Briefly

UNITED STATES

Trump notified he is target in poll probe

Former US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith, stating that he is a target of a grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat. Smith "sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation", Trump wrote on his Truth Social media site. It was one in a series of developments in various criminal investigations into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his election defeat.

Biden and Herzog discuss tensions

US President Joe Biden and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog on Tuesday discussed tensions over a controversial judicial shake-up inside Israel as the House of Representatives passed on the same day a resolution reaffirming its support for Israel. A White House statement after the meeting said the two "discussed the need for a consensus-based approach to the judicial reform package". It came as Israeli demonstrators took to the streets across the country in protest against the judicial overhaul.

INDIA

15 die of electrocution in transformer blast

At least 15 people, including a police official and three home guards personnel, were killed and six others suffered critical injuries Wednesday after an electricity transformer exploded in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, police said. The transformer placed at a project site exploded, electrifying a bridge spanning across the Alaknanda river in Chamoli district, about 266 km east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.

PAKISTAN

11 killed in wall collapse in monsoon rain

Eleven workers were killed early Wednesday after a portion of the outer wall of a sprawling compound collapsed after being weakened by rains near an under-construction bridge on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, police and rescue officials said. The wall fell while the workers sat inside their roadside tents at the site. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed his grief over the deaths.

Agencies - Xinhua