The United Nations’ human rights office has criticized the French government for banning French athletes from wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympics next year.

“No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear,” said Maria Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday.

“In general, according to the committee on elimination of discrimination against women, any state party of the convention, in this case France, has an obligation to take all the appropriate measures to modify any social or cultural patterns which are based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of either sexes,” Hurtado added.

“Having said that, the discriminatory practices against a group can have harmful consequences. That is why according to international human right standards, restrictions of expressions of religions or beliefs such as attire choices are only acceptable under really specific circumstances that address legitimate concerns for public safety, public order or public health or morals in a necessary and proportionate fashion,” she added.

Hurtado’s comments came after French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on Sunday French athletes will not be allowed to wear a hijab at the Paris Olympics next year, arguing in favor of “a strict regime of secularism, applied rigorously in the field of sport.”

“What does that mean? That means a ban on any type of proselytising and the absolute neutrality of the public service,” Oudéa-Castera told state broadcaster France 3.

The ministry said that “in accordance” with that ruling, “French teams are subject to the principle of public service neutrality, from the moment they are selected to this end in all national and international competitions.” “Thus, one cannot wear a headscarf (or any other accessory or outfit demonstrating a religious affiliation) when representing France in a national or international sporting competition,” it added.

She added the rules applying to other athletes will be set by each international federation, under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“There will be heterogeneity between sports,” the French minister added.

A floating barrier installed by China to prevent Filipino boats from fishing in a disputed area of the South China Sea has been removed, Philippine authorities said Monday, in the latest flashpoint between Manila and Beijing over their competing maritime claims.

Video released by the Philippine Coast Guard on Monday showed a Filipino diver cut what it said earlier was a 300-meter (984-feet) long string of buoys near Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, a small but strategic reef and fertile fishing ground 130 miles (200 kilometers) west of the Philippine island of Luzon.

The footage showed the diver with a simple mask and snorkel slipping below the waves to use a small knife to cut through rope after reaching the barrier on a rickety fishing boat with a small crew.

The video is a vivid illustration of a fraught power struggle that has been playing out for years in the South China Sea as Manila tries to push back against increasingly assertive claims to the disputed strategic waterway by Beijing.

Philippine authorities claimed Sunday that three Chinese Coast Guard boats and a Chinese maritime militia service boat had installed the barrier following the arrival of a Philippine government vessel in the area.

“The barrier posed a hazard to navigation, a clear violation of international law,” the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement Monday, adding that it also infringed on Philippine sovereignty.

In a regular press briefing Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said “China is resolved in safeguarding its sovereignty and maritime interests over Huangyan Island,” referring to the disputed shoal by its Chinese name.

“We advise the Philippines not to make provocations or seek troubles,” he added.

Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea, as well as most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles away from China’s mainland.

Over the past two decades China has occupied a number of reefs and atolls across the South China Sea, building up military installations, including runways and ports, which have not only challenged the Philippines’ sovereignty and fishing rights but have also endangered marine biodiversity in the highly contested resource-rich waterway.

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a landmark maritime dispute, which concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.

Beijing has ignored the ruling.

Western marine security experts, along with officials from the Philippines and the United States, have increasingly accused Beijing of using ostensibly civilian fishing vessels as a maritime militia that acts as an unofficial – and officially deniable – force that China uses to push its territorial claims both in the South China Sea and beyond.

The situation comes days after the Philippine Coast Guard accused China’s maritime militia of turning vast patches of coral near the Palawan island chain into a bleached and broken wasteland.

China’s foreign ministry dismissed those allegations as “false and groundless.”

South Korea showcased an arsenal of advanced weaponry in a military parade on Tuesday, rolling tanks and missiles down the streets of its rain-soaked capital during the first event of its kind in a decade.

The parade, held to mark the 75th Armed Forces Day commemorating the founding of the country’s armed forces, comes against the backdrop of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, as South Korea draws closer to the United States and Japan against the threat of North Korea’s accelerating weapons program.

The event kicked off in the morning with ceremonies and performances at the Seoul Air Base, where President Yoon Suk Yeol delivered an address warning Pyongyang against ever using nuclear weapons.

“If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the (Seoul-Washington) alliance,” Yoon said, speaking in the rain.

The parade – a first for South Korea since 2013 – followed in the afternoon, with troops and military equipment rolling through the heart of Seoul, passing by the city hall and historic Gwanghwamun Square. The roads were lined with spectators, many wearing plastic ponchos and holding umbrellas in the rain.

Several thousand South Korean soldiers and more than 300 US troops marched during the event, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Other performances included a military band, flag-bearers, and mascots from each military unit.

On display were a variety of homegrown equipment including drones, tanks and armored personnel carriers. Soldiers in vehicles waved to the crowd as they passed by; several carriers had the South Korean flag affixed to the exterior.

Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, said while the parade served to send “a message to an external audience,” including partners like the United States and regional powers such as North Korea and China, the event “is really about domestic factors.”

The parade and Yoon’s presence “help portray (South) Korea to the Korean people that the country is now an important power on the world stage, a pivotal global power as the current president calls it,” he said. It also boosts public perception of the Korean defense industry, which is “achieving remarkable export success” while other economic sectors fall flat, he added.

Yoon has previously stated his goal to make South Korea one of the world’s top four arms exporters, after the US, Russia and France. While it’s still a few places away in the rankings, the industry has grown rapidly, with $7 billion of defense exports in 2021, according to the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Layton added that the parade also underscores South Korea’s enduring alliance with the US – with the two countries drawing closer, as well as with Japan, as North Korea ramps up its weapons testing.

International intelligence has also suggested since last year that Pyongyang may be preparing to resume nuclear testing, with satellite imagery showing activity at its underground nuclear test site.

In April this year, Yoon and US President Joe Biden announced a key new agreement that aims to deter North Korean aggression, including a new US commitment to deploy a nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea for the first time since the early 1980s.

Yoon, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also held a historic summit in August, announcing new military exercises and a hotline for crisis communications. It marked the first time Biden hosted foreign leaders at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, a site of historic diplomatic negotiations for past presidents.

This story has been updated to more accurately describe the weapons on display during the parade.

Burkina Faso’s military junta on Monday suspended the French news magazine Jeune Afrique for publishing “untruthful” articles that reported tension and discontent within the country’s armed forces, it said in a statement.

Jeune Afrique’s suspension marks the latest escalation in a crackdown on French media since the West African country fell under military rule last year.

The statement accused the publication of seeking to discredit the armed forces and of manipulating information to “spread chaos” in the country following two articles published over the past four days.

Jeune Afrique did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

A soured relationship

Relations between Burkina Faso and its former colonizer France have soured since frustrations over worsening insecurity linked to a jihadist insurgency spurred two military takeovers last year.

These tensions have led to expulsion orders for diplomatic officials, including the French ambassador to the country, and fueled a backlash against foreign media.

The junta has already suspended French-funded broadcasters Radio France Internationale and France24 for allegedly giving voice to Islamist militants staging an insurgency across the Sahel region south of the Sahara. Both publications denied the accusations.

French television channel La Chaine Info, of private broadcaster TF1, was suspended for three months in June for airing a report on the insurgency that “lacked objectivity”. TF1 declined to comment at the time.

In April, two French journalists working for newspapers Le Monde and Liberation were expelled from the country.

Liberation said the suspension was unjustified as the two journalists were of “perfect integrity” and had all their paperwork in order.

It’s 6.30 a.m. on a late summer morning in Paris. Amid the rumbling coming from the Stalingrad Métro station, in the northeast of the French capital, hundreds of migrants, mostly men, sleep crammed under an overpass. Some rest on pieces of cardboard and old mattresses behind a urine-doused fence, others lie awake by the side of the street.

Word is spreading that government buses are about to come and collect them. Some wait eagerly, hoping they’ll finally be offered housing, most are confused and fearful, concerned they’ll be forced to leave Paris.

For the past couple of months, the French government has been working to accelerate the transfer of Paris’ homeless to other parts of the country, as part of a plan to relieve some of the pressure on the capital’s emergency shelter services. Each week, between 50 and 150 people are taken to one of 10 locations across France, according to the government.

In spite of the government’s denial of any connection to the Olympics, which Paris will host in the summer of 2024, some non-governmental organizations and elected officials believe the Games are part of the reason why this relocation plan has been recently activated.

Obsa made the perilous journey to France in 2017, traveling from Ethiopia all the way through Sudan and Libya, and then across the Mediterranean to Italy.

He now has a full-time job in Paris but, even after so many years in the city, he has not been able to find permanent accommodation, largely due to extremely high rental costs in the capital and very limited availability of more affordable social housing. Obsa was relying on emergency housing in a hotel but says it kicked him out after his wife joined him. “They just refused. They said: we don’t have room for your wife,” he recalled.

Obsa is not alone in that experience. Ahead of next year’s Olympic Games, hotels in Paris have started canceling their emergency housing contracts with the government to make space for the expected influx of tourists, according to Paul Alauzy from Medecins Du Monde, an NGO that works with homeless migrants.

In any case, the lost hotel rooms are far from being the main problem for France’s homeless population. Around half of the country’s homeless are concentrated in the Ile-de-France region, where they have access to more charities, job opportunities and personal connections.

According to figures from the Ministry of Housing, of the just over 200,000 homeless people housed each night in the country, 100,000 are in the Ile-de-France. Simply put, there are not enough emergency shelter spots in Paris to accommodate everyone.

‘Crucial moment’ for Paris

Staff and volunteers from local humanitarian organizations and the Paris police talk to migrants who appear at a loss about what is happening.

Authorities inform the migrants through a megaphone that they can board one of the buses to go to Marseille or Bordeaux, where they will be housed. Those who wish to stay in the capital are encouraged to show that they have a long-term work contract.

Even then, however, they won’t be guaranteed a roof over their head. “I can’t leave, I have a one-year job contract,” said Obsa, who works as an IT administrator. “I have to at least stay in the Ile-de-France region.”

Some 10 regional temporary shelters, known as SAS, have been set up around the country to welcome the new arrivals outside of Paris, according to the Dihal. Each SAS can accommodate up to 50 people.

“All of this is happening at a crucial moment, when there is also the preparation for the Olympic Games,” said Yann Manzi, founder of Utopia 56, a French NGO that works with homeless migrants, “and the inability of the state to deal with the reality of what is happening on the streets of Paris, which means continuing to leave thousands of people that have arrived on our territory without any support.”

In 2022, France received 155,773 asylum applications, according to the government. The Minister of Interior Gerald Darmanin has said in a number of televised interviews that France would openly welcome political refugees, but that its doors would remain shut to any migrants arriving in the country illegally who were not facing persecution in their home countries. According to government figures, in 2022, close to 20,000 irregular immigrants were deported.

In a televised interview Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted France was doing its part to help the migrants that arrive on Europe’s shores, spending, among other things, around 2 billion euros each year on emergency accommodation for homeless people. He concluded, however, that the country simply “cannot take in all the misery in the world.”

“The situation regarding emergency accommodation in the Ile-de-France region is unfortunately nothing new, and has become more critical in recent months, irrespective of the fact that the region is hosting the Paris 2024 Games next year,” the spokesperson said.

‘We are just moving the problem’

Manzi, of Utopia 56, thinks the relocation effort could be a good idea in principle, but says the problem is that the regional shelters will only house people for three weeks, according to the cities tasked with hosting them, and what happens after that remains uncertain.

In the SAS, some people are helped to find housing and employment for which they may be eligible, based on their legal status, but it doesn’t work out for everyone. “On average, 25 to 30% (of people) go back to the streets,” said Manzi. “They find themselves at the end of these three weeks without any solution, and therefore end up on the sidewalks again.”

According to the Dihal, in recent weeks, the number of people who have left the SAS they were sent to was around 17%.

The other problem is the lack of emergency housing spaces available in the regions where migrants are being transferred to. “So people will find themselves in the streets again, just not in Paris. We remove them from Paris and we put them on the streets elsewhere… we are just moving the problem, without solving it,” said Brice.

“The question of welcoming foreigners is a politically and socially difficult one,” said Brice, referring to migrants. “And so, the government has chosen not to talk about it which, in my opinion, is a mistake.”

Brice believes that sharing reception responsibilities across regions, if done properly, could allow France to offer much more careful, humane and ultimately efficient support to the thousands of migrants who enter the country each year. For the system to work, however, it needs to be well financed and well managed, said Brice. Most importantly, as activists and host cities maintain, all those involved – from the migrants being relocated, to the cities being asked to host them – need to be well informed and actively involved in planning.

“If the government does not take responsibility and does not provide itself with the proper means, it risks defeating the only useful solution for properly welcoming foreigners in this country,” Brice concluded.

No guarantee of long-term housing

Back in the homeless camp under Stalingrad Métro station, 29-year-old Abdullatif, from Afghanistan, looks stressed. “I heard we have to move out of Paris but I don’t want to. I am finally starting training as an electrician and I need to stay here,” said Abdullatif, who would only give his first name. He decides to remain in Paris.

Yet the fate of those who decide to stay in the capital is also uncertain. “You either accept what they offer you or you are back on the streets,” explained Alauzy, from Medecins Du Monde, who has now witnessed several relocation operations.

Abdullatif and Obsa, and others who opted against relocation, are taken aboard a “Paris” bus, the precise destination unknown.

“They told me there is no place for me here, not even in the Ile-de-France region. It is unbelievable… How does an entire region not have space for two people?”

A “mesmerizing” electric blue tarantula species has been discovered in Thailand, according to new research.

A group of Thai researchers found the spider during an expedition to Phang-Nga province in southern Thailand to research the diversity and distribution of tarantulas in the country.

The study detailing the discovery was published in the research journal ZooKeys on September 18.

The team that found the species living in a mangrove forest also included Thai wildlife YouTuber JoCho Sippawat, who is also an author on the paper published last week. Some of the same team also discovered a previously unknown type of tarantula – now named Taksinus bambus – that lived in the hollowed stems of bamboo plants in Thailand last year.

The team auctioned off the right to name the new species to publicize the find and raise awareness and funds for the indigenous Lahu people of northern Thailand, a group that Sippawat is part of. Chilobrachys natanicharum is derived from the names of two executives from the company that won the naming campaign.

“Blue is one of the rarest colors to appear in nature, which makes blue coloration in animals particularly fascinating,” Chomphuphuang said.

The researchers said this coloring comes from the arrangement of “biological photonic nanostructures, rather than pigments.”

This means that the electric blue coloring does not come from the presence of blue pigmentation, but rather in “the unique structure of their hair, which incorporates nanostructures that manipulate light to create this striking blue appearance,” Chomphuphuang explained.

The scarcity of blue in nature can be attributed to difficulties in the absorption and reflection of specific wavelengths of light. “To appear blue, an object needs to absorb very small amounts of energy while reflecting high-energy blue light,” which is challenging, he said.

According to the research paper, the tarantula’s unique coloring comes from two types of hairs, “metallic-blue and violet ones,” which are present on different parts of the body including the legs, the chelicera (pincer-like appendages in front of the mouth) and the carapace (upper shell).

The spiders’ coloring and other characteristics varied by sex and age. Females and young males have more violet colored hairs than metallic blue on parts of their body, the study added.

The newly discovered tarantula lives in tree hollows, making it difficult to capture, with the researchers having to climb trees to lure it out, Chomphuphuang said.

“During our expedition, we walked in the evening and at night during low tide, managing to collect only two of them,” he added.

According to the research paper, Chilobrachys natanicharum had previously been spotted in the commercial tarantula trade market, known only as “Chilobrachys sp. Electric Blue Tarantula,” but without any information on its characteristics or natural habitats.

Typically, tarantulas are either terrestrial or arboreal, but the Chilobrachys natanicharum can live in both enivronments, the researchers said, demonstrating its adaptability.

However, with the decline of mangrove forests – largely caused by deforestation – Chomphuphuang says the electric blue tarantula is also one of the world’s rarest tarantulas.

A Mafia boss who spent nearly three decades evading law enforcement before he was arrested in January has died while receiving medical treatment, according to Italian media reports.

Matteo Messina Denaro, who is thought to have ordered dozens of Mafia-related murders for the Cosa Nostra crime group, died at the San Salvatore hospital in L’Aquila, central Italy, where he had been treated for colon cancer, public broadcaster Rai reported Monday.

Messina Denaro was moved to the prison hospital last week and was in a medically induced coma at the time of his death, according to the hospital.

Messina Denaro was given several life sentences in absentia for his many crimes, most notably in 1992 for his involvement in the murders of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

He received his most recent life sentence in 2020 for fatal bombings in Milan, Florence and Rome in the late 1990s, and for the murder and torture of the 11-year-old son of an enemy who gave evidence against the Cosa Nostra.

Before he died, cases for the murders of Falcone and Borsellino, and for the murder of 11-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo were in the process of being brought before higher courts.

Messina Denaro continued to deny any involvement in the Cosa Nostra, despite the convictions.

Having been a wanted man for nearly 30 years, he was the Cosa Nostra’s longest-hiding fugitive.

The January police raid at the Maddalena clinic that ended in his capture involved more than 100 agents with the anti-Mafia Carabinieri.

Messina Denaro – known as Diabolik – is regarded as one of the successors of Bernardo Provenzano, who was famously arrested while in hiding in a farmhouse outside Corleone, Sicily, in April 2006.

Crime was a family affair for Messina Denaro, born to a known Mafia boss in Sicily on April 26, 1962. Among those arrested in the 2009-2010 crackdown was his brother, Salvatore Messina Denaro, who refused to testify about his whereabouts.

In 2013, his sister, Patrizia Messina Denaro, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a term she is still serving, for being a member of the Mafia.

Though Messina Denaro had been in hiding for nearly 20 years, whispers of his failing health had been circulating in Sicily for months before his arrest earlier this year. There were hints of a “deal” to bring him back to the surface in exchange for better cancer care.

While on the run, Messina Denaro worked closely under Provenzano until the latter’s death in 2016, leading the way for Messina Denaro to be considered the top boss.

Felia Allum, professor of comparative organized crime and corruption at the UK’s University of Bath, said in January that Messina Denaro was the last of an old generation of Mafia bosses.

“He represents the final link between the belligerent and overt Cosa Nostra of the early 1990s and the silent, business-like Mafia of the 21st century,” she said at the time.

Messina Denaro is survived by his 27-year-old daughter, Lorenza Alagna, whose mother was one of Messina Denaro’s many lovers. All of his reported romantic partners have been questioned by police and are under investigation for harboring a fugitive.

Alagna initially refused to visit her father behind bars, but on May 10 went to see Messina Denaro to introduce him to her baby – the convicted mafioso’s only known grandchild, the prison spokesperson said at the time.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it has launched an investigation into allegations of “non-recent” sexual offenses in the United Kingdom, after a joint investigation by British media outlets revealed the comedian Russell Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault.

“Following an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times, the Met has received a number of allegations of sexual offences in London,” the force said in a statement Monday.

“We have also received a number of allegations of sexual offences committed elsewhere in the country and will investigate these. The offences are all non-recent,” it added.

Brand has publicly denied the allegations and accused the UK government of trying to censor him.

Detectives from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, led by Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, will carry out the investigation, according to the Met’s statement.

“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us,” it said.

“We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support.”

Brand became famous as a comedian and actor, but in recent years has built a YouTube channel which has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories including Covid denialism.

Since the allegations broke YouTube has demonetized Brand’s channel and his live tour has been postponed.

The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches published an investigation in which four women alleged Brand of sexually assaulting them in separate instances between 2006 and 2013. One of the women said she was 16 and Brand was 31 at the time of the alleged assault in London.

At least two of the alleged assaults took place in Los Angeles. One woman was treated at a rape treatment center the same day as the alleged assault, according to the report.

Police were contacted by the center, the story stated, but the woman chose not to file a report because she “didn’t think my words would mean anything up against his,” according to notes from the rape center the woman shared with The Times.

Downing Street described the allegations made in the documentary as “very serious and concerning.”

“The Met Police has asked anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual assault to come forward to speak to officers,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said in a statement after the documentary aired.

The Met announced last week that they were investigating an allegation of sexual assault in 2003.

Without naming Brand, a Met spokesperson said: “We are aware of reporting by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches about allegations of sexual offenses.

“On Sunday, 17 September, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003. Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.”

This weekend may have marked the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but it felt like the peak of summer across several countries in South America, where temperatures pushed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil have all experienced record September temperatures, with some all-time records at risk of falling as the heat continues into the week.

The very high temperatures are the result of a heat dome, which occurs when a ridge of high pressure builds over an area and stays for days or even weeks, trapping hot air. El Niño, a natural climate pattern that originates in the tropical Pacific Ocean, has also increased the heat, as has the underlying trend of human-caused global warming.

Peru has experienced some of the most extreme temperatures in September, which is usually a temperate month.

The town of Puerto Esperanza saw temperatures climb above 40 degrees Celsius, an extreme rarity for the country, and only 1 degree Celsius shy of the its all-time highest temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit).

Towns and cities across several other South American countries also saw September heat records topple on Sunday, including:

Heat was particularly widespread in Brazil, where temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius in 11 states on Sunday, according to weather company MetSul Meteorologia.

São Paulo reached 36.5 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit), the city’s highest September temperature since 1943, according to INMET, the national meteorological service. These scorching temperatures capped off the city’s warmest winter in more than six decades.

Abnormally high temperatures have also increased the fire risk in the country, with wildfires breaking out last week in Bahia state.

The extreme heat is expected to continue across parts of South America well into this week, with the potential for more records to be broken.

“More of the same – or worse – is unavoidable,” said Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian who tracks extreme temperatures.

Other parts of the Southern Hemisphere are also experiencing an exceptionally hot spring, including Australia, which is grappling with unusually high temperatures and dozens of bushfires. The country is experiencing “a September like none before, after the warmest winter on record,” Herrera said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Between June and August, 98% of humanity experienced climate change-fueled temperatures, according to a recent analysis from climate research group Climate Central.

“In every country we could analyze, including the Southern Hemisphere where this is the coolest time of year, we saw temperatures that would be difficult — and in some cases nearly impossible — without human-caused climate change,” Andrew Pershing, vice president of science for Climate Central, said in a statement earlier this month.

Extreme heat is one of the clearest signs of climate change, as humans continue to burn planet-heating fossil fuels. The Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest summer on record this year, with June, July and August all breaking global monthly heat records.

As the abnormal heat continues, the signs are pointing to September also being the hottest such month on record.

There is now a more than a 93% chance that this year will be the warmest on record, according to the United States’ National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration.

Sixteen officials in Libya have been detained amid an investigation into the deadly collapse of two dams after heavy rain in the coastal city Derna earlier this month, according to a statement by the Libyan attorney general’s office. Thousands of people died in ensuing floods.

“The investigating authority initiates a criminal case against sixteen officials responsible for managing the country’s dam facilities,” the attorney general’s statement reads.

The coastal city’s mayor and several present and former water infrastructure authorities were among those detained.

Torrential rainfall and the bursting of the dams sent a huge wave of water through Derna on September 10, sweeping entire neighborhoods into the sea. Close to 4,000 people died in Libya’s floods and 9,000 more remain unaccounted for, according to the World Health Organization.

Protests erupted in Derna last week over the catastrophe, with locals demanding the removal of those in power.

The attorney general said Monday that it placed the 16 officials under pre-trial detention after interrogations. Prosecutors are also investigating others connected to the floods, especially any who may have benefitted unlawfully from the city’s reconstruction project.

“A request of an expanded investigation has been issued into the rest of those responsible for the Derna flood incident and others who mismanaged the reconstruction project and obtained illegal revenues because of this misuse,” the statement added.

Warnings about the dams

Derna is prone to flooding, and its dam reservoirs have caused at least five deadly floods since 1942, the latest of which was in 2011, according to a research paper published by Libya’s Sebha University last year.

The two dams that burst on Monday were built around half a century ago, between 1973 and 1977, by a Yugoslav construction company. The Derna dam is 75 meters (246 feet) high with a storage capacity of 18 million cubic meters (4.76 billion gallons). The second dam, Mansour, is 45 meters (148 feet) high with a capacity of 1.5 million cubic meters (396 million gallons).

Those dams haven’t undergone maintenance since 2002, the city’s deputy mayor Ahmed Madroud told Al Jazeera.

But the problems with the dams were known. The Sebha University paper warned that the dams in Derna had a “high potential for flood risk” and that periodic maintenance is needed to avoid “catastrophic” flooding.

“The current situation in the Wadi Derna reservoir requires officials to take immediate measures to carry out periodic maintenance of existing dams,” the paper recommended last year. “Because in the event of a huge flood, the result will be catastrophic on the residents of the valley and the city.”