YREKA, California: Two bodies were found inside a charred vehicle in a driveway in the wildfire zone of a raging California blaze that was among several menacing thousands of homes Monday in the Western US, officials said. Hot and gusty weather and lightning storms threatened to boost the danger that the fires will keep growing,
The McKinney Fire in Northern California near the state line with Oregon exploded in size to nearly 87 square miles (225 square kilometers) after erupting Friday in the Klamath National Forest, firefighting officials said. It is California’s largest wildfire of the year so far and officials have not yet determined the cause.
The vehicle and the bodies were found Sunday morning in the driveway of a residence near the remote community of Klamath River, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Nearly 5,000 homes and other structures were threatened and an unknown number of buildings have burned, said Adrienne Freeman, a spokesperson for the US Forest Service.
The smoky blaze cast an eerie, orange-brown hue in one neighborhood where a brick chimney stood surrounded by rubble and scorched vehicles on Sunday. Flames torched trees along State Route 96 and raced through hillsides in sight of homes.
Valerie Linfoot’s son, a fire dispatcher, called to tell her their family home of three decades in Klamath River had burned. Linfoot said her husband worked as a US Forest Service firefighter for years and the family did everything they could to prepare their house for a wildfire — including installing a metal roof and trimming trees and tall grasses around the property.
“It was as safe as we could make it, and it was just so dry and so hot and the fire was going so fast,” Linfoot told the Bay Area News Group. She said her neighbors have also lost homes.
“It’s a beautiful place. And from what I’ve seen, it’s just decimated. It’s absolutely destroyed,” she told the news group.
Firefighting crews on the ground were trying to prevent the blaze from moving closer to the town of Yreka, population about 7,500. The blaze was about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) away as of Monday.
A second, smaller fire in the region that was sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny California community of Seiad Valley.
Freeman said “there has been significant damage and loss along the Highway 96 corridor” that runs parallel to the Klamath River and is one of the few roads in and out of the region.
She added: “But just how much damage is still being assessed.”
Erratic storms were expected to move through Northern California again on Monday with lightning that threatened to spark new fires in bone dry vegetation, forecasters said. A day earlier, thunderstorms caused flash flooding that damaged roads in Death Valley National Park and in mountains east of Los Angeles.
In northwestern Montana, winds picked up Monday afternoon on a fire burning in forested land west of Flathead Lake, forcing fire managers to ground all aircraft and leading the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to start evacuating residents on the northeastern corner of the fire.
The fire was putting up a lot of smoke, creating visibility problems for aircraft, said Sara Rouse, a spokesperson for the fire management team.
The fire, which started Friday afternoon near the town of Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation, measured 20 square miles (52 square kilometers), fire officials said.
The Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 85 square miles (220 square kilometers) in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon. It was 23 percent contained Monday.
And a wildfire raging in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged. It was about 30 percent contained by early Monday.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday, allowing him more flexibility to make emergency response and recovery effort decisions and to tap federal aid.
Scientists have said climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.
The US Forest service shut down a 110-mile (177-kilometer) section of the famed Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California and southern Oregon. Sixty hikers in that area were helped to evacuate on Saturday, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, which aided in the effort.
2 bodies found in burned vehicle in California wildfire zone
https://arab.news/n8krs
2 bodies found in burned vehicle in California wildfire zone
- Flames torched trees along State Route 96 and raced through hillsides in sight of homes
Jimmy Carter briefly unites US as presidents attend funeral
At the rare gathering just days before Donald Trump’s return to the White House, sitting President Joe Biden gave a eulogy describing “character” as fellow Democrat Carter’s main attribute.
Trump shook hands with former president Barack Obama on the country’s day of mourning, while Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were also there to pay their respects.
But Biden, 82, also appeared to deliver a veiled swipe at Trump, the Republican whose racially charged rhetoric and efforts to overturn the 2020 election he has often criticized as threats to democracy.
“We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor,” said Biden, also stressing the importance standing up against “the greatest sin of all, the abuse of power.”
After the speech Biden briefly tapped the flag-draped coffin of Carter, America’s 39th commander-in-chief, who died on December 29 at the age of 100 in his native Georgia.
Carter was widely perceived as naive and weak during his single term from 1977 to 1981, but a more nuanced view has emerged as the years passed, focusing on his decency and foreign policy achievements.
The presidential funeral was the first since George H.W. Bush died in 2018 — and provided a series of unique and sometimes awkward moments as former leaders met.
Obama shook hands, laughed and chatted with his successor Trump, despite the fact that the billionaire built his political movement on questioning whether Obama is really a US citizen.
In the row in front of Trump sat Vice President Kamala Harris, his defeated rival in the 2024 election.
There was also a brief moment of reconciliation for Trump and his former vice president Mike Pence.
The pair met and shook hands for what is believed to be the first time since the 2021 US Capitol riots when Pence refused to back Trump’s false claims to have won the 2020 election.
During the service, family members and former political adversaries alike paid emotional tributes to Carter, the oldest ever former US president and the only one to make it to three figures.
One of his grandsons, Jason Carter, described his love of nature, saying the devout Baptist and former peanut farmer “celebrated the majesty of every living thing.”
“He led this nation with love and respect,” Jason Carter said.
There was even a tribute from Carter’s Republican predecessor Gerald Ford. Ford died in 2006 but left a eulogy for his political rival-turned-friend that was read out by his son Steven.
A second posthumous tribute, from Carter’s vice president Walter Mondale, was delivered by his son Ted.
Carter’s coffin was earlier transported by an honor guard from the US Capitol, where thousands of mourners had paid their respects as the former president lay in state.
Thursday has been designated a national day of mourning in the United States with federal offices closed.
His carefully choreographed six-day farewell began on Saturday with US flags flying at half-staff around the country and a black hearse bearing his remains from his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
It was to Georgia that Carter’s remains returned on Thursday for burial, making their final journey home on the US presidential jet that is normally reserved for the sitting commander-in-chief.
Carter’s funeral was a brief respite from an already tumultuous run-up to Trump’s inauguration on January 20, and a reminder of a very different style of president.
Carter, who served a single term before a crushing election loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980, suffered in the dog-eat-dog world of Washington politics and a hostage crisis involving Americans held in Tehran after Iran’s Islamic revolution finally sealed his fate.
But history has led to a reassessment, focusing on his brokering of a peace deal between Israel and Egypt. He also received high praise for his post-presidential humanitarian efforts, and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter had been in hospice care since February 2023 in Plains, where he died. He will be buried next to his late wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023.
UK Jewish charity given official warning over Israeli soldier fundraising
- Chabad Lubavitch Centres raised nearly £2,300 for IDF member based in northern Israel
- Charity Commission says it is illegal for charities to raise money for foreign militaries
LONDON: A Jewish charity in London has been given an official warning after it campaigned to raise money for an Israeli soldier.
The Charity Commission, which regulates charities in England and Wales, said the Chabad Lubavitch Centres North East London and Essex acted “outside of its purposes” by fundraising for a member of the Israel Defense Forces.
The commission said it was illegal for charities to provide aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force.
The charity raised nearly £2,300 after it set up a fundraising webpage in October 2023 for a soldier stationed in northern Israel.
More than £900 of the money was sent directly to the soldier but trustees were unable to say how that money had been spent.
The remaining funds were spent on “non-lethal military equipment” purchased by the charity and sent to the soldier.
The commission received 180 complaints about the campaign and opened a regulatory compliance case into the charity in December 2023. The campaign page was taken down in January last year.
“The fundraising activity was outside the charity’s purposes — and not capable of being charitable,” the commission said on Thursday announcing the outcome of the case.
The commission said the trustees had failed to act in the best interests of the charity and its reputation.
“This was misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of charity, as well as a breach of trust,” it added.
The charity’s stated purpose is to advance the orthodox Jewish religion, advance orthodox Jewish education and to relieve poverty and sickness.
It is part of a network of 2,500 Chabad Lubavitch centers around the world aimed at fostering Jewish family life, according to its website.
The official warning imposes a number of requirements on the charity’s trustees to correct the misconduct.
“It is not lawful, or acceptable, for a charity to raise funds to support a soldier of a foreign military,” Helen Earner, director for regulatory services at the Charity Commission, said.
“Our official warning requires the charity to set things right and is a clear message to other charities to stay true to their established purposes.”
In a statement published by Jewish News, the charity’s trustees said they accepted the commission’s findings.
The statement said that in the aftermath of Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, there was concern among the community served by the charity that there was not enough winter clothing and protective gear for the number of IDF reservists being called up.
“We acknowledge that in facilitating a campaign to provide warm clothing and the like, however briefly and however modest its results, the charity exceeded its purposes and we are grateful for the guidance provided by the Charity Commission to ensure that this won’t happen again,” the statement said.
The Charity Commission has seen a surge in complaints about organizations since the war in Gaza started.
The watchdog’s chairperson Orlando Fraser said in November that the commission had opened 200 regulatory cases related to the conflict and referred 40 cases to the police.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and wounded at least 100,000. Hamas and other militants killed at least 1,200 people and seized about 250 hostages in the Oct. 7 attack.
Singapore says 3 men detained since October for seeking to join Mideast conflict against Israel
SINGAPORE: Singapore said on Thursday it had detained three men since October last year who were preparing to travel to the Middle East to fight against Israel.
The Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement the three Singaporean men were not linked to one other and had been “radicalized” online, but there was no indication others had been recruited.
It was not immediately clear why the ministry announced the detention on Thursday.
Following their arrest in October, they were detained under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial.
The three were a director of a digital marketing company, a lift mechanic, and a security guard, aged 41, 21, and 44, respectively.
BACKGROUND
The three men were a director of a digital marketing company, a lift mechanic, and a security guard, aged 41, 21, and 44, respectively.
One of the men had visited a shooting range in Thailand to learn to operate firearms, while two planned to visit shooting ranges in Indonesia, it said.
The ministry said restrictions were placed on two other Singaporeans in June and July last year under the security law, related to the conflict in Gaza.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials.
Much of the enclave has been laid waste, and most of the territory’s 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Zelensky meets Meloni for talks in Rome
- Meloni “reiterated the all-round support that Italy ensures and will continue to provide to the legitimate defense of Ukraine... ,” her office said
- She also “expressed solidarity for the victims of the recent Russian bombings“
ROME: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks in Rome Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after meeting other allies in Germany.
Meloni “reiterated the all-round support that Italy ensures and will continue to provide to the legitimate defense of Ukraine... to put Kyiv in the best possible condition to build a just and lasting peace,” her office said.
She also “expressed solidarity for the victims of the recent Russian bombings,” it said in a statement, as the grinding war nears the three-year mark.
Zelensky had earlier Thursday joined a meeting of about 50 allies at the US air base Ramstein in Germany — the last such gathering before Trump takes office on January 20.
The US president-elect has criticized the large amount of US aid for Kyiv and vowed to bring the war to a swift end, without making any concrete proposals for a ceasefire or peace agreement.
In Germany, Zelensky said Trump’s return to the White House would open a “new chapter” and reiterated a call for Western allies to send troops to help “force Russia to peace.”
In a post on X, Zelensky thanked Italy for its “unwavering support,” saying: “Together, we can bring a just peace closer and strengthen our collective positions.”
He and Meloni discussed “strengthening security, addressing global developments, and preparing for this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Rome,” he said.
Meloni, who has led NATO and EU member Italy since October 2022, has strongly supported Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but is also politically close to Trump.
At a press conference in Rome earlier, Meloni — who visited Trump at his Florida home last weekend — said she did not believe the president-elect would abandon Kyiv.
“Frankly I don’t foresee a disengagement,” she said, adding that Trump had previously “said precisely because we want peace, we will not abandon Ukraine.”
She added that she would support options for peace that Ukraine would support.
NATO and EU member Italy has sent arms and aid to Ukraine to help fight off Russia’s invading forces, but has refused to allow Kyiv to use its weapons inside Russian territory.
Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said the Ukrainian president would meet Friday with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, the country’s largely ceremonial head of state.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also in the Italian capital on Thursday for separate talks with European counterparts on Syria. It was not clear if he planned to meet Zelensky during his trip.
US President Joe Biden had also been due to visit Rome in what was expected to be his final overseas trip in office, but canceled to focus on the federal response to wildfires raging across Los Angeles.
Scotland leader refuses to be drawn on Lockerbie bombing inquiry
- John Swinney would not speculate on backing public inquiry into 1988 attack while criminal case against suspected bomb maker underway in US
- Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over UK that killed 270 people blamed on Libyan intelligence officials
LONDON: Scotland’s first minister has refused to be drawn on whether he supports a public inquiry into the 1988 bombing of a passenger plane blamed on Libyan intelligence officials.
The downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie killed 270 people and remains by far the most deadly terror attack on British soil.
Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Baset Ali Al-Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for his role in the plot to place the bomb on board the flight. Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, always insisted he was innocent and doubts have been raised about his conviction.
A television series released last week in the UK, which tells the story of the investigation by one of the victim’s fathers, has renewed interest in the case, as has an upcoming court case in the US of the alleged bomb maker, the Libyan Abu Agila Masud.
A member of the Scottish Parliament, Christine Grahame, asked First Minister John Swinney on Thursday if he supported a UK inquiry into the bombing given the “remaining concerns for some, including myself, about the credibility of the conviction” of Al-Megrahi.
She also highlighted what she described as the resistance of the UK Government to releasing relevant documents in relation to the bombing, the Daily Record reported.
Swinney said that while there was a criminal case underway in the US, “I would prefer not to speculate on possible inquiries.”
Al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted for the attack and there has been no public inquiry in the UK.
His trial by a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands took place more than 11 years after the bombing and followed long negotiations with the then Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to hand him over along with another suspect.
The recent TV series “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth” stars British actor Colin Firth as Jim Swire, whose daughter was killed on the flight as it flew from London Heathrow to New York City four days before Christmas.
Swire believes that Al-Megrahi, who died in 2012 three years after being released on compassionate grounds, was innocent.
Two-thirds of the victims of the bombing were American and 11 residents in the town of Lockerbie were killed when sections of the aircraft fell on residential areas.