Firefighters in Norway are warning against recharging electric scooters indoors after a battery started a fire that tore through an apartment south of Oslo.
Hans-Otto Schjerven, head of the Vestfold Fire Department, says rechargeable lithium batteries can cause "fires that are difficult to extinguish and the batteries emit fire that quickly spreads."
After the blaze Wednesday evening, he says such batteries can be "capricious" and urged people to avoid recharging them indoors.
Schjerven says onFacebookthat although firefighters were quickly at the scene, one apartment was wrecked by the fire and three adjacent dwellings suffered smoke damage, forcing the tenants to spend the night elsewhere.
Nobody was injured in the fire. Details of the scooter and its battery were not released.

Recharging electric scooter sparks blaze in Norway apartment

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A defense lawyer says a former Australian spy charged with conspiring to reveal classified information about an allegation that Australia bugged East Timor's government during negotiations over the sharing of billions of dollars in oil and gas has been denied legal aid and might not be able to adequately fund his case.
The charge against the spy was discussed in a Canberra court on the eve of the prime minister flying to East Timor on Friday to begin a new revenue-sharing agreement.
The spy's allegations that Australia bugged East Timorese Cabinet rooms in Dili in 2004 during treaty negotiations led to a 2006 treaty being scrapped.
The spy's lawyer Haydn Carmichael told a magistrate on Thursday he and other lawyers were representing their client for free.

Australian spy charged with bugging leak denied legal aid

Edson lvarez, the defender Ajax bought to replace departed captain Matthijs de Ligt, scored the decisive goal Wednesday to give the Dutch team a place in the Champions League group stage.
Alvarez, a 21-year-old Mexico international, guided a 43rd-minute header into APOEL's net to open the scoring in a 2-0 win in the second leg of their playoff.
Ajax's new captain, playmaker Dusan Tadic, struck with a powerful shot in the 80th to complete the 2-0 aggregate victory for last season's semifinalist.
Alvarez cost Ajax a reported USD 17 million from Mexican club America last month, helping replace 20-year-old De Ligt who joined Juventus in a 75-million euro ($85-million) off-season deal.
Club Brugge and Slavia Prague also advanced to the Champions League draw with home wins on Wednesday. Brugge beat LASK Linz 2-1 for a 3-1 aggregate win, and Slavia's second 1-0 win over CFR Club made it 2-0 on aggregate. The losing play-off teams will enter the 48-team Europa League group stage, which is ...

Ajax, Brugge, Slavia Prague advance to the Champions League

Ajax has completed the 32-team Champions League line-up that sees Liverpool spearhead another English challenge in the group-stage draw on Thursday.
After all-English finals in both UEFA club competitions last season, defending champion Liverpool, Premier League title holder Manchester City and Europa League winner Chelsea are all in the pot of eight top-seeded teams.
Runner-up Tottenham is joined in the pot of second-seeded teams by Ajax, its semi-final opponent last season which advanced from the playoff round on Wednesday.
England seeks to lift European soccer's most iconic trophy for the 14th time. Spain has a record 18 titles, though those were won by just two clubs  13 for Real Madrid, five for Barcelona.
Five different English clubs have won the competition which kicked off 64 years ago. A familiar group of national champions from Europe's top leagues completes the top-seeded pot: Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and, back after a three-year gap, Zenit ...

Liverpool leads 32-team Champions League draw

A Trump administration program forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico has evolved into a sweeping rejection of all forms of migrants, with both countries quietly working to keep people out of the US despite threats to the migrants' safety.
The results serve the goals of both governments, which have targeted unauthorized migration at the behest of President Donald Trump, who threatened Mexico with potentially crippling tariffs earlier this year to force action.
Some people sent to wait in the Mexican border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros said they never requested asylum, including Wilfredo Alvarez, a laborer from Honduras.
He crossed the Rio Grande without permission to look for work to support his seven children and was unexpectedly put into the program. He was sent back to Mexico with a future court date.
"We thought that if they caught us, they would deport us to our country, but it was not that way," Alvarez said.
"They threw us away here to Mexico, but we are not from here 

US, Mexico widen asylum crackdown to push back all migrants

US health officials on Wednesday tried to reassure patients that they face very low risks from ongoing contamination problems with widely prescribed blood pressure drugs.
Drugmakers have issued more than 50 recalls since last July linked to low levels of a probable cancer-causing chemical found in generic drugs taken by millions of Americans.
The contamination underscores the Food and Drug Administration's struggle to police an industry that increasingly relies on overseas manufacturing plants in China and India.
On Wednesday, an FDA official said the actual risk to patients from the tainted medications is likely lower than originally stated.
The FDA said last year that if 8,000 patients took the maximum dose of the drugs for four years, the contamination issue could cause one extra case of cancer over their lifetimes.
The agency now says that the actual risk to patients is likely much lower than this "worst case scenario." That's because most patients likely "received much smaller ...

US agency sees low risk in contaminated blood pressure drugs

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday berated Japan for carrying out its plan to downgrade South Korea's trade status and reiterated Seoul's stance that Tokyo was weaponizing trade to retaliate over political rows stemming from the countries' wartime history.
Moon said in a Cabinet meeting that Japan is being dishonest by insisting that its trade curbs weren't retaliation over historical issues, including South Korean court rulings that called for Japanese companies to offer reparations to aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II.
He said Japan should look "squarely at the past" and that its current actions were aggravating the pain and anger of South Koreans who suffered under Japan's brutal colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
"Japan has yet to even state an honest reason for its economic retaliation .... No matter what excuse it provides as justification, it is clear that the Japanese government has linked historical issues to economic ...

South Korean leader says Japan dishonest over wartime past

A Maryland man accused of planning an Islamic State-inspired attack at a shopping and entertainment complex near Washington, D.C., was indicted Wednesday on a terrorism-related charge, five months after his arrest.
A federal grand jury indicted Rondell Henry, 28, of Germantown, on a new charge of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State.
Henry was arrested March 28 and remains detained pending trial. He initially was indicted in April and pleaded not guilty to one count of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.
Henry allegedly stole a U-Haul van in Virginia and parked it at the National Harbor, a popular waterfront destination just outside the nation's capital. Police arrested him the next morning after they found the van and saw Henry jump over a security fence.
Henry told investigators he planned to carry out an attack similar to one in which a driver ran over and killed dozens of people in Nice, France, in 2016, ...

US man indicted on terror charge in alleged ISIS-inspired plot

The French league game between Nice and Marseille was halted for several minutes during the first half Wednesday after Nice fans unfurled two banners with homophobic messages.
One banner referred to Tuesday's takeover of Nice by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's richest man who is the owner of chemicals giant Ineos.
The banner displayed a play on words referring to the fact Ratcliffe also owns the Team Ineos cycling and using the term "pedale," which in French means "to pedal" in cycling but is also a derogatory term used to define gay people.
It read: "Welcome to the Ineos group: at Nice we also love to pedal." Another banner at the Allianz Riviera criticized French league authorities for approving more fenced off sections in the stands, saying it makes for "more gay" stadiums. That was followed by sporadic chanting against the French league  or LFP  with an anti-gay slur.
Referee Clement Turpin interrupted the game midway through the first half  and play resumed about 10 .

French league game halted after homophobic banners unfurled

From towering giraffes to bottom-feeding sharks and many species in between, endangered species got new protections under an agreement finalized Wednesday by most of the world's countries at a conference on saving plants and animals from the ravages of international trade.
The 11-day World Wildlife Conference on updating a convention known as CITES, which aims to ensure that trade doesn't threaten the survival of endangered fauna and flora, adopted an array of measures and decisions about elephants, otters, star tortoises, saiga antelope, and rosewood  a cherished material for guitar makers  among many others.
The conference occurs every three years and took on added importance this year following a U.N. report on biodiversity in May warning that extinction looms for over 1 million species of plants and animals.
There are growing concerns that policymakers aren't acting quickly enough to stop it.
Attendees agreed on protections for 18 more shark species that, while stopping short of a 

Sharks to saiga, nations up support for endangered wildlife

Authorities say a nearly seven-hour standoff at an eastern Arkansas home ended when state troopers shot and killed an armed man suspected of killing two women who were found dead in the front yard earlier that day.
The State Police identified the man killed Tuesday evening as 37-year-old Raymond Lewis Williams Jr. and the slain women as 40-year-old Christine Fulmer and 28-year-old Deanna Thomas Banks.
Police say the women were found dead Tuesday in the front yard of Williams' home in Helena-West Helena, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Little Rock. The city's police chief, James Patrick Smith, told Memphis, Tennessee, television station WMC that investigators believe Williams shot them before barricading himself inside.
State Police say troopers tried to communicate with Williams for hours before they used tear gas in the home. They say Williams emerged from the home with a rifle and a shootout ensued, resulting in Williams' death.

3 people dead after hours-long standoff at Arkansas home

Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is dropping out of the presidential race as a campaign that once looked poised to ride strong #MeToo credentials to formidability was instead plagued by low polling and major fundraising struggles.
The 52-year-old New York senator said Wednesday that she was suspending her campaign. That comes after failing to meet minimum thresholds for required numbers of donors and polling to qualify for the September Democratic debate in Houston.
"I know this isn't the result that we wanted. We wanted to win this race," she said in an online video. "But it's important to know when it's not your time."
Gillibrand topped an incumbent Republican in a conservative part of upstate New York to get to the U.S. House in 2007, and was appointed to the Senate two years later, filling the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, who was tapped to be U.S. secretary of state. Gillibrand later easily retained the seat during a 2010 special election, as well as in 2012 and 2018.
Vocal in the .

Gillibrand says she's ending 2020 presidential bid

Hurricane Dorian caused limited damage in the northern Caribbean as it left the region and gathered strength late Wednesday, setting its sights on the U.S. mainland as it threatened to grow into a Category 3 storm.
Power outages and flooding were reported across the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra after Dorian hit St. Thomas as a Category 1 storm.
"We're happy because there are no damages to report," Culebra Mayor William Sols told The Associated Press, noting that only one community lost power.
Meanwhile, Dorian caused an island-wide blackout in St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and scattered power outages in St. Croix, government spokesman Richard Motta told the AP. In addition, the storm downed trees and at least one electric post in St. Thomas, he said, adding that there were no reports of major flooding so far.
"We are grateful that it wasn't a stronger storm," he said.
There were no immediate ..

Dorian aims for US, causes limited damage in Caribbean

The House Judiciary Committee says it will investigate President Donald Trump's suggestion that his Miami-area golf course host next year's Group of Seven summit with foreign leaders.
The panel said Wednesday it will hold hearings on the matter and request documents. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said the Constitution "demands that President Trump's private interests and official conduct remain separate."
Trump suggested holding the next G-7 Summit at his Doral golf resort while attending this year's gathering in Biarritz, France. He said the resort has "luxurious rooms" and "incredible conference rooms" and insisted he had no interest in profiting from the event.
Several lawsuits winding through the courts assert that Trump has violated the Constitution's emoluments clause, which bans the president from taking gifts from foreign governments.

Judiciary panel probes Trump pitch to host G7 at golf course

Parents whose children were killed or wounded during last year's Parkland high school massacre asked the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday to rule that each pull of the trigger was a separate occurrence for which the Broward County School Board should be held liable.
But a lawyer for the school board told the court the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was one "unfortunate" incident that left 17 students and staff dead and 17 people injured.
The court's ruling could make a huge difference in the amount of the school board's potential liability.
The parents hope not to be constrained by a state law that caps government agencies' liability in civil lawsuits at USD 200,000 per individual and USD 300,000 per incident. Any jury award above that amount has to be approved by the Legislature and governor.
"This all happened in a matter of a few minutes, where one gunman came onto the campus," said Eugene Pettis, a lawyer for the school board.
"We have a ...

Parents, county clash in court over Parkland shootings

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday that Latin America's Amazon countries will meet in September to discuss both protecting and developing the rainforest region, which has been hit by weeks of devastating fires.
The Brazilian leader also escalated a deeply personal dispute with French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of portraying himself as "the one and only person" concerned about the environment.
Bolsonaro's remarks pushed back at international allegations that, on his watch, the weakening of environmental safeguards in Brazil had set the stage for farmers, developers and others to set fires more aggressively this year as a way to clear land, much of it already deforested.
They also highlighted the Brazilian government's contention that some international offers of help to fight the fires were an infringement of Brazilian sovereignty over the region.
Macron and other European leaders argue the fires in the Amazon require a global response because of the ...

Bolsonaro says Amazon nations should decide region's future

Dorian became a Category 1 hurricane on Wednesday as it struck the U.S. Virgin Islands, with forecasters saying it could grow to Category 3 status as it nears the U.S. mainland as early as the weekend.
The British Virgin Islands and the Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra were also in Dorian's path, the first major test of emergency preparedness for the U.S. territory since the 2017 devastation of Hurricane Maria, though the main island appeared to have been spared the brunt of the storm.
"Dorian brings uncertainty, and, for those of us who experienced the storms of 2017, uncomfortable memories," said British Virgin Islands Gov. Augustus Jaspert. "Take heart." Dorian prompted President Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency Tuesday night and order federal assistance for local authorities.
At 5 pm EDT, Dorian was located 45 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it had maximum sustained winds of 80 

Dorian hits US Virgin Islands as Category 1 hurricane

The suspected gunman in the deadly mass shooting in El Paso earlier this month told police that the AK-style rifle used in the attack came from Romania, according to an investigative report.
The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday that Patrick Crusius, 21, told police he ordered the weapon online before picking it up at a gun store near his home in suburban Dallas.
The Tribune cited a Texas Department of Public Safety document that also says the suspect told police he purchased thousands of rounds of ammunition from Russia.
El Paso police said shortly after the shooting that killed 22 people that the rifle was purchased legally.
Police have not named the specific model of the rifle used in the attack. According to a warrant, Crusius told investigators it was an AK-47 assault rifle.
Police have provided specific information on the ammunition, which can be used in an AK-47 assault rifle.
A spokesman for the El Paso police refused to comment Wednesday on the purchase of ammunition and the ..

El Paso shooting suspect says AK-style gun came from Romania

Hong Kong protesters threw bricks and gasoline bombs at police, who responded with tear gas, as chaotic scenes returned to the summer-long anti-government protests on Saturday for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Hundreds of black-clad protesters armed with bamboo poles and baseball bats fought with police officers wielding batons on a main road following a march against "smart lampposts" that was sparked by surveillance fears.
The chaotic scenes unfolded outside a police station and a nearby shopping mall as officers in riot gear faced off with protesters who set up makeshift street barricades.
The violence interrupted nearly two weeks of calm in Hong Kong, which has been gripped by a turbulent pro-democracy movement since June.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd after repeated warnings "went futile," the government said in a statement.
By early evening, most of the protesters had melted away.
Earlier in the day, some protesters used an electric saw to slice through the ..

HK police fire tear gas as protests take violent turn again

North Macedonia police say a 20-year old migrant from Bangladesh was killed and 12 others injured when a van packed with migrants collided with a truck on the main highway in the south.
Police said Saturday that a van with 13 migrants hit the rear of the truck near the town of Demir Kapija late Friday and caught fire.
Ten migrants were Pakistanis and three were Bangladeshi. Four seriously injured migrants were transferred to clinics in the capital Skopje, while eight others are being treated at a hospital in the town of Kavadarci. The van driver ran away from the scene.
The migrants are believed to have entered illegally from Greece and to have paid smugglers to take them north through Serbia towards Europe's prosperous heartland.

North Macedonia van crash kills migrant; 12 others injured

The world economy is getting shakier by the day, the Amazon has burned its way to the center of the climate change debate, and the leaders of the world's leading democracies will sit around a single table, theoretically charged with coming up with solutions for the biggest problems of the day.
Except that US President Donald Trump is largely uninterested in international agreements, and other G-7 leaders are seriously hobbled at home by political scandal, low poll numbers or lame duck status.
Welcome to the annual Group of Seven summit, which begins Saturday in the southern French resort town of Biarritz.
French President Emmanuel Macron, the host, has already made clear that he has little expectation that Trump will join any statement on fighting climate change even as the issue shot to the top of the agenda with the widespread fires in the Amazon.
He already rejected Trump's request to let Russia rejoin the group five years after being expelled over its seizure of Crimea. And he is .

AP

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