Politics

  Washington / AFP Flooding in the US state of West Virginia killed 23 people and stranded others who had to be plucked from rooftops and rescued from fast-moving waters, state officials said. “The damage is widespread and devastating. Our focus remains on search and rescue,” Governor Earl Ray Tomblin told a news conference after floods caused by a day of ...

  LAKE ISABELLA / AP A deadly wildfire that roared through dry brush and trees in the mountains of central California gave residents little time to flee as flames burned dozens of homes to the ground, propane tanks exploded, and smoke obscured the path to safety. An elderly couple trying to flee from the flames were overcome with smoke outside ...

Caracas / AFP Opposition leaders in Venezuela said they have finished the process of authenticating signatures on a petition to recall President Nicolas Maduro, and have enough to hold a referendum on removing him. “The number of signatures has clearly exceeded the minimum needed,” said Vicente Bello, coordinator for the referendum effort. Government election authorities now have 20 days to ...

  Reykjavik / AFP Iceland began voting in a presidential election Saturday, two months after the Panama Papers scandal tainted part of the political elite, with newcomer Gudni Johannesson seen clinching an easy victory. Polling stations opened at 0900 GMT, with 245,000 Icelanders eligible to cast ballots. Polls were to close at 2200 GMT, with the first results expected shortly ...

  London / AFP Millions of Britons voted on Thursday in a bitterly-fought, knife-edge referendum that could tear up the island nation’s EU membership and spark the greatest emergency of the bloc’s 60-year history. A record 46.5 million voters registered to decide Britain’s future in the 28-nation European Union, which was born out of a determination to unite in lasting peace ...

  ANKARA / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested Turkey could hold a referendum over whether to continue its long-stalled accession process to join the European Union. Angrily lashing out at the bloc’s treatment of Ankara, Erdogan said Turkey could hold a referendum along the lines of the plebescite in Britain, where voters are deciding Thursday whether to ...

  Paris / AFP Paris was on high alert for more street clashes on Thursday as unions prepared another march against labour market reforms in a three-month protest campaign which has been marred by violence. The march is to take place after the another round of bitter negotiations in which the embattled Socialist government tried to ban the protest over security ...

Nigeria / AFP Three Australians, a New Zealander and a South African have been kidnapped along with two locals in Nigeria’s southeast after their vehicle was attacked, officials said on Thursday. The hold-up, in which the driver was shot dead, happened in the Akpabuyo district near the capital of Cross River state, Calabar, at about 7 am (0600 GMT) on Wednesday, ...

  Washington / AFP US Democrats failed to force Congress to vote on gun safety legislation following the Orlando nightclub massacre as Republican leaders adjourned the House early on Thursday after a dramatic overnight sit-in by Democrats. The scenes on the House floor, unprecedented in recent history, began after Democrats took over the chamber’s proceedings for most of the day, ...

CHICAGO / AP Powerful storms packing multiple tornadoes swept through parts of the Midwest on Wednesday night, damaging homes and a gas station in central Illinois and sending tens of thousands of soccer fans seeking shelter during the Copa America semifinal in Chicago. Chuck Schoop, emergency manager for Livingston County in central Illinois, said a tornado destroyed the canopy of ...