Northern California wildfire spreads, with more hot weather expected. Thousands evacuate

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters lined roads to keep flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on a growing wildfire Wednesday in Northern California that has forced at least 13,000 people to evacuate, with another day of extreme heat expected.

The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometres) north of Sacramento, in and around the city of Oroville, in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke and grew to nearly 4.7 square miles (12.1 square kilometres) by Wednesday morning. It was zero percent contained.

The city of about 20,000 people declared a state of emergency Tuesday night. Several homes have been destroyed, KCRA-TV reported Wednesday. There was no word of injuries. Two evacuation centres were set up in Butte County. 

The fire’s cause is being investigated. Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect when it erupted.

Israeli strike kills another senior Hezbollah commander as diplomats scramble for calm in Lebanon

By: Kareem Chehayeb

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions between the two sides continue to boil, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press.

The strike near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent escalating clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from spiralling into an all-out war that could possibly lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran. 

A Hezbollah statement identified the killed commander as Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre. A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously in line with regulations, said he was head of the group’s Aziz Unit, one of three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.

Nasser is the most senior official from the Iran-backed group killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike June 11. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech honouring Abdullah said he played a pivotal role on the front line since clashes began on Oct. 8 leading the Nasr Unit.

Leaders of Russia and China meet at a Central Asian summit in a show of deepening cooperation

By: Emma Burrows

KAZAKHSTAN – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met Wednesday for the second time in as many months as they visited Kazakhstan for a session of an international group founded to counter Western alliances.

Putin and Xi last got together in May when the Kremlin leader visited Beijing to underscore their close partnership that opposes the U.S.-led democratic order and seeks to promote a more “multipolar” world.

Now they’ll be holding meetings amid the annual session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization taking place Wednesday and Thursday in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

Extremists attack a wedding ceremony in Mali and kill at least 21

By: Baba Ahmed

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — An armed group attacked a wedding ceremony in central Mali and killed at least 21 people, residents said Wednesday, as the West African nation’s military rulers struggle to combat growing violence by extremists.

The assailants rode on motorcycles into Djiguibombo village in the town of Bandiagara on Monday evening as residents celebrated the couple, according to Bakary Guindo, president of the local youth group.

“Most of the victims had their throats slit,” Guindo said.

Resident Hamidou Saye said the attackers surrounded the large number of attendees.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it follows the pattern of ones by the al-Qaida-linked JNIM extremist group which often targets the region.

Russian missiles and drones strike eastern Ukraine’s Dnipro in a daylight attack that kills 5

By: Illia Novikov

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile and drone attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Wednesday killed five civilians and injured 47 others, including a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.

Blasts blew out some windows of a shopping mall, raining shards onto the street, photos published by local officials showed. Mayor Borys Filatov said the daytime attack also shattered windows in two schools and three kindergartens. Debris struck the intensive care unit of a children’s hospital, and a fire broke out in another hospital.

A video posted on social media by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed a missile with a fiery trail streaking over buildings in Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, and debris flying into the air from its impact.

The war, now in its third year since Russia invaded its neighbour, has killed more than 10,000 civilians and wounded around 20,000 others, the United Nations says.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, Russian shelling struck a village council building, killing one person and injuring two others, regional head Oleh Suniehubov said.

Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to the deadly stampede at an Indian festival

By: Biswajeet Banerjee And Rajesh Kumar Singh

HATHRAS, India (AP) — Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival that killed at least 121 people in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, as the faithful surged toward the preacher and chaos ensued among the quarter of a million attendees.

As police searched for the organizers of the event, an attorney for the preacher said he would cooperate with authorities. More than two dozen injured people were still being treated.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures. 

The event had been permitted to accommodate only 80,000 people. It’s not clear how many made it inside the giant tent set up in a muddy field in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.