Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake. It's a source of life for millions of people who live along its shores. But recent flooding in Western Kenya has caused the lake to overflow, forcing at least forty thousand from their homes.

Kisumu

Rising water levels in Western Kenya, specifically around Lake Victoria, have led to significant displacement and damage. Florence Owor, a resident of Kisumu County, is among those severely affected, having had to wade through water to reach her already crumbling house. Recent torrential rains have not only resulted in over 200 deaths but have also rendered many homeless, destroying homes, belongings, and crops. This situation is not new to the area; since 2019, flooding has forced residents like Florence and her family to seek refuge in shelters annually.

Lake Victoria, recognized as the largest tropical lake in the world, experiences overflow into surrounding neighborhoods due to excessive water from various inlets. Experts attribute these frequent floodings partly to climate change and the encroachment on waterways. There is a call for the construction of a dam to control Lake Victoria's water flow and for local communities and the government to actively maintain and conserve wetlands, which are crucial in preventing the lake's water from flooding land areas.

Many displaced individuals have found temporary refuge in shelters, while others are staying with relatives or neighbors. Assistance provided in these shelters includes essentials like flour, cooking oil, and blankets. However, the primary concern remains the long-term recovery and the rebuilding of the lives of those affected. The repeated displacement has prompted demand among the affected populations for a lasting solution to the flooding that recurrently jeopardizes their livelihoods and well-being.



Rising water levels displace 40,000 in Kenya

Florence Owor wades through water to get to her house in Kisumu County. She's been staying in a shelter for the displaced. Recent torrential rains have killed more than 200 people and left many like her homeless. She says her house is falling apart. Her belongings and crops have been destroyed. But floods are not new to this area. Since 2019, we keep moving. Every year we have to go to the shelters. We've got kids and sometimes we just decide to stay home and deal with the water. But over the years, it's just too much. Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake, often overflows into neighbourhoods when there's too much water coming from different inlets. Environmental experts say climate change is partly to blame, but encroachment on waterways has made things worse. We need a dam to control the flow of the lake and we need to build on the river banks and everything. Most importantly, we want the government and the people around the wetlands to maintain and conserve their wetlands. Because the wetlands are the things that prevent the lake to go back to the land. Many who've been displaced are in shelters like this, others are staying with relatives and neighbours. Here they're being given basic things like flour, cooking oil, blankets, but the main concern is how these people are able to rebuild their lives. Awar shares this school hall with hundreds of others. This is not the first time they have come to seek shelter here. They say they want a lasting solution to what has become a nightmare on their shores. Catherine Zoi, Al Jazeera, Kisumu, Western Kenya. For more UN videos visit www.un.org.uk

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always been warm as the two leaders met on Friday (July 26), and the Israeli leader said he hoped progress was being made in talks on a Gaza ceasefire.

Palm Beach

Netanyahu meets Trump, says working on cease-fire

A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers, NASA, U.S. military bases and international entities.

Kansas City

North Korean charged in U.S. cyberattacks

Arsonists lighting fires across France's high-speed rail network have disrupted the transport network just hours before the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris, however the attacks failed to stop the event from going ahead.

Paris

Paris Olympics

France rail network attacked before Olympics

Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks that caused chaos on the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but two security sources said initial suspicions fell on hardline leftist militants or environmental activists.

Saboteurs attack French railways ahead of Olympic ceremony

Typhoon Gaemi pummeled towns on China's coastal Fujian province on Friday with heavy rains and strong winds as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year began its widely watched trek into the populous interior.

Fujian

Typhoon Gaemi lashes China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

Presidential candidates in Venezuela have held their final campaign rallies ahead of the election on Sunday. Opposition leaders are asking voters to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who's seeking a third term. But Maduro has warned the country risks a "bloodbath" if the opposition wins.

Caracas

Final rallies held ahead of Venezuela presidential election

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.

Washington

Israel-Gaza War

Harris strikes tougher tone on Gaza ceasefire deal

Dolphins swimming coach Mick Palfrey will remain in Paris for the Olympics, after being criticised for publicly backing South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min. Swimmer Elijah Winnington has defended the coach saying he's a great guy and there's no hard feelings.

Swim coach spared axe over supporting Korean rival

On the eve of the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, security in Paris is tight and athletes are navigating the risks. More than a million people have undergone screening to access the site of the Opening Ceremony.

Athletes navigate security risks at Paris 2024

Typhoon Gaemi has reached southeastern China after churning across the Taiwan Strait. The typhoon has prompted warnings of swelling rivers, flash floods, and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rains several weeks ago.

Typhoon Gaemi hits China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

The Olympic Games are set to officially open on Friday (July 25), with the French government pledging an "unprecedented" security operation to ensure the safety of the event. A force of 35,000 to 45,000 security personnel will be deployed, including 15,000 French military members and over 2,000 foreign police officers.

Major security operation in place to guard Paris Olympics

U.S. President Joe Biden pressed for a ceasefire to the 9-month-old war in Gaza in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (July 25), with Vice President Kamala Harris due to meet the Israeli leader later in the day.

Biden meets with Netanyahu, presses for ceasefire in Gaza

Counterterrorism officers are investigating after a man was allegedly found with chemical explosives and a knife at a Sydney shopping centre. Police moved in after shoppers heard a loud blast at Miranda Westfield.

Miranda

Man with knife and explosives arrested at Westfield

The Prime Minister is set to unveil a new Cabinet line-up after two senior members announced today they're retiring from politics. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor will move to the backbench.

Canberra

Prime Minister set to reveal cabinet reshuffle

A limited curfew is still in place in Bangladesh after days of protests and a police crackdown. Some businesses and government offices are reopening, and partial internet service is being restored in some areas. Police have arrested more than 2,000 people. The United Nations has demanded an investigation of the Bangladeshi government's crackdown on student protesters.

Dhaka

UN demands investigation of Bangladesh's crackdown on protesters

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said abandoning his reelection campaign and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate was the best way to unite the country and save democracy, despite his ambition to win a second term.

U.S. Presidential Election

Biden says he bowed out to unite nation, backs Harris to beat Trump

On the eve of the Olympics the city of Paris is getting ready to put on a show For the next two and a half weeks the competition will unfold in some of the capital's most iconic sites all prepped for the occasion, while thousands of miles away the French Polynesian island of Tahiti is also getting ready to host the surfing events.

From Paris to Polynesia, final Olympic preparations underway

Thousands of people gathered in North Carolina for Donald Trump's first rally since Joe Biden pulled out of the race. It’s a key battleground state for both sides and the Republican nominee wasted no time in going on the attack against his likely opponent in November, Kamala Harris.

North Carolina

Trump slams Harris as ‘radical’ in first rally since Biden’s exit

In a fiery speech to the U.S. Congress skipped by some top Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed critics of his country’s war against Hamas as ‘useful idiots’ for Iran, and said America and Israel must stand together.

Netanyahu blasts Gaza war critics, Iran in fiery speech to U.S. Congress

A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say. The pilot was the only survivor of the crash and was treated in hospital.

Kathmandu

Nepal plane crash kills 18; pilot only survivor

Heavy rain from Typhoon Gaemi has flooded the Philippine capital Manila and nearby cities, forcing authorities to shut schools, offices and cancel flights and declare a state of calamity in a region that is home to 13 million people.

Manila

Typhoon Gaemi brings heavy rain to Manila, forcing evacuation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their loved ones' release could be nearing, his office said.

Netanyahu in U.S. says hostage deal may come soon

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris told cheering supporters in Wisconsin she now has enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination and take on Donald Trump. Meanwhile, campaign donations have shot past $100M in the two days since she entered the presidential race.

Wisconsin

Harris slams Trump at first campaign rally

As Paris prepares to host the world for the Olympic Games, homeless advocates are accusing city officials of ‘social cleansing’ after tent camps were broken up and undocumented migrants were bussed out of the city in the lead up to the opening ceremony.

Paris officials criticized for pre-Olympic homeless sweep

The head of the United States Secret Service is stepping down over the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after days of mounting pressure and criticism for failing to prevent the shooting.

Secret Service chief resigns over Trump assassination attempt

More than 200 people have been killed in two landslides in southern Ethiopia, authorities said. The first landslide, triggered by heavy rains in a remote region of Gofa zone, occurred on Monday and was followed by a second one that buried people who had gathered to help. Women, children, and police officers are reported to be among the dead.

Gofa

At least 229 killed in Ethiopia landslides

Police in Greenland arrested prominent anti-whaling environmentalist Paul Watson under an international warrant issued by Japan, detaining him until August 15, authorities and his foundation said. His ship had just docked on Sunday in Nuuk to refuel on its way to "intercept" Japan's new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific.

Nuuk

Anti-whaling activist arrested in Greenland on Japan warrant

Palestinian factions including rivals Hamas and Fatah agreed to end their divisions and form an interim national unity government during negotiations in China that ended on Tuesday, China's foreign ministry said.

Beijing

Palestinian factions agree to form government in China talks

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, building Democratic backing for her sudden presidential run, rallied supporters with a debut campaign speech vowing to go after Republican nominee Donald Trump like the courtroom prosecutor she once was.

Harris hits at Trump's criminal record in first campaign speech

A young surfer is in serious condition after a shark attack at North Shore Beach near Port Macquarie. The 23-year-old was rescued by a retired police officer who happened to be on the scene.