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Toll from landslide in southwestern China rises to 11 dead, with 50 people still missing

BEIJING (AP) — Teams searching the rubble of last week’s landslide in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing found three additional bodies in recent days, bringing the death toll to 11 with 50 people still missing, Chinese authorities said Thursday.

The search continues but there have been no recent signs of life after many efforts to detect additional survivors from Friday’s collapse in Pengshui County at the edge of the city, the county government said in a statement.

Responders found eight bodies soon after the collapse, which buried more than 10 residential buildings, and 10 other people were injured.

The rescue work has been exceptionally challenging because of the massive volume of collapsed material that includes many large boulders. Searchers have used heavy machinery and drones, and blasted some of the boulders into small pieces, according to the county government.

Pengshui County is in the southeast part of Chongqing, bordering the provinces of Hubei and Guizhou.

Australian watchdog files legal action against Telegram, saying it failed to remove violent content

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog has filed legal action against messaging app Telegram, saying the platform failed to remove extremist content including videos of white supremacist mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and the New Zealand city of Christchurch as well as Islamic State group beheadings. The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for “alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday. The civil action is a test of Australia's 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks. Telegram denied the claims. “We reject these allegations and will contest them in court,” a spokesperson said in a written statement sent on Telegram.
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