Vietnam Death Toll from Typhoon Yagi Rises

This aerial picture shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam. (Photo by Xuan Quang / AFP)
This aerial picture shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam. (Photo by Xuan Quang / AFP)
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Vietnam Death Toll from Typhoon Yagi Rises

This aerial picture shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam. (Photo by Xuan Quang / AFP)
This aerial picture shows flooded streets and buildings in Thai Nguyen on September 10, 2024, a few days after Super Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam. (Photo by Xuan Quang / AFP)

Typhoon Yagi and the landslides and floods it triggered in northern Vietnam have killed at least 82 people, with 64 others missing, the disaster management agency said on Tuesday.

Most were killed in landslides and flash floods, the agency said in a report, adding the province of Cao Bang had the highest number of casualties with 19 deaths, and 36 people still missing.

The typhoon made landfall on Saturday on Vietnam's northeastern coast, devastating a large swath of industrial and residential areas and bringing heavy rains that caused floods and landslides. It had previously hit the Philippines and the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
Several rivers in northern Vietnam have risen to alarming levels, leaving villages and residential areas inundated, according to the disaster agency and state media.
A 30-year-old bridge over the Red River in the northern province of Phu Tho collapsed on Monday, leaving eight missing, according to a statement from the provincial People's Committee.
Authorities have subsequently banned or limited traffic on other bridges across the river, including Chuong Duong Bridge, one of the largest in Hanoi, according to state media reports.



Zelenskiy Says Ukraine's Membership of NATO is 'Achievable'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
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Zelenskiy Says Ukraine's Membership of NATO is 'Achievable'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

Ukraine's membership of NATO is "achievable", but Kyiv will have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech on Sunday.
Ukraine has repeatedly urged NATO to invite Kyiv to become a member. The Western military alliance has said Ukraine will join its ranks one day but has not set a date or issued an invitation.
Moscow has cited the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as one of the principal justifications for its 2022 invasion. Kyiv says membership in the Western alliance's mutual defense pact, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, would be crucial to any peace plan to ensure that Russia does not attack again.
"We all understand that Ukraine's invitation to NATO and membership in the alliance can only be a political decision," Zelenskiy told diplomats at a gathering in Kyiv. "Alliance for Ukraine is achievable, but it is achievable only if we fight for this decision at all the necessary levels."
Zelenskiy said allies needed to know what Ukraine can bring to NATO and how its membership in the alliance would stabilize global relations, Reuters reported.
Last week, Zelenskiy urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends and said Ukraine would ultimately need more protection through membership of the alliance.