1. Flooding death toll in Vietnam rises The death toll from landslides and heavy rain triggered by a tropical depression* in Vietnam has climbed to 68, with another 34 people missing, officials said on Sunday. The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that the disasters have also injured 32 people, damaged infrastructure and killed more than 230,000 livestock in central and northern regions. The storm hit Vietnam on October 10 and authorities have been dealing with the fallout* since. 2. Truck bomb blast kills 53 in Somalia Security and medical sources said the death toll from Saturday’s truck bomb blast in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has risen to 53 as hospitals struggle to cope with the high number of casualties*. More than 60 others are injured. Police Captain Mohamed Hussein said many victims died in hospitals from their wounds. Somalia’s government has yet to release the exact death toll from an explosion many called the most powerful they had ever witnessed in Mogadishu. 3. California ‘horror’ fires deadliest in history Fast-moving fires spread by shifting winds forced thousands more Californians to evacuate their homes on Saturday as the death toll from the deadliest blaze recorded in the U.S. state’s history rose to at least 40, with hundreds of people still missing. More than 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters overhead were battling 16 major wildfires, some encompassing* several smaller merged blazes, in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 86,000 hectares over seven days. 4. Ex-soccer star heads for Liberia runoff Former soccer star George Weah was set to win the first round of a presidential election in Liberia after the elections commission said on Sunday he was leading with 39 percent of votes and less than 5 percent of precincts* still to be counted. He will face Vice President Joseph Boakai, who was in second place with 29.1 percent, in a second round poll next month. 5. Spain considers direct rule over Catalonia Catalan authorities must drop a bid for independence by tomorrow, the Spanish Government said on Monday, moving closer to imposing direct rule over the region after its leader missed an initial deadline to back down. In a confrontation viewed with a mounting sense of unease in European capitals and markets, Carles Puigdemont failed on Monday to respond to an ultimatum* from Madrid to clarify if he had declared independence.(SD-Agencies) ? | 