HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — As floods ravage Mozambique, crocodiles are appearing in submerged towns and responsible for at least three deaths.
In the town of Xai-Xai, the provincial capital of Gaza province and one of the worst-affected areas in the country’s south, authorities have warned residents of heightened crocodile risks as floodwaters spread and evacuations to higher ground continue.
Torrential rains and severe flooding across parts of southern Africa over the past month have killed more than 100 people in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, destroying thousands of homes and damaging infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and health facilities.
Of the 13 people reported dead from the floods in Mozambique, three were killed by crocodiles, authorities said.
“The river levels are rising and are reaching urban areas or heavily populated areas,” Paola Emerson, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Mozambique, said this week after visiting the town.
“So the crocodiles that are in the Limpopo river in this case are able to get into populated areas that are now submerged under water and that is the concern.”
The Limpopo river flows from South Africa through Mozambique on its way into the Indian Ocean.
Two people were killed in an attack that left three others injured in the Gaza region earlier this month. A man was “swallowed” by a crocodile in Moamba, a small town in Maputo province, local media quoted Henriques Bongece, the province’s secretary, as saying this week. Maputo is the impoverished country’s capital.
Authorities said in Maputo that the crocodiles appeared to have been driven into the area by floodwaters from a park in neighboring South Africa.
“We want to urge everyone not to approach still waters because crocodiles are drifting in these waters. The rivers have connected with all areas where there is water,” local media quoted Bongece as saying this week.
Beyond the immediate danger posed by wildlife, the floods have triggered a deepening humanitarian crisis.
Weeks of heavy rainfall, compounded by dam releases to prevent structural failure, have affected more than 700,000 people, more than half of them children, leaving a trail of destruction across vast farmland, according to humanitarians bodies such as the World Food Program and UNICEF.
On Friday, the World Health Organization warned of severe disruptions to health services in Gaza and Maputo provinces following the destruction of at least 44 health facilities, leaving tens of thousands without access to care.
The U.N. agency said that damage to critical infrastructure has interrupted service delivery, while more than 50,000 people who have been forced to relocate to temporary shelters face limited or nonexistent basic health services.
It warned that displaced people on long-term medication face life-threatening interruptions, and said that urgent action is needed to restore essential services, deploy mobile health teams and ensure continuity of care for people with chronic conditions.
Across the three countries, humanitarian agencies say hunger and disease risks are rising, with extreme weather wiping out crops that millions of small-scale farmers rely on to feed themselves, while the threat of water-borne diseases such as cholera looms large.
For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse
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Travelers inspect the flood-damaged Combomune-Mapai road in Gaza province, Mozambique, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo)
Flood waters cover the Chibuto-Chaimite road in Gaza province, Mozambique, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo)
This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) — With no clear end in sight, the war with Iran is sending oil prices back to $100 per barrel, and stocks are sinking worldwide on Thursday.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2% and is returning to big swings following a couple days of relative calm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 607 points, or 1.3%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% lower.
The center of action was again the oil market, where the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, got as high as $101.59 overnight before pulling back to $100.44, a 9.2% rise. Worries are worsening that the war could block the production of oil in the Persian Gulf for a long time and cause a debilitating surge of inflation for the global economy.
Iran's new supreme leader released his first statement Thursday since succeeding his late father, saying his country would keep up attacks on Gulf Arab neighbors and use the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world’s oil typically sails through the strait, and oil producers in the region are cutting production because their crude has nowhere to go.
Countries around the world are trying to make up for that, and the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that its members would release a record amount of oil, 400 million barrels, from their stockpiles built for such emergencies.
But such moves are short-term fixes, and they do not clear the long-term risks. Analysts have said that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, oil prices could jump to $150.
To be sure, the U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly from military conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, as long as oil prices don't stay too high for too long. Even with all the up- and- down swings of the last couple weeks, many rocking markets hour to hour, the S&P 500 is still just roughly 4% below its all-time high set in January.
What’s made this jump for oil prices frightening is not only the degree — prices jumped near $120 earlier this week to their highest level since 2022 — but that they’re also occurring during an uncertain time for the economy.
Last month’s report on hiring by U.S. employers was surprisingly weak, which raised worries about a possible worst-case scenario for the economy called “stagflation.” That’s one where economic growth stagnates while inflation remains high. And it's a miserable mix that the Federal Reserve has no good tools to fix.
A more encouraging signal arrived Thursday. A report said that the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits inched lower last week. That’s a sign that layoffs are potentially remaining low around the country.
Dollar General, meanwhile, reported better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But the retailer with relatively low prices, whose customers often have the least cushion to absorb higher gasoline prices, gave forecasts for revenue this upcoming year that indicated a slowdown in growth. Its stock fell 5.8%.
Some of the worst losses on Wall Street again hit companies with big fuel bills. United Airlines sank 3.9%, and cruise-ship operator Carnival fell 5.7%.
Worries about the private-credit industry continued to hurt the market. Investors have been rushing to pull their money out of some funds and companies that have lent to businesses whose profits are potentially under threat. Many of the worries are focused on business that could be made obsolete by new AI-powered rivals and may not pay back their loans.
Morgan Stanley fell 4% after its North Haven Private Income fund said it allowed investors to redeem only 5% of its total shares instead of the nearly 11% they had requested. That 5% cap is the advertised limit.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across Europe and Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1%, and France’s CAC 40 sank 0.9% for two of the world’s bigger moves.
In the bond market, Treasury yields continued to climb because of upward pressure from rising oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.24% from 4.21% late Wednesday and from just 3.97% before the war started.
Higher yields help make all kinds of borrowing more expensive, such as mortgages for potential U.S. homebuyers and bond offerings for companies looking to expand. They also push down on prices for all kinds of investments, from stocks to crypto.
Because of the spike for oil prices, traders have pushed back forecasts for when the Fed could resume its cuts to interest rates. President Donald Trump has been angrily calling for such cuts, which would give the economy and job market a boost but also potentially worsen inflation.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 10.1% to $96.12.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
An earlier version of the story incorrectly reported the percentage drop for United Airlines’ stock.
Gregg Maloney works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Gas prices are displayed at a station Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Evanston Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Pedestrians mill about outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
