SEOUL (AP) – North Korea appeared to have conducted artillery firing drills on Sunday, South Korea said, days after the United States deployed sophisticated fighter jets to South Korea for joint training. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected multiple trajectories presumed to be North Korean artillery on Sunday afternoon. South Korea’s presidential office said the suspected launches occurred off the North’s west coast. It said presidential national security director Kim Sung-han reviewed South Korean military readiness and that his office closely monitors possible additional launches by North Korea. This year, North Korea has carried out a large number of weapons tests, including nuclear-capable missiles that place both the U.S. mainland and its allies including South Korea and Japan with striking distance. Some experts say North Korea attempts to perfect its weapons technology and boost its bargaining chip in future negotiations with the United States to win sanctions relief or security guarantees.

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HAVANA (TASS) – Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla described the introduction of new sanctions by Washington as an attempt to discredit the society’s resistance to U.S.’ aggression. “In view of failed attempt to provoke popular uprising in #Cuba in 2021, the U.S. government & its Secretary of State are seeking to discredit people’s victory over imperialist aggression. Their repeated coercive measures violate International Law & UN Charter,” he wrote on Twitter. On Saturday, the U.S. administration introduced visa sanctions against 28 Cuban officials whom Washington accuses of suppressing domestic disturbances last July as well as of restricting access to information. The U.S. Department of State did not list any specific names of those sanctioned. Last July, disturbances broke out in several Cuban towns, and President Miguel Diaz-Canel urged his supporters to take to the streets to prevent provocations against the government. The Cuban authorities held the U.S. responsible for organizing the riots.

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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Two bar shootings, one in a township close to Johannesburg and another in eastern South Africa, left 19 dead, police said on Sunday. In Soweto, 15 people were killed after as they enjoyed a night out, police said, when assailants drew up in a minibus taxi and began randomly firing at bar patrons. In the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg, police reported four people were killed and eight wounded during a shootout in a bar after two men fired discriminately at customers. Police sources said it was too early to say if the assaults were in some way connected but observed their similarity. In Soweto, Johannesburg’s largest township to the southwest of South Africa’s economic capital, police were called to the scene shortly after midnight. “When we arrived at the scene, 12 people were dead with gunshot wounds,” local police officer Nonhlanhla Kubheka told AFP. She added 11 people were taken to hospital. Three died shortly after arrival. There were no details regarding the assailants.

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QUETTA (Reuters) – Intense floods killed dozens of people and left hundreds homeless in Pakistan, officials said on Saturday, as heavy monsoon rains battered the country. In the southern province of Balochistan, 57 people, including women and children, were killed after being swept away in flood waters, according to Ziaullah Langove, the disaster and home affairs adviser to the province’s chief minister, adding that eight dams had burst due to the heavy rains. Hundreds more were left homeless after their homes collapsed in the rain and flooding, he said, adding monsoon rains were continuing. In north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province two people, including a six year-old, died and four were injured when their house collapsed due to rain, according to a district official statement. Heavy rains have lashed the country in recent days, leaving large swathes of Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, inundated with water.

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OUREM (AFP/AP) – Around 15000 firefighters were battling multiple forest fires and several bush fires in central and northern Portugal Sunday following a punishing heatwave, prompting the government to implement a “state of contingency”. The fires have been burning in several areas since Thursday, destroying at least two homes, as nearly 250 fires were reported to have started on Friday and Saturday. The blazes follow an intense heatwave in Portugal, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) this week, and expected to rise in the coming days. Scientists say climate change is linked to more extreme and more frequent weather events, including heatwaves and forest fires. Meanwhile, the largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday as firefighters battled a blaze that threatened the gathering of the iconic trees and forced hundreds of campers to evacuate. The rest of the park in California remained open, though smoke that hung in the air obscured some of the most scenic vistas and views. More than 500 mature sequoias were threatened in the Mariposa Grove but as of Saturday afternoon there were no reports of severe damage to any named trees, including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant. Some of the massive trunks were wrapped in fire-resistant foil for protection as the blaze burned out of control.