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Wildfires continue to spread across the western regions of North and South Carolina, with dry, windy conditions fueling the flames. State agencies report that over 12,000 acres have burned in South Carolina alone, while North Carolina is currently battling four separate fires. South Korea battles devastating wildfires as death toll reaches 27 Dr. Beverly Hargus, a local veterinarian, describes the situation as dire, explaining that debris left behind by a previous hurricane has acted as fuel for the fires. “Everything is so dry that it’s burning rapidly, and the wind is making it unpredictable,” she said. With her clinic just a mile and a half from the fire, she and her team have begun preparing for a possible evacuation, organizing essential equipment and documents while waiting to see how the fire progresses. Hargus’ clinic is already housing evacuated pets, but if the fire moves closer, they will need to relocate the animals again. While her facility is unable to accommodate large animals, the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center has taken in horses, goats, and sheep. Evacuations ordered as strong winds hinder California wildfire battle “We started receiving calls from displaced pet owners on Sunday night, and we’ve been placing dogs and cats wherever we can,” Hargus said. “For larger animals, we direct them to the agricultural center, which has plenty of stalls.” As the fires advance, Hargus admits she feels overwhelmed by the uncertainty and difficult decisions ahead. Source: With input from agency 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is traveling to Greenland on Wednesday for a three-day trip aimed at building trust and cooperation with Greenlandic officials at a time when the Trump administration is seeking control of the vast Arctic territory. Frederiksen announced plans for her visit after US Vice President JD Vance visited a US air base in Greenland last week and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory. Greenland is a mineral-rich, strategically critical island that is becoming more accessible because of climate change. Trump has said that the landmass is critical to US security. It's geographically part of North America, but is a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark. Frederiksen is due to meet the incoming Greenlandic leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, after an election last month that produced a new government. She is also to meet with the future Naalakkersuisut, the Cabinet, in a visit due to last through Friday. “It has my deepest respect how the Greenlandic people and the Greenlandic politicians handle the great pressure that is on Greenland," she said in government statement announcing the visit. On the agenda are talks with Nielsen about cooperation between Greenland and Denmark. Nielsen has said in recent days that he welcomes the visit, and that Greenland would resist any US attempt to annex the territory. “We must listen when others talk about us. But we must not be shaken. President Trump says the United States is ‘getting Greenland.’ Let me make this clear: The US is not getting that. We don’t belong to anyone else. We decide our own future,” he wrote Sunday on Facebook. Houthis claim downing American drone amid US strikes “We must not act out of fear. We must respond with peace, dignity and unity. And it is through these values that we must clearly, clearly and calmly show the American president that Greenland is ours.” For years, the people of Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, have been working toward eventual independence from Denmark. The Trump administration's threats to take control of the island one way or the other, possibly even with military force, have angered many in Greenland and Denmark. The incoming government wants to take a slower approach on the question of eventual independence. The political group in Greenland most sympathetic to the US president, the Naleraq party that advocates a swift path toward independence, was excluded from coalition talks to form the next government. Peter Viggo Jakobsen, associate professor at the Danish Defense Academy, said last week that the Trump administration’s aspirations for Greenland could backfire and push the more mild parties closer to Denmark. He said that “Trump has scared most Greenlanders away from this idea about a close relationship to the United States because they don’t trust him.”

Firefighters managed to halt the forward spread of a wildfire sweeping through a remote region of eastern California, yet evacuation orders for residents of hundreds of homes remained in effect, officials reported Monday evening. The Silver Fire ignited Sunday afternoon along Route 6 in Inyo County, approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Bishop in the Owens Valley, near the Nevada border. Authorities were investigating the cause. AI-enabled drone deployed in Germany to accelerate wildfire detection and response By Monday, the fire had scorched nearly 2.5 square miles (about 6.5 square kilometers) of grass and brush, according to a post on the social platform X by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Containment had reached 47%. Following the outbreak, evacuation orders were issued for around 800 homes near the small communities of Laws, Chalfant, and White Mountain Estates. However, officials did not provide an update Monday evening on how many residents remained under evacuation orders. Fire crews planned to stay overnight to monitor hotspots and reinforce containment lines. Gusts reaching 65 mph (104 kph) had restricted the deployment of water-dropping helicopters and kept air tankers grounded, Cal Fire spokesperson Chloe Castillo said earlier on Monday. “The winds are highly unpredictable,” she noted. “At one moment, they push north; the next, they shift east.” Cal Fire reported that the fire threatened land belonging to the Bishop Paiute Tribe, as well as habitats of endangered species such as the Owens pupfish and desert bighorn sheep. Inyo County has experienced minimal recent rainfall and remains unusually dry, with some areas suffering from extreme drought. South Korea battles devastating wildfires as death toll reaches 27 Similarly, much of Southern California is facing moderate to extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is contemplating ways to serve a third term as president, emphasizing that he is not joking about the possibility. In an interview with NBC News from his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump indicated there are potential methods to overcome the constitutional limit on presidential terms. He later expanded on this in a conversation with reporters on Air Force One, claiming that many people have urged him to pursue a third term, which he described as a fourth term due to his belief that the 2020 election was rigged, despite losing it to Joe Biden. However, Trump noted that he was not ready to focus on the idea of a third term, as there is still a long time until his second term ends. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, restricts any person from being elected president more than twice. While any attempt to extend his presidency would face significant legal challenges, Trump’s comments highlight his continuing desire to maintain power, echoing his previous attempts to contest the 2020 election results. Rep. Daniel Goldman, a Democrat from New York and lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment, criticized the remarks as part of a broader effort to dismantle democratic norms, urging Congressional Republicans to oppose Trump’s aspirations for a third term. At the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, Steve Bannon, a former Trump strategist, endorsed Trump’s potential 2028 run, while some supporters, like Kayla Thompson from Wisconsin, expressed strong backing for Trump to return for another term, believing that the country is on the right path under his leadership. Constitutional law experts, such as Jeremy Paul from Northeastern University, dismissed the idea of Trump running for a third term, citing the clear legal barriers. Trump was also asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker about a hypothetical situation where Vice President JD Vance runs for president and hands the office to Trump, to which Trump acknowledged that this was one possibility but did not elaborate on others. Election law professor Derek Muller pointed out that the 12th Amendment disqualifies anyone who is ineligible for the presidency from running for vice president, meaning that Trump could not circumvent term limits by seeking the vice-presidency. Muller also noted that the pursuit of a third term would require cooperation from various political and legal authorities, and suggested that Trump’s talk about a third term might be more about asserting political strength as a “lame-duck” president. Trump, who would be 82 at the end of his second term, said he enjoys working and would be willing to continue in the role. He also claimed that his popularity would make a third term feasible, citing inflated polling numbers. However, Gallup data shows that Trump’s approval rating never exceeded 47% during his second term, far lower than historical peaks seen by previous presidents. Trump has previously joked about the possibility of serving beyond two terms, raising the idea playfully in front of supportive audiences. There was no immediate response from congressional leaders to Trump’s comments.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised Saturday the friendship and trust that his country and Japan have developed while attending a memorial service on Iwo Jima to honor those who died in battle during World War II. Japan is Hegseth's second stop after the Philippines on his first Asia trip. His visit comes as Beijing has been showing increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea and following threats by President Donald Trump to impose trade tariffs on the East Asian country, a key US ally. Hegseth landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, now known as Iwoto, where Japanese and American soldiers faced off in one of the war's fiercest battles. He joined several American veterans who survived the battle and Japanese bereaved families, as well as his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other officials at Saturdsay's Reunion of Honor event. “Iwo Jima embodies our shared warrior ethos, our shared devotion to the nation, and to duty and our shared reverence for the men of valor who preceded us,” Hegseth said in front of the cenotaph built in 1985 marking their first joint memorial. “The US-Japan alliance shows ... how yesterday’s enemy has become today’s friends,” Hegseth said. “Our alliance has been and remains the cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security and peace in the Indo-Pacific.” Recent polls show the Japanese feel more affinity toward the US than any other country. Most Americans and Japanese alive today were born after Japan surrendered in August 1945. US grants initial approval for Qatar to acquire MQ-9 armed drones in a $2 billion deal Japan, which faces growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia, has been accelerating its military buildup and increasingly working closely with the US military. On Sunday, Hegseth will hold talks with Nakatani in Tokyo to discuss further strengthening the alliance. “We must not forget that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today have been built upon the noble sacrifices of those who died in the war and the tireless efforts of the people over the past 80 years since the end of the war,” said Japan's Ishiba, who became the first serving Japanese prime minister to attend the joint Iwo Jima memorial. Ishiba renewed his determination to peace and to further elevate the Japan-US alliance. “And we must continue to endeavour to humbly face the history and keep telling the harrowing experience of the war to the world so that we never repeat the tragedy of war," Ishiba said. The 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima is best known for the photo by The Associated Press’ Joe Rosenthal showing six Marines raising the US flag over Mount Suribachi.

The remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Friday, is the U.S. Department of Defense's northernmost installation. The base was built following a 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO. The Pituffik base is located on the northwestern coast of Greenland, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the the Arctic Circle and 1,524 kilometers (947 miles) south of the North Pole. It is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) north of Greenland's capital, Nuuk. It was known as the Thule Air Base until 2023, when it was renamed to recognize Greenlandic cultural heritage and reflect its role in the relatively new U.S. Space Force. Myanmar and Thailand hit by major earthquakes The base is locked in by ice for nine months of the year, but its airfield remains open all year round. It is in constant darkness from November to February and constant daylight from May to August. It is operated by the 821st Space Base Group and is also home to the world's northernmost deepwater sea port. The nearest town is Qaanaaq, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) to the northwest.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on auto imports, calling it a “direct attack” on Canada. He warned that the trade war is harming Americans, citing a decline in consumer confidence. Speaking on Wednesday, Carney vowed to protect Canadian workers and businesses, stating, “We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country.” However, he said he would review the specifics of Trump's executive order before announcing any retaliatory measures. The prime minister, who is currently campaigning for Canada’s April 28 election, will return to Ottawa on Thursday to lead a special Cabinet committee on U.S. relations. To counter the economic impact of the tariffs, Carney previously announced a CA$2 billion ($1.4 billion) “strategic response fund” aimed at safeguarding auto industry jobs. He stressed the importance of the sector, which directly employs 125,000 Canadians and supports nearly 500,000 more in related industries. Trump, who declared the tariffs “permanent,” had earlier granted Mexico and Canada a one-month exemption for U.S. automakers. However, with the new tax hike set to take effect in April, car manufacturers could face increased costs and declining sales. The move is part of Trump’s broader trade war, which has contributed to economic uncertainty. The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that U.S. consumer confidence fell for the fourth consecutive month, dropping to its lowest level since January 2021. “His trade war is hurting American consumers and workers, and it will only get worse,” Carney said while campaigning in Windsor, Ontario, near the U.S. border. Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues In addition to auto tariffs, Trump has previously imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and is threatening widespread levies on all Canadian imports and other U.S. trading partners starting April 2. “He wants to break us so America can own us,” Carney said. “But that will never happen because we don’t just look out for ourselves—we look out for each other.” Carney, a former central banker in both Canada and the U.K., made these remarks near the Ambassador Bridge, which carries 25% of all trade between the two nations and plays a crucial role in auto manufacturing. He highlighted that the bridge facilitates CA$140 billion ($98 billion) in goods annually, amounting to CA$400 million ($281 million) per day. “Now those numbers—and the jobs and paychecks that rely on them—are at risk,” Carney said. “The relationship between Canada and the U.S. has changed. We did not change it.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned that the tariffs would disrupt the auto industry on both sides of the border, leading to simultaneous plant closures. “President Trump calls it Liberation Day. I call it Termination Day for American workers,” Ford said. “I know Trump likes to say, ‘You’re fired!’—I just didn’t think he meant U.S. auto workers when he said it.” Trump has escalated tensions with Canada, even suggesting it should become the 51st U.S. state—a stance that has angered many Canadians. At a campaign rally in Kitchener, Ontario, crowds repeatedly booed when Trump's name was mentioned. Despite taking office on March 14, Carney has yet to speak with Trump, an unusual delay in communication between the two nations’ leaders. “It would be appropriate for the president and me to have a conversation given these recent developments. I expect that will happen soon,” Carney said. Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also criticized the tariffs, warning they would harm both American and Canadian workers. Vermont businesses feel impact of Trump's tariffs on Canada “The message to President Trump should be clear: knock it off,” Poilievre said. “He’s changed his mind before. He’s imposed tariffs, then removed them. It wouldn’t be surprising if he does it again.” Source: With input from agency 

The United States has preliminarily approved Qatar’s request to purchase eight MQ-9B Predator armed drones, a deal valued at nearly $2 billion. The State Department’s approval, announced early Thursday, follows Doha’s prolonged efforts to secure the drones under the Biden administration, which had not authorized the sale despite Qatar’s role as a key intermediary between Washington and the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran’s leadership, and Hamas in Gaza. However, this immediate approval under President Donald Trump signals a shift in U.S. relations with Qatar, particularly considering his prior support for a four-nation boycott of Doha during his first term. "This proposed sale will advance U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by enhancing the defense capabilities of a key partner that plays a vital role in political stability and economic progress in the Middle East," the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency stated. Qatar's government has yet to comment on the decision. The Gulf nation ranks as the second-largest buyer of U.S. military equipment after Saudi Arabia, having spent over $26 billion on F-15 fighter jets, Apache attack helicopters, missile defense systems, and other hardware. The deal now requires congressional approval, as U.S. lawmakers typically review such transactions and have the authority to block them. White House: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia Under the proposed agreement, Qatar would acquire eight drones equipped with hundreds of bombs and missiles, along with satellite-operated control systems. Manufactured by General Atomics, the MQ-9 Reaper drones cost approximately $30 million each. They can operate at altitudes above 40,000 feet (12,100 meters) and remain airborne for over 30 hours. The U.S. military and CIA have extensively used these drones in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. A swarm of small drones may help artificial reefs attract sea life Notably, Qatar’s approval comes as the United Arab Emirates has been awaiting clearance since 2020 for a $23 billion arms deal that includes up to 18 MQ-9 drones and advanced F-35 fighter jets. Trump's administration had close ties with the UAE, which established diplomatic relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020. Source: With input from agnecy 

FBI Director Kash Patel was not part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans, but that didn't spare him from being questioned by lawmakers this week about whether the nation's premier law enforcement agency would investigate. Patel made no such commitments during the course of two days of Senate and House hearings. Instead, he testified that he had not personally reviewed the text messages that were inadvertently shared with the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic who was mistakenly included on an unclassified Signal chat. That Patel would be grilled on what the FBI might do was hardly surprising. Even as President Donald Trump insisted "it's not really an FBI thing,” the reality is that the FBI and Justice Department for decades have been responsible for enforcing Espionage Act statutes governing the mishandling — whether intentional or negligent — of national defense information like the kind shared on Signal, a publicly available app that provides encrypted communications but is not approved for classified information. The Justice Department has broad discretion to open an investigation, though it remains unclear whether Attorney General Pam Bondi, who introduced Trump at a Justice Department event this month, would authorize such an inquiry. Trump administration officials insist that the details shared were not classified, though the Espionage Act technically criminalizes the mishandling of any information deemed to be closely held national defense information even if not classified. Multiple high-profile figures have found themselves under investigation in recent years over their handling of government secrets, but the differences in the underlying facts and the outcomes make it impossible to prognosticate what might happen in this instance or whether any accountability can be expected. There's also precedent for public officials either to avoid criminal charges or be spared meaningful punishment. The Atlantic publishes US Defense Secy Hegseth’s full Signal chat on Houthi strike plans “In terms of prior investigations, there were set-out standards that the department always looked at and tried to follow when making determinations about which types of disclosures they were going to pursue,” said former Justice Department prosecutor Michael Zweiback, who has handled classified information investigations.

The Atlantic on Wednesday released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf of the United States were airborne. The disclosure follows two intense days during which leaders of President Donald Trump’s intelligence and defense agencies have struggled to explain how details — that current and former US officials have said would have been classified — wound up on an unclassified Signal chat that included Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said no classified information was posted to the Signal chat. US intelligence officials to appear at House hearing Sen Roger Wicker, R-Miss, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he and Rhode Island Sen Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat, plan to send a letter to the Trump administration requesting an inspector general investigation into the use of Signal. They seek a classified briefing with a top administration official “who can speak to the facts” of the episode. Top military official was not included in the chat The chat was also notable for who it excluded: the only military attendee of the principals committee, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Adm Christopher Grady is currently serving in that position in an acting capacity because Trump fired former chairman Gen CQ Brown Jr in February. National security adviser Mike Waltz was authorized to decide whether to include the Joint Chiefs chairman in the principals committee discussion, “based on the policy relevance of attendees to the issues being considered, the need for secrecy on sensitive matters, staffing needs, and other considerations,” the White House said in a Jan. 20 memo. The Pentagon said it would not comment on the issue, and it was not immediately clear why Grady, currently serving as the president’s top military adviser, would not be included in a discussion on military strikes. Hegseth has refused to say whether he posted classified information onto Signal. He is traveling in the Indo-Pacific and to date has only scoffed at questions, saying he did not reveal “war plans.” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that it was up to Hegseth to determine whether the information he was posting was classified or not. Egypt offers new ceasefire proposal amid Israeli strikes killing scores Very specific texts were revealed What was revealed was jaw-dropping in its specificity and includes the type of information that is kept to a very close hold to protect the operational security of a military strike. But Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, said in a statement Wednesday that “there were no classified materials or war plans shared. The Secretary was merely updating the group on a plan that was underway.” The Pentagon and White House have tried to deflect criticism by attacking Goldberg and The Atlantic. The magazine and Goldberg, however, repeatedly reached out to the White House before and after publication to gain additional context on the Signal chat and ensure that publishing the full texts would not cause harm. In a response, Goldberg reported Wednesday, Leavitt described some of the information as sensitive and said the White House would prefer it not be published.