Greece
Forest fires rage on either side of Athens
ATHENS — Two major forest fires raged out of control on either side of Greece’s capital Monday, leaving at least three people dead, injuring dozens, burning houses and sending people fleeing to beaches and into the sea, where coast guard boats battled gale-force winds to evacuate them.
The Health Ministry said 56 people had been hospitalized, most of them suffering burns, with 11 in serious condition.
Mexico
Murders rise 16%
in 1st half of 2018
MEXICO CITY — Homicides in Mexico rose by 16 percent in the first half of 2018, as the country again broke its own records for violence.
The Interior Department said over the weekend there were 15,973 homicides in the first six months of the year, compared to 13,751 killings in the same period of 2017.
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The number is the highest since comparable records began being kept in 1997, including the peak of Mexico’s drug war in 2011.
Japan
Record high temps as heat wave grips region
TOKYO — Japan recorded its highest temperature ever Monday as a deadly heat wave continued to grip a wide swath of the country and nearby South and North Korea.
The mercury hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit in Kumagaya, a city in Saitama prefecture about 40 miles northwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. That broke the previous record of 105 in Ekawasaki on the island of Shikoku on Aug. 12, 2013.
Two lingering high pressure systems have trapped warm and humid air above the region, bringing record temperatures for nearly two weeks. More than 40 people have died in Japan.
Venezuela
IMF: Inflation on track to exceed 1 million%
CARACAS — Inflation here could top 1 million percent by year’s end as the country’s crisis deepens, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.
Venezuela’s economic turmoil compares to Germany’s after World War I and Zimbabwe’s at the beginning of the last decade, said Alejandro Werner, head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere department.
The once wealthy oil-producing nation is in the grips of a five-year crisis that leaves many of its people struggling to find food and medicine, while driving masses across the border into neighboring Colombia and Brazil.
Shortages in electricity, water and public transportation plague millions of Venezuelans, who also confront high crime, the IMF noted.
Germany
Anti-nuke protesters break into joint base
BERLIN — The German military said seven protesters were detained Monday after cutting through a fence surrounding an air base believed to hold U.S. nuclear weapons.
Germany’s dpa news agency reported that the intruders were stopped after entering the security zone at Buechel Air Base, in the country’s west. The base is operated by the German Luftwaffe, but the U.S. Air Force’s 702nd Munitions Support Squadron is also stationed there.
Dpa said those arrested were anti-nuclear activists belonging to a variety of Christian denominations.
Sweden
Ship carrying 1,325 vehicles runs aground
HELSINKI — Swedish officials say a Panama-flagged cargo vessel carrying hundreds of vehicles has run aground on the country’s east coast en route to the port of Sodertalje, south of Stockholm, and has reportedly leaked some oil.
The Swedish Coast Guard said the 456-foot Makassar Highway ran aground on an archipelago north of Vastervik about 7:30 a.m. Monday in good weather on the Baltic Sea.
The Aftonbladet tabloid said the vessel was carrying 1,325 vehicles. It had allegedly navigated on a wrong route for several hours before it ran aground. SVT said one crew member was detained on suspicion of being intoxicated on duty.
The Associated Press
