North America
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (center), makes an infrastructure announcement in Calgary, Alberta, on July 6. (AP)
Bill Shine joins WH:
US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive, was joining the White House as deputy chief of staff for communications.
Shine, 55, was appointed co-president of the US television news network in August 2016, following the abrupt resignation of its chief Roger Ailes in the face of a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Shine resigned in May 2017 over questions concerning his handling of the Ailes case and accusations that he had helped cover up alleged misbehavior.
Shine was the third key figure to leave Fox in a year. The channel also ended its relationship with star anchor Bill O’Reilly following reports that millions of dollars had been paid to settle allegations of sexual harassment.
Shine “brings over two decades of television programming, communications, and management experience to the role,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House job of director of communications has been vacant since the departure in March of top aide Hope Hicks. (AFP)
Wildfires sweep through Calif: Firefighters battling wildfires throughout the US West that have torched hundreds of homes hoped for some help from the weather Saturday even as new fires swept sweltering Southern California.
A fire on the California-Oregon border that destroyed 40 buildings and claimed at least one life since Thursday remained virtually out of control, but a National Weather Service warning of extreme fire danger from heat and winds expired Friday.
Trump
Ailes
Farther south, a new wind-driven fire Friday night burned at least 20 homes and threatened hundreds more in the hills above Goleta in Santa Barbara County, authorities said.
Evacuations were ordered as the fire edged into residential areas, and by late Friday night, it was about a mile from the downtown area, county fire Capt Dave Zaniboni told KNX-AM radio.
Authorities said the blaze started with a house fire and gusty winds reportedly were pushing the flames.
The area is north of where the Thomas Fire raged last December. That blaze destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
East of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities ordered the evacuation of the community of Forest Falls, which has about 700 homes, as a quick-moving wildfire swelled to 1,000 acres (about 1.5 sq miles).
In San Diego County, several fires erupted including one that burned at least five homes and perhaps many more in Alpine, in foothills not far from San Diego. Gov Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the county.
At a Red Cross shelter, Ben Stanfill told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he and other relatives helped evacuate his mother’s house, even though it wasn’t in a mandatory evacuation area. (AP)
Canada heat wave toll hits 54:
The death toll in a week-long eastern Canadian heat wave has reached 54, officials said on Friday.
Most of the victims linked to the “overwhelming heat” were in the Montreal area, which recorded 28 fatalities, metropolitan health authorities told AFP in an email.
The other victims were reported in the southwest of the French-Canadian province, the Quebec health ministry said.
On Thursday, Environment Canada had forecast a maximum temperature of 35 C (95 F) but said the heat index would make it feel like 45 C.
The mercury has since June 29 regularly topped 30 C, accompanied by stifling humidity levels, but temperatures should drop back to seasonal averages from Saturday. “Looking at the weather forecast, we are waiting for a return to normal in the coming hours,” said Health Ministry spokeswoman Noemie Vanheuverzwijn. (AFP)