Floods Wreak Damage in Myanmar, Killing at Least 226, State Media Says 

Partially-submerged buildings are seen along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP)
Partially-submerged buildings are seen along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP)
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Floods Wreak Damage in Myanmar, Killing at Least 226, State Media Says 

Partially-submerged buildings are seen along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP)
Partially-submerged buildings are seen along a flooded road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP)

Floods in Myanmar have killed at least 226 people in just over a week, state media reported on Tuesday, after heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Yagi battered the central provinces of the war-torn Southeast Asian country.

Around a third of Myanmar's 55 million people are already in need humanitarian aid, following incessant conflict triggered by a Feb. 2021 coup when the powerful military unseated the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The areas hardest hit by the flooding include the second largest city of Mandalay, the capital Naypyitaw and parts of Shan state, a sprawling province that has seen heavy fighting in recent months.

Some 77 people are still missing, state media said.

"A total of 388 relief camps were opened in nine regions and states, and the well-wishers donated drinking water, food and clothes," reported the Global New Light of Myanmar, the newspaper of the military government.

In the Mandalay region alone, some 40,000 acres of agricultural land were submerged and some 26,700 houses damaged by the heavy rains and flooding, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also said many flood-hit regions were difficult to reach as several roads were damaged and telecoms and electricity networks disrupted.

"Affected areas include camps for displaced people, including children, who were already struggling with limited services due to ongoing conflict," UNICEF said in a statement.

Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, has left a trail of devastation through parts of Southeast Asia, killing at least 292 people in Vietnam where it made landfall.

In Thailand, the storm caused heavy rains and flooding that inundated northern cities, including on the border with Myanmar.

At least 45 people have died across Thailand from flooding and flood-related events such as mudslides since last month, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

At least three people were killed and over 440 families evacuated in Laos, where flooding across eight provinces have also swamped some 7,825 acres of paddy fields, according to UNICEF.



Moroccan Community Calls for Calm after Anti-migrant Clashes in Spanish Town

A man throws an object at police, amid anti-migrant unrest following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week, in Torre Pacheco, Spain, July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
A man throws an object at police, amid anti-migrant unrest following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week, in Torre Pacheco, Spain, July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
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Moroccan Community Calls for Calm after Anti-migrant Clashes in Spanish Town

A man throws an object at police, amid anti-migrant unrest following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week, in Torre Pacheco, Spain, July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
A man throws an object at police, amid anti-migrant unrest following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week, in Torre Pacheco, Spain, July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

Moroccan community leaders in the Spanish town of Torre Pacheco called for calm following four nights of clashes between North African migrants and the far-right, in some of the worst such unrest in the country in recent times.

Police have detained at least 14 people so far over the clashes that flared up on Friday after an attack last week on a local man in his 60s.

Far-right groups have called for anti-migrant protests on Tuesday and over 120 Civil Guard officers have been deployed to maintain security in the town, a government spokesperson for the region said, Reuters reported.

Authorities said three Moroccan citizens suspected of involvement in the assault have been apprehended, including a 19-year-old alleged to be the main perpetrator. He was detained on Monday evening in northern Spain on assault and battery charges.

A spokesperson for the central government's office in the Murcia region said none of the suspects lived in Torre Pacheco.

After xenophobic messages on social media to "hunt down" residents of North African origin, leaders of the local Moroccan community urged calm and advised younger members to remain in their homes after dozens took to the streets over the weekend and on Monday, clashing with far-right groups and police.

"We want peace ... We don't want criminals, we don't want violence or people who come from outside to make trouble here," Abdelali, an informal spokesperson for the Moroccan community who has lived in the town for 25 years, told reporters.

Police arrested three people overnight after a confrontation with dozens of young men in the San Antonio neighbourhood, home to a majority of the town's first- and second generation migrants who represent nearly a third of the town's population of 40,000, according to local government data.

Reuters footage showed some of the protesters, mostly masked, lobbing fireworks at officers clad in riot gear, who responded by firing rubber bullets.

HATE CRIMES INVESTIGATION

Spain's top hate crimes prosecutor, Miguel Angel Aguilar, told SER radio on Tuesday that his office was investigating the events in Torre Pacheco, as well as social media messages inciting violence towards migrants.

He also confirmed regional prosecutors were looking at statements by the leader of far-right party Vox in Murcia, Jose Angel Antelo, who is accused by Spain's ruling Socialist Party of linking immigration to criminality in speeches, media appearances and posts on X.

Late on Monday, the messaging app Telegram shuttered a channel named "DeportThemNowSpain" for "inciting violence".

Reuters reviewed dozens of messages in the channel that included expletive-laden calls to attack Moroccans residing in Torre Pacheco or set fire to their homes.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said police in Mataro, near Barcelona, had arrested an unnamed leader of supremacist movement "Deport Them Now Europe" suspected of inciting hatred and seized two computers.