A fast-growing wildfire in Southern California, western US state of California, has destroyed three homes and damaged four others in Riverside County, authorities said.

The wildfire, dubbed the Hawarden Fire, was first reported at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday local time in the Hawarden area, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of Monday morning, the blaze had burned a total of 527 acres (2.13 square km), according to the City of Riverside Fire Department.

There are 1,500 residences in the surrounding area and the Riverside Police Department is helping evacuations, Riverside Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve McKinster said at a news conference on Monday.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury. Twenty-one engines and two hand crews are fighting the fire, he added.

There has been no forward progress of the fire, and it is fully contained within the established perimeter. Additional hot spots are being closely monitored throughout the day, said the department in a Facebook post, adding that the City of Riverside Arson Task Force is investigating various reports of fireworks to determine the cause and origin of the fire.

Another large wildfire in the area, the Eagle Fire, broke out Sunday afternoon and also triggered evacuations. The fire has burned over 1,600 acres (6.47 square km) with 50 per cent containment as of Monday morning.

An air quality alert was issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to residents in areas impacted by smoke.

The agency said smoke from the Eagle Fire and Hawarden Fire will cause elevated PM2.5 levels in parts of Riverside County, and the Air Quality Index may reach unhealthy for sensitive groups or higher in areas impacted by smoke. AGENCIES

 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed “serious concern” over reports that authorities had deployed vehicles with UN markings during the Bangladesh riots, his Spokesperson said.

UN staff there had “seen disturbing reports of UN-marked vehicles that may have been used during the developments we’ve seen in Bangladesh over the last few days,” Guterres’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

UN troops and police-contributing countries should use the UN insignia on equipment “only when they are performing mandated tasks as part of a UN peacekeeping or UN political mission,” he added.

“Our serious concern in this regard has been conveyed to the relevant authorities in Bangladesh by our colleagues,” he said.

Bangladesh with 5,859 troops on UN peacekeeping operations has access to vehicles and equipment with UN markings meant for use in other countries where its personnel are deployed on the world organisation’s missions.

Bangladesh is the third-largest contributor of personnel to current UN peacekeeping operations.

Dujarric said that Guterres is “deeply concerned” about the reports that more than 100 people have been killed in the violence in Bangladesh and over 1,000 injured.

He said that the Secretary-General has seen the reports about the Supreme Court ruling in Bangladesh scaling back the job quotas and the students’ groups’ decision to suspend their agitation for 48 hours.

“He very much hopes that both these decisions will help create a conducive environment for dialogue. He urges all sides to avoid violence and negotiate in good faith,” Dujarric added.

Student groups were protesting the 30 per cent government job reservations for the family members of the Bangladesh freedom fighters who fought against Pakistani troops and their supporters who carried out the genocide.

Three million Bangladeshis were killed during the 1971 War of Independence, according to Bangladesh authorities.

The Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the reservation for freedom fighters’ relatives cut to five per cent.

Asked about reports of Bangladeshi protesters in the United Arab Emirates receiving long prison sentences, Dujarric said, “We’ve seen the disturbing reports of very harsh sentences being meted out.”

“As we do everywhere else, we feel that it is very important for people to have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully without fear of arrest or worse,” he added.

The Federal Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi sentenced three Bangladeshi protesters to life terms, one to an 11-year sentence and 53 to a 10-year jail term, according to reports. AGENCIES

 India on Tuesday highlighted its flagship schemes, including Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Jal Jeevan Mission, at the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting held in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.

The Indian delegation at the meeting was led by Dammu Ravi, Secretary of Economic Relations (ER) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

“During the meeting, the G20 Ministerial Call to Action on Strengthening Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services was adopted. Secy (ER) highlighted India’s flagship schemes, such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission and AMRUT, and India’s development cooperation initiatives for the Global South,” the MEA said in a post on X.

The focus, of the ministerial meeting, was on basic water and sanitation necessities and focused on enhancing drinking water facilities, sanitation, and hygiene services globally.

The Secretary of Economic Relations also highlighted India’s development cooperation efforts for the Global South and the support extended to developing, less developed, and underdeveloped nations.

Brazil, which took over the G20 chair from India last year, has chosen ‘Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet’ as its presidency theme.

The discussions at the meeting centred on addressing hunger, poverty, inequality, and climate change.

Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira, Minister of Planning Simone Tebet, Minister of Cities Jader Barbalho Filho, and Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco co-chaired the event.

On Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is scheduled to participate in the pre-launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, further underscoring the grouping’s commitment to tackling global developmental challenges. AGENCIES

 Indonesia is planning to broaden its mineral and coal online tracking system, known as Simbara, to include several commodities, including copper, gold and bauxite, said the country’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif.

He mentioned the plan after the government officially broadened its Simbara to encompass nickel and tin commodities on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Next, we will finish several other commodities, including copper, gold, bauxite, manganese, and others,” said the minister.

According to the Finance Ministry, Simbara, which started its operation in 2022, has contributed up to 7.1 trillion Indonesian rupiahs ($ 437 million) in state revenues through the prevention of illegal mining, risk profiling, and an automatic blocking system. AGENCIES

 Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister’s senior advisor for special political affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, stressed his country’s commitment to existing agreements with Syria.

In a statement issued following his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Damascus, Khaji said his visit to Syria on Monday was part of a broader tour to discuss and evaluate regional issues, particularly those related to bilateral relations and their future trajectory.

He added that the talks with Mekdad focused on a joint assessment of bilateral and regional matters and setting objectives to further enhance relations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Khaji reiterated that the new Iranian government is committed to strengthening ties with Syria in all areas and committed to further enhancing ties as scheduled and under existing bilateral agreements.

Khaji also met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss boosting Syrian-Iranian relations.

According to the state news agency SANA, the meeting highlighted the strong relationship between Syria and Iran and emphasised the need to enhance cooperation and coordination in various fields. AGENCIES

 Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said that should Europe adopt an independent approach to its foreign policy, its relations with Tehran would improve.

He made the remarks on Monday at a weekly press conference while commenting on the “cold” reaction of Europe and the US to Masoud Pezeshkian’s election as Iran’s ninth President, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Kanaani said that Iran considered Europe an important region in its foreign relations, noting that the “cold atmosphere” pervading bilateral ties was among the consequences of Europe’s “miscalculations” about Iran or bowing to US pressure, Xinhua news agency reported.

Reacting to Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential race, Kanaani said the change of administrations in the US was not important to Iran, emphasising that what mattered was the US “hostile policy” towards Iran.

Pezeshkian was announced as Iran’s next President on July 6 following his victory in a runoff against Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator. AGENCIES

Moscow will wait for concrete actions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, while commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal of possible talks with Russia.

Russian representatives should be present at a second peace conference on Ukraine, which is scheduled to be held in November, said Zelensky on Monday.

“What exactly is behind these words? What specific plans are we discussing? What actions are being proposed in this regard?” Peskov asked, noting that it was too early to judge and necessary to wait for specific actions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Spokesman said that Washington would likely keep supporting Ukraine, and the financial burden increasingly be placed on its “European subordinates”.

Western aid to Kiev would “not contribute to the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, but on the contrary, will prolong it,” said Peskov, adding that it would not affect the outcome of Russia’s special military operation in any way. AGENCIES

 Authorities from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states have conducted the “Interaction-2024” joint counter-terrorism exercise in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Public Security said on Tuesday.

The exercise marks the first time the relevant agencies from all SCO member states have participated in a joint counter-terrorism live drill, Xinhua news agency reported.

In response to significant terrorist threats, the exercise included specialised operations such as “the eradication of terrorist groups.”

Representatives from SCO member states, the SCO Secretariat, and the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure observed the exercise.

The SCO member states have a long history of effective cooperation in counter-terrorism. The latest exercise has established a new model for joint live drills by relevant agencies and enhanced the joint operational capabilities of the SCO member states’ authorities. AGENCIES

 South Africa will attend the 14th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting later this week in Moscow, Russia, to seek trade and investment opportunities, a government official said.

“South Africa will continue to identify opportunities for cooperation with BRICS partners, both bilaterally and through the BRICS platform, that would present opportunities for the continent to transition away from its historic role as a commodity exporter toward higher productivity value addition,” said Zuko Godlimpi, South African deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, before departing for the meeting, on Monday.

He added that the BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting will be preceded by a roundtable discussion under the theme “The Place of BRICS in the New Architecture of the International Economic System” as reported by Xinhua news agency.

The meeting will allow South Africa to build mutually beneficial trade and investment relations that promote value-added trade and economic transformation, said Goldimpi, noting that his country wants to facilitate foreign direct investment into the productive sectors with BRICS partners and coordinate positions on global governance.

The BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market cooperative mechanism that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

In January, the bloc expanded its membership to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Ethiopia. AGENCIES