TBILISI, Aug 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least six people have been killed by a landslide in the western Georgian region of Racha, the interior ministry said on Friday.

“So far, six bodies have been found during the search and rescue operation,” the ministry said in a post on social media.

It said in an earlier post that rescue efforts were underway and that 140 people had been evacuated. Two helicopters and rescue dogs were involved in the search efforts.

The landslide took place in Shovi, a small resort area in Georgia’s mountainous northwest.

03 August 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's long-standing anti-imperialist stance and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's famous motto "The world is bigger than five," has been a factor in the rising anti-colonialist sentiment in West Africa, an expert said, Anadolu Agency reports.

BEIJING (AP) — Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream on Friday, prompting the evacuation of thousands, although the country appears to have averted the worst effects of the typhoon season battering parts of east Asia.

Hebei province, which surrounds the capital Beijing on three sides, issued alerts for several of its cities. The province of Heilongjiang to the north was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges.

COPENHAGEN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Denmark is tightening border controls to boost domestic security and prevent unwanted individuals from entering the country after recent Koran burnings, the government said, following a similar decision by Sweden this week.

Authorities fear revenge attacks after anti-Islam activists in Denmark and Sweden burned and damaged several copies of the Muslim holy book in recent months, inciting outrage in the Muslim world and demands that governments ban such acts.

04 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia jailed an Egyptian psychiatrist on charges of terrorism last year in an "unfair trial" due to a salary dispute that he won in the kingdom, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed.

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Russia has doubled its 2023 defence spending target to more than $100 billion - a third of all public expenditure - a government document reviewed by Reuters showed, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow's finances.

The figures shed light on Russia's spending on the conflict at a time when sector-specific budget expenditure data is no longer published.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian sea drones attacked a major Russian port Friday, damaging a naval ship, according to a Ukrainian official, as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war. Moscow claimed it repelled the attack.

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. soldiers in South Korea had been caught smuggling drugs through military mail and distributing them here, local broadcaster MBC has reported.

The police in Pyeongtaek, about 70 km south of the capital Seoul, apprehended a South Korean woman in her 20s on charges of distributing synthetic cannabis in April after receiving intelligence from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

The investigation continued against a U.S. serviceman who had been dating the arrested South Korean woman.

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law imposing a 10% tax on excess profits for large companies. The document was published on the official website of legal information.

The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2024, and the tax must be paid by January 28, 2024. It will be allocated to the federal budget and will be one-time. The tax is expected to generate 300 bln rubles ($3.12 bln) in revenue.

04 August 2023; MEMO: Archbishop Atallah Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, has slammed events in the Ain Al-Hilweh camp in Lebanon as "shameful."

"The use of weapons in the camps between brothers is a very serious issue," he said in reference to fatal shootings that recently took place in the camp.

He expressed hope that steps being taken to end this "strife" and "thwart the satanic scheme that aims to harm our camp" and undermine the Palestinians' right of return are successful.

04 August 2023; MEMO: An Iranian-born woman has burnt a copy of the Quran in the Swedish capital Stockholm under police protection.

The woman, Bayrami Marjan, 47, set fire to the Quran at the Angbybadet beach in Bromma on the shore of Lake Malaren.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The gunman who stormed a synagogue in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and killed 11 worshippers will be sentenced to death for perpetrating the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, a jury decided Wednesday.