Perry’s death leads to indictment of five people
By: Andrew Dalton And Kaitlyn Huamani
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 10 months after the death of Matthew Perry, the long-simmering investigation into the ketamine that killed the beloved “Friends” star came dramatically into public view with the announcement that five people had been charged with having roles in his overdose.
One or more arrests had been expected since investigators from three different agencies revealed in May they had been conducting a joint probe into how the 54-year-old Perry got such large amounts of ketamine. Doctors and reputed dealers are among those indicted.
The actor had been among the growing number of patients using legal but off-label medical means to treat depression, or in other cases chronic pain, with the powerful surgical anesthetic.
Recent reports suggested indictments might be imminent, but few outside observers, if any, knew how wide-ranging the prosecution would be, reaching much further than previous cases stemming from celebrity overdoses.
Mediators say Gaza War cease-fire talks constructive, positive
By: Ravi Nessman
JERUSALEM (AP) — Mediators to the Gaza War cease-fire talks say the two-day-long talks this week have wrapped up but they aim to reconvene in Cairo next week to seal a deal to stop the fighting.
In a statement Friday, the United States, Egypt and Qatar said talks were constructive and conducted in a positive atmosphere. They presented both parties with a proposal and hope to continue working on the details of the implementation in the coming days.
The new round of talks began Thursday and were aimed at halting the 10-month war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict. Hamas, which didn’t participate directly in the talks, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had U.S. and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.
Both sides have agreed in principle to the plan President Joe Biden announced on May 31. But Hamas has proposed amendments and Israel has suggested clarifications, leading each side to accuse the other of trying to tank a deal.
Hurricane Ernesto barrels toward Bermuda, residents prepare for storm
By: Dánica Coto
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto charged toward Bermuda on Friday as officials in the tiny British territory in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean prepared to open shelters and close government offices.
The Category 2 storm was located 215 miles (345 kilometres) south-southwest of Bermuda. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph (22 kph).
Ernesto was expected to strengthen further on Friday before it passes near or over Bermuda on Saturday morning. Tropical storm conditions, including strong winds and life-threatening floods, were expected to start affecting Bermuda on Friday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane was forecast to dump between 6 and 12 inches of rain, with up to 15 inches in isolated areas. Forecasters noted that Ernesto has hurricane-force winds extending up to 70 miles (110 kilometres) from the centre and tropical-storm-force winds extending up to 265 miles (425 kilometres).
Wildfires in western Turkey threaten Gallipoli war memorials, homes on city outskirts
By: Andrew Wilks
ISTANBUL (AP) — Firefighters were tackling blazes across Turkey on Friday as dry, hot and windy weather conditions led to a series of fires, including one that threatened World War I memorials and graves at the Gallipoli battle site.
At the peninsula where an Allied landing was beaten back by Ottoman troops in a yearlong campaign in 1915, the flames reached Canterbury Cemetery, where soldiers from New Zealand are interred.
Images of the site in northwest Turkey showed soot-blackened gravestones in a scorched garden looking out over the Aegean Sea.
Officials said the fire was started by a spark from electricity lines that spread through forested areas. The Gallipoli fire was brought under control by Friday.
Elsewhere, however, the continuous work of emergency crews stretched over days and nights. Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said teams were still fighting 17 of 47 forest fires that were active on Friday.
On the west coast, a fire threatened houses on the outskirts of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, where a blaze broke out in the woods Thursday night. Residents fled their homes as ash fell around them.
Officials urge civilians to evacuate Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as Russian troops close in
By: Hanna Arhirova And Barry Hatton
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Friday urged civilians to speed up their evacuation because the Russian army is quickly closing in on what has been one of Moscow’s key targets for months.
Ukrainian troops have been trying to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine by launching a bold cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region were “facing the most intense Russian assaults.”
India to hold first assembly elections in disputed Kashmir in 10 years
By: Aijaz Hussain
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India on Friday announced three-phased assembly elections in disputed Kashmir, the first in a decade and in a new political environment after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory.
Since those changes, the region has remained on edge, governed by a New Delhi appointed administrator and run by bureaucrats with no democratic credentials.
The new polls will be held between Sept.18 and Oct. 1, India’s Election Commission said at a news conference in the capital, New Delhi. The vote will take place in a staggered process that allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent any outbreak of violence. Votes will be counted on Oct. 4.
The multi-stage voting will elect a local government — a chief minister who will serve as the region’s top official with a council of ministers — from pro-India parties participating in the elections.
However, contrary to the past, the local assembly will barely have any legislative powers with only nominal control over education and culture. Legislating laws for the region will continue to be with India’s parliament while policy decisions will be made in the capital.
Evacuation ordered in northern Japan, power out, flights, trains canceled as typhoon Ampil approaches
By: Yuri Kageyama
TOKYO (AP) — Thousands of people in northern Japan were ordered to evacuate Friday because of the risk of flooding and mudslides from a powerful typhoon approaching in the Pacific Ocean.
Flights and trains in the Tokyo area were canceled as warnings were issued for strong winds and heavy rainfall from Typhoon Ampil, expected to reach waters near Tokyo in the evening and then continue north, bringing stormy conditions to the northern Kanto and Tohoku regions on Saturday.
It had sustained winds of 162 kph (101 mph) with higher gusts Friday morning and was moving north at 15 kph (9.3 mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Ampil was not expected to make landfall and could weaken to a tropical storm by Sunday.
Power was out in more than 5,000 households, mostly in coastal Chiba and Ibaraki Prefectures, east of Tokyo, but also in Saitama to the north.
An evacuation order was sent to the more than 320,000 residents of the city of Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture. More than 30 places were offered as safe locations to stay, including school gymnasiums and community centres.
