Connect with us

Published

on

The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency has abruptly resigned – a day after saying he had no regrets about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that killed at least 111 people.

Maui County Emergency Management administrator Herman Andaya had been heavily criticised by residents and the media over the island’s response to the fires.

A statement from Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Mr Andaya had resigned because of health reasons.

“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Mr Bissen said.

Damage in Lahaina caused by deadly wildfires on the island of Maui in Hawaii
Pic:Kyodo/AP
Image:
Damage in Lahaina caused by deadly wildfires on the island of Maui in Hawaii
Pic:Kyodo/AP


The resignation takes place one day after Mr Andaya made his first appearance in a press conference, which came more than a week after the catastrophe destroyed or damaged 2,200 buildings and caused some $5.5bn (£4.3bn) in damage.

Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for.

Some Maui residents say lives could have been saved had emergency sirens sounded, but Mr Andaya’s agency opted against using them, saying they would have been ineffective and confusing.

More on Hawaii

“The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded,” Mr Andaya said during Wednesday’s press conference, which grew tense at times as reporters questioned the government’s response during the fire.

“Had we sounded the siren that night, we’re afraid that people would have gone mauka (to the mountainside) and if that was the case then they would have gone into the fire,” Mr Andaya said.

The siren system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Aerial footage shows Hawaii devastation

Read more:
Children among victims yet to be identified, says governor
Governor warns dozens more could be dead
Dramatic before and after shots show impact of blaze

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, who is yet to visit Hawaii, vowed on Thursday that the US government would remain steadfast in its commitment to help the people of Maui recover.

In a brief video, Mr Biden said the federal government had already sent hundreds of emergency personnel, thousands of meals, and essential supplies such as cots and blankets to the devastated town.

“We will be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,” said Mr Biden.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Biden to visit Hawaii on Monday

The president plans to travel to Hawaii on Monday to survey the devastation and meet first responders and survivors.

Back in the Pacific Ocean state, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a written statement on Thursday that she will appoint a private, third-party agency to investigate and review how state and county officials responded to the wildfires.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green has tasked Ms Lopez with carrying out a comprehensive review of actions taken before, during and after the wildfires.

Continue Reading

World

Russia’s clear warning that it can easily chip away at Europe’s defences

Published

on

By

Russia's clear warning that it can easily chip away at Europe's defences

The brutality of Russia’s drone assaults on Ukraine’s towns and cities shows no let up.

“Savage strikes, a deliberate targeted terror” is how the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the latest overnight bombardment.

Some 595 attack drones and 48 missiles were involved and even if only a small fraction made it through Ukrainian air defences, the destruction – in Sumy and Odessa, Zaporizhia and Kyiv – is significant.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Russia strikes Kyiv in major attack

Also overnight, Denmark reported yet more drone sightings.

It has not named Russia directly but after a week in which unidentified drones have resulted in the temporary shutdown of military and civilian airports, it is banning all civil drone flights and describing the threat as a hybrid attack.

Germany is also raising the alarm over unexplained drone activity along its border with Denmark.

Germany’s interior minister said on Saturday: “We are witnessing an arms race, an arms race between drone threats and drone defences. It is a race we cannot afford to lose.”

NATO is having to deploy extra assets to beef up its Baltic Sea defences and its Eastern flank.

European nations are working to establish a drone wall along their borders with Russia and Ukraine.

Germany is setting up a drone defence centre to make sure it has what it needs to protect itself.

The Kremlin is forcing NATO to divert assets to protect its airspace and sub-sea infrastructure at a time when Europe is trying to work out how best to support and finance Ukraine.

Read more:
Putin’s top diplomat issues warning
Why Trump has made a U-turn

With drones an inexpensive element of its hybrid warfare arsenal, Russia is sending a clear warning that it can relatively easily chip away at Europe’s defences and that Europe had better focus on protecting itself.

“If NATO begins to look too rattled, that actually is encouragement for Putin precisely to step up the pressure,” says Mark Galeotti, a specialist in Russian security. “So really we need to be holding our nerve.

“Yes, reserving the right to shoot things down that look like direct threats, but otherwise actually talking down, not talking up, the nature of the threat while of course we arm so that we are even more prepared.”

Last week, Estonia said its fighter jets had escorted three Russian MIG fighter jets out of their airspace after a 12-minute incursion, which Russia denies ever took place.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Russia denies violating Estonia airspace amid NATO outrage

On Saturday, Estonia pledged €10m (£8.7m) to NATO’s “Prioritised Ukraine Requirement List” or PURL programme, which sees US-produced weapons, paid for by NATO’s European partners, fast-tracked to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy posted on Sunday after speaking with the NATO secretary general that PURL is moving forward well. And that is just what Russia is trying to prevent.

Continue Reading

World

Contact with two hostages ‘lost’ during Israeli operations in Gaza, Hamas’s armed group says

Published

on

By

Contact with two hostages 'lost' during Israeli operations in Gaza, Hamas's armed group says

Hamas’s armed group has claimed it has lost contact with two hostages as a result of Israel’s operations in Gaza – after it called on air deployments to be stopped for 24 hours.

In a statement, Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades said it had demanded that Israel halt air sorties for 24 hours, starting at 6pm, in part of Gaza City, to remove the hostages from danger.

It comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump and as the number of those killed in Gaza surpasses the 66,000 mark, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Volunteer nurse’s video diary of Gaza horrors

A total of 48 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas, the militant group which rules Gaza, with about 20 believed by Israel to still be alive. A total of 251 hostages were taken on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel which killed 1,200 people.

Situation on the ground

In Gaza, a war-torn enclave where famine has been declared in some areas and where Israel has been accused of committing acts of genocide – which it has repeatedly denied – the almost two-year war raged on.

On Sunday, the number of those killed rose to at least 21 as five people were killed in an airstrike in the Al Naser area, local health authorities said, while medics reported 16 more deaths in strikes on houses in central Gaza.

The Civil Emergency Service in Gaza said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international
organisations, to rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City.

Israeli authorities had no immediate comment. The military earlier said forces were expanding operations in the city and
that five militants firing an anti-tank missile towards Israeli troops had been killed by the Israeli air force.

Read more:
Volunteer nurse’s video diary of Gaza horrors
Blair being lined up to lead temporary Gaza administration – reports

‘We will get it done’

In Monday’s White House meeting, President Trump is expected to share a new 21-point proposal for an immediate ceasefire.

His proposal would include the release of all hostages within 48 hours and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, according to three Arab officials briefed on the plan, the PA news agency reports.

A Hamas official said the group was briefed on the plan but has yet to receive an official offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Hamas has said it is ready to “study any proposals positively and responsibly”.

Mr Trump, who has been one of Israel’s greatest allies, said on Sunday there is “a real chance for greatness in the Middle East”.

It is unclear, however, what Mr Trump was specifically referring to.

He said in a Truth Social post: “We have a real chance for Greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, first time ever. We will get it done.”

On Friday – the same day a video of diplomats walking out on Mr Netanyahu during his address to the United Nations went viral – Mr Trump said he believed the US had reached a deal on easing fighting in Gaza, saying it “will get the hostages back” and “end the war”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Diplomats walk out as Israeli PM speaks at UN

“I think we maybe have a deal on Gaza, very close to a deal on Gaza,” the US president told reporters on the White House lawn as he was leaving to attend the Ryder Cup.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed an agreement to end the war was imminent, only for nothing to materialise.

Weeks ago, he said: “I think we’re going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.”

Continue Reading

World

‘I’m not so careful with what I say’ – is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

Published

on

By

'I'm not so careful with what I say' - is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.

Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”

The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.

Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.

President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk's widow Erika. Pic: AP
Image:
President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika. Pic: AP

Twenty-four hours later, he drew fierce rebuke from medical experts by linking the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy to increased risk of autism.

The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Paracetamol use in pregnancy perfectly safe’

On Tuesday, he went to the United Nations, where his frustrations over a stalled escalator and teleprompter failure were the prelude to the most combative address.

More on Donald Trump

“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.

Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters

Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.

Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.

It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump’s major shift in Ukraine policy

Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.

In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Ex-FBI chief: ‘Costs to standing up to Trump’

Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.

Read more from Sky News:
Musk and Prince Andrew named in latest Epstein files
Trump: ‘Looks like we have a deal’ to end war in Gaza

From funerals to world summits, world peace to public health, he projects the same image: rules are for others.

It is the politics of the untouchable.

Continue Reading

Trending