USA

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- An explosive wildfire broke out in San Bernardino in U.S. state of California early Thursday morning, burning into neighborhoods and forcing hundreds of residents to flee.

The wind-driven 200-acre (about 809,371 square meters) hillside fire erupted around 1:38 a.m. local time. At least six homes and two outbuildings have been destroyed in hours, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, to serve as the State Department’s second-in-command.

Biegun would replace John Sullivan, who was nominated to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Russia. Both positions require Senate confirmation.

Biegun had a prominent role in the delicate negotiations that led to historic meetings between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He also led the so-far unsuccessful negotiations to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is keeping alive one of the last remaining components of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by extending sanctions waivers that allow foreign companies to work with Iran’s civilian nuclear program without U.S. penalties.

The waivers had been due to expire Tuesday but were extended by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for another 90 days. The extensions were not announced until Thursday.

Pompeo has been a champion of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

A former top White House aide told members of Congress he had concerns that a record of President Donald Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine would leak. But the aide said he didn’t have concerns that Trump’s request for investigations into a political rival was illegal.

Tim Morrison told lawmakers Thursday: “I want to be clear: I was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed.”

CHICAGO (AP) — A 7-year-old girl out trick-or-treating in a bumblebee costume was critically injured Thursday night after being struck by apparent stray gunfire, police said.

The girl, who was shot in the upper chest area, was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. A 30-year-old man was shot in the left hand and taken to a nearby hospital in good condition.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House Thursday, as the chamber’s first vote on the investigation highlighted the partisan breach the issue has only deepened.

By 232-196, lawmakers approved the procedures they’ll follow as weeks of closed-door interviews with witnesses evolve into public committee hearings and — almost certainly — votes on whether the House should recommend Trump’s removal.

All voting Republicans opposed the package. Every voting Democrat but two supported it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top White House official confirmed Thursday that military aid to Ukraine was held up by President Donald Trump’s demand for the ally to investigate Democrats and Joe Biden, but testified there’s nothing illegal, in his view, about the quid pro quo at the center of the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry.

Tim Morrison, who stepped down from the National Security Council the day before testifying, was the first White House political appointee to appear and spent more than eight hours behind closed doors with House investigators.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 31 (APP): Pakistan has called for evolving a rules-based, equitable and non-discriminatory international order to promote nuclear disarmament that strengthen the non-proliferation regime by shunning double standards.

UNITED NATIONS, October 31. /TASS/: Russia rejected the Western nations’ proposal to modernize the OSCE Vienna Document on Confidence and Security-Building Measures, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geneva office, Andrei Belousov, said.

"We confirm our negative attitude to the idea of modernizing the Vienna Document. Even a technical reissuing of it makes no sense amid confrontation and NATO’s course to restrain Russia," Belousov told the UN General Assembly's First Committee on Wednesday night.

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Leaders from the United States and China encountered a new obstacle in their struggle to end a damaging trade war, when the summit where they were supposed to meet was cancelled because of violent protests.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped to sign an interim trade deal with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the Nov 16-17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile. Chilean officials said they cancelled the summit to focus on restoring law and order in the country.