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Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
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Israel, Hamas skirmish throughout Gaza as talk of truce resurfaces

Israeli troops and Palestinian freedom fighters clashed throughout the Gaza Strip over the weekend, both sides said on Sunday, as mediating countries sought common ground for a possible ceasefire that would release hostages held by Hamas. Almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war with Israel in which the settler-colonial state has levelled entire towns and brutally bombed Palestinian civilians. Prospects for securing any truce looked uncertain, however, with Israel saying it was, in parallel, planning to expand its sweep to destroy Hamas, while the resistance faction stood firm on its demand for a permanent end to the nearly five-month-old war. Residents said Israeli forces shelled several areas of the enclave as tanks rolled into Beit Lahiya and soldiers and gunmen waged running battles in the Zeitoun sector of Gaza City - both in the north, which had been conquered early in the offensive. At least 86 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes since Saturday, medics said. Israel's military said two soldiers died in fighting in southern Gaza and that its forces had killed or captured several Palestinian gunmen in Zeitoun and elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his war cabinet for a briefing late on Saturday by intelligence chiefs who returned from a meeting with Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators in Paris about a possible second Gaza ceasefire. Truce talks The first pause in fighting, in November, saw the release of around half of the 253 people Hamas captured. In that deal, Israel freed three times the number of Palestinians from its security prisons and admitted more humanitarian aid to Gaza. Read Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza's Rafah, killing large family in home Israeli media, citing unnamed officials, carried reports of a framework for the return of around a third of the 130 captives still in Gaza over a six-week truce covering the Muslim holy month of Ramazan. There was no formal confirmation from either side. Palestinian officials said Hamas was insisting on Israel calling off the offensive and withdrawing forces under any deal. Israel signalled intent to move into one of the last towns where Hamas has intact forces. "We are working to achieve another framework for the release of our abductees, as well as the completion of the elimination of the Hamas battalions in Rafah," Netanyahu said on Facebook, referring to the town in the far south of Gaza near the border with Egypt. This week, he added, the Israeli security cabinet would approve military plans for Rafah - including the evacuation of more than a million displaced Palestinian civilians who have been sheltering there, and whose fate worries world powers.  

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

The private jet parking lots at airports near the Indian city of Ayodhya are full and the shops have run out of gold-plated idols, as wealthy devotees prepare for the invite-only opening ceremony of one of Hinduism's holiest temples. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani are among the 8,000 or so attendees at Monday's inauguration event for the Ram Temple, which devotees believe is built on the birthplace of Lord Ram, a sacred Hindu deity. The construction of the temple, which began after the Supreme Court awarded the site to Hindus in 2019 more than two decades after a Hindu mob razed a mosque there, triggering deadly riots, fulfils a key campaign promise of Modi and his Hindu nationalist party. Read BJP-promised temple transforms Ayodhya: Muslims, locals feel neglected The opening ceremony, organised by the trust that built the temple, comes months before a national election which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to w...
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