California fire death toll rises to 23
AFP, Paradise
The death toll from destructive fires hitting California rose to 23 Saturday as rescue workers recovered more bodies of people killed by the late-season infernos.
Firefighters battled raging fires at both ends of the state – in Butte County, a scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Sacramento, and in the Los Angeles area, where two deaths possibly related to a fire were reported.
Taliban destroy Afghan army base, kill 16
AP, Kabul
Afghan officials say the Taliban have attacked a small army base, killing 12 members of the security forces and leaving behind explosives that killed four tribal elders who had come to help collect the bodies.
Safder Mohsini, head of provincial council in the northern Baghlan province, says the insurgents abducted two soldiers and wounded three others in the attack, which began late Saturday. He says the militants burned down the base before planting bombs around it.
US, Iraqi forces kill dozens of IS fighters
AP, Baghdad
The U.S. military says American and Iraqi forces killed more than 50 Islamic State militants, including several commanders, in northern Iraq last month.
U.S. Central Command said Sunday that an Oct. 30 operation in Salahuddin province killed five IS leaders and more than 30 other militants, and that an operation the following day in the Makhmour Mountains killed around 20 IS fighters. It says the leaders killed in the first raid were responsible for coordinating attacks across northern and western Iraq.
Landslide leaves 9 dead in Rio
de Janeiro
Xinhua, Rio De Janeiro
At least nine people were killed Saturday in a landslide caused by heavy rains in southeast Brazil’s Niteroi municipality, part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, according to local authorities. Heavy rains that have pummeled the region for the past three days led to a huge rock dislodging, leaving at least six homes destroyed early Saturday, Brazil’s civil defense authorities said.
