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A traditional fast food shop worker conducts 'Uchimizu', the splashing of water onto the hot street in summer which is an old Japanese tradition meant to cool down the air as the water evaporates, along
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Police personnel use water cannons to disperse demonstrators during a protest march in Patna Wednesday demanding the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged NEET exam irregularities. (AFP) Crowds of supporters of India's online "cockroach" movement grew Wednesday at a New Delhi protest site, while their demands for accountability and reform following examination scandals echoed in rallies across the country.The protests, led by the social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since his re-election in 2024.The campaign also got a boost Wednesday inside parliament from opposition lawmakers including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party who demanded the government apologise for a police crackdown on a major rally on Monday.Protesters demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have refused to leave the Jantar Mantar site in the heart of the Indian capital, with crowds swelling to several thousand people Wednesday, according to AFP correspondents."The government is ruining our future," said Pooja Kushi, a 19-year-old student who came from the northern state of Haryana with her brother and two friends.The movement has spread beyond the capital, with smaller demonstrations springing up across the country Wednesday including in major cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru.In eastern Patna city, police used tear gas and water cannons at a rally demanding Pradhan's resignation, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.The protesters, most of them young students, got a major boost on Tuesday after opposition parties threw their weight behind the movement, staging a sit-in outside the prime minister's residence.Gandhi, 56, who was briefly detained on Tuesday, appeared in parliament Wednesday dressed in black, demanding accountability from the government.He later told reporters students had his full support, "and we are going to ensure that you are protected and your future is protected".'Keep going'The CJP movement, which has millions of followers on social media, emerged in May initially as a satirical response to Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a court hearing.The movement has broadened its agenda to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what it describes as Modi's increasingly authoritarian style of governance.On Monday, police fired tear gas and baton-charged tens of thousands of demonstrators as they tried to march to parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session, in the capital's largest street rally in five years.As tensions escalated, protesters responded by hurling stones.Rights groups have accused police of using excessive force, with Amnesty International questioning the "legality, necessity, and proportionality" of their actions.At the Jantar Mantar site, where a group of activists has been camping for nearly a month, one protester Wednesday said it was the first time the country's youth had an opportunity to raise their voice."I am scared because on Monday I saw the police beating people and using force, but we have no choice but to keep our movement going," Kavya, a 20-year-old student who gave only his first name, told AFP."If we stop, it will be hard to get the movement going again," he said, adding it was difficult to imagine a future in India."As soon as you raise your voice, you're silenced," he said. "Who wants to stay in this country when you see what's happening here?""The whole system has to change" and political leaders must be "held accountable for their actions", Kavya added.Minister promises 'solutions'The protests follow several exam irregularities, including the leak of India's medical entrance examination paper that forced more than two mn candidates to retake the test.Another dispute involving the online marking of examinations taken by nearly two mn high school students has also fuelled public anger.Pradhan, the education minister facing growing pressure particularly over the medical school examination, said the government remained committed to reform and discussing the issue in parliament."We owe them (students) answers, reforms and accountability," he said in a social media post late Tuesday, in his first public comments since Monday's protests."They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans and responsibility over disruption."At the Jantar Mantar protest site, where police set up yellow barricades, 25-year-old activist Aakash said he will keep going "until a new government is in place"."I want to build a new India... we have the support of all of India." Related Story
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Smoke rises from the wildfire of La Mierla in Condemios de Arriba, Guadalajara, Wednesday. (Reuters) Firefighters battled wildfires in Spain and France Wednesday, with the risk of more blazes very high across much of Spain even as a major fire raging in its central Guadalajara province receded, allowing some residents to return home. In France, where two firefighters died on Tuesday as their truck was engulfed in flames in the southwest region of Gironde, authorities urged people to avoid using barbecues in areas hit by heatwaves, stressing that nine out of 10 wildfires start, accidentally or not, as a result of human activity.Meanwhile, in the Western Balkans, the danger has shifted from heatwaves to hailstorms, with several people injured in North Macedonia and eastern Kosovo. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, while also creating conditions for sudden, destructive storms.The continent has endured three stifling, virtually back-to-back heatwaves so far this year. Intense heat has also been blamed for thousands of excess deaths in the May to June period. The Reuters Climate Monitor, an interactive tool providing real-time data, showed the average high temperature across Western Europe is forecast to be 26.6 degrees Celsius (79.8 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 3 degrees above the normal high for July 22 in the period from 1961 to 1990.SPANISH WILDFIRESpain's worst wildfire so far this year has burned an estimated 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) in the Guadalajara region. It started to stabilise on Tuesday after forcing evacuations in 34 municipalities and confinement orders in 14 others.Castilla-La Mancha's INFOCAM fire service said residents of five villages had been authorised to return, although other restrictions remained in place. Visiting the region Wednesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Spain had already suffered 22 major wildfires this year, with more than 100,000 hectares burned nationwide. "To put that into perspective, that is the annual average that Spain experienced over the past decade," he said, adding that more must be done to prevent fires. "We must raise public awareness, and we must not trivialise the effects of the climate emergency."Spain's weather agency AEMET said the danger of wildfires remained "very high or extreme" across most of mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands and was expected to increase further in the coming days.It urged people to "exercise extreme caution" as the ongoing heatwave combined with dry thunderstorms and Saharan dust.While temperatures will ease slightly in some areas on Thursday, a dry westerly wind is forecast to drive a fresh surge of heat in Mediterranean regions, where highs of 42 to 44C could be recorded in some areas.A marked cooldown is expected from Friday. However, the respite may be brief. Temperatures are forecast to rise again from Sunday, and intense heat could return across much of Spain early next week.FRANCE FIRESIn France, less severe temperatures and lighter winds aided efforts to fight a wildfire that has burned 2,500 hectares in the southeastern Var area, damaged dozens of homes and forced 400 people to flee their homes, local authorities said.At 7am (0500 GMT), helicopters resumed dropping water on the Var wildfire, which is still active."The situation has been very difficult. Some 1,100 firefighters fought all night," Commander William Vogl, a spokesperson for the Var firefighters, said on RMC radio. The fire was not yet contained but winds should be "more favourable" on Wednesday, he said.Prefect Simon Babre said barbecues were banned, and he also asked municipalities to cancel any plans for traditional summer fireworks.Officials said another fire was raging in the Hautes-Alpes, also in southeastern France.HEAT AND STORMSIn Greece, with temperatures forecast to top 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit), authorities have banned outdoor work at peak midday sun. In Cyprus, which is also used to high summer temperatures, working outdoors was banned during afternoon hours on Wednesday.In Skopje, capital of North Macedonia, 11 people were admitted to hospital, three of them with serious injuries, after a storm on Tuesday night felled trees, damaged roofs and caused power outages across the Balkan country, local media reported.Roads were blocked and some towns left without electricity and water.In Kosovo, the Hydrometeorological Institute said more storms were expected Wednesday and warned of possible lightning strikes, damage to the electricity network, power outages, flooding and property damage.Local media showed roofs being blown away, torrential rain and residents covering their cars with blankets on Tuesday to protect them from hail. Related Story
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Smoke rises from a Wildberries warehouse on fire after an attack in Krasnodar, Wednesday. Ukraine has attacked two more warehouses of Russian online retailer Wildberries, its boss said Wednesday, extending a series of drone strikes on a company at the heart of Russia's consumer economy.Tatyana Kim, the co-founder and head of Wildberries, said warehouses had been attacked in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk, both in southern Russia. Social media footage, verified by Reuters, showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the air in Krasnodar. The regional governor said a young woman had been killed and three other people were being treated in hospital. Wildberries, often described as Russia's Amazon, is one of the country's biggest employers. Its shares are not publicly traded, but those of its rival Ozon were down 2.3% Wednesday afternoon, recovering somewhat from earlier lows, on concerns it too could become a target. The attacks on Wildberries' massive warehouses mark a new stage in Ukraine's campaign of deep strikes inside Russia to undermine Moscow's war effort and bring the conflict home to ordinary Russians. Ukraine, whose own cities are under constant attack, says it is hitting companies and infrastructure that support the Russian military. President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday described the latest targets as logistics hubs involved in supplying Russian forces with drone components and other equipment.The Kremlin has denied Wildberries handles military supplies. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's logistics hubs as well as its energy system and power grid.E-COMMERCE LOBBY GROUP SEEKS TAX DEFERRALSA previous strike by Ukrainian drones on Saturday killed eight Wildberries workers, sparked fires and disrupted the company's operations."There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on all of us who are simply doing our jobs," Kim, the company's boss, said in a post on Telegram after the latest attacks. The extent of the damage, and the impact for customers, was not immediately clear. In street interviews in Moscow, several people told Reuters they had not seen any disruption so far to deliveries from Wildberries. One woman said she had switched to ordering from Ozon after hearing of the attacks. One man, who gave his name as Mikhail, said he bought gadgets from Wildberries from time to time and his wife used it nearly every week. "It helps that they offer refunds and payment upon delivery, among other things. That makes things a little less stressful," he said. "It's still worrying, of course, but these are the times we live in. What else can you do? If the warehouses burn down and things happen, then we will just have to accept it." An e-commerce lobby group, AUREK, said it had asked the government to delay tax payments for half a year for businesses that sustained losses from the attacks.Wildberries started as an online shop reselling apparel from European catalogues. It has since expanded its product range and evolved into a marketplace that includes third-party vendors. Wildberries has not commented on the scale of the damage.Online sales across Russia rose 28% in 2025 to 11.5tn roubles ($147bn), according to the Association of Internet Trade Companies. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said sales of goods and services on digital platforms equated to around 8.5% of GDP. Related Story
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio arrive ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines, July 21,
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There is no evidence as yet to suggest that lettuce sourced from Mexico caused a cyclosporiasis outbreak in the US, Mexico’s health minister David Kershenobich said yesterday. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported approximately 100 hospitalisations linked to the parasitic infection, which causes severe diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. The outbreak has been traced to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
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Seven people were killed, including three children, and five others were injured on Monday night when a passenger bus crashed into a barrier and caught fire in Dong Nai, southern Vietnam.Vietnamese media reported today that the bus veered off course and crashed into a guardrail near an intersection in Dong Nai city on the highway.The collision caused a fire at the front entrance of the bus, preventing passengers from exiting, and resulted in the death of seven people and injuries to five others.The cause of the accident is still under investigation.Vietnam recorded 16,816 traffic accidents last year, resulting in 9,502 deaths and 11,142 injuries, according to Vietnam's National Statistics Office. Related Story
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui during a meeting in Moscow on Sunday. (AFP) North Korea reaffirmed its support for Russia's war on Ukraine as the nations' foreign ministers met in Moscow, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday, increasing speculation Kim Jong-un may soon visit the Kremlin.Diplomatically isolated North Korea and Russia have rapidly expanded co-operation since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.Pyongyang has sent troops to Russia's embattled Kursk region and supplied Moscow with weapons systems, in return securing financial assistance, food, energy supplies and military technology, analysts say.Following a Moscow meeting between North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Pyongyang's state media said the nations had "reaffirmed their steadfast political will to accelerate the long-term multi-faceted development of the bilateral relations"."The DPRK side expressed invariable support for all the internal and external policies of the Russian Federation to eliminate the root cause of the Ukrainian dispute and defend its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international justice," state news agency KCNA said.The agency reported that Russia, meanwhile, expressed full support for North Korea's efforts to defend its sovereignty and security."I would like once again to express my gratitude for the support provided to the special military operation we are conducting," Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin on Sunday.Choe laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers by the wall of the Kremlin on her visit, KCNA said Tuesday.Kim Jong-un last travelled to Russia in September 2023, and Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June 2024.Choe's visit to Moscow could have been aimed at discussing a trip to Russia by Kim later this year, according to South Korean media reports."Putin has repeatedly invited Kim to visit Russia since his trip to Pyongyang in 2024," Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, told AFP.Chinese president Xi Jinping made a rare trip to Pyongyang last month, where he and Kim pledged to bolster ties.While Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow, China remains North Korea's largest economic partner, accounting for nearly 98 percent of the country's foreign trade in 2024, according to official figures."After hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping this year, Kim would have a strong incentive to visit Russia as well," Park said."It would showcase North Korea breaking out of diplomatic isolation while highlighting support from both China and Russia, reinforcing the image of a North Korea-China-Russia alignment." Related Story
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Andy Burnham became Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade Monday, pledging to reshape its politics to deliver a new economic model and revive a nation 'fed up' with a revolving door of leaders.In front of dozens of supporters outside his new office and residence at 10 Downing Street, Burnham said politicians had failed to bring the stability needed to raise living standards, something he said he would change, with both immediate measures and a longer-term plan to be drawn up later this year.Speaking without notes, Burnham delivered a domestic-focused speech aimed at offering hope to a nation that has, like many European countries, struggled for years with soaring prices and anaemic economic growth. He did not touch on foreign affairs.And with his first appointment as finance minister, Burnham pressed home his decision to rip up politics as usual. He appointed former defence minister John Healey to the second most powerful position in Britain, promoting a man who resigned under Keir Starmer in protest at the inflexibility of the Treasury.'I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you, and I want to be honest with you, we have not been good enough and we need to be better,' Burnham said, dispensing with the lectern that prime ministers generally use. Burnham pledged to use his premiership as a 'circuit-breaker for Britain', arguing that a new model was needed to rebuild the country, which has been in political turmoil since voting in 2016 to leave the European Union.Just over an hour after his predecessor and Labour colleague Keir Starmer had made his farewell speech to say 'My work is done', the 56-year-old former Greater Manchester mayor entered Downing Street, where he said his team would tackle his first priority: to end rough sleeping.
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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham holds his first Cabinet meeting, in London, Tuesday. (Reuters) Andy Burnham told the inaugural meeting of his cabinet Tuesday that he would lead a "cost-of-living government", after unveiling an energy tax cut on his first full day as prime minister.Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Monday, announced he was cutting value-added tax (VAT) on consumer electricity bills — his first significant policy announcement as UK leader.But a Starmer loyalist, one of several to be culled from ministerial positions by Burnham, questioned how the Labour government would fund the cut, suggesting the new premier's call for party unity may go unheeded.From October 1, electricity bills will be VAT free, saving an average household around £45 ($61) a year, the government said in a statement.In opening remarks to his cabinet in front of media before the private meeting, Burnham told ministers that they must give the public "a sense that help is coming"."We need to be a cost-of-living government, getting that cost of living down, looking at all possible ways of doing that," he added.But he also stressed "we've got to show fiscal discipline" and vowed to always "show how we're going to pay" for policies.The tax cut will cost the government about £850mn ($1.143bn) in the current UK financial year.The government said it would be funded by cancelling Starmer's plan for a digital ID scheme that would have cost the taxpayer £1.8bn.But in a post on X, former minister Darren Jones said the ID programme had been "unfunded"."The government will have to set out how it will pay for its new policies at the budget," he wrote.Burnham, parachuted into No. 10 by Labour MPs after they lost confidence in Starmer, insisted during the cabinet meeting that he would always "show how we're going to pay" for policies.He is currently mulling rent control measures and caps to bus fares.Burnham became Britain's seventh prime minister in just over a decade Monday and signalled a new left-ward direction for the Labour government during his first speech outside No. 10.He pledged to re-industrialise the country, push through greater public control of utilities and build more public housing, vowing to unveil a 10-year-plan later this year.Burnham also intends to decentralise power away from London to other cities and regions.Despite vowing to end factionalism in Labour, one of his first acts as prime minister was to cull most of Starmer's supporters from his new 23-member cabinet.Rachel Reeves was axed as finance minister, replaced by John Healey, while David Lammy left his role as deputy prime minister, as Burnham promoted his own allies and reshuffled the existing pack.Ed Miliband became foreign minister, Wes Streeting — who abandoned plans to run against Burnham for the Labour leadership — was named defence minister, and left-wing figurehead Angela Rayner returned to government.The new cabinet has 12 women, and 11 men, although women have been cut from two of the top posts.ChallengesOn Monday's busy afternoon, Burnham also held calls with numerous foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French leader Emmanuel Macron.Burnham, a long-time critic of Starmer's more centrist approach to governing, only returned to parliament four weeks ago following a nine-year stint as Greater Manchester mayor.Labour MPs hope his down-to-earth persona can stem support for the anti-immigrant Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, before the next general election, due in 2029.But Burnham faces multiple challenges, not least an anaemic economy, high government borrowing costs, a ballooning welfare bill and irregular migrants arriving in small boats.Unpredictable energy prices due to the US-Iran war and volatile relations with Washington under Trump also threaten to buffet his premiership.Burnham, an MP between 2001 and 2017, has little room to manoeuvre amid high public debt and strict financial rules requiring him to balance government spending against tax revenue.His swift appointment as Labour leader, and prime minister by virtue of Labour's huge parliamentary majority, came without him putting forward a clear plan for how he will achieve his aims.Farage has questioned Burnham's mandate and called for a snap election. Related Story
