World
At least 65 killed in Algerian wildfires, Greece and Italy burn
Exhausted Greek firefighters battled blazes for a ninth day on Wednesday amid sweltering temperatures that also helped stoke wildfires in Algeria, where at least 65 people died, and in southern Italy, Reuters reported.
From Turkey to Tunisia, countries around the Mediterranean have been seeing some of their highest temperatures in decades, as the United Nations climate panel this week warned that the world was dangerously close to runaway warming.
Greece, in the grip of its worst heatwave in three decades, evacuated around 20 villages on the Peloponnese, though ancient Olympia, site of the first Olympic Games, escaped the inferno, Reuters reported.
About 580 Greek firefighters, helped by colleagues from France, Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic, were battling blazes in Gortynia, near Olympia.
Flare-ups continued to ravage Evia, Greece’s second-largest island, just off the mainland east of Athens and scene of some of the worst devastation in the past week, Reuters reported.
“If helicopters and water bombing planes had come right away and operated for six, seven hours, the wildfire would have been put out in the first day,” said cafe owner Thrasyvoulos Kotzias, 34, gazing at an empty beach in the resort of Pefki on Evia.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called it a “nightmarish summer” and has apologised for failures in tackling some of the more than 500 wildfires that have raged across Greece.
At the other end of the Mediterranean, Algeria’s government deployed the army to help fight fires that tore through forested areas in the north of the country, killing at least 65 people, including 28 soldiers.
The worst hit area has been Tizi Ouzou, the largest district of the mountainous Kabylie region, where houses have burned and residents fled to shelter in hotels, hostels and university accommodation in nearby towns.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning for the dead.
In southern Italy fires ravaged thousands of acres of land as temperatures hit records well above 40 degrees Celsius and hot winds fanned the flames, Reuters reported.
Firefighters said on Twitter they had carried out more than 3,000 operations in Sicily and Calabria in the last 12 hours, deploying seven planes to try to douse the flames.
“We are losing our history, our identity is turning to ashes, our soul is burning,” a local mayor in Calabria, Giuseppe Falcomata, wrote on Facebook, after a 76-year-old man died when flames engulfed his house.
Tunisia’s capital Tunis recorded its highest ever temperature of 49C on Tuesday, the Meteorological Institute said.
Turkey has also suffered nearly 300 wildfires over the past two weeks which have devastated tens of thousands of hectares of woodland, though only three were reported still burning as of late Wednesday.
Turkey’s northern coast, however, faced a different challenge – floods after unusually heavy rainfall that tore down a bridge and left villages without power.
The wildfires are not limited to the Mediterranean region. California has suffered the second-largest wildfire in its history that by late on Sunday had covered nearly 500,000 acres (2,000 sq km).
The U.N. climate panel published a report on Monday that said greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were high enough to guarantee climate disruption for decades if not centuries.
World
Trump’s approval rating drops sharply as government shutdown drags on
Trump’s decline in support comes just days after Democrats scored major victories in several state and local elections.
US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen sharply — even among his own supporters — as the historic government shutdown enters its second month, according to new polling data.
A YouGov/Economist survey found that 84 percent of Trump supporters still approve of his performance, compared to 14 percent who disapprove. While that remains a strong figure, it represents a four-point drop since August, when he enjoyed a +74 approval rating among those who voted for him in 2024.
Across all voters, 39 percent said they approve of the way Trump is handling his job, while 57 percent disapprove. The poll was conducted between October 31 and November 3, as the shutdown became the longest in U.S. history — surpassing a 35-day closure that occurred during Trump’s first term.
The ongoing standoff has left millions of Americans struggling. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ran out of funds in early November, cutting off benefits for more than 42 million people. A lower court order had temporarily restored the aid, but the Supreme Court paused implementation last week.
The USDA initially said it was working to issue full benefits, but reversed that decision on Sunday, instructing states to halt those payments. Meanwhile, food banks across the country report overwhelming demand as federal workers continue to miss paychecks.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also announced flight reductions at 40 airports beginning Friday, citing staff shortages. Thousands of flights have since been canceled or delayed nationwide.
Trump’s decline in support comes just days after Democrats scored major victories in several state and local elections. A separate Emerson College poll, conducted November 3–4, found 49 percent disapproval of Trump’s performance, compared to 41 percent approval — a near reversal from the start of his presidency, when he held 49 percent approval and 41 percent disapproval.
According to Emerson Polling Director Spencer Kimball, Trump’s support among Republican voters has dropped from 91 percent to 79 percent since he took office.
Trump dismissed the negative polling results earlier this week, calling them “fake” in a post on Truth Social.
“So many Fake Polls are being shown by the Radical Left Media,” he wrote. “In the Fair Polls, and even the Reasonable Polls, I have the Best Numbers I have ever had — and why shouldn’t I?”
The president now faces mounting pressure to end the shutdown as economic disruption grows and public patience wanes.
World
Saudi Arabia executes two people for plotting attacks on places of worship
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it had executed two citizens for joining a terrorist group that planned to carry out attacks on places of worship.
The two men also planned attacks against security facilities and personnel, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing a statement from the interior ministry.
The statement did not indicate when any of the attacks were planned to have taken place, Reuters reported.
World
North Korea threatens ‘offensive action’, condemns US-South Korea security talks
North Korea’s defence minister No Kwang Chol threatened on Saturday to take “more offensive action” as he condemned U.S. security talks with Seoul and the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in South Korea.
A day earlier, North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, after denouncing on Thursday fresh U.S. sanctions against North Korean individuals and entities that Washington said were involved in cyber-related money-laundering schemes, Reuters reported.
South Korea’s defence ministry on Saturday condemned the missile launch, while saying the North’s criticism of the U.S.-South Korea meeting was regrettable.
No criticised a recent visit by U.S. and South Korean defence chiefs to the border between North and South Korea, as well as their subsequent security talks in Seoul, alleging they were conspiring to step up deterrence efforts towards the North and to integrate their nuclear and conventional forces.
“This is a stark revelation and an unveiled intentional expression of their hostile nature to stand against the DPRK to the end,” No said, referring to the country’s formal name – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the core of the alliance with Seoul will remain focused on deterring North Korea, although Washington will look at flexibility for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats.
No also said the visit of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan this week following U.S.-South Korean joint air drills with Seoul had escalated tensions on the peninsula.
“We will show more offensive action against the enemies’ threat on the principle of ensuring security and defending peace by dint of powerful strength,” No said, according to North Korean state media KCNA.
South Korea’s navy said the carrier’s visit was to replenish supplies and grant leave for the crew.
While visiting South Korea last week, U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his willingness to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. No meeting took place, but Trump said he was willing to return to the region to meet Kim.
Last week, North Korea also test-fired cruise missiles to the west of the Korean peninsula just as Trump and other leaders were set to gather in South Korea for regional meetings.
Regarding the latest missile launch, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Saturday that it “does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies”.
“The missile launch highlights the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s actions, it added.
-
Sport5 days agoRasooli to lead Afghanistan in Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025 Defense
-
Latest News3 days agoIndia to establish agricultural research center in Afghanistan
-
Latest News3 days agoPakistan urges Islamic Emirate to relocate TTP to Afghanistan, sources say
-
Sport3 days agoAfghanistan to host West Indies for three-match T20I series in January 2026
-
Sport4 days agoAfghanistan to face Iran in Islamic Solidarity Games futsal clash
-
Sport3 days agoAfghanistan crush Nepal, South Africa in Hong Kong Sixes
-
Business5 days agoAriana Airlines slashes cargo fees to boost Afghanistan’s trade
-
Sport2 days agoMorocco defeats Afghanistan 4–0 in Islamic Solidarity Games futsal tournament
