Southern Calif wildfire explodes in size overnight

A view of the Tres Lagunas Fire from Pecos, N.M. on May 31, 2013. Officials said the fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest more than doubled in size by Friday night and was still totally uncontained. That prompted New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to declare a state of emergency in San Miguel County to free up state funds to fight the fire. (AP Photo/The Santa Fe New Mexican, Luis Sanchez Saturno)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fire that destroyed at least five structures and threatened hundreds of others exploded in size overnight, burning dangerously close to two communities north of Los Angeles.

Erratic wind spread the blaze in the Angeles National Forest to nearly 41 square miles early Sunday, triggering the evacuation of nearly 1,000 homes in Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, officials said.

Matt Corelli of the Forest Service told The Associated Press that five structures had been burned down. He said they could be homes but crews were waiting for more daylight to make a positive determination.

"That's the only number we have confirmed right now," he said.

At least 10 other structures were damaged.

Patty Robitaille, 61, grabbed personal photos and documents before fleeing her Lake Hughes home with her pit bull, Roxie, as flames approached Saturday night. She said her home was among the first in the direct path of the fire.

"Driving away, you could see the town burning up," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I don't think there's going to be much left."

Crews working in steep terrain expected cooler weather Sunday after triple-digit temperatures a day earlier.

The wind pushed the fire up and down steep slopes, creating embers that sparked spot fires in different directions.

The fire was 20 percent contained.

A huge plume of smoke could be seen from much of various parts of northern Los Angeles Countythroughout Saturday, and air-quality officials warned against strenuous outdoor activity.

The blaze broke out Thursday just north of Powerhouse No. 1, a hydroelectric plant near the Los Angeles Aqueduct, forcing about 200 evacuations in the mountain community of Green Valley.

Evacuations remained in effect for the Cottonwood campground and two youth probation camps along Lake Hughes Canyon Road.

The flames were chewing thick, dry brush that hasn't been burned in about a dozen years.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Elsewhere in the West, firefighting crews in New Mexico battled wildfires that have blackened thousands of acres and threatened homes and buildings, spurring numerous evacuations.

An uncontained blaze near Santa Fe, N.M., had spread to nearly 10 square miles by Saturday night, placing the city under a blanket of haze. The thick smoke also covered the Gallinas Canyon and Las Vegas, N.M.

Officials asked residents in about 140 homes, mainly summer residences, to evacuate as a crew of more than 400 battled the flames near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas.

Another New Mexico blaze, the Thompson Ridge fire near Jemez Springs, grew to nearly 2 square miles by Saturday night, state forestry officials said. Between 40 and 50 homes in the area were evacuated as more than 200 crew members and a helicopter were fighting the blaze burning through pine forests and brush.

Forecasters said some rain was possible in both fire areas on Sunday as well as gusty winds.

And in Colorado, a spokesman for the Rio Grande National Forest said a fire 15 miles southwest of the small town of Creede was reported. No structures have been damaged, but three homes and several outbuildings were threatened Saturday.

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AP writer Russell Contreras contributed from Albuquerque, N.M.

Hezbollah, Syrian rebels in worst clash in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels and Hezbollah guerrillas battled Sunday in their worst clashes yet inside Lebanon, a new sign that the civil war in Syria is increasingly destabilizing its fragile neighbor.

Syria's foreign minister, meanwhile, rebuffed an appeal by the U.N. and the Red Cross to let humanitarian aid reach thousands of civilians trapped in the rebel-held town of Qusair, under regime attack for the past three weeks. The Red Cross said many of the wounded were not receiving desperately needed medical care.

The latest confrontation between Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Syrian rebels, who have been fighting on opposite sides inside Syria, came at a time of increasingly incendiary rhetoric between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the region.

One of the Arab world's most influential Sunni clerics, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, urged the faithful this week to fight alongside Sunni rebels against Shiite Hezbollah and President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.

Hezbollah's involvement in the battle over strategic Qusair has also raised tensions with Syrian rebels who have threatened to target the militia's bases in Lebanon, and with Sunnis in Lebanon who support the rebels.

Clashes between Sunnis and Alawites erupted Sunday evening in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, wounding at least 14 people, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Also Sunday, three rockets from Syria struck northeastern Lebanon, a day after 18 rockets and mortar rounds hit Lebanon's eastern Baalbek region, a Hezbollah stronghold.

From Saturday night into Sunday, Hezbollah encircled and ambushed Syrian rebels and allied Lebanese fighters whom they suspected of rocketing Baalbek, a Lebanese security official said.

A Hezbollah fighter and several rebels were killed in the clashes in a remote area near the Syrian border, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen, seen as sympathetic to the Syrian regime, quoted Lebanese security officials as saying 17 fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, a rebel group linked to the global al-Qaida terror network, were killed in the fighting. The report could not be independently confirmed.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has linked his militia's fate to the survival of Assad's regime, but pledged in a televised speech last month that he would keep the battle out of Lebanon.

Hezbollah is the most dominant faction in Lebanon's patchwork of ethnic and religious groups. A backlash against Hezbollah's involvement in Syria and a creeping destabilization of Lebanon could hurt the group's standing at home.

Events in Lebanon could spin out of control, even if rival Lebanese groups don't want Syria's war to be exported to Lebanon, said Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut. With Lebanese fighters increasingly engaged on opposite sides in Syria, "the worst is yet to come" in Lebanon, he said.

Earlier this week, Lebanon's parliament put off general elections scheduled for this month for another 17 months, citing a deteriorating security situation.

Syrian activists reported new fighting in Qusair, about six miles (10 kilometers) from the Lebanese border. Local activist Hadi Abdullah, speaking by Skype, reported heavy shelling and regime airstrikes on the town, saying at least four people were killed and more than 30 wounded.

He said thousands of civilians were trapped in Qusair, including hundreds of wounded. Hezbollah cut off running water when it seized the water station, he said, and food was running out.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least three killed in Qusair on Sunday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and U.N. humanitarian agencies expressed alarm over the fate of thousands of civilians believed trapped in Qusair, including many wounded.

They called on both sides to allow aid to reach civilians, including the wounded. The Red Cross said many of the wounded were not receiving the medical care they need and that food, water and medical supplies were scarce. The U.N. agencies called for an immediate cease-fire to allow civilians to leave the town.

On Sunday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem to express concern over the situation in Qusair, according to Syria's state-run news agency SANA.

Al-Moallem told the U.N. chief that the Red Cross and other aid agencies would only be able to enter Qusair until after the end of military operations there, SANA said.

So far, neither side has been able to deliver a decisive blow in Qusair.

A regime victory would solidify Assad's control over the central province of Homs, the linchpin linking the capital Damascus with the Alawite strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. For the rebels, holding the town means protecting their supply line to Lebanon.

The town has become emblematic for the state of Syria's civil war — recent military gains by the regime, but not enough to dislodge the rebels completely, and inaction by a divided international community.

Last month, the U.S. and Russia, who are on opposite sides of the conflict, sought to revive the idea of peace talks between the regime and Syria's political opposition. But prospects for launching talks at an international conference in Geneva began fading after the main Western-backed opposition group said it wouldn't attend as long as Hezbollah fights in Syria and the situation in Qusair remains dire.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis called Sunday for prayers for "beloved Syria" as he spoke to a crowd in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. He lamented that the war has stricken a defenseless people aspiring to peace, and decried the "plague of kidnappings" in Syria.

Both rebels and pro-regime forces have abducted political foes, members of rival sects and others, including journalists, to settle scores or for ransom. Among those snatched were two Orthodox bishops who were abducted in April. The pope assured families of hostages of his prayers.

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What began as a demonstration against turning a park into a building has grown into a massive, wholesale rejection of Turkey'sgovernment

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — If an early victory can be claimed by protesters in this new uprising, it is that Saturday began with tear gas and heavy police confrontation and ended with Itskilal Boulevard and Taksim Square peacefully occupied without a policeman in sight.

(For more background on the movement — which originally was a protest against turning a park into a mall, but has grown to a wholesale rejection of Turkey's government — read my first dispatch here.)

Throughout the late afternoon and into the early hours of the morning, tens of thousands of people filled all streets leading to Gezi Park in Taksim Square. The park itself was relatively calm, unlike the perimeter of Taksim with its cheek-to-jowl marchers, large bonfires, and flipped-over cop cars now acting as ad hoc monuments to the young resistance. But Gezi Park is the emotional core to the protest, and it will be the place where people make their stand.

The crowd is admirably multicultural. Turkish flags bearing the image of founding father Atataturk are not far from Kurdish Party banners; and the most affecting for me, the familiar rainbow flag of Gay Pride marching safely and confidently through the middle of a cheering crowd.

"Today is for us too," said gay activist Tarik Arduar.

Young people are here in multitudes. Islender Demirere, 25, says that this was his first protest. He was less optimistic about regime change, but wanted the government to know that they will keep coming back and in large numbers. His perspective is one I heard echoed among Turks in their 20s, many of whom are facing to the West as they imagine the future of their country. "If the government wants to be like Europe, it also has to have the same liberties. Like gay marriage or legalized marijuana."

In many ways, Turkey is like the U.S, a diverse and culturally fractious nation. Pockets of liberalism are found amid large swaths of rural religious conservatism, PM Erdogan's main base. The largest ethnic minority are Kurds, whose long contentious relationship with the rest of Turkey includes an effort to partition.

Kurds were everywhere in the crowd. They sang: "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism."

When asked what this day meant for Kurdsas a historically discriminated against group, one young man said they stood with the rest of Turks in Taksim Square. Another one jumped in and said they are ready to take up arms and fight.

That was the first call to violence I heard among all the people I spoke with throughout the week.

As we walked away, my friend Peri, whose mother is Kurdish, curtly responded that most Kurds are very peaceful people.

**

The battle to protect freedom of speech and fight disenfranchisement are principles we can all stand behind, but from afar you might be forgiven for feeling disconnected from the internal politics or native cultural struggles of a country halfway around the world.

But the situation here in Istanbul is something we can all relate to.

The spark that lit this fire was the threat of the government ruining a small park in the middle of the city. But before that came the forced closing of a beloved movie theater, and the government's campaign against alcohol in a city fueled by late-night socializing around traditional Raki.

Yes, there are big, pressing issues like civil rights, freedom of speech, and democracy at stake, but there also the small pleasures of life that are under threat.

When I was first told that the government was taking possession of a city park and turning it into a mall, I was awfully surprised. Imagine learning one day that Union Square Park was scheduled to be torn up and replaced with a concrete mall.

The Cultural Heritage and Preservation Board is tasked with protecting Istanbul's architecture and public spaces like parks, but according to Omer Kanipak, professor of architecture at Bahcesehir University, the organization is not free of the influence of Ankara.

"The preservation board, formed by some academic people picked by the government, is the only commission that may make this legal. However the pressure of the government caused the resignation of some members and the government placed (its) own men in the commission to pass this project."

But according to Kanipak, the future of Gezi Park remains very unclear. "There is actually no defined or planned purpose of this zombie building that the government wants to resurrect. The mayor says it may be used as a cultural center and the PM says it will be a nice shopping mall or residence. There's no plan! The only intention is to erase the park and make a building!"

**

Referring to Prime Minister Erdogan, protester Sinan Sahan's sentiment was emphatic: "He's a dictator. We will stay until he leaves. He is no better than Assad. He does not listen to us."

There is no formal leadership to this movement. It is still young and coalescing, but it's becoming more organized by the day as it has matured to an occupation and not just a protest. All eyes seem to be on the prime minister as the numbers continue to grow on the streets.

SEE MORE: 10 things you need to know today: June 2, 2013

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Central Europe hit by floods after days of rain

The river Rhine floods buildings near Rheinfelden, southern Germany, Sunday, June 2,2013. Heavy rainfalls cause flooding along rivers and lakes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. (AP Photo/dpa, Patrick Seeger)

Two campers carry their belongings over a flooded camping ground at the Saalach river in St. Martin in the Austrian province of Salzburg, Sunday, June. 2, 2013. Heavy rainfalls cause flooding along rivers in large parts of the country. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in parts of central Europe issueddisaster warnings and scrambled to reinforce flood defenses Sunday as rivers swelled by days of heavy rain threatened to burst their banks.

Several people have died or are missing in the floods in Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since Thursday. Some residents also have been evacuated from flooding in southwestern Poland.

Czech officials said the waters of the Vltava river could reach critical levels in Prague late Sunday and that special metal walls were being erected to prevent flooding.

Interim Mayor Tomas Hudecek said authorities were shutting down eight stations of the capital's subway network and urging people not to travel to city. He said the entire subway would close at 11 p.m. Sunday, one hour earlier than normal, and that all three subway lines in central Prague will remain closed Monday.

Anticipating traffic problems, the mayor said all nursery, elementary and high schools in the Czech capital will be closed on Monday.

In the nearby town of Trebenice where a woman was found dead in the rubble after a summer cottage collapsed due to the raging water, authorities discovered the dead body of a man, Czech public television reported. Separately, at least three other people were reportedly missing.

Many roads and train lines were closed, including a major one from Prague to the eastern part of the country.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said 300 soldiers have been deployed to help local authorities and that up to 2,000 have placed on standby. The government also declared a state of emergency in six regions, in the western half of the country and Prague, that have been badly hit by the flooding.

Thousands of people have had to be evacuated from their homes across the country, mainly in the north and the south. In Prague, authorities have ordered the evacuation of the parts of the city's zoo located by the river. Also patients from a Prague hospital have been moved to a higher ground.

In Germany, where at least four people have died or are missing, Chancellor Angela Merkel promised federal support for affected areas and said the army would be deployed if necessary.

Several cities including Chemnitz in the east, and Passau and Rosenheim in the south, issued disaster warnings.

Passau, which is located at the confluence of three rivers, could see waters rise above record levels of 2002, said Mayor Juergen Dupper.

German news agency dpa reported that large stretches of the Rhine, Main and Neckar rivers have been closed to ship traffic.

Evacuations are also taking place in neighboring Austria and Switzerland.

Rivers also were spilling over their banks in some rural areas of southwestern Poland, and people being evacuated. In one place flood waters swept away a fire truck.

Meteorologists are predicting the rainfall will ease in the coming days.

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Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed to this report.

Iran police detain aides of presidential candidate

Iranian presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani, a former top nuclear negotiator, left back to camera, gestures to his supporters, as he attends a rally, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 1, 2013. The 11th presidential election after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, will be held on June 14. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Supporters of the Iranian presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani, a former top nuclear negotiator, hold his posters, as one of them flashes a victory sign, in a rally, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 1, 2013. The 11th presidential election after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, will be held on June 14. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian police have arrested several people campaigning for a reformist candidate in this month's presidential election, an aide said Sunday, as a senior official pledged to impose ideological limitations on the race.

Police picked up several supporters of candidate Hasan Rowhaniafter he delivered a speech Saturday night, his campaign manager,Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, told the semiofficial Mehr news agency.

"Some people were detained on the street after leaving the meeting," he said.

The June 14 election is to choose a replacement for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third term. Authorities have already pared down the list of candidates to eight, disqualifying Ahmadinejad's top aide and a former president who could have galvanized opposition to the harsh clerical system.

That was a clear indication that Iran's rulers did not want an open contest that could end up in a disputed outcome of the type that set off widespread riots when Ahmadinejad was re-elected in 2009.

On Sunday, after the arrests, a top official warned that Rowhani and others would be limited in their election drive.

"Police will confront individuals who have counter-revolutionary behavior" during campaigning, said the Iranian police chief, Gen. Ismail Moghadam, according to the police website. "It is natural that police have carried out their tasks."

An exile-based Iranian opposition website reported that authorities arrested at least seven people who attended Rowhani's campaign appearance.

It said the arrests were made after participants chanted slogans calling for the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi, an opposition leader and candidate in the disputed 2009 election, who has been under house arrest for more than two years.

A council of advisers to influential former reformist President Mohammad Khatami has urged Rowhani to unite with the other major reform-leaning candidate, Mohamed Reza Aref.

A statement on Khatami's personal website expressed hope that the two could form a "united front" to field a single nominee.

Nematzadeh, Rowhani's spokesman, said the two candidates have not met to discuss the possibility.

Aref's star has been rising since his performance in a Friday debate of the eight candidates, restoring some energy to the reform movement after their main candidate, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was disqualified.

Also Sunday, four aides to another candidate, Saeed Jalili, were injured in a road accident. Jalili, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, is considered a front-runner in the campaign. The accident happened on the way to the city of Ghazvin, about 120 kilometers (70 miles) west of Tehran. Jalili was in a different vehicle and was not hurt.

Iran is among the world's leaders in the number of road accidents per capita. More than 20,000 people are killed on the roads there every year.