BOLLYWOOD ACTOR RAJPUT FOUND DEAD

MUMBAI, INDIA» Popular Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on Sunday, police and Indian media reports said.

Police in Mumbai said that the 34-year-old’s death was a suicide and that an investigation was underway.

Mumbai police spokesperson Pranaya Ashok confirmed the death and said details were being investigated. Rajput, who started as a TV actor, made his Bollywood debut in 2013 with director Abhishek Kapoor in “Kai Po Che,” based on the book by Chetan Bhagat.

Crews battling wildfire say threat to homes lessens.

TUCSON, ARIZ.» Firefighters battling a large wildfire in the foothills and mountains north of Tucson were more confident they could protect homes Sunday but said high winds would continue to push the blaze into higher elevations where they can’t safely put crews.

The fire was one of several burning across the state amid hot, dry and windy conditions. A blaze on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim was threatening the resort community of Jacob Lake, and a blaze on the Tonto National Forest had closed a major highway between Phoenix and Payson.

Efforts to protect homes in an area north of Tucson known as East Golder Ranch were ongoing, but a spokesman for the team fighting the growing blaze said they believed they are in less danger now.

S. Korea urges North to uphold deals amid rising animosities.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA» South Korea on Sunday convened an emergency security meeting and urged North

Korea to uphold reconciliation agreements, hours after the North threatened to demolish a liaison office and take military action against its rival.

There’s concern that North Korea could turn to provocation to bolster its internal unity and wrest outside concessions as nuclear talks with the United States remain deadlocked. Observers say North Korea desperately needs sanctions relief in the face of harsh U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea’s national security director, Chung Eui-yong, held an emergency video conference with ministers in charge of security and military generals on Sunday morning to discuss the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula and the government’s possible steps, the presidential Blue House said in a statement.

French leader rejects racism, but colonial statues to remain.

PARIS» French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed Sunday to stand firm against racism but also praised police and insisted that France wouldn’t take down statues of controversial, colonial-era figures, as he addressed the issues for the first time since George Floyd’s death in the U.S.

In a televised address to the nation on Sunday evening, Macron called for the nation’s “unity” at a key moment when the country is trying to put the coronavirus crisis behind while being shaken by a series of protests against racial injustice and police brutality.

Echoing American protesters, demonstrators in France have expressed anger at discrimination within French society, particularly toward minorities from the country’s former colonies in Africa.