Sierra wildfire now California’s 4th-largest
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – The wildfire burning in and around Yosemite National Park has become the fourth-largest conflagration in modern California history, fire officials said Sunday as clouds and higher humidity helped crews further contain the biggest blaze in the United States this year.
The 2-week-old Rim Fire moved up a spot on the state’s list of large wildfires dating back to 1932 when it grew to 348 square miles – an area larger than the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined – on Saturday, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
Although the fire still is growing, it was 40 percent contained as of Sunday, up from 35 percent a day earlier. Moister air was expected to slow flames from advancing through brush and trees. Full containment is not expected until Sept. 20.
Morsi to be tried for inciting violence
CAIRO – Egypt’s top prosecutor referred Sunday ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial on charges of inciting the killing of opponents protesting outside his palace while he was in office, the state news agency said.
The military ousted Morsi on July 3 after millions took to the street demanding he step down. He’s been held incommunicado since. Despite other accusations by prosecutors, Sunday’s decision is his first referral to trial. No date was announced for the trial.
Morsi will be tried, along with 14 members of his Muslim Brotherhood, in a criminal court for allegedly committing acts of violence, and inciting the killing of at least 10 people.
German election sparks debate on euro crisis
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center-left rival sparred over Europe’s debt crisis and how best to keep Germany’s economy strong as they faced off Sunday in a televised debate ahead of Sept. 22 elections, with Merkel’s challenger insisting that it makes no sense to apply a “deadly dose” of austerity to eurozone strugglers.
Challenger Peer Steinbrueck went into the 90-minute debate – the pair’s only direct TV encounter of the campaign – facing a daunting poll deficit and needing a strong performance after a summer in which the opposition has struggled to land blows on the popular conservative incumbent.
Neither contender scored a knockout blow or made a major mistake, and polls conducted by broadcasters showed no clear winner. In his opening statement, Steinbrueck portrayed Germany as having “gone round in circles, without direction” under Merkel’s center-right coalition over the past four years.
Boy with rare brain infection buried
LABELLE, Fla. – Nearly 1,000 people gathered for the funeral of a Florida boy who was infected by a rare and deadly brain-eating amoeba.
The public visitation and service was held Saturday for 12-year-old Zachary Reyna at the LaBelle Middle School Gym. The burial service was held at the nearby cemetery. The family announced the funeral services on a Facebook posting.
Hundreds of family members, friends and even strangers attended the services. A slide show at the service displayed pictures of Reyna, some in his baseball uniform. Reyna became infected Aug. 3 while knee boarding with friends. Doctors told the family the boy had extensive brain damage. The family decided earlier to donate his organs for others who were “waiting on a miracle.”
Associated Press
