China inducing rainfall to combat severe drought
Chinese authorities are attempting to induce rainfall in parts of central and southwest China amid a severe drought and record-breaking heatwave, BBC reported.
The Yangtze River - Asia's longest waterway - is now at record low levels. In some stretches, there has been less than half the usual rainfall.
Hydropower reservoirs are currently down by as much as half, officials say.
At the same time, a surge in demand for air conditioning has put power companies under extreme pressure.
The two-month-long heatwave is the longest on record in China, the National Climate Centre said.
Provinces around the drought-stricken Yangtze river have turned to cloud seeding operations to combat the lack of rain, with Hubei and a number of other provinces launching rockets carrying chemicals into the sky, according to local media.
But a lack of cloud cover has stalled efforts in some areas seeking to do the same.Meanwhile, temperatures across Sichuan and neighbouring provinces have exceeded 40C (104 F).
As a result, government offices in Sichuan were asked to keep air conditioning levels at no lower than 26C (79 F), according to the Sichuan Daily quoted by Reuters news agency. Workers have also been asked to use staircases rather than lifts where possible.
Millions of residents have also been hit with black outs in the province.
In the city of Dazhou, home to some 5.4 million people, blackouts are lasting up to three hours, local media report, according to BBC.
They say factories in the province have been forced to cut production or halt work as part of emergency measures to redirect power supplies to households.
Algeria forest fires: At least 26 dead, minister says
At least 26 people have been killed and dozens more injured in forest fires that have devastated northern Algeria, BBC reported.
Kamel Beldjoud, the country's interior minister, said 24 died in El Tarf, near the border with Tunisia, as well as a mother and daughter in Setif.
Firefighters, supported by helicopters, were still trying to contain several blazes on Wednesday evening.
Reports say some 350 residents have been evacuated in various provinces.
The civil protection agency said that El Tarf was the worst hit area with 16 fires in progress.
Kabul mosque attack: 'Many casualties feared'
A huge explosion has ripped through a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, police say, BBC reported.
The blast is thought to have occurred during evening prayers, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more, according to the NGO Emergency.
Khalid Zadran, the Taliban's Kabul police spokesman, was quoted by local media as saying there had been an explosion in the city's north-west.
Reports say the Siddiqi mosque's imam was among the dead.
It is unclear who was behind the attack, which comes the week after a prominent pro-Taliban cleric was killed in a suicide bomb blast, also in Kabul. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the earlier attack.
Security forces have arrived at the scene, in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, the spokesman added.Italian NGO Emergency - which operates in Kabul - said three deaths have been recorded so far.
The NGO also tweeted to say it had received 27 people wounded in the blast, including children. "Five children [were] among them, including a seven-year-old," it said, according to BBC.
A Taliban intelligence official told news agency Reuters that as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further.
Witnesses described hearing a powerful explosion which shattered windows in nearby buildings.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the explosion took place at a mosque among worshippers in the Khair Khana area of Kabul.
Intelligence teams were at the blast site and investigations are ongoing, they added.
KMC starts managing waste despite obstructions
The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has today also managed the waste generated in the Kathmandu Valley, amidst a security cordon. The waste had to be managed by deploying police following continued obstruction by the locals of Banchare Danda, the landfill site. Waste remains to be completely managed for two months sometimes due to road repair works and sometimes due to the obstruction by the locals of Sisdol and Banchare Danda. The Valley roads are reeking due to the piles of waste dumped on the roadside and crossroads and this has also started to affect the daily life of the Valley dwellers. Locals of Sisdol and Banchare Danda have been protesting, saying the road repair works have not been carried out on time and demands like making arrangements for health, education and employment to the locals as per the agreement reached with the KMC in the past have not been fulfilled yet. The locals have been vandalizing the trucks carrying waste and creating obstruction in transporting the waste to the landfill site in protest. KMC has however said that the agreement reached with the locals of Sisdol and Banchare Danda is under implementation phase and urged the locals to extend cooperation in the transportation of the waste. It said the waste management had to be carried out by mobilizing the police as the waste had to be removed since it would not be appropriate to keep the waste uncollected for a long time. KMC mayor Balendra Shah said the waste is managed in a sincere and sensitive manner, being conscious that it would not cause problems to anyone. Stating the agreement signed between KMC and the Dhunibesi Municipality and the Kakani rural municipality on June 9 is under implementation, he asserted that the works that have to be immediately carried out are being done through the regular process and budget has been allocated for carrying out works in the same sites in the current fiscal year. KMC has allocated Rs 200 million in the current fiscal year’s budget for carrying out road repair works and other works related to waste management at Sisdol and Banchare Danda area. Waste was carried to the landfill site in 186 trucks on Tuesday taking the help of the police administration. The waste is being transported today also with the assistance of the police. However, the obstruction by locals continues.
