INDIA
Collapse toll rises to 33
Rescuers in Mumbai yesterday sifted through rubble in a search for survivors of a collapsed 117-year-old condemned building as the toll from the disaster rose to 33. There was no reliable estimate of those still missing in the collapse, which came as Mumbai recovered from two days of floods brought by heavy monsoon rains. A total of 46 people had been pulled from the rubble since the collapse early on Thursday morning, 33 of whom have been declared dead, head fire official P.S. Rahangdale said. “Rescue operations are continuing,” Rahangdale said, adding that 14 fire and rescue officials had been injured in the effort. “Fire engines, rescue vans and ambulances are still at the site,” he added. Police were yet to determine what caused the building in a densely populated area of the city to crumble. Many of whose residents had stayed even after authorities declared it unsafe in 2011. People had been reluctant to leave because they had not received details of alternative housing, some residents of the area said.
SWITZERLAND
Rock fall prompts rescue
A rock fall on Thursday hit a remote valley, trapping two people in the area where eight hikers were buried by a landslide last week. The two were rescued by helicopter after the latest slide, which destroyed buildings. One road was covered with mud as the landslide filled a basin near the town of Bondo that had previously been cleared of debris by workers following the Aug. 23 slide. Nobody was believed to have been hurt, but several hotel guests and residents had to be evacuated after the landslide, which came as steady rain saturated unstable mud and rocks on the flanks of the 3,369m Piz Cengalo mountain, police said yesterday. Several buildings in the towns of Bondo and Sottoponte were destroyed. Houses in the town of Spino were also damaged. “The landslide was preceded by hefty thunder and lightning and multiple rock falls on Piz Cengalo,” Grisons cantonal police said, adding that a helicopter had to airlift two people from buildings where they had been trapped.
ITALY
Ethan Hawke recalls prayer
US actor Ethan Hawke’s great-grandmother had wanted him to become a priest, but he prayed that he would never get the calling, Hawke said at the Venice film festival on Thursday. Hawke finally got his taste of priesthood when he was cast as a minister in Paul Schrader’s spiritual drama First Reformed, one of 21 movies competing for the Golden Lion to be awarded on Sept. 9. “I’ve been surrounded by religion my whole life and it’s a very important dialogue, in my head anyway, so I was very grateful for the opportunity to play this character,” Hawke said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was