Briefly

UNITED STATES

California's largest wildfire leaves 10 dead

A Northern California wildfire that destroyed a foothill hamlet has become the state's deadliest blaze of the year with 10 people confirmed dead－and the toll could climb as searchers look for 16 missing people. The North Complex fire that exploded in wind-driven flames earlier this past week was advancing more slowly on Friday after the winds eased and smoke from the blaze shaded the area and lowered the temperature, allowing firefighters to make progress, authorities said. However, the smoke made for poor visibility and fire helicopters couldn't fly on Thursday. In most parts of the state, red flag warnings of extreme fire danger because of hot, dry weather or gusty winds were lifted.

Trump holds firm on TikTok sale deadline

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the deadline set for Chinese company ByteDance to sell the US assets of the popular short-video app TikTok would not be extended. "It'll either be closed up or they'll sell it. There will be no extension of the TikTok deadline," he said. Meanwhile, ByteDance is planning to invest billions of dollars and recruit hundreds of employees in Singapore over the next three years, Reuters reported on Friday. Singapore has been ramping up efforts over the last few years to attract tech firms and investors.

QATAR

Afghan peace talks to start on Saturday

The long-awaited peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government's negotiating team are to begin on Saturday in Qatar, the Taliban and the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The talks－known as intra-Afghan negotiations－were laid out in a peace deal that the US brokered with the Taliban and signed in February, also in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. At the time, the deal was seen as a chance for Kabul to end more than four decades of relentless war. That deal Washington signed with the Taliban aims to end the US' longest conflict and bring US troops home while the intra-Afghan talks are to set a road map for a postwar society in Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump made the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan a promise before the 2016 presidential election.

Xinhua - Agencies