Mali will observe three days of national mourning in memory of 44 victims who died in a traffic accident, according to a presidential decree on Thursday.

"A three-day national mourning, starting Thursday, August 5, 2021 at midnight is declared throughout the national territory," the Malian presidency said on Twitter.

The fatal accident occurred on Tuesday in the locality of Zambougou, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the capital of Bamako. The official death toll from the collision between a truck and a transport bus is 41, with 33 injured.

The identification of 80 victims continues.

Thirty-six people were injured, according to Mamadou Sangare, head of communications at the Nianankoro Fomba Hospital in the city of Segou, where victims were admitted.

He suggested the death toll could rise.

"Now in relation to the dead, the civil protection has brought back 40 bodies, but there are bodies that are totally shredded, so we cannot yet say what the figures are," Sangare told Anadolu Agency.

The accident occurred "on a road in very good condition" and "could be avoided simply by respecting the highway code," the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said in a statement.

"Flags are being flown at half-mast on all public buildings and edifices for the duration of the mourning period," to pay tribute to the victims, said Assimi Goita, president of the nation’s transition committee after two coups there in less than a year.

The West African nation of more than 19 million saw 8,935 road accidents in 2019, with 663 people killed and 7,797 injured, according to the National Agency for Road Safety in Mali.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dembele Madina Sissoko said the government will take "all necessary measures to prevent such accidents from happening again."/aa

The UN human rights chief sounded the alarm on Thursday for civilians in the southern Syrian city of Daraa that is experiencing intense fighting and indiscriminate shelling by regime forces and armed opposition groups.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the fighting is in and around Daraa, with the only route out strictly controlled by the Syrian regime.

"The stark picture emerging from Daraa al-Balad and other neighborhoods underscores how much at-risk civilians there are, repeatedly exposed to fighting and violence, and in effect under siege," said Bachelet.

"They are facing checkpoints, restrictions on their movements, tanks on the streets, and their property is being seized and stolen."

Regime forces and armed groups’ hostilities escalated at the end of July, with shelling and artillery strikes hitting residential areas.

It followed weeks of growing tension, during which the Bashar al-Assad regime imposed tighter controls on roads in and out of Daraa al-Balad, a former opposition stronghold, and other areas.

Bachelet's office said the aim was to pressure some members of armed groups to surrender, hand over their weapons, and relocate to northern Syria, and the regime forces have strengthened their military positions in Daraa al-Balad, stationing tanks in residential areas.

In recent days, they have only been allowing pedestrians out of Daraa al-Balad along the al-Saraya road, imposing strict security checks.

Opposition counterattacks

Armed opposition groups have launched counterattacks on several areas in the rural Daraa governorate, reportedly capturing dozens of regime soldiers.

It is the most severe confrontation since 2018, when regime forces established control over Daraa following various Russian-brokered reconciliation deals, said the UN.

Last week, the UN documented that reported ground-based strikes killed at least eight civilians by both Syrian regime forces and armed groups.

Among those killed were five family members whose home was hit in the town of al-Yaduda in western rural Daraa.

At least one mortar shell launched by unidentified armed individuals hit and damaged the Daraa National Hospital in Daraa al-Mahatta.

The UN rights office also said that it had confirmed that the regime forces had seized and occupied several private homes in Shamal al-Khat, al-Panorama, and al-Sabeel in Daraa al-Mahatta.

They had expelled the occupants and are not allowing them to take any of their belongings, it added.

"These forces also stole money, mobile phones, and laptops during searches of at least nine private houses on 30 and 31 July in Daraa al-Mahatta," said the rights office.

The escalation in hostilities has forced at least 18,000 civilians to flee Daraa al-Balad since July 28, many of them to the Daraa city and nearby. These include several hundred people sheltering in schools in Daraa al-Mahatta.

Bachelet reminded those involved in the conflict that international humanitarian law is clear regarding the protection of civilians.

"Tanks in residential areas and a checkpoint set up in a house strongly suggest the necessary precautions are not being taken," the UN human rights chief stressed.

"There needs to be an immediate ceasefire to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Daraa."/aa

Battling wildfires for over a week, Turkey said Thursday that it aims to bring all of them under control on Friday.

"We managed to prevent the blazes from advancing further despite strong winds today," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. "We aim to bring them totally under control tomorrow."

His remarks came in the fire-hit coastal province of Antalya in southern Turkey before a meeting at the coordination center of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in Manavgat district.

Regarding the forest fires in Manavgat, one of the hardest-hit regions, Cavusoglu said the fire response by air and land stopped the flames from spreading further.

Over 6,500 people and more than 1,800 vehicles have engaged in operations to contain the wildfires, he said, adding air elements had made 1,650 sorties today alone.

At least 770 people have been affected by the fires, with six of them currently receiving treatment in hospitals, Cavusoglu added. As many as 1,352 buildings are seriously damaged or completely destroyed.

So far, 17 million Turkish liras (almost $2 million) has been distributed for 1,055 families affected by the fires, he said, adding "we will quickly provide financial aid for citizens in areas which have been damaged."

Cavusoglu also said that the US offered to send two helicopters to help Turkey battle the massive fires and that the two countries are now working on the details.

-Removing traces of disaster

Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu also spoke from AFAD’s coordination center in Manavgat.

The government has put extraordinary efforts into fighting the fires since they erupted nine days ago, Karaismailoglu said before the evaluation meeting at the center.

”We will make great efforts to remove the traces of this disaster,” he stressed.

Noting that they are visiting the neighborhoods affected by the fires one by one, he said they are determining the needs of people on the ground.

”We continue to work effectively and in coordination with all our ministries and relevant institutions to meet these needs quickly,” he added.

Turkey has successfully contained a total of 180 wildfires in the last nine days, the country’s agriculture and forestry minister said Thursday.

The wildfires erupted in 38 of the country's 81 provinces, Bekir Pakdemirli said on Twitter, adding efforts are underway to put out the remaining 13 blazes in six provinces -- Adana, Antalya, Aydin, Denizli, Isparta and Mugla.

According to official figures, at least eight people have lost their lives since the fires started on July 28.

At least 24 Chadian soldiers were killed when Boko Haram terrorists attacked a military position overnight in the Lake Chad region, the country's army confirmed on Thursday.

The attack occurred against the army's position in the Tchoukoutalia area of Lac province, army spokesman Gen. Azem Bermandoa Agouna told reporters in the capital, N'Djamena.

The soldiers were returning from a routine patrol operation when they were attacked, said Agouna, who added that several military personnel were missing and that the army launched a counter-offensive with troops from a multinational force.

Boko Haram regularly launches targeted attacks in Lac. The last attack occurred on April 27.

The latest attack is reportedly the largest suffered by the army since the death last April of then-President Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled the country for 30 years.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets in N'Djamena last week to protest the ruling military junta.

Demonstrations were organized by The Transformers, an opposition party, along with several civil society groups to protest what they described as a "coup d'état" by the Transitional Military Council (CMT) that has ruled since Deby's death.

The CMT is led by the late president's son, 37-year-old four-star Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby, and 14 generals who were reportedly close to his father.

The military has promised to hold democratic elections at the end of an 18-month transitional period./aa

It has been 76 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9 in 1945 during World War II in the Pacific.

The bombs contained enriched uranium and had a blast yield of 13 kilotons of TNT.

The Hiroshima bombing destroyed everything within 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) of ground zero and created searing heat of 3,000 C (5,432 F) at its center. The bomb destroyed 70% of Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people by the end of 1945.

While many died without getting medical support, those who went to the city for help died from radioactive rain.

It is known that the reason then-US President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs was to offset the Soviet threat in East Asia and Eastern Europe, as well as to make a show of strength to the USSR.

In July 1945, the US, UK, and China issued the Potsdam Declaration that demanded Japan's surrender. But, Japan refused to do this unconditionally./aa

At the beginning of August, Japan made a "negotiated peace" offer to the Allied front but it was not accepted. Hiroshima was destroyed by the atomic bomb dropped on Aug. 6.

In a message on Aug. 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan declared his country "surrendered unconditionally," stating that "war would devastate the Japanese people."

- Hibakusha

While the Americans announced that the death toll from the atomic bombings was 117,000, the Japanese said it was close to half a million. Survivors called "Hibakusha," suffer from cancer, disfigurement, and hard-to-treat diseases.

The Hibakushas, whose numbers have dwindled, deliver a message on giving up nuclear weapons at commemorations held every August.

The atomic bomb, considered the breaking point of the war, forced Japan to surrender and led to a watershed in international relations.

The US and the Soviet Union constructed the means to mount more powerful hydrogen bombs they developed up to 1950 on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The bombings ushered in the age of excessive force capability, casting the shadow of nuclear war from 1960 to 1990.

During the Cold War, the two nuclear powers -- the US and USSR -- did not dare to directly declare war on each other.

Zambia inaugurated two new international airports on Thursday with an investment of nearly $1 billion.

President Edgar Lungu inaugurated the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital of Lusaka, built at a cost of $400 million.

Lungu said the airport had a capacity of 1 million passengers per year and it has a 50-room luxury hotel.

“This development was embarked on to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic, cargo volumes and passenger numbers,” he said.

And the Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) announced that the newly built Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) in Lusaka was open for public use.

It was built for $360 million.

“ZACL wishes to inform its esteemed customers and the general public that the newly constructed terminal-two at KKIA is now operational and will be used for international travel as of today. Domestic passengers will continue to be processed from the old terminal-omen until further notice,” airport management said in a statement.

The facility is expected to increase traffic to 6 million passengers annually from 2 million when only terminal one was operational.

The airports are set to place the southern African nation, renowned for tourism and mining prowess, as a hub for international travel.

And development is timely following the announcement by Qatar Airlines that it would begin flights on Friday to Lusaka./aa