India power blackout sparks mass riots
LUCKNOW, India -- Thousands of people enraged by power cuts during an extreme heat wave rioted across northern India, setting electricity substations on fire and taking power company officials hostage, officials said Saturday.
The impoverished state of Uttar Pradesh has never had enough power for its 200 million people, and many receive electricity only a few hours a day under normal conditions, while 63 percent of homes have no access to electricity at all.
But recent temperatures that soared to 117 degrees Fahrenheit have caused power demand to spike at 11,000 megawatts, triggering blackouts that shut down fans, city water pumps and air conditioners.
Thousands of people stormed an electricity substation Friday near the state capital of Lucknow, ransacking offices and taking several workers hostage for 18 hours until police intervened Saturday morning, state utility official Narendra Nath Mullick said.
Power was largely restored to most areas by Saturday afternoon, leading dozens of people who were still protesting outside Lucknow's Indira Nagar substation to go home.
London police release Pakistan politician
LONDON -- London police conditionally released one of Pakistan's best-known politicians Saturday but said they still are investigating him on money laundering.
Altaf Hussain, 60, declared his innocence hours after the exiled leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement walked free on police-imposed bail conditions. Police said he must return to their custody next month for renewed questioning.
"I respect British laws and the judicial system. My lawyers are studying my case in accordance with the British laws. Truth will prevail by the grace of Allah," Hussain told supporters in Pakistan in a speech streamed online by his party.
London's Metropolitan Police say they are investigating the source of approximately $675,000 seized last year during searches of London properties linked to Hussain's party, including his own home.
Congo attackers kill at least 34 in town
KINSHASA, Congo -- Armed fighters attacked a town in eastern Congo, massacring at least 34 people including women and children who were at a local church, officials said Saturday.
Provincial Interior Minister Jean Julien Miruho said that the violence in Mutarule late Friday also left at least 27 others wounded.
Miruho said the identity of the assailants was unknown, though he believed the violence stemmed from livestock disputes in the area, about 40 miles from Bukavu.
"We cannot say exactly who these attackers were, but we will put together a commission of inquiry that will go to the site Sunday," Miruho said. "It is clear that this attack was linked to the theft of cattle."
Survivors blamed a rebel group from Burundi known as the FNL for the attack, though the claim couldn't be verified immediately.
Eastern Congo is home to myriad armed groups and militias, many vying for control of the region's vast mineral resources. Many of the rebel groups sowing unrest there originate in other countries in the region, including Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.
Kerry marks D-Day at ancestral home
SAINT-BRIAC-SUR-MER, France -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday commemorated the 70th anniversary of D-Day with a personal touch in the small French seaside town that's home to his family's ancestral estate.
A day after attending international ceremonies to mark the allied invasion of France in Normandy, Kerry traveled to Saint-Briac-sur-Mer in the neighboring province of Brittany, where his mother's family has long owned property.
Three U.S. soldiers were killed during the liberation of the town in August 1944, and Kerry placed a wreath at a monument "To the Americans" that overlooks the harbor.
In later remarks, Kerry paid tribute to the soldiers and to the people of Saint-Briac-sur-Mer. He credited them with saving heirlooms from his family's estate, Les Essarts. The Nazis had turned it into their local headquarters during the occupation and destroyed it as Allied troops approached after D-Day, June 6, 1944.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS
A Section on 06/08/2014