ACEH TAMIANG, Indonesia (AP) — Emergency crews raced against time on Friday after last week’s catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Asia, killing more than 1,500 people. Relief operations were underway, but the scale of need overwhelmed the capabilities of rescuers.
Authorities said 883 people were confirmed dead in Indonesia, 486 in Sri Lanka and 185 in Thailand, as well as three in Malaysia.
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Survivors carry relief goods at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Survivors take shelter at a makeshift hut at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
A survivor carries relief goods at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
A survivor carries a bag of salvaged items at an area devastated by flash flood in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Many villages in Indonesia and Sri Lanka remained buried under mud and debris, with nearly 900 people still unaccounted for in both countries, while recovery was further along in Thailand and Malaysia.
As the waters recede, survivors find the disaster has crippled their villages’ lifelines. Roads that once connected the cities and districts to the outside world are severed, leaving some areas accessible only by helicopter. Transmission towers collapsed under the weight of landslides, plunging communities into darkness and causing internet outages.
In Aceh Tamiang, the hardest-hit area in Aceh province, infrastructure is in ruins. Entire villages in the lush hills district lie submerged beneath a thick blanket of mud. More than 260,000 residents fled homes once on green farmland. For many, survival hinges on the speed of aid as clean water, sanitation and shelter top the list of urgent priorities.
Trucks carrying relief supplies crawl along roads connecting North Sumatra’s Medan city to Aceh Tamiang, which reopened almost a week after the disaster, but distribution is slowed by debris on the roads, said the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari.
An Associated Press photojournalist described widespread devastation in Aceh Tamiang after flash floods tore through the area, with cars overturned and homes badly damaged. Animal carcasses are scattered among the debris. Many residents are still haunted by the 2004 tsunami that devastated Aceh and killed around 230,000 people globally, with 160,000 in Aceh alone.
On a battered bridge spanning the swollen Tamiang River, families found shelter under makeshift tents of bed sheets and torn fabric.
A survivor there, Ibrahim bin Usman, cradled his grandsons on the muddy ground where his home once stood. He recounted how floodwaters full of logs hit his house and the houses of his children and his siblings, forcing his family of 21, including babies, to cling to the roof of a warehouse before being evacuated by a small wooden boat by fellow villagers.
“Six houses in my family were swept away,” he said. ”This wasn’t a flood — it was a tsunami from the hills. Many bodies are still buried under mud.”
With wells contaminated and pipes shattered, the floodwaters have turned necessities into luxuries.
Resident Mariana, who goes by a single name like many Indonesians, broke down in tears when recalling how she survived as water surged into her village on Nov. 27. “The water kept rising, forcing us to flee. Even at higher ground, it didn’t stop. We panicked.”
The 53-year-old widow said she and others eventually reached a two-story school, but survival was grim: there was no food or clean water. "We drank floodwaters after letting it settle and boiling it. Children drank it too," said Mariana, whose home was flattened.
A clothing trader in the village of Kampung Dalam, Joko Sofyan, said residents had no choice but to drink the same water that destroyed their homes as they waited for aid, causing children to fall ill.
“My house is just rubble now,” said Sofyan, a father of two. ”We need food, medicine, and clean water urgently.”
While some relief has trickled in, survivors say they need household equipment to cook food.
Frustration is mounting: “Why isn’t there a public kitchen? We have nothing left,” shouted Hadi Akher to the crowd as rescue workers struggled to maintain order among long lines of hungry villagers near a truck full of aid supplies.
Akher, who was bare-chested like most men in flood-hit areas due to lack of clothing, blamed deforestation for worsening the disaster, accusing local officials of corruption.
“This deadly floods happened because too many officials here are corrupt," he said, causing the crowd to grumble.
Karmini reported from Jakarta. Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed reporting.
Survivors carry relief goods at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
Survivors take shelter at a makeshift hut at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
A survivor carries relief goods at an area devastated by flash flooding in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
A survivor carries a bag of salvaged items at an area devastated by flash flood in Aceh Tamiang on Sumatra Island, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
The draw ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
A record 48 teams will take part in this summer's tournament.
U.S. President Donald Trump is also attending the event, as are President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Here's the latest:
In addition to singing at the opening of the World Cup draw, Bocelli will give another performance for Trump at the White House later Friday.
Bocelli is a longtime favorite of Trump’s. His songs are often on the soundtrack at Trump’s rallies, and he sang for Trump during a visit to the Oval Office in October.
Kevin Hart is co-hosting the ceremony and turning it into a global comedy club.
Right after FIFA president Gianni Infantino playfully blocked him from hugging co-host Heidi Klum, Hart launched into a very American debate: “Is it football… or soccer?”
The crowd laughed. Infantino did the fake tough-guy walk-off. And Kevin doubled down like only he can, cracking jokes while millions watched around the world.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino says there will be 7 million people in the stadiums and 6 billion watching from home.
“FIFA is the official happiness provider for humanity,” he said.
With something resembling a laser show more than an opera or symphony concert, there is a decidedly different look inside the Kennedy Center hall hosting the 2026 World Cup draw.
Bright lights and neon displays of “Welcome” in various languages are flashing on the stage and along the balconies.
The number “26” in bright colors is on the stage, where the backdrop occasionally switches to a list of more than 20 sponsors.
Andrea Bocelli kicked off the draw ceremony with a rendition of “Nessun Dorma” — which actually has a connection to the World Cup because of its use as theme music by the BBC for the 1990 tournament in Italy.
Whether the Italians are at the 2026 tournament, of course, remains to be determined. They must qualify through a European playoff next year.
“We are going to meet with both and we are getting along very well,” Trump said of Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who are co-hosting next year’s World Cup.
Trump suggested that trade will be on the agenda for his talks with the leaders.
FIFA announced the creation of a FIFA Peace Prize to be announced at today’s Kennedy Center event that will “recognize exceptional actions for peace.” But Trump says he doesn’t know if he’s going to receive the honor.
“There’s a rumor about it, but I have not been told,” Trump said as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for the announcement of matchups for next year’s World Cup. “That would be a great honor.”
He later, in another exchange with reporters, repeated his exaggerated claim that he has settled eight wars and “a ninth is coming.”
The qualifying process for the World Cup is a lengthy journey — one that began on Sept. 7, 2023, and isn’t even entirely finished yet. So far, 42 teams are assured spots in the 48-team field.
Here are a few highlights from qualifying:
– Aside from the three hosts, which qualified automatically, Japan was the first team to wrap up a spot, doing so in March of this year.
– Four countries are set to make their World Cup debuts: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. That number could increase when the final six teams earn spots in March’s playoffs.
– Already, 16 teams have qualified that weren’t part of the World Cup in 2022. Haiti is in for the first time since 1974.
– Ivory Coast, England and Tunisia qualified without allowing a goal.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is attending the World Cup draw — the first time she’s met face-to-face with Trump since he returned to the White House in January.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has met with Trump before, will also be on hand.
But Trump and Carney haven’t met since officials from all three countries began reviewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term and replaced the NAFTA pact, which took effect in 1994.
While no formal meetings have been scheduled, Trump may find time to talk tariffs and trade with both Sheinbaum and Carney. He also hasn’t met with Canada’s leader since clashing with Ontario over an ad criticizing U.S. tariff policy.
Clutch the bald eagle, Zayu the jaguar and Maple the moose — the three mascots of the 2026 World Cup — have arrived for the draw.
Clutch represents the U.S., Zayu represents Mexico and Maple represents Canada, the tournament’s three host nations.
For the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., a dog named Striker served as the mascot.
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup was in 1994. The draw for that tournament was in Las Vegas, a site that was also considered this time before the event was put at the Kennedy Center.
That certainly made a difference in terms of the local weather. Attendees on Friday morning were greeted by a steady snowfall outside the Kennedy Center along the Potomac River.
Although it’s not soccer weather at the moment, the tournament isn’t until June and July. At that point, heat will probably be the biggest issue, not snow.
▶ Read more: How heat played a role at the 2025 Club World Cup.
Although former England soccer captain Rio Ferdinand is running the draw, it will have a distinctly North American flavor. Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Wayne Gretzky and Aaron Judge will be on stage helping out. There is no Mexican sports representative, however.
Brady is a co-investor with the ownership of Birmingham City, a second-tier English soccer team.
There are few recent parallels to the fervor that’s about to descend on the Kennedy Center. When the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held in Las Vegas and Bill Clinton, the president at the time, didn’t attend.
This week’s lineup is a reminder that for Trump — a two-term president, bestselling author and onetime reality television star — his favorite role is that of a showman. And Trump’s transformation of the Kennedy Center from one of Washington’s relatively apolitical spaces into something of an extension of his White House affords him a natural stage.
The U.S. president was instrumental in working with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to move the draw to the Kennedy Center after it was widely expected to take place in Las Vegas.
FIFA may further recognize Trump at the event with a newly created peace prize.
Infantino hasn’t confirmed that Trump will be the recipient but the two have forged a notably close relationship and Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize. On the same day last month that FIFA said it would issue the new award, Infantino called Trump a “close friend” who has “such an incredible energy.”
The highest-ranked team that hasn’t already qualified for this World Cup is four-time champion Italy, ranked No. 12 by FIFA. The Italians still have a chance to qualify via UEFA Playoff A, so teams will likely be hoping to avoid being in the same group with that pot 4 placeholder.
In the past, World Cups have included a so-called “Group of Death” — a group that seems unusually difficult following the luck of the draw. With more teams spread out across more groups — and with the pots largely organized in descending order of FIFA rankings — there might not be an obvious Group of Death this time around.
But there is still substantial variance in the quality of teams that could come out of pot 4, which includes the four European playoff winners (which could include Italy and No. 21 Denmark) as well as No. 86 New Zealand and tiny World Cup newcomers Curacao and Cape Verde.
With 48 teams in the tournament, the top two in each group — plus eight of the 12 third-place finishers — will advance to the 32-team, single-elimination knockout round.
The top four teams in the FIFA ranking — Spain, Argentina, France and England — will be drawn in such a way that, should they win their groups, they would not face each other before the semifinals.
Other constraints during the draw include:
— Each group must have at least one European team, but no more than two.
— Aside from UEFA (Europe), no two teams from the same confederation can be in the same group. The other confederations are the AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) and the OFC (Oceania).
Balls corresponding with the competing countries will be separated into four pots of 12, and each group will include one team drawn from each pot.
The pots are as follows, with each team’s current FIFA ranking in parentheses.
Pot 1 — Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9), United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27).
Pot 2 — Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26).
Pot 3 — Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (60), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61).
Pot 4 — Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A, UEFA Playoff B, UEFA Playoff C, UEFA Playoff D, FIFA Playoff 1, FIFA Playoff 2.
Six of the balls in pot 4 do not correspond with any specific country. That’s because six spots at the World Cup won’t be determined until March. Four European teams will qualify via the UEFA playoffs, and the additional two FIFA playoffs will include teams from all over the world.
The host countries — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — are allowed into pot 1. That’s a significant perk because it means they avoid being in a group with several of the tournament’s top teams.
The tournament — hosted next year by the United States, Mexico and Canada — is expanding from 32 teams to 48.
The draw will separate them into 12 groups of four.
The 12 round-robin World Cup groups are designated Group A, Group B ... and so on, down to Group L.
It has already been predetermined that Mexico will be in Group A, Canada in Group B and the U.S. in Group D.
There will be a full reveal of game times set for Saturday.
President Donald Trump, center, speaking to members of the media during his arrival with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, right, at the Kennedy Center for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Singer Andrea Bocelli performs at the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
Singer Andrea Bocelli performs at the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)
The tournament mascots pose on the red carpet as guests arrive for the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A member of the media works prior to the final draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Spain's national team coach Luis de la Fuente, 3rd right, arrives to attend the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People arrive for the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his wife Leena Al Ashqar pose for a photo as they arrive for a welcome reception ahead of the draw for 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
