Death Toll from Indonesia Flooding Rises to 23

People clean up debris after flooding in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on September 12, 2025. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
People clean up debris after flooding in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on September 12, 2025. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
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Death Toll from Indonesia Flooding Rises to 23

People clean up debris after flooding in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on September 12, 2025. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
People clean up debris after flooding in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on September 12, 2025. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)

The death toll from the flooding that struck two Indonesian islands, including tourist hotspot Bali, rose to 23 on Friday, officials said, with five other people still missing.

Torrential rain late Tuesday triggered floods and landslides across Bali, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said, adding four more people have been found dead and two others are unaccounted for.

The additional deaths come on top of 14 already reported on Bali and five on the island of Flores, AFP reported.

BNPB chief Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said the agency had distributed aid including food, clothes and beds.

He estimated losses from the disaster reached around 25 billion rupiah ($1.52 million).

Flash flooding on Monday struck the Nagekeo district of Flores island, where authorities' efforts to search three missing victims have been hampered by debris.

The annual monsoon season in Indonesia, typically between November and April, often brings landslides, flash floods and water-borne diseases.

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

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

In January, at least 25 people were killed when floods and landslides hit a town in Central Java.



France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
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France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)

France accused Iran on Monday of "repression and intimidation" after a court handed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi a new six-year prison sentence on charges of harming national security.

Mohammadi, sentenced Saturday, was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for "propaganda" against Iran's system, according to her foundation.

"With this sentence, the Iranian regime has, once again, chosen repression and intimidation," the French foreign ministry said in a statement, describing the 53-year-old as a "tireless defender" of human rights.

Paris is calling for the release of the activist, who was arrested before protests erupted nationwide in December after speaking out against the government at a funeral ceremony.

The movement peaked in January as authorities launched a crackdown that activists say has left thousands dead.

Over the past quarter-century, Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's use of capital punishment and the mandatory dress code for women.

Mohammadi has spent much of the past decade behind bars and has not seen her twin children, who live in Paris, since 2015.

Iranian authorities have arrested more than 50,000 people as part of their crackdown on protests, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).


Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
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Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Monday called on his compatriots to show "resolve" ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution this week.

Since the revolution, "foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation", Ali Khamenei said, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States, AFP reported.

"National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people," the leader said, adding: "Show it again and frustrate the enemy."


UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
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UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications Tim Allan resigned on Monday, a day after Starmer's top aide Morgan McSweeney quit over his role in backing Peter Mandelson over his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The loss of two senior aides ⁠in quick succession comes as Starmer tries to draw a line under the crisis in his government resulting from his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the ⁠US.

"I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success," Allan said in a statement on Monday.

Allan served as an adviser to Tony Blair from ⁠1992 to 1998 and went on to found and lead one of the country’s foremost public affairs consultancies in 2001. In September 2025, he was appointed executive director of communications at Downing Street.