TAIPEI/BERLIN, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC on Tuesday committed 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) to a factory in Germany, its first in Europe, taking advantage of huge state support for the $11 billion plant as the continent seeks to bring supply chains closer to home.

The plant, which will be TSMC's (2330.TW) third outside of traditional manufacturing bases Taiwan and China, is central to Berlin's ambition to foster the domestic semiconductor industry its car industry will need to remain globally competitive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least two people died, thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power Monday as severe storms, including hail and lightning, moved through the eastern U.S.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m. A special Weather Service statement warned, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the country's federal government will step down on Aug. 9, following which a caretaker setup will take charge till the next general elections.

Sharif made the remarks when he paid a farewell visit to the Pakistan Army's general headquarters in Rawalpindi, a neighboring city of the capital Islamabad, and met relatives of the soldiers who got killed or injured during terrorist incidents in the country.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces intercepted five rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed 17 Ukrainian combat drones over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is ready to host the much-anticipated 15th BRICS summit, said Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on Monday.

"President Ramaphosa has confirmed South Africa's readiness to host the 15th BRICS summit in person, in Sandton, Johannesburg. The president has therefore invited 67 leaders from Africa and the Global South to attend the BRICS-Africa outreach and BRICS Plus dialogues," Pandor said while briefing the media about the country's preparations for the summit, which will be held on Aug. 22-24.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The United Nations World Food Program is slowly resuming food aid to Ethiopia nearly five months after taking the extraordinary measure of suspending aid to millions of people after the discovery of a massive scheme to steal donated grain. WFP said it’s testing small-scale distribution in some areas but acknowledges that the government still plays a role in the process.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Pakistan plans to privatise its loss-making national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIAa.PSX), the government said on Monday, as the country also seeks to outsource its airport operations in line with an IMF deal.

The privatisation decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Privatisation chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

BEIJING/MANILA, Aug 8 (Reuters) - China again asked the Philippines to tow away a grounded warship - a World War Two-era vessel now used as a military outpost - from a disputed shoal on Tuesday, after Manila rejected Beijing's earlier demand.

Tensions have soared between the two neighbours over the South China Sea under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with Manila pivoting back to the United States, which supports the Southeast Asian nation in its maritime disputes with China.

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: Moscow is hoping that Tbilisi will adopt a more constructive approach to the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus because progress on this track is in the interests of all countries in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in her commentary on the 15th anniversary of the onset of Georgia’s military aggression in South Ossetia.

LISBON, Aug 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around 800 personnel attended a fire near the southern town of Odemira overnight on Monday, with more than 1,400 people having to evacuate.

At least nine firefighters have been injured tackling the fires.

Temperatures in excess of 40C (104F) are expected to hit much of the Iberian peninsula this week.

Three major fires that scorched hundreds of hectares in Spain over the weekend have been brought under control, but weather alerts remain in place across much of the country.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials on Tuesday accused the Kremlin’s forces of targeting rescue workers as the death toll from two Russian missile strikes that slammed into residential buildings in the downtown area of a Ukrainian city climbed to seven.

The dead in the Monday evening strikes in the city of Pokrovsk were five civilians, one rescuer and one soldier, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Dozens more were wounded, most of them police officers, emergency workers and soldiers who had rushed to the scene to assist residents.

Aug 8 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree suspending Russia's double taxation agreements with what it calls "unfriendly countries" - those that have imposed sanctions on Moscow - the state news agency RIA reported on Tuesday.

The measure had been proposed by the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Ministry in March.

Western countries have imposed successive waves of economic sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, which it calls a "special military operation".