International from Thursday, August 14th, 2025

At least 34 people died and more than 200 were missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir, officials said on Thursday, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week.

A second volunteer firefighter who suffered severe burns while battling a wildfire in Spain's northern Leon province has died from his injuries, a government official said on Thursday, as several blazes continued across the country.

Boxes of Gaza-bound aid turned back by Israel on Sunday languished atop a truck and flatbed trailer parked metres from its border with Egypt, as exasperated drivers and UN officials criticised delays in sending food and medicine to the enclave.

WhatsApp said Russia was trying to block its services because the social media messaging app owned by Meta Platforms offered people's right to secure communication, and vowed to continue trying to make encrypted services available in Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he had a detailed discussion of possible security guarantees for Ukraine during a "productive meeting" with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Arab League has strongly condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements on the annexation of parts of the territories of sovereign Arab states, in preparation for the establishment of what he called "Greater Israel."