Flooding death toll in India, Nepal at 184
KATMANDU, Nepal -- The death toll from three days of flooding and torrential rain in Nepal and India rose to at least 184 people Monday, as relief teams sent food, tents and medicine to prevent outbreaks of disease.
The worst-hit areas were in western Nepal and northern India, where swirling floodwaters submerged hundreds of villages and swept away homes made of mud and straw.
Thousands of people are without shelter in 10 flooded districts, and local officials Monday distributed rice, lentils and cooking pots to people who lost their homes.
At least 100 people have died in Nepal and 84 in neighboring India since Thursday, authorities said.
The situation in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh worsened after dams were opened in Nepal, said Alok Ranjan, a top official in Uttar Pradesh. Along with incessant rain, the rising waters caused several rivers to breach their banks, he said.
Officials in the state reported 10 more deaths overnight, pushing its toll to 34 over the past three days.
India says Pakistani undermined talks
NEW DELHI -- In a blow to efforts to improve ties, India on Monday called off talks with Pakistan over a meeting between its ambassador and Kashmiri separatists.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit's meeting with the separatists had undermined efforts to thaw relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
India and Pakistan agreed in May to resume talks on improved relations when Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two countries' foreign secretaries were to meet next week in Islamabad to discuss the resumption of a formal dialogue.
Last week, Basit announced plans to meet with Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi, a move that angered India.
Indian Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh on Monday warned Basit against meeting with the separatists, saying he could either have a dialogue with India or talk with the separatists.
Saudi prince's convoy robbed in Paris
PARIS -- Armed robbers ambushed a car in a Saudi prince's diplomatic convoy on its way to a Paris airport commonly used for private jets, raiding the Mercedes of valuables then torching and abandoning the vehicle, police and prosecutors said Monday.
Five to eight assailants flashed handguns but fired no shots in the Sunday night attack, the Paris prosecutor's office said. No injuries or arrests were reported.
Rocco Contento of the SGP Paris police union said on BFM television that the car had about $334,000 in cash and official embassy documents and that the assailants were well-informed about the car's itinerary.
French officials refused to name those in the car or the prince, who has since left the country for an unidentified destination. Members of the Saudi royal family often go to Paris for diplomatic or business visits.
Assange says he's leaving embassy 'soon'
LONDON -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Monday that he would "soon" be leaving the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he took refuge more than two years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning for purported sexual assaults.
But in a lengthy statement to reporters at the embassy, Assange did not give any indication of the exact timing or circumstances of his exit. And a WikiLeaks spokesman, Kristinn Hrafnsson, later clarified that Assange's comments had been "a declaration of hope rather than a declaration that he would be walking out of the embassy."
Hrafnsson said Assange would leave when British authorities "grant him safe passage to the airport and to Ecuador," something the government has repeatedly said it is unwilling to do.
A Foreign Office spokesman, speaking under the customary terms of anonymity, reiterated that stance Monday, saying, "We are clear that our laws must be followed and that Mr. Assange should be extradited to Sweden."
Assange cited recent changes to British law that could protect him from extradition because charges in Sweden have not been filed. But a Home Office spokesman said the legal changes were not retroactive and that Assange had "exhausted all appeal avenues."
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 08/19/2014