������Ƶ

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s famed tourist island, Bali, was in a state of emergency on Thursday after it was inundated by severe flash flooding that left at least 14 people dead.

A torrential downpour this week triggered flooding across seven regions in Bali, including its provincial capital Denpasar, as multiple rivers burst their banks and tore through parts of the island. 

Although the rain has stopped and water levels receded in most areas, the Bali provincial government has declared a week-long state of emergency, as hundreds of rescuers continue draining affected areas and searching for survivors. 

“A joint response team is still conducting emergency operations, including searching for survivors and flood and landslide control,” Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said in a statement. 

The Bali Search and Rescue Agency said at least three people were still missing on Thursday, while more than 500 people in Denpasar and Jembrana regency remained in temporary shelters.

The severe flooding in Bali had blocked major roads a day earlier, including access to the island’s international airport. Most of the deluge was reported in Denpasar, with the heavy rain also triggering landslides in 27 areas. 

Suharyanto, who heads the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said that the floods damaged at least 474 kiosks and small shophouses in art and public markets, while submerging hundreds of other houses and buildings. 

“The floods were caused by high rainfall intensity resulting from a natural phenomenon known as the Rossby-Kelvin waves. For the next few days, rainfall caused by these waves will no longer affect Bali because it’s moving to the west,” he said in a press conference. 

Suharyanto said that authorities are planning to move quickly into the reconstruction phase, adding that the state of emergency will allow the central government to provide assistance to the regional government as part of a collaborative post-disaster response. 

As Indonesia’s top tourist destination, Bali welcomed more than 6.3 million international travelers and 10.1 million domestic tourists last year.

Heavy rain also caused flooding this week in East Nusa Tenggara province, where at least five people were killed and three others were missing. 

BARCELONA: Spanish sports minister Pilar Alegria said late on Wednesday night that Israeli teams should be banned from sports in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighting a “double standard.”
The presence of a team named Israel-Premier Tech at the Vuelta a Espana cycling grand tour has led to huge protests in Spain, whose government has described Israel’s offensive in Gaza as “a genocide.”
Israel-Premier Tech is a private outfit owned by billionaire Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams, not a state team, but has been hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to quit the Vuelta despite vehement protests.
“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria told Spanish radio station Cadena SER.
“Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022,” she added.
“No team, no club from Russia participated in an international competition, and when the individuals participated they did it under a neutral flag and without a national anthem.”
Alegria said she would like Vuelta organizers to block Israel-Premier Tech from competing but accepted that such a decision could only be taken by cycling world governing body UCI.
Logical Protests
Various stages of the Vuelta have been affected by protests, with stages 11 and 16 shortened during racing, while Thursday’s stage 18 time trial has also been cut short in advance for security reasons.
Alegria said she hopes the race can be completed, with Sunday’s final stage heading into Madrid expected to be targeted by various protests.
“It would not be good news if the race cannot finish,” said Alegria.
“However what we’re seeing these days with the protests is in my opinion logical,” she added.
“(The protests) are a clear representation of what the people feel, sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.”
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist coalition government has taken one of Europe’s strongest pro-Palestinian stances, straining ties with Israel.
“(Israel) have killed more than 60,000 people, children, babies starving to death, hospitals destroyed,” added Alegria.
“So it is important that sport, given this situation, takes a position at least similar to what it did against Russia.”