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Germany, Belgium floods: at least 100 dead, more than 1,000 missing

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Photo: Social Media

More than 1,000 people were missing and more houses were destroyed in flood-stricken regions in western Germany and Belgium on Friday where further flooding was feared with the death toll already over 100.

Entire communities lay in ruins after swollen rivers swept through towns and villages in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Belgium and the Netherlands.

“It was terrible not to able to help the people. They were waving at us out of the windows. Houses were collapsing to the left and right of them and in the house between they were waving,” Frank Thel, a resident of Schuld, told Reuters in front of a pile of rubble in the town, where several buildings had collapsed. “We were lucky, we survived,” he said.

In Germany alone, more than 90 people have died in what is the country’s worst mass loss of life in years. That number was feared to rise further as more houses collapsed, while in Belgium media said the death toll was at least 14.

“The water had such enormous power! We were in the house, it blew the door open and I was thrown against the chimney- stove. That’s how much pressure the water had when filling the house,” Thel said of the shock in the night that changed everything for them.

“It just went so fast. We just couldn’t save anything. The water came so fast, I’ve never seen anything like that. We were on the bridge down there and I thought, this might be getting tight, and then it was over, the water rose and rose continually, and I realized, it’s useless now to try save anything. Car, gone, all gone, digger, gone, it was all gone.”

The Infrastructure has been destroyed completely, roads washed away, the sanitation system submerged and phone and internet networks are either completely down or instable, meaning lots of people cant be traced or accounted for.

“Here in Schuld the question today is: What can be cleared here now? Can we restore roads? Bridges have collapsed, making areas difficult to access. The infrastructure with water, electricity and the sanitation supply etc is difficult. We have to rebuild them. This has already happened here in Schuld. Downstream in Insul, people had to be evacuated yesterday and we still have to rebuild the infrastructure there,” firefighter Andreas Solheid, of the fire-fighter association of Adenau municipalities said.

In the neighbouring Ahrweiler district in North Rhine-Westphalia, around 1,300 people were missing the district government said on Facebook.

Mobile phone networks have collapsed in some of the flood-stricken regions, which means that family and friends are unable to track down their loved ones.

Further north, in Erftstadt near Cologne, several houses collapsed on Friday morning, and rescue crews were struggling to reach residents by boat. Roads around the town Erftstadt were impassable as they were washed out in the floods.

It was not clear whether there were any casualties as rescuers had to rely on walkie-talkies to relay information.

One dam close to the Belgian border, the Rurtalsperre, flooded, while another, the Steinbachtalsperre, was stabilised early on Friday. Some 4,500 people have been evacuated from communities downstream, and a stretch of the A61 motorway has been closed amid fears of a breach.

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Afghanistan publishes 20 new laws and dozens of legal documents over five years

The documents include 20 laws, 77 decrees, 30 orders, eight guidelines, six procedures, three codes, two charters, one regulation, one directive and one legal framework.

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The Progress website, affiliated with the Government Media Centre, has reported that Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice has published 20 laws and dozens of other legislative documents in 31 issues of the Official Gazette since the Islamic Emirate returned to power.

According to the published figures, the documents include 20 laws, 77 decrees, 30 orders, eight guidelines, six procedures, three codes, two charters, one regulation, one directive and one legal framework.

Among the laws published over the past five years are legislation on preventing land grabbing, hearing complaints, the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, money changers and monetary services, as well as preventing the smuggling of food products and medicines.

The report highlights the Ministry of Justice’s legislative activities and the publication of legal documents through Afghanistan’s Official Gazette during the past five years.

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UN pledges to expand cooperation with Afghanistan as over 8 million migrants return home

Rabab said the United Nations intends to expand its cooperation with Afghanistan in several areas, alongside coordinating humanitarian assistance.

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Abdul Salam Hanafi, Administrative Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has met with Rabab Fatima, the newly appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, and her accompanying delegation to discuss humanitarian assistance, economic development and the challenges facing returning Afghan migrants.

During the meeting, Rabbah expressed her satisfaction at having the opportunity to serve the people of Afghanistan. She also spoke positively about development projects carried out in the country by the Islamic Emirate and expressed hope that efforts to promote economic growth and reconstruction would continue.

Rabab said the United Nations intends to expand its cooperation with Afghanistan in several areas, alongside coordinating humanitarian assistance. These include providing alternative livelihood opportunities for farmers, creating employment opportunities and expanding assistance to returning migrants.

She also praised the Islamic Emirate’s efforts to address the challenges facing returning Afghan migrants, describing the management of their return as one of Afghanistan’s major challenges.

For his part, Hanafi said more than eight million Afghan migrants have returned to the country, adding that the Islamic Emirate would use all available resources to support them and address their needs.

He further called on relevant institutions to strengthen efforts to protect the rights of returnees, create employment opportunities and provide adequate shelter.

The meeting comes amid ongoing humanitarian and economic challenges in Afghanistan, with support for returning migrants and expanded international cooperation remaining key priorities.

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Unexploded ordnance contaminates 901 square kms of land in Afghanistan

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Around 901 square kilometres of land across Afghanistan is contaminated with unexploded ordnance, posing a continuing threat to civilians, particularly children, Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said.

Mohammad Yousuf Hammad, spokesperson for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, made the remarks in an interview with Afghanistan’s state-controlled national broadcaster.

Hammad said explosions involving landmines and unexploded remnants of war continue to kill and injure large numbers of Afghans every year.

He added that, with financial support from the United Nations Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan, more than 73,000 square metres of contaminated land had been cleared in Kunduz and Baghlan provinces by December 2025.

According to available figures, approximately 1,026 people were killed or injured in Afghanistan in landmine and unexploded ordnance explosions in 2021.

Decades of conflict have left large quantities of explosive remnants of war scattered across the country, creating persistent dangers for civilians.

Children remain particularly vulnerable, as unexploded devices can be mistaken for ordinary objects or encountered while playing and travelling through affected areas.

The reported contamination highlights the continuing need for mine-clearance operations, humanitarian assistance and public awareness programmes to protect communities and prevent further civilian casualties.

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