North America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Just last week, managers overseeing the fight against the massive wildfire scorching California’s Lake Tahoe region thought they could have it contained by the start of this week.

Instead, the Caldor Fire crested the Sierra Nevada on Monday, forcing the unprecedented evacuation of all 22,000 residents of South Lake Tahoe and tens of thousands of tourists who would otherwise be winding down their summers by the alpine lake straddling the California-Nevada state line.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal officials closed a portion of trails at a national forest in Northern California where a family and their dog mysteriously died last month, citing pending toxicology reports on nearby water.

There was no clear cause of death, prompting authorities to treat the area as a hazmat scene.

Investigators are considering whether toxic algae blooms or other hazards may have contributed to the deaths and are awaiting the results of water tests taken from the area where the family was found.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that it’s “possible” the United States will seek to coordinate with the Taliban on counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan against Islamic State militants or others.

Milley did not elaborate, and his comment did not appear to suggest immediate plans to work with the Taliban.

DENVER (AP) — Three suburban Denver police officers and two paramedics were indicted on manslaughter and other charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man put into a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative in a fatal encounter that provoked national outcry during racial injustice protests last year.

NEW YORK (AP) — The remnants of Hurricane Ida blew through the mid-Atlantic states Wednesday with at least two tornadoes, heavy winds and drenching rains that collapsed the roof of a U.S. Postal Service building, left cars and roads underwater and sent garbage floating through the streets of New York.

Social media posts showed homes reduced to rubble in a southern New Jersey county just outside Philadelphia, not far from where the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado Wednesday evening. Authorities did not have any immediate information on injuries.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 01 (APP): Rich countries must share their supplies of coronavirus vaccines quickly, in line with recommendations made earlier this year by an independent panel appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the former co-chairs said Tuesday.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, expressed deep concern over the slow pace of vaccine redistribution from high-income to low-income countries.

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Canadians are demanding decisive action from leaders to tackle climate change after a summer of extreme weather intensified environmental concerns, making it the No. 1 issue in September's snap election, polling data shows.

For many Canadians, 2021 is the year the climate crisis hit home. A "heat dome" scorched Canada's westernmost province of British Columbia in June, smashing national temperature records, contributing to more than 500 deaths and heralding the start of the province's third-worst wildfire season.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is slowing due to the spread of the Delta variant and a sizable segment of unvaccinated people, Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at accounting and consulting firm RSM US LLP, said on Tuesday.

"In the United States, infections have increased to a rate of 157,000 per day, with each loss of life and the use of medical resources and foregone activity taking their toll on economic progress," Brusuelas said in a blog post, adding that's a significant increase from 12,000 COVID-19 cases per day in June.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Tuesday afternoon off the coast of San Diego, California, prompting search and rescue operations by sea and air, according to the U.S. Navy's 3rd Fleet.

"An MH-60S helicopter embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) crashed into the sea while conducting routine flight operations approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31," the fleet's commander said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States "should not go for misunderstanding, misjudgment, conflict or confrontation," and the wrong beliefs on China-U.S. relations were absurd and dangerous, said Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Tuesday.

"We should not miss historical opportunities. More importantly, we should not make historical mistakes," Qin said in his speech at the Welcome Event by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) Board of Directors.