AP, London
British meteorologists say up to 20,000 lightning strikes hit the U.K. during a powerful overnight thunderstorm, and a London-area airport is reporting flight disruptions after an aircraft refueling system was damaged.
London Stansted Airport said Sunday that a lightning strike had rendered the fueling system “unavailable for a period this morning. Engineers have been on site and have now restored the system, however flights may still be subject to diversion, delay or cancellation.”
Pakistan elections on July 25
AFP, Islamabad
Pakistan will hold general elections on July 25, a presidential spokesman said Saturday, offering the prospect of what would be only the second ever democratic transfer of power in the nuclear-armed country.
“The president has approved July 25 as the date for holding general elections in the country,” a spokesman from Mamnoon Hussain’s office told AFP. The announcement comes as the current government enters its final week in office. It is expected to hand over power to a caretaker administration in the coming days.
Taliban suicide bombing kills 2 Afghan soldiers
AP, Kandahar
An Afghan official says a suicide car bomb attack by the Taliban has killed at least two Afghan soldiers.
Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the governor of the southern Helmand province, says four other soldiers were wounded in Sunday’s attack in the Nad Ali district. He says the large explosion could be heard from far away, and that the toll could rise.
Brazil truckers’ strike enters sixth day
AFP, Rio de Janeiro
A truckers strike that has paralyzed Brazil entered its sixth day Saturday as government troops slowly cleared roads of barricades in a bid to break the impasse. The strike over a hike in diesel prices has caused widespread fuel shortages that have shut down urban transportation systems, crippled industries and sent prices of food and fuel soaring.
