DHAKA, Jun 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – Accompanied by high humidity levels, energy-starved Bangladesh has been experiencing brutal heatwaves since the country’s independence in 1971.

Officials at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said, heatwaves swept for 24 days in Apr and 22 days in May this year.

Also, they said, both Apr and May witnessed very low rainfall this year, compared to the average rainfall during the same period over the last 30 years.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Ministers from Germany and France tasked with regulating migration are joining forces to try to curb deaths on dangerous routes across the Mediterranean Sea, traveling Sunday for talks with the president and their counterpart in Tunisia, a major North African stepping stone for migrants trying to reach Europe at risk of their lives.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — All 120 passengers and crew members aboard a Philippine ferry that caught fire at sea on Sunday were rescued safely and the fire was extinguished, the coast guard said.

The M/V Esperanza Star caught fire at dawn while traveling from Siquijor province to Bohol province in the central Philippines with 65 passengers and 55 crewmembers, the coast guard said. It added that it deployed two vessels for rescue and to help put out the flames, which raged for more than five hours.

June 18 (Reuters) - The death toll from flooding following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has risen to 16 in Ukraine, Kyiv officials said, while Russian officials said 29 people have died in territories that Moscow controls.

The breaching of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 unleashed floodwaters across a large swath of land in southern Ukraine and in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine, destroying farmland and cutting off supplies to civilians.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 18 (APP):  The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called on everyone to work together to build a more respectful and civil world, and for effective action to end hate speech.

COLOMBO, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe on Sunday cautioned against premature speculation regarding domestic debt optimization, emphasizing that a strategy for optimization has not yet been finalized.

Speaking to media in Colombo, Semasinghe stressed the government's commitment to ensuring the stability of the banking and financial sector.

He urged responsible and diligent discussions on the matter, as premature speculations could potentially undermine market confidence.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian voters cast ballots on a new draft constitution Sunday in a referendum that the country’s coup leader says will pave the way toward holding new elections in 2024, but that critics have called a delaying tactic for him to extend his time in power.

In a message broadcast on state television on the eve of the vote, Col. Assimi Goita told Malians that the proposed draft constitution “provides for a better-organized executive power, while maintaining the necessary balance with the legislative power.”

CAIRO, Jun 18 (NNN-MENA) – A supply ship loaded with hundreds of tonnes of relief aid from Egypt, had arrived in conflict-torn Sudan, the Egyptian military announced, yesterday.

The military spokesman, Gharib Abdel-Hafez, said in a statement that, the Egyptian navy ship had arrived at Port Sudan and unloaded hundreds of tonnes of foodstuffs, medical supplies and other aid material.

The supplies, sponsored by the Egyptian ministries of defence and social solidarity, as well as, some local associations, would be sent to most needy areas in Sudan, the spokesman said.

ZURICH, June 18 (Reuters) - Voters in Switzerland on Sunday approved the introduction of a global minimum tax on businesses and a climate law that aims to cut fossil fuel use and reach zero emissions by 2050, public broadcaster SRF reported.

The results showed almost 80% of those who voted in Sunday's national referendum backed raising the country's business tax to the 15% global minimum rate from the current average minimum of 11%, an unusually strong endorsement.

BEIJING, June 18 (APP): The first batch of classic works under the MoU on mutual translation and publication of classics between China and Pakistan was released at the 2023 Beijing International Book Fair held in Beijing.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Translation and Publication of Classic Works signed by both countries, the first batch of 10 classic works includes “I Can Still Live Like the Wind: An Anthology of Pakistani Women’s Writing, “Zeenat” and so on, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas in the early stages of its counteroffensive, British officials said Sunday.

Russian losses are probably at their highest level since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March, U.K. military officials said in their regular assessment.

TEHRAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Uzbekistan on Sunday signed 10 cooperation agreements and one joint statement in Iran's capital Tehran, according to the website of the Iranian president's office.

The agreements, including cooperation in transportation, pharmaceutical production, insurance, trade, technology, and agriculture, were signed by the two countries' high-ranking officials in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his visiting Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev.