Foreign News
Firefighters battle huge blaze near Los Angeles as winds pick up
Firefighters are battling a fast-moving blaze in southern California that has swelled over the past day, with authorities warning that Thursday is “the period of greatest concern”.
The Hughes fire, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Los Angeles, grew to more than 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares), forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate a region already reeling from the most destructive fires in its history.
Forecasters warned that powerful winds were expected to pose further challenge for firefighters, who have so far brought 14% of the fire’s perimeter under control.
The blaze is north of the two ongoing mammoth blazes that have killed at least 28 people and destroyed a number of neighbourhoods in Los Angeles County.
The National Weather Service extended a red-flag warning until Friday morning for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as winds push through the area.
“Dangerous fire weather conditions will persist through Friday as fuels remain extremely dry and ready to burn, with Thursday the period of greatest concern,” an advisory said. “Any fire that starts can grow fast and out of control. Have a plan, especially if you are in a high fire risk area.”
More than 31,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday as the fire sent huge flames and plumes of smoke over a hilly terrain in the Castaic Lake area that borders several residential areas and schools.
Local news showed residents near the Hughes fire hosing down their homes and gardens with water and others rushing to evacuate.
Winds in the area were blowing at about 20-30mph (32-48km/h), but could pick up, which would fan the blaze and make it harder for air crews to operate.
Climate change has made the grasses and shrubs that are fuelling the Los Angeles fires more vulnerable to burning, scientists have said.
Rapid “whiplash”-style swings between dry and wet conditions in the region in recent years have created a massive amount of tinder-dry vegetation that is ready to catch fire.
[BBC]
A newly married couple were killed when a gas cylinder exploded at a house in Islamabad where they were sleeping after their wedding party, police have said.
A further six people – including wedding guests and family members – who were staying there also died in the blast. More than a dozen people were injured.
The explosion took place at 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Sunday, causing the roof to collapse.
Parts of the walls were blown away, leaving piles of bricks, large concrete slabs and furniture strewn across the floor. Injured people were trapped under the rubble and had to be carried out on stretchers by rescue workers.
(BBC)
Rescue workers are racing to find dozens of people still missing following a landslide at a landfill site in the central Philippines that occurred earlier this week, an official has said.
Mayor Nestor Archival said on Saturday that signs of life had been detected at the site in Cebu City, two days after the incident.
Four people have been confirmed dead so far, Archival said, while 12 others have been taken to hospital.
Conditions for emergency services working at the site were challenging, the mayor added, with unstable debris posing a hazard and crew waiting for better equipment to arrive.
The privately-owned Binaliw landfill collapsed on Thursday while 110 workers were on site, officials said.
Archival said in a Facebook post on Saturday morning: “Authorities confirmed the presence of detected signs of life in specific areas, requiring continued careful excavation and the deployment of a more advanced 50-ton crane.”
Relatives of those missing have been waiting anxiously for any news of their whereabouts. More than 30 people, all workers at the landfill, are thought to be missing.
“We are just hoping that we can get someone alive… We are racing against time, that’s why our deployment is 24/7,” Cebu City councillor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the city’s disaster council, told news agency AFP.
Jerahmey Espinoza, whose husband is missing, told news agency Reuters at the site on Saturday: “They haven’t seen him or located him ever since the disaster happened. We’re still hopeful that he’s alive.”
The cause of the collapse remains unclear, but Cebu City councillor Joel Garganera previously said it was likely the result of poor waste management practices.
Operators had been cutting into the mountain, digging the soil out and then piling garbage to form another mountain of waste, Garganera told local newspaper The Freeman on Friday.
The Binaliw landfill covers an area of about 15 hectares (37 acres).
Landfills are common in major Philippine cities like Cebu, which is the trading centre and transportation gateway of the Visayas, the archipelago nation’s central islands.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump has asked for at least $100bn (£75bn) in oil industry spending for Venezuela, but received a lukewarm response at the White House as one executive warned the South American country was currently “uninvestable”.
Bosses of the biggest US oil firms who attended the meeting acknowledged that Venezuela, sitting on vast energy reserves, represented an enticing opportunity.
But they said significant changes would be needed to make the region an attractive investment. No major financial commitments were immediately forthcoming.
Trump has said he will unleash the South American nation’s oil after US forces seized its leader Nicolas Maduro in a 3 January raid on its capital.
“One of the things the United States gets out of this will be even lower energy prices,” Trump said in Friday’s meeting at the White House.
But the oil bosses present expressed caution.
Exxon’s chief executive Darren Woods said: “We have had our assets seized there twice and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen and what is currently the state.”
“Today it’s uninvestable.”
Venezuela has had a complicated relationship with international oil firms since oil was discovered in its territory more than 100 years ago.
Chevron is the last remaining major American oil firm still operating in the country.
A handful of companies from other countries, including Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni, both of which were represented at the White House meeting, are also active.
Trump said his administration would decide which firms would be allowed to operate.
“You’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela,” he said.
The White House has said it is working to “selectively” roll back US sanctions that have restricted sales of Venezuelan oil.
Officials say they have been coordinating with interim authorities in the country, which is currently led by Maduro’s former second-in-command, Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez.
But they have also made clear they intend to exert control over the sales, as a way to maintain leverage over Rodríguez’s government.
The US this week has seized several oil tankers carrying sanctioned crude. American officials have said they are working to set up a sales process, which would deposit money raised into US-controlled accounts.
“We are open for business,” Trump said.
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to prohibit US courts from seizing revenue that the US collects from Venezuelan oil and holds in American Treasury accounts.
Any court attempt to access those funds would interfere with US foreign relations and international goodwill, the executive order states.
“President Trump is preventing the seizure of Venezuelan oil revenue that could undermine critical US efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela,” the White House wrote in a fact sheet about the order.
BCB’s integrity unit finds ‘credible suspicion’ during BPL
Devine’s 95 trumps Lee, Wolvaardt fifties in see-saw thriller
Fairly heavy showers about 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, North-western and Sabaragamuwa provinces
President proposes; Speaker disposes
Sri Lanka loses Rs.7.5 bn due to coal tender irregularities: FSP
CID summons SJB MP for criticising education reforms
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News1 day agoSajith: Ashoka Chakra replaces Dharmachakra in Buddhism textbook
-
Business1 day agoDialog and UnionPay International Join Forces to Elevate Sri Lanka’s Digital Payment Landscape
-
Features1 day agoThe Paradox of Trump Power: Contested Authoritarian at Home, Uncontested Bully Abroad
-
News6 days agoInterception of SL fishing craft by Seychelles: Trawler owners demand international investigation
-
Features1 day agoSubject:Whatever happened to (my) three million dollars?
-
News1 day agoLevel I landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Badulla, Kandy, Matale and Nuwara-Eliya extended
-
News6 days agoBroad support emerges for Faiszer’s sweeping proposals on long- delayed divorce and personal law reforms
-
News1 day ago65 withdrawn cases re-filed by Govt, PM tells Parliament