Asia

No survivors of Turkey fire-fighting plane crash as floods kill 55

Turkey battled disaster on two fronts on Saturday with eight people dying when a fire-fighting aircraft crashed and rescuers racing to find survivors of flash floods in the north that have killed at least 55. Ankara and Moscow announced that all eight people on the Russian plane had perished on the fire-fighting mission. The air tragedy came just as Turkey was gaining control of hundreds of wildfires that killed eight people and destroyed swathes of […]

Japan braces for more rain after floods, landslides

Japan braced for further downpours on Sunday as rescuers sifted through flood and landslide damage after record rain that left at least three dead. Residents returned to check on their mud-covered homes in the southwest, where nearly two million people were advised to urgently seek shelter Saturday as rivers overflowed. “So many logs tumbled down and crashed into this area” from nearby mountains, an elderly resident of Kanzaki in Saga prefecture told public broadcaster NHK. […]

Taliban capture Jalalabad: residents; Kabul only major Afghan city in govt control

The Taliban raced closer to a complete military takeover of Afghanistan on Sunday after capturing more major cities, leaving only the isolated capital Kabul for them to conquer. The insurgents took  control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif — furthering an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days. “We woke up this morning to the […]

Putin alarmed over ‘unprecedented’ natural disasters in Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said the scale of natural disasters that have hit Russia this year has been “absolutely unprecedented”. Speaking at a video conference with officials on the effects of Siberia’s record-setting forest fires, he said it was “important” to work on the climate agenda “systematically.” While Siberia sees an annual wildfire season each summer, the fires have burned with an increasing intensity in recent years, which Russian […]

Erdogan visits Turkish flood victims as death toll hits 38

by Dmitry ZAKS ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — The death toll from Turkey’s flash floods soared to at least 38 on Friday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited one of the hardest-hit cities to lead a prayer for the victims and pledge government help. The devastation across Turkey’s northern Black Sea regions came just as the disaster-hit country was gaining control over hundreds of wildfires that killed eight people and destroyed swathes of forest along its […]

Russia reports record virus deaths third day in a row

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Saturday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll for a third day running, as the country continues to struggle with the Delta variant amid sluggish vaccination rates. A government tally showed 819 fatalities over the past 24 hours and 22,144 new cases. Russia, the fourth worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases, has since mid-June been hit by a new wave of infections driven by the aggressive […]

Heavy rain triggers floods, landslides in Japan

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — More than a million people were urged to seek shelter as torrential rain triggered floods and landslides in western Japan on Saturday, leaving at least one dead and two missing. Authorities in Hiroshima and the northern part of Kyushu issued their highest evacuation alert as the weather agency reported unprecedented levels of rain in the area. Under the non-compulsory alert, around 1.4 million residents have been asked to leave their […]

Taliban near gates of Kabul as embassies prepare for evacuations

      by Elise BLANCHARD Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — The Taliban seized more major cities on Friday as they raced to take full control of Afghanistan and inched closer to Kabul, with the United States and Britain deploying thousands of troops to evacuate their citizens from the capital. The evacuation orders came as the Taliban took control of Kandahar — the nation’s second-biggest city — in the insurgency’s heartland, leaving only […]

Russia reports record virus deaths second day in a row

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll for a second day running, as a third wave of infections persists despite efforts from authorities to boost vaccinations. A government tally showed 815 fatalities over the past 24 hours and 22,277 new cases. Russia, the fourth worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases, has since mid-June been hit by a new wave of infections driven by the highly […]

2,000 evacuated after landslide in northern India

SHIMLA, India (AFP) — At least 2,000 people were evacuated on Friday after a massive landslide in India’s ecologically fragile Himalayan north blocked a major river, officials said. The people were evacuated from 13 villages in the Lahaul area of Himachal Pradesh state as a “preventative measure” in case of flash floods, a senior district official told AFP. Hundreds of tonnes of rocks and other debris slid into and partially blocked the Chenab — one […]

Israel begins Covid booster shots for over 50s

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israelis aged 50 and over began receiving vaccine booster shots against the coronavirus Friday as part of a government bid to stem spiking infections driven by the Delta variant. The government announced on Thursday that it was offering third shots to people aged over 50, two weeks after launching a campaign to give the elderly booster jabs. “This is an important step in the fight against the Delta pandemic,” Prime Minister […]

21 dead as torrential rainfall batters central China

BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 21 people died as heavy downpours struck central China’s Hubei province, authorities said Friday, weeks after record floods wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in a neighbouring province. China has been battered by unprecedented rains in recent months, extreme weather that experts say is increasingly common due to global warming. In Hubei, torrential rains caused power cuts and landslides, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing the evacuation of nearly 6,000 […]