A boy helps to clear dirt in front of his grandparents' house following a heavy rain in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan on July 4, 2020. Kyodo News via AP

Tragedy at nursing home as heavy rain floods western Japan



Fourteen people were feared dead at a nursing home in western Japan on Saturday as record rainfall triggered massive floods and landslides, forcing authorities to issue evacuation advisories for more than 200,000 residents.

The victims were found "in cardio-respiratory arrest" at the facility for elderly people that was flooded after a nearby river broke its banks, governor Ikuo Kabashima from the western region of Kumamoto told reporters.

Authorities in Japan often use that term before a doctor officially certifies death.

"The Self-Defence Forces have launched rescue operations," Mr Kabashima said, adding that three others at the home were suffering from hypothermia.

Some 60 to 70 people were in the home as water rushed into the second floor on Saturday morning, public broadcaster NHK said.

Local officials said another person was also found in cardio-respiratory arrest in landslides in Kumamoto. They had previously said two were feared dead.

Elsewhere in Kumamoto, one person was seriously injured and nine others were missing while about 100 people were stranded as roads were cut off by floods and landslides, NHK reported.

The nation's weather agency downgraded rain warnings by one notch from the highest emergency level in Kumamoto and nearby Kagoshima, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged local people to be "on maximum alert".

Mr Abe ordered 10,000 troops on stand-by to join rescue and recovery operations, pledging the central government would "do its best to take emergency measures, prioritising people's lives".

Television footage showed vehicles swamped at car parks near a flooding river, while several bridges were washed away.

"I can't evacuate as a road turned into a river. It's so scary," a woman told NHK.

Haruka Yamada, a 32-year-old resident, told Kyodo News: "I saw large trees and parts of houses being washed away and heard them crashing into something. The air is filled with the smell of leaking gas and sewage."

Aerial footage showed a resident being lifted with a rope from a roof to a military helicopter as an entire town was awash with muddy water.

A massive landslide destroyed several houses with rescuers searching for missing people through half-buried windows.

"We have issued evacuation orders after record heavy rain," said Toshiaki Mizukami, another official for Kumamoto prefecture.

"We strongly urge people to take action to protect their lives as it's still raining quite heavily," he said.

Kyodo said more than 203,000 residents in Kumamoto and Kagoshima were advised to evacuate their homes.

Some train services have been suspended in the region, while more than 8,000 households lost power.

Japan is currently in its rainy season, which often causes floods and landslides and prompts local authorities to issue evacuation orders.

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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates

The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.

ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.

ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.

DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.

Signed

Geoffrey Arthur  Sheikh Zayed

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