INDIA   –  India’s killer heatwave is leaving the country reeling from the worst drought in decades and a rural population struggling to survive. Relief is due with the arrival of the monsoon in mid-June, and because of the impending La Nina weather pattern, the forecast is for above-average rainfall.

However WaterAid India’s Head of Policy, Nitya Jacob, says groundwater levels are so depleted that even if a good monsoon comes in June — and meteorologists predict there will be one that ends the drought it won’t be enough. “Even if the monsoon is good, it cannot compensate,” Jacob told CNN. Central Water Commission data shows that India’s major reservoirs are 79% empty, and 75% of India’s basins are holding less water than the 10-year average. CNN Meteorologist, Michael Guy, says this is usually the hottest time for the subcontinent, but this year has seen an unprecedented spike in temperatures.India is currently in their summer or pre-monsoon season, which lasts from April to late May, or early June,” says Guy. “This year we’ve seen temperatures range from the lower 40s to as high as 47˚C or 116˚Fahrenheit. .(CNN.COM/photo:cnn.com)…[+]

AUSTRALIA –  An Australian ISIS recruiter who called on his countrymen to “start attacking before they attack you” has died in a U.S. airstrike.

Neil Prakash was the country’s “most prominent” ISIS recruiter and its “highest value target,” according to Australian Attorney General George Brandis. “He was the individual more than any other who had been actively inspiring and inciting domestic terrorism attacks within Australia,” Brandis said in an interview with CNN affiliate Sky News. Prakash was killed on April 29 in Mosul, Iraq by a U.S. airstrike, Brandis said in a statement. (CNN.COM/photo: www.theguardian.com)…[+]

USA – The latest report on school crime says overall, schools are safer, with declines in violent crime, bullying and harassment because of sexual orientation.

But the assessment by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Justice Department says 3 percent of students ages 12 to 18 said they were victims of crimes at school in 2014.  About 1.3 million students were suspended for at least one full school day for alcohol violations, violence or weapons possession. Middle school students were more likely to be bullied than high school or elementary school students, said the report, released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Justice Department. On college campuses, the number of sexual attacks more than doubled from 2001 to 2013. “There’s really no way to say whether those increases reflect an increase in actual forcible sex crimes or just that more people are coming forward and reporting them,” said Lauren Musu-Gillette, an author of the report. Overall, the report showed progress, said Peggy G. Carr, acting NCES commissioner.

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