Yesterday Czechs and Slovaks marked 50 years since Soviet tanks crushed the “Prague Spring” democratic reform drive, while protesters used the anniversary to rail against the current Czech government’s ties to the Communist Party.

Firefighters and emergency workers combed yesterday the creek bed downstream from a gorge where sudden heavy rain created a wall of water that swept away tourists on Monday in the southern Italy region of Calabria, killing at least 10 people.

The western German city of Cologne is set to host a stream of video and computer game enthusiasts in the coming days, after the Gamescom industry fair opened yesterday.

Italian actress and sexual abuse campaigner Asia Argento has denied having had a sexual relationship five years ago with an underage teen, calling the allegations part of “a long-standing persecution”.

Microsoft Corporation said that hackers linked to Russia’s government sought to launch cyber-attacks on the US Senate and conservative American think tanks, warning that Moscow is broadening attacks ahead of November’s congressional elections.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday said it would extend financial assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were affected by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway accident.

The country needs more citizens like the late former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, for a better and brighter future, according to President Rodrigo Duterte.

New banknotes stripped of five zeros entered circulation in Venezuela on Monday as part of President Nicolas Maduro’s radical plan to curb hyperinflation, but business leaders branded the move as counterproductive.

Venezuela’s streets were quieter than normal yesterday but many businesses remained open despite an opposition call for a national strike to protest economic measures announced by socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

With mounting censorship and increasing threats to dissent in the country, reports of a shutdown against micro-blogging website Twitter have worried digital rights experts, journalists and activists as well as common users.

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is likely to visit Islamabad in the first week of September for consultations with Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team on issues of mutual interests, diplomatic and official sources said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has defended Navjot Singh Sidhu, a minister for the Indian state of Punjab, calling him an “ambassador of peace”, amid political backlash over his visit to Pakistan.