Politics
California’s Gold Rush town ravaged by wildfires
CHINESE CAMP: A cluster of lightning-sparked wildfires raged across parts of two Northern California counties on Wednesday, forcing widespread evacuations and engulfing part of a historic Gold Rush mining town once home to thousands of Chinese immigrants.
Wind-driven flames from nearly two dozen separate blazes have scorched more than 13,000 acres (5,261 hectares) of sun-baked dry grass, brush, and timber since a lightning storm ignited the fires on Tuesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The remote village of Chinese Camp, a town of fewer than 100 residents on the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California’s Gold Country region, was particularly hard hit by one of the fires.
According to a Reuters journalist at the scene, the blaze destroyed dozens of homes in and around Chinese Camp, a remnant of the Gold Rush-era mining community first settled by thousands of Chinese labourers in the mid-19th century.
Flames also gutted two historic buildings, including an old stagecoach stop, and scorched a hilltop cemetery but left the adjacent church, established in 1854, unscathed, CalFire spokesperson Jaime Williams said.
Three other landmark buildings — the Chinese Camp Store and Tavern, the town’s post office, and its pagoda-style public school — also survived the fire, she said.
The entire town and several other communities in Tuolumne County and neighbouring Calaveras County remained under evacuation orders as a firefighting force of more than 600 personnel battled to contain the blazes, CalFire said.
The full extent of property losses and evacuations had yet to be determined, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
“We are securing all available resources — including support from our federal partners — to fight this growing lightning complex fire in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least two evacuation shelters were opened for people displaced by the fires, along with shelters for livestock and smaller domestic pets.
Electricity crews were working to restore power knocked out by fire damage to lines, transformers, and utility poles.
The 22 blazes making up the TCU September Lightning Complex fires ranked as the largest of about a dozen wildfire incidents documented across the state by CalFire on Wednesday. But they paled in destructive force compared with the Los Angeles fires in January that killed at least 31 people and destroyed nearly 16,000 homes.
Crude oil prices have soared past $100 a barrel amid a large-scale and unprovoked US-Israeli war on Iran.
The international benchmark of Brent crude jumped more than 20 percent on Sunday, and at one point hit $115 as concerns increased over prolonged disruptions to global energy supplies.
The benchmark was being traded at around $107.50 as of 0230 GMT on Monday following a slight moderation. The uptick marked the first time oil prices climbed over $100 per barrel since the onset of Russia’s operations in Ukraine in 2022.
US President Donald Trump, who campaigned heavily on cost-of-living concerns in the 2024 vote, sought to downplay the rise in prices.
“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for the USA, and World, Safety and Peace,” Trump asserted in a post on Truth Social.
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright also tried to brush off the prospect of soaring energy prices earlier on Sunday.
He told CBS News’ Face the Nation program that any increase in prices at the petrol pump would be “temporary.”Crude oil prices have spiked by about 50 percent since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28.
Iran, in retaliation, has effectively brought shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to halt.
Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait — three of the major producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) — have slashed production amid an accumulating backlog of barrels with no destination to go due to the effective closure of the strategic waterway.
Meanwhile, stocks in Asia tumbled drastically on Monday morning, as investors prepared for the fallout of soaring energy prices.
Japan’s 225 index fell more than 7 percent in early trading, while South Korea’s KOSPI plunged more than 8 percent.The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong also fell by nearly 3 percent.
US stocks futures, which are regularly traded outside of usual market hours, also experienced significant losses.
Futures tied to Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 fell by 1.7 percent, while those for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped by 1.90 percent.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that energy sustained 10 percent rise in oil prices brings about a 0.5 rise in inflation and a 0.15 percent reduction in global economic growth.
Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has been elected the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics, on Sunday night officially appointed Mojtaba Khamenei, 56 years old, as the new Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of martyred Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
“By a decisive vote, the Assembly of Experts appointed Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei as the third Leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the assembly said in a statement.
The announcement, issued by the Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts, begins with invocations in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and extends heartfelt condolences to the noble and free nation of Islamic Iran.
It honors the martyrdom of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, whose heavenly ascension marks the end of an era of wise and steadfast leadership. Ayatollah Khamenei was martyred on February 28 in a terrorist US and Israeli strike.
The statement also pays tribute to other exalted martyrs, including high-ranking commanders of the armed forces and the innocent students of the Shajra Tayyiba School in Minab City, all victims of the barbaric assaults by criminal America and the Zionist regime.
The statement reveres the exalted institution of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) during the occultation of the Imam of the Age (may Allah hasten his reappearance), emphasizing its pivotal role in the Islamic Republic’s system.
It celebrates the 47 years of exemplary governance by the Imams of the Revolution, rooted in dignity, independence, and divine authority.
Following meticulous studies and a decisive vote by the respected representatives, guided by religious duty and accountability before God Almighty, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) was introduced as the new Leader.
The statement expresses gratitude to the members of the provisional council under Article 111 for their interim service and calls upon the entire noble nation of Iran –especially the elites, intellectuals, scholars of the seminaries, and university communities — to pledge unwavering allegiance to the new leadership.
It urges unity around the axis of Wilayat al-Faqih, a bulwark against the plots of arrogant powers.
In closing, the Assembly of Experts statement invokes Almighty God’s continued grace and mercy upon Iran and its resilient people, affirming that the Islamic Revolution remains an indomitable force for justice and independence.
Qatari authorities have arrested more than 300 people for sharing images and what they described as “misleading information” during days of attacks by Iran, the interior ministry said on Monday.
The arrests echo measures across the Gulf as Iran targets airports, military bases, energy installations and residential areas with daily drones and missiles.
Those arrested “filmed and circulated video clips and published misleading information and rumours that could stir public opinion”, a statement said.
The people of “various nationalities” were held by the Department for Combating Economic and Cyber Crimes at the ministry´s General Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The announcement follows a spate of arrests elsewhere in the region.
In Bahrain, four people were arrested for “filming and broadcasting clips about the effects of Iranian attacks and spreading false news”, the interior ministry said on Friday.
And in Kuwait, authorities on Saturday said three people had been arrested over a video showing them mocking the situation in the country.
Residents in the United Arab Emirates have received text messages warning of possible legal action for sharing sensitive images or “reposting unreliable information”.
The UAE attorney general’s office also warned against “filming, publishing, or circulating images and videos documenting incident sites or damage caused by falling projectiles or shrapnel”, the Emirates News Agency said.
Saudi Arabia has issued similar warnings.
Despite the warnings, images of missiles, drones and the fallout of the war continue to circulate on social media and in group chats.
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