SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning flared Sunday across the heart of wine country and remote forests in northern California, the latest batch of destructive blazes in the bone- dry state.
One had spread across nearly 6 square miles by early Sunday after starting the previous afternoon in Napa County and quickly moving into a mostly rural area of Solano County.
The fire threatened more than 100 buildings as it fed on grassy woodland about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento, said Roger Archey, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Citigroup to cut thousands of jobs. NEW YORK — Citigroup is preparing to fire thousands from its worldwide investment-banking division, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the layoffs are part of a plan to cut about 10 percent of the staff of the 65,000-member investment-banking group.
Messages left with Citigroup spokesmen Sunday were not immediately returned. The Journal said the fired employees could be notified as early as today.
It was not clear whether the reported job cuts would be in addition to cuts announced by Citigroup in April. After reporting a $5.1 billion first-quarter loss, the bank said then it was reducing its staff by 9,000, in addition to the 4,200 job cuts the bank announced late last year.
Pregnancy pact unconfirmed. GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The principal who said 17 students made a pact to get pregnant and have babies together has no information to back the claim, the mayor of Gloucester said Sunday.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk plans to meet today with school, health and other local officials after Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan was quoted by Time magazine saying the girls made such a pact.
“The high school principal is the one who initially said it, and no one else has said it,” Kirk said. “None of the counselors at the school, none of the teachers who know these children and none of the families have spoken about it. So, my position is that it has not been confirmed.”
Scientists uncover clue in Alzheimer’s research. WASHINGTON — Researchers have found a new clue to the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
The brains of people with the disease have a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there is a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect.
Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer’s symptoms in rats by injecting them with a particular form of beta-amyloid. Injections with other forms of beta-amyloid did not cause illness, which may explain why some people have beta-amyloid plaque in their brains but show no symptoms.
The findings by a team led by a duo from Harvard Medical School were reported in Sunday’s online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
