Fast-moving SoCal wildfire forces thousands to evacuate

A surging wildfire forced several thousand people, most of them Memorial Day campers, to evacuate the mountains of California’s Santa Barbara County, officials said.

The fire broke out about 2:45 p.m. Monday in Los Padres National Forest about 15 miles north of Santa Barbara, and hours later had grown to 1,000 acres — or 1.5 square miles — amid winds of about 20 mph, U.S. Forest Service officials said. It was 5 percent contained.

Paradise Road and the many campgrounds along it were closed, forcing between 4,000 and 6,000 campers, many already clearing out at the end of the holiday weekend, to evacuate, officials said.

The fire was threatening about 50 homes, many of them cabins and vacation rentals, and 50 to 75 residents had evacuated, county fire Capt. David Sadecki said.

A U.S. Forest Service garage and two vehicles had burned, Sadecki said.

Search and rescue crews were assisting 15 hikers stranded at Santa Cruz Campground, reports CBS Santa Maria, Calif. affiliate KCOY-TV.

The American Red Cross set up an evacuation center at Santa Barbara City College and another was set up for horses stalled in the area’s many stables.

U.S. Forest Service firefighters got help from crews from around the region along with water drops from two helicopters and four planes, though the aircraft had to be grounded at times, first because of winds and later because of darkness.

The National Weather Service said the winds may get worse as night falls, but fire officials said they may also get help from the weather.

“We’re hoping the temperatures drop and the humidity rises,” Sadecki said.

A huge plume of gray and white smoke rose over the mountains and hovered over Santa Barbara, where many residents were flooding Facebook and Twitter with photos.

The county has issued an air quality warning because of the smoke and wind, advising people to limit time spent outdoors and to avoid outdoor exercise altogether.

To the south, a fire in San Diego County wilderness has scorched 900 acres of dry brush but was not a threat to homes or buildings.

The blaze southeast of Julian was sparked around midday Sunday in the Banner Grade area, and fire officials were investigating whether it was set intentionally.

It was 43 percent contained Sunday night, fire officials said.

Police killed in Philippine ambush

Seven police commandoes have been killed in a bomb and gun attack by communist rebels in the northern Philippines, officials say.

Rebels from the New People’s Army (NPA) ambushed the group as they made their way to a medical exam.

Their truck was hit by an explosion, after which the militants opened fire, police said. Seven other commandoes were also injured in the attack.

The incident took place near Allacapan, 400km (250 miles) north of Manila.

Those who died were members of an elite counter-insurgency police unit, reports said.

The NPA has been fighting for a communist state for more than four decades.

One of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies, the group concentrates its campaign in rural areas and in small-scale skirmishes with the military.

A recent push for peace talks collapsed earlier this year.

The group is listed on the Foreign Terrorist Organisation list of the US State Department.

Sachin Tendulkar announces retirement from IPL

Cricket star Sachin Tendulkar has announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament.

“I think this is the right time to stop playing the IPL. I am 40. Got to accept it,” Tendulkar said.

The announcement came moments after his team Mumbai Indians lifted their first IPL title on Sunday night, beating the Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs.

The IPL has been dogged by controversy with allegations of spot-fixing against several cricketers and team owners.

In the last fortnight, three bowlers from Rajasthan Royals team and the owner of the Chennai Super Kings team have been arrested.

The tournament’s final match was played in the eastern city of Calcutta.

“This is my last IPL,” Tendulkar said in a television interview after the match.

“This has been a fantastic season… I had decided this was my last season,” he said.

Tendulkar, who turned 40 last month, has a huge fan base in India. He was the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries.

He also holds the record for more test runs than any other player (15,837) and more one-day international (ODI) runs than anyone else (18,426).

Earlier this month, limited edition gold coins with his face engraved on them were launched by an Indian jewellery company.

Thailand:Bomb Explodes at Bangkok Market, Injures 7

Police say a bomb put inside a garbage bag exploded at a street market in Thailand’s capital and injured seven people.

Police Col. Narongrit Promsawat said the explosion slightly injured seven people and damaged merchandise stalls at the market Sunday night. It happened in a residential area in front of a barber shop and across from Ramkhamhaeng University.

Forensic scientists say the bomb was made of nails and other materials but they have not verified what set off the explosion.

Narongrit said the area was prone to violence from school gang rivalry and a suspect might have disposed of the bomb in the trash to avoid a search by the police.

No one has been arrested.

 

Maoist rebels kill 17 in central India ambush

Heavily-armed Maoist rebels on Saturday killed 17 people, including 12 local Congress leaders, after ambushing a convoy in a remote tribal belt of central India, a top police officer told AFP.

“We can confirm 17 deaths. Among those who have been killed are five policemen. The rest are all leaders of the state Congress unit,” Rajinder Kumar Vij, the chief of anti-naxal operations of Chhattisgrah state, told AFP.

The whereabouts of state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son who were abducted during the attack were not known, Vij added.

Former cabinet minister Vidya Charan Shukla was fighting for life after being wounded in the attack, carried out in a thickly forested area of Jagdalpur district, 284 kilometres (176 miles) from state capital Raipur.

The rebels detonated a bomb before firing indiscriminately at the convoy, which was returning from a political rally nearby, police said.

The attack is the latest in a simmering conflict that pits the insurgents against local and national authorities in the forests and rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.

The guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, often collect funds through extortion and protection rackets.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi condemned the incident as “shocking” and said the party was pained by the attack on its colleagues.

“Naturally we are devastated… It is despicable that ordinary people engaged in political activity were attacked,” she told reporters in New Delhi after an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Singh, who has described the Maoists as the country’s most serious internal security threat, spoke to state Chief Minister Raman Singh and promised him all “necessary aid”.

Three Chinese mountaineers rescued

Three Chinese mountaineers who were taken ill at the base camp of Mt. Kanchanjanga (28, 208 feet) have been rescued and sent to the capital by helicopter for treatment, state-owned news agency RSS reports.

Those rescued mountaineers are Yangzechngul, Uangzhang and Dengluo (woman), according to Chief District Officer of Taplejung, Kiran Thapa.

They fell sick on May 20 at the fourth base camp at an altitude of 7,400 meters in course of coming down following its successful ascent. The mountain is the third highest peak in the world and lies in Taplejung, a district in eastern Nepal.

Meanwhile, bodies of the mountaineers who died on Mt. Kanchanjanga five days ago are yet to be retrieved.

According to the police, they are facing challenges in retrieving the bodies due to adverse weather and geographical difficulty, but efforts were underway to that end.

Five mountaineers including two Nepalis had gone missing after slipping on the face of the mountain last Monday. They were found dead on Thursday. The incident took place at an altitude of 7,500 meters while they were descending after climbing the mountain.

2557th Buddha Jayati today

The 2557th Buddha Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, the apostle of peace, is being observed Saturday by organising various programmes with the message of peace and harmony among people.

As the birth, enlightenment and Nirvana of Lord Buddha falls on the same day of the full moon of the fourth lunar month (month of Baisakh), Buddhists around the world, including Nepal, observe Buddha Jayanti with respect and devotion to Buddha.
A special function is being organised in Lumbini, the birth-place of Buddha, today to mark the Buddha Jayanti. Interim Government Chairman Khil Raj Regmi is scheduled to take part in the event.
Gautam Buddha’s philosophy of Buddhism does not entail any theistic world-view. The teachings of the Buddha are solely to liberate human beings from the misery and sufferings of life.

With the realisation that there was more to life than the lavish and luxurious life he was leading, Prince Siddharth Gautam, who was born in the southern Terai region of Nepal in about 543 BC, left his palace in search for enlightenment and the true meaning of life.

After much wandering and searching, Gautam finally attained enlightenment while meditating under a pipal tree. Henceforth, known as the “Buddha” or “the enlightened one” he began to preach “The Four Noble Truths” to all who would listen. According to this doctrine, people suffer because of their desires and the root cause of all misery is desire. These desires and consequently all problems can be totally eliminated by following the “eightfold path”- right conduct, right motive, right speech, right effort, right resolve, right livelihood, right attention and right meditation to gain mastery over suffering. Gautama Buddha lived and taught in northern India in the 6th Century B.C.

Buddha traveled far and wide teaching hundreds of followers. Even after death his disciples continued to spread his teachings.

The United Nations has been observing the Anniversary of Lord Buddha as a public holiday since 2002.

The books on teachings and messages of Lord Buddha are said to be the largest publication throughout the world.

Buddha Jayanti is celebrated in all the Buddhist nations rejoicing the victory of Prince Siddhartha of Lumbini over pain, suffering and self.

Buddha, during his 80 year life, carried out a total of 84 thousand discourses which are compiled in various books including ‘Binaya’, Sutta, Abhidhamma and Tripitak.

RAF Typhoons scrambled after Pakistan Airline incident

RAF Typhoon jets have been launched to investigate an incident involving a civilian aircraft within UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence has said.

A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport, a Manchester Airport spokesman said.

An Essex Police spokeswoman added: “An incident has occurred on an aircraft. Police and partners are responding.”

The BBC understands that the plane has now landed in Stansted.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said that police were expected to meet the plane at the airport.

The plane, flight number PK709, reportedly left Lahore at 09:35 local time. It was due in at Manchester at 14:00 BST.

The MoD said responsibility for the incident had now passed to Essex Police and the Home Office. The MoD was not able to say how serious a threat there was on board.

A Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Zufiqar Bijarani told CNN: “We have been told there may have been a bomb threat.” But he did not say if he had anything to confirm or deny this.

Stansted Airport said on Twitter that it was operating normally.

‘Serious incident’
Philip Baum, of Aviation Security International, told the BBC: “This is certainly a significant incident, however the fact that fighter jets were scrambled to intercept is not unusual.

“We don’t know what the incident was: fighter jets are scrambled when there is a bomb threat, when there is a hijack, when the wrong transponder code is used or if an aircraft cannot communicate with the ground. Often the result is when there is an unruly passenger on board.

“What is interesting in this case is that it would appear that the aircraft was only 10 minutes from landing – these are initial reports coming in – when they decided to divert to Stansted. So to actually change a destination 10 minutes from landing would certainly imply that there was some serious incident taking place.”

Heathrow Airport runways closed for emergency landing

Both runways were closed at Heathrow Airport after a British Airways plane made an emergency landing, the airport has said.

All passengers and crew were “safely evacuated” from the plane following the incident at about 09:00 BST.

John Coghlan told the BBC he saw a “black smoke trail” from the engine of a British Airways Airbus A319.

He said: “[It was a] safe landing and passengers evacuated by chutes on runway.” There was “no fire”, he added.

London Fire Brigade tweeted: “One crew from Heathrow fire station is assisting Heathrow Airport’s fire service with an aircraft fire.

“We believe the fire is now out.”

The southern runway has since re-opened. The northern runway remains closed.

Powerful earthquake off east coast of Russia

A powerful earthquake has struck off the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s far east.

Authorities in the eastern province of Sakhalin initially issued a tsunami warning but this has now been lifted.

The epicentre of the quake was in the Sea of Okhotsk to the west of the Kamchatka peninsula.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was of a magnitude of 8.2, but Russian authorities estimated the size of the earthquake at 6.9.