Man charged with arson, attempted murder | Arkansas Democratic Newspaper

The death toll from floods in Nepal has risen to 193

KATHMANDU, Nepal – Rescuers in Nepal recovered dozens of bodies from buses and other vehicles that were buried in landslides near the capital Kathmandu, while the flood death toll rose to at least 193 and dozens were missing, officials said Sunday.

The weather improved on Sunday after three days of monsoon rains. Rescue and clean-up operations continued. Kathmandu was cut off to traffic on Sunday as three highways leaving the city were blocked by landslides.

Rescuers recovered 14 bodies overnight from two Kathmandu-bound buses after a landslide buried them. On Sunday, another 23 bodies were recovered from vehicles at the same location, about 16 miles from Kathmandu.

A statement from the Nepalese police said another 96 people were injured in the floods and landslides, and 31 were missing. The death toll was expected to rise as reports came in from villages in the mountainous country.

Residents in southern Kathmandu were cleaning their homes as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people died in Kathmandu, which suffered the most from the floods.

The government has announced that it is closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.

Man charged with arson and attempted murder

BERLIN – A man was arrested after setting two fires in the western German city of Essen, which injured 30 people, and driving a van into two stores, authorities said Sunday.

Emergency services were alerted to two fires in residential buildings that occurred on Saturday shortly after 5 p.m., the police said. Among the injured were eight children who were seriously injured, and the lives of two of them were life-threatening after suffering from smoke inhalation.

Shortly after the fires broke out, a van crashed into two shops in the city, causing property damage, but no one was injured. The suspect then threatened people with a gun, but several men managed to push him away with shovels and sticks and hold him down until police arrived.

Police said the suspect was a 41-year-old resident of Essen with Syrian citizenship. They said the man’s motive was that his wife had left him and he targeted homes and shops where people who supported her lived.

The fire brigade reported that when they arrived at the scene of the first fire, smoke was rising from the building’s entrance and people were calling for help through windows. Neighbors set up ladders to help people escape, but they were not long enough to reach the upper floors.

Police said the suspect was previously known to authorities for making threats and destroying property. Prosecutors sought his temporary arrest on charges of arson and attempted murder.

Taiwan detects missile firing in China

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday it had detected multiple waves of missile launches in China, days after Beijing said it had successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific.

The ministry said in a statement that the missile launches were carried out by China’s missile forces and the Chinese military in Inner Mongolia, as well as in Gansu and Qinghai provinces and in the Xinjiang region of western China.

Taiwan said it will constantly monitor developments and its air defenses will maintain a high level of vigilance.

China views the self-governing island of Taiwan as a renegade province that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary. Taiwan closely monitors China’s military activities, and in recent years China has stepped up exercises around the island amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

Sunday’s firing exercises began after China announced on Wednesday that it had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed in the Pacific.

Taiwan condemned the missile launch and reiterated its opposition to “actions that disturb peace and stability.”

The US says 37 Islamic State fighters were killed in the two attacks

BEIRUT – Two attacks in Syria killed 37 fighters linked to the extremist Islamic State group and an al-Qaeda-linked group, the U.S. military said Sunday.

According to her, two of the dead were senior fighters.

US Central Command said it struck in northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior fighter from the al-Qaeda-linked group Hurras al-Deen and eight others. They say he was responsible for overseeing military operations.

They also announced a strike earlier this month on September 16, during which they carried out a “large-scale raid” on an IS training camp in a remote, undisclosed location in central Syria. The attack killed 28 fighters, including “at least four Syrian leaders.”

“The airstrike will disrupt ISIS’s ability to conduct operations against U.S. interests, as well as our allies and partners,” the statement said.

There are about 900 U.S. forces in Syria along with an undisclosed number of contractors, primarily tasked with preventing any return of the extremist group IS.