- Cavs get 17th win as Celtics edge T-Wolves and Heat burn in OT
- Asian markets begin week on front foot, bitcoin rally stutters
- IOC chief hopeful Sebastian Coe: 'We run risk of losing women's sport'
- K-pop fans take aim at CD, merchandise waste
- Notre Dame inspired Americans' love and help after fire
- Court hearing as parent-killing Menendez brothers bid for freedom
- Closing arguments coming in US-Google antitrust trial on ad tech
- Galaxy hit Minnesota for six, Orlando end Atlanta run
- Left-wing candidate Orsi wins Uruguay presidential election
- High stakes as Bayern host PSG amid European wobbles
- Australia's most decorated Olympian McKeon retires from swimming
- Far-right candidate surprises in Romania elections, setting up run-off with PM
- Left-wing candidate Orsi projected to win Uruguay election
- UAE arrests three after Israeli rabbi killed
- Five days after Bruins firing, Montgomery named NHL Blues coach
- Orlando beat Atlanta in MLS playoffs to set up Red Bulls clash
- American McNealy takes first PGA title with closing birdie
- Sampaoli beaten on Rennes debut as angry fans disrupt Nantes loss
- Chiefs edge Panthers, Lions rip Colts as Dallas stuns Washington
- Uruguayans vote in tight race for president
- Thailand's Jeeno wins LPGA Tour Championship
- 'Crucial week': make-or-break plastic pollution treaty talks begin
- Israel, Hezbollah in heavy exchanges of fire despite EU ceasefire call
- Amorim predicts Man Utd pain as he faces up to huge task
- Basel backs splashing the cash to host Eurovision
- Petrol industry embraces plastics while navigating energy shift
- Italy Davis Cup winner Sinner 'heartbroken' over doping accusations
- Romania PM fends off far-right challenge in presidential first round
- Japan coach Jones abused by 'some clown' on Twickenham return
- Springbok Du Toit named World Player of the Year for second time
- Iran says will hold nuclear talks with France, Germany, UK on Friday
- Mbappe on target as Real Madrid cruise to Leganes win
- Sampaoli beaten on Rennes debut as fans disrupt Nantes loss
- Israel records 250 launches from Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south
- Australia coach Schmidt still positive about Lions after Scotland loss
- Man Utd 'confused' and 'afraid' as Ipswich hold Amorim to debut draw
- Sinner completes year to remember as Italy retain Davis Cup
- Climate finance's 'new era' shows new political realities
- Lukaku keeps Napoli top of Serie A with Roma winner
- Man Utd held by Ipswich in Amorim's first match in charge
- 'Gladiator II', 'Wicked' battle for N. American box office honors
- England thrash Japan 59-14 to snap five-match losing streak
- S.Africa's Breyten Breytenbach, writer and anti-apartheid activist
- Concern as climate talks stalls on fossil fuels pledge
- Breyten Breytenbach, writer who challenged apartheid, dies at 85
- Tuipulotu try helps Scotland end Australia's bid for Grand Slam
- Truce called after 82 killed in Pakistan sectarian clashes
- Salah wants Liverpool to pile on misery for Man City after sinking Saints
- Berrettini takes Italy to brink of Davis Cup defence
- Lille condemn Sampaoli to defeat on Rennes debut
Russia says flood situation 'difficult' as more rivers burst
Russia said on Thursday that unprecedented flooding had created "difficult" conditions and another major river had burst its banks, submerging roads and villages in the Siberian region of Tomsk.
Fast-rising temperatures have caused snow and ice to melt rapidly, causing a number of major rivers that cross Russia and Kazakhstan to overflow.
Three villages in the Tomsk region -- 3,000 kilometres (1,850 miles) east of Moscow -- were cut off from the regional capital when rising waters in the river Tom flooded roads, villages and several houses, state media cited local officials as saying.
Evacuations were continuing in neighbouring Kazakhstan, where around 100,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.
In Russia, the Orenburg region has been the worst hit and thousands of residential buildings are submerged in water.
"This year's flood exceeded all historical figures in the entire history of observation," the Orenburg city administration said on Thursday in a post on Telegram.
Water levels in the Ural river, which flows past the city, have risen nearly one metre (39 inches) since Wednesday morning.
The river was 10.6 metres high on Thursday morning -- 1.3 metres above what officials described as the "critical level".
- Worst in decades -
In Orenburg, home to more than half a million people, another 400 residential buildings have been flooded in the past day, city officials said.
The emergency situations ministry said on Thursday conditions there "remains difficult".
It published videos of rescuers loading packs of bottled water onto inflatable dinghies to take to people stranded by the rising waters.
Spring floods are typical across large parts of Russia and Kazakhstan, as temperatures rise and vast masses of ice and snow melt.
The run-off into rivers often causes them to burst their banks.
But this year's floods have been the worst in decades.
Temperatures have risen quickly, accelerating the thawing process, and torrential rain has aggravated the situation.
Officials in the Siberian region of Tyumen warned on Thursday that the Tobol and Ishim rivers would not attain their highest levels until April 23-25, according to forecasts from Russia's meteorological agency.
In Orsk, the worst-hit city in Russia so far, locals staged rare protests earlier this week over the amount of compensation they were offered for damage to their property.
The Kazakh city of Petropavlovsk, home to more than 200,000 people, is bracing for potentially seriously flooding within the next 48 hours, officials there have warned.
J.Horn--BTB