Evacuation orders lifted in California

Evacuation orders lifted in California

SAN DIEGO

All evacuation orders were lifted Sunday as firefighters gained the upper hand on the remaining four of nearly a dozen blazes that tore through Southern California last week — while the governor warned the state was gearing up for what could be one of the drought-stricken region’s worst wildfire seasons.

Gov. Jerry Brown told ABC’s “This Week” that the state has 5,000 firefighters and has appropriated $600 million to battling blazes, but that may not be enough in the future.

Unusually high temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds set conditions last week for the string of wildfires that broke out in San Diego County, causing more than $20 million in damage.

Officials say attacks across Iraq kill 14

BAGHDAD

A series of attacks in Iraq, mainly bombings targeting markets and commercial streets, killed 14 people Sunday, officials said.

Police officials said the deadliest attack took place shortly before sunset when a bomb exploded at an outdoor market in the town of Mahmoudiya, killing four people and wounding 12.

Sunday’s attacks came as Iraqis awaited the announcement of the election results of the April 30 national poll that will determine the next Iraqi prime minister.

3 face charges in Turkey mine disaster

ISTANBUL

In the face of widespread anger over Turkey’s worst mining disaster, prosecutors arrested three people, including a company manager, on charges of negligence Sunday.

The three were also accused of causing the death of more than one person, a charge that doesn’t imply intent, prosecutor Bekir Sahiner said at a news conference in the western town of Soma, where 301 coal miners were killed in Tuesday’s tragedy.

The arrests follow allegations by miners that the company failed to heed safety concerns and that government inspections had been superficial.

Syrian official killed

DAMASCUS, SYRIA

The head of Syria’s air defenses was killed in clashes near the capital, Damascus, a government official and activists said Sunday, one of a few high-ranking military officers to be killed in the country’s 3-year-old civil war.

Lt. Gen. Hussein Ishaq’s death may boost morale for those fighting against President Bashar Assad’s government, as they’ve faced a series of setbacks and surrendered territory over the last year.

Ishaq was one of the highest-ranking members of the Syria’s army, said military analyst Hisham Jaber, a retired brigadier general in the Lebanese military.

He died Saturday after rebels attacked a Syrian air defense base near the town of Mleiha, said the government official.

Egypt court convicts 170 in mass trials

CAIRO

A pair of Egyptian courts Sunday convicted 170 suspected supporters of toppled President Mohammed Morsi on charges related to violent attacks last year, the country’s latest mass trials ahead of this month’s presidential elections.

The convictions in the courts in Cairo and in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh are the latest in a series over recent months that saw hundreds of people prosecutors identified as Morsi supporters sentenced to death or imprisonment.

Associated Press