Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Monsoon toll climbs 650 as rains unleash flood fury in South Asia

SEVERE floods and lightning have claimed the lives of more than 650 people across India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, officials said Monday (22) as the annual monsoon took its toll on the rainfed region.

More than 10 million people in the South Asian countries have been affected by the deluge, which has also forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.


In India, heavy rains since the start of July have killed at least 467 people with many districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Assam states cut off because of flooding.

In Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, lightning strikes killed 37 people in separate incidents, a disaster management official told. The latest fatalities took the northern state’s toll to 228 dead.

Eight children playing in the open in Bihar’s Nawada district were also killed by lightning on Friday (19), taking the toll in the eastern state to more than 100 as rivers overflowed their banks and swept away people, houses, and cattle.

In Assam, 67 people have perished but the situation was likely to improve with no heavy rains predicted in the coming days.

But the prospects were grim for southern India’s coastal state of Kerala where authorities Monday warned of “extremely heavy falls” in isolated places.

India’s coastal Karnataka, West Bengal and Himalayan Sikkim states were also bracing for heavy downpours.

More than 70 people have also died in building collapses in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh states following substantial rainfalls.

In neighbouring Nepal, 90 people have died and another 29 are missing, although the worst seems to be over in the Himalayan country.

“Rains have been predicted this week and we are on alert, but we don’t expect it to have a severe impact,” home ministry official Bedh Nidhi Khanal said.

Torrential rains in flood-prone Bangladesh have killed more than 97 people most by drowning and lightning strikes in the last two weeks, with swathes of agricultural fields lying inundated.

A third of the country has been submerged as major rivers including the Brahmaputra- which broke a 44-year water-level record last week and the Ganges burst their banks from heavy rains and from water from India and Nepal.

At least 30 people have also lost their lives in Pakistan.

While the annual rains are crucial to replenishing water supplies in the impoverished region, they often turn deadly.

Experts blame poor planning, the lack of drainage facilities and tardy relief operations for the casualties.

(AFP)

More For You

Asian drug dealer known as 'starkcake' jailed for 18 years

Heemal Vaid (Photo: NCA)

Asian drug dealer known as 'starkcake' jailed for 18 years

A 49-year-old Asian drug dealer who masterminded the import and sale of cocaine and heroin worth more than £4 million has been jailed for 18 years, after National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators identified him from secret phone messages.

British Indian Heemal Vaid, of Cheam, used EncroChat – an encrypted phone service for criminals – to broker deals, unaware that in 2020, an international law enforcement team would crack EncroChat’s encryption.

Keep ReadingShow less
Metropolitan Police

The Met said it would not be making redundancies but would achieve savings by reducing recruitment and not replacing those who leave.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Met Police to cut 1,700 jobs amid £260m budget shortfall

THE METROPOLITAN POLICE has announced plans to cut 1,700 officers, PCSOs, and staff due to a £260 million budget deficit.

The force will also scale back several services, including the removal of the Royal Parks Police team and officers stationed in schools.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump

Trump announced a series of tariff increases targeting various nations, including key US allies such as the UK and the European Union.

Getty Images

Trump’s tariffs hit global markets, Starmer warns of 'economic impact'

The UK and other global economies reacted on Thursday to US president Donald Trump's newly imposed tariffs, with prime minister Keir Starmer warning of an “economic impact” from the 10 per cent levy on British exports.

Trump announced a series of tariff increases targeting various nations, including key US allies such as the UK and the European Union.

Keep ReadingShow less
India told to prepare for deadly rise in temperatures

The country can expect more heatwave days this year

India told to prepare for deadly rise in temperatures

INDIA can expect hotter-thanusual temperatures this summer with more heatwave days taking a toll on lives and livelihoods, the weather office warned.

The country is no stranger to scorching summers, but years of scientific research has found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tower Hamlets secures funding to save domestic abuse support jobs

The planned strike action was called off after the external funding was secured

Tower Hamlets secures funding to save domestic abuse support jobs

Ruby Gregory

REDUNDANCY proposals which would have seen job cuts made to a ‘crucial’ domestic abuse support service in Tower Hamlets have been called off.

Solace Women’s Aid, which planned to make cuts, confirmed last Friday (28) the redundancies were no longer going ahead, following a boost in external funding which followed a threat of strike action.

Keep ReadingShow less