AP, Lucknow
A powerful dust and rain storm demolished homes and downed power lines in northern India, killing at least 14 people, an official said Thursday, a week after another unseasonable storm caused deaths and destruction in the same region.
The storm with winds blowing up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour swept western parts of Uttar Pradesh state on Wednesday night, toppling trees and demolishing dozens of mud and brick homes, said Avanish Awasthi, a state government official.
Russia vows to deepen ties with Iran
Reuters, Moscow
Russia is firmly committed to continuing to deepen ties with Iran despite a U.S. decision to quit an international nuclear deal and impose new sanctions on Tehran, Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States was withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and was preparing new sanctions on Iran to ensure it did not develop nuclear weapons.
Thousands protest anew in Nicaragua
AFP, Managua
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to Nicaragua’s streets Wednesday, rallied by students demanding justice, democracy and the departure of President Daniel Ortega.
Throngs of young people, who have rallied on and off in weeks of demonstrations, chanted “They were students; they weren’t criminals”-referring to people killed in the unrest that exploded on April 18.
24 killed by Kenyan dam burst
Reuters, Nairobi
Floodwater from a flower-farm dam that burst after days of torrential rain in Kenya’s Rift Valley killed at least 24 people as it swept through 450 homes, the local governor said on Thursday.
Nakuru county governor Lee Kinyanjui told Reuters as many as 2,000 people had been affected by the rupturing of the dam on Wednesday night. Engineers had been sent to carry out safety checks on three other nearby reservoirs.
