Report: Iran military chief backs nuke deal

Report: Iran military chief backs nuke deal

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran’s military chief on Saturday backed a landmark nuclear deal with world powers despite having concerns over it, the official IRNA news agency reported, a major endorsement that could allow conservatives to back an accord hard-liners oppose.

Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke of 16 advantages of the deal in comments published by the news agency. Though acknowledging concerns the military has, Firouzabadi wrote that both a recent United Nations vote on deal and the accord itself “have advantages that critics have ignored.”

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal.

NY mayor: Outbreak has been contained

NEW YORK

Five more buildings in the Bronx have tested positive for the bacteria that cause the potentially deadly Legionnaires’ disease, though there is no sign that anyone has grown ill from the new sites, New York City officials said Saturday.

Ten people have died in the largest Legionnaires’ outbreak in city history. Seven more cases of the disease have been reported in New York, bringing the total to 108, though officials expressed confidence that the outbreak was subsiding.

“We can say with confidence that this outbreak has been contained,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, even as he acknowledged the scope of the outbreak meant the city “was literally in uncharted territory.”

Syrian Christians flee IS fighters

BEIRUT

Hundreds of Christian families have fled a central Syrian town as Islamic State fighters advance toward it, activists said Saturday, the anniversary of the U.S. beginning airstrikes against the extremists in Iraq.

A U.S.-led coalition has conducted nearly 6,000 airstrikes against the Islamic State group, expanding its operations to target the extremists in Syria as well. But a year later, the Islamic State group remains able to launch attacks across its self-declared “caliphate” in both countries, despite some gains by Kurdish fighters and allied Iraqi forces.

Meanwhile, searches continued in Egypt for a missing Croatian hostage that an Islamic State affiliate had threatened to kill.

Record-breaking swim to SF bridge

SAN FRANCISCO

A San Francisco resident became the first woman to swim the 30-mile stretch from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday and conquer one of the world’s most-dangerous crossings.

Kim Chambers, 38, dived into the cold water late Friday and passed under the bridge about 17 hours later.

She was followed by a boat carrying her mother and about 16 crew members who watched for dangers.

Four men have completed the Farallones-to-Golden Gate swim.

Rivals blast Trump

ATLANTA

Donald Trump’s bombast continued to roil the Republican presidential race Saturday as several rivals criticized his treatment of a Fox News debate moderator. The organizer of a conservative political convention rescinded the businessman’s prime-time speaking slot, angering those eager to hear from the businessman.

The real-estate mogul and reality television star remained unbowed, refusing to apologize for saying on CNN that Megyn Kelly, who aggressively questioned him during Thursday’s GOP primary debate, had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” when she asked him about his incendiary comments toward women.

Associated Press