WASHINGTON: A rare red carpet welcome awaits Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Capitol on June 8 when he will address a joint meeting of the US Congress, the first by a foreign leader this year. This includes a rarest of the rare lunch hosted by Speaker Paul Ryan at the Capitol, meeting with the top Congressional leadership and a unique reception thrown in his honor jointly by House and Senate foreign…

New York:  The Earth could contain nearly one trillion species, of which 99.999 percent are yet to be discovered, says a study based on the largest analysis of microbial data. The findings suggest that only one-thousandth of one percent of all the species have been identified till now. "Estimating the number of species on Earth is among the great challenges in biology," said one of…

There were smoke alerts inside the cabin of the EgyptAir passenger plane before it crashed in the Mediterranean on Thursday, reports say. Smoke was detected in the toilet and the aircraft’s electrics, just minutes before the signal was lost, according to data published on air industry website the Aviation Herald. However, there has been no official confirmation of the data. Flight MS804 was…

Temperatures have soared to a scorching 51 degrees Celsius in one Indian city, meteorologists said Friday, with the ferocious heat setting a new national record, reports AFP. Northern Phalodi wilted as the mercury reached a new high, equivalent to 123.8 Fahrenheit, beating a 60-year-old record. “Yesterday (Thursday) was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country... 51 degrees in Phalodi,”…

Major Western nations are protesting a move to block gay and transgender groups from attending a high-level United Nations conference on AIDS.   A letter from Egypt on behalf of 51 countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation asked that 11 organizations not be allowed to attend the conference next month. The letter, dated April 26 and obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, gives…

Wreckage of EgyptAir flight MS804 has been found south of the Greek island of Karpathos, Egyptian aviation officials confirmed.   The Airbus A320 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew when it went down overnight.   Egyptian Vice-President Ahmed Adel told CNN the rescue operation was "turning into a search and recovery".   Officials say the plane is more…

Colombo, Sri Lanka: A massive landslide triggered by torrential rains buried homes in three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and more than 200 families were missing Wednesday and feared buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said.   Sixteen bodies have already been recovered and about 180 people have been rescued from the enormous piles of mud unleashed at around…

SYDNEY: A two-hour flight from Sydney to London is a step closer to reality after the latest successful test today of hypersonic technology in the Australian desert.   A joint US-Australian military research team is running a series of 10 trials at the world's largest land testing range, Woomera in South Australia, and at Norway's Andoya Rocket Range.   "It is a game-changing…

At least 20 people were killed in flash floods that hit the northern Afghan province of Sari Pul, an official said on Wednesday.   The floods hit the district of Kohistanat in the remote south of Sari Pul in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said Zabihullah Amani, the spokesman for the provincial governor.   He said the floodwaters swept away and destroyed several houses. Around 22 people…

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake has struck Ecuador, the US Geological Survey reports. The country has been recently hit by a series of devastating quakes that killed dozens of people. The quake took place 34km from the town of Rosa Zarate and 36km from the town of Muisne, which already suffered from previous tremors. According to the USGS, the quake was at a depth of 10km.

Temperatures could nudge 45 to 47 degrees Celsius in large swathes of north and northwest India for the rest of the week, the weather office has forecast, before conditions ease slightly with the onset of monsoon down south.   The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued “heat wave to severe heat wave” warnings for parts of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh…

Nearly one in five suicide bombers used by Islamist terror group Boko Haram is a child with more than half of them being girls, according to a UN report.   The number of children used by Boko Haram as suicide bombers has risen tenfold in one year and more than 75% of them are girls, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).   It said 44 children were involved…

Donald Trump, who defeated 16 top political leaders of his party to become the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he is fighting for survival.   “I mean, I view myself as a person that, like everybody else, is fighting for survival. That’s all I view myself as,” Trump told the Fox News.   “I really view myself now as somewhat of a messenger,”…