DEADLY CAR BOMB STRIKES BANK IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN

At least 29 people were killed Thursday when a powerful car bomb struck a bank in Afghanistan's Lashkar Gah city as people were queueing to withdraw salaries, the latest bloody attack during the holy month of Ramadan. Sixty wounded people were rushed to hospital after the bombing at New Kabul Bank, which upturned vehicles, left the area littered with charred debris, and sent a plume of smoke into the sky. 

LONDON'S GRENFELL FIRE TRAGEDY RAISES FEARS OVER OTHER BUILDINGS

Some 600 buildings in England could have been fitted with flammable external panels like the ones believed to have contributed to the fire that killed at least 79 people in a London tower block. Government facilities testing cladding have so far found three tower blocks to have combustible panels. The testing came after local authorities submitted samples following the June 14 fire at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington.

SAUDI KING DEFIES ROYAL SUCCESSION TO APPOINT SON AS HEIR

Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday appointed his son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince, placing him first-in-line to the throne and removing the country's counterterrorism czar from the royal line of succession. In a series of royal decrees carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the monarch stripped Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who had been positioned to inherit the throne, from his title as crown prince.

BELGIUM IDENTIFIES 'TERRORIST' STATION BOMBER

Belgian security forces have identified a man who set off an explosion at a Brussels train station before he was shot and killed, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Wednesday. "The terrorist's identity is known. We have been able to identify him," Jambon told RTBF television without giving further details. Police had earlier described the assailant as quite dark and with short hair and said he was wearing a white shirt and black jeans.

OTTO WARMBIER DIES LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER BEING FREED BY NORTH KOREA

Otto Warmbier, the US student released in a coma last week after nearly 18 months in detention in North Korea, died on Monday, leading President Donald Trump to decry the "brutal regime" in Pyongyang. The 22-year-old was medically evacuated to the United States on Tuesday last week, suffering from severe brain damage. He died six days later surrounded by relatives in his home town of Cincinnati, Ohio.