Death toll from Maui fires continues to rise
A summer of ferocious weather across much of the U.S. has now yielded the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century. On the Hawaiian island of Maui, at least 93 people have been confirmed dead, more than 2,200 buildings have been leveled and many people on the island remain unaccounted for after what began as scattered brush fires quickly escalated.
The death toll could increase as rescuers travel to parts of the state that have been blocked by fires or by closed roads, and a precise figure may not be known for weeks. Dozens of people have also been injured, some critically.
No cause for the fire has been determined, but experts said one possibility was that active power lines that fell in high winds ignited the wildfire that ultimately spread to Lahaina, a coastal town of 13,000 in western Maui that was leveled. Low humidity and strong mountain winds, as well as worsening drought conditions, probably also contributed to the fire, as did invasive plant life.
Related: Those staying near Lahaina say they have received far more help from volunteers than from federal and local agencies.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, without fighter jets
Lacking significant air power, can Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive prevail? Military officials and experts say yes — but it is likely to be far more difficult without F-16 fighter jets, an advanced aircraft and a pillar of the warfare tactics that the West has urged Ukraine to adopt.
The Biden administration waited more than a year before letting NATO countries send the jets to Ukraine. By the time pilots are trained, it will be too late for them to assist and protect ground forces slogging through this phase of fighting.
Some experts said that the dearth of air power had put Ukraine at a disadvantage against Russian attack helicopters, which have picked off Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles. With more warplanes, one Austrian intelligence officer said, Ukraine could better defend its ground troops from such attacks. Neither Ukraine nor Russia has achieved air superiority since the war began last year.
In other news from the war:
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Russian shelling killed at least seven people, including a family of four, in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, officials said.
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Ukraine’s military has made “tactically significant” progress in its counteroffensive, analysts say, making gains that have forced Moscow to divert forces from other parts of the front line.
Deadly boat accident in Senegal
At least 16 bodies of migrants hoping to reach Spain were recovered in Dakar, the capital of the Western African nation of Senegal. Their bodies washed ashore about three weeks after the migrants’ wooden fishing boat struck a ring of underwater rocks. It was the latest in a string of tragedies to befall people risking the treacherous ocean route to Europe.
The boat was being chased by patrol vessels from Spain and Senegal in near-total darkness when it hit the rocks, a witness…
2023-08-13 23:05:06
Article from www.nytimes.com
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