Death toll in Japan floods rises to 200
Tokyo, July 12 : The death toll from the torrential rains that have battered Japan reached 200, authorities said on Thursday, as search and rescue missions continue to find dozens still missing in the wake of flooding and landslides.
More than 70,000 personnel were involved in ongoing search and rescue missions for the 60 or more people still unaccounted for in the areas affected by the deluge, Xinhua news agency reported.
These include the hardest-hit regions of Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime prefectures.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said that as of early Thursday morning, 6,700 people remained in emergency evacuation shelters.
As some of the shelters were without air-conditioning, the Health Ministry warned of heat-related illnesses. Te weather agency said daytime temperatures could reach 35 degrees Celsius in the coming week.
The ministry, specifically, warned about the possibility of food poisoning, as in the past people fell ill in such shelters after consuming food that had been left out in the heat for too long amid lack of refrigerators.
Around 240,000 homes were cut off from water in western Japan and transportation systems were also severely disrupted.
The Transport Ministry, West Japan Railway Co. and local operators of the 27 lines in the affected areas, reported damage at over 100 locations and will be unable to restart services within the next few days.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
