six, four, two, four and one off Aqib Ilyas.

Captain Rohit Paudel led Nepal with 60 runs.

The 19th-ranked Canadians, who opened the triangular series Monday with a 103-run win over No. 17 Nepal, face No. 16 Oman on Friday, Nepal on Sunday and Oman again on Sept. 26. All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.

The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Canada (5-4) stands second in the World League 2 table. The 14th-ranked Dutch top the table at 6-2.

Oman (2-2 with one no-result) stands sixth, ahead of Nepal (1-5).

Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.

Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.

The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024

Source link

News

Vancouver Canucks will miss Demko, Joshua, others to start training camp

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players — the looming NHL season won’t be easy.

The team made strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday ahead of training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.

“To get to the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be hard. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team will open its camp on Thursday.

“So that’s the next level. It starts day one (on Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”

The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then ousted the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a gritty, six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game second-round set.

Last fall, Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.

“The challenges will be greater, certainly. But I believe the team that we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.

“As long as the team builds off what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”

Some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins, however.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goalie Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins it’s pre-season preparation.

Allvin did not disclose the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.

“He’s been in working extremely hard and he seems to be in a great mindset,” the GM said.

Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.

The six-foot-four, 192-pound goalie has a career 213-116-81 regular-season record with a .912 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with the Canucks.

Allvin also announced that veteran centre Teddy Blueger and defensive prospect Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each had “minor lower-body surgery.”

Vancouver previously announced winger Dakota Joshua won’t be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.

Tocchet said he’ll have no problem filling the holes, and plans to switch his lines up a lot in Penticton.

“Nothing’s set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”

The coach added that he expects standout centre Elias Pettersson to begin on a line with Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.

Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.

The glare on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old Swede struggled at times last season and put 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.

Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver ahead of camp.

“He seems to be a guy that’s more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of hockey ops. “This is a guy that I believe has worked really hard this summer. He’s done everything he can to play as a top-line player. … The expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team.”

A number of Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defencemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blue liner.

Several players could once again have career-best years for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they’ll need to be consistent and not allow frustration to creep in when things go wrong.

“You’ve just got to drive yourself every day when you have a great year,” the coach said. “You’ve got to keep creating that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is winning. That’s really what it comes down to.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

Source link