Indonesia Landslide Death Toll Rises to 25

The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia rose to 25 as rescuers found three more bodies on Friday. Devi RAHMAN / AFP
The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia rose to 25 as rescuers found three more bodies on Friday. Devi RAHMAN / AFP
TT

Indonesia Landslide Death Toll Rises to 25

The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia rose to 25 as rescuers found three more bodies on Friday. Devi RAHMAN / AFP
The death toll from a landslide in Indonesia rose to 25 as rescuers found three more bodies on Friday. Devi RAHMAN / AFP

The death toll from a landslide on Indonesia's main island of Java rose to 25 as rescuers found three more bodies on Friday, a search and rescue agency official said.

Intense rainfall on Monday in a mountainous area near Pekalongan city in Central Java province triggered the landslide, collapsing bridges and burying cars and houses.

"Overall, the victims who were found dead were 25 people, with a note that two people are still unidentified," Budiono, head of the search and rescue agency from nearby Semarang, told AFP.

If those two victims are among the list of missing people, there would be only one more person left to find, he said.

The two unidentified victims were found trapped under rocks and landslide materials, making it difficult for rescuers to recover their bodies, added Budiono, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

Bad weather was hampering search efforts, with the operation suspended on Friday afternoon to ensure the safety of rescue teams as rain and fog descended on the area.

The rescue operation is set to resume on Saturday, Budiono said, with rescuers focusing their search around a cafe where the victims are thought to have been buried as they sought shelter from the rain.

At least 13 people were also injured in the landslide, according to the national search and rescue agency Basarnas.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, typically between November and April, but some disasters caused by adverse weather have taken place outside that season in recent years.

Climate change has also increased the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

In May, at least 67 people died after heavy rains caused flash floods in West Sumatra, pushing a mixture of ash, sand, and pebbles from the eruption of Mount Marapi into residential areas.



Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
TT

Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN

A building collapse caused by an explosion in Pakistan's southern megacity of Karachi killed at least 16 people on Thursday, including children, officials said.

More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighborhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing Sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.


Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
TT

Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol ‌religious sites including ‌the mosque, as well as community events.

The latest letter ‌comes ⁠weeks after a ⁠similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire.

Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque's staff in January.

The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and ⁠CCTV cameras.

Some 5,000 people are expected to attend ‌the mosque each night during Ramadan. More ‌than 60% of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to ‌the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council, where Lakemba ‌is located, said the community was feeling "very anxious".

"I've heard first-hand from people saying that they won't be sending their kids to practice this Ramadan because they're very concerned about things that might happen in local mosques," AFP quoted him as saying.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‌condemned the recent string of threats.

"It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the ⁠holy month ⁠for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation," he told ABC radio.

"I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that."

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.

The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740% rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by ISIS killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.

"There's been a massive increase post-Bondi," Mayor El-Hayek said. "Without a doubt, this is the worst I have ever seen it. There's a lot of tension out there."


Russia's Lavrov Warns against Any New US Strike on Iran

FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during an annual press conference in Moscow, Russia, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during an annual press conference in Moscow, Russia, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
TT

Russia's Lavrov Warns against Any New US Strike on Iran

FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during an annual press conference in Moscow, Russia, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during an annual press conference in Moscow, Russia, January 14, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in ‌an interview made public on Wednesday, said that any new US strike on Iran would have serious consequences and called for restraint to find a solution to enable Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.

Lavrov's interview with Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya television was aired a day after US and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva to head off a new mounting crisis between Washington and Tehran, Reuters said.

"The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on ‌nuclear sites ‌under the control of the International Atomic ‌Energy ⁠Agency. From what ⁠we can judge there were real risks of a nuclear incident," Lavrov said in the interview, which was posted on his ministry's website.

"I am carefully watching reactions in the region from Arab countries, Gulf monarchies. No one wants an increase in tension. Everyone understands this is playing with fire."

Boosting ⁠tensions, he said, could undo the ‌positive steps of recent years, including ‌improved relations between Iran and nearby countries, notably Saudi Arabia.

A senior ‌US official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was ‌expected to submit a written proposal on how to resolve its standoff with the United States after the talks in Geneva.

US national security advisers met in the White House on Wednesday and ‌were told all US military forces deployed to the region should be in place ⁠by mid-March, ⁠the official said.

The United States wants Iran to give up its nuclear program, and Iran has adamantly refused and denied it is trying to develop an atomic weapon.

Lavrov said Arab countries were sending signals to Washington "clearly calling for restraint and a search for an agreement that will not infringe on Iran's lawful rights and ... guarantee that Iran has a purely peaceful nuclear enrichment program".

Russia, he said, remained in close, regular contact with Iran's leaders "and we have no reason to doubt that Iran sincerely wants to resolve this problem on the basis of observing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".