COLU @ CONCEPTS

HOUSTON (AP) — One week after Harvey roared into the Gulf Coast, a Texas city struggled with no drinking water, fires kept erupting at a stricken chemical plant and funerals began for some of those who drowned in the floodwaters. In Beaumont, Texas, home to almost 120,000, people waited in a line that stretched for more than a mile to get bottled water after the municipal system failed earlier this week. The second fire in two days broke out at the flooded Arkema plant in Crosby. Thick black smoke and towering orange flames shot up Friday after two trailers of highly unstable compounds blew up. And in Houston, friends and family gathered Friday evening to remember 42-year-old Benito Juarez Cavazos, one of 42 people whose deaths are attributed to Harvey. Cavazos came to Texas illegally from Mexico 28 years ago and was in the process of getting his green card. “It’s very unfortunate that right when he finally had hopes of being able to maybe go to Mexico soon to go see...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump brought plenty of optimism and swagger to Texas on his first visit to survey Harvey’s devastation. He’s getting a chance to return with empathy. At stops in Houston and Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Saturday, the president planned to survey storm damage, talk with residents and meet with volunteers. Those elements were missing from Tuesday’s trip to Texas, which was criticized as being off-key for a presidential visit to discuss communities in crisis. In Corpus Christi and Austin, Trump sat with emergency responders and officials who were coordinating recovery efforts with his administration. The event was marked by Trump’s impromptu speech to supporters outside a Corpus Christi firehouse — “What a crowd, what a turnout,” he said — instead of images of the president consoling victims or walking among the damage caused by of the storm. Trump kept his distance from the epicenter of the damage, in Houston, to avoid disrupting recovery ...

Image copyright REUTERS Image caption UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced £200m aid to Nigeria over the next four years Britain is to reduce the amount of money it is giving as humanitarian aid to Nigeria over the next few years. The aid worth £200m ($258m) over the next four years is a 50% drop from the £100m it gave in 2017. The money is aimed at helping north-eastern Nigeria recover from an eight-year insurgency by Boko Haram Islamist militants. More than 1.5 million people are on the brink of famine in the area, aid agencies say. The amount of aid given to Nigeria was increased this year to enable the country cope with the aftermath of the insurgency that prevented people from farming their land. International Development Minister Priti Patel, however, said the Nigerian authorities needed to do more to defeat the extremists and to "secure the safety and well being of its own people". She also said other donors should increase their a...

Image copyright PA Image caption Mr Fox spoke to the media at the end of a three-day visit to Japan The UK must not allow itself to be "blackmailed" by the EU over its Brexit settlement bill in order to start trade talks, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has said. He said a bad Brexit deal would damage both British and European companies. Businesses have become impatient with the slow progress of the Brexit negotiations, he added. The latest Brexit talks have stalled over the failure to reach agreement on the UK's so-called divorce bill. Both the UK and EU have expressed frustration at the pace of the talks. The UK wants to begin trade talks as soon as possible, but Brussels insists that discussions about the future relationship can begin only once "sufficient progress" has been made on the arrangements for withdrawal - including the "divorce fee". EU negotiator Michel Barnier said that at the current rate of progress, he was quit...

Media caption Milton Nkosi interviews Duduzane Zuma, the South African president's son The son of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has denied involvement in alleged corruption despite his links with controversial businessmen. Duduzane Zuma told the BBC there was "nothing untoward" about his business partnership with the Gupta family. Leaked emails about links between President Zuma's family and the Guptas have resulted in an investigation into possible political influence. President Zuma and the Gupta family have repeatedly denied wrongdoing. In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Milton Nkosi, Duduzane Zuma said his ties with the wealthy Gupta family were down to nothing more than him being "a likeable guy". "I don't think they wanted anything from me," he said, adding: "They liked me. As I liked them." Duduzane Zuma, who is one of the South African president's 21 children, insisted ...

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES Image caption Parts of the US border with Mexico are already sealed off Four companies have been chosen to build prototypes for Donald Trump's planned border wall, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said. The four concrete prototypes will be 30ft (9m) long and up to 30ft tall, and will be built in the coming months. Officials will then spend up to two months testing the walls for tampering and penetration resistance using small hand tools, CBP said. The four contracts are worth up to $500,000 (£387,000) each. A continuous wall across the entire southern US border was a key promise in President Trump's election campaign. The prototypes "will help us refine the design standards" of the eventual wall, acting CBP deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said. "Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering, and scaling or anti-claim features." But he ...

Image copyright CATHOLIC BISHOP OF BANGASSOU, JUAN JOSÉ AGUIRRE MU Image caption An armed Christian militia is camped outside the seminary A Catholic bishop in the Central African Republic (CAR) has given refuge to 2,000 Muslims who are living in fear of attacks from a mainly Christian militia. Juan José Aguirre Munoz says that the refugees cannot leave the seminary's compound in the south-eastern city of Bangassou. He told the BBC that the refugees "risk death" from anti-balaka militias. The UN's humanitarian chief warned last week of possible genocide. Stephen O'Brien said that violence in CAR was escalating and the situation was becoming dire. "Violence is intensifying, risking a repeat of the devastating destructive crisis that gripped the country four years ago," he said. Mr O'Brien added: "The early warning signs of genocide are there. We must act now." CAR has experienced sectarian violence since 2013, when the largel...