MAPUTO (Reuters) -The death toll from Tropical Cyclone Freddy has passed 300 people, with authorities in Mozambique taking several days to assess the extent of the damage and loss of life. The storm tore through southern Africa over the weekend for a second time after first making landfall in late February. It is one of the longest-lasting tropical cyclones ever recorded and one of the deadliest in Africa in recent years. At least 53 people have died in Mozambique s Zambezia province, authorities said late on Wednesday, more than doubling their previous count. The toll is expected to continue to rise, said U.N. children s agency UNICEF. Malawi has reported 225 dead so far, with hundreds more injured and some still missing. The storm killed about 27 people in Madagascar and Mozambique before lashing Mozambique a second time. Continued rain and power outages have hampered search and rescue efforts this week as the storm caused severe flooding, swept away roads and left bodies and houses
By Tom Gibb and Frank Phiri BLANTYRE (Reuters) -The last thing Lukia Akimu remembers is the surge of floodwater that hit her village near Mount Soche this week when Tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through southern Malawi. The next thing she knew, she woke up in hospital, her head wrapped in bandages and her neck in a brace. I saw a lot of water and some people being washed away. Then I do not know what happened. I do not know who brought me here, the 35-year-old said from a bed in Queen Elizabeth hospital in the city of Blantyre. It is not known whether any of her family members survived, a nurse told Reuters. Tropical Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 400 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar since it first made landfall in Africa in late February and circled back to hit the region for a second time over the weekend. The storm has now dissipated, but heavy rains are expected to continue in parts of Malawi and will likely cause more floods around lakeshore areas, the ministry of n
The Swiss government is easing some of its sanctions on Syria to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, including to earthquake victims. Amendments to the ordinance concerned will come into force at 6pm on March 6, the government said in a press release on Friday. The aim is to make it “easier for humanitarian actors active in Syria to establish the business relationships necessary for their work”. The 2012 sanctions rules ban money or economic resources from being provided to designated persons, entities and businesses, the government explains. Up to now, humanitarian actors receiving federal funding for their activities in Syria could obtain exceptions for financial transactions to provide humanitarian assistance. These exceptions have now been extended. “Humanitarian actors in receipt of federal funding may now provide money and economic resources directly or indirectly to designated persons, entities and businesses, when necessary to provide humanitarian assistance or s