ALGIERS (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed and scores injured in wildfires in mountainous areas east of Algeria, according to state radio. Firefighters and helicopters were still trying to contain several blazes threatening residents in provinces in the east of the country. The justice ministry launched an inquiry after Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud suggested some of this year’s blazes were started deliberately, and authorities on Thursday announced four arrests of suspected arsonists. Officials have been accused of being ill-prepared, with few firefighting aircraft available despite record casualties in last year’s blazes and a cash windfall from gas exports with global energy prices soaring.

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WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Torrential rain hit parts of New Zealand for a fourth day on Friday, forcing hundreds of people from their homes as rivers overflowed their banks and waterlogged ground becomes unstable. Nelson, on the north coast of the South Island, has been worst affected with more than 400 homes evacuated and some declared uninhabitable because of the rains. “The damage I saw in Nelson was heartbreaking and I think we are years away from a recovery,” Alec Louverdis, group controller for Nelson Tasman Civil Defense, told a news conference.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Half of U.S. Republicans say federal law enforcement officials have behaved irresponsibly since they searched former president Donald Trump’s Florida home for classified documents from the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll found this week. On August 8, FBI agents removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, some of which were labeled “top secret,” a status reserved for the most sensitive information about the American national security.

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MADRID (AP) — A wildfire burning out of control in Spain’s eastern province of Valencia has become one of the country’s biggest this year, and 35 aircraft have been deployed as the blaze entered its fifth day, authorities said Friday. The blaze has already scorched more than 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) along a 137-kilometer (85-mile) perimeter. Rain boosted hopes the fire could be brought under control on Thursday but strong winds have made the fire “very aggressive,” the Valencian regional government said.

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BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s federal police ahve accused President Jair Bolsonaro of discouraging mask use during the pandemic and falsely suggesting that people who got vaccinated against COVID-19 ran the risk of contracting AIDS. In a document sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court, a police delegate said Bolsonaro’s effort to discourage compliance with pandemic-linked health measures amounted to a crime, while his effort to link AIDS with vaccination amounted to a misdemeanor. The police asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is in charge of the probe, to authorize the police to charge Bolsonaro and others involved in the case.