China Braces for Cold Wave After Snow Causes Train Crash

Temperatures across China are forecast to plunge this weekend, as parts of the country reel from widespread disruptions caused by wintry conditions and heavy rains, including a subway collision in Beijing that left hundreds of commuters hospitalized. The cold snap comes after an abnormally warm fall, when the country logged its warmest October in decades. The average high temperature in the capital plummeted to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9 degrees Celsius) on Saturday after hovering at around 50 degrees last week. Across China, meteorologists issued low temperature and strong…

At Least 2 Dead in Heavy Rains and Flooding in Beijing

Fierce rain and flooding pummeled Beijing on Monday, killing at least two people as the downpour triggered landslides and swept away cars on the city’s outskirts after the authorities issued a red alert for what they warned was the heaviest deluge in years. The intense rain since the weekend prompted Beijing to close tourist attractions like the ancient Forbidden City. But the worst effects have been felt in the city’s outer districts, where downpours overwhelmed riverbeds that usually stay dry for much of the year. By Monday afternoon, the Beijing…

Extreme Heat Grips 3 Continents as Climate Change Warms Earth

Punishing heat waves gripped three continents on Tuesday, breaking records in cities around the Northern Hemisphere less than two weeks after the Earth recorded what scientists said were likely its hottest days in modern history. Firefighters in Greece scrambled to put out wildfires, as parched conditions raised the risk of more blazes throughout Europe. Beijing logged another day of 95-degree heat, and people Hangzhou, another Chinese city, compared the choking conditions to a sauna. From the Middle East to the American Southwest, delivery drivers, airport workers and construction crews labored…

As China Bakes in Record Heat, John Kerry Presses Beijing on Climate Change

In the sandstone desert of China’s far west, a local meteorological station recorded an all-time high temperature of 126 degrees. In central China, heat-induced mechanical problems trapped tourists riding on a cable car in midair. The heat wave choking China is so intense that it even became a repeated talking point for John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for climate change, as he met with China’s premier on Tuesday in Beijing to discuss cooperation on slowing global warming. “You and I know things are changing,” Mr. Kerry told the premier,…

Today’s Top News: The End of the ‘Great Resignation,’ and More

The New York Times Audio app is home to journalism and storytelling, and provides news, depth and serendipity. If you haven’t already, download it here — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes. Hosted by Annie Correal, the new morning show features three top stories from reporters across the newsroom and around the world, so you always have a…

China Reels From Floods and a Bruising Heat Wave

China and several other Asia Pacific countries were reeling from monsoonal floods and stultifying temperatures on Wednesday, the latest disruptions in what forecasters say could be a long summer and autumn of extreme weather around the world. The authorities in China said on Wednesday that 15 people had died and four others were missing as a result of flooding in the sprawling southwestern city of Chongqing, according to the state-run news media. In another sign of how bad the flooding was in China, news footage showed rescuers in the central…

Polar Vortex Drives a Cold Snap in Asia

Mohe, China’s northernmost city, recorded a temperature of minus 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit this week. That was the coldest in its recorded history, and cold enough to cause hypothermia within minutes in anyone who wasn’t dressed properly. “It has never been this cold,” Zhang Hong, 53, who runs a pancake shop in Mohe and has lived in the city for 30 years, said by phone on Friday. “It was so frosty outside,” she added. “The wind was so brisk that it felt as though it was shaving your nose and face.”…

Natural Gas Shortages Hit China as Temperatures Plunge

For many people across China, a shortage of natural gas and alarmingly cold temperatures are making a difficult winter unbearable. For Li Yongqiang, they mean freezing nights without heat. “We dare not turn on the heat overnight — after using it for five or six hours, the gas stops again,” Mr. Li, a 45-year-old grocer, said by telephone from his home in northern China’s Hebei Province. “The gas shortage is really affecting our lives.” The lack of natural gas, which is used widely across China to heat homes and businesses,…

Typhoon Noru Aims for Vietnam After Hitting the Philippines

Typhoon Noru, a powerful storm that hit the Philippines this week, was moving west across the South China Sea toward central Vietnam on Tuesday. Noru was forecast to make landfall in or near the city of Danang, one of the largest in Vietnam, by Wednesday. Among the places in its expected path was Hoi An, an ancient trading port and UNESCO World Heritage site south of Danang. More than 800,000 people in Danang and elsewhere in central Vietnam had been evacuated as of Tuesday evening local time, The Associated Press…