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More rain in northern China takes death toll in floods to 13

More rain in northern China takes death toll in floods to 13
Workers carry out repairs a day after a flash flood in Yuzhong county, in China’s northwest Gansu province on Aug. 9, 2025. Heavy rainfall and severe floods that meteorologists link to climate change pose major challenges for authorities. (AFP)
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More rain in northern China takes death toll in floods to 13

More rain in northern China takes death toll in floods to 13
  • Downpours heavier than usual have battered parts of China in extreme weather since July
  • Heavy rainfall and severe floods that meteorologists link to climate change pose major challenges for authorities

BEIJING: At least three more people have died in heavy rains in northern China, state media said on Tuesday, taking to 13 the death toll in recent storms across the region, with five still missing and no let-up in rain forecast.
Downpours heavier than usual have battered parts of China in extreme weather since July, with the East Asian monsoon rains stalling over its north and south.
Three bodies were retrieved from flood waters in the Inner Mongolia city of Ordos, the official news agency Xinhua said, while three people were reported missing about 70 km (44 miles) away near the banks of the Yellow River.
Monday’s downpour was the first of three forecast for the next few days, television news said.
It dumped more than 204 mm (8 inches) of rain in less than 24 hours on the district where the bodies were found, or more than double the monthly average for August, weather authorities said.
On Saturday, a flash flood after a river burst its banks in the region’s grasslands killed at least 10 people, sweeping away 13 campers on the outskirts of the city of Bayannur, about 350 km (218 miles) northwest of Ordos.
One of those was rescued, but two are missing.
Rescue workers are scouring for the three missing people in Ordos, in an area that is also close to one of China’s rare earth hubs, the city of Baotou.
Heavy rainfall and severe floods that meteorologists link to climate change pose major challenges for authorities, threatening to overwhelm aging flood defenses, displace millions and lead to economic losses running into billions.


Survivors claw through rubble after deadly Pakistan cloudburst

Survivors claw through rubble after deadly Pakistan cloudburst
Updated 2 sec ago

Survivors claw through rubble after deadly Pakistan cloudburst

Survivors claw through rubble after deadly Pakistan cloudburst
BAR DALORI: In the middle of the night, by the glow of their mobile phones, rescuers and villagers dug through the concrete remains of flattened houses after massive rocks crashed down on a remote Pakistani village following a cloudburst.
Using hammers, shovels, and in many cases their bare hands to clear the rubble and open blocked pathways, they searched through the debris in darkness, with no electricity in the area.
In just minutes, a torrent of water and rocks swept down on the village of Dalori on Monday, destroying at least 15 houses, damaging several others and killing nine people.
Around 20 villagers are still trapped under the debris.
“A huge bang came from the top of the mountain, and then dark smoke billowed into the sky,” Lal Khan, a 46-year-old local laborer, told AFP.
“A massive surge of water gushed down with the sliding mountain,” he added.
The cloudburst above Dalori came a few days into heavy monsoon rains that have already killed more than 350 people across mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, along the northwest border with Afghanistan.
Torrential rains in northern Pakistan since Thursday have caused flooding and landslides that have swept away entire villages, with around 200 people still missing.
And authorities have warned of fresh flash floods in the coming days.
Khan recalled seeing the hand of his neighbor sticking out of the rubble, where rescuers later retrieved her body along with those of her four children.
“We are absolutely helpless. We don’t have the means to tackle this calamity that nature has sent upon us,” Khan added.


Fellow resident Gul Hazir said not one but several cloudbursts from two sides of the village struck the remote valley.
“It was like an apocalyptic movie. I still can’t believe what I saw,” Hazir said.
“It was not the water that struck first, but a massive amount of rocks and stones that smashed into the houses,” Hazir told AFP.
Local administration official Usman Khan told AFP at the site that many of the houses had been built in the middle of the stream bed, which worsened the scale of destruction.
“There was no way for the water to recede after the cloudburst struck at least 11 separate locations in the area,” he said.
“It is immensely challenging to carry out operations here, as heavy machinery cannot pass through the narrow alleys.”
Saqib Ghani, a student who lost his father and was searching for other relatives, tried to claw through the concrete with his bare hands before rescuers pulled him away and villagers gave him water.
The single road leading to the village was demolished at several points, while gravel was scattered across the settlement.
Despite the challenging conditions, excavators were working at several sites to remove debris that had clogged the drainage channels and blocked the flow of water.
Dalori has already held funerals for five victims, while women mourned in darkened homes with no electricity since the disaster.
In the village’s narrow alleys, unattended cattle wandered freely amid the devastation.
“I will not live here anymore,” said a grieving woman, draped in a large shawl, as she followed a coffin being carried through the street.
Over the past few days, the villagers had been collecting money to help people in neighboring flood-hit areas, until they too were overwhelmed by disaster and lost everything.
“We didn’t know we would be needing help ourselves,” Hazir added.

India’s Modi to meet China’s top diplomat as Asian powers rebuild ties

India’s Modi to meet China’s top diplomat as Asian powers rebuild ties
Updated 19 August 2025

India’s Modi to meet China’s top diplomat as Asian powers rebuild ties

India’s Modi to meet China’s top diplomat as Asian powers rebuild ties
  • Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who arrived in India on Monday, expected to discuss disputed border in the Himalayan mountains with Indian leadership

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with China’s top diplomat on Tuesday in a sign of easing tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors after a yearslong standoff between the Asian powers.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who arrived in India on Monday, is scheduled to hold talks with Modi and other leaders, including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, about the disputed border in the Himalayan mountains. Reducing the number of troops on the border, and resuming some trade there, is expected to be on the agenda.
The rebuilding of ties coincides with friction between New Delhi and Washington after US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on India, a longtime ally seen as a counterbalance against China’s influence in Asia. India is part of the Quad security alliance with the US along with Australia and Japan.
‘Compromise at the highest political level’
India and China’s decades-old border dispute worsened in 2020 after a deadly clash between their troops in the Ladakh region. The chill in relations affected trade, diplomacy and air travel as both sides deployed tens of thousands of security forces in border areas.
Some progress has been made since then.
Last year, India and China agreed to a pact on border patrols and withdrew additional forces along some border areas. Both countries continue to fortify their border by building roads and rail networks.
In recent months, the countries have increased official visits and discussed easing some trade restrictions, movement of citizens and visas for businesspeople. In June, Beijing allowed pilgrims from India to visit holy sites in Tibet. Both sides are working to restore direct flights.
Last week, the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, said India and China were in discussions to restart trade through three points along their 3,488-kilometer (2,167-mile) border.
Manoj Joshi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, said relations are still at an uneasy level of normalization.
“Settling the boundary issue between the two countries requires political compromise at the highest political level,” said Joshi, who also served as a member of the advisory board for India’s National Security Council. He asserted that the countries are “still talking past each other when it comes to the border dispute and issues surrounding it.”
On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing is willing to take Wang’s India visit as an opportunity to work with the Indian side to “properly handle differences and promote the sustained, sound and stable development of China-India relations.”
Mao said Wang’s meeting with Modi’s national security adviser will “continue in-depth communication to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
Modi plans to visit China soon
The thaw between Beijing and New Delhi began last October when Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at a summit of emerging economies in Russia. It was the first time the leaders had spoken in person since 2019.
Modi is set to meet Xi when he travels to China late this month – his first visit in seven years – to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional grouping formed by China, Russia and others to counter US influence in Asia.
Earlier this year, Xi called for India and China’s relations to take the form of a “dragon-elephant tango” – a dance between the emblematic animals of the countries.
Last month, India’s external affairs minister visited Beijing in his first trip to China since 2020.
The US and Pakistan play roles in the thaw
The renewed engagement comes as New Delhi’s ties with Trump are fraying. Washington has imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, which includes a penalty of 25 percent for purchasing Russian crude oil. The tariffs take effect Aug. 27.
India has shown no sign of backing down, instead signing more agreements with Russia to deepen economic cooperation.
Trump’s renewed engagement with India’s archrival, Pakistan, has also encouraged New Delhi’s overtures to China, said Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, who led Indian military’s Northern Command from 2014 to 2016.
In June, Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief for a White House lunch and later announced an energy deal with Islamabad to jointly develop the country’s oil reserves. Both followed Trump’s claims of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after the two sides traded military strikes in May.
That clash saw Pakistan use Chinese-made military jets and missiles against India.
“China is heavily invested in Pakistan and, practically speaking, you can’t have any expectation that Beijing will hold back support to Islamabad,” Hooda said. “But you can’t have two hostile neighbors on your borders and simultaneously deal with them also.”


US archbishop’s meeting with Putin denounced as ‘betrayal of Christian witness’

US archbishop’s meeting with Putin denounced as ‘betrayal of Christian witness’
Updated 19 August 2025

US archbishop’s meeting with Putin denounced as ‘betrayal of Christian witness’

US archbishop’s meeting with Putin denounced as ‘betrayal of Christian witness’
  • “Russia has given us what’s most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful,” Alexei told Putin, alluding to Russian missionaries who brought the faith to Alaska when it was a czarist territory

ALASKA: An American Orthodox archbishop’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, in which they exchanged warm greetings and gifts of holy icons — is drawing a denunciation by Ukrainian Orthodox bishops in the US They called it a “betrayal of Christian witness” in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Archbishop Alexei — the bishop of Alaska for the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent offspring of the Russian Orthodox Church — met Friday with Putin at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Anchorage following Putin’s summit with US President Donald Trump. Putin also placed flowers at the graves of Soviet-era airmen killed during World War II.
“Russia has given us what’s most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful,” Alexei told Putin, alluding to Russian missionaries who brought the faith to Alaska when it was a czarist territory. He added that he visits Russia regularly and that when his priests and seminarians go there, they report back, “I’ve been home.”
Putin told him: “Please feel at home whenever you come.”
But critics said the meeting conferred legitimacy on Putin, on top of his being hosted by Trump on US soil despite an arrest warrant issued in 2023 from the International Criminal Court, accusing Putin of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Severe criticism from one church’s leaders
Leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA blasted the meeting between the archbishop and Putin.
“Such gestures are not merely unfortunate — they are a betrayal of the Gospel of Christ and scandalous to the faithful,” the statement said, signed by the New Jersey-based church’s top two leaders, Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel.
The Russian regime “is responsible for the invasion of the independent and peaceful nation of Ukraine and for the death of hundreds of thousands, for the disappearance of countless innocents, for the tearing of families apart, and for the deliberate destruction of Ukraine,” the statement said. “To extend warm words of welcome and admiration to this ‘leader’ is nothing less than an endorsement of his actions.”
The statement said that while the church preaches love and forgiveness, it “can never excuse or whitewash evil.”
The meeting between the archbishop and Putin is notable in how American churches are embroiled in controversies involving Orthodoxy in Ukraine, which arose even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and have worsened since. Orthodox Christianity is the majority religion in Russia and Ukraine.
There are multiple Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, rooted in various immigrant communities of different nationalities. That includes Russia with the OCA and Ukraine with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. They generally share communion and cooperate in some areas but have separate hierarchies.
Putin gave Alexei icons of St. Herman — an early Russian missionary to Alaska — and of the Mother of God, which the archbishop received making the sign of the cross and kissing each icon. Alexei gave the Russian president an icon he had previously received as a gift upon becoming bishop.
The two did not discuss the war during the brief conversation, according to a video recording.
Alaska archbishop explains himself
In a follow-up message emailed to Alaska priests, defending the visit, Alexei noted he had overseen three days of special services in Orthodox parishes across Alaska, in which worshippers offered prayers for peace in the name of Alaska saints and the Mother of God.
“When I expressed gratitude in that public moment, it was not praise for present politics, but a remembrance of the missionaries of earlier generations … who brought us the Orthodox faith at great cost,” Alexei said.
He also defended the icon exchange. “I must be clear: the veneration we give to holy icons is directed not to the one who gives them, but to the saint or feast they represent,” he said. “Even if the greatest sinner were beside me, the honor passes not to him but to heaven itself.”
He added: “I know that sacred gestures can be misunderstood, and I grieve if this has caused confusion or scandal.” He said it’s important “to open whatever small door may be given for a pastoral word of peace.”
Moscow Patriarch Kirill has strongly supported the war, saying Russian soldiers who die in the line of duty in Ukraine have all of their sins forgiven and presiding over a council that declared the Russian invasion a “holy war.”
Putin himself regularly displays Orthodox piety — reflected in his making the sign of the cross at the Soviet graves and kissing the icons he gave to Alexei. Putin recently asserted without elaboration that one of the conditions for peace would have to be “providing an adequate environment for the Orthodox Church and the Christian faith in Ukraine.”
How Orthodox factions in Ukraine are affected
Ukraine’s Orthodox population has been torn by schism. There are currently two main Orthodox groups with similar-sounding names there.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has historically been under the Moscow Patriarchate, which claims jurisdiction in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the breakaway Orthodox Church in Ukraine received recognition as an independent church by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Both churches have denounced the Russian invasion, but the UOC has remained under suspicion even though it has tried to assert it is also independent of Moscow’s control. (Neither should be confused with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, which operates on American soil.)
Ukraine’s parliament last year passed a law banning religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group supporting Russia’s invasion. The measure was widely seen as targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the Ukrainian government has insisted that church take various steps to show its independence, which its leader has refused to do, asserting the government’s process is flawed and citing the church’s proclamation of its independence in 2022.
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations — a coalition that includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine — issued a statement supporting the government’s insistence that the UOC comply with its demands. It said Russia has broadly violated religious liberties in occupied Ukrainian territories. It contended that Ukraine honors religious freedom and pluralism while maintaining the right to make sure religion isn’t being used to abet the invasion.
“It is widely known that the Russian Federation uses religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church, as a weapon to pursue its neo-imperial goals in various countries,” the statement said.
 

 


Trump says arranging Putin-Zelensky peace summit

Trump says arranging Putin-Zelensky peace summit
Updated 19 August 2025

Trump says arranging Putin-Zelensky peace summit

Trump says arranging Putin-Zelensky peace summit
  • Putin told Trump that he was ready to meet Zelensky, a source familiar with talks told AFP
  • The White House was the venue for an extraordinary — and pointed — meeting gathering Trump with Zelensky plus the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday he had started arranging a peace summit between Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after intensive talks with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.
Trump said he had spoken by phone with Putin — whom he met in Alaska last week — following a “very good” meeting with the Europeans and the Ukrainian president in the White House.
“At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump, 79, said that he himself would then hold a three-way summit with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
“Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote.
Putin told Trump that he was ready to meet Zelensky, a source familiar with talks told AFP.
The US president also said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia, with Europe taking the lead and coordinating with Washington.
Trump said earlier that Putin had agreed to Western security guarantees for Ukraine, despite the Russian leader ruling out Kyiv’s long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance.
“During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The White House was the venue for an extraordinary — and pointed — meeting gathering Trump with Zelensky plus the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO.
Zelensky also met one-on-one in the Oval Office with Trump in their first encounter in the heart of the US presidency since their acrimonious blow-up there in February.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting was their “best” yet.
This time the atmosphere was far calmer than when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in front of TV cameras less than six months ago for not being “grateful” for US support.
Trump even complimented Zelensky on his black jacket, after the Ukrainian was criticized by right-wing media because he failed to change his trademark war-leader’s outfit for a suit during the February visit.
The US president meanwhile expressed optimism over the chances of ending Russia’s invasion .
“In a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,” Trump said as he opened the meeting.
The presence of the European leaders however also underscored continuing nervousness about Trump’s pressure on Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.

Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATO — both key demands made by Putin.
Trump said that during the White House talks on Monday they also “need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory” between Russia and Ukraine.
Reports had said Putin was pushing for Ukraine to cede its eastern Donbas region, much of which is still partly in Kyiv’s hands, in exchange for freezing the frontline elsewhere.
Ukraine has rejected any such move.
The Europeans nevertheless lined up to praise Trump as they called for a lasting peace to end Russia’s invasion.
“I’m really excited. Let’s make the best out of today,” NATO chief Mark Rutte said as the US president went round the table asking them to comment.
French President Emmanuel Macron, however, called for a separate four-way meeting including Europeans to deal with a grinding conflict that is on their doorstep.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meanwhile contradicted Trump’s call to go straight for a full peace deal instead of an immediate ceasefire, calling for a truce before any leaders’ summit.
He also sounded a note of caution after the talks, saying Ukraine must not be forced to give up territory to Russia.
Russian strikes overnight killed at least seven people in Ukraine, including two children.
 

 


Over 150 people are still missing after devastating flooding in northwest Pakistan

Over 150 people are still missing after devastating flooding in northwest Pakistan
Updated 19 August 2025

Over 150 people are still missing after devastating flooding in northwest Pakistan

Over 150 people are still missing after devastating flooding in northwest Pakistan
  • Pakistan has seen higher-than-normal monsoon rains since June 26 that have killed at least 645 people across the country, with 400 deaths in the northwest

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Anguished Pakistanis searched remote areas for bodies swept away by weekend flash floods as the death toll reached 277 on Monday, while one official replied to the lack of evacuation warnings by saying people should have built homes elsewhere.
A changing climate has made residents of northern Pakistan’s river-carved mountainous areas more vulnerable to sudden, heavy rains.
More than 150 people were still missing in the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after Friday’s flash floods.
Villagers have said there had been no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method for alerting emergencies in remote areas. The government has said the sudden downpour was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be informed.
Emergency services spokesman Mohammad Suhail said three bodies were found on Monday. The army has deployed engineers and heavy machinery to clear the rubble.
On Sunday, provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said many deaths could have been avoided if residents had not built homes along waterways. He said the government would encourage displaced families to relocate to safer areas, where they would be assisted in rebuilding homes.
Residents said they were not living near streams, yet the flood swept through their homes. In Buner’s Malak Pur village, Ikram Ullah, aged 55, said people’s ancestral homes were destroyed even though they were not near the stream, which emerged in the area because of the flood. He said large boulders rolled down from mountains with the flood.
In flood-hit Pir Baba village, Shaukat Ali, 57, a shopkeeper whose grocery store was swept away, said his business was not near a river or stream but had stood for years alongside hundreds of other shops in the bazar. “We feel hurt when someone says we suffered because of living along the waterways,” Ali told The Associated Press.
Pakistan has seen higher-than-normal monsoon rains since June 26 that have killed at least 645 people across the country, with 400 deaths in the northwest. The National Disaster Management Authority issued an alert for further flooding after new rains began Sunday in many parts of the country.
In a statement, the military said the Pakistan Air Force played a key role in flood relief operations by airlifting 48 tons of NGO-provided relief goods from the port of Karachi to Peshawar, the regional capital. It said the air force established an air bridge to ensure the swift delivery of supplies.
On Monday, torrential rains triggered a flash flood that struck Darori village in northwestern Swabi district, killing 15 people, government official Awais Babar said.
He said rescuers evacuated nearly 100 people, mostly women and children, who had taken refuge on the roofs of homes. Disaster management officials said the floods inundated streets in other districts in the northwest and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting Monday to review relief efforts in flood-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as northern Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
At the meeting, officials estimated flood-related damages to public and private property at more than 126 million rupees ($450,000), according to a government statement.
The UN humanitarian agency said it had mobilized groups in hard-hit areas where damaged roads and communication lines have cut off communities. Relief agencies were providing food, water and other aid.
Flooding has also hit India-administered Kashmir, where at least 67 people were killed and dozens remain missing after flash floods swept through the region during an annual Hindu pilgrimage last week.
In 2022, catastrophic floods linked to climate change killed nearly 1,700 people in Pakistan and left hundreds of thousands homeless.