A high-profile member of the International Olympic Committee, Patrick Hickey,has temporarily stepped down after being arrested in Brazil by police investigating the illegal sale of tickets for the Rio Games. Mr. Hickey is a member of the IOC executive board, president of the European Olympic Committee and head of the Olympic Council of Ireland. In a statement, Irish officials said he was relinquishing all posts pending the outcome of the investigations.

The organizers of the Rio Games say they are confident that the Paralympics will go ahead as planned next month despite a funding shortfall. The International Paralympic Committee has warned that several countries may not be able to compete because their athletes haven't received the travel grants they were promised.

The Russian security forces has killed 4 men in St. Petersburg during a raid against suspected militants from north Caucasus region.Counter-terrorism officials said the men opened fire when they were ordered to surrender. He said three of those killed were wanted in connection with a series of terrorist attack.

Officials in California say more than 10,000 firefighters are battling 8 large wild fires in the state. They say one of the biggest, which has closed the main road and rail links between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is zero percent contained. One senior fire chief said he'd seen nothing like it in his 40-year career.

Fifty people have been hurt in a train crash in Southern France caused by a fallen tree.Rescue workers said the train had reached 140 km/h when it hit a tree that had been uprooted during a hailstorm. The train was traveling between the cities of Nimes and Montpellier. And about 500 passengers have been rescued from a burning ship off Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. The US coast guard carried out the rescue with the help of local fire and tugboat crews. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

BBC news.