Tag Archives: oceania

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Pakistan's deadly floods create 100km-wide inland lake

Striking new satellite images that reveal the extent of Pakistan's record flooding show how an overflowing Indus River has turned part of Sindh Province into a 100 kilometre-wide inland lake.

Swaths of the country are now underwater, after what United Nation officials have described as a "monsoon on steroids" brought the heaviest rainfall in living memory and flooding that has killed 1,162 people, injured 3,554 and affected 33 million since mid-June.

The new images, taken on August 28 from NASA's MODIS satellite sensor, show how a combination of heavy rain and an overflowing Indus River have inundated much of Sindh province in the South.

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In the centre of the picture, a large area of dark blue shows the Indus overflowing and flooding an area around 100 kilometres wide, turning what were once agricultural fields into a giant inland lake.

It's a shocking transformation from the photo taken by the same satellite on the same date last year, which shows the river and its tributaries contained in what appear by comparison to be small, narrow bands, highlighting the extent of the damage in one of the country's hardest-hit areas.

This year's monsoon is already the country's wettest since records began in 1961, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and the season still has one month to go.

In both Sindh and Balochistan provinces, rainfall has been 500 per cent above average, engulfing entire villages and farmland, razing buildings and wiping out crops.

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While mostly dry weather is expected in the region in coming days, experts say the water will take days to recede.

Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman said Sunday that parts of the country "resemble a small ocean," and that "by the time this is over, we could well have one-quarter or one-third of Pakistan under water."

'Flood of apocalyptic proportions'

In a interview with CNN Tuesday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he had visited Sindh and seen first-hand how the flooding had displaced entire villages and towns.

"There is barely any dry land that we can find. The scale of this tragedy … 33 million people, that's more than the population of Sri Lanka or Australia," he said.

"And while we understand that the new reality of climate change means more extreme weather, or monsoons, more extreme heat waves like we saw earlier this year, the scale of the current flood is of apocalyptic proportions. We certainly hope it's not a new climate reality."

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Satellite images from Maxar Technologies from other areas of the country show how entire villages and hundreds of plots of verdant land have been razed by the rapidly moving floods.

Images from Gudpur, a locality in Punjab, show how the floods have damaged homes, and replaced land with snaking trails of of bare Earth.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday to inspect its flood damage.

The province has logged most of the latest deaths after water levels rose exponentially, said the country's National Disaster Management Authority.

Sharif said Tuesday the flooding was the "worst in Pakistan's history" and international assistance was needed to deal with the scale of the devastation.

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Teens arrested after stolen car crashes into Melbourne business

Three teenagers have been arrested after ploughing an allegedly stolen vehicle through a business in Melbourne's outer west.

It's alleged the stolen car crashed into Werribee Foot Clinic on Derrimut Road in Werribee about 12.10pm.

Police said four people were seen running away from the car shortly after the collision.

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Two male teens were arrested by police nearby and a third teen was arrested a short time later.

They are currently assisting police with their enquires.

Police said no one was injured and investigation is ongoing.

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New 50c coin contains secret message only best codebreakers can crack

If you can crack the code on this 50c piece, you might have what it takes to join one of Australia's most secretive intelligence agencies.

The newly minted coin has four unique layers of code which contain special messages about the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).

The coin was launched to mark the ASD's 75th anniversary.

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The tiny dots on this coin are a secret message that needs to be decoded.

"This exciting coin release challenges Australians to engage with the sorts of problem-solving that our talented people at ASD do every day, and might even be a pointer to a new career with us for those who can crack it," ASD Director-General Rachel Noble said.

"If you love puzzles and solving problems, and if you can discover the messages on our 75th anniversary coin, then a career at ASD may be just what you're looking for."

The coin won't enter circulation, meaning you are unlikely to be handed it as change at the supermarket.

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The 50c coin contains four kinds of secret code.

But it can be bought at the Royal Australian Mint from today.

Some of the coding on the coin dates back thousands of years, while another is a modern binary code.

The ASD is responsible for signals intelligence, cyber warfare and cyber security.

The agency functions as Australia's chief codebreaking unit, and seeks to intercept messages sent by adversaries and decrypt them.

The ASD plays a powerful role within the Five Eyes intelligence network.

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