Evacuation order remains in effect in Alaska

Evacuation order remainsin effect in Alaska
FOX, Alaska -- Cool, humid weather Sunday helped slow the advance of an Alaskan fire that caused the evacuation of 277 homes and businesses, and forecasters predicted wetter weather would soon follow.
The evacuation order remained in effect Sunday as the fire spread to cover 306,000 acres in Alaska's Interior, up from 280,000 the day before.
State troopers let some homeowners into the area about 30 miles north of Fairbanks to retrieve possessions or check on property but urged people not to stay, fire officials said.
Firefighters planned to bulldoze and burn out a fire line between evacuated areas and the southwestern edge of the fire, which has damaged at least one home, fire information officer C.J. Norvell said.
Genocide anniversary
KIGALI, Rwanda -- Thousands of genocide survivors, soldiers, former rebels and farmers gathered at the national stadium for a somber ceremony Sunday marking the 10th anniversary since the fall of the extremist government that led Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Through poems and speeches, Rwandans recalled deep wounds but also took stock of how far the country had come since the dark days of the slaughter.
Police chief apologizes
LOS ANGELES -- Police Chief William Bratton apologized for calling a local black activist a "nitwit" and other comments he made after last month's beating of a car theft suspect.
"I'd like to extend an apology, a sincere apology, if there is anybody in the community -- or any other community for that matter -- that have been offended by any of the comments and remarks I've made in the course of this investigation," Bratton told radio station KJLH-FM on Saturday.
TV news helicopters videotaped an LAPD officer striking 36-year-old Stanley Miller with a flashlight 11 times after Miller appeared to surrender.
Since the June 23 episode, Bratton has called a local black activist a "nitwit" and had a testy exchange with his predecessor, City Councilman Bernard Parks, who questioned his sensitivity to minorities. Parks noted Bratton's past references to gang members as "thugs" and "terrorists."
New Reagan exhibit
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- An exhibit displaying items and images from President Reagan's funeral opened Sunday at the hilltop library where he is buried.
Hundreds of visitors came to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, some dressed in red, white and blue for the Fourth of July opening of "Mourning in America."
Reagan died June 5 after battling Alzheimer's disease for a decade.
The new exhibit, on display through Nov. 11, draws upon the public outpouring of sympathy for the Reagan family and the elaborate funeral events held in Southern California and Washington, D.C.
Associated Press