More than 40 civilians, including children, have been killed in a military airstrike on Kyuknimao village in Ramri township, controlled by the Arakan Army (AA), in Myanmar's western Rakhine state. The death toll is expected to rise.

The attack was carried out on Wednesday (January 8), the AP news agency reported.

Local authorities said that at least 20 residents were injured in the Kyuknimao area in the airstrike. In addition, at least 500 houses were destroyed in the north-south and Manchaliya areas. Among the injured are children, women and the elderly.

Residents said that the fire caused by the bombing quickly spread to densely populated surrounding areas, burning down hundreds of houses. Most people have taken refuge in the Kyuknimao area due to clashes between the Arakan Army and the junta in the township.

A resident of Kyaw Knymaw told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, "The number of people injured in this attack is higher than the number of people killed. But there is no medical equipment to treat them. The death toll could rise."

The AA took control of Ramri Township, an island off Myanmar's west coast, on March 11 last year. Although there was no war, the junta has carried out airstrikes in the area for several days.

Myanmar's 2021 military coup toppled the civilian government led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a nationwide anti-junta insurgency.

Arakan Army spokesman Khaing Thu Kha told AFP that military aircraft bombed Kyaw Knymaw township on Ramri Island in Rakhine state at around 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday, setting off a fire that burned more than 500 houses.

He called the attack "cowardly" and said "launching deadly airstrikes on civilians is a brutal war crime."

Unprecedented rains and severe flooding have occurred in the desert country of Saudi Arabia. The country's meteorological department, the National Center for Meteorology (NCM), has already issued a red alert in the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina due to the flooding.

This information was published in a report by the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday (January 9).

The report said that severe flooding has begun in Saudi Arabia due to continuous heavy rains over the past few days. As a result, roads and residential areas in several cities in the country have been severely damaged.

According to the Saudi Meteorological Department's forecast, this weather depression may continue for several more days.

A red alert has been issued for the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina and some areas in the eastern region. In addition, a low-level orange alert has been issued in the capital Riyadh, the central region and the southwestern provinces of Asir and Jazan. However, citizens have been asked to be careful there too.

The Saudi Disaster Management Authority and the International Humanitarian Aid Organization Red Crescent said in a statement that all preparations have been completed to rescue those trapped in the floods. Several photos and videos of the floods in Saudi Arabia have been published on social media. The photos and videos show cars being swept away by floodwaters. The water is rising due to heavy rain and thunderstorms, which is a rare sight in Saudi Arabia.

The Israeli attack on Gaza continues. The death toll is increasing every day. In the last 24 hours, 49 more Palestinians have been killed in the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. This brings the total number of deaths in the valley to nearly 45,900.

This information was reported by Al Jazeera on Wednesday (January 8).

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been injured in the attack that has been going on since October 2023.

The media said that at least 49 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday, including five children in the so-called “safe zone” of Al-Mawasi and eight people in the attack in Jabalia.

Al Jazeera said that Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks across the Gaza Strip, including the “humanitarian zone” of Al-Mawasi, and are causing significant destruction of residential homes and civilian infrastructure.

The Israeli attack has essentially reduced Gaza to rubble. According to the United Nations, about 85 percent of the Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced due to Israel’s brutal attack. And all of Gaza is now food insecure amid severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

In addition, 60 percent of the infrastructure in the besieged territory has been damaged or destroyed.

It is worth noting that Israel has been carrying out continuous air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli attack.

A powerful earthquake in China's remote Tibet region has killed 95 people so far.

The news agency Reuters reported this in a report on Tuesday (January 7).

The report said that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near Tibet's holy cities at 9:05 am. The earthquake also shook various parts of neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India.

The earthquake has killed 95 people in Tibet so far. In addition, 130 people were injured.

It is worth noting that southwestern China, Nepal and northern India are often hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.