India: Monsoon rains are relief from deadly heat wave

Monsoon rains arrived in India’s northeast, bringing hope for relief from a grueling heat wave that has killed nearly 1,400 people nationwide in the past three weeks, meteorologists said Friday.

Most of the deaths have been in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where sunstroke and dehydration have killed at least 1,281 people, State Relief Commissioner D.C. Roshaiah said.

Another 110 deaths have been reported in northern and eastern parts of the country.

Philippines: Official: Islamic rebels diminished but not dead

The U.S.-led war on terror has greatly diminished the regional Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah but it remains capable of attacks, the American military commander for the Pacific said Friday.

Adm. Thomas Fargo said 140 Jemaah Islamiyah members, including key leaders, have been arrested during the past 18 months in Southeast Asia.

The arrests have allowed the United States and its allies to better understand the group, its operational planning and its ability to conduct terrorist acts, Fargo said.

London: Police shoot, kill driver near Heathrow airport

Police near Heathrow Airport shot and killed a man who apparently pointed a gun at the officers, police said Friday.

Reports described an exchange of gunfire, but Scotland Yard said it was unknown if the driver fired a shot.

A police statement said a Heathrow Police officer in a marked police vehicle was routinely observing passing vehicles when he tried to pull over a car to speak with the driver.

The driver of the vehicle failed to comply, police said, “and it is understood he pointed a gun at the police officer,” Scotland Yard said.