A wildfire that officials thought was under control in southwest France has reignited amid a record drought and extreme heat, possibly the result of arson, officials said Wednesday.. On Wednesday, officials in western France said a wildfire near Angers and Le Mans has burned 1,200 hectares since Monday as nearly 400 firefighters struggle to contain it. bla-nal/js/jh/imm
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a bill boosting benefits for veterans exposed to toxic fumes, a cause close to his own heart after his son died of brain cancer.. It described the bill as the "most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years."
Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions under oath in New York over alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile up for the former president whose house was raided by the FBI just two days ago.. "If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty."
Protesters in Sri Lanka who brought down the previous government announced they were dismantling their main demonstration site near the president's office on Wednesday in the wake of a crackdown against their leaders.. Days after Rajapaksa fled to Singapore and announced his resignation, troops evicted protesters occupying the palace as well as the home and office of the prime minister.
An air and sea rescue operation was underway Wednesday after around 50 people went missing when a migrant boat sank in the Aegean Sea, the Greek coastguard said.. The rescue effort, ordered by merchant shipping minister Yannis Plakiotakis, according to a coastguard statement, included four vessels already sailing in the southern Aegean, two coastguard patrol boats and a Greek air force helicopter.
Fascism is history, Italy's far-right leader Giorgia Meloni declared Wednesday in a video message aimed at international critics alarmed by her predicted victory in September 25 elections.. "I have been reading that the victory of Fratelli d'Italia in the September elections would mean a disaster, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy's departure from the euro and other nonsense of this sort.
The World Cup's start will be brought forward by a day to allow hosts Qatar to play the opening game, sources told AFP on Wednesday, just over three months before the competition gets underway.. Moving forward the opening match will also mean changing the 100-day countdown that had been scheduled to start on Saturday, with special events across the tiny nation of 2.8 million people.
A landmark sexual harassment case in China returned to court Wednesday after an earlier ruling dealt a blow to the country's fledgling #MeToo movement.. The country's #MeToo movement has stumbled since 2018, when a wave of women published allegations of sexual harassment against university professors.
A Pakistan zoo has called off plans to auction 12 lions from its ever-growing pride to private buyers, saying it would instead create new enclosures for the big cats.. Zoo officials had set a reserve of 150,000 Pakistan rupees ($700) per cat -- about the same price as a cow -- but hoped each would fetch around two million rupees at auction.
Japan's prime minister reshuffled his cabinet Wednesday after a slump in approval ratings, replacing the brother of assassinated ex-leader Shinzo Abe as defence minister.. Hamada, who previously served as defence minister from 2008-9, replaced Abe's brother Nobuo Kishi, whose ailing health has prompted concern.
