Thousands

flee rampaging wildfires in Canada’s north

YELLOWINIFE, Canada—Thousands were fleeing wildfires advancing on one of the largest cities in Canada’s far north on Thursday (Friday in Manila), as convoys snaked south to safety on the only open highway and evacuation flights took off from the airport.

The order to evacuate Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories marks the latest chapter in a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada.

More than 20,000 residents of the regional capital have been given until noon Friday to leave.

Emergency responders were constructing firebreaks, installing sprinkler lines and water cannons, and laying fire retardant in an effort to prevent the

Russia says it destroyed drones in Moscow, Black Sea

MOSCOW—Russian forces have destroyed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and its Black Sea Fleet, officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks on the capital and the flash point waterway.

Russia’s defense ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the capital at about 04:00 (9 am in Manila) on Friday.

“The UAV, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Moscow’s mayor said emergency ser- vices were on the scene, but that early reports indicated there were no casualties.

“The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building,” Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. Hours before the strike on Moscow, Russia thwarted a Ukrainian marine drone attack on its warships in the Black Sea, the latest in a string of assaults on its fleet. Russia’s defense ministry said the drone was destroyed late on Thursday night by navy patrol ships, 237 km southwest of Sevastopol -- the base of its Black Sea Fleet on the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula. Attacks from both sides have escalat- blaze from reaching the city -- which remained a real possibility in coming days, officials said. Northwest winds over the next two days will send the fire “in directions we don’t want,” said Mike Westwick, Northwest Territories’ fire information officer.

Heeding Wednesday’s evacuation order, Tiffany Champagne was one of many who crammed into the airport in Yellowknife awaiting flights -- the first departing at 1:00 pm (7 pm Mnila time). “I have asthma and the wildfire smoke was making it increasingly difficult to do anything,” Champagne, wearing a face mask, told public broadcaster CBC. AFP

COMMUNITY AND CREATIVITY. Costumed revelers watch the parade during the 45th Annual Provincetown Carnival Parade in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Friday. The carnival, which celebrates community, expression and creativity was started in 1978 by the Provincetown Business Guild. The theme for the parade this year is ‘Land of Toys.’ AFP

WASHINGTON, DC—A 55-year-old woman who holds dual French and Canadian nationality was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison on Thursday (Friday in Manila) for sending a letter containing deadly ricin to then-US president Donald Trump. Pascale Ferrier pleaded guilty in January to violating prohibitions on possession or use of banned biological weapons. Ferrier admitted she made ricin, an extremely toxic plant protein derived from castor bean seeds, at her home in Quebec in September 2020. She sent a letter containing ricin ed in the Black Sea since Russia pulled out of a deal that had allowed safe export of Ukrainian grain through the shipping hub.

On August 4, Russia said it had repelled Ukraine’s attempted drone attack on its Novorossiysknaval base in the sea, while a Ukrainian security source said the strike on a warship at the base was successful. State-run news agency TASS reported that one of the walls of the venue’s pavilion had partially collapsed, citing emergency services.

“The area of the collapse is about 30 square meters (323 square feet),” emergency services told TASS. AFP

president Trump

that same month from Canada to the White House addressed to Trump and other poison-laced letters to eight law enforcement officials in the state of Texas. Her letter to Trump contained “threatening language” and called on him to withdraw from the looming election, according to the Justice Department.

“I found a new name for you: ‘The Ugly Tyrant Clown’ I hope you like it,” the letter said.

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I’ll be able to come. Enjoy!” AFP

N. Zealand to pay man wrongly jailed 18 years

WELLINGTON—A New Zealand man who spent nearly 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit will receive a multimillion-dollar compensation package, the government said Friday.

Alan Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1986 after a man was fatally stabbed during an Auckland home invasion.

In a statement to local media, Hall’s family said they were relieved the fight to clear his name was over. “Alan was 24 when he was arrested. He is now 61.”

There was no forensic evidence linking Hall to the scene, and the assailant was said to be of a different height and ethnicity.

But Hall was found guilty nonetheless.

Hall was released on parole in 1994 only to be sent back to jail in 2012 for breaching the conditions of his release. He was finally set free last year and acquitted.

New Zealand’s Supreme Court admitted the initial trial had been unjust, showing either “extreme incompetence” or “a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction.”

The Supreme Court also noted that Hall had an intellectual disability, and despite this was subjected to 20 hours of interrogation without his lawyer present. AFP