Across parts of northeastern Syria, with U.S. military outposts and bases emptied or destroyed after Washington withdrew from the region, the fallout began to roll in in the form of Russian armored troop carriers.
The reinforcements arriving Friday, according to Russian media, with an additional 300 Russian military police and 20 armored vehicles preparing to deploy along the Syrian-Turkish border as part of the deal Moscow negotiated with Ankara to end the fighting with Kurdish forces, who until now were backed by the United States.
A Kurdish family in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakah is anguished by news that 31-year-old Ali Wezir set himself on fire Wednesday outside a United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland.
Wezir, a Syrian Kurdish refugee residing in Germany, suffered burns on 80 percent of his body after setting himself on fire at the headquarters of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
His family says it was an act of self-immolation to draw global attention to Turkish attacks.
Police in England say that the discovery of 39 bodies in the back of a container truck in southeastern England is one of Britain's worst human smuggling cases they've ever seen.
With more on that, AP's Charles De Ledesma has more.
Families have been coming forward with information that their relatives may be among the dozens found dead.
A representative for VietHome, a Britain-based organization of the Vietnamese community, says the group has sent the pictures of nearly 20 people reported missing to the police.
Police on Friday arrested further three people on suspicion of manslaughter and conspiracy to traffic people.
I'm Charles De Ledesma.
This is VOA news.
In Major League Baseball, the World Series has taken a positive turn for the Houston Astros, that is, as they upend the Washington Nationals 4-1 in Washington to win gain three of the best-of-seven series.
The Astros chipping away all night against pitcher Aníbal Sánchez, but Washington with a few errors left a lot of runners on bases as well, going 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Nationals' Manager Dave Martinez said Houston's pitcher Zack Greinke was tough to hit last night.
"We took balls I thought we should hit, uncharacteristic of what we've been doing. So Greinke got out of some jams, you know, got opportunities early. We couldn't capitalize. So let's get some rest and come back tomorrow and do it again."
Washington now leads the series two games to one game for tonight at Nationals Park.
A federal judge in Washington D.C. has ordered the Trump administration to hand over secret grand jury testimony from the Mueller probe to congressional Democrats, exploring impeachment.
AP's Jackie Quinn.
The Justice Department's been given less than a week to hand over documents from Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, including secret grand jury testimony that had been blocked blacked out in Mueller's report.
The department had argued that it couldn't provide grand jury material under existing law, to which Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote the DOJ is wrong. She also shut down the White House argument the impeachment inquiry is invalid because the House didn't vote on launching the investigation, saying that a House resolution has never been required.
Jackie Quinn, Washington.
Despite the impeachment process the Democrats are pushing, President Trump continues to receive strong support from the Republican National Committee.
Mike Gracia reports.
Amid an ongoing impeachment investigation, the Republican National Committee is doubling down on its support for the president.
As he was leaving the White House Friday, President Donald Trump again blasted the impeachment investigation being conducted by House Democrats.
"... this isn't a takedown of the president, this is a takedown of the Republican Party."
Later in a vote by phone, the Republican National Committee's governing body unanimously approved a resolution of support for the president, and echoing criticism voiced by congressional Republicans, the RNC called on Democrats to conduct the impeachment investigation like a hearing and provide President Trump with due process to include the ability to confront his accusers and call witnesses on his behalf.
California's bracing this weekend as fires at either end of the state continued their paths of destruction: the Kincade Fire in northern California located about 129 kilometers north of San Francisco while the Tick Fire in the southern part of the state about 64 kilometers north of Los Angeles.
