International

Portugal and Spain are sweltering under an intense wave of heat that has produced near-record temperatures in the southern European countries.   Portugal has issued red alerts for extreme heat for more than half the country Saturday, with thermometers approaching 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The country’s highest ever recorded temperature was 47.4 C (117.3 F) in 2003.  The ...

Srinagar, Aug 4 : A young man was killed and two other people wounded when India’s army fired at a funeral of a rebel in disputed Kashmir on Saturday, police and residents said, as seven rebels and an Indian soldier were killed in gunbattles in the region. Soldiers descended on a village in the suburbs of southern Shopian town as ...

Srinagar, Aug 4 : At least seven rebels and an Indian army soldier were killed in gunbattles in disputed Kashmir, triggering violent protests by residents opposed to Indian rule, officials said Saturday. Army soldiers and counterinsurgency police cordoned off a neighborhood in the suburbs of southern Shopian town overnight, leading to an exchange of fire with rebels, police said. One ...

Russian airline says 18 killed in Siberian helicopter crash A Russian airline says one of its helicopters has crashed shortly after takeoff in Siberia, killing all 18 people aboard.   The UTair airline, which operated the Mi-8 helicopter, said in a statement that preliminary information indicated the aircraft’s blades collided with another helicopter that had taken off earlier Friday from ...

Mexico City, Aug 04 : The governor of the Mexican state of Hidalgo says that a fifth body has been recovered after a portion of a marble mine collapsed a day earlier. Gov. Omar Fayad said via Twitter Friday that the state would support the victims’ families. On Thursday the open pit mine in a locality known as Dengantzha in ...

Singapore, Aug 04 : U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning Russia, China and others against any violation of international sanctions on North Korea. He says Washington will take seriously any action that reduces pressure on the North to abandon its nuclear weapons. Speaking in Singapore on Saturday, Pompeo told reporters the U.S. has new, credible reports that Russia ...

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 04 : Supporters and opponents of legalizing abortion testified Friday in front of Brazil’s top court, an extraordinary session at a time when strengthening women’s movements are pushing against often decades-old laws in South America. The first of two expected hearings at the Supreme Federal Tribunal came just days before Congress in neighboring Argentina was expected ...

San Francisco, Aug 04 : A deadly Northern California wildfire burned so hot in dry and windy conditions that it birthed a record-breaking tornado of flame, officials said Friday. They also warned of worsening conditions throughout the region. Winds in the “fire whirl” created July 26 near Redding reached speeds of 143 mph (230 kph), a speed that rivaled some ...

President Donald Trump’s media attacks raise the risk of violence against journalists, UN experts have warned. In a statement, David Kaye and Edison Lanza of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called the attacks “strategic” and said they undermined press freedom and “verifiable facts”.   The comments follow hours after Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka distanced herself from her father’s attacks. ...

Flooding in Myanmar has killed 12 people and forced more than 132,000 others to take shelter at nearly 300 temporary camps, a report said Wednesday. The state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar cited the National Natural Disaster Management Committee as saying the highest death toll was in Bago region north of Yangon, where four people died and more than ...