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Gains made in fighting California wildfires as some residents return

Fire officials say the two blazes, which have killed five people, highlight the severity in drought-stricken California of an intense wildfire season that in the coming weeks could become one of the state’s fiercest on record. The so-called Valley Fire, which is north of the wine-producing region of Napa Valley, has burned 74,500 acres (29,946 hectares), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), or more

Three Westerners flown to Oman by Yemen's Houthis: source

By Mohammed Ghobari DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthis flew two U.S. citizens and one Briton they held for several months to Oman on Sunday, sources in the group said, in what appears as a goodwill gesture ahead of talks with the United Nations on efforts to end nearly six months of fighting. The three Westerners had been held by the Houthis since the early days of a Saudi-led military campaign

Volkswagen CEO 'deeply sorry' for breach of U.S. environment rules

By Christoph Steitz and Jan Schwartz FRANKFURT/HAMBURG (Reuters) – Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation after U.S. regulators found software the carmaker designed for diesel cars gave false emissions data, its CEO said on Sunday, adding he was “deeply sorry” for the violation of U.S. rules. “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public,” Martin Winterkorn said in a statement published