Category: 2. World

Almost a year’s worth of rain in recent days caused flooding and landslides that washed away cars, forced evacuations and knocked out power around the Chinese capital, killing at least 38 people by Tuesday and rescue and relief work continued

BEIJING — Almost a year’s worth of rain caused flooding and landslides that washed away cars, forced evacuations and knocked out power around the Chinese capital, killing at least 38 people by Tuesday and rescue and relief work continued.

The flood risk for parts of Beijing, Hebei province and neighboring Tianjin city remained high until Tuesday evening.

State media broadcast footage of muddy waters rising into homes in rural areas and rescuers carrying an injured person on a stretcher and searching on a damaged road.

Premier Li Qiang said the heavy rain and flooding in the hard-hit Beijing district of Miyun caused “serious casualties” and called for rescue efforts, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Beijing Daily, a state-backed paper, reported that the city had received 54.3 centimeters (21.4 inches) of rain in the last four days, which is just a bit short of the 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) the city receives annually in a year.

The storm knocked out power in more than 130 villages in Beijing, destroyed communication lines and damaged more than 30 sections of road. More than 16 centimeters (6 inches) of rain fell on average in Beijing by midnight, with two towns in Miyun recording 54 centimeters (21 inches) of precipitation, the city said.

Heavy flooding washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun, an outlying district that borders Hebei’s Luanping county. More than 80,000 people have been relocated in Beijing, including about 17,000 in Miyun, a Beijing city statement said.

The city government said 28 people died in Miyun and two others in Yanqing district Monday.

Four additional people in neighboring Hebei province were discovered dead Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, after eight people were said to be missing after a landslide in a rural part of Luanping county in the province. Authorities had found four of the dead Monday.

Emergency rescue teams said more landslides occurred in the same region Tuesday, although they did not report any further casualties.

Uprooted trees lay in piles in the town of Taishitun, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of central Beijing. Streets were covered with water, with mud left higher up on the walls of buildings.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Australia completed a sweep of the Twenty20 international cricket series with a three-wicket victory over West Indies on Monday to finish its Caribbean tour with an 8-0 record.

Australia went into the last game on a 7-match winning streak following the 3-0 test series sweep and victories in the first four of the T20 internationals. It was Australia’s first sweep of a five-game T20 series and only the second at the most elite level after India’s in New Zealand in 2019-20.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect 5-0,” Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said. The sweep “was something we spoke about after the fourth game. We knew no Australian team had done it.

“It’ll be something we’re very proud of. Across the board over the five games, we played some really good cricket.”

After winning the toss for the eighth straight time, Australia sent the home team in to bat and dismissed West Indies for 170 two balls short of the allotted 20 overs.

Shimron Hitmyer’s 52 from 31 balls and Sherfane Rutherford’s 35 off 17 propped up the innings but the target wasn’t big enough to put genuine pressure on the Australian batters.

Ben Dharshuis took 3-41 and Nathan Ellis finished with 2-32, while spinner Adam Zampa returned 1-20 in his 100th T20 international after taking a wicket and having a chance dropped off his bowling in the penultimate over.

The Australians reached 173-7 with 18 balls to spare, with a 63-run fifth-wicket partnership between Mitchell Owen (37 off 17 deliveries) and Cameron Green (32 off 18) stabilizing the innings. Aaron Hardie finished not out on 28.

West Indies had Australia in trouble in the opening powerplay with Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph taking two wickets apiece, but the runs kept flowing.

Holder dismissed Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck, the first ball of the second over, when the Australian allrounder swung at a ball that shaped away and edged to short third-man where Jediah Blades juggled the catch but held the second grab.

Holder also removed Josh Inglis (10) at the end of the second over.

Joseph bowled Marsh (14) as Australia slipped to 29-3 after 2.2 overs and, after on onslaught of sixes, he had Tim David (30 from 12 balls) caught in the deep as Australia slipped to 60-4 in the fifth over.

From there, Owen and Green dominated with a succession of sixes, including one by Owen that landed on the roof on a pavilion.

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein was finally introduced to the attack to change the pace, and had an immediate impact with his second delivery to dismiss Owen and break up the important partnership.

Hosein also dismissed Green and Ben Dwarshuis to return 3-17.

Australia had a three-wicket win to open the T20 series before Josh Inglis and Cameron Green spearheaded an eight-wicket victory that spoiled Andre Russell’s last game for West Indies in the second game at Kingston, Jamaica.

The tourists then clinched the series on the back of a 37-ball century by Tim David in St. Kitts on Friday before Inglis and Green again combined to help them win the fourth game.

“A lot of guys had great series,” Green, who batted at No. 4 and was voted player of the series, said. “We’ve got about half a team who’re allrounders. That’s the beauty of what we’re trying to build here. A lot of depth.”

The sweep, he said, was a “massive” boost ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.

“You always want to win every game you can. T20 can be a bit of a lottery at times, so to build a bit of consistency is important,” he said. “Good signs.”

The Australians will host South Africa in a T20 series next month, and West Indies takes on Pakistan in another home series involving three T20s and three one-day internationals.

US president says he will visit China only at the invitation of Chinese leader.

United States President Donald Trump has denied seeking a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping while holding out the possibility of visiting China at his counterpart’s invitation.

“The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a ‘Summit’ with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Trump’s comments come after the Reuters news agency reported last week that aides to the two leaders have discussed a possible summit during a trip to Asia by the US president later this year.

The report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the plans, said Trump and Xi could possibly meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit taking place in South Korea from October 30 to November 1.

Trump and Xi last met face-to-face in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

The US and China are currently engaged in negotiations aimed at lowering trade tensions that have spiked since Trump rolled out his on-again, off-again tariffs on Chinese exports.

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in Stockholm, Sweden, to kick off two days of talks focused on reaching a trade deal before the end of a 90-day tariff truce that ends on August 12.

Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last week that the administration was in “a very good place with China now” and the August deadline could be extended in a “90-day increment”.

Russian glide bombs and ballistic missiles struck a Ukrainian prison and a medical facility overnight as Russia’s relentless strikes on civilian areas killed at least 27 people across the country, officials said on Tuesday (July 29, 2025), despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to soon punish Russia with sanctions and tariffs unless it stops.

Four powerful Russian glide bombs hit a prison in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, authorities said. They killed at least 16 inmates and wounded more than 90 others, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry said.

Click here for our indepth coverage of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

In the Dnipro region of central Ukraine, authorities said Russian missiles partially destroyed a three-story building and damaged nearby medical facilities, including a maternity hospital and a city hospital ward. At least three persons were killed, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman, and two other persons were killed elsewhere in the region, regional authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that overnight, Russian strikes across the country hit 73 cities, towns and villages. “These were conscious, deliberate strikes — not accidental,” Mr. Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Mr. Trump said on Monday (July 28, 2025) he is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin 10 to 12 days to stop the killing in Ukraine after three years of war, moving up a 50-day deadline he had given the Russian leader two weeks ago. The move meant Mr. Trump wants peace efforts to make progress by Aug. 7-9.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly rebuked Mr. Putin for talking about ending the war but continuing to bombard Ukrainian civilians. But the Kremlin hasn’t changed its tactics. “I’m disappointed in President Putin,” Mr. Trump said during a visit to Scotland.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) that Russia is determined to achieve its goals in Ukraine, though he said Moscow has “taken note” of Trump’s announcement and is committed to seeking a peaceful solution.

Mr. Zelenskyy welcomed Mr. Trump’s shortening of the deadline. “Everyone needs peace — Ukraine, Europe, the United States and responsible leaders across the globe,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Telegram. “Everyone except Russia.”

The Kremlin pushed back, with a top Putin lieutenant warning Mr. Trump against “playing the ultimatum game with Russia.” “Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran,” former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy head of the country’s Security Council, wrote on social platform X. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” Mr. Medvedev said.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the Kremlin has warned Kyiv’s Western backers that their involvement could end up broadening the war to NATO countries.

“Kremlin officials continue to frame Russia as in direct geopolitical confrontation with the West in order to generate domestic support for the war in Ukraine and future Russian aggression against NATO,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late on Monday (July 28, 2025).

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles along with 37 Shahed-type strike drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said 32 Shahed drones were intercepted or neutralized by Ukrainian air defenses.

The Russian attack close to midnight on Monday (July 28, 2025) hit the Bilenkivska Correctional Facility with glide bombs, according to the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine.

Glide bombs, which are Soviet-era bombs retrofitted with retractable fins and guidance systems, have been laying waste to cities in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army is trying to pierce Ukrainian defences. The bombs carry up to 3,000 kg (6,600 pounds) of explosives.

At least 42 inmates were hospitalised with serious injuries, while another 40 people, including one staff member, sustained various injuries. The strike destroyed the prison’s dining hall, damaged administrative and quarantine buildings, but the perimeter fence held, and no escapes were reported, authorities said.

Ukrainian officials condemned the attack, saying that targeting civilian infrastructure, such as prisons, is a war crime under international conventions. The assault occurred exactly three years after an explosion killed more than 50 people at the Olenivka detention facility in the Russia-occupied Donetsk region, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed.

Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling the prison. The Associated Press interviewed over a dozen people with direct knowledge of details of that attack, including survivors, investigators and families of the dead and missing. All the described evidence they believed points directly to Russia as the culprit. The AP also obtained an internal United Nations analysis that found the same.

Russian forces also struck a grocery store in a village in the northeastern Kharkiv region, police said, killing five and wounding three civilians.

Authorities in the southern Kherson region reported one civilian killed and three wounded over the past 24 hours. Alongside the barrages, Russia has also kept up its grinding war of attrition, which has slowly churned across the eastern side of Ukraine at a heavy cost in troop losses and military hardware.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) that Russian troops have captured the villages of Novoukrainka in the Donetsk region and Temyrivka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine has sought to fight back against Russian strikes by developing its own long-range drone technology, hitting oil depots, weapons plants and disrupting commercial flights.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) that air defences downed 74 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight, including 43 over the Bryansk region.

Yuri Slyusar, the head of the Rostov region said a man in the city of Salsk was killed in a drone attack, which started a fire at the Salsk railway station.

Officials said a cargo train was set ablaze at the Salsk station, and the railway traffic via Salsk was suspended. Explosions shattered windows in two cars of a passenger train, and passengers were evacuated.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was not seeking a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but added that he may visit China at Xi’s invitation, which Trump said had been extended.

“I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest!,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Aides to Trump and Xi have discussed a potential meeting between the leaders during a trip by the US president to Asia later this year, sources previously told Reuters.

A trip would be the first face-to-face encounter between the men since Trump’s second term in office, at a time when trade and security tensions between the two superpower rivals remain elevated.

While plans for a meeting have not been finalized, discussions on both sides of the Pacific have included a possible Trump stopover around the time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea or talks on the sidelines of the October 30-November 1 event, the people said.

The third round of US-China trade talks taking place in Stockholm this week may lay the groundwork ahead of a leaders’ summit in the autumn, analysts say.

A new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely impact any plans for a meeting with Xi.

SURIN, Thailand — Thailand and Cambodia disputed whether their ceasefire was holding Tuesday, the morning after they agreed to stop fighting in a deal reached in Malaysia under U.S. pressure.

The Thai army said Cambodia launched attacks in multiple areas after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect at midnight, but Cambodia said there was no firing in any location.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had agreed to an “unconditional” halt in fighting Monday after five days of border clashes that have killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands.

Along the border area, it was unclear if fighting was continuing but signs of calm returned in places. Some families displaced by the fighting began returning to their homes.

A Thai military spokesperson said Thailand halted all military activities as agreed upon but that Cambodian troops continued strikes and the Thai army responded with defensive action.

“Such actions represent a deliberate violation of the ceasefire and a serious breach of trust,” Major Gen. Vithai Laithomya said in a statement.

The Cambodian Defense Ministry denied the Thai account. “After the ceasefire became effective, there has been no armed conflict on all front lines. This is the firm determination of the Cambodian leadership to implement the ceasefire,” ministry spokesperson Maly Socheata said.

Military commanders from both sides are scheduled Tuesday to hold their first meeting after the ceasefire as agreed under the pact, she said.

The meeting between the two national leaders Monday was hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and held under U.S. pressure. Anwar called the ceasefire a “vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. applauded the ceasefire declaration. “President (Donald) Trump and I are committed to an immediate cessation of violence and expect the governments of Cambodia and Thailand to fully honor their commitments to end this conflict,” Rubio said in a statement.

The fighting began Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes, which have killed 35 people and displaced 260,000 people on both sides.

Trump had warned that the U.S. might not proceed with trade deals with either country if hostilities continue, giving both sides a face-saving justification for halting the clashes.

The 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades, but past confrontations have been limited and brief. The latest tensions erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand’s domestic politics.

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Sopheng Cheang reported from Samrong, Cambodia.