Cyclone Gabrielle lashes Auckland: homes evacuated, flights disrupted, power cut

Residents in New Zealand's largest city of Auckland and the surrounding area are being told to brace for more heavy rain, flooding and gale-force winds, and some homes are being evacuated, as Cyclone Gabrielle nears the country's coast.

Gabrielle, is currently sitting 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Auckland and is forecast to move close to the east coast over the next 24 hours.

"We expect the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle to get, unfortunately, worse before they get better," said Rachel Kelleher, Deputy Controller Auckland Emergency Management on

Monday.

The cyclone is the second significant weather event to hit Auckland and the upper North Island in just a few weeks. Last month Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Monday announced a NZ$11.5 million (US$7.25 million) package to support community groups such as food banks and to groups impacted by the floods.

On Monday, many schools and local government facilities across Auckland and the up- per North Island were closed and people were being asked not to travel if possible.

States of emergency are in place in Auckland and at least six other regions. Around 50 apartments in Auckland have been evacuated because of fears a century-old steel framed tower could collapse.

Further evacuations have been ordered at beachside communities on the east coast ahead of an expected storm surge in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Air New Zealand has cancelled 509 flights and said flights will resume today when the weather is expected to improve. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Panama rejects allegations it violated migrants' rights

Panama's Government rejected accusations it violated the human rights of US-bound migrants who cross into the country irregularly through the dangerous jungle of the Darien Gap, the country's security ministry said on Monday.

El Pais newspaper said late last week a United Nations document sent to Panama's Government alleged that the country's officials sexually abused migrants crossing the Darien.

The document included accusations of forced labour and people deprived of their liberty at migration checkpoints, it said.

Panama's Security

Ministry in a statement rejected "in the strongest terms" the allegations it said were attempts to "undermine" the humanitarian work of Panamanian agencies and international organisations to help migrants crossing into Central America from Colombia.

The Ministry said the Government would "carry out the pertinent investigations."

Panama has requested help from other countries in Latin America in recent years to deal with organised crime and human smugglers profiting from the growing flow of migrants traveling from South America.

Last year, a record 248,000 migrants crossed the Darien Gap, largely Venezuelans. New, stricter US migration policy has resulted in many being returned to Panama, where they often cannot afford transportation back to Venezuela.

In a clarifying statement, the United Nations said the document cited by El Pais was a "letter of allegations" from various sources. It said it typically presents such claims to the relevant states asking for clarification.

"Competent authorities may be sought to take measures to prevent or put an end to the alleged violations," the UN statement added. (Excerpt from Reuters) uty commander of Ukraine's Svoboda battalion.

Nazarenko said that, although no fighting was taking place in the city centre, the defenders were prepared to meet any assault.

The Ukrainian military reported Russian shelling all along the frontline and said 16 settlements had been bombarded near Bakhmut. It said that over the past day, its forces had repelled attacks near Bakhmut as well as assaults in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. (Excerpt from Reuters)