Briefly

SUDAN

Landslide kills more than 1,000 in Darfur

A massive landslide in Sudan's western Darfur region has flattened an entire mountain village and killed more than 1,000 people, a rebel group said, leaving only one survivor. The disaster struck on Sunday after days of heavy rain, devastating the village of Tarasin in the Jebel Marra area, the Sudan Liberation Movement said in a statement. The group appealed to the United Nations and other aid organizations for help in recovering the dead still buried under mud and debris. Images the group published on social media appeared to show huge sections of the mountainside having collapsed, burying the village under thick mud, with trees uprooted and beams shattered.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Ex-PM cancels poll event after attack

Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis said on Monday he is canceling his Tuesday election campaign program after being attacked during a rally. Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, was struck in the head with a metallic forearm crutch by a man during an election rally in the eastern Czech town of Dobra on Monday afternoon. Babis, the leader of the opposition ANO party, went to hospital for an examination after the incident. Czech police said on X that officers at the scene immediately detained the man after the attack, and the case is now under investigation.

VENEZUELA

Maduro hits out at Washington 'threat'

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday his country was at "maximum preparedness" and ready to respond if attacked by forces that the United States government has deployed to the Caribbean. Tensions between the US and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks amid a large US naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which US officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels. However, Maduro and other Venezuelan officials have said the US is threatening their country and the buildup is meant to justify an intervention against them. "They are seeking a regime change through military threat," Maduro said in Caracas.

Agencies - Xinhua