Red River Floods Vietnam’s Hanoi as Typhoon Yagi Kills More Than 150 

This aerial view shows the landslide site in the remote mountainous village of Lang Nu, in Lao Cai province on September 11, 2024, in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi hitting northern Vietnam. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the landslide site in the remote mountainous village of Lang Nu, in Lao Cai province on September 11, 2024, in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi hitting northern Vietnam. (AFP)
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Red River Floods Vietnam’s Hanoi as Typhoon Yagi Kills More Than 150 

This aerial view shows the landslide site in the remote mountainous village of Lang Nu, in Lao Cai province on September 11, 2024, in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi hitting northern Vietnam. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the landslide site in the remote mountainous village of Lang Nu, in Lao Cai province on September 11, 2024, in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi hitting northern Vietnam. (AFP)

Vietnam's capital of Hanoi evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen Red River as its waters flooded streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered the country's north, killing at least 152 people.

Asia's most powerful typhoon this year, Yagi brought gales and heavy rain as it moved westwards after landfall on Saturday, collapsing a bridge this week while scythed through provinces along the Red River, the area's largest.

"This is the worst flood I have seen in 30 years," Hanoi resident Tran Le Quyen, 42, told Reuters, adding that she had to move furniture from her flooded home to higher ground.

"It was dry yesterday morning. Now the entire street is flooded. We couldn't sleep last night."

The typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods have killed 152 people while 140 were missing, the government estimated.

Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents of low-lying areas have been evacuated, government and state media said.

"My home is now part of the river," said Nguyen Van Hung, 56, who lives in a neighborhood on the banks of the Red River.

Nearer the city center, charity Blue Dragon Children's Foundation had to evacuate its office on Tuesday, after authorities warned of flood risks.

"People were moving frantically, moving their motorbikes, relocating items," said spokesperson Carlota Torres Lliro, expressing concern for dozens of children and families living in slum areas and makeshift houses by the river.

BLOW TO FACTORIES

Yagi wreaked havoc on many factories and flooded warehouses in coastal export-oriented industrial hubs east of Hanoi, forcing closures, with some only expected to resume full operations after weeks, executives said.

The disruptions threaten global supply chains as Vietnam hosts large operations of multinationals that ship mostly to the United States, Europe and other developed nations.

Elsewhere, in provinces north of the capital, landslides triggered by heavy floods killed dozens.

"My house's first floor is completely under the water," said Nguyen Duc Tam, a 40-year-old resident of Thai Nguyen, a city about 60 km (37 miles) from Hanoi.

"Now we have no fresh water and electricity," he added.

Among the factories housed on the outskirts of the city, which has a population of about 400,000, is a large facility for Samsung Electronics.

From Vietnam, the South Korean company ships about half of its smartphones worldwide.

There were no signs of flooding at the facility on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.

"For more than 20 years that I've lived here, I've never seen such historic flooding," said Hoang Hai Luan, 30. "My properties and possibly those of many others are completely lost."



White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.