Myanmar landslide death toll rises to 48

Rescue workers search for bodies of victims under the debris and mud on Sunday after a landslide in Mottama, Myanmar’s Mon state. Myanmar troops deployed to flood-hit parts of the country on Sunday to help with relief efforts after the death toll from the deadly landslide jumped to 48. The disaster was the worst in recent memory.SD-Agencies

More than 150 killed by heavy rains in India

Heavy monsoon rains in India caused devastating landslides and floods that have left more than 150 people dead, according to local government reports on Sunday.

The toll stands at 152 people dead and another 17 missing across four states in India, officials said.

More than 165,000 people have been forced out of their homes by the monsoons and have taken refuge in 1,318 relief camps across the southern state of Kerala, where 60 people have died, officials said. Nearly 200 houses in the state were destroyed in rain-related incidents, according to officials.

Epstein dies in the dark, investigation carries on

U.S. multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein died of an apparent suicide in his jail cell, now prompting an additional federal investigation into his death along with one already examining allegations of sexual abuse and conspiracy against him.

Epstein, accused of orchestrating* a sex-trafficking* ring and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, was found on Saturday morning unresponsive* in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Giammattei wins Guatemala’s presidential runoff

Conservative candidate Alejandro Giammattei won Guatemala’s presidential runoff on Sunday with a decisive lead over his rival, according to preliminary results from the Supreme Electoral Court (STE).

With 84 percent of the votes counted, Giammattei, of the Vamos (Let’s Go for a Different Guatemala) party, garnered 59 percent of the ballots, or 1,650,976 votes.

Former first lady Sandra Torres, the candidate of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, trailed with 40 percent of the ballots, or 1,120,909 votes.

Philippines declares dengue epidemic

The Philippines declared a national epidemic on August 6 after an outbreak of dengue fever killed more than 622 people this year.

There have been more than 146,062 cases of dengue recorded between January and June 20, according to the country’s health department. The department said that the number of recorded cases is 98 percent higher than the same period in 2018.

Unlikely to find remains of Chinese scholar: attorney

The family of Zhang Yingying, the slain visiting scholar at the University of Illinois in the United States, said at a news conference on August 7 that they have acknowledged that “finding her (remains) may be impossible.”

In the conference, Steve Beckett, the attorney representing the family, tried to explain to reporters what the family had learned in the wake of the conviction and life sentence for Brendt Christensen, who kidnapped and killed Zhang in 2017.(SD-Agencies)