World/ Nation Briefs June 16, 2013
Firefighters advance wildfire containment
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A Colorado sheriff said firefighters "are getting the upper hand" on the most destructive wildfire in state history Saturday, an announcement that came as authorities gained a clearer picture of the grim landscape the blaze has left behind.
No additional homes were destroyed as fire crews expanded containment lines, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said. Also, there were no new reports of injury or death, he said.
The fire that exploded Tuesday outside of Colorado Springs, amid record-setting heat and tinder-dry conditions, has destroyed nearly 500 homes and killed two people, whose bodies were found inside their garage Thursday, their car doors open as though they had been about to flee.
On Saturday, worried residents waited for permission to return to their neighborhoods to see whether their homes were still standing.
Maketa said the fire's destruction has made it difficult for his deputies to assess damage.
Deputies have said "it looks like a nuclear bomb went off in some of those areas, and you can't even recognize whether it was a house or some other kind of structure," Maketa said. "That is the level of incineration and destruction that took place in some areas."
AP-WE poll: Most men aspire to be dads
A recent Associated Press-WE tv poll found more than 8 in 10 men said they have always wanted to be fathers or think they'd like to be one someday.
Debates about the different ways women approach motherhood dominate news coverage about parenthood these days, with fathers' experiences often left unexamined.
About 8 in 10 fathers surveyed said they always knew they wanted to have children, compared with about 7 in 10 mothers, and 69 percent of dads called that long-standing desire to have children an important factor in their decision to have kids.
Dads were more likely than moms in the poll to say they saw positive effects from fatherhood on their love life and career, and they are just as likely as moms to say it improved their overall happiness, sense of accomplishment and sense of purpose.
When weighing whether to become a parent, mothers and fathers placed similar levels of importance on where they stood in their career and the impact having kids might have on their social life, and like mothers, saw having found the right person to have a child with and the joy of having children as the most important considerations.
Men who do not have children were just as likely as women without kids to say they want them someday. Among men under age 35, 91 percent are dads already or say they think they would like to have children someday.
1 in custody after problem aboard flight
DENVER - Officials said one person was taken into custody following a "possible security threat" on a Denver-bound flight.
Denver International Airport spokeswoman Laura Coale said Frontier Airlines flight 601 from Knoxville, Tenn., landed safely at 6:30 p.m. PDT Friday and was moved to a remote location.
She said in a recorded statement that the FBI and police responded due to "a possible security threat on board," and one person was taken into custody.
Coale said a police bomb squad also responded, but did not provide any more information on the nature of the possible threat.
Other passengers were interviewed by authorities.
Media reports said there were 136 passengers and five crew members aboard.
Iran's Rowhani promises 'new opportunity'
TEHRAN, Iran - Wild celebrations broke out on Tehran streets that were battlefields four years ago as reformist-backed Hasan Rowhani capped a stunning surge to claim Iran's presidency on Saturday, throwing open the political order after relentless crackdowns by hard-liners to consolidate and safeguard their grip on power.
"Long live Rowhani," tens of thousands of jubilant supporters chanted as security officials made no attempt to rein in crowds - joyous and even a bit bewildered by the scope of his victory with more than three times the votes of his nearest rival.
In his first statement after the results were announced, Rowhani said that "a new opportunity has been created ... for those who truly respect democracy, interaction and free dialogue."
But in Iran, even landslides at the ballot box do not equate to policymaking influence.
All key decisions - including nuclear efforts, defense and foreign affairs - remain solidly in the hands of the ruling clerics and their powerful protectors, the Revolutionary Guard. What Rowhani's victory does is reopen space for moderate and liberal voices that have been largely muzzled in reprisal for massive protests and clashes in 2009 over claims the vote was rigged to deny reformists the presidency.
Turkish police end occupation of Istanbul park
ISTANBUL - Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannons took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year rule.
The sweep by white-helmeted riot police emptied the Gezi park of protesters, leaving a series of colorful, abandoned tents behind. Bulldozers moved in afterward, scooping up debris as crews of workmen in hard hats and fluorescent yellow vests tore down the tents. Protesters put up little physical resistance, even as plain-clothes police shoved many of them to drive them from the park.
White smoke billowed skyward as a phalanx of riot police marched inside the park on Saturday. They tore down protesters' banners, toppled a communal food stall, and sprayed tear gas over the tents and urging those inside to get out.
For over two weeks, protesters had defied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warnings to vacate the area.
- The Associated Press