Indonesia’s Toll Rises to 62 from Deadly Sumatra Floods, 25 Still Missing 

Two women observe the aftermath of a flash flood through a hole in the wall of a house at Limo Kaum village, in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, on May 15, 2024. (AFP) 
Two women observe the aftermath of a flash flood through a hole in the wall of a house at Limo Kaum village, in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, on May 15, 2024. (AFP) 
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Indonesia’s Toll Rises to 62 from Deadly Sumatra Floods, 25 Still Missing 

Two women observe the aftermath of a flash flood through a hole in the wall of a house at Limo Kaum village, in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, on May 15, 2024. (AFP) 
Two women observe the aftermath of a flash flood through a hole in the wall of a house at Limo Kaum village, in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, on May 15, 2024. (AFP) 

The death toll from weekend flash floods and mud slides in Indonesia's West Sumatra province rose to 62 on Wednesday, authorities said, while rescuers were searching areas near rivers for 25 people who are still missing.

Officials said some of those earlier unaccounted for were found dead during the day, which lifted the toll from 58 reported in the morning.

A video shared by the national disaster management agency BNPB showed logs, rocks and mud strewn over roads, collapsed bridges and houses in Tanah Datar, one of the three districts in West Sumatra hit by the floods.

The disaster struck the area on Saturday evening when heavy rains unleashed flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow - a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water.

The cold lava flow, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra's most active volcanoes. Its eruption in December killed more than 20 people and more eruptions have followed since.

BNPB will continue to search for the missing people and clean the main roads, its head Suharyanto said in a statement on Wednesday

Sisters Fitrawanis, 64, and Nurbaiti, 66, watched in tears the ruins of their brother's house in Tanah Datar. They said the brother, Rusdi, 60, was still missing after water swept him away when he tried to save his mother-in-law.

"I hope that his body can be found quickly, either alive or dead," Fitrawanis told Reuters. She said both in-laws and Rusdi's wife have been found dead.

At least 249 houses, 225 hectares (556 acres) of land, including rice fields, 19 bridges and most of main roads were damaged in three districts and one town.

Indonesia's meteorology agency BMKG said it planned to try to mitigate heavy rainfall expected for the next week in West Sumatra by "cloud seeding" to prevent rains in the worst affected areas.

Widely used in Indonesia, cloud seeding involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall in dry areas.



Congress is Notified by the Biden Administration of Planned $8 Billion Weapons Sale to Israel

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
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Congress is Notified by the Biden Administration of Planned $8 Billion Weapons Sale to Israel

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP
The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel - File Photo/AFP

The State Department has informed Congress of a planned $8 billion weapons sale to Israel, US officials say, as the American ally presses forward with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Some of the arms in the package could be sent through current US stocks but the majority would take a year or several years to deliver, according to two US officials Saturday who spoke on condition of anonymity because the notification to Congress hasn't been formally sent.

The sale includes medium-range air-to-air missiles to help Israel defend against airborne threats, 155 mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targeting, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 500-pound bombs and more.

The weapons package would add to a record of at least $17.9 billion in military aid that the US has provided Israel since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, launched the war, The AP reported.

The Biden administration has faced criticism over mounting deaths of Palestinian civilians. There have been demonstrations on college campuses and unsuccessful efforts in Congress by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and some Democrats to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel.

The United States paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May over concerns about civilian casualties if the bombs were to be used during an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Biden administration has demanded that Israel increase humanitarian aid into the enclave. But in November, citing some limited progress, it declined to limit arms transfers as it threatened to do if the situation did not improve.

In recent days, Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Gaza that have killed dozens of people, adding to the tens of thousands of deaths since the war began more than a year ago.

The Israeli army said Friday that it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command centers throughout Gaza. Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea.

The informal notice to Congress isn’t the final notification before a sale. Now the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can review the package.

News of the weapons sale was first reported by Axios.