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Israel carried out a strike in the heart of Beirut Wednesday for a second time since Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war, as the death toll in the country climbed past 630.In New York, around 30 countries backing the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon voiced concern over the fighting in the country, which became a front in the wider conflict last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Israel, which had kept up strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across the country and sent ground troops into border areas — an offensive that has killed 634 people, including 91 children, according to authorities.Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said Wednesday that Israeli forces would continue to operate in Lebanon "as long (as) there will be a threat against us".Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said "the enemy targeted an apartment in the Aisha Bakkar area" in central Beirut, a densely populated neighbourhood close to one of the city's biggest shopping malls.AFPTV's live broadcast captured the sound of an air strike followed by a fireball erupting in an apartment in a multi-storey residential building.An AFP correspondent saw destroyed walls on the building's seventh and eighth floors, with damaged cars nearby and security forces present at the scene.When the strike hit, "I ran from room to room, pulled my wife and daughter out of the rooms and hid them behind a wall, then the second strike hit", said Fawzi Asmar, owner of a bakery on the same street.Samer Knio, a civil defence paramedic, said glass and debris fell on his team as they were evacuating casualties "but God protected us".Lebanese authorities said Wednesday that about 816,000 people had been registered as displaced, with around 126,000 staying in collective shelters.Some residents fear being caught in Israeli air raids targeting people sheltering nearby."We don't know who they're targeting. Maybe someone related to something, maybe not," Amal Hisham, 46, said."Who do I blame? Who do I not blame?"The health ministry announced an initial toll of four people wounded in the apartment strike — the second in central Beirut after Israel a seafront hotel days ago, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers.Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.Senior UN officials and member states called Wednesday for an end to fighting in Lebanon at a Security Council meeting in New York.Jerome Bonnafont, the French ambassador to the UN, told reporters before the meeting that "we troop-contributing countries to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, joined by several other member states, express our deep alarm at the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon".Also Wednesday, the Israeli army resumed strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds sway, after issuing a new evacuation warning.AFPTV live footage showed smoke rising from the area following strikes.Israeli air raids also continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, with the NNA reporting strikes in several areas.The health ministry eight people killed in a strike in the southeastern Bint Jbeil district, with NNA reporting the toll included five members of one family.The ministry said seven people were also killed in a strike on the east Lebanon town of Tamnin al-Tahta, while "successive raids" overnight on the southern town of Qana in the Tyre district killed five people.In Hennawiyeh, also in the Tyre area, the ministry said an overnight Israeli strike wounded two people who were then killed in a subsequent attack along with a rescue worker who attended the scene.It also announced the death of a Red Cross paramedic from wounds sustained when "the Israeli enemy targeted the ambulance he was travelling in... on a rescue mission" two days earlier in the same district.An AFP correspondent saw mourners, including some in Red Cross uniform, taking part in the paramedic's funeral procession Wednesday in Tyre city.Authorities said 15 healthcare workers are among those killed in Israeli strikes since March 2. 

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has risen to 72,070 martyrs, in addition to 171,738 injured. The Ministry of Health in Gaza stated Saturday that hospitals across the Strip received, over the past 48 hours up to this moment, one martyr and 10 injured individuals.  It added that a number of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads, as ambulance and civil defencse crews are still unable to reach them. The ministry further reported that the total number of casualties since the ceasefire last October has risen to 612 martyrs and 1,640 injured, while 726 bodies have been recovered.

The death toll from the collapse of residential buildings in ‌the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose ‌to 15 after search ‍and rescue operations ended, Lebanon's National News Agency said Monday citing the civil ⁠defence chief.  Civil defence director general Imad Khreiss said ‍rescue teams rescued eight people from the rubble of the collapsed buildings in the northern city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood. Officials said on Sunday that two adjoining buildings had collapsed. Abdel Hamid Karimeh, head of Tripoli's municipal council, said he could not ‌confirm how many people remained missing.  Earlier, the head of Lebanon's civil defence rescue service said the two buildings ‍were home to 22 ⁠residents. A number ‌of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, citing municipal officials.  Karimeh said the issue of unsafe buildings in Tripoli was longstanding and driven by multiple factors, including construction violations, years of disorder, weak oversight and a lack of regular maintenance, partly linked to restrictive ​rent control laws that ‌discourage owners from investing in repairs.  He said many buildings in the ⁠city were ‍between 60 and 70 years old and had exceeded their structural lifespan without undergoing essential maintenance, increasing the risk of collapse.  The problem, he added, exceeded the capacity of the municipality and residents alone, calling for ​direct state intervention. Authorities have begun providing temporary shelter to displaced families, while Lebanon's Higher Relief Committee is offering housing allowances for up to three months, Karimeh said. He added that charities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and international organisations were co-ordinating to provide assistance, saying the aim was to secure a minimum ⁠acceptable level of support for affected households.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October. 7, 2023, has risen to 71,269 martyrs, in addition to 171,232 wounded.The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported in its daily statistical report that 3 martyrs, 2 of whom were recovered, and 10 injured people arrived at hospitals during the past 48 hours.The ministry indicated that the total number of deaths since the ceasefire on Oct. 10 has reached 415, in addition to 1,152 wounded, and 682 bodies have been recovered, while a number of victims are still under the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them at this moment.Meanwhile, the ministry reported the death of a young man and a child as a result of a building collapse due to the storm affecting the Strip, bringing the number of victims who arrived at hospitals due to the storm to 19 deaths.

The death toll in Sweden rose to three after a storm battered Scandinavia on Saturday and overnight, with thousands still without power Sunday.The storm, dubbed Johannes in Sweden, swept over large parts of the northern half of the country and western parts of Finland.A man in his 60s who had been working in the forest was hit by a falling tree on Saturday in Hofors in Sweden, police said Sunday.He later died of his injuries in the hospital.The fatality adds to the two reported on Saturday: a man in his 50s died at the hospital after also being hit by a falling tree near the Kungsberget ski resort in central Sweden, Mats Lann of Gavleborg police told AFP.Further north, regional utility Hemab said that one of its employees had died in an accident "in the field".Broadcaster SVT reported that the worker had also been caught under a falling tree.Strong gusts toppled trees, disrupted traffic and caused large power outages in Sweden and Finland.In Finland, more than 85,000 homes were still without power around 12am local time (10 GMT) Sunday after a peak of over 180,000.Energy companies warned the reparation work might take several days.Meanwhile, Swedish news agency TT reported that at least 40,000 Swedish homes were still left without electricity Sunday morning. 

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 70,669 martyrs in addition to 171,165 wounded.The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip stated in a statement today that one martyr and 13 wounded arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals during the past 24 hours. The total number of Palestinian casualties since the ceasefire agreement on October 11 has reached 395 martyrs and 1,088 wounded, while 634 bodies have been recovered.In the same context, medical sources announced that the number of deaths resulting from the severe cold in the Gaza Strip has risen to 13.**media[394891]**The ceasefire agreement came into effect on October 11, following the withdrawal of the occupation forces from populated sites and areas in the Gaza Strip, and the start of the return of displaced persons to the northern Gaza Strip, as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war on Gaza.

Indonesian and Thai authorities raced Sunday to clear debris and find hundreds of missing people as the death toll from devastating floods and landslides across Southeast Asia topped 600.Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swaths of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia this week, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies.At least two areas of Indonesia's worst-affected Sumatra island were still unreachable Sunday, and authorities said they had deployed two warships from Jakarta to deliver aid.Central Tapanuli and Sibolga city "require full attention due to being isolated", National Disaster agency head Suharyanto said in a statement, adding that the ships were expected in Sibolga today.The death toll in Indonesia rose to 442, while 402 were still missing, according to a tally published Sunday by the disaster authority.It said at least 646 people had been injured.In Sungai Nyalo village, about 100km from West Sumatra's capital Padang, floodwaters had mostly receded Sunday, leaving homes, vehicles and crops coated in thick grey mud.Authorities had not yet begun clearing roads, residents told AFP, and no outside assistance had arrived."Most villagers chose to stay; they didn't want to leave their houses behind," said Idris, 55, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.Across the island towards the north coast, an endangered Sumatran elephant lay buried in thick mud and debris near damaged buildings in Meureudu town.In Thailand, where at least 162 people were killed in one of the worst floods in a decade, authorities continued to deliver aid and clear the damage.Relief measures rolled out by the Thai government include compensation of up to 2mn baht ($62,000) for households that lost family members.However, there has been growing public criticism of Thailand's flood response, and two local officials have been suspended over their alleged failures.Two people were killed in Malaysia after floods left stretches of northern Perlis state underwater.The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rain, triggering landslides and flash floods.A tropical storm has exacerbated conditions, and the tolls in Indonesia and Thailand rank among the highest in floods in those countries in recent years.Climate change has affected storm patterns, including the duration and intensity of the season, leading to heavier rainfall, flash flooding and stronger wind gusts. 

The death toll from torrential rain, flooding and landslides in central Vietnam has risen to 55, with 13 people reported missing, the country's disaster agency said on Saturday. Rainfall exceeded 1,900mm (74.8 inches) in some parts of central Vietnam over the past week.The region is a major coffee production belt and home to popular beaches, but it is also prone to storms and floods. Nearly half of the fatalities were in Dak Lak province, where 27 people have died, while 14 people have died in Khanh Hoa province.**media[384808]**The government estimates the flooding has cost the economy around 8.98tn dong ($341mn). Over 235,000 houses were flooded and early 80,000 hectares of crops were damaged, Vietnam's disaster agency said.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 69,169 martyrs in addition to 170,685 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.The ministry reported that since the ceasefire came into effect on October 11, a total of 241 people have been martyred and 614 injured, while 522 bodies have been recovered from the rubble. Adding that over the past 72 hours, hospitals in Gaza Strip received the bodies of 10 martyrs, including 9 recovered from beneath the rubble, in addition to 6 injured individuals.The ministry noted that many victims remain trapped under the debris and along the roads, as ambulance and civil defense teams continue to face severe difficulties reaching them.A ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli entity came into effect on October 11, following the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from populated areas in the Strip and the beginning of the return of displaced residents to northern Gaza. The truce marked the first phase of US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the war on Gaza.

Philippine authorities announced that the death toll from Typhoon Kalmaegi has risen to 46, including six crew members of a military helicopter that crashed during the powerful storm, which brought torrential rains and flooding to the central Philippines.The Philippine Army said in a statement that the helicopter crashed while on a rescue mission. The bodies of the crew members have been recovered. The crash occurred approximately 270 km from Cebu Island, the most affected area.Although Kalmaegi, locally known as Tino, has gradually weakened since making landfall on Tuesday, it continued to batter the country with winds reaching speeds of up to 120 km per hour as it passed through the Visayas islands, heading towards northern Palawan and the South China Sea.Local authorities indicated that tens of thousands of residents in the Visayas region have been evacuated, and rescue operations are ongoing. The typhoon is expected to leave the Philippines late today or early tomorrow Thursday.The Philippines is hit by or approaches approximately 20 typhoons and storms annually, often causing the most damage in the country's poorest areas.

The death toll from ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 67,194 people in addition to 169,890 wounded, according to the latest update from the Gaza Health Ministry. In a statement released Thursday, the ministry reported that hospitals across the enclave received the bodies of 11 people killed and 49 wounded in the previous 24 hours. Since March 18, 2025, the ministry has recorded 13,598 deaths and 57,849 injuries in the strip. The ministry noted that the official toll remains incomplete, as thousands of victims are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Rescue efforts have been severely hampered by a lack of equipment and ongoing Israeli military operations, which have targeted aid and emergency teams. The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with conditions described as catastrophic, and widespread reports of famine.

The death toll from the Cebu earthquake that struck the cities of Bogo and Cebu in the central Philippines last Tuesday rose to 72. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Thursday that all fatalities occurred in the central Visayas region, adding that at least 294 people were injured in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake. The number of affected households reached 47,221, residing in 53 villages in the central Visayas. The National Disaster Management Commission has not yet been able to determine the extent of the damage to infrastructure and agriculture. The Philippines is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire.