News around the world

(CNN) This may be the  most important paragraph  of Donald Trump's presidency: "Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said." Holy crap. Let's take a quick step back for some context. The June 2016 meeting between a group of Russians and the top brass of the Trump campaign, including the candidate's eldest son and son-in-law, has long been at the center of questions -- from special counsel Robert Mueller and others -- about whether there was any sort of collusion between a foreign country and the Trump campaign in 2016. When news of the meeting first broke, Donald Trump Jr. insisted it was a brief and unimportant gathering focused on...

ATHENS, Greece -- Greek authorities said Thursday there were serious indications that a deadly wildfire that gutted a vacation resort near Athens was started deliberately. Meanwhile experts have warned that the devastated coastal town had been built like a "fire trap," with poor safety standards and few escape routes. The death toll from Monday's blaze east of the Greek capital rose to 82 as rescuers and divers continued to search for bodies in burnt-out homes and at sea, where hundreds fled to try to escape the inferno. Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas said satellite image analysis of the deadly fire and a second blaze that broke out Monday on the other side of the city indicated both had been set in multiple places within a short time frame. "We have serious indications and significant findings of criminal activity concerning arson," Toskas said. "We are troubled by many factors, and there have been physical findings that are the subject of an ...

Chinese police said an explosion outside the US embassy in Beijing on Thursday afternoon was believed to have been caused by fireworks ignited by a 26-year-old man from Inner Mongolia. In a statement, Beijing police said the man, identified by his surname Jiang, injured his hand igniting the fireworks. He was sent to hospital and an investigation was under way. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the explosion was an isolated incident, and police were handling it. The US embassy said no staff were injured in the explosion. “There was an explosion at approximately 1pm today in the public space off the southeast corner of the embassy compound. According to the embassy’s regional security officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, there were no injuries. The local police responded,” an embassy spokeswoman said. Shri Acquino Vimal, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Beijing, about 150 metres from the US embassy...

An  Irish  bride on her honeymoon has been injured in the  Greek  fire tragedy that has killed more than seventy people, and her new husband was still missing last night.

BREAKING NEWS: UNFORTUNATELY DEMI LOVATO..

At least 74 people have been killed in wildfires raging close to Athens since Monday, a Greek fire brigade official said on Tuesday. At least 187 people, including 23 children, have been injured. The number of missing persons was still unclear. The number outpaces the death toll of 2007, one of the worst on record, where about 70 individuals died from fires in the southern Peloponnese region. [Reuters] source

At least 74 people have been killed in wildfires raging close to Athens since Monday, a Greek fire brigade official said on Tuesday.

(CNN) Sunday's shooting rampage in Toronto that left two people dead has brought more scrutiny on a growing issue in Canada's most populous city: gun violence. Attacker in Toronto rampage that killed 2, injured 13 is identified Toronto has seen a recent spike in gun violence and homicides this year. In 2017, Toronto Police Service reported 205 shootings. As of Monday -- with five months left to go in the year -- the 2018 totals have already exceeded last year's totals that with 228 shootings. Homicides in the city have also increased this year, so far to 58 -- having exceeded last year's total of 24. Most of the homicides this year -- 29 out of 58 -- were from shootings, according to police. The Sunday  shooting in Toronto's Greektown neighborhood  killed two people -- a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman -- among the 15 people who were shot. The assailant is also dead and investigators are trying to understand what prompted the violence. Just two days before...

(CNN) Sunday's shooting rampage in Toronto that left two people dead has brought more scrutiny on a growing issue in Canada's most populous city: gun violence.

Athens (CNN) At least 50 people have died in the worst wildfires to hit Greece in more than a decade, with some residents forced to flee into the sea to escape the advancing flames. Residents told of horrifying scenes as flames engulfed a seaside village, where the only way out for some was to run for the water.

Greece’s Red Cross organization said on Tuesday the bodies of around 26 victims of a devastating forest fire east of Athens had been discovered, substantially raising a death toll from an inferno which ravaged the area on Monday evening.

Forest fires raged uncontrolled in several places across Greece on Monday, destroying homes, disrupting major transport links and sending people fleeing for their lives.

A fire burning a pine forest in a mountainous area west of Athens has prompted nearby residents to flee their homes, as smoke from the blaze turned much of the sky over the Greek capital orange. The fire department said five water-dropping planes and two helicopters were battling the blaze Monday in the Geraneia mountains near the seaside settlement of Kineta between Athens and Corinth, along with 30 firetrucks and 70 firefighters. Footage from Greek TV station Skai showed the fire burning inside yards, with residents escaping in cars and on mopeds. High temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) have been predicted for Greece, and authorities have warned the risk of forest fires is high. source

A forest fire has been raging in the resort of Kineta in West Attica in a blaze front extending to six kilometers. Powerful wind of up to 7 and occasionally 8 Beaufort make the firefighters’ work almost impossible. The rough sea hinders aerial means from loading water from the sea.

A big fire broke out on the mountain slopes of Gerania, near the resort town of Kineta, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Athens.

President Donald Trump escalated a war of words with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani with a menacing tweet late Sunday. In the nearly all-caps tweet, Trump directly warned the Iranian president to “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN,” adding that any new ones would bring "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.” Trump’s tweet came hours after  Rouhani’s own warning  over the weekend, reported by Iranian state news agency IRNA, that Trump was playing “with the lion's tail.” "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars," Rouhani said. Trump called the comments “DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" The fiery rhetoric by both presidents comes against the backdrop of increasingly adversarial actions between the two nations. In May, Trump announced his intention to  withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal  and threatened the...

President Donald Trump escalated a war of words with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani with a menacing tweet late Sunday. In the nearly all-caps tweet, Trump directly warned the Iranian president to “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN,” adding that any new ones would bring "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.” Trump’s tweet came hours after  Rouhani’s own warning  over the weekend, reported by Iranian state news agency IRNA, that Trump was playing “with the lion's tail.” "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars," Rouhani said. Trump called the comments “DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" The fiery rhetoric by both presidents comes against the backdrop of increasingly adversarial actions between the two nations. In May, Trump announced his intention to  withdraw the U.S. from the Iran ...

Two people including the gunman are dead and 13 wounded in Toronto after a shooting Sunday in the busy Greektown neighborhood, adding to concern about gun violence in Canada's largest city. "One female adult has died. One young girl in critical condition," Toronto police said on Twitter, adding that all 14 victims were shot with a handgun. Police said the suspect was also dead, and The Toronto Star quoted Police Chief Mark Saunders as saying there had been "an exchange of gunfire." The suspect is believed to have opened fire at police before killing himself, Global News quoted a Toronto police source as saying. Officers, some armed with rifles, sealed off Greektown's main street, known as the Danforth, after getting the call around 10:00 pm (0200 GMT Monday). Witnesses described to local media hearing about 20 shots and the sound of a weapon being reloaded several times. Jody Steinhauer told CBC News she was at a neighborhood restaurant with her family when ...

Two people including the gunman are dead and 13 wounded in Toronto after a shooting Sunday in the busy Greektown neighborhood, adding to concern about gun violence in Canada's largest city. "One female adult has died. One young girl in critical condition," Toronto police said on Twitter, adding that all 14 victims were shot with a handgun. Police said the suspect was also dead, and The Toronto Star quoted Police Chief Mark Saunders as saying there had been "an exchange of gunfire." The suspect is believed to have opened fire at police before killing himself, Global News quoted a Toronto police source as saying. Officers, some armed with rifles, sealed off Greektown's main street, known as the Danforth, after getting the call around 10:00 pm (0200 GMT Monday). Witnesses described to local media hearing about 20 shots and the sound of a weapon being reloaded several times. Jody Steinhauer told CBC News she was at a neighborhood restaurant with...

A Trader Joe's employee is dead and a wounded suspect is in custody after a standoff in Los Angeles stretched through several tense hours Saturday before the suspect surrendered. About 40 people were inside the grocery store on Hyperion Avenue, in LA's Silver Lake neighborhood, when an armed man ran in, according to police. He had crashed the car he was driving nearby after firing multiple rounds at officers pursuing him, police said. The man was running from police after a shooting in which an elderly woman and a young woman were victims, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez told CNN. Their conditions were not given. Police said the older woman was the suspect's grandmother, and it was the grandmother's car he was driving when he wrecked near the Trader Joe's. Some customers immediately ran out of the store when the armed man burst in, and police surrounded the building. Over the course of the three-hour standoff, several people walked out of the store with their ha...