7 million in Bangladesh need aid after 'worst floods in memory,' Red Cross says
7 million in Bangladesh need aid after 'worst floods in memory,' Red Cross says

More than seven million people in Bangladesh are in desperate need of shelter and emergency relief after what one aid agency has described as the worst flooding to hit South Asia in living memory.
Hundreds of thousands of homes near the Bangladesh-India border are underwater, and in the worst-hit areas whole neighbourhoods have been submerged, aid agencies said Tuesday.
At least 207 people in both countries have died since the floods began in April, according to official figures.
Torrential rain has caused rivers in Bangladesh – a densely populated delta nation – to overflow, submerging areas that border the Indian state of Meghalaya, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Some 94% of Bangladesh's Sunamganj town and 84% of the surrounding Sylhet district are now submerged, the IFRC said. Roads leading to the region have been largely cut off and there are power cuts even in areas not underwater.
Save the Children said the floods had "washed away homes, schools and livelihoods," damaging at least 93,000 homes and 419 primary schools in Sylhet in May alone.
"We have never seen this sort of flooding in our living memories in that region," said Bangladesh Red Crescent Society secretary-general Kazi Shofiqul Azam.
Bangladesh has about 700 rivers, making it particularly vulnerable to flooding during extreme weather events. The IFRC estimated the total number of people in Bangladesh in need of aid at 7.2 million.
Meanwhile, in the eastern Indian state of Assam, which neighbours Bangladesh, flooding has displaced more than 270,000 people, according to authorities.
Parts of Meghalaya state have experienced the most rainfall in decades, which has caused large river systems running between India and Bangladesh to overflow and inundate surrounding areas.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent is spending $10 million on relief and recovery operations. Volunteer teams on the ground have been distributing food and drinking water.
The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal to raise a further $7.8 million, which it says could help another 300,000 people.
Aid agencies say those communities worst affected by flooding tend to be those that are already impoverished.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
About 4,000 beagles destined for drug experiments finding new homes
About 4,000 beagles are looking for homes after animal rescue organizations started removing them from a Virginia facility that bred them to be sold to laboratories for drug experiments.

Anne Heche taken off life support, 9 days after car crash
Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53.
Brothers dead after SUV crashes into North Carolina restaurant, police say
A sport utility vehicle crashed into a North Carolina fast-food restaurant on Sunday, killing two sibling customers, police said.
Weapon in deadly 'Rust' film set shooting could not be fired without pulling the trigger, FBI forensic testing finds
FBI testing of the gun used in the fatal shooting on the movie set of 'Rust' found that the weapon handled by actor Alec Baldwin could not be fired without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked, according to a newly released forensics report.
U.S. man allegedly drives into fundraiser crowd before killing mother
Pennsylvania state police say a man who was upset about an argument with his mother drove through a crowd at a fundraiser for victims of a recent deadly house fire, killing one person at the event and injuring 17 others, then returned home and beat his mother to death.
Warming climate could see a future California flood become the world's costliest disaster, study suggests
A new study is offering a dire prediction for the U.S. state of California, where scientists say catastrophic flooding could become twice as likely in the future due to the effects of climate change.
Testosterone promotes both aggression and 'cuddling' in gerbils, study finds
A recent study on rodents has found testosterone, despite being commonly associated with aggression, can also foster friendly behaviours in males.
Republicans demand to see affidavit that justified FBI search of Trump's home
Republicans stepped up calls on Sunday for the release of an FBI affidavit showing the underlying justification for its seizure of documents at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
Norway puts down Freya the walrus that drew Oslo crowds
Authorities in Norway said Sunday they have euthanized a walrus that had drawn crowds of spectators in the Oslo Fjord after concluding that it posed a risk to humans.