theSun | TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1 2009
news without borders
Deadly California fire
doubles in size
LOS ANGELES: A deadly Cali-
fornia wildfire doubled in size
early yesterday, forcing 10,000
residents to flee and threatening
a critical telecommunications
facility after claiming the lives of
two firefighters.
The blaze raging out of con-
trol in mountains above heavily
populated areas of Los Angeles
had ripped through more than
34,000ha of tinder-dry forest and
was “spreading in every direc-
tion”, authorities said.
An army of 2,500 firefighters
was deployed to tackle the blaze
in the Angeles National Forest,
known as the Station Fire, which
remained only 5% contained.
The raging inferno was ripping
towards Mount Wilson, threaten-
ing communications antenna
belonging to numerous televi-
sion, radio stations, cellphone
providers and numerous law-
enforcement agencies.
“It’s about a quarter-mile
from Mount Wilson, which re-
mains very much under threat,”
a spokeswoman for the Califor-
nia Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection told AFP.
Loss of communications facili-
ties at Mount Wilson could cripple
fire and police stations across
southern California, which use
the mountaintop transmitters to
communicate in the field.
“These are extremely crucial to
the infrastructure and public safety
protection, and the daily lives in
the LA basin,” US Forest Service
spokesman Mike Dietrich said.
Nearly all of the 22 television
stations based in Los Angeles
transmit from the site as well
as more than two-thirds of the
region’s FM radio stations.
So far more than 10,000 peo-
ple have been evacuated from
the fire, which has left two people
dead and injured four others.
The two fatalities were fire-
fighters who died south of the
town of Acton on Sunday when
their vehicle veered off the road
and rolled down a mountainside.
– AFP
Japan’s Democrats
begin forming new govt
TOKYO: Japan’s Democratic Party
yesterday began talks on forming
a new government, faced with the
challenge of reviving the struggling
economy and reshaping ties with
A firefighter key allies after its crushing election
sprays win. Yukio Hatoyama’s centre-left
water on Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
burning is under heavy pressure to get to
trees in work quickly on addressing the
Acton, huge hurdles facing this fast-grey-
California ing country and pulling it out of its
on Sunday. long economic malaise.
His team huddled to select
cabinet ministers and work on
a smooth transition from the
government of Prime Minis-
ter Taro Aso, who conceded
defeat and said he would
step down as president of
the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP).
The DPJ won 308 seats in
the powerful 480-member
lower house in the Sunday
poll, ending more than half
a century of almost unbro-
ken conservative rule, ac-
AFPPIX
cording to collated official results.
Hatoyama, 62, who is expected
to be confirmed by parliament
as prime minister in about two
weeks, is set to form a coalition
with smaller partners such as the
Social Democratic Party and the
People’s New Party.
The US-trained engineering
scholar, the scion of a wealthy
political dynasty, promised to build
consensus and avoid “arrogance”
in government after ousting Ja-
pan’s conservative old guard.
“We will not just bulldoze our
policies,” he told public broadcaster
NHK. “We must exercise patience
and seek people’s understanding
because we have been given such
latitude.”
Japan’s usually risk-averse
electorate, frustrated with the
country’s worst post-war reces-
sion, punished Aso at the polls and
forced the business-friendly LDP
from office for only the second time
since 1955.
Aso said yesterday that he would
7
resign as party head, admitting that
the “outcome of the election was
extremely severe for the LDP.”
“We must start anew,” a stern-
faced Aso added. “To take back the
government, I strongly feel that we
must regenerate the party.”
His right-hand-man, Chief Cabi-
net Secretary Takeo Kawamura,
said the election defeat was a call
for the LDP to change and an “ex-
tremely harsh result for the ruling
party and the government,” while
vowing a smooth transition.
The DPJ has signalled a solid
but less subservient partnership
with traditional ally the United
States and a desire to boost its re-
gional ties, promoting a European
Union-style Asian community and
common currency.
In Washington, President Barack
Obama’s White House said it ex-
pected a “strong alliance” with the
DPJ and hoped to hold early con-
sultations with Tokyo, including on
the stand-off with nuclear-armed
North Korea. – AFP