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Nepal Landslides Kill Nine, Including 3 Children

Nepalese farmers plant rice saplings in terraced paddy fields during the beginning of the monsoon season in the Nagarkot village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 June 2024. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
Nepalese farmers plant rice saplings in terraced paddy fields during the beginning of the monsoon season in the Nagarkot village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 June 2024. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
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Nepal Landslides Kill Nine, Including 3 Children

Nepalese farmers plant rice saplings in terraced paddy fields during the beginning of the monsoon season in the Nagarkot village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 June 2024. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
Nepalese farmers plant rice saplings in terraced paddy fields during the beginning of the monsoon season in the Nagarkot village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 June 2024. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

At least nine people, including three children, were killed after heavy monsoon rains in west Nepal triggered landslides, an official said on Saturday.
Five members of a family were sleeping when their house was washed away by a landslide in Malika village in Gulmi district, about 250 km west of Kathmandu, according to Dizan Bhattarai, a spokesman for the National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.
“Bodies of all five have been recovered,” Bhattarai told Reuters, adding that the family included two children.
In neighboring Syangja district, one woman and her three year old daughter died in a landslide that swept away their house, while in Baglung district, which borders Gulmi, two people were killed in another landslide.
At least 35 people across Nepal have died in landslides, floods and lightning strikes since mid-June when annual monsoon rains started. Rains normally continue until mid-September.
Landslides and flash floods are common in mostly mountainous Nepal during the monsoon season and kill hundreds of people every year.

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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Russia Says French Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Collecting Military Details

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 02 July 2024. The temperature in Moscow exceeded 32 degrees Celsius. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russian investigators said on Wednesday that French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who was detained last month and accused of failing to register as a foreign agent while illegally collecting sensitive military information, had pleaded guilty during questioning.

Vinatier, an expert with long experience of working in Russia, was shown last month being arrested in a central Moscow restaurant by masked officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
He is accused of failing to register as a foreign agent and intentionally collecting military information which could be used by foreign intelligence services to damage the security of Russia, Reuters reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Vinatier, an employee of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a Swiss-based conflict mediation group, worked for the French state. Macron described his arrest as part of a disinformation campaign by Moscow.
"The French citizen has pleaded guilty in a criminal case on illegal collection of information in the field of Russian military activities," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
"During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt in full."
A representative of HD had no immediate comment.
Russian investigators said that Vinatier had for several years failed to comply with the Russian law on foreign agents and had collected military information at meetings with Russian citizens.
The Investigative Committee said that seven witnesses who Vinatier had tried to collect military information from had been questioned - and that it had recordings of some of their meetings.
"A linguistic forensic examination has been scheduled based on audio recordings of these meetings," the committee said.
In a statement following Vinatier's arrest, his employer HD said: "In the course of HD’s activities as an impartial and independent mediation organization, our people work around the world and routinely meet with a wide range of officials, experts and other parties with the aim of advancing efforts to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict."
Vinatier, 47, could face up to five years in prison. He was placed in pre-trial custody until Aug. 5, despite a request to free him endorsed by the French embassy.