1. Dozens killed in Hiroshima landslide

    Rain-sodden* slopes collapsed in torrents of mud, rock and debris on August 19 in the outskirts of Hiroshima*, killing at least 36 people and leaving seven missing, police said.

    Public broadcaster NHK showed rescue workers suspended by ropes from police helicopters pulling victims from the rubble. Others climbed into windows as they searched for survivors in crushed homes.

    2. Indian doctors baffled by swollen fingers

    An 8-year-old Indian boy has left doctors baffled* after his hands swelled to giant proportions and now weigh more than 12 kg.

    Young Kaleem, from India, is unable to carry out simple tasks, including tying his own shoe laces, after he was born with hands twice the size of an average baby.

    Dr. Ratan, the director of a local hospital, said that apart from the unsightly growths, Kaleem is in good health. But as his hands continue to grow it may put increased pressure on his cardiovascular system*, potentially shortening his life.

    3. Thai junta leader appointed PM

    Thailand’s coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was appointed prime minister on August 21.

    The army seized power on May 22 in a bloodless coup following six months of sometimes deadly street protests that contributed to the ousting of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

    Although Prayuth’s appointment paves the way for an interim government to be set up in the coming weeks, power will remain firmly in the junta’s hands. The general has said he plans to press ahead with a year of political reforms before a new election that he said will take place by late next year.

    4. ‘Ebola outbreak underestimated’

    The worst-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus is taking a heavy toll on* West Africa’s economy as crops rot in the fields, mines are abandoned and goods cannot get to market.

    The epidemic has ravaged the region since it erupted in the forests in the south of Guinea earlier this year, killing 1,427 people and infecting thousands more.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted on August 22 that it probably isn’t capturing the full scope of the outbreak.

    5. French govt. dissolved

    French President Francois Hollande dissolved the government on Monday after an open feud in his Cabinet over the country’s stagnant* economy.

    Prime Minister Manuel Valls offered up his Socialist government’s resignation after accusing the economy minister of crossing a line with his blunt criticism of the government’s policies.

    Hollande accepted the resignation and ordered Valls to form a new government.

    France has had effectively no economic growth this year, and Hollande’s approval ratings are in the teens.

    6. Ex-rapper suspected of Foley’s beheading

    Britain is close to identifying a man, thought to be British, who was shown beheading U.S. journalist James Foley in a video released by the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria militant group last week, its ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, told CNN on Sunday.

    “We are very close to identifying who this guy is,” Westmacott told CNN’s State of the Union program.

    According to British media reports, British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 believe the hooded man with an English accent to be 24-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, known to fellow IS militants as Jihadi John.

    The former rapper left his family home in the affluent west London suburb of Maida Vale last year to fight in the civil war in Syria.

    (SD-Agencies)