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Gaetano Ferrera had just a few minutes to grab belongings from his home, one of hundreds evacuated after a landslide in Sicily that experts warn could worsen due to heavy rainfall."Being left without anything is bad, it's bad. I've been here ever since I was a child," said Ferrera, visibly emotional as he locked the door behind him.Ferrera and his family, including two 16-year-old daughters and elderly parents, have no idea whether they will ever be able to return.The house sits in an area of Niscemi declared a "red zone" - and therefore off limits - after a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) long stretch of the hillside collapsed on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of some 1,500 people.The town, built on unstable terrain, was battered by a powerful storm which hit southern Italy last week.Though there were no deaths or injuries, experts say the gulf could extend - and topple more houses - when it rains again.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Wednesday, flying by helicopter over the gashed hillside and deep fissures in fields below.She promised quick help, pointing to long delays in compensation from a previous large landslide in the same town in 1997.Speaking to local officials after visiting the site, she said it still remained to be seen how many people would be "permanently displaced because the landslide is still moving".Landslide still active"We need to wait for the rains to stop and for the soil moisture to decrease", Luigi D'Angelo, the Civil Protection Agency's head of emergency management, told AFP.He said "heavy rain" was forecast in the coming days.Rubble from a few homes destroyed by the landslide could be seen at the bottom of the cliff, "and there's a risk that another 20m or so could fall, impacting other homes", he said.The agency is using drones to monitor the red zone and satellite images to assess the speed of the landslide.As locals watched a darkening sky, police patrolled streets empty of all but stray cats, while emergency services stood on standby on the edge of the red zone.Niscemi, home to some 25,000 people and built on sandstone and clay, suffered a landslide in the same area nearly 30 years ago, and residents said this week's disaster had been long in the making.Geologist Giuseppe Amato, head of water resources in Sicily for Legambiente, told AFP the landslide should serve as a warning as climate change leads to increasing weather extremes."Niscemi is another alarm bell... we must respond by changing our habits" and "choosing not to build in certain ways and in certain places"."In 2025 alone, Sicily has been hit by 48 exceptional weather events", from wind and rain to extreme heat, showing the Mediterranean island is "a hot spot for climate change in all respects", he said.According to Italy's Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), over one million Italians live in areas classed as "high or very high risk" for landslides.'Land simply dropped away'Rosario Cona, 45, a farmhand, told AFP that on Sunday "the land simply dropped away"."We watch houses falling, this is normality for us," he said.Unlike 29 years ago, though, "we have to take responsibility", he said. "The time for sleepwalking is over."As a mobile kitchen readied hot meals for evacuees, Cona said Niscemi's future was uncertain -- but he for one would never leave.His family may not return to their home, just one row back from the cliff edge, but Cona said he would build a new one if necessary."I was born here, and I will die here", he said. 

Dubai police Thursday urged residents to stay indoors unless it was "absolutely necessary" as heavy rainfall was expected in the country which saw record downpours last year. The warning came hours after rainfall in the city caused flooding in streets. "For your safety, please remain cautious as unstable weather conditions are expected in the coming hours, and avoid going out unless it is absolutely necessary until midday today," said a police alert sent to residents' phones. The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) in the United Arab Emirates warned of rainfall across the country from Thursday to Friday, including in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 

Torrential rains that fell Friday and early Saturday have worsened the suffering of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, flooding fragile tents amid dire humanitarian conditions caused by the Israeli occupation's ongoing aggression since October 7, 2023.UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed concern that thousands of displaced families are now fully exposed to harsh weather, raising serious health and protection risks.The Israeli assault has destroyed approximately 92% of Gaza's residential buildings, forcing most residents into unsafe tents or back into damaged homes at risk of collapse during floods.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that shelter partners deployed rapid response teams and distributed aid in recent days, including 1,000 tents in Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis, 7,000 blankets to over 1,800 families, 15,000 tarpaulins to 3,700 families, and winter clothing for more than 500 families.OCHA noted that effective flood prevention requires equipment unavailable in Gaza, such as water drainage tools and debris removal systems.The office also warned that deteriorating living conditions heighten the risk of explosive remnants, especially for children.Some injuries occurred while collecting firewood, and families have been forced to pitch tents near suspected hazardous areas due to lack of safe alternatives.Since the ceasefire began on October 11, Israeli forces have committed dozens of violations, resulting in 261 Palestinian deaths and 632 injuries, with 533 bodies recovered from the rubble.According to official statistics, the Israeli aggression has killed at least 69,187 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 170,703 others. Many victims remain trapped under debris, unreachable by rescue teams.

Iran was laying plans Saturday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran's 10mn-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.Rainfall in the capital has this year been at its lowest level in a century, local officials say, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop fall in months.Now, to save water, the government is planning water cuts in Tehran -- and several local news outlets have already reported pipes running dry overnight in some areas."This will help avoid waste even though it may cause inconvenience," Iran's Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said on state television.In a speech broadcast on Friday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned that Tehran might have to be evacuated if no rain falls before the end of the year.But he gave no details about how such a vast operation would be conducted.Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.Tehran is by far the country's biggest city and its inhabitants use three million cubic metres of water per day, according to local media.The main Amir Kabir dam on the Karaj river, one of five reservoirs serving the capital, is running dry and holds only 14mn cubic litres, according to Behzad Parsa, director general of the Tehran water company, cited by the official news agency IRNA.During the same period last year, the reservoir held 86mn cubic metres, he added, but now it only has enough to maintain supplies to the Tehran region for less than two weeks.Saturday, state television broadcast images of several dams, serving the central city of Isfahan and Tabriz in the northwest, showing significantly lower water levels compared to previous years.Hassan Hosseini, the deputy Iran's second-largest city Mashhad, told IRNA agency on Thursday that night-time water cuts were being considered to address the water shortage.And over the summer on July and August, two public holidays were declared in Tehran to save water and energy, at a time when power outages were almost daily during the intense heatwave.