Category World News

Flash floods that struck two provinces in Indonesia this week have killed at least 14 people, according to disaster mitigation officials, with operations under way to search for the missing.

Torrential rains beginning on Monday caused flooding and landslides on the tourist island of Bali and in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto ordered his aides to accelerate the handling of the aftermath of the deadly flooding, locate the missing and deliver basic needs to displaced residents, Antara state news agency reported on Thursday.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency, BNPB, reported that 400 to 600 personnel from various institutions had been deployed to search for the missing and clear debris.

Rain caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through nine cities and districts on Bali. Mud, rocks and trees tumbled onto mountainside hamlets and rising rivers submerged at least 120 neighbourhoods, resulting in a dozen landslides in several places, BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

Muhari said on Thursday that the death toll had risen to 14 from nine.

Most of the deaths were reported in Bali, which mostly occurred when people were swept away after rivers burst their banks, Abdul said. At least two people remain missing.

Abdul added that more than 500 people have been evacuated to schools and mosques.

I Gusti Ngurah Jaya Negara, mayor of Bali’s capital city of Denpasar, declared an emergency status in response to the disaster, to ensure the delivery of services, Antara reported.

As river levels returned to normal on Thursday, people in Denpasar left crammed emergency shelters.

They found streets covered in mud and debris, cars lying upside down in parks or piled up in narrow alleys, and pavements strewn with sandals, pots and pans and old photographs.

Authorities took advantage of the receding waters to begin clearing away mud and removing piles of wet rubbish from the streets, and electricity was restored to tens of thousands of residences and businesses.

Heavy seasonal rain between September and March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia.

Climate change has also affected storm patterns, including the length and severity of the season, leading to heavier rain, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts.

In March, floods and landslides on Java island killed three people and left five others missing after heavy rain inundated two dozen towns.

Three people have been killed and at least 70 others wounded when a gas tanker truck exploded under a highway overpass in Mexico City, causing widespread damage, according to municipal officials.

The vehicle blew up on a bridge in the densely populated Iztapalapa district in the capital’s east on Wednesday, sending flames and smoke billowing into the surrounding area.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada called the explosion an “emergency” that burned nearly 30 vehicles and left 19 of the injured in grave condition, including the driver of the truck. Among those injured are a baby and a two-year-old child.

Images on television and social media showed the moment of the powerful explosion, the causes of which are not yet known.

People could be seen with what appeared to be serious burns, while others near the disaster zone fled fast-spreading flames that were later brought under control by firefighters.

As emergency vehicles sped by and medics attended to the wounded, groups of neighbours helped pull burn victims from the fire and get them to safety.

Lists of those injured showed some had up to 100 percent of their skin burned off.

Brugada said prosecutors were investigating, but it appeared that the truck, which was transporting 49,500 litres of gas, exploded after it tipped over on the highway.

“This is a horrible accident,” the mayor said at the site of the explosion.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed her condolences to the families of those who died in a post on X and thanked emergency teams for their work.

Externamos nuestra solidaridad y apoyo a los familiares de tres personas lamentablemente fallecidas y los lesionados, derivado de la explosión de una pipa en Iztapalapa.

La Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil, Guardia Nacional, Secretaría de la Defensa y la red de…

The gas tanker had the logo of the energy business Silza on its side, but in a call with The Associated Press news agency, a company official who did not want to be identified denied it was their vehicle. The company did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment or more details.

Later in the night, Mexico’s environmental ministry said in a statement that Silza did not have updated insurance paperwork required to transport gas because its application had been rejected.

The explosion occurred on one of the most important roadways flowing out of the Mexican capital on the way to the city of Puebla. The roadway was reopened by Wednesday evening.

Mexico is no stranger to disasters linked to fuel trucks and hydrocarbon infrastructure.

Here is how things stand on Thursday, September 11:

Fighting

• Russian forces launched a “massive” attack across Ukraine, with 415 drones and 40 cruise and ballistic missiles, Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Wednesday.
• Ukrainian forces destroyed more than 380 Russian drones, including at least 250 Shahed drones, Zelenskyy added in a later post.
• Russia’s TASS state news agency said that a man who was injured by a Ukrainian drone while driving a truck has died in hospital, according to Ruslan Khomenko, the head of the Kherson region’s Aleshkinsky district.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence said that its forces shot down 225 Ukrainian drones and a guided missile in a 24-hour period, TASS reported.

Regional security

• Poland’s state news agency PAP reported that the remains of a third drone were found in the country’s Swietokrzyskie province after Polish and NATO forces shot down suspected Russian drones that entered Poland’s airspace on Wednesday.
• United States President Donald Trump offered his first reaction to Russia’s drone incursion into Poland, posing the question: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones?” and exclaiming: “Here we go!” on his Truth Social platform.
• Trump also spoke with Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Wednesday afternoon, “regarding the repeated violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones, which occurred last night”, according to a post on X by the Polish leader.
• US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker went on X to write: “We stand by our NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
• Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the Polish allegations as “myths” while Moscow’s Defence Ministry stressed that “there were no plans to hit any targets in Poland”, and expressed readiness to hold consultations with Polish counterparts.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he has received “proposals for concrete support for the air defence of our country”, after speaking with the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Ukraine and NATO.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said that the intrusion of “numerous” Russian drones into Polish airspace was “unacceptable” and showed “further evidence of Russia’s escalatory stance”.
• Macron also said he had an “excellent phone call” with President Trump, about the “troubling developments in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, particularly following Russian drone incursions into Poland”.

Military aid

• David McGuinty, Canada’s minister of national defence, said his country delivered eight Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (ACSVs) to Poland, which “are on their way to Ukraine”.
• The UK said it would mass-produce Ukrainian-designed interceptor drones to help Ukraine counter Russian missiles and one-way attack drones.

Sanctions

• President Zelenskyy said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had informed him about work with the US on strengthening sanctions against Russia.
• US Republican Congressman Joe Wilson introduced a bill to reimpose Soviet-era trade restrictions on Russia, “after the attack on Poland”.
• The European Commission is considering listing some independent Chinese oil refineries in its 19th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, with the possibility of the proposal coming as soon as Friday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has criticised Israel’s “man-made famine” in Gaza following a controversial meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in London.

“They must stop the man-made famine from worsening further by letting aid in and halting their offensive operations,” a Downing Street spokesperson said following the meeting on Wednesday.

Starmer “implored Israel to change course” in Gaza, the spokesperson said.

The rare rebuke marks one of Starmer’s strongest criticisms of Israel since taking office in July 2024. It also comes as aid groups warn that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza face catastrophic hunger after nearly two years of bombardment and blockade.

Herzog’s visit to London drew widespread criticism in the United Kingdom, with thousands demonstrating outside Downing Street for a second consecutive day, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Protesters also gathered at the London-based think tank Chatham House, banging pots and pans as Herzog delivered a speech.

“There’s a genocide happening and the president of that country is in our country and being welcomed here, when nobody is happy about it,” a protester told Al Jazeera.

“This is not diplomacy,” said another protester.

“You are aiding and abetting a genocide – and this man is not welcome in our country.”

The meeting between Herzog and Starmer came a day after Israel launched an air strike on Qatar, a close ally of the United States and the UK, that targeted a Hamas leadership delegation.

The Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer told Herzog the strike on Doha was “unacceptable” and condemned it as “a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty”.

Despite the sharp words, the spokesperson added that “the UK and Israel are longstanding allies”.

Speaking after his meeting with Starmer, Herzog confirmed the two leaders had “argued out of respect”.

“Things were said that were tough and strong,” Herzog said, adding, “Clearly, we can argue, because when allies meet, they can argue. We are both democracies.”

Herzog also said that he had invited the UK to send “a fact-finding mission” to Israel “to study the situation in Gaza on the humanitarian level”.

Herzog previously said publicly that the “entire [Palestinian] nation” was responsible for the October 7 attacks on Israel, and two months later, he was witnessed personally signing artillery shells due to be fired into Gaza.

In parliament earlier on Wednesday, Scottish National Party leader Stephen Flynn asked: “What does it say of this prime minister that he will harbour this man whilst children starve?”

Starmer defended his decision to meet Herzog, rejecting calls to cut diplomatic ties. “I will not give up on diplomacy,” he said.