US envoy says advance of ISIL presents 'global menace'

US President Barack Obama's envoy charged with building the coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group has said that the growth of the group has global implications and if unchecked its fighters could "wreak havoc on the progress of humanity".
Retired General John Allen told a conference in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Wednesday that the armed group was not merely an Iraqi problem or a Syrian problem but "a regional problem trending towards global implications".
Allen said it was critical that all anti-ISIL forces in Iraq fell under Iraqi government authority and that the task of countering the flow of foreign fighter into the region could not rest with Turkey alone.
Turkey's borders with Syria and Iraq were the "last line of defence", he said.
On Tuesday, speaking to reporters before a meeting of foreign ministers from the international coalition fighting the group, Haider al-Abbadi, Iraq's prime minister, said that his country needs more global support to counter ISIL's advance.
Discussing the situation in Syria, Allen said President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in any long-term solution to Syria's conflict.

Allen said that there was a "very energetic" discussion among a number of countries about how to bring about a political transition in Damascus, but that such a solution would not include Assad, who has been fighting various armed groups since 2011.
ISIL has made several recent gains, conquering both the Iraqi city of Ramadi and the historic Syrian city of Palmyra.
More than 4,100 air strikes by the US-led coalition have failed to stem gains by ISIL fighters.

Source: Agencies

India heatwave kills 800 as capital's roads melt

At least 800 people have died in a major heatwave that has swept across India, melting roads in New Delhi as temperatures neared 50C.
Hospitals were on alert to treat victims of heatstroke and authorities advised people to stay indoors on Tuesday, with no end in sight to the searing conditions.
India's Meteorological Department said it had issued heat warnings to several states where temperatures were forecast to top 45C over the next few days.
"As of now, we don't predict any respite from the extreme heatwave for the next few days," said spokesman BP Yadav.
Hundreds of people, mainly from the poorest sections of society, die at the height of summer every year across the country, while tens of thousands suffer power cuts from an overburdened electricity grid.
Streets were deserted in Hyderabad, capital of the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India, where 551 people have died in the last week, the AFP news agency reported.
"The state government has taken up education programmes through television and other media to tell people not to venture into the outside without a cap, to drink water and other measures," said P Tulsi Rani, special commissioner for disaster management in the state.
"We have also requested NGOs and government organisations to open up drinking water camps so that water will be readily available for all the people in the towns."

The maximum temperature in the capital hit a two-year high of 45.5C on Monday [Getty Images]

Hyderabad street vendor P Gangamma said the heat was making her head pound, but she had no choice but to stay outside.
"For the past three days hot wind has been coming in," said the 65-year-old, who sells cigarettes on a busy intersection.
"I am a diabetes patient, but I have no husband and no sons, so I have to stay here and keep shop."
Meltdown
Large parts of India, including the capital New Delhi, have endured days of sweltering heat, prompting fears of power cuts as energy-guzzling air conditioners work overtime.

People are not coming out and they also don't feel like eating. All they want is to sip cold water all day. Hari Om, street vendor

The Hindustan Times daily said the maximum temperature in the capital hit a two-year high of 45.5C on Monday - five degrees higher than the seasonal average.
The paper carried a frontpage photo of a main road in the city melting in the heat, with the white pedestrian crossing stripes curling and spreading into the black asphalt.
Delhi street food vendor Hari Om said business was slow, with few people venturing out in the furnace-like conditions.
"All the food is getting spoilt even though I prepared it fresh in the morning. It's bad business but what to do," he said.
"People are not coming out and they also don't feel like eating. All they want is to sip cold water all day."
In Telangana state, which borders Andhra Pradesh in the south, 231 people have died in the last week as temperatures hit 48 degrees Celsius over the weekend.
In the western state of Orissa 11 people were confirmed to have died from the heat.
Another 13 people have died in the eastern state of West Bengal, where unions urged drivers in the city of Kolkata to stay off the roads during the day.
India's power industry has long struggled to meet rapidly rising demand in Asia's third largest economy, with poorly maintained transmission lines and overloaded grids.
The Hindustan Times warned that some of the hot, dry conditions could plunge the worst-affected states into drought before monsoon rains arrive.
The monsoon is forecast to hit the southern state of Kerala towards the end of this month before sweeping across the country, but it will be weeks before the rains reach the arid northern plains.

A labourer cools off under a water tap in Amritsar [EPA]

Source: AFP

Heat wave spreads from Pakistan to the Gulf

The highest daytime temperature in the world on Wednesday was recorded at Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, where the temperature climbed to 50.5C at 12pm local time.
The UAE has recently been enduring a heat wave, which started many thousands of kilometres away.
A week ago, while India was suffering an official heat wave, it was hotter still in the middle of Pakistan. In the Indus Valley, temperatures were daily at 48C and 49C.
Nawabshah, north of Hyderabad, registered at least 49C for four days in a row. May 24 saw the highest temperature of Pakistan's heat wave: 49.5C in Nawabshah.
This heat did not just go away, it has been blown gently south, through the Indus delta, over Gwadar, into the Arabian Sea. Indeed, as June came in, Gwadar’s temperature shot up ten degrees to 48C for two days in a row.
This hot air, loaded with dust which is visible by satellite, has now reached Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Temperatures here have risen three to five degrees since the start of June.
On Wednesday, Khasab, Sunayah and Fahud, all in Oman, each measured 49C. This looks like a record-equalling high for Khasab, on the Musandam peninsula. This region is known as Oman’s ‘Norway of Arabia’, with its fjord-like inlets and cliffs overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE’s heat wave also affected Ras al-Khaimah, recording two successive days at 47C, while Sharjah notched up 46C and the city of Dubai 45C.
The heat has been rising in Qatar too with Doha reaching 45.8C, 45.5C and 46.1C in the first three days of this month. A gathering Shamal should reduce the heat on Thursday throughout the Gulf but that will soon ease and temperatures will rise again.

Source: Al Jazeera