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White House national security spokesman John Kirby says Iranian funds to help secure the release of five US citizens will be held in a supervised account in Qatar. Tehran will have to submit requests in order to draw funds to be used strictly for humanitarian purposes. “The Iranian people will be the beneficiaries of these funds, not the regime,” he says, adding that the goal was to repatriate Americans unjustifiably detained in Iran.

Derna (Libya) (AFP) – The Mediterranean coastal city of Derna was hit by huge flash floods, likened to a tsunami by witnesses, after two upstream dams burst as torrential rains from Storm Daniel battered the region. The floods have left nearly 4,000 people dead, thousands more missing and at least 30,000 Libyans homeless.

Asni (Morocco) (AFP) – Moroccan military personnel provide psychological support and medical treatment to quake survivors at a field hospital in Asni, a small town on the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains. “Their state of mind varies between sadness and anxiety. They are looking for moral support,” says one military psychiatrist. The 6.8-magnitude tremor has affected more than 300,000 people according to estimations by the United Nations. Almost 3,000 people have died and more than 5,500 have been injured.

Derna (Libya) (AFP) – A massive flood wreaked havoc in the eastern city of Derna on Wednesday, after two upstream dams burst when torrential rains brought by Storm Daniel battered the region.

Jakarta (AFP) – Activists and monitors say air pollution was even worse than usual this year. Experts say it is clear that polluting sources of energy like the coal power plants that dot Indonesia play a key role. Indonesia has pledged to stop commissioning new plants from 2023 and to be carbon neutral by 2050 but loopholes in its commitments mean it could continue to build new coal-fired power plants that are already in planning or that power factories.

Washington (AFP) – The United States voices alarm on new military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after the two countries’ leaders met. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters the news is “troubling.”

Hanoi (AFP) – Dozens of people have died in a fire at an apartment block in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. Witnesses reported hearing screams from inside and seeing a small boy being thrown from the building to escape the flames. The fire started just before midnight on September 12 in the parking floor of the 10-storey building, an area packed with motorbikes, witnesses say.

OGAN ILIR (Indonesia) (AFP) – Indonesian firefighters battle a raging wildfire in Indonesia’s Sumatra island. Officials say the fire has affected about 30 hectares of forest and peatland in South Sumatra province. A prolonged dry season in the archipelago has caused higher risks of wildfire in some islands including Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Sydney (AFP) – A smoky haze blankets Australia’s scenic Sydney Harbour on Wednesday, as a ring of controlled blazes burned on the city’s fringes in preparation for the looming bushfire season.

Many people are sleeping rough in Marrakesh’s Jewish quarter, displaced by the earthquake that killed more than 2,900 people and shook one of Morocco’s most famous medinas.