07-27-2024  3:54 am   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

People Flee Idaho Town Through a Tunnel of Fire and Smoke as Western Wildfires Spread

Multiple communities in Idaho have been evacuated after lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires.  As that and other blazes scorch the Pacific Northwest, authorities say California's largest wildfire is zero-percent contained after destroying 134 structures and threatening 4,200 more. A sheriff says it was started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully. Officials say they have arrested a 42-year-old man who will be arraigned Monday.

Word is Bond Takes Young Black Leaders to Ghana

“Transformative” trip lets young travelers visit painful slave history, celebrate heritage.

Wildfires Threaten Communities in the West as Oregon Fire Closes Interstate, Creates Its Own Weather

Firefighters in the West are scrambling as wildfires threaten communities in Oregon, California and Washington. A stretch of Interstate 84 connecting Oregon and Idaho in the area of one of the fires was closed indefinitely Tuesday. New lightning-sparked wildfires in the Sierra near the California-Nevada border forced the evacuation of a recreation area, closed a state highway and were threatening structures Tuesday.

In Washington State, Inslee's Final Months Aimed at Staving off Repeal of Landmark Climate Law

Voters in Washington state will decide this fall whether to keep one of the country's more aggressive laws aimed at stemming carbon pollution. The repeal vote imperils the most significant climate policy passed during outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee's three terms, and Inslee — who made climate action a centerpiece of his short-lived presidential campaign in the 2020 cycle — is fighting hard against it. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Iconic Elm Tree in Downtown Celebrated Before Emergency Removal

The approximately 154-year-old tree has significant damage and declining health following recent storms ...

Hawthorne Bridge Westbound Closes Thursday for Repairs

Westbound traffic lanes will close 2 p.m. Thursday, July 25, through 5 a.m. Friday, July 26 ...

Oregon Senate Democrats Unanimously Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Today, in unified support for Kamala Harris as president of the United States, all 17 Oregon Senate Democrats officially...

Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen and Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care Make a Historical Mark as the First African American Owned Chain of Urgent Care Facilities in the United States

Dusk to Dawn Urgent Care validated as the First African American Owned Urgent Care in the nation with chain locations ...

Washington State Black Legislators Endorse Kamala Harris for President

Members of the Washington State Legislative Black Caucus (LBC) are proud to announce their enthusiastic endorsement of Vice President...

Life and death in the heat. What it feels like when Earth's temperatures soar to record highs

BENI MELLAL, Morocco (AP) — In the unrelenting heat of Morocco’s Middle Atlas, people were sleeping on rooftops. Hanna Ouhbour needed refuge too, but she was outside a hospital waiting for her diabetic cousin who was in a room without air conditioning. On Wednesday, there were 21...

California's largest wildfire explodes in size as fires rage across US West

California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger. The Park Fire's intensity and dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to...

Chiefs set deadline of 6 months to decide whether to renovate Arrowhead or build new — and where

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have set a deadline of six months from now to decide on a plan for the future of Arrowhead Stadium, whether that means renovating their iconic home or building an entirely new stadium in Kansas or Missouri. After a joint ballot initiative with the...

Missouri governor says new public aid plan in the works for Chiefs, Royals stadiums

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he expects the state to put together an aid plan by the end of the year to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from being lured across state lines to new stadiums in Kansas. Missouri's renewed efforts...

OPINION

The 900-Page Guide to Snuffing Out American Democracy

What if there was a blueprint for a future presidential administration to unilaterally lay waste to our constitutional order and turn America from a democracy into an autocracy in one fell swoop? That is what one far-right think tank and its contributors...

SCOTUS Decision Seizes Power to Decide Federal Regulations: Hard-Fought Consumer Victories Now at Risk

For Black and Latino Americans, this power-grab by the court throws into doubt and potentially weakens current agency rules that sought to bring us closer to the nation’s promises of freedom and justice for all. In two particular areas – fair housing and...

Minding the Debate: What’s Happening to Our Brains During Election Season

The June 27 presidential debate is the real start of the election season, when more Americans start to pay attention. It’s when partisan rhetoric runs hot and emotions run high. It’s also a chance for us, as members of a democratic republic. How? By...

State of the Nation’s Housing 2024: The Cost of the American Dream Jumped 47 Percent Since 2020

Only 1 in 7 renters can afford homeownership, homelessness at an all-time high ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Japan's Sado gold mine gains UNESCO status after Tokyo pledges to exhibit dark WWII history

TOKYO (AP) — The UNESCO World Heritage committee on Saturday decided to register Japan’s controversial Sado gold mine as a cultural heritage site after the country agreed to include it in an exhibit of its dark history of abusing Korean laborers during World War II. The decision...

California date palm ranches reap not only fruit, but a permit to host weddings and quinceañeras

COACHELLA, Calif. (AP) — Claudia Lua Alvarado has staked her future on the rows of towering date palms behind the home where she lives with her husband and two children in a desert community east of Los Angeles. It’s not solely due to the fleshy, sweet fruit they give each year....

A federal court approves new Michigan state Senate seats for Detroit-area districts

Lansing (AP) — Federal judges gave final approval to a new map of Michigan state Legislature boundaries, concluding a case in which the court previously found that several Detroit-area districts' maps were illegally influenced by race. In December, the court ordered a redistricting...

ENTERTAINMENT

Educators wonder how to teach the writings of Alice Munro in wake of daughter's revelations

NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, Robert Lecker has read, taught and written about Alice Munro, the Nobel laureate from Canada renowned for her short stories. A professor of English at McGill University in Montreal, and author of numerous critical studies of Canadian fiction, he has thought of Munro...

Adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s ‘Nickel Boys’ to open New York Film Festival this fall

“Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will open the 62nd New York Film Festival in September, organizers said Monday. Filmmaker RaMell Ross directed the drama based on the 2019 novel about two Black teenagers in an abusive reform school...

Hikers and cyclists can now cross Vermont on New England's longest rail trail, a year after floods

HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) — A year after epic summer flooding delayed the official opening of New England’s longest rail trail, the 93-mile route across northern Vermont is finally delivering on the promise made years ago of a cross-state recreation trail. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail...

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

A look at 'El Mayo' Zambada, the kingpin of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who is now in US custody

PHOENIX (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the top leader and co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, eluded...

Philippine forces sail to hotly disputed shoal without incident for first time since deal with China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine government personnel transported food and other supplies Saturday to a...

Typhoon Gaemi weakens to a tropical storm as it moves inland carrying rain toward central China

BEIJING (AP) — Tropical storm Gaemi brought rain to central China on Saturday as it moved inland after making...

With Palestinian deal and Ukrainian foreign minister's visit, China shows its rising influence

In consecutive days this week, China brokered a deal between rival Palestinian factions and hosted Ukraine's...

Why Venezuela's presidential election should matter to the rest of the world

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The future of Venezuela is on the line. Voters will decide Sunday whether to reelect...

UK drops plans to challenge ICC arrest warrant request against Benjamin Netanyahu

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said Friday that the U.K. will not intervene in the...

CNN Wire Staff










Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad



(CNN) -- An official with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency emerged from a meeting with an Iranian delegation in Vienna on Friday and reported no progress on a document intended to resolve issues related to Tehran's nuclear program.

"The agency team came to the meeting in a constructive spirit with the desire and intention of finalizing the paper," International Atomic Energy Agency Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said in a statement. "We presented a revised draft which addressed Iran's earlier stated concerns. However, there has been no progress and, indeed, Iran raised issues that we have already discussed and added new ones. This is disappointing."

No date has been set for another meeting, he said.

Before the talks, China's President Hu Jintao urged Tehran to take a "flexible and pragmatic" approach, China's foreign ministry said.

Hu told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday, when the two leaders met in Beijing, that China believed in serious dialogue and cooperation as the way to ease tensions, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would continue to pursue negotiations and maintain contact with all sides, Xinhua said.

Hu's remarks come a day after he and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly stated that "any attempts to resolve the Iranian issue by force are unacceptable."

Friday's private meeting with Iranian negotiators at the IAEA occurred 10 days ahead of international negotiations over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Officials in Vienna had been expected to continue working toward an inspection agreement over Iran's nuclear capabilities.

They have been keen to gain access to restricted sites amid rising concern about satellite images taken last month that showed the Iranians had demolished buildings at one site that inspectors have been pressing to visit.

The agency's director-general, Yukiya Amano, said last month after meeting with Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili in Tehran that a deal that would allow broader inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities could come "quite soon."

However, Russia and China's support for Tehran this week may have given Iran more leverage in the talks with IAEA officials.

Hu and Putin, along with four Central Asian partner nations, signed a joint declaration in Beijing on Thursday at the end of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit expressing concern over recent developments in Iran.

"We believe any attempts to resolve the Iranian issue by force are unacceptable," it said. "Such attempts could lead to unpredictably serious consequences, which would threaten stability and security in the region and the entire world. We call on all parties to maintain maximum restraint, and refrain from words and actions that may lead to further confrontations."

Hu and Putin also released a joint statement Wednesday expressing opposition to any use of force on Iran.

"We do not approve exerting excessive pressure and implementing unilateral sanctions against Iran," they said. "We advocate actively working for peace and facilitating talks in resolving the Iran nuclear issue."

The United States, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany -- the "P5+1," a reference to Germany plus the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- are to meet June 18-19 with Iran in Moscow for another round of talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Some world powers, particularly Western nations, suspect that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, although Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Last month, during a round of talks with the P5+1 in Baghdad, Iran rejected calls to stop its high enrichment of uranium, while the international powers refused Tehran's demand for an immediate end to sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union that are crippling its economy.

Because 80% of Iran's foreign revenues are derived from oil exports, an embargo by the EU set to take effect in July will further pressure its economy.

Tehran threatened this year to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping lane, if sanctions were imposed on its exports of crude oil. Israel, which is believed to have its own nuclear arsenal, has said it may attack Iran to try to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Russia historically has been hesitant to support sanctions on Tehran. In November, it called a new round of sanctions "unacceptable," saying they hinder efforts to reach a diplomatic solution.

CNN's Tian Shao and Steven Jiang contributed to this report.