Briefly

RUSSIA

8 feared dead after helicopter crashes

A helicopter carrying tourists plunged into a deep volcanic crater lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East on Thursday, leaving eight people feared dead, officials said. Eight others reportedly survived. The Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Kronotsky nature reserve, and the regional administration said 40 rescuers and divers were dispatched to search for survivors in Kurile Lake, which was formed in a volcano caldera and crater. Russia's Emergencies Ministry said 13 tourists and three crew members were aboard the helicopter.

ITALY

Sicily notches record temperature of 48.8 C

Italy baked in sweltering temperatures that continued to drive deadly wildfires on Wednesday, with Spain and Portugal bracing for the arrival of a dangerous heat wave that has grilled southeastern Europe and is starting to push west toward the Iberian peninsula. A heat wave fed by hot air from North Africa has engulfed large parts of the Mediterranean region in recent days. Sicily recorded on Wednesday what may be a European temperature record－48.8 C at the island's Syracuse station－though weather experts cautioned that the measurement still must be confirmed. The highest temperature ever recorded on the European continent was 48 C in 1977 in Athens.

JAPAN

Oil leaking after ship splits in two

A Panamanian-registered ship ran aground in a harbor in northern Japan, then split in two and was leaking oil, but there were no injuries among the 21 crew members and the oil leak was being controlled with no signs it had reached shore, the Japan Coast Guard said. The 39,910-ton vessel, the Crimson Polaris, was carrying wood chips when it ran aground on Wednesday morning in Hachinohe harbor. The vessel, which was at the end of a voyage from Thailand, split in two early on Thursday, the Coast Guard said. An oil slick 5.1-kilometer long by about 1-km wide was visible later in the day, but containment measures were being taken by patrol boats.

INDIA

Boeing 737 Max set to fly again 'within days'

India is set to allow Boeing's 737 Max jets to resume flights in the country within days, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The country has been satisfied with the plane's performance since it was ungrounded in the United States, Europe and a number of other nations, and Boeing has met India's own requirements, which included setting up a Max simulator there, according to the report. Boeing delivered 28 planes in July, including nine 737 Max jets sent to Irish airline Ryanair. That fell short of Airbus, its European rival, which delivered 47 planes last month.

Agencies - Xinhua