Mudslide Kills at Least 2 in China While Rain from Khanun Cancels Some Trains in Northeast

Sanitation workers clear a road lashed by floods in Shangzhi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, 11 August 2023. (EPA/ Xinhua)
Sanitation workers clear a road lashed by floods in Shangzhi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, 11 August 2023. (EPA/ Xinhua)
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Mudslide Kills at Least 2 in China While Rain from Khanun Cancels Some Trains in Northeast

Sanitation workers clear a road lashed by floods in Shangzhi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, 11 August 2023. (EPA/ Xinhua)
Sanitation workers clear a road lashed by floods in Shangzhi City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, 11 August 2023. (EPA/ Xinhua)

A mudslide caused by torrential rains killed at least two people on the outskirts of Xi'an in western China, an official news agency said Saturday, while some trains in the northeast were canceled as a powerful storm lashed the region.

Rescuers were looking for 16 missing people following Friday evening's mudslide in the village of Luanzhen, the Xinhua News Agency said. It said roads, bridges and power supplies were damaged.

Parts of China suffer heavy rains and flooding every summer, but this year has been unusually severe in some areas, while other regions struggle with drought that is damaging crops.

Elsewhere, some train services in Shenyang, the biggest city in China's northeast, and surrounding Liaoning province were suspended starting Saturday evening due to heavy rains caused by the remnants of Khanun, state TV reported. Khanun pummeled parts of Japan as a typhoon before weakening over the Korean Peninsula on its way to China.

Some 23,000 people were evacuated from the northeastern city of Shulan in Jilin province due to heavy rain, according to Xinhua. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.

A total of 142 people nationwide were killed by flooding, landslides and mountain torrents in July, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

The capital, Beijing, and neighboring Hebei province last week suffered their heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years, according to the government.

On Friday, the Hebei government raised the death toll in floods this month caused by Typhoon Doksuri to at least 29. The official death toll from floods in Beijing rose to 33 this week. The government said it could take up to three years for power and other services to be completely restored.



Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich to Meet US Treasury Secretary Next Week

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich to Meet US Treasury Secretary Next Week

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem March 5, 2023. (Reuters)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a right-winger kept at arms length by Washington under former President Joe Biden, will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington next Wednesday, Smotrich's spokesman said on Thursday.

Smotrich went to Washington in March 2023 to meet with leaders of Israel's US-based government bonds program but did not meet any officials from Biden's administration.

The pro-settler Smotrich had clashed with Biden officials, including then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, over aid and banking arrangements for the Palestinian territories.

Smotrich has praised President Donald Trump, including over a decision to lift sanctions imposed under Biden against Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.