Rains kill at least 53 people in Pakistan
At least 53 people were killed and 60 injured after heavy rain across northwest Pakistan caused landslides and the roofs of dozens of homes to collapse, officials said.
The deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during a downpour that began last night, a provincial disaster management agency spokesman said.
The number known to have died rose to 45 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a provincial disaster management agency spokesman said, adding they were still waiting for reports from a few more remote areas.
Nurses set for industrial action in Limerick hospital
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in St Camillus Hospital, Limerick, will commence a work to rule tomorrow morning at 8am.
The industrial action comes seven months on from notification by nurses to senior HSE managers that the clinical care of patients at the hospital is compromised due to ongoing unfilled nursing positions, according to an INMO statement.
Currently there are approximately 15 vacant nursing posts at the hospital.
Maldives police arrest 16 journalists
Maldives police arrested 16 journalists today while breaking up a demonstration against an alleged crackdown on freedom of speech in the politically troubled nation, private media outlets reported.
Police used pepper spray on reporters who were staging a sit-in protest outside President Abdulla Yameen's office in the capital Male, according to several outlets.
The protest was aimed at forcing the government to withdraw its draft criminal defamation bill, which protesters fear will be used against private media as well as political opponents of the government.
Demonstrators were also attempting to pressure authorities to investigate the whereabouts of a reporter who disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and were denouncing a court decision to temporarily close a newspaper over an ownership dispute.
Azerbaijan announces 'unilateral' ceasefire in Karabakh
Azerbaijan announced a unilateral ceasefire today following fierce clashes with Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, but threatened to strike back if its forces came under attack.
"Azerbaijan, showing good will, has decided to unilaterally cease hostilities," Azerbaijan's defense ministry said in a statement, warning that it would "liberate all (Armenian-) occupied territories" if Armenian forces "do not stop provocations".
But the spokesman of the Armenia-backed separatist presidency in Karabakh, David Babayan, said that fighting has never been halted along the frontline.
"Fierce fighting is under way on southeastern and northeastern sectors of the Karabakh frontline," he said.
