United States: The US National Weather Service has confirmed two tornadoes touched down in eastern Oklahoma and is chasing reports of multiple other tornadoes as part of severe thunderstorms. Meteorologists said a tornado with peak winds of 185 to 200 km/h caused severe damage in northwestern Sequoyah County. Multiple homes, boats and power lines were destroyed. The tornado travelled at least 40km northeast, though investigators are still determining its end location. Another smaller tornado developed earlier near Webbers Falls which uprooted trees and damaged irrigation systems and barns. That tornado travelled about 11km just past the town of Gore. Up to three other tornadoes are being investigated in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. No injuries have been reported. Severe thunderstorms also raked Illinois and Missouri yesterday. One person was killed in Missouri.
India: Police say a fire in a 18-storey building in Mumbai has left a 70-year-old woman dead and another 19 people hospitalised. The police control room said nearly 100 people were evacuated from the building as the fire from an electrical duct on the third floor spread upward. The Press Trust of India news agency said 77 people who inhaled smoke were treated at a hospital and allowed to go home.
Mexico: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador used his first full day in office to double down on promises to deploy the military for public security, tackling a key concern: stemming rampant violence and rising murders. Speaking at a military installation in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador said the retooling of the military is "indispensable" to tackle the daunting task of making Mexico safer. The plan requires a constitutional reform that would allow the marines and Army to form a National Guard to police much of the country. Mexico's Supreme Court last month struck down a controversial law signed last year that created a similar legal framework, ruling that the measure was an unconstitutional attempt to normalise the use of the armed forces in public safety.
Denmark: Foreign criminals sentenced to deportation are to be banished to a remote island off the coast of Denmark, the country's Government has announced. Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said the criminals will be detained at a facility on Lindholm, an uninhabited 7ha island in the province of Vordingborg. The tough scheme was set up as part of an agreement between Denmark's conservative coalition government and its anti-immigration ally, the Danish People's Party. The DF's official Twitter account celebrated the announcement by publishing an animated cartoon which shows a dark-skinned man being dumped by a ship on a desert island. The Lindholm facility will house rejected asylum seekers who have been convicted of crimes, as well as foreign citizens who do not have permission to stay but cannot be deported for legal reasons.
Egypt: An Egyptian actress is to face trial for appearing at a film festival wearing a revealing dress. Rania Youssef was charged with inciting "immorality and promoting vice", after a group of lawyers made a complaint to the country's chief prosecutor. The 44-year-old appeared at Cairo Film Festival on Friday wearing a black leotard covered by a see-through overdress with criss-cross detailing and a large bow belt. Three lawyers accused her of committing an obscene act in public, "inciting debauchery and temptation", and "spreading vice in ways that violate established norms in Egyptian society." The pictures of the star, who is known for her role in a number of popular Egyptian TV series, left social media users divided, with some calling her names and other defending her right to wear what she wants.
