- Peru's ex-president Toledo gets 20 years for corruption
- Chile launches vaccine that neuters dogs for a year
- Toxicology tests show Liam Payne had 'multiple' drugs in system: reports
- WNBA players union opts out of deal, now set to end in 2025
- Harris woos on-the-fence Republicans, Trump tours storm damage
- Henderson howler hands Forest victory over Crystal Palace
- Yankees and Dodgers to renew epic rivalry in World Series
- Stock markets mostly slide, oil jumps as China cuts rates
- Parents of Venezuela minors held after election ask UN to intervene
- NBA and Nike extend partnership deal for 12 years
- Israel strikes 300 Hezbollah targets as US urges war's end
- Tourist dreams turn sour after Cuba lights go off
- Italy PM seeks to save Albanian migrant deal amid spat with judges
- Tagovailoa returns to NFL practice Wednesday after concussion
- US infant mortality spiked after right to abortion overturned: study
- Blinken back to Middle East to push for Gaza truce
- Neymar returns for Al Hilal in Al Ain thriller
- TGL set for January start as Woods-McIlroy might meet Jan. 27
- US Grand Prix - three things we learned
- Welsh rugby's future more important to Gatland than saving his job
- Venezuela arrests ex-oil minister accused of US links
- President Biya lands back in Cameroon after health rumours
- Watson out for NFL season with ruptured Achilles tendon
- Disney expects to name Iger's successor in early 2026
- Emery wants to 'break barriers' at transformed Aston Villa
- Hezbollah-linked financial firm an economic lifeline for Lebanese
- London trial probes 2015 Brazil mine disaster
- Police in Mozambique disperse vote protest
- Ancelotti wants goals over pressing from Madrid star Mbappe
- Major crypto, diamond fraud trial opens in France
- Electricity restored to 50% of Havana after nationwide blackout: Cuba state media
- How much aid is getting into Gaza?
- King Charles caps Australia trip with Opera House bash
- England's Buttler out of West Indies ODI series
- Moldova president hails EU referendum win after Russia meddling claims
- Van Dijk talking to 'right people' over Liverpool contract
- Vietnam's top leader pushes anti-corruption fight
- Arteta urges Arsenal to use Bournemouth 'pain' against Shakhtar
- Rabada fastest to 300th Test wicket, as Bangladesh all out for 106
- Erdogan rival Gulen dies in exile at 83
- Man Utd's Ten Hag relishing Europa League clash with Mourinho
- Amnesty says migrant workers exploited at Carrefour Saudi stores
- Fethullah Gulen: ex-Erdogan ally who became public enemy number one
- Seoul demands 'immediate withdrawal' of North Korean troops in Russia
- WHO to evacuate 1,000 Gazan women, children for urgent medical care
- Erdogan's rival Fetullah Gulen dies in exile aged 83
- Gauff-led USA pitted with Canada at season-opening United Cup
- Sanofi pursues sale of painkiller after political controversy
- Rabada takes 300th wicket as Bangladesh stumble to 60-6 at lunch
- Alpacas, hecklers and climate warnings: King Charles visits Australia's capital
RBGPF | 1% | 61.11 | $ | |
JRI | -0.53% | 13.15 | $ | |
BCC | -2.78% | 137.9 | $ | |
NGG | -1.45% | 67.03 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.68% | 7.4 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.65 | $ | |
SCS | -0.93% | 12.89 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.68% | 24.87 | $ | |
RIO | -0.63% | 64.95 | $ | |
RELX | -1.13% | 47.63 | $ | |
BCE | -0.45% | 33.39 | $ | |
VOD | -1.35% | 9.63 | $ | |
AZN | -1.06% | 77.44 | $ | |
GSK | -1.02% | 38.16 | $ | |
BP | 0.44% | 31.47 | $ | |
BTI | -0.73% | 34.25 | $ |
New Delhi's homeless shiver through harsh cold snap
India's capital New Delhi is shivering through an unusually harsh bout of harsh winter cold, blamed for killing scores of homeless people and leaving other hard-up residents struggling to keep warm.
The sprawling megacity's 20 million inhabitants are accustomed to year-round weather extremes, from blistering summer heat to torrential downpours and thick, toxic smog at the end of autumn.
Still, the bracing chill and blustery rains this month have been an ordeal for many, with Delhi on Tuesday recording its coldest January day in nearly a decade.
"There's no denying that it's very cold," 30-year-old Mukesh told AFP from his bed at a homeless shelter on the weekend.
He and a small group of the shelter's residents have taken to huddling around an improvised wood fire, a scene repeated around the city's kerbsides each night this month.
"The last ten days have been very cold and especially this past week, there was not much sunshine. We have been worried because we have to try hard to keep warm," Mukesh said.
Recent figures on homelessness across Delhi are hard to come by, but according to India's 2011 census, around 47,000 of the city's residents were sleeping rough.
Activists, however, say that is a vast underestimate. Official figures show the city's homeless shelters are only able to accommodate around 9,300 people.
Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development, who has worked with Delhi's homeless population for decades, said the city has seen around 176 deaths from exposure to the cold so far this year.
"Because of these extreme temperatures, many people on the streets die," he told AFP.
- 'This situation is not normal' -
India's weather bureau has told local media that Delhi's maximum daily temperatures have been between two and six degrees Celsius below normal for most of January.
"This situation is not normal," said Anjal Prakash of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, a think-tank that has worked with the United Nations on climate change modelling.
Extreme weather phenomena "are going to be much more frequent and also the severity of these events will (rise) in future", he told AFP.
The humans of Delhi are not the only ones suffering through the cold spell.
The city's stray dogs often congregate around markets and as the cold sets in each year, many are put in special jackets and fed hot meals to help them endure the weather.
"This year, we felt the cold a lot more, both me and my dogs," said Raju Kashyap, who runs an outdoor tea shop and looks after some of the area's strays.
"But I had to get out of the home and run my stall... I have to come and stand here to feed them because they depend on me," he told AFP.
P.Serra--PC