Firefighters in south China's Guangdong Province carried out multiple rescue operations on Monday as heavy rains triggered flash floods across several cities, leaving residents stranded in rising waters.
In Huidong County of Huizhou City, firefighters saved an elderly woman who had climbed onto a tree to escape the sudden flooding.
Upon the arrival at the scene, the firefighters spotted the elderly woman clinging to a narrow branch in a remote, waterlogged area.
Despite the difficult terrain and poor visibility, the firefighters waded through thigh-deep floodwater and safely brought the elderly woman to safety.
Elsewhere in Huidong, firefighting emergency teams used rubber boats to evacuate 25 people trapped by floodwaters earlier that day.
In the industrial hub of Dongguan City, torrential rain overwhelmed drainage systems, submerging roads and trapping vehicles and residents.
In Zhangmutou County of the city, firefighters rescued people stranded in cars and shops as floodwaters rose nearly to the rooftops of vehicles.
Since Sunday, large swathes of the province, including Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou and Shanwei, have been battered by intense rainfall, with heavy to torrential downpours.
In response, the provincial authorities raised its flood emergency response to Level II within 24 hours, with more than 100 counties and districts activating emergency protocols.
China has a four-tier emergency response system for flood control, with Level I being the most severe.
Firefighters brave floodwaters to rescue trapped residents in south China's Guangdong
Demonstrators from civil groups, labor unions and other communities in South Africa rallied outside the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg on Friday, denouncing U.S. unilateral military actions against Venezuela and voicing solidarity with the Latin American nation.
They gathered along the street in front of the consulate, carrying banners that read "Hands Off Venezuela" and "Stop Imperialism," chanting slogans against U.S. hegemony and aggression.
"We are here to protest the U.S. threats to global peace, the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro Moros of Venezuela, which was done in violation of international law, in violation of territorial integrity of Venezuela, of course, in violation of national sovereignty of Venezuela," said Solly Afrika Mapaila, general secretary of the South African Communist Party.
In the early hours of Jan. 3, the United States carried out a military strike against Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, taking them to the United States.
Some protesters said the crisis in Venezuela shows how geopolitical struggles have direct and immediate effects on ordinary people's lives.
"Venezuela belongs to the people of Venezuela and nobody else. For American belligerent and colonial aggression, quite frankly, is not just something very distant. Never before have questions of geopolitics been of immediate and direct relevance and direct and immediate impacts on the day-to-day lives of ordinary people, as you are seeing today," said Mametlwe Sebei, president of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA).
Placards at the rally blended English and Spanish slogans, while some demonstrators sang liberation songs from South Africa's anti-apartheid era to express solidarity. Passing motorists slowed in front of the consulate, honking in support.
Defying the summer heat, the crowd remained spirited and resolute, their chants echoing along the street in a clear call for an end to foreign interference and respect for Venezuela's sovereignty.
South Africans rally in solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. aggression
South Africans rally in solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. aggression
South Africans rally in solidarity with Venezuela against U.S. aggression
