• Early reports show 30 dead in single village: health ministry.
• Number of casualties and injuries is high, says ministry’s spox.
• Figures likely to rise as reports arrive from remote areas.

KABUL: Hundreds were feared dead and injured after an earthquake of magnitude-6 struck two rugged eastern provinces in Afghanistan, authorities said on Monday, as helicopters ferried the injured to safety from rubble being combed in a hunt for survivors.

Reports showed 250 dead and 500 injured, said Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information head of Kunar, adding that the tally could change.

The disaster will further stretch the resources of the South Asian nation already grappling with humanitarian crises, from a sharp drop in aid to a huge pushback of its citizens from neighbouring countries.

There was no confirmed death toll, health authorities said in Kabul, the capital, as rescuers raced to reach remote hamlets dotting an area with a long history of earthquakes and floods.

“Figures from just a few clinics show over 400 injured and dozens of fatalities,” ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement that warned of higher casualties.

Images from Reuters Television showed helicopters ferrying out the affected, while residents helped soldiers and medics carry the wounded to ambulances.

Three villages were razed in the province of Kunar, with substantial damage in many others, the health ministry said.

Early reports showed 30 dead in a single village, with hundreds of injured taken to hospital, authorities said.

Rescuers were scrambling to find survivors in the area bordering Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, where homes of mud and stone were levelled by the midnight quake that hit at a depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles).

“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a foreign office spokesperson said.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

A series of earthquakes in its west killed more than 1,000 people last year, underscoring the vulnerability of one of the world’s poorest countries to natural disasters.

• PM Shehbaz, Russia’s Putin, Indian PM Modi and other leaders attend session. 
• Xi speaks about constructive participation in int’l affairs, opposes hegemonism. 
• SCO has set a model for a new type of international relations: President Xi.

Chinese President Xi Jinping criticised on Monday “bullying behaviour” in the world order as he gathered regional leaders for a summit.

He called on the leaders — including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi — to “adhere to fairness and justice… oppose Cold War mentality, camp confrontation, and bullying behaviour”, in a speech in the northern city of Tianjin.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is gathering for a two-day summit, comprises China, Pakistan, India, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.

China and Russia have sometimes touted the SCO as an alternative to the NATO military alliance.

“The current international situation is becoming chaotic and intertwined,” Xi told the leaders.

“The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging,” he added.

“Looking back, despite tumultuous times, we have achieved success by practicing the Shanghai spirit,” he said, referring to the name of the group.

“Looking to the future, with the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit, keep our feet on the ground, forge ahead, and better perform the functions of the organisation.”

Xi said China will work with all parties in the SCO to take the regional security forum to a new level, as he unveiled his ambition for a new global security order that poses a challenge to the United States.

The SCO has set a model for a new type of international relations, Xi said in opening remarks at the summit, adding that the forum unequivocally opposed external interference.

Xi spoke also about constructive participation in international affairs, opposing hegemonism and power politics, as well as promoting multilateralism in his remarks.

The security-focused bloc, which began as a group of six Eurasian nations, has expanded to 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer countries in recent years.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said China played a “fundamental” role in upholding global multilateralism on Sunday.

Analysts say China will use this year’s largest-ever summit to demonstrate an alternative vision of global governance to the American-led international order at a time of erratic policymaking, a U.S. retreat from multilateral organisations and geopolitical flux.

Beijing has also used the summit as an opportunity to mend ties with New Delhi.

Modi, who is in China on his first visit in seven years, and Xi both agreed on Sunday their countries are development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to improve trade ties amid the global tariff uncertainty.

Peacemaker star Frank Grillo is sharing his honest thoughts on his experience working with DC and Marvel, which according to him is “different”.

The 60-year-old Werewolves hunk got candid about the major things that make the two big studios completely apart.

For the unversed, Frank starred as Rick Flag Sr. in the DC Universe and portrayed the role of Brock Rumlow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Speaking to People exclusively, he highlighted a key approach that both studio follows in their own ways.

“It’s different. It’s not organized in the same way,” he shared at the Peacemaker Season 2 premiere.

“[DC] is really like all the scripts are in front of you and you kind of have a real secure handle on what’s happening,” The Superman actor revealed.

“And there’s nothing wrong with it,” he remarked.

“But [Marvel] was a little fly by the seat of your pants,” Frank noted.

Though the Boss Level star mentioned that Marvel was “done very well,” the approach is sometimes feels “scary” to some actors including him.

“For me, it’s a little scary to do it that way,” Frank confessed.

As Frank played the role of soldiers in both universes and had good onscreen fights, when asked which one was the better, he quickly answered, “I had no problem beating the crap out of either one of them.”

“I mean … I don’t know. They were both easy pickings,” he added.