World

Canadian officials hope to put "death grip" on fire

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta — Officials said Sunday they had reached a turning point in fighting an enormous wildfire, hoping to get a "death grip'" on the blaze that ravaged parts of Canada's oil sands town of Fort McMurray amid cooler temperatures and light rain. Meanwhile, a massive evacuation of residents displaced by the blaze came to an end.

Chad Morrison of Alberta Wildfire told a news conference he's "very happy" and called it great firefighting weather.

Mexico judge says 'El Chapo' extradition may proceed

MEXICO CITY — A federal judge has ruled that the extradition of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the U.S. can move ahead, Mexico's Judicial Council said Monday, but the Foreign Relations Department must still approve it and the defense can appeal.

The council, which oversees Mexico's federal judges and tribunals, said the judge, who was not identified, had agreed that the legal requirements laid out in the extradition treaty between the two countries had been met.

US says nationwide Syria truce to replace piecemeal approach

PARIS — The United States tried Monday to move past localized, short-term cease-fires in Syria by announcing that an enduring, nationwide truce would be restored. Yet that new approach was immediately called into doubt as Syria's military extended only a local cease-fire, in the hard-hit area of Aleppo, by 48 hours.

Tough-talking Philippine mayor looks set to be new president

MANILA, Philippines — A brash and tough-talking mayor who has pledged to kill suspected criminals and end crime within six months looked set to become the next president of the Philippines after taking an unassailable lead in an unofficial vote count in Monday's elections.

The son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos had a narrow lead in the vice presidential race.

Canadian convoy begins, hoping to flee wildfire zone

 

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (AP) — A massive convoy was under way Friday to move evacuees stranded at oil field camps north of Fort McMurray, Alberta amid a massive wildfire that officials fear could double in size by the end of Saturday.

As police and military oversaw the procession of at least 500 vehicles, a mass airlift of evacuees resumed. A day after 8,000 people were flown out, 5,500 more were expected to be flown out on Friday and another 4,000 were expected to be airlifted Saturday.

Sadiq Khan leads London race, could be 1st Muslim mayor

LONDON — Labour Party politician Sadiq Khan, the son of a bus driver from Pakistan, led London's mayoral race Friday, opening a lead over Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith that left him poised to be the city's first Muslim mayor.

Labour was trounced in Scotland but lost fewer seats than many had expected elsewhere in local and regional elections that underscored Britain's political divisions.

At congress, North Korean leader hails nuclear progress

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hailed his country's recent nuclear test to uproarious applause as he convened the first full congress of its ruling party since 1980, an event intended to showcase the North's stability and unity in the face of tough international sanctions and deepening isolation.

Rival assaults on IS stronghold deepen Libya's chaos

CAIRO — From east and west, the forces of Libya's rival powers are each moving on the city of Sirte, vowing to free it from the hold of the Islamic State group. The danger is they could very well fight each other as well.

Rather than becoming a unifying cause as the United States and Europe have hoped, the fight against the jihadi group threatens greater fragmentation in Libya, which has been torn apart among rival militias, tribes, governments and parliaments since the 2011 downfall of longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in a NATO-backed rebellion.

Russian, Syrian officials deny their planes hit refugee camp

BEIRUT — Russian and Syrian officials denied Friday that their aircraft struck a camp for people displaced by fighting in an airstrike that killed 28 the previous evening. The denials came as activists said a coalition of rebels and militants, including Syria's al-Qaida branch, seized a strategic village from pro-government forces near the contested city of Aleppo.

Cayman Islands to deploy genetically modified mosquitoes

MIAMI — British biotech company Oxitec and the Cayman Islands government announced plans Thursday to release millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the fight against a species that spreads Zika and other diseases.

Deployment of the mosquitoes against the Aedes aegypti species in the Cayman Islands is a major advance for Oxitec, which has promoted the method heavily as an environmentally safe way to combat the vectors of mosquito-borne illnesses while confronting public concerns about the technology.