UNITED STATES: Former president Donald Trump bragged from the campaign trail in North Carolina on Saturday that “when I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse.”

Mr Trump confirmed that US policies towards Venezuela were largely aimed at seizing the natural resources of the central American country saying: “We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil.”

PAKISTAN: Heavy rains swept through the north-west of the country on Saturday, causing several houses to collapse. At least 25 people have been killed and 145 injured, authorities said.

Senior rescue officer Khateer Ahmed said heavy rains hit the Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and officials were now working to provide emergency relief.

MEXICO: Mexico’s Defence Department said on Saturday that 16 soldiers will be tried on military charges related to the killing of five men in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo last month.

The department said the 16 soldiers were arrested Thursday and will be held at a military prison in Mexico City while awaiting trial before a military tribunal. The soldiers have been charged with violating “military discipline.”

YEMEN: Clashes between suspected al-Qaida militants and Yemen's pro-government forces in the country’s south killed three men on Saturday, a military official and tribal leaders said.

The fighting broke out when militants thought to be al-Qaida members attacked the United Arab Emirates-backed Shabwa Defence Forces near the town of al-Musnaiya, southern Shabwa province, with machine guns, two tribal leaders and a military official said.

The three spoke on condition of anonymity.