NEWS IN BRIEF

Trekkers leave volcano after quake

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Nearly 700 trekkers headed down Mount Rinjani on Indonesia’s tourist island of Lombok on Monday, a day after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.4 terrified the climbers as boulders tumbled down the slopes of the volcano. Officials said the death toll from Sunday’s earthquake, which was centered on the northern part of Lombok, but was also felt on the resort island of Bali to the west, stood at 16. More than 335 people were injured, many by collapsing buildings. “I thought I was going to die,” said John Robyn Buenavista, a 23-year-old American, who was at the summit when the quake hit. “I was clinging to the ground. It felt like it lasted forever. I saw people fall off, but it’s a blur.”

Tsipras visits wildfire-stricken town

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met survivors of a wildfire that killed at least 91 people during his first visit to the town of Mati on Monday, after facing criticism for the government’s response to the blaze. Fires began a week ago in the coastal resort, which is 30 km. east of Athens, and Tsipras has been attacked by opposition parties for the government’s handling of the disaster, which also left dozens injured. Tsipras has accepted full political responsibility and pledged a series of changes, including a crackdown on illegal and haphazard construction that is thought to have worsened the blaze. He spent around an hour in the area and met locals, firefighters and police officers, his office said in a statement. “Today I visited the place of tragedy,” Tsipras tweeted. “[I have] untold grief but also immense respect for those who fought an uneven battle with the flames,” he said. A total of 25 people are still missing and 28 bodies have yet to be identified, the fire brigade said on Sunday.

UK: No London will make EU suffer

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has warned the European Union negotiators that EU financial firms will face obstacles to working in the country after Brexit unless the City of London is allowed to operate in the bloc as it does currently, the Guardian reported on Monday. The Guardian said that about 7,000 European based investment funds could be hit by regulators, citing a section of a presentation, seen by the newspaper, which made by Britain to EU negotiators during talks last week. A spokeswoman for Britain’s Department for Exiting the European Union declined to comment on the report. Last week, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he had agreed with Brexit minister Dominic Raab that future financial market access would be governed by autonomous decisions on both sides, but questions remain on how the relationship will work.

Firefighters gain on Calif. wildfire

REDDING (Reuters) – California firefighters on Monday were gaining ground on a massive blaze that has killed six people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, while rescuers searched for seven people unaccounted for in the wildfire. The Carr Fire, outside Redding, California, ignited a week ago and doubled in size over the weekend, charring an area the size of Detroit, forcing 38,000 people to flee their homes and claiming lives of two firefighters and another person, as well as a woman and her two young great-grandchildren. Centered 240 km. north of Sacramento, it is the deadliest of the 90 wildfires burning across the United States. Collectively, wildfires have blackened 4.4 million acres of land so far this year, 21% more than the 10-year average for the time period, according to federal data. The more than 3,000 firefighters battling the Carr Fire began to turn the tables by Sunday afternoon, cutting containment lines around 17% of its perimeter, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Previously the fire was just 5% contained.

MH370 probe: Mystery unsolved

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Investigators released a report on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on Monday, saying the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course but they were not able to determine who was responsible. The 495-page report draws no conclusion about what happened aboard the plane that vanished with 239 people on board en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, leaving one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries unsolved. “The answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found,” Kok Soo Chon, head of the MH370 safety investigation team, told reporters. On May 29, Malaysia called off a three-month search by US firm Ocean Infinity, which spanned 112,000 sq. km. in the southern Indian Ocean and ended with no significant findings. It was the second major search after Australia, China and Malaysia ended a fruitless A$200 million ($147.06m.) search across an area of 120,000 sq. km. last year.

Ryanair strikes widen

BERLIN (Reuters) – German pilots working for Ryanair have voted to strike as they push for collective labor agreements at Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, their union said on Monday. Ryanair management had met with the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilot union in Frankfurt last week. VC said the talks ended without the progress they had hoped for. The union is giving Ryanair until August 6 to make another offer, VC said in a statement, announcing it would host a press conference on August 8 to discuss its next steps. Ryanair said in December it would recognize unions for the first time but has been struggling to reach agreements with some. It canceled flights after strikes last week by Dublin-based pilots and stoppages by cabin crew in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium. It also said it planned to shift aircraft and jobs out of Dublin, saying that strikes by Irish pilots had harmed bookings. VC said 96% of Ryanair pilots in Germany voted in favor of strike action. It will give at least 24 hours’ notice of any strikes, it said.

Accused Australian archbishop resigns

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior cleric found guilty of concealing child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, has resigned, the Vatican said on Monday. Wilson, 67, the archbishop of Adelaide, was convicted in May of failing to disclose to police abuse by a priest, Father James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976 by two victims, one of them an altar boy who told him inside the confessional.