AP, Mexico City
Mountain communities in two Mexican states are recovering from weekend mudslides that killed 39 people during heavy rains brought by remnants of Hurricane Earl.
On the other side of Mexico, authorities prepared as newly formed Tropical Storm Javier churned over the Pacific toward the resort-dotted southern end of the Baja California Peninsula. Forecasters said it would close in on that area early Tuesday as a hurricane.
Hundreds join key battle for Aleppo
AFP, Beirut
Regime and rebel forces have sent in hundreds of fighters and extra military equipment to join the crucial battle for Syria’s second city Aleppo, a monitoring group said Monday.
Fighting is intensifying as both sides prepare for what Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said would be a decisive battle for the northern city.
Macedonia storms kill at least 20
AFP, Skopje
Fierce storms packing strong winds and torrential rains overnight killed at least 20 people in Macedonia’s capital of Skopje, the health minister said today.
The freak weather included winds blowing at more than 70 kilometres (43 miles) an hour and resulted in flash floods and landslides, with cars swept away by the violent torrents. Weather officials said the average rainfall for the whole of August fell on Skopje in the space of just two hours.
Pregnant woman burnt alive in Pakistan
PTI, Lahore
In a horrific incident, a 23-year-old pregnant woman was burnt alive by her former fiance in this Pakistan city after she married his younger brother.
Sidra was previously engaged to Waris Ali, but when he left for Saudi Arabia last year for work her family married her off to his younger brother Waqas, police said.
