Lightning from dry storms sparks new fires in Calif.
Yucca Valley, Calif. – Thunderstorms brought lightning to the fire-scorched wilderness east of Los Angeles on Thursday, igniting a half-dozen new blazes while failing to bring heavy rain to help douse the flames.
Lightning torched a tree in Joshua Tree National Park, sparking a wildfire that quickly burned 100 acres and temporarily threatened dozens of homes in Yucca Valley, said Capt. Marc DeRosier of the California Department of Forestry.
The blaze came as close as a mile to the homes before wind turned the flames back to the park, DeRosier said. “Quite a few residents had voluntarily evacuated,” he said.
An afternoon storm cell unleashed heavy rain in some areas of the San Bernardino Mountains but less than a tenth of an inch in burned areas, said Philip Gonsalves, a National Weather Service forecaster in San Diego. The storms could resume today.
NEW YORK
Pakistani sentenced for ties to al-Qaeda
A Pakistani man convicted of agreeing to help an al-Qaeda operative with terrorist plans sneak into the United States was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison.
Judge Sidney H. Stein said Uzair Paracha knew what he was doing when he agreed to help a former resident trying to enter the U.S. from Pakistan.
The government said Majid Khan plotted with top al-Qaeda leaders to bomb underground storage tanks in gas stations in Maryland and enlisted Paracha to pose as Khan so he could obtain immigration documents. Khan never made it into the U.S., and the attack never took place.
Paracha, 26, waved and smiled to his family as he entered and left court.
His lawyer, Edward Wilford, told the judge his client was “someone who was used rather than a saber-rattler leading the charge for al-Qaeda.”
GRANTS PASS, Ore.
3 guilty pleas include Vail eco-terror case
Three people pleaded guilty Thursday in an eco-terrorism case and agreed to help in the investigation of a series of firebombings at ranger stations, horse corrals, a ski resort and lumber mill offices in the West.
The trio admitted they were part of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, shadowy environmental activists that claimed credit for arsons in recent years.
Ten others are set to go on trial Oct. 31 in federal court.
A total of 16 attacks were undertaken in Washington, Oregon, California, Wyoming and Colorado. Among the incidents was a series of 1998 arsons in Vail, which at the time were the most costly act of eco-terrorism in U.S. history, causing $12 million in damage.
The three pleaded guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy and related arson counts.
NEW ORLEANS
“Remarkable” decline in city’s homicide rate
The homicide rate in New Orleans has been cut in half since the National Guard and state police arrived to help patrol the city a month ago, statistics show. At the same time, arrests in some crime-plagued neighborhoods have almost doubled.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco sent the Guard and state police into the city after a bloody June weekend that ended with six people slain.
In the 30 days before the reinforcements arrived, there were 21 killings in the city. In the 30 days afterward, there were 11.
Police superintendent Warren Riley claimed success in reducing the violent-crime rate. Deputy Chief John Bryson called the results “remarkable.”
WASHINGTON
DeLay PAC fined, agrees to shut down
The fundraising group that helped vault Rep. Tom DeLay to GOP leadership and distributed election money to numerous fellow Republicans has been fined for campaign-finance violations and is shutting down.
Under an agreement with the Federal Election Commission, Americans for a Republican Majority’s political action committee agreed to pay a $115,000 fine and close. The agreement, reached July 7, was made public late Wednesday.
An audit found DeLay’s committee had not properly reported contributions, disbursements and cash on hand.
“The reason DeLay became so powerful was all about the money, the amounts of money he could pull in and could distribute to his colleagues,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.
DeLay resigned from Congress on June 9 after more than two decades in the House.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Hussein in 2nd week of hunger strike
Saddam Hussein has not eaten in nearly two weeks, and doctors have advised him that refusing food could be bad for his health, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.
Hussein and three others have refused meals since dinner July 7 although they drink coffee and water with nutrients, said Lt.Col. Keir-Kevin Curry, spokesman for detainee operations.
He said the 69-year-old ex- president and the others were in good health despite nearly two weeks without food.
Hussein and seven others are on trial for crimes against humanity in the deaths of Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination attempt.
