Massive fire threatens Lake Tahoe; more ordered to flee
People were told to flee from a long section of the Lake Tahoe shoreline Monday as a huge forest fire threatened to push into the resort region straddling California and Nevada.
The new orders for people to immediately evacuate included part of the tourist city of South Lake Tahoe and about 15 miles up the western shore of the lake. It comes a day after communities several miles south of the lake had abruptly been ordered evacuated as the Caldor Fire raged nearby.
South Lake Tahoe’s main medical facility, Barton Memorial Hospital, proactively evacuated 36 patients needing skilled nursing and 16 in acute care beds Sunday, sending them to regional facilities far from the fire, public information officer Mindi Befu said. The rest of the hospital was evacuating following Monday’s expanded orders.
South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace was among those leaving ahead of an evacuation order. She and her husband are taking their dogs and items given to them from their deceased parent — objects that can’t be replaced.
Bali bomb case starts in Guantanamo 18 years after capture
Three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center had their first day in court Monday after being held by the U.S. for 18 years in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia.
Indonesian prisoner Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, and two Malaysians started their arraignment at a hearing at the U.S. base in Cuba that repeatedly stalled because of issues involving courtroom interpreters. They face charges that include murder, conspiracy and terrorism. It is merely the first step in what could be a long legal journey for a case that involves evidence tainted by CIA torture, an issue that has caused other war crimes cases to languish for years at Guantanamo.
Merkel’s would-be heir seeks rebound after election debate
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s struggling would-be heir on Monday hit back at suggestions that a center-left rival is better qualified for the job after a televised debate four weeks ahead of Germany’s election failed to give him a clear breakthrough.
Armin Laschet, the chancellor candidate from Merkel’s center-right Union bloc, insisted that he was “not at all” frustrated by a poll following Sunday night’s debate. It showed most viewers picking center-left Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as the winner of the event, followed by environmentalist Green contender Annalena Baerbock and then Laschet.
The mass-circulation Bild daily’s front page proclaimed it a “clear victory for Scholz on TV” and a “debate debacle for Laschet.”
Hate crimes rise to highest level in 12 years amid increasing attacks
The number of hate crimes in the United States rose in 2020 to the highest level in 12 years, propelled by increasing assaults targeting Black and Asian victims, the FBI reported Monday.
In all, the federal agency tallied 7,759 hate crimes last year, a tumultuous 12 months marked by a global pandemic, a divisive presidential election and upheaval in the economy. The total marked an increase of 6% from 2019 and the most since 2008, when 7,783 hate crimes were reported.
It is the sixth time in the past seven years that the number of attacks rose. The number of hate crimes reported has increased by nearly 42% since 2014, according to federal data.
RFK’s oldest son condemns possible parole of Sirhan Sirhan
Former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, the oldest son of Robert F. Kennedy, denounced the possible parole of the man convicted of killing his father in California in 1968.
“Two commissioners of the 18-member California Parole Board made a grievous error last Friday in recommending the release of the man who murdered my father,” Kennedy wrote in the emailed statement. “I understand that there are differing views about ending the sentence of this killer, including within my own family. But emotions and opinions do not change facts or history.”
The board found that Sirhan Sirhan, 77, no longer poses a threat to society. The final decision rests with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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