- England beat Finland to get back on track
- King and Lewis propel West Indies to T20 triumph over Sri Lanka
- Pre-Halloween 'Terrifier' lands atop North America box office
- 'I still plan to compete and play next season,' says Djokovic
- Harris, Trump seek advantage in knife-edge election battle
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record in Chicago
- Kamindu and Asalanka power Sri Lanka to 179 against West Indies
- Chepngetich shatters women's marathon world record as Korir wins in Chicago
- Spain send injured Yamal home 'to prioritise player's health'
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Iraq walks fine line with pro-Iran factions to avoid war
- Race four abandoned after New Zealand breeze into 3-0 lead in America's Cup
- West Indies win toss, put Sri Lanka in to bat in first T20
- Sudan rescuers say air strike killed 23 in Khartoum market
- Netanyahu tells UN to move Lebanon peacekeepers out of 'harm's way'
- Bangladeshi Hindus defy attack worries to celebrate festival
- Kiwis three up in America's Cup as Ineos pay for time penalty
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Dominant England crush Scotland at Women's T20 World Cup
- Dropped: The rise and fall of Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam
- Israel fights Hezbollah on the ground, pounds Lebanon from the air
- Sabalenka outlasts local hero Zheng to win third Wuhan Open title
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Former Pakistan captain Azam dropped for second England Test
- 'Opportunist' Dupont dazzles on Toulouse return
- Australia replace injured Vlaeminck with Graham at Women's T20 World Cup
- Sinner wins Shanghai Masters to deny Djokovic 100th career title
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Israel hits Lebanon from the air and fights Hezbollah on the ground
- China's Yin has 'goosebumps' as she romps to LPGA win in Shanghai
- Pakistan to re-use Multan pitch for second England Test
- Blair and King Charles hail Salmond's 'devotion' to Scotland
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- England captain Stokes in line for second Pakistan Test return
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- Israel widens Lebanon strikes as troops fight Hezbollah along border
- Bowlers' graveyards: Pakistan's placid pitches under fresh fire
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Vietnam, China to expand rail links, cross-border payments
- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
No power, no clean water: cleanup begins in Beijing's flood-hit suburbs
On the banks of the Yongding River west of Beijing on Thursday, Chen Xiaoyuan stared at the remains of a bridge that once led to his village.
Cleanup has begun after the region's worst rainfall in years battered northern China, killing at least twenty people, destroying infrastructure and deluging swathes of Beijing and its surrounding areas.
In the village of Chenjiazhuang west of Beijing, the deluge ripped up trees and sent debris crashing into a bridge Monday, causing it to collapse, Chen said.
"Everyone in our village used to use this bridge each day," Chen, 50, told AFP.
"I've never seen anything like this here, even in 2012," he said, referencing heavy rains over 10 years ago that left 79 people dead.
His home still lacks electricity and water.
But Chen was lucky that his house was situated at a high enough level to not be affected directly by the surging floods.
Others weren't so fortunate: Chen told AFP that one of his former classmates was missing and that he was feared to have been swept away by the torrent.
Further upstream, AFP journalists found the hard-hit village of Shuiyuzui struggling with the aftermath of the historic rains, which tore down a perimeter wall, sending waters flooding into residential buildings.
At the entrance to the village, downed power lines were propped up by logs to allow emergency personnel to deliver water and food to besieged residents.
Locals waded through muddy water -- in some places waist-deep -- salvaging their belongings in bags to take to temporary accommodation.
Dozens of large vehicles belonging to the People's Armed Police were seen lined up along the road outside the village, providing assistance to affected residents and helping cope with damage in the area.
Heavy rain was replaced by a muggy heat on Thursday, and locals took a break from collecting their belongings to eat watermelon by the village bridge, whose railings had also been swept away by the floods.
Around 100 metres above the village, landslides triggered by the rains sent giant heaps of soil and rock over two railway lines.
Emergency workers deployed bulldozers to mend the tracks, hauling equipment and material up the mountainside.
"It all came down through here," a local woman surnamed Ma, 43, told AFP, indicating up to where the landslides had overrun the railway lines.
"I've just come today to deal with my belongings," said Ma, who is temporarily sleeping at another location.
"There's nothing at our house now, no electricity, no water."
F.Schneider--AMWN