California fires claim 6 lives, threaten thousands of homes

August 21, 2020

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — Sky-darkening wildfires that took at least six lives and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes blazed throughout California on Friday as firefighting resources strained under the vastness of the infernos authorities were trying to control.

Three major complexes encompassing dozens of fires chewed through a combined 780 square miles (2,020 square kilometers) of forests, canyons and rural areas flanking San Francisco on three sides. Statewide, nearly 12,000 firefighters are battling blazes that have scorched more than 1,200 square miles (3,120 square kilometers) in California, said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.

Crews from Oregon, Idaho and Arizona have arrived to relieve local firefighters, he said, with engines on their way from as far away as Maryland and New Jersey. Tens of thousands of homes were threatened by flames that drove through dense and bone-dry trees and brush. Many of the fires were sparked by lightning strikes from brief thunderstorms — nearly 12,000 since last weekend — as a high-pressure area over the West brought a dangerous mix of triple-digit weather and monsoonal moisture pulled from the south.

Some fires doubled in size within 24 hours, fire officials said. And while some evacuations were lifted in the small city of Vacaville, between San Francisco and Sacramento, other areas expanded their evacuation areas. The University of California, Santa Cruz, was evacuated, and a new fire burning near Yosemite National Park also prompted evacuations.

Santa Cruz itself, a coastal city of 65,000, wasn't affected. But Mayor Justin Cummings urged residents Thursday evening to be prepared to evacuate by gassing up their vehicles and packing important documents, medicines and other belongings.

“Prepare early so that you are ready to go at a moment's notice," Cummings said. More than 64,000 people have been ordered to evacuate in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, which make up part of Silicon Valley and hug the coast south of San Francisco.

With firefighting resources tight, homes in remote, hard-to-get-to places burned unattended. Cal Fire Chief Mark Brunton pleaded with evacuees to quit battling fires on their own, saying that just causes more problems for professionals.

“We had last night three separate rescues that pulled our vital, very few resources away," he said. An anxious Rachel Stratman, 35, and her husband, Quentin Lareau, 40, waited for word Friday about their home in the Forest Springs community of Boulder Creek after evacuating earlier this week. She knows one house has burned but has received conflicting information about the rest of the neighborhood.

“It’s so hard to wait and not know," she said. “I’m still torn if I want people to be going back to the area and videotaping. I know they cause the firefighters distraction, but that’s the only way we know.”

The couple are in a San Jose hotel with medication she needs after undergoing a transplant surgery last month. She collected her mother's ashes and some clothes while her husband closed windows and readied the home before they evacuated Tuesday.

“I kept looking at things and kept thinking I should grab this or that, but I just told myself I needed to leave. I didn’t bring any official documents and I didn’t bring my house deed or car title. No passport," she said.

The ferocity of the fires was astonishing so early in the fire season, which historically has seen the largest and deadliest blazes when gusty, dry winds blow in the fall. But the death toll already had reached at least six since the majority of blazes started less than a week ago, with four deaths claimed by fires burning in wine country north of San Francisco.

The bodies of three people were found in a home that burned in Napa, Henry Wofford, spokesman for the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, told the San Francisco Chronicle. In Solano County Sheriff Thomas A. Ferrara reported the death of a male resident there.

Separately, a Pacific Gas & Electric utility worker was found dead Wednesday in a vehicle in the Vacaville area Wednesday. In central California, a pilot on a water-dropping mission in western Fresno County died Wednesday morning when his helicopter crashed.

At least two other people were missing and more than 30 civilians and firefighters have been injured, authorities said. Smoke and ash billowing from the fires also fouled the air throughout California's scenic central coast and in San Francisco. The fires have destroyed at least 175 buildings.

Tim and Anne Roberts had gone to the beach with their two children on Monday to avoid the smoke at their home in Boulder Creek in Santa Cruz County. They packed a change of clothes, their children’s school supplies and their passports — just in case.

They learned Wednesday that their house had burned. Birth certificates, legal documents and family heirlooms are gone. But in photos of the ruins, they were surprised by how many redwoods, oaks and fruit trees were still standing.

“It’s a strange sort of comfort,” Tim Roberts said. The good news for Brookdale resident Larissa Eisenstein Thursday afternoon was that her five chickens, Kelly and The Nuggets, had been safely relocated into a stranger’s yard in a safer, neighboring community.

The chicken evacuation came a day after Eisenstein, a Silicon Valley tech worker, had been forced to leave them behind during an overnight evacuation. She fled with her cats Mochi and Mini, driving from one hotel to the next only to find they were full before landing in a safe place where they could get some rest.

The bad news Thursday was that the fire was burning down her wooded street as she adjusted to the idea that her worldly possessions may now be limited to photos of her parents, some jewelry she had grabbed, and fresh tomatoes from her garden.

“After I got the cats, I realized there was very little important to me, and the priority is to try to remember how lovely things can be," she said. “I’ve had a wonderful garden this year.” Although temperatures were predicted to ease slightly on Friday, they were also expected to be hot enough so that firefighters will not be able to count on cool evening weather aiding them. Erratic winds also could drive the fires unpredictably in multiple directions, state fire officials said.

Winds gusting to 20 mph (32 kph) over ridge tops could challenge overnight firefighting efforts in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, said the incident commander, Cal Fire Assistant Chief Billy See. More firefighters were sent to battle the complex of fires, but “it’s still not enough,” See said.

“We’re still drastically short for a fire of this size,” he said.

Har reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco, Camille Fassett in Redwood City and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

First female general officer promotes, transfers to Space Force

 by Staff Sgt. James Richardson | Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

Washington DC (AFNS)

Aug 18, 2020

In a significant milestone for the nation's newest armed service, Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno became the first female officer to promote to three-star general and transfer into the U.S. Space Force during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Aug. 17.

Armagno will serve as the director of staff for Headquarters U.S. Space Force, where she will oversee day to day staff operations to include establishment activities for the new service.

"We're starting fresh. We're starting a clean sheet," Armagno said. "We're going to be agile, we're going to be nimble, and we're going to bring the best of everything into the space force."

Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations, officiated the ceremony and said Armagno was the right choice for the position for three qualities. She is a space expert, has broad experience as a commander and leader, and is a mentor and teacher to everyone.

"It is absolutely my honor to promote Nina as a lieutenant general in the United States Space Force," Raymond said. "This is a big job, and I'll tell you as much momentum as we have, as much as we've gotten done, there's 20 times more to do. Having your leadership to guide the staff to get this right for our nation is going to be really important, and I couldn't think of a better officer to do that."

Armagno earned her commission from the Air Force Academy in 1988. After graduating from Undergraduate Space Training in 1988, she served as a combat-mission-ready operator, instructor, evaluator and flight commander in strategic missile warning, space surveillance, space control, space launch and theater missile warning mission areas.

Armagno holds the unique distinction as the only Air Force officer to command both the U.S. Eastern and Western Ranges culminating in an unprecedented, flawless record with over 48 successful launch campaigns valued at more than $19 billion. She received the 2014 General Jerome F. O'Malley Distinguished Space Leadership Award, presented in part for her efforts to reorient Air Force philosophy to build the operational use of space systems at the highest levels of the Air Force.

During the ceremony, Armagno highlighted the leadership qualities she learned from space professionals throughout her career.. She said that there is a Space Force today because of the incredible space leaders of the past.

"This is about the years before us, the leaders, the hundreds of thousands of Airmen who have been doing space for decades," Armagno said. "These are the shoulders - the titans' shoulders -the space force was built uponthe shoulders we stand on today."

Source: Space War.

Link: https://www.spacewar.com/reports/First_female_general_officer_promotes_transfers_to_Space_Force_999.html.

Zimbabwe court bars top lawyer from representing journalist

August 18, 2020

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A Zimbabwean magistrate Tuesday barred Beatrice Mtetwa, a top human rights lawyer, from representing a jailed journalist and ordered that she be prosecuted for comments posted on a Facebook page run by an American filmmaker.

Magistrate Ngoni Nduna also said he will forward his ruling to the Law Society of Zimbabwe for possible further punishment of the lawyer. Mtetwa was representing Hopewell Chin’ono, an investigative journalist who has reported alleged government corruption on Twitter and has been in jail for more than three weeks on accusations of mobilizing an anti-government protest.

Prosecutors in Chin’ono’s bail case last week asked the magistrate to order Mtetwa to step down, arguing that she had posted on a Facebook page called “Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law” proceedings that were held in camera.

The allegedly offensive posts called on the international community to speak out against Chin’ono’s imprisonment. Chin’ono told the court that Mtetwa had nothing to with the page. He said it was administered by an American filmmaker who produced a documentary by the name of the Facebook page, where people regularly post on human rights issues in Zimbabwe.

On Tuesday, the magistrate agreed with the prosecution and also ordered that Mtetwa should be charged with contempt of court. Mtetwa has over the past decades represented dozens of journalists, human rights campaigners and opposition leaders accused of plotting against the government. She also frequently speaks against human rights abuses in the troubled southern African country.

She has been arrested, detained and allegedly assaulted by police in a pattern of harassment and intimidation. Mtetwa said Tuesday’s ruling was meant to instill fear in human rights lawyers and could have the “chilling effect” of dissuading young lawyers from taking on human rights issues.

“The intention is to stop us defending a certain type of client … it means the right to legal representation has been severely curtailed and it has been curtailed by the courts,” she told reporters outside the court. She said she will appeal the ruling.

France: Mali junta's timeline 'out of the question'

August 30, 2020

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — France's defense minister is pressing Mali's military junta to return the country to civilian rule within months, saying Sunday that the three-year timeline proposed by the coup leaders is “out of the question.”

The comments came hours after the junta hastily met with prominent figures from the opposition coalition following a public dispute that highlighted emerging divisions. Both sides were united in their desire to see former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita gone, but the opposition has begun criticizing the junta in recent days showing how tense the debate over Mali's future has become.

On Friday, imam and opposition leader Mahmoud Dicko publicly urged the junta leaders to meet the demands of regional mediators in order to spare Mali further crippling financial sanctions. Dicko, whom some suspect has political ambitions of his own, called on the current leadership to "be part of the solution and not another problem.”

The 15-nation West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has said Mali’s return to democracy must not take more than a year and already has stopped financial flows to the country among other measures.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly agreed, telling Europe-1 radio the transition should take place within “a matter of months.” “If this does not happen, the risk is that all this benefits terrorists first and foremost," she said. "Terrorists feed on the weakness of states.”

A similar military coup in Mali in 2012 unleashed political upheaval that was exploited by Islamic extremists in the country's north. They managed to seize power of the major towns in the north and implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law before former colonizer France led a military intervention the following year to oust them.

The jihadists though have regrouped in the surrounding rural areas, and have continued to launch scores of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers and the Malian military, one of the factors contributing to the president's downfall. While the violence started before he took office in 2013, many Malians felt his government had not done enough to stamp out the extremists, who further encroached into central Mali during Keita's presidency.

Nearly two weeks after a military junta seized power, there is still no consensus on who will lead the transition that the international community is demanding, nor has there been any agreement on how quickly that should be achieved. Many fear that further political instability could unravel more than seven years of effort by France and the international community to stabilize the country.

The French defense minister said that a video conference would be organized this week with 18 international partners, though no further details were available. Early Sunday, Mali's opposition alliance known as M5-RFP said it had put forth its own plan to the junta, but no details were given about their suggested time frame.

Tensions had flared Saturday when the M5-RFP leadership put out a terse statement saying they hadn't been invited to the junta's planned forum on the country's future. Coalition spokesman Issa Kaou Djim later said they had “cleared up the misunderstanding” with junta leaders.

However, questions remain about what role each will play. Dicko became an influential figure during the months of street demonstrations to oust Keita. Initially, he indicated he wanted to leave politics and return to preaching at his mosque. But his public statement Friday fueled further speculation he may still have political ambitions.

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

Mali junta wants to hold off on elections until 2023

August 24, 2020

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The military junta that overthrew Mali's president wants to put off new elections for three years, an official said Monday, as the international community pressed for an immediate return to civilian rule.

The coup leaders want to prepare a new constitution before holding any vote, said an official in the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. The junta's proposal will likely be rejected by West African regional mediators and former colonizer France: It's more than double the time it took to hold a vote after a similar coup in 2012, and would allow the soldiers who overthrew a democratically elected president to remain in power for years.

A mediation team from the 15-nation regional bloc known as ECOWAS has been pressing the junta to hand over power to a civilian transitional government. Initially, they called for ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to be reinstalled as president, but that prospect has become unlikely amid an outpouring of public support in Mali for the coup d'etat.

The official taking part in the talks indicated there had been some movement toward releasing Keita, who has been detained along with Mali's prime minister since the coup a week ago. Among the options is allowing him to stay at his residence in Bamako under surveillance instead of at the military barracks in Kati, he said.

African countries and the wider international community have expressed alarm over the coup d’etat, which deposed Keita three years before his final term was due to end. Mali has been fighting against Islamic extremists with heavy international support for more than seven years, and jihadists have previously used power vacuums in the country to expand their territory.

The high-level regional delegation, led by Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan, held talks with the junta, including Col. Assimi Goita, who has declared himself the group’s leader. The regional delegation also has met with Keita and the other detained officials.

After the brief meetings, few details were given, but Jonathan did say that Keita was doing well. Hours after Keita was detained at his home last week, he announced his resignation on state broadcaster ORTM saying he did not want any blood to be shed for him to stay in power. The next day, soldiers took to the airwaves calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People.

Keita won the country's 2013 election in a landslide, only to see his popularity plummet after his 2018 reelection as the Malian army faced punishing losses from jihadist attacks. Then after dozens of legislative elections were disputed this spring, demonstrators began taking to the streets calling for his resignation. He offered concessions and regional mediators intervened, but his opponents made it clear they would accept nothing short of his departure.

Mali’s opposition coalition, the M5-RFP, welcomed the ouster of Keita but they insisted they remained “deeply attached to democracy.”

Top West Africa delegation goes to Mali to meet with junta

August 22, 2020

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Top West African officials are arriving in Mali's capital following a coup in the nation this week to meet with the junta leaders and the deposed president in efforts to negotiate a return to civilian rule.

The mediation efforts on Saturday come a day after thousands of Malians took to the streets of Bamako, the capital city, to celebrate the coup. The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has strongly condemned the coup and said the high-level delegation will work “to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order.” ECOWAS also demanded the reinstatement of deposed president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

ECOWAS had said it is mobilizing a regional military force, an indication that it is preparing for a military intervention in case its negotiations with the junta leaders fail. The high-level delegation is to hold talks with the junta, including Col. Assimi Goita, who has declared himself the group's leader. Later the regional delegation will meet with Keita and the other detained officials, according to the ECOWAS program.

The widespread support for the coup shown by the demonstration in Bamako Friday means the junta may argue to the ECOWAS delegation that they enjoy popular support. The coup occurred on Tuesday when soldiers detained the president and forced him to resign and to dissolve the National Assembly and government. By Wednesday, soldiers from the junta calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People had declared they were in charge of the West African nation and would work toward a civilian transitional government. Keita and his prime minister have remained in the custody of the coup leaders.

The international community has expressed alarm about the coup d’etat, which deposed Mali’s democratically elected leader who still had three years left in his term. Mali has been fighting against Islamic extremists with heavy international support for more than seven years, and jihadists have previously used power vacuums in Mali to expand their territory.

Keita — first elected in a 2013 landslide the year after a similar military coup — saw his popularity plummet after his 2018 re-election as the Malian army faced punishing losses from jihadist attacks. Then after dozens of legislative elections were disputed this spring, demonstrators began taking to the streets calling for his resignation. He offered concessions and regional mediators intervened, but his opponents who formed a coalition known as M5-RFP made clear they would accept nothing short of his departure.

On Friday, they welcomed the week’s developments but insisted they remained “deeply attached to democracy.” The junta has promised it will return the country to civilian rule but has given no time frame for doing so. Mali was not due to have another election until 2023.

Military juntas across West Africa have not always been in a rush to hand over power even when promising to do so — after the country’s March 2012 coup, the first democratic election was not held until the following August.

Mahmoud Dicko, an imam who led the political opposition to Keita’s presidency, told supporters Friday he was ready to return to his mosque. But he did not rule out a return to politics entirely, saying: “I am an imam, I wish to die an imam, but I won’t keep quiet about injustice.”

Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

Mali's junta spokesman promises transition to civilian rule

August 21, 2020

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The military junta ruling Mali following this week's coup is seeking a transitional president to return the country civilian rule, the group's spokesman said. Ismael Wague told The Associated Press that the newly formed National Committee for the Salvation of the People will meet with political parties and civil society groups to determine the duration and composition of the transition.

His words come as West African leaders are escalating pressure on the junta and urging them to restore President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to power. Wague, however, denied that the junta had carried out a coup d’etat, saying that Mali still has constitutional order and the 75-year-old Keita was only being held at army barracks for his own protection. He denied that the president had been ousted.

“The president of the republic resigned on his own after making an analysis of the country’s situation,” Wague said. “For us, this is a civil transition, not a military one, and the president of the transition must reach a consensus among the forces of the nation,” he said.

Mali's opposition coalition, the M5-RFP, has not yet said if it will be part of the transition, though experts say it is likely. It is holding marches Friday in Bamako, the capital, “to pay tribute to the Malian people for their heroic struggle,” they said in a statement.

The coalition called on the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, “the African Union and the international community as a whole to better understand the situation in Mali apart from questions of sanctions and to support the Malian people in their quest for peace and reconciliation. national, genuine democracy and better living.”

The M5-RFP welcomed Keita’s resignation and the dissolution of the National Assembly, it said in a statement Friday. Though the M5-RFP was not involved in the overthrow, they led mass demonstrations starting in June calling for Keita’s ouster.

ECOWAS has called for the creation of a standby regional military force for possible intervention in Mali, saying Keita must be allowed to serve out the three years left in his term after this week’s “coup attempt.”

ECOWAS leaders, after an urgent summit meeting on Thursday, warned that Mali's junta was responsible for the safety of Keita and all other detained government officials. The regional bloc said it would soon send a delegation to Bamako to try to help restore constitutional order. The ECOWAS leaders have already suspended Mali’s membership, closed its borders with the country, and said that financial sanctions would be imposed against the junta leaders.

The United Nations and France have also urged a return to constitutional order in Mali, amid fears that Islamic extremists could once again gain ground amid the political upheaval, derailing more than seven years of effort to stabilize the country.

French and U.N. soldiers patrolled the streets in Mali’s northern city of Gao on Friday, where there was worry of more chaos. The U.N. has a mission of 15,600 soldiers in Mali and France has about 5,000 troops in its Operation Barkhane, both to try to stabilize the country amid increasing attacks from Islamic extremists.

Mali had a similar coup in 2012 which created a power vacuum that allowed jihadists to seize control of key northern cities until a French-led military operation pushed the rebels out of the urban centers the following year.

Observers fear Mali's current political upheaval will give extremists another chance to expand their reach. Wague, the junta spokesman, said the new military rulers were doing everything possible to be sure that was not the case.

“It is possible that some may take advantage of the situation to plan things, but we are in contact with the operational units on the ground so that they can continue their work,” he told AP. “We know how difficult it is for them because all of us come from the field and we will do everything we can to increase their operational capacity.”

After extremists allied to al-Qaida took over the major centers in northern Mali, they implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, including amputating hands for those accused of theft. Since being pushed out of the northern cities, the jihadists have regrouped in rural areas and launched relentless attacks on the Malian military, as well as the U.N., French and regional forces in the country. The extremists have moved south, inflaming tensions between ethnic groups in central Mali.

Col. Assimi Goita, Mali’s new strongman, had been head of a special military unit based in central Mali. He also had taken part in the annual Flintlock training organized by the U.S. military to help Mali and other Sahel countries better fight extremists.

While Mali’s Islamic insurgency started before Keita took office, many felt his government did not do enough to end the violence.

Associated Press writers Carley Petesch and Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.