Recent floods in Beijing have revealed how rural districts are unprepared for an increasingly wetter future. As China faces rising climate threats, a climate campaigner urges the government to beef up its rural emergency response.

Beijing

A resident of Huai Rou district near Beijing recounted the destruction and fear experienced during recent floods that struck northern China, resulting in the deadliest flooding in Beijing since 2012. The area received a year's worth of rain in a single week, leading to 44 deaths and widespread damage, particularly in rural villages where emergency warnings arrived too late for many.

Experts and climate campaigners have called for greater ecological resilience and improvements to emergency response systems, especially in rural and mountainous regions. While China has invested heavily in urban flood infrastructure, such measures are less effective in rural areas, which remain vulnerable to secondary disasters like landslides. Recommendations include better early warning systems and evacuation plans for at-risk populations.

Beijing villager recalls 'terrifying' floods amid rising climate threats

Sixty-four-year-old Ma Guixi had her home destroyed by floods that devastated northern China last month. The district her village is in, Huai Rou, and neighboring Mi Yun district, just on the outskirts of Beijing, received a year's worth of rain in a single week. It led to Beijing's deadliest flood since 2012. Entire villages were mired in mud, and 44 people were killed. Ma says she's never experienced anything like this all her life, and she's still terrified. She recalled the chaos after she was rescued, how there was no internet and couldn't contact her children. Chinese experts are increasingly calling for city planners to prioritize ecological resilience given the disastrous effects of climate change. Beijing, situated in a historically dry area in China, saw citywide rainfall surge by 75% from a year earlier, in June and July. Since 2012, the Chinese capital has experienced three deluges that forecasters had said could only happen once every 100 years. In the recent Beijing floods, the authorities' most serious weather warning came too late for most villages in Huai Rou. Many were already asleep by the time it was issued. Thirty-one elderly residents of a nursing home in Mi Yun were among the dead. They had not been included in evacuation plans and were trapped in the rising waters. Yuan Yuan, a climate campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, says the government needs to face the weaknesses in its rural emergency response. This time, the rescue work was particularly difficult. For example, the water flow in the villages was quite rapid. Compared with the relatively static flooding they are more familiar with in cities, such as urban waterlogging, they were not well prepared for fast-flowing torrents. Situations like this show that our current understanding of the impacts of extreme weather or the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events under climate change, as well as the potential risks they bring, has in fact been underestimated. To fight urban flooding, China spent more than 400 billion U.S. dollars last year to build quote sponge city infrastructure projects. That meant adding permeable asphalt pavements, sunken rain gardens and modernized sewage systems to its concrete megacities. But experts say sponge cities cannot help in Beijing's rural fringes, as villages in mountainous areas are more vulnerable to secondary disasters, such as landslides. Yuan suggests future contingency plans should also include evacuating residents ahead of time, having better early warning systems, in particular identify vulnerable groups of people with limited mobility.

Israel has intensified its assault on Gaza City, launching a new operation to seize it while planning the forced displacement of nearly one million Palestinians to southern zones.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Israel begins Gaza City operation

A New York appellate court threw out a $527 million penalty in the civil fraud case against President Trump and several others. CBS News' Aaron Navarro reports.

New York

Trump civil fraud case $527 million penalty thrown out

The U.S. and the European Union have locked in a framework trade deal that includes a 15% U.S. tariff on most EU imports, including autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.

Washington

Global Tariffs

U.S. and EU lock in trade deal

Israel says it began its military operation to take control of Gaza City. This comes after an apparent Hamas attack in Khan Younis targeting Israeli soldiers.

Israel says it began Gaza City expansion

After weeks of pushback from Democrats, House Republicans in Texas have passed controversial legislation to redraw the state's congressional map, giving the GOP an advantage in multiple seats.

Austin

Texas House passes controversial GOP redistricting map

U.S. President Donald Trump’s top-down diplomacy has experts in Ukraine skeptical about whether there has been enough preparation for proposed talks to actually end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russia signals more talks needed before Zelenskyy-Putin meeting

The Texas House on Wednesday night passed a controversial, Republican-backed proposal to redraw the state's congressional maps. The bill now moves onto the Texas Senate. CBS News reporter Erica Brown has more.

Texas

Texas House approves GOP congressional redistricting map

Israel's military has called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for an expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new proposal for a ceasefire after nearly two years of war.

Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of Gaza City operation

The Trump administration says it is adding 407 items to the list of "derivative" steel and aluminum products subject to higher tariffs. The list includes products like car parts, household appliances, baby strollers, fire extinguishers and spray deodorants.

Trump expanding steel and aluminum tariffs

NATO military chiefs met virtually Wednesday for what was described as a candid discussion about security guarantees the alliance would be willing to provide to Ukraine in an effort to end Russia's war in the region.

Brussels

NATO chiefs meet virtually about potential Ukraine security guarantees

Israel's military leaders approved the next phase of their ongoing offensive in the territory. The operation will shift focus to Gaza City, targeting areas where Hamas is believed to still be active and where Israeli forces have not yet operated.

Israel approves next phase of Gaza offensive, focus on Gaza City

Despite not making landfall, Hurricane Erin is forcing mandatory evacuation orders in parts of North Carolina and is expected to cause rip currents for days along the U.S. East Coast.

North Carolina

Hurricane Erin forces evacuations on U.S. East Coast

The White House says it is working to secure a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, which both have agreed to, while plans continue to create security guarantees for Ukraine.

Trump says no U.S. ground troops will be sent to Ukraine

Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal for Gaza, but mediators are still waiting for an official response from Israel. CBS News contributor Robert Berger has the latest from Jerusalem.

Mediators await Israeli response to Gaza ceasefire proposal

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met China’s top diplomat on Tuesday and hailed the “steady progress” made in improving the bilateral relationship after a yearslong standoff between the nuclear-armed Asian powers.

New Delhi

India's Modi meets China's foreign minister to rebuild ties

Texas Democrats who ended a walkout found themselves shadowed by law enforcement officers to keep them from repeating the protest that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts and fulfill President Donald Trump's desire to reshape U.S. House maps.

Police escort Texas Democrats to prevent new redistricting walkout

Air Canada has reached a tentative agreement with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), ending the strike that began over the weekend involving 10,000 members and disrupted travel for more than 100,000 travelers per day.

Toronto

Air Canada reaches tentative agreement with flight attendant union

Exiled former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui hailed Australia's grant of asylum status as a key acknowledgement of the territory's human rights infringements since its authorities quelled massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Hong Kong Island

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker granted asylum by Australia

Forecasters are giving urgent warnings to millions of people who live along the East Coast as Hurricane Erin churns in the Atlantic. The storm will not make direct landfall but is expected to bring dangerous rip currents.

East Coast of the United States

Hurricane Erin to bring dangerous rip currents to U.S. East Coast

Jasveen Sangha, a Los Angeles woman known as the "Ketamine Queen," has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. Sangha could face up to 45 years in prison.

Los Angeles

"Ketamine Queen" to plead guilty in Matthew Perry's death

European leaders who converged on the White House for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war demonstrated a united front regarding Ukraine's security on Monday, underscoring the issue as pivotal for the entire continent, not just Ukraine.

EU leaders show cautious optimism following Zelenskyy, Trump talks

As Hamas reportedly agreed to some ceasefire terms that would include the return of more hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered troops to take more of Gaza.

Israel digs in on Gaza takeover as Hamas softens on ceasefire

President Donald Trump said that the United States would help Europe in providing security for Ukraine as part of any deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Trump tells Zelenskyy U.S. would help with security in a peace deal

Bolivia's presidential vote headed to an unprecedented runoff after elections Sunday that ended more than two decades of left-wing dominance in the Andean nation but signaled voters' trepidation about a major lurch to the right.

La Paz

Bolivia heads to runoff after historic defeat for the left

All Air Canada planes were grounded on Monday (August 18) after its 10,000 flight attendants refused a return-to-work mandate from the Canadian government.

Air Canada delays plans to resume operations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House Monday (August 18) for his meeting with President Donald Trump and other European leaders about Russia's war in Ukraine. CBS News White House reporter Taurean Small has more.

Trump meeting with Zelenskiy, European leaders at White House

Hamas on Monday informed mediators that it had accepted a ceasefire deal proposal submitted to it the day before, according to international and Israeli outlets.

Reports: Hamas accepts latest Gaza ceasefire proposal

Hurricane Erin will bring dangerously rough surf to parts of the U.S. East Coast. Over the weekend, Erin's outer bands lashed Puerto Rico with up to 7 inches of rain and flooding parts of the island.

Erin expected to bring dangerous conditions to U.S. East Coast

Ahead of his Monday meeting with President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelenksyy says his country will not give up any territory to Russia, even as the White House insists potential land swaps will be necessary. Willie James Inman reports.

Kyiv

Ahead of Trump meeting, Zelenskyy says won't give territory to Russia

Thousands of Israeli protesters demanded a deal to secure the release of hostages still held by Hamas in one of the biggest demonstrations since the war in Gaza began. Debora Patta reports.

Breakdown