US military chief travels to Israel

US military chief travels to Israel

JERUSALEM

The top U.S. general, visiting Israel at a delicate and dangerous moment in the global standoff with Tehran, is expected to press for restraint amid fears that the Jewish state is nearing a decision to attack Iran’s nuclear program.

Thursday’s arrival of Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, just four months after he took office as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscores Washington’s concern about a possible Israeli military strike.

Fire forces 10,000 to evacuate in Nev.

RENO, Nev.

About 10,000 people are evacuating their homes after wind gusts up to 82 mph pushed a fast-moving brush fire south of Reno, Nev., out of control.

The fire that started Thursday has burned several homes and threatened dozens more, but there have been no reports of injuries.

Reno Fire Chief Michael Hernandez says more than 230 firefighters are battling the blaze. It had grown to nearly 5 square miles within hours.

The winds died down after nightfall, and rain started falling, much to the delight of fire crews.

Hernandez says the fire is “almost a carbon copy” of one that destroyed 30 homes on Reno’s southwest side in November.

The Reno area had gone a winter-record 56 days without any precipitation until light snow fell earlier this week.

Authorities search for more body parts

LOS ANGELES

An investigation unfolding near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles is playing out like a gory movie script, as police worked to identify a man whose body was found in parts over the past two days — first a head Tuesday, then two hands and two feet Wednesday.

On Thursday, some 100 police officers and Police Academy recruits searched 7 acres of brush in the Bronson Canyon wilderness park in Hollywood to see if they could find more body parts. Officers, some on horseback, pushed through waist- and shoulder-high scrub surrounding a semi-paved hiking trail.

It would have been a perfect place to hide a body had it not been for a single curious dog, police said.

Crash kills 6 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The coalition said in a release early this morning that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash in southern Afghanistan.

Associated Press