- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
Cyclone Freddy returns killing over 100 in Malawi, Mozambique
Cyclone Freddy, packing powerful winds and torrential rain, killed more than 100 people in Malawi and Mozambique on its return to southern Africa's mainland, authorities said Monday.
Freddy, on track to become the longest-lasting storm on record, barrelled through southern Africa at the weekend for the second time within a few weeks, making a comeback after a first hit in late February.
Malawi bore the brunt, counting at least 99 deaths after mudslides overnight washed away houses and sleeping occupants.
"We expect the number to rise," Charles Kalemba, a commissioner at the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, told a press conference.
Another 134 people were injured and 16 are reported missing.
Malawi's commercial capital Blantyre recorded 85 deaths.
Residents used their bare hands to dig through the mud hoping to find survivors.
Government rescuers were late to arrive, said one resident refusing to give his name, covered in mud, as he helped with the rescue effort.
"The people are overwhelmed. The situation is very difficult," said ambulance driver Honest Chirwa, adding rescuers lacked adequate equipment.
More than 11,000 people were affected by the storm, said the United Nations.
The impact of the cyclone has piled more woes on a country grappling with the deadliest cholera outbreak in its history, which has killed over 1,600 people since last year.
"Severe weather events such as these are likely to exacerbate the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera," the UN children's agency UNICEF warned.
President Lazarus Chakwera, currently in Doha attending a Least Developed Countries meeting, declared a "state of disaster in the Southern region" of the nation.
The government was responding to the crisis while appealing for local and international aid for affected families, his office said.
Malawi has ordered schools in ten southern districts to remain closed until Wednesday, with rains and winds expected to keep battering the nation's south.
At least 10 other people died and 14 were wounded in neighbouring Mozambique, local authorities said.
The Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management said the fallout from the storm's second landfall in the country was worse than expected.
- 'Rare' loop trajectory -
National carrier Malawi Airlines said all flights to Blantyre have been cancelled until further notice after an inbound plane ran into the bad weather and was forced back to the capital Lilongwe.
The country's energy utility also warned that electricity generation would be unstable, as it would have to temporarily shut down hydropower stations to prevent muddy water from damaging turbines.
Cyclone Freddy reached landlocked Malawi early on Monday morning after sweeping through Mozambique at the weekend.
According to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, Freddy, which formed off north-western Australia in the first week of February, was set to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.
It crossed the entire southern Indian Ocean and blasted Madagascar from February 21 before reaching Mozambique on February 24.
Following what meteorologists describe as a "rare" loop trajectory, Freddy then headed back towards Madagascar before moving once more towards Mozambique.
The last cyclones to cross the entire southern Indian Ocean were Leon-Eline and Hudah in 2000.
strs-ub-cld-sn/lcm
T.Vitorino--PC