Iraqi troops in standoff with Kurds in Kirkuk

MARYAM BEIK (Iraq) • Iraqi troops were locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish forces in Kirkuk province yesterday as Washington scrambled to avert fighting between the key allies in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The clock was ticking down to a 2am deadline that the Kurds say Baghdad has set for them to surrender the positions they had captured.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Winds likely to worsen California wildfires

SONOMA (California) • Fierce winds were expected to stir wildfires and test US firefighters yesterday in northern California, where the state's most lethal outbreak of wildfires has killed 35 people and forced over 90,000 residents to flee. Some 5,700 homes have been razed.

REUTERS

Typhoon Khanun to hit Hainan this weekend

SHANGHAI • Typhoon Khanun is expected to hit China's Hainan Island or its southern provinces this weekend. The train and vehicle ferry plying the Qiongzhou Strait was suspended yesterday.

REUTERS