The White House is the official presidential office building of the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, which is located in the capital city, Bishkek.

Built in 1985, it has a Neoclassical style, and it has seven floors. At the beginning it was housing the Headquarters of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, but with the independence it was obvious that it would be turned into more like a governmental building.

What is usual for official buildings, is having the Coat of Arms of the country in front of it, in this case the Crest of the Nation. It sits on top of the front of the building.

Also in front of the building there is a large bed of red flowers, which in turn at first were symbolizing the Soviet rule, but in this moment it is interpreted more like the country’s national flag color.

It is closed for the public, in 2005 during the Tulip Revolution, which were series of protests which overthrew the then President Askar Akayev and his government.

At the beginning the people started gathering in front of the White House, who clashed with the security forces, but managed to storm inside the governmental headquarters.

Nonetheless, something similar happened in 2010, but this time the protestors did not reach the building, at least 41 were killed. Still, this building is one of the Soviet era buildings which are very interesting to see when in Bishkek, which is definitely one of the country’s landmarks as well.

Thousands of people were forced to evacuate in South Korea as Typhoon Hinnamnor made landfall in the country’s southern regions on Tuesday, unleashing fierce rains and winds that destroyed trees and roads, and left more than 20,000 homes without power.

A 25-year-old man went missing after falling into a rain swollen stream in the southern city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which didn’t immediately report more casualties.

Fires were reported at a major steel plant operated by POSCO in the southern city of Pohang, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether they were caused by the storm.

Government officials have put the nation on alert about potential damages from flooding, landslides and tidal waves unleashed by Hinnamnor, which they said would be the most powerful storm to hit the country in years.

The storm came just weeks after capital Seoul and nearby regions were battered by heavy rainfall that unleashed flashfloods and killed at least 14 people.

Prime Minister Han Duk-soo had called for proactive efforts to evacuate residents in areas vulnerable to flooding, saying that Hinnamnor could end up being a “historically strong typhoon that we never experienced before.”

South Korea’s weather agency said Hinnamnor–packing heavy rains and winds of up to 144 kilometers (89 miles) per hour – was moving northeast toward open sea after grazing the southern resort island of Jeju and making landfall near the mainland port of Busan earlier on Tuesday.

The storm dumped more than 94 centimeters (37 inches) of rain in the central part of Jeju since Sunday, where winds once reached a maximum speed of 155 kph (96 mph).

The Safety Ministry said more than 3,400 people in the southern regions were forced to evacuate from their homes because of safety concerns and that officials were advising or ordering 14,000 more people to evacuate.

At least five homes and buildings were flooded or destroyed, and scores of roads were damaged. More than 600 schools nationwide were closed or converted to online classes. More than 250 flights and 70 ferry services were grounded while more than 66,000 fishing boats evacuated to ports.

China has logged its hottest August since records began, state media reported Tuesday, following an unusually intense summer heat wave that parched rivers, scorched crops and triggered isolated blackouts.

Southern China last month sweltered under what experts said may have been one of the worst heat waves in global history, with parts of Sichuan province and the megacity of Chongqing clocking a string of days well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The average temperature nationwide was 22.4C in August, exceeding the norm by 1.2C, citing the country’s weather service.

Some 267 weather stations across the country matched or broke temperature records last month, the report said.

It was also China’s third-driest August on record, with average rainfall 23.1 percent lower than average.

“The average number of high-temperature days was abnormally high, and regional high-temperature processes are continuing to impact our country,” CCTV reported the weather service as saying.

Scientists say extreme weather like heat waves, droughts and flash floods is becoming more frequent and intense due to human-induced climate change.

Last month, temperatures as high as 45C prompted multiple Chinese provinces to impose power cuts as cities battled to cope with a surge in electricity demand partly driven by people cranking up the air conditioning.

Images from Chongqing showed a tributary of the mighty Yangtze river had almost run dry, a scene echoed further east where the waters of China’s largest freshwater lake also receded extensively.

In Herzliya in Israel, people have begun a petition to try to save a modern-day hermit from being thrown out of his unusual dwelling, built in a cave on the coast.

Nisim spent months living by the sea without a home, but then defied the humidity, salt and waves to build a Gaudi-like structure, which has been a local attraction for nearly 50 years.

But now the authorities want him to leave, saying he built without permission and is harming the environment.

Nisim insists he will not leave his life’s work until he dies.

Footage showing that some residents in the earthquake-hit Chinese city of Chengdu were stopped from fleeing their compounds due to a Covid lockdown has sparked anger and disbelief online.

Some in Chengdu say they were told to stay inside through a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on Monday that has killed at least 65 people.

Those that ran out say they found the exits shut due to Covid restrictions.

Chengdu, home to 21 million people, is currently under strict lockdown rules.

China has a so-called zero Covid-19 policy, meaning that lockdowns are routinely imposed in communities when cases of the virus are detected.

In some instances, apartment buildings where at least one person has tested positive for Covid have been designated “sealed areas” – where residents are forbidden from setting foot outside their homes whether or not they have the virus.

Videos shared on Douyin, China’s TikTok platform, show panicked residents behind chained gates, shouting to be let out.

In one, a man swears at security guard, rattling what appears to be his apartment gates and trying to open it, shouting: “Hurry up, open the door, it’s an earthquake!” In response, the guards say: “It’s over, the earthquake’s already over.”

This video showed residents behind gates asking to be let out

Another video claims to be an audio recording of a loudspeaker message that said: “Go back home and do not gather here, it’s just an earthquake. We [here in Sichuan] have a lot of experience [when it comes to earthquakes].”

One man told Newsmen he had run out of his 30-floor building after feeling the earthquake’s tremors. When he realised he was trapped, he raised complaints among the crowd gathered at the gates.

“Which one is more important? The lockdown or the earthquake?” Lu Siwei, a lawyer in Chengdu, had shouted.

He says his neighbour replied: “Do not incite emotions and do not talk politics.” After several heated rounds, Mr Lu says the man then physically assaulted him.

There have been no reports linking any fatalities from the quake to the restrictions on compounds, but such reports have sparked overwhelming criticism from those on microblogging site Weibo.

“It’s a joke that we have to discuss such a question,” said one commentator under a post from a local news site which quoted a lawyer saying citizens were “constitutionally” free to flee to safety. The post had received over 3.7 million views by Tuesday.

“I guess it’s fine if I die inside the building, at least I didn’t get infected,” said another comment sarcastically.

The Chengdu Health Commission later posted on its official WeChat account that “priority should be given to safeguarding the lives of the public in the event of earthquakes, fires, floods and other disasters”.

Pakistani authorities are struggling to stop their biggest lake from bursting its banks after last-ditch attempts to lower water levels failed.

Manchar Lake, in Sindh province, is dangerously full after record monsoons that inundated a third of Pakistan.

Three breaches of the lake’s banks so far – two to protect areas nearby – have displaced over 100,000 people.

But it could still overflow and rescue teams are racing to evacuate many more people who remain at risk of drowning.

Floods in Pakistan have affected some 33 million people and killed at least 1,314, including 458 children, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency said.

Estimates suggest the floods have caused at least $10bn (£8.5bn) of damage.

Sindh province produces half of the country’s food supply, exacerbating fears of serious food shortages in a country already struggling with an economic crisis.

Pakistani Navy rescue people affected by floods in Khairpur Nathan Shah, Dadu district, Sindh province, Pakistan, 03 September 2022.

On Sunday, officials breached Manchar lake after it had flooded two rural towns. The hope was the move would prevent it from further bursting its banks and inundating more densely-populated areas.

The move affected an estimated 400 villages – a total of 135,000 people. The decision to deliberately flood some villages is a controversial one – the lake straddles two districts, Dadu and Jamshoro, both home to hundreds of thousands of people, and about 80% of the region is underwater.

Now residents near the lake are using government machinery to strengthen embankments to try to avoid a catastrophic, unplanned overspill.

“There are three breaches in the lake, two by plan, one is unplanned breach. It is our target that our big cities, towns, we can save them,” Sindh’s minister of irrigation Jam Khan Shoro told the BBC’s Newshour programme.

Villagers were warned to evacuate before the planned breaches. But local sources say not everyone was taken to safety in time – some didn’t want to leave their homes or livestock, a lifeline for many in rural communities, and there are few places for them to go.