California wildfires show slower growth
HAPPY CAMP, Calif. – The U.S. Forest Service says cloudy skies and lower temperatures have slowed the spread of two forest wildfires that are threatening as many as 250 homes in far Northern California.
The Forest Service reported Sunday that the fires had burned 98 square miles in the Klamath National Forest by Sunday. That was 8 square miles more than a day earlier but represented a significant reduction in the growth of the blazes that had picked up as humidity declined and winds increased late last week.
The two wildfires are the largest among 17 that were sparked by lightning in the forest on Aug. 11. They remained 15 percent contained. More than 2,100 firefighters and 19 helicopters are taking advantage of the better weather by laying hoses, constructing fire lines and clearing brush from around evacuated communities.
Philippine troops pull ‘great escape’ in Golan
BEIRUT – Under cover of darkness, 40 Filipino peacekeepers escaped their besieged outpost in the Golan Heights after a seven-hour gunbattle with Syrian rebels, Philippine officials said Sunday. Al-Qaida-linked insurgents still hold captive 44 Fijian troops.
The getaway, combined with the departure of another entrapped group of Filipino troops, marked a major step forward in a crisis that erupted on Thursday when Syrian rebels began targeting the peacekeeping forces. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the assaults on the international troops monitoring the Syrian-Israeli frontier and has demanded the unconditional release of those still in captivity.
The crisis began after Syrian rebels overran the Quneitra crossing – located on the de facto border between Syrian- and Israeli-controlled parts of the Golan Heights – on Wednesday. A day later, insurgents from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front seized the Fijian peacekeepers and surrounded their Filipino colleagues, demanding they surrender.
Ukraine: Rebels fire on guard vessel
KIEV, Ukraine – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called on Ukraine to immediately start talks on a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Hours later, Ukraine said a border guard vessel operating in the Azov Sea was attacked by land-based forces. Pro-Russian rebels have recently opened a new offensive along the seacoast.
Putin’s comment, made to national TV network Channel 1, said Ukraine should “hold substantive, meaningful talks, not about technical issues but about the question of the political organization of society and statehood in southeast Ukraine, with the goal of safeguarding the legitimate interests of those people who live there.”
On Sunday, a spokesman for Ukraine’s offensive against Russia-backed rebels said a border guard vessel has been fired on with artillery – apparently the first incident at sea in the fighting.
Associated Press
