Briefly

INDIA

Flight data recovered from crash site

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the site of an Indian passenger aircraft crash in the southern state of Kerala, an official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. The Air India Express aircraft, which was repatriating Indians stranded in Dubai due to the COVID-19 pandemic, overshot the runway of Calicut International Airport in heavy rain near the southern city of Kozhikode on Friday. On Saturday the death toll rose to 18, with more than 120 injured in the crash.

SOUTH KOREA

Days of torrential rain leave at least 30 dead

More than a week of torrential rain in South Korea has left at least 30 dead and 12 missing in landslides, floods and other incidents, the government said on Sunday as it warned of further downpours. The causalities include 13 dead and two missing from the previous two days of heavy rainfall in southern South Korea, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. Rain on Friday and Saturday also left more than 3,700 displaced as it flooded residential areas, roads and farming fields in the southern region. The safety ministry said the Seoul area and the southern region were expected to receive more heavy rain on Sunday. A meteorological office official said most places in South Korea received three to four times more rainfall last week than the average recorded in the corresponding period in the past 30 years.

UNITED STATES

Country to cut troop levels in Afghanistan

The United States plans to cut its troop levels in Afghanistan to "a number less than 5,000" by the end of November, the Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, adding detail to draw-down plans US President Donald Trump announced last week. The US has about 8,600 troops in Afghanistan. In an interview published on Monday by Axios Trump said the US planned to cut that number to about 4,000.

Agencies Via Xinhua