Iraqi minister suspended amid protests
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister on Sunday suspended the country's electricity minister over a power crisis amid mushrooming protests in the country's Shiite heartland.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made the announcement on his Twitter account, saying the suspension of Qassim al-Fahdawi, the electricity minister, would last until an investigation is concluded. He did not elaborate.
Despite billions of dollars spent since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, many Iraqi cities and towns are still experiencing severe power cuts and rolling blackouts.
The issue has also partly fueled this month's protests in Iraq's southern Shiite heartland, mainly in the energy-rich province of Basra, where demonstrators have demanded more jobs and better services.
U.S. arms drones stationed in Niger
DAKAR, Senegal -- The United States started arming drones in the West African nation of Niger earlier this year, according to the U.S. Africa Command.
"In coordination with the Government of Niger, U.S. Africa Command has armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance [ISR] aircraft already in Niger to improve our combined ability to respond to threats and other security issues in the region. Armed ISR aircraft began flying in early 2018," said Samantha Reho, spokesman for U.S. Africa Command.
The armed drones are currently deployed to Niger's Air Base 101 in Niamey. The effort was supported by Niger, and is part of the long-term strategic partnership between the U.S. and Niger to help counter violent extremists in the region, she said.
As a matter of operational security, Reho said she could not discuss whether strikes have already been carried out by the armed drones.
Adding striking capabilities to the drones is a major step forward in the fight against extremist threats that include al-Qaida-linked fighters in Mali and Burkina Faso, Islamic State group-affiliated fighters in Niger, Mali and Nigeria and the Nigeria-based Boko Haram.
Turkish leader: Sanctions won't sway us
ISTANBUL -- Turkey's president said his government would not back down and was willing to "go its own way" if the United States imposes sanctions over an American pastor who is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his silence late Saturday on the escalating diplomatic dispute involving Andrew Craig Brunson, 50. The evangelical pastor was arrested in December 2016 and jailed until he was released to home detention last week.
"They cannot make Turkey back down with sanctions," Turkish media quoted Erdogan saying during an official visit to southern Africa.
"The U.S. should not forget that unless it changes its attitude, it will lose a strong and sincere partner like Turkey," he warned.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced possible sanctions against Turkey, a NATO ally, for its treatment of Brunson.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence reiterated that there would be consequences if Erdogan's government did not free Brunson and drop the charges.
"Transferring Pastor Andrew Brunson to home arrest is just not good enough, and the United States of America is prepared to bring sanctions against Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," Pence said in the interview on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures.
Wildfire toll rises to 91 people in Greece
MATI, Greece -- Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing Sunday, six days after Europe's deadliest forest fire in more than a century.
Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities, it stood at 86 as hundreds of mourners attended a Sunday morning memorial service for the victims in the seaside village hardest-hit by the blaze.
The fire sped flames through the village of Mati, a popular resort spot, without warning on July 23. Until Sunday night, Greek officials had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.
Hellenic Fire Service spokesman Stavroula Malliri provided a breakdown that illustrated why the death toll continued to expand and the list of people thought to be missing was difficult to draw up with precision.
Malliri said that as of Sunday evening, 59 victims had been identified from bodies or remains and another four people injured in the fire had died in area hospitals. But identities have not yet been linked to another 28 sets of remains, she said.
Relatives or friends reported 25 people who were considered officially missing, Malliri said. A fire service official said some or all of the 25 missing people could be among the yet-unidentified remains of the dead.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 07/30/2018