Death toll rises in US wildfire

A resident walks through properties in the Points Dume neighborhood of Malibu, California, the United States, on Saturday, after a fire tore through the neighborhood overnight. The death toll from wildfire in the U.S. state of California has increased to 42, making it the deadliest in the state’s history, local authorities said Monday. Wildfires continued to rage at both ends of the state.SD-Agencies

Trump walks alone as Macron rips nationalism

In what appeared a direct rebuke*, French President Emmanuel Macron warned U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders on Sunday that a dark new tide of nationalism*, the label Trump recently embraced for his “America First” movement, ignores the painful lessons of history and threatens a fragile global order.

Trump also attended a lunch on Sunday with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin said he had a brief but good conversation with Trump. When journalists asked Putin whether he managed to speak to Trump, he said: “Yes.”

Man in Nobel rape scandal declares innocence

A Frenchman jailed for rape in a scandal that led to the postponement of this year’s Nobel Literature Prize declared his innocence on Monday at the opening of his appeal trial.

Once an influential figure in Stockholm’s cultural scene, 72-year-old Jean-Claude Arnault was found guilty in October of raping a young woman in 2011 and sentenced to two years in prison.

The case was one of the first big trials to come out of the #MeToo movement and has left the Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, in tatters.

Australia berry scare ‘motivated by spite’

An Australian woman accused of hiding sewing needles inside strawberries in a high-profile sabotage* case was motivated by spite*, a court has heard.

My Ut Trinh, 50, was arrested on Sunday following a nationwide police investigation that began in September.

Trinh had worked as a supervisor at a strawberry farm north of Brisbane, according to Queensland Police. She has not said whether she will fight the charges against her. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in jail.

Bomb blasts toll rises to 53 in Somalia

Somali hospital and police sources said the death toll from Friday’s bombings in Mogadishu has risen to 53 with over 100 injured.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior Somali police officer, said many of the injured suffered horrific wounds, raising fears that death toll could rise further.

Four car bombs by Islamic extremists exploded outside a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday.

Leaders of France and Germany in show of unity

One hundred years after the guns of World War I fell silent, the leaders of France and Germany held hands and rested their heads against one another in a poignant* ceremony to mark the signing of the Armistice peace agreement.

President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inspected troops from a joint Franco-German Brigade before unveiling a plaque paying tribute to the reconciliation* and renewed friendship between the foes of two world wars.(SD-Agencies)