World News at a Glance

Putin Invites Trump to Moscow After Washington Postponed D.C. Plans

Just two days after the White House postponed plans to have President Vladimir Putin of Russia visit Washington in the fall, the Russian leader said Friday that he had invited President Donald Trump to visit him in Moscow. Praising Trump as a leader “who seeks to keep his promises,” Putin continued to push for a second summit, although their first generated intense criticism of his U.S. counterpart. Putin said he was ready to meet either in Washington or Moscow, adding that he had told Trump that he had an invitation to visit the Russian capital. The White House quickly responded favorably to the idea.

Ill-Equipped for Heat, Britain Has a Meltdown

Britain has suffered a monthlong heat wave that has broken records, spawned wildfires, and spurred delays in the transportation system. “Shops are out of fans, ice, sun cream, ice cream, and there’s a water shortage that has left our beautiful, lush parks all parched and yellow,” Lucy Thornton, 36, an interior designer, said as she walked into a London cafe Friday. “We’re not equipped for this.” Britain generally lacks the infrastructure such as air conditioning to deal with the effects of long spells of high temperatures. The heat has also exacerbated London’s toxic air pollution levels, prompting the mayor, Sadiq Khan, to issue a warning Thursday.

Ontario’s Premier To Flex His Muscle by Shrinking Toronto’s Government

Ontario’s new premier, Doug Ford, announced Friday that he intends to reduce the size of Toronto’s elected government by nearly half, less than three months before the municipal election.The surprise move electrified the city, with many declaring it a blow to democracy because the changes affected the City Council, which had recently been expanded after almost four years of consultations, debate and two legal challenges. Ford's announcement, which would reduce Toronto City Council to 25 seats from 47, threw the coming election into disarray. But the premier said it was in line with his campaign promises to reduce the size of government.

Arson Is Suspected in Deadly Fires in Greece, Government Says

Arsonists probably started the wildfires that killed at least 84 people in Greece this week and nearly obliterated a seaside town, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Friday. After the three days of national mourning declared by Tsipras expired, political tensions rose along with the death toll, as questions persisted about who was responsible and how well the government responded to the blazes. While he said he assumed full political responsibility for the tragedy, Tsipras also placed the blame on poor urban planning and arbitrary housing in Mati, a coastal village east of Athens that was all but wiped out by fire Monday and Tuesday.

Laos Dam Survivors Seek Word of Neighbors

Laotian officials continued a desperate search, by boat and helicopter, Friday for survivors and casualties of a catastrophic flood in southern Laos that was caused by a dam failure. But confusion deepened about the size of the tragedy because of shifting official statements from the authoritarian government, which is unaccustomed to responding to disasters of this magnitude. The state media has said the dam failure made more than 6,000 people “homeless.” As of Friday, the government had not explained precisely how many of those newly homeless people — minus the 131 it said were officially missing — had been accounted for.

As Pakistan Finishes Vote Count, Imran Khan’s Rivals Stand Down

After nearly reaching the end of a contentious vote-counting process, Pakistan’s election commission said Friday that the party of Imran Khan, the former cricket star, won the most seats in the National Assembly, setting him up to be the country’s next prime minister. Although Khan’s party, the Pakistan Movement for Justice, did not win an outright majority of the seats, analysts say he will be able to form a coalition government, and some of his political rivals, who had been complaining about how the national election was conducted, began to grudgingly accept his victory. Khan’s party swept most of the country, performing strongly in urban areas.