Month: October 2019

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Police in the South African city of Cape Town used water cannons Wednesday while dispersing and arresting hundreds of foreigners, including children, who have camped for weeks outside the U.N. refugee agency’s office. Some of the refugees and asylum-seekers told local media they are seeking to be relocated outside the country after…

The Kincade Fire ignited in Sonoma County, California, on October 23 and has burned 75,415 acres. It was 15% contained as of Tuesday morning. The fire forced nearly 200,000 people to evacuate their homes as powerful winds enabled it to spread quickly over the weekend. The blaze has destroyed 124 structures, including 57 homes, and…

North Carolina’s congressional map can’t be used in 2020 because it’s so severely gerrymandered, a panel of three state judges ruled on Monday. The judges said the gerrymandering, which benefits Republicans in the state, was so severe that it ran afoul of the state’s constitution. The ruling, a preliminary injunction, is a victory for advocacy groups, and…

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina judges on Monday blocked the state’s congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections, ruling that voters had a strong likelihood of winning a lawsuit that argued Republicans unlawfully manipulated district lines for partisan gain. The panel of three Superior Court judges issued a preliminary injunction preventing elections…

By Joseph Ax (Reuters) – A North Carolina court on Monday temporarily blocked the state from using its congressional map in next year’s elections and strongly suggested it would eventually rule the districts were illegally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. The decision was a victory for Democrats, who have struggled to gain a foothold in both…

Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced in California by 17 raging fires that have already burned more than 94,000 acres of land across the state, as winds were expected to pick up throughout the week. Hurricane-force winds strengthened the Kincade fire in Northern California that began 23 October and spread rapidly, reportedly burning over 74,000…

Respirator masks, yes. Surgical and dust masks, no. Wildfires fueled by drought conditions and high winds are blazing through swaths of real estate around San Francisco and Los Angeles, fouling air quality for residents miles from the flames. Wildfire-driven air quality issues are nothing new to California, and the state Department of Public Health provides advice…

Hasakeh (Syria) (AFP) – Just months ago, the most hardcore among them were still bent on defending the last sliver of the Islamic State group’s “caliphate” in Baghouz, Syria. Today, they’re crammed together: 5,000 presumed jihadists in an overcrowded Kurdish prison in the country’s northeast. AFP correspondents obtained exclusive access to the site in Hasakeh…

Millennials are gaining power at all levels of American government: Enter, Katie Hill. Millennials are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape of technology, sex, and power: Exit, Katie Hill. Last year, Hill was one of twenty millennials, most of them women, who won seats in Congress, increasing the generation’s representation sixfold in one cycle and giving…

Welcome to 2020 Vision, the Yahoo News column covering the presidential race with one key takeaway every weekday and a wrap-up each weekend. Reminder: There are 97 days until the Iowa caucuses and 371 days until the 2020 election. As the impeachment battle rages in Washington, Democrats’ position appears to be improving up and down…