- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
One person was killed and at least seven were missing on Saturday, officials said, as "unprecedented" rains triggered floods and landslides in Japan's quake-hit region of Ishikawa, where authorities told tens of thousands to evacuate.
A dozen rivers in the region, on the west coast of central Japan that was hit by a large quake on New Year's Day, had burst their banks by 11:00 am (0200 GMT), land ministry official Masaru Kojima said.
One person was killed, three people were missing and two people were seriously injured in Ishikawa, the region's government said in a statement, with two of the missing reportedly carried away by strong river currents.
Another four people, who were working for the land ministry to restore a road in Wajima, were also missing, ministry official Koji Yamamoto told AFP.
"About 60 people have been working to restore a road hit by the quake but a landslide occurred" on Saturday morning, Yamamoto said.
"I asked (contractors) to check the safety of workers... but we are still unable to contact four people," he said.
Rescue workers were on their way to the site but were "blocked by landslides".
About 20 workers were taking shelter inside a tunnel they had been working to restore, Yamamoto said.
Japan's Kyodo news agency said as many as 10 people were missing in Wajima.
Many buildings were inundated, with landslides blocking roads, some 6,000 households without power and an unknown number of households without running water, the Ishikawa government said.
Communication services were also cut for some people, operators said.
The cities of Wajima and Suzu, as well as Noto town, ordered about 44,700 residents to evacuate, officials said.
Another 16,700 residents in Niigata and Yamagata prefectures north of Ishikawa were also told to evacuate, the fire and disaster management agency said.
- 'Life-threatening situation' -
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said it issued its highest-level warning for Ishikawa, advising of a "life-threatening situation".
The areas under the warning were seeing "heavy rain of unprecedented levels", JMA forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto told reporters, adding "it is a situation in which you have to secure your safety immediately".
More than 120 millimetres (4.7 inches) of rainfall per hour was recorded in Wajima in the morning, the heaviest rain since comparative data became available in 1929.
Footage on NHK showed an entire street submerged in Wajima.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed the government "to do its best in disaster management with saving people's lives as the first priority", top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
Self-Defense Force personnel have been sent to the Ishikawa region to join rescue workers, he said.
Wajima and Suzu, in central Japan's Noto peninsula, were among the areas hardest hit by the huge New Year's Day earthquake that killed at least 236 people.
The region is still reeling from the magnitude 7.5 quake that toppled buildings, ripped up roads and sparked a major fire.
Parts of Japan have seen unprecedented rainfall in recent years, with floods and landslides sometimes causing casualties.
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain in the country and elsewhere because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.
J.Fankhauser--BTB