More than 1,000 die in India’s heat wave

More than 1,000 die in India’s heat wave

MUMBAI, INDIA

A relentless heat wave has claimed more than 1,000 lives in southern India in recent weeks, officials said Tuesday, warning that the scorching weather would continue for several more days.

Temperatures of at least 113 degrees also were recorded in the northern capital, New Delhi, prompting meteorological officials to issue red alerts for dehydration and heat stroke in three states.

May is typically one of the hottest months of the year in India, but the India Meteorological Department said this was the severest stretch recorded in a decade.

Israeli fighter jets strike after rocket

GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP

Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early today just hours after a rocket was fired at southern Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said.

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the airstrikes targeted “four terror infrastructures” in the southern Gaza Strip.

The airstrikes were in response to an attack Tuesday night in which a rocket was launched at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, Lerner said. The rocket hit an open area in the Lakhish regional council, and no injuries were reported, he said.

Radio station blasted after rabbit’s death

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

A Danish radio station has faced a storm of angry protests after two of its hosts claimed they clubbed a young rabbit to death on air with a bicycle pump.

Co-host Kristoffer Eriksen from public broadcaster Radio24syv said the Monday-morning show stunt was aimed at initiating a debate about “the vast hypocrisy surrounding our relationship with animals.”

The other host of the show, Asger Juhl, said on air that the rabbit twitched several times before quietly dying, describing the experience as “totally weird.”

In a video posted by the radio channel on its Facebook page, Juhl is seen picking up a smooth, grey-haired rabbit from a box next to the microphone table, caressing it and saying he’s about to kill it. The video did not show the killing.

Amtrak will install cameras in train cabs

WASHINGTON

Amtrak said Tuesday it will install video cameras inside locomotive cabs to record the actions of train engineers, a move that follows a deadly derailment earlier this month in which investigators are searching for clues to the train engineer’s actions before the crash.

The Amtrak engineer, Brandon Bostian, suffered a head injury in the accident in Philadelphia and has told investigators he can’t remember what happened. Northeast Regional train 188 accelerated to a speed of 106 miles per hour in the last minute before entering a curve where it derailed. The speed limit for the curve is 50 mph. The crash left eight people dead and about 200 injured.

Black widow spider hides, bites woman

COLCHESTER, Vt.

A Vermont woman has been bitten by a black widow spider her family says was hiding in a bag of grapes.

WCAX-TV reported that the 21-year-old Colchester resident spent a night at a hospital after being treated for the bite. She was released Saturday. Her health will be monitored for months.

Black widow bites can cause muscle aches and nausea and make breathing difficult but usually aren’t lethal.

The woman’s mother says she reached into a bag of grapes and the spider crawled up her arm and bit her. She says they caught the spider and took it to the hospital with them.

Combined dispatches