A major wildfire burning northwest of the Greek capital decimated large tracts of pine forest for a third day as hundreds of firefighters, assisted by water-dropping planes and helicopters, battled the flames Wednesday.

The blaze in the Vilia area broke out Monday shortly after another wildfire started to the southwest of Athens. Several villages and a nearby nursing home received evacuation orders.

A wildfire raged through a small Northern California forest town Tuesday, burning dozens of homes as dangerously dry and windy weather also continued to fuel other massive blazes and prompted the nation's largest utility to begin shutting off power to 51,000 customers.

The Caldor fire in the northern Sierra Nevada had burned an estimated 50 homes in and around Grizzly Flats, a town of about 1,200 people, fire officials said at a community meeting.

U.S. health officials may soon recommend COVID-19 booster shots for fully vaccinated Americans. A look at what we know about boosters and how they could help fight the coronavirus:

WHY MIGHT WE NEED BOOSTERS?

Japan's exports in July jumped 37% from a year ago, the government said Wednesday, highlighting an overseas recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Imports also grew, rising 28.5%, according to Finance Ministry data, for the second straight month of a trade surplus for the world's third largest economy.

Syrian state media reported that Israel carried out a missile attack on southern Syria late on Tuesday, targeting an unspecified military position. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The state TV report did not specify if there were any casualties. It said two missiles were fired toward the military position near the southern town of Quneitra, on the edge of Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Chaotic scenes in Kabul accompanied the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The fundamentalist Islamic group was able to retake power after President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw the remaining U.S. troops from the country.

The withdrawal brings to a close nearly 20 years of American military presence in Afghanistan.

Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.

White hair and part of an ear, along with bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii's urban center. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.

U.S. health experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot, to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country.

Federal health officials have been actively looking at whether extra shots for the vaccinated would be needed as early as this fall, reviewing case numbers in the U.S. as well as the situation in other countries such as Israel, where preliminary studies suggest the vaccine's protection against serious illness dropped among those vaccinated in January.

Millennial Money: 3 things to do before you buy crypto

By SARA RATHNER of NerdWallet undefined

Bob Dylan has been sued in a New York court by a woman who says the US rock and folk legend sexually abused her almost 60 years ago when she was 12.

The lawsuit filed Friday alleges that Dylan abused the plaintiff, referred to in court documents as J.C., over a six-week period between April and May 1965.