26 dead, 100 missing in Afghan flood

Emergency workers on Portugal's island of Madeira will press on with rescue work Monday after the flash flooding that killed at least 42 people, but have warned that the toll will likely rise.Troops and other rescue workers spent Sunday digging through mud-filled houses and streets after the flash floods' torrents of brown water swept some people to their death, demolished houses and overturned cars.The government in Lisbon has rushed medical teams, rescue teams including divers and sniffer dogs and relief supplies to the Atlantic island.

At least 20 people have died in floods in southern France, officials said, and there were fears the toll could rise as rescue workers kept up the search for the missing.Helicopters airlifted survivors, sometimes from the roofs of their homes, in the wake of heavy storms that triggered flash floods in the Draguignan area near the Mediterranean coast.Nearly 2,000 rescue workers were rushed in to help hundreds trapped in their vehicles, houses or on rooftops.

TEHRAN, Iran — A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed at least 37 and injured hundreds more in a sparsely populated area in southern Iran on Tuesday, Iranian officials said, adding that it did not damage a nuclear plant in the region. The report said the earthquake struck the town of Kaki some 96 kilometres southeast of Bushehr, a town on the Persian Gulf that is home of Iran’s first nuclear power plant, built with Russian help.

At least 80 people died and 400 were missing after a landslide triggered by torrential rain swept away entire villages in eastern Uganda, the Ugandan Red Cross said Wednesday."Eighty bodies have been recovered and the missing are more than 400 now, after 100 people were reported buried in a trading centre where they had taken shelter," said spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde.Rescue workers began pulling bodies from the mud after the landslide, while the Ugandan Red Cross reported widespread flooding and damage.

ALGIERS, Algeria — The bloody three-day hostage standoff at a Sahara natural gas plant took a dramatic turn Friday as Algeria’s state news service reported that nearly 100 of the 132 foreign workers kidnapped by Islamic militants had been freed. That number of hostages at the remote desert facility was significantly higher than any previous report, and still meant that the fate of over 30 foreign energy workers was unclear. Yet it could indicate a potential breakthrough in the confrontation that began when the militants seized the plant early Wednesday.

Rescue workers continued their search Monday for survivors from a flash flood in central Nepal that swept away houses over the weekend, killing at least 17 people and leaving as many as 47 missing.

TERREBONNE, Que. — The survivor of a landslide has shared the harrowing story of his escape. Benoit Robert has told reporters how he survived the landslide yesterday in a Quebec gravel quarry, while two of his colleagues are still missing. He choked up as he described the incident, expressing his sadness over the ordeal his missing colleagues’ families are facing. “It’s hard, what I went through. But I’m still here,” Robert said.

At least six children have been killed and three adults were reported missing in northwestern Venezuela following flash floods caused by torrential rains.Yaracuy state governor Julio Leon told local television all victims lived in the town of Bolivar and belonged to the same family, which was apparently enjoying a picnic in a gully when the flash flood hit.Heavy rains have been affecting the area for about two weeks causing flooding in many communities.According to Leon, rescue teams were searching for the missing.