Desperate Venezuelans battled yesterday to rescue loved ones trapped alive beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings after two major earthquakes killed at least 188 people.

Sri Lankan authorities yesterday arrested the son of a former justice minister for allegedly accepting a bribe to secure the release of a suspected drug kingpin extradited from Madagascar.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government has ordered a nationwide ban on civil servants’ smartphone use, a military court order showed, prompting warnings from rights activists that the move could further restrict access to information.

Ukrainian drone strikes killed five people, including two children, in Russia and on the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula, in attacks that also triggered a fire at a major oil depot in the country’s south, local officials said yesterday.

At least 101 million Europeans were expected to experience temperatures of over 35C yesterday, in an increasingly deadly heatwave hotter than weather in parts of Africa.

In Catia La Mar on Venezuela’s coast, residents awoke yesterday to scenes of devastation after twin earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck west of Caracas.

Scenes of panic, collapsing buildings and desperate rescues are the scenes described by Venezuelans caught in magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck the country within seconds of each other.

France’s main energy provider yesterday shut down two nuclear reactors as an environmental protection measure to avoid discharging too much hot water into rivers already warming in a record-breaking heatwave.

Over 970 injured

Dozens of buildings collapsed, says interim President Rodriguez

Mainland France was again the most impacted, where around 63 million people will see temperatures of more than 30C

Rubio, on his first regional tour since the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war, said the US wants a peace deal but not "at any price"

A heatwave that has gripped much of Europe and seen temperature records tumble is linkable with 212 deaths in Spain between Sunday and Wednesday, estimations from a public institute showed

France will begin lifting its red alerts from Thursday evening, forecaster Meteo France said

Europe has endured extreme heat this week, with record-breaking temperatures in France, Britain and Spain and other countries issuing high-level heat alerts

Venezuela has been struck by two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5

US said it was in touch with Venezuelan authorities following strong earthquakes and was mobilizing assistance for the South American nation

Initial USGS estimate showed strong chance of death toll topping 10,000

Schools forced to temporarily close

20 aftershocks had followed the earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, which struck the same area of Venezuela