Briefly

UNITED STATES

Chinese duo earns top math honor

Chinese mathematicians Deng Yu and Wang Hong were awarded the Fields Medals at the opening ceremony of the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians held in Philadelphia on Thursday, marking the first time Chinese mathematicians have won the prestigious honor. The Fields Medal is a top international mathematics prize awarded every four years to two to four young researchers in recognition of their outstanding mathematical achievements in existing work and their promise of future achievement.

INDIA

41 killed as floods ravage Assam state

Floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 41 people in India's northeast Assam state, officials said on Thursday. "We have lost 41 precious lives till date and thousands of livestock has been washed away," Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a social media update on the toll from monsoon rains that began last month. "Cloudbursts upstream, coupled with localized heavy rainfall, 436 percent above normal, have led to flooding in villages that have not seen such devastation in recent history," he added.

FRANCE

Modeling scout linked to Epstein found dead

Daniel Siad, a modeling scout with ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Siad's body was discovered on Monday evening. An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death, the Nanterre prosecutor's office said. Siad's name appeared nearly 2,000 times in the Epstein files released by the United StatesJustice Department. Since a wide-ranging probe into human trafficking and tax fraud was opened in February following the Epstein files release, 24 women have come forward as victims or witnesses of alleged acts committed by Siad or others, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Wednesday evening.

JAPAN

Hundreds hospitalized in heat wave 'disaster'

More than 450 people received hospital treatment for heat-related issues in a single day in Tokyo — the highest number since records began 16 years ago, emergency services said on Thursday. The figure was released as Japan sweltered in a heat wave that has killed at least 14 people over the past week. A total of 453 people were treated in hospitals for heatrelated issues on Wednesday, the Tokyo Fire Department said. Emergency callouts were also at the highest level since at least 1963.

AGENCIES-XINHUA