Foreign News
Cars plunge into river as super typhoon destroys Vietnam bridge
A busy bridge in northern Vietnam collapsed after being hit by Super Typhoon Yagi, which has killed more than 60 people since making landfall on Saturday.
Dashcam footage showed the moment the Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho province gave way on Monday, plunging several vehicles into the water below. Searches were under way for 13 people.
Vietnam’s most powerful storm in 30 years has wreaked havoc across the north of the country, leaving 1.5 million people without power.
Although it has now weakened into a tropical depression, authorities have warned Yagi will create more disruption as it moves westwards.
More than 240 people have been injured by the typhoon, which brought winds of up to 203 km/h (126 mph) and is Asia’s most powerful storm so far this year.
Ten cars and two scooters fell into the Red River following the collapse of the Phong Chau bridge, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said.
The moment a lorry plummeted into the water as the bridge decking ahead fell away before the driver had time to stop was captured on camera.
At least three people have been rescued from the river so far.
Nguyen Minh Hai said he was riding across the bridge on his motorcycle when it collapsed.
“I was so scared when I fell down,” he said, speaking from hospital.
“I feel like I’ve just escaped death. I can’t swim and I thought I would have died.”
Part of the 375-m (1230-ft) structure is still standing, and the military has been instructed to build a pontoon bridge across the gap as soon as possible.
At least 44 of those who died in Vietnam were killed in landslides and flash floods, according to the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
Among them were a 68-year-old woman, a one-year-old boy, and a newborn baby.
The typhoon tore roofs from buildings, uprooted trees, and left widespread damage to infrastructure and factories in the north. Photos by Reuters news agency show that the walls of an LG Electronics factory in Hai Phong city have collapsed.
In the Yen Bai province, flood waters reached a metre high on Monday, with 2,400 families evacuated to higher ground as levels rose, AFP news agency reported.
Nearly 50,000 people have been evacuated from coastal towns in Vietnam, with authorities issuing a warning to remain indoors.
Schools were temporarily closed in 12 northern provinces, including Hanoi.
Nguyen Thi Thom, who owns a restaurant in Ha Long Bay on the north-east coast, said she and many other people had lost everything in the storm.
“There is nothing left. When I look around, people have also lost all they had, just like me,” she said.
“I can only try to recover from this.”
Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi left 24 people dead across southern China and the Philippines.
As the world warms, typhoons can bring higher wind speeds and more intense rainfall, although the influence of climate change on individual storms is complicated.
[BBC]
A Russian-American citizen has been released in a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, a Los Angeles resident, had been in prison in Russia for over a year, after being arrested in the city of Yekaterinburg in early 2024.
She was found guilty of treason for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine and was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony.
In exchange, the US reportedly freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023. He was accused of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russia for manufacturers working with the Russian military.
[BBC]
A nationwide general strike disrupted public services across Greece, with ferries tied up in port, flights grounded and public transport running only part-time as labour unions press for higher wages to cope with rising living costs.
The 24-hour strike on Wednesday was called by the two main umbrella unions covering the public and private sectors, seeking a full return of collective bargaining rights which were scrapped as part of international bailouts during Greece’s financial crisis.
Greece has emerged from a 2009-18 debt crisis, which saw rolling cuts in wages and pensions in turn for bailouts worth about 290 billion euros ($319bn) and economic growth seen at 2.3 percent this year, outpacing other eurozone economies.
Tapping on the country’s progress, the conservative government increased the monthly minimum wage by a cumulative 35 percent to 880 euros ($970). But many households still struggle to make ends meet amid rising food, power and housing costs, the labour unions say.
The country braces for further global financial turmoil triggered by US tariffs.
[Aljazeera]
King Charles and Queen Camilla have had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican where he wished them a happy 20th wedding anniversary.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen said they were “delighted the Pope was well enough to host them – and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person”.
The meeting took place on the third day of their state visit to Italy and ahead of a state banquet in Rome on Wednesday evening.
It is understood the meeting was only confirmed on Wednesday morning. It came after previous plans for the couple to meet the pontiff in a state visit to the Vatican were postponed because of the Pope’s ill health.
(BBC)
Woman jailed over £39 donation to Ukraine freed in US-Russia prisoner swap
Enforcing the law against bribery and corruption is not an act of political revenge but a profound human responsibility – President
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