More than 300 people have died and dozens are missing following floods and landslides in Indonesia, which has also been hit by an earthquake.

Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province.

The deluge tore through mountainside villages, swept away people and submerged thousands of houses and buildings, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

As rescue workers continued their efforts on Saturday, the head of the country’s disaster mitigation agency said the number of dead had risen to at least 303 people. Authorities fear the figure will increase.

Other Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have also been affected by torrential rain in the last week, with authorities working to rescue stranded citizens, restore power and communications and coordinate recovery efforts.

On Friday, the Thai government said 145 people had been killed by flooding across eight southern provinces, while two deaths have also been confirmed in Malaysia. Sri Lanka, in South Asia, has also seen 46 deaths following a cyclone, authorities said.

The extreme weather was driven by tropical cyclone Senyar, which formed in the Strait of Malacca, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said.

Rescuers in Indonesia have been struggling to reach some areas cut off by damaged roads, and where communications lines have come down.

Relief aircraft have been delivering aid and supplies to the hard-hit district of Central Tapanuli in North Sumatra and other provinces in the region.

The agency said West Sumatra’s Agam district had also been affected.

Pictures of the rescue efforts show workers trudging through waist-deep mud and areas filled with tree trunks and debris, searching for any victims potentially trapped.

In Aceh province, flooded roads meant authorities struggled to get tractors and other heavy equipment to hilly hamlets which were hit by mud and rocks in the deluge.

Hundreds of police officers, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands and spades as heavy rain hindered their efforts.

Meanwhile, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Sumatra island near Aceh province on Thursday, the country’s geophysics agency said.

Torrential rain triggered flash flooding and landslides in Sumatra earlier in the week. Videos posted on social media showed water streaming down from rooftops as panicked residents scrambled to safety.

Heavy seasonal rain from about October to March often causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia – an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands including Sumatra – where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile floodplains.

Last week, almost 1,000 people from three villages on Java were forced to flee to shelters after the eruption of Mount Semeru, the island’s highest volcano.

The Pope has visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque during a day spent meeting both Muslim and Christian leaders.

Pope Leo joined the imam at the 17th-century Ottoman-era mosque, officially called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

The trip marked part of the third day of his first overseas visit as head of the Catholic Church. He will travel to Lebanon on Sunday.

After the mosque visit, Leo held a private meeting with Turkey‘s Christian leaders at the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem.

While the Vatican had said Leo would observe a “brief minute of silent prayer” at the Blue Mosque, the imam said the pope declined.

Speaking to reporters after the visit, Asgin Tunca said he had told the Pope: “It’s not my house, not your house, (it’s the) house of Allah.”

The imam added that he told the Pope: “‘If you want, you can worship here,’ I said. But he said, ‘that’s OK.’

“He wanted to see the mosque, wanted to feel (the) atmosphere of the mosque, I think. And was very pleased.”

Later, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said: “The Pope experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in a spirit of contemplation and listening, with deep respect for the place and the faith of those who gather there in prayer.”

He is the latest pontiff to visit the holy site, with his recent predecessors Pope Francis and Pope Benedict also making visits in a gesture of respect to Turkey’s Muslim population.

Observing etiquette, Leo removed his shoes and walked through the carpeted mosque in his white socks.

However, he did not visit the Hagia Sophia, one of the most important historic cathedrals in Christianity and located just across from the Blue Mosque.

In July 2020, Turkey converted Hagia Sophia from a museum back into a mosque, which was criticised by the Vatican.

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The Pope is set to end Saturday with a Catholic Mass in Istanbul’s Volkswagen Arena for the country’s Catholic community.

A religious minority, there are around 33,000 Catholics in Turkey, which has a population of more than 85 million people, most of whom are Sunni Muslim.

Passengers have been warned of potential disruption after thousands of Airbus planes were hit by a software issue.

The aircraft affected are from the A320 family – which are used by numerous airlines – and need a systems update before they can fly again.

Airbus issued the alert after analysis of a flight involving an A320 showed “intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls”.

It is understood the incident that triggered the warning involved a JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark on 30 October.

That flight was diverted to Tampa International Airport after it suffered a flight control issue and experienced a sharp loss of altitude, which injured at least 15 passengers.

An Airbus spokesperson told Sky News the software change would affect up to 6,000 planes.

The fix involves A320 aircraft reverting to an earlier software version and Airbus stressed it would only take two to three hours for most planes.

However, it said some jets would also need new hardware and therefore would be affected for longer. Industry sources estimated about 1,000 aircraft could be in this position.

America’s aviation watchdog has issued an emergency order to immediately replace or modify the software, mirroring one from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

‘Very concerning’

Gatwick said a “small number” of carriers based there were affected, but warned disruption was still possible. It urged passengers to contact their airline.

Heathrow said it wasn’t expecting any disruption.

“The good news is it seems the impact on UK airlines seems limited, with a smaller number of aircraft requiring more complex software and hardware changes,” said Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

She said it was “heartening this issue has been identified and will be addressed so swiftly”.

Airbus is understood to have traced the issue to the ELAC (Elevator and Aileron Computer) system, which sends commands to elevators on the plane’s tail. These in turn control the aircraft’s pitch or nose angle.

Travel expert Simon Calder said the situation was “very concerning” but stressed “aviation remains extraordinarily safe”.

He warned customers might not be entitled to compensation if they’re delayed as the issue would be considered out of airlines’ control.

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What have airlines said?

EasyJet said it had already completed the software update on many aircraft and was working closely with safety authorities.

“We plan to operate our flying programme normally on Saturday and ask that customers travelling continue to monitor their flights on flight tracker,” it added.

The airline said passengers would be informed of any changes by email, SMS, or the flight tracker

British Airways said it wasn’t expecting any problems and that only three of its planes were affected.

For American Airlines – the world’s largest operator of the A320 – the issue was more significant, with 209 aircraft needing an update.

It comes on a huge travel weekend stateside as many travel home after Thanksgiving. However, the US carrier said the fix would be completed for the vast majority of its planes on Friday.

Others affected include Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which cancelled 65 domestic flights on Saturday, and Air France – which said it was cancelling 35 flights.

Ireland’s Aer Lingus said a limited number of aircraft were impacted, while Wizz Air has started the software update but said some weekend flights could still be affected.

“Passengers who booked directly with Wizz Air via the website or mobile app will be notified of any schedule changes,” the airline said.