Record Vietnam Rains Kill Four and Flood 100,000 Homes

A woman wearing a raincoat wades through a flooded street in Hue on October 28, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
A woman wearing a raincoat wades through a flooded street in Hue on October 28, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Record Vietnam Rains Kill Four and Flood 100,000 Homes

A woman wearing a raincoat wades through a flooded street in Hue on October 28, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
A woman wearing a raincoat wades through a flooded street in Hue on October 28, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Flooding triggered by record heavy rains in central Vietnam this week killed at least four people and inundated more than 100,000 homes, the environment ministry said on Wednesday.

Vietnam's coastal provinces have been lashed by heavy rains since Sunday, with a record of up to 1.7 meters (five feet seven inches) falling over 24 hours.

Four people have been killed and another five are missing in Hue, Danang and Lam Dong provinces, the ministry said in a report, according to AFP.

More than 150 landslides had been reported, 2,200 hectares (5,400 acres) of crops destroyed and a total of 103,525 houses flooded, it said.

Many of the more than 21,000 people who were evacuated from the flood zone began to return home as water receded in the central coastal city of Hue on Wednesday morning.

However, more rain was reported by midday, forcing the local hydropower plant to discharge its reservoirs.

Central Danang province was also forecast to experience more flooding in the next two days, with Danang city's rivers swollen to alarming levels, the environment ministry said.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather events such as storms and floods more deadly and destructive.

Natural disasters, mostly storms, floods and landslides, left 187 people dead or missing in Vietnam in the first nine months of this year.

More than 240,000 hectares of crops were destroyed and 38,000 houses collapsed or were damaged, the General Statistics Office said.

Total economic losses were estimated at more than $610 million.



NATO: Ukraine Still Receiving Arms Despite Mideast War

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
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NATO: Ukraine Still Receiving Arms Despite Mideast War

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte via Reuters/File

Ukraine is still getting essential defense equipment despite the war in the Middle East, which is depleting stockpiles in Europe and the United States, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday.

"The good news is that essential equipment into Ukraine continues to flow," he told reporters. That included American-made Patriot missile interceptors, which Ukraine desperately needs, he added, AFP reported.

The PURL program, launched last year, allows Ukraine to receive US equipment financed by European countries.

Some 75 percent of the missiles used by Patriot batteries in Ukraine have been supplied through the program, and 90 percent of the munitions used by other air-defense systems, Rutte added.

Rutte called on European countries to increase their own production capacity.

"They need to produce more extra production lines, extra shifts, opening new factories. The money is there," he said.


Germany FM Says 'Encouraging' if US Speaking Directly to Iran

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
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Germany FM Says 'Encouraging' if US Speaking Directly to Iran

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. (Reuters: File Photo)

Germany's foreign minister Thursday said it was encouraging if the United States was talking directly to Iran to end the war in the Middle East, but Washington should make its intentions clear.

"I hear that there are signs that the US is speaking directly to Iran. I think that this is encouraging and this is welcome," Johann Wadephul told reporters before heading into the meeting of G7 foreign ministers outside Paris, AFP reported.

With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set to join the discussions from Friday, he added: "For the German government it is of great importance to know precisely what our American partners are intending."


US Envoy Witkoff Says Iran is Seeking an Off-ramp

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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US Envoy Witkoff Says Iran is Seeking an Off-ramp

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 26, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The United States has sent Iran a "15-point action list" as a basis for negotiations to end the current conflict, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday, adding that there are signs that Tehran was interested in making a deal.

 

Witkoff, speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, said that the nascent talks could be successful if the Iranians realize there were no good alternatives - a realization Tehran might be coming to, he argued, Reuters reported.

 

"We will see where things lead, and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them other than more death and destruction," Witkoff told reporters.

 

"We have strong signs that this is a possibility."

 

Witkoff said Pakistan had been acting as a mediator, confirming statements from Pakistani officials.