Thailand’s prime minister is warning that rising floodwaters which have wreaked havoc across the nation are now threatening the capital, Bangkok.
Yingluck Shinawatra spoke as the death toll from the worst monsoon rains in decades rose to 253.
She said the flooding – which has severed rail links with the north, shut dozens of roads and swamped ancient Buddhist temples in the city of Ayutthaya – has reached a crisis level.
Bangkok has so far been spared serious damage, but many fear it could be inundated as large amounts of water flows from submerged northern rice fields toward the Gulf of Thailand.
Hundreds evacuated after fireworks blasts
Danish police say they have evacuated several hundred people from their homes as firefighters tackle a warehouse fire that followed a series of violent explosions.
The cause of the explosions is not known, but police spokesman Klaus Arboe says the building hit by the fire appear to contain powerful fireworks.
Arboe could not confirm media reports that at least one person was found dead today.
A 400-yard security perimeter was created around the warehouse in Store Andst, a village near Kolding, 125 miles west of Copenhagen. Danish media said the area around the warehouse was littered with pieces of fireworks.
Jolie-Pitt donation for Somali group
The head of a Somali aid group says that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated £218,000 (€254,000) to help it expand its health services to the displaced mothers and children in Somalia’s war-ravaged capital.
The Horn of Africa nation has been suffering from its worst famine in 60 years, and the United Nations says 750,000 people are at risk of starving to death in the next few months.
The US estimates that the drought and famine have so far killed more than 29,000 children under the age of five in southern Somalia.
Mohamed Dahir of Humanitarian Initiative Just Relief Aid said the donation from the Jolie-Pitt Foundation will allow his group to expand its lifesaving health services that serve 300 women and children each day in Mogadishu’s Badbaado camp for the displaced people.
Film star John Wayne auction raises £3.5m
A two-day auction of more than 700 costumes, scripts, awards and memorabilia from the estate of film star John Wayne brought in £3.5 million (€4.07 million), organisers said yesterday.
Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles said the auction included items such as Wayne’s last driver’s licence, a holster and gun belt from the film El Dorado, and an eye patch from the 1969 film True Grit.
The green wool beret Wayne wore in The Green Berets, went for £115,000 and a cowboy hat worn in Big Jake and The Cowboys fetched £77,000.
The items had been kept by Wayne’s family since his 1979 death from cancer.
A portion of the proceeds will be used by the John Wayne Cancer Foundation to help fund cancer research, treatment and education.
Driver kills jogger
Italian police have arrested the driver of a car believed to have hit and killed an American woman while she was jogging on a Tuscan highway, authorities said.
Pietro Stefanoni remained in custody after nearly 12 hours of questioning on suspicion of manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime. He had turned himself in after police located his car and discovered it had been repaired, police in Arezzo said.
Stefanoni, 56, told authorities he fell asleep at the wheel when it apparently fatally struck 23-year-old Allison Owens of Columbus, Ohio, news reports said.
Spanish bullfighter gored in face
A Spanish bullfighter is recovering from a five-hour operation to repair his face after a terrifying goring in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza, according to a hospital official.
Television images showed the moment when the bull’s left horn ripped into Juan Jose Padilla’s lower jaw to emerge beside his protruding eyeball as spectators screamed in horror.
The hospital spokesman said Mr Padilla had suffered eye, bone, muscle and skin damage when the bull pinned him to the ground and gored him.
TV footage also showed Mr Padilla getting up from the ring, his face gushing blood, as the bull was distracted by bullring assistants.