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From Washington, this is VOA news. Hello, I'm Steve Miller.
A Rockport, Texas, official says at least one person has died since Hurricane Harvey, which is now a tropical storm, passed through the town overnight. The body was found after the storm had passed inland. He did not provide identification for the victim but said the death was connected to a house fire. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a Saturday news conference that "dramatic flooding" was still a major concern. "Our biggest concern is the possibility of between 20 and 30 more inches of rain in areas ranging from Corpus Christ over to Houston." The storm has already dumped more than 50 centimeters of rain in some places. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López formally kicked off on Saturday the military exercises that President Nicholás Maduro called for this weekend as a deterrent to any U.S. military intervention. State TV showed snipers and soldiers shooting in the military camp of ??? in Caracas. According to the government, both civilians and military soldiers would participate in the exercises that take place during the weekend. Iraqi forces say they have recaptured most of the northwestern Iraqi city of Tal Afar from the Islamic State group. Officials have said they hope to establish a total control the area by Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday which starts on September 2 in Iraq. The offensive on Tal Afar, which lies between Syria and 80 kilometers west of the former Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, began on August 20. For additional information, be sure to follow VOA on social media platforms. This is VOA news. At least 36 people were killed and 269 were injured in violent protests in the northern India area after a court on Friday convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of rape. The director general of police B S Sindhu: "The death of 30 people have been confirmed in Panchkula and six persons have died in Sirsa. The last rites of the deceased in Sirsa have been performed, and in Panchkula 13 people have been identified, out of which seven are from Haryana and six from Punjab. Their postmortem is underway, and by tonight their bodies will be sent to their relatives accompanied by police party." Thousands of the spiritual leader's supporters angered at the court's verdict took to the streets, vandalizing public property and setting vehicles on fire. They also attacked railway stations, fuel pumps and news network vans in towns across Punjab and Haryana. Twenty-four vehicles have been impounded and five pistols, two rifles, an AK-47, iron rods and hockey sticks have also been recovered by police. More than a thousand police, o sorry, thousand people attended a funeral service and procession on Saturday for Philippine teenager slain by police this week that turned into one of the largest protests against President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs. The death of Kian Loyd delos Santos on August 16 has drawn widespread attention to allegations that police have been systematically executing suspected users and dealers - a charge that authorities deny. The boy's father address during their funeral procession made an impassioned plea: "I hope the people who shot my son can hear this. I don't know if they have a heart. There are a lot of churches here, they should go to one. Our policemen who have killed innocents should go to church. They should open their hearts. It's not late to ask for forgiveness." The parents and lawyers for delos Santos filed a murder complaint against three anti-narcotics policemen on Friday, which if accepted, would [allow] follow at least two cases filed last year against police over Duterte's war on drugs. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar are trying to cross the border with Bangladesh as fresh fighting has erupted in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state. Relatives of those killed in an attack on a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during Friday prayers gathered on Saturday to bury the bodies inside the mosque compound. From Washington, I'm Steve Miller. That's the latest world news from VOA. |