World in brief

New tropical storm forms near Bermuda

MIAMI - The 10th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed Thursday southeast of Bermuda.

Tropical Storm Juan had sustained wind of 55 mph and was centered near latitude 31.1 N, longitude 61.9 W, or about 185 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. A tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected in the area within 24 hours.

At 8 p.m., the storm was moving north-northwest at about 8 mph, forecasters said. Juan was expected to turn north and strengthen in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, at 5 p.m. newly formed tropical depression 16 was centered near latitude 11.7 N, longitude 38.3 W, or about 1,450 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, and was moving west-northwest near 14 mph. Top sustained winds were near 35 mph, and forecasters said it could become Tropical Storm Kate within 24 hours.

PARIS - The heat wave that scorched Europe in August killed more than 19,000 people, according to official estimates tallied by the Associated Press, making it one of the deadliest hot-weather disasters in a century. The death toll may be higher: The AP survey of a dozen countries found that two - Germany and Spain - have attributed only a fraction of summer fatalities to heat so far.

France, by far the hardest hit, on Thursday reported a staggering heat wave death toll of 14,802. Scientists at INSERM, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, reached the figure by counting the number of deaths above what would be expected for August.

U.S. PLANS TV IN ARABIC: In an attempt to compete with al-Jazeera and other Arab news channels, the Bush administration expects to start its own round-the-clock Arabic-language satellite television network before year's end.

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