Monday, 9 October 2017

Fast-moving wildfires ignite across California, hitting wine country particularly hard

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Fast-moving wildfires ignite across California, hitting wine country particularly hardWildfires broke out Sunday night and Monday morning in California's prized wine country, advancing with stunning, and potentially deadly, speed across the dry and gusty Napa and Sonoma Valleys.  A total of 14 fires in northern California had destroyed about 1,500 structures as of Monday morning, local time, putting this event as among the most destructive in state history.  Winds gusting to 55 miles per hour fanned the flames in Napa and Sonoma County overnight. CalFire Battalion Chief Jonathan Cox told KTVU on Monday that the Tubbs Fire, located between Santa Rosa and Calistoga,  "exploded" in size overnight, from 200 to 20,000 acres.  SEE ALSO: How to prepare for natural disasters “It was an inferno like you’ve never seen before,” Marian Williams, who escaped the Tubbs Fire driving with neighbors through flames before dawn near the town of Kenwood, told the Associated Press.  “Trees were on fire like torches,” she said. Aerial video footage from KTVU showed numerous homes burning or destroyed in Santa Rosa. Entire neighborhoods, at least two hospitals, and senior centers in northwestern Santa Rosa were reportedly evacuated. As Windsor Fire Chief Jack Piccinini told the publication, Sonoma County is struggling due to a lack of resources needed to fight fires of this magnitude. Neighboring counties have been sending equipment and crews to help fight the blazes.  Marin County, for example, sent 22 fire engines, along with 5 ambulances, as well as numerous crews to assist the effort.  This fire is horrific. Cars, buildings destroyed. Untold homes http://pic.twitter.com/XDl1UhtJY3 — Jill Tucker (@jilltucker) October 9, 2017 "Everyone in Sonoma County is spread out fighting these fires, but they don't have enough resources to handle something like this. The only thing we can do is hope the wind will come down," Piccinini told the paper . The rapid speed of these fires raises the potential for casualties, given that residents had little time to flee the flames. The Santa Rosa Fire Department tweeted that the fire had grown to 20,000 acres — which is astonishing considering the fires broke out mere hours before. The #TubbsFire is now at 20,000 acres. — SantaRosaFire (@SantaRosaFire) October 9, 2017 20,000+ acres burnt in a matter of hours due to 50+ mph wind gusts and <15% humidity. @CAL_FIRE reps saying the rate of spread is unheard of — Sean Wince  (@SeanWince) October 9, 2017 Images and video surfacing on social media show just how extensive the damage is already, and how smoke can be seen from surrounding areas — all the way into downtown San Francisco. saw numerous ambulances enroute north 101 and SF is completely hazed in ash #napafire http://pic.twitter.com/LBoCrmSF8x — Micheal Benedict (@micheal) October 9, 2017 Mobile home park in Santa Rosa is gone. Cal fire says they can confirm civilian injuries. Varying degrees.#ABC7now http://pic.twitter.com/pnPAve2FzX — Amy Hollyfield (@amyhollyfield) October 9, 2017 Fire that crossed from Napa to Sonoma has burned homes along Highway 12 just west of County line. @CBSSF #napafires http://pic.twitter.com/zNl6XWuMlf — Wilson Walker (@Wilson_Walker) October 9, 2017 Highway 12, Sonoma County - just west of county line. #napafires @CBSSF http://pic.twitter.com/vJKzIN8jTB — Wilson Walker (@Wilson_Walker) October 9, 2017 Napa Road, just off Highway 12 in Sonoma County. Quite a few homes lost in this area. #napafires http://pic.twitter.com/4Z4ZMgT28B — Wilson Walker (@Wilson_Walker) October 9, 2017 According to The Los Angeles Times, over 300 firefighters are battling three major fires burning in Napa County, along with some additional smaller fires in the area. As of Monday morning, much of northern California is under Red Flag Warning, which means critical fire weather conditions — such as wind, humidity, and temperature — are present that would ensure that any fire that breaks out could spread rapidly and become severe.  Got evacuated from Glen Allen. 101 is blocked so take 80E to get to SF. Thick smoke, gusty winds for Napa #napafires http://pic.twitter.com/zgCFUawDXY — Ayesha Barenblat (@abarenblat) October 9, 2017 Strong images out of Santa Rosa, CA, where a hospital is being evacuated due to growing #wildfire. Photo by CNN affiliate @abc7newsbayarea http://pic.twitter.com/LIdPtKggp3 — Andrea Butera (@AndreaButera) October 9, 2017 Here is a picture I took this morning. Nurses evacuating an ICU patient. #SantaRosa #fire #BreakingNews @abc7newsbayarea http://pic.twitter.com/rKewjZnE1e — Stefan (@Stefanstifter) October 9, 2017 Another image of the fire crawling up the back on Sonoma Raceway http://pic.twitter.com/DY960PtwM2 — Ken Shuman (@sanphrancisco) October 9, 2017 #NapaCounty fire seen from our plane while flying into SFO tonight. Prayers for the firefighters out there fighting this. #napafire http://pic.twitter.com/Ic0DIZ24jk — Janice Abdalla (@Babbles28) October 9, 2017 #GOES16 satellite update: around 3 am Monday morning. Satellite continues to show multiple wild fires across the North Bay, and a new fire start has been detected just to the east of Cloverdale. Strong and gusty northeast winds will continue through at least mid morning. #cawx http://pic.twitter.com/jufkkU38wZ — NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) October 9, 2017 According to National Weather Service forecast office in Sacramento, winds in the vicinity o are currently reaching up to 55 mph, and daytime humidity levels are between 7 and 19 percent, so any fires that spark are expected to spread quickly.  A record wet winter has been followed by much drier-than-average conditions in this region during the past three months. This means that vegetation that grew during the wet period is now extremely dry, providing plenty of fuel for the flames.  Past 90 days: Swath of northern #California <25% normal rainfall. Vegetation growth after record 2016/17 WY rains now dying. Lots of fuel. http://pic.twitter.com/6dN05R0QG1 — Steve Bowen (@SteveBowenWx) October 9, 2017 Image: NWS San Francisco Canyon Fire 2Anaheim HillsSouth of the 91Along the 241 Toll Road @foxla http://pic.twitter.com/mJTcGp0zod — Rick Dickert (@RICKatFOX) October 9, 2017 Due to Santa Ana winds there's also a critical fire danger in areas of southern California. Wildfires broke out Monday in Anaheim, forcing evacuations of entire neighborhoods.  October has long been associated with California's worst wildfires, particularly in southern California, where Santa Ana winds tend to develop more frequently than at other times of year. This is also the end of the dry season in the state, when vegetation tends to be most ready to ignite. Additional reporting by Andrew Freedman. WATCH: A farmer's reunion with his animals after Hurricane Harvey will leave you needing tissues




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White House to order health care alternatives

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White House to order health care alternativesThe White House is finalizing an executive order that would expand health plans offered by associations to allow individuals to pool together and buy insurance outside their states, a unilateral move that follows failed efforts by Congress to overhaul the health care system.




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Man guilty in torture death of girlfriend's son gets prison

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Man guilty in torture death of girlfriend's son gets prisonSEATTLE (AP) — A man convicted of torturing his girlfriend's son by forcing him to take ice baths, wrapping his head in duct tape and rubbing cayenne pepper into his eyes was sentenced to 65 years in prison for his murder.




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As Trump challenges Iran nuclear deal, those in Tehran worry - Washington Post

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Washington Post
As Trump challenges Iran nuclear deal, those in Tehran worry
Washington Post
TEHRAN, Iran — As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens the Iran nuclear deal, those living in Tehran feel that an accord they have yet to benefit from may already be doomed, hardening their skepticism about America. Trump is set to deliver a speech ...
John Bolton: Mr. President, don't put America at risk with flawed Iran dealThe Hill
Facing the Iranian Challenge in the Middle EastNational Review
Europe Ramps Up Its Push to Protect the Iran Deal From TrumpBloomberg
Reuters -Newsweek -CBS News -New York Post
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In the rough: Losses mount at Trump's Scottish resorts

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In the rough: Losses mount at Trump's Scottish resortsBALMEDIE, Scotland (AP) — David Milne loves the view of the North Sea from his home high above the roiling surf, but he finds his eye often falling onto the golf course next door and, when it does, on the tiny figures below.




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Merkel says to begin three-way German coalition talks next week

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Merkel says to begin three-way German coalition talks next weekChancellor Angela Merkel said her conservative bloc would begin exploratory talks next week on forming a three-way German coalition government with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the environmentalist Greens. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), would hold talks with the FDP and Greens separately next Wednesday, she said. "Then on Friday, October 20th we will have a first round of exploratory talks with all partners," Merkel told a joint news conference with CSU leader Horst Seehofer on Monday.




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Evacuations Ordered, Freeways Closed as Fast-Moving Brush Fire Spreads in Anaheim Hills Area - KTLA

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KTLA
Evacuations Ordered, Freeways Closed as Fast-Moving Brush Fire Spreads in Anaheim Hills Area
KTLA
Evacuation orders went into effect Monday morning in the Anaheim Hills area as a fast-moving brush fire erupted near the 91 and 241 freeways. The Canyon Fire 2 was burning near the 91 and 241 freeways in the Anaheim Hills area on Oct. 9, 2017. (Credit: ...
Fast-moving Anaheim Hills brush fire prompts mandatory evacuation ordersKABC-TV
Evacuations ordered in Anaheim Hills as fast-moving brush fire burns out of controlLos Angeles Times
Anaheim Hills Brush Fire Burning At Rapid Pace: Mandatory Evacuations In PlacePatch.com

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US-backed Syrian fighters preparing for final push in Raqqa

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US-backed Syrian fighters preparing for final push in RaqqaBEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria are preparing for a final offensive on neighborhoods still held by the Islamic State group in the city of Raqqa, a spokesman for the group said Monday. A U.S. official affirmed that the battle for Raqqa is now approaching its last phase.




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Outsiders challenge Chicago school for Nobel economics prize

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Outsiders challenge Chicago school for Nobel economics prizeThe 2017 Nobel season wraps up Monday with the economics prize, which could this year honour fields rarely awarded by the committee, such as development economics or French economist Esther Duflo's research on poverty. The Nobel Economics Prize was created by the Swedish central bank "in memory of Alfred Nobel" and first awarded in 1969, unlike the other prizes which were created in his last will and testament and first awarded in 1901. Last year's economics prize went to British-American economist Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland for their groundbreaking research on contract theory, which has helped design insurance policies and executive pay.




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Senior Catholic cleric resigns after secret family revealed

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Senior Catholic cleric resigns after secret family revealedThe former rector of a prominent Legion of Christ seminary in Rome is leaving the priesthood after admitting to having a secret family, including two children of his own, which he concealed for years from Roman Catholic authorities.  The conservative Catholic order announced this weekend that Father Oscar Turrion, a popular 49-year-old Spanish priest who was made rector of the Pontifical Maria Matter Ecclesiae International College in Rome in 2014, will leave the priestly ministry in order to dedicate more time to a family he has raised clandestinely until now.   Back in March, Father Turrion first told his superiors at the Pontifical Maria Matter Ecclesiae International College, which houses approximately 100 male diocesan seminarians from around the globe, that he had recently fathered a daughter. As Roman Catholic priests are bound to a vow of celibacy, the order offered him a “period of reflection,” and then in August appointed a substitute rector.   The Legion revealed this week that Father Turrion told authorities in a letter he had decided to leave the ministry after admitting that his infant daughter is in fact the second child he fathered with a woman he fell in love with several years ago when the order was going through a period of turmoil. He kept the first-born child, a son reportedly born eight years ago, and the ongoing relationship with the child’s mother, a closely guarded secret for years, including during the period he was being considered for rector. In a letter released by the Legion, Turrion asked for prayers and "foregiveness for the scandal . . for my bad example."  Popular and passionate about football,  Father Turrion was one of the few ordained priests invited each year to join the seminarians on the field in the Clericus Cup, an annual football tournament between teams from the Rome seminary colleges. The shock revelation has rattled the institution, which said in a statement it was saddened and "conscious of the impact that the negative example" had set to seminarians and the Christian faithful. The order faced a similar scandal in 2013, when American priest Thomas Williams, a professor of moral theology at the Legion’s university in Rome and a prominent TV commentator, also announced he would leave the priesthood after admitting he had fathered a child. And in 2006 the Vatican sentenced its founder, Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Delgollado to a life of “prayer and penance” after discovering he had sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least three children out of wedlock.  Today, the subject of how to manage priests secretly fathering children is gradually becoming less taboo inside the Vatican, thanks in part to the persistent efforts of Vincent Doyle, an Irish Catholic psychotherapist who discovered that his father had been a priest and went on to found the Coping International support group for children of priests, who he said often face emotional, psychological and financial difficulties after years of living with “guilty secrets."  Earlier this year Irish Catholic bishops passed new guidelines for “the principles of responsibility regarding priests who father children while in the ministry,” urging the wellbeing of the child to be put first, personally, legally and financially.   




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In the solitary world of video poker, Stephen Paddock knew how to win. Until he didn't - Los Angeles Times

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Los Angeles Times
In the solitary world of video poker, Stephen Paddock knew how to win. Until he didn't
Los Angeles Times
Stephen Paddock wanted to win and, like any savvy video poker player, knew which machine to lock down at Mandalay Bay. There was only one in the casino — a Jacks-or-better 9-6 machine, meaning it paid 9-to-1 credits on the full house and 6-1 on the ...
Friend of Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock describes him as caring person who sought to 'make people happy'ABC News

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How can US rapist win joint custody of victim's child? - BBC News

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BBC News
How can US rapist win joint custody of victim's child?
BBC News
The case of a Michigan man awarded joint legal custody of a child whose mother he sexually assaulted when she was 12 has provoked universal outrage. Many are incredulous that Christopher Mirasolo, 27, could be granted parental rights after a DNA test ...
Man accused of raping 12-year-old given joint custody of her childNew York Daily News
Rapist Gets Joint Custody Of Child Fathered In Attack: Michigan JudgePatch.com
Convicted rapist gets joint custody of victim's childAZCentral.com
PerezHilton.com -Glamour -KTLA -WSMV Nashville
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University of Pittsburgh coed, 20, found dead in homicide at off-campus home - Fox News

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Fox News
University of Pittsburgh coed, 20, found dead in homicide at off-campus home
Fox News
Alina Sheykhet, a University of Pittsburgh student, was found dead in her off-campus home Sunday with blunt force trauma injuries, officials said. (Facebook). A 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student was found dead in her off-campus home Sunday ...
Father finds daughter dead from apparent homicideNew York Post
University of Pittsburgh student found dead in homicideSan Francisco Chronicle
Medical Examiner identifies Pitt student found dead SundayTribune-Review

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