S. California crews rush to fight Mexico fire
A day after Southern California crews made progress against two wildfires and helped Mexico battle a blaze, a new fire was burning in remote terrain a few miles north of the border and the forecast called for more hot, dry weather on Friday.
The National Weather Service forecast for Friday called for more temperatures in the 90s, with low humidity and light winds.
In San Diego County, a 4,000-acre fire burning in a rugged area along the U.S.-Mexican border was 30 percent contained Thursday night. Winds had died down and were forecast to be light on Friday.
Officials were aiming for full containment by Saturday evening after crews cut a 14-mile line by hand around the blaze, said Matt Streck, a spokesman for the state forestry department.
Firetrucks rush into Mexico
In what he called an unusual move, a dozen American fire engines raced across the border around 4 p.m. Thursday when winds shifted and a wall of flames bore down on the Mexican city of Tecate. Fire burned to a cinderblock wall at the edge of the city of 50,000, but firefighters kept flames from spreading to any structures, he said.
“I really feel like we got the opportunity to save some lives. It was a unique experience,” Streck said.
There was no threat to structures on the U.S. side of the border and evacuation orders in the area were lifted Thursday night.
The blaze began in Mexico but the cause is unknown, he said.
As 1,200 firefighters were slowly gaining control of that blaze, a new wildfire broke out Thursday night about 9 miles to the north, Streck said. The fire, which had consumed about 10 to 15 acres of brush, was in a remote, inaccessible area and crews will have to hike in to fight it, he said.
Source: msnbc.msn.com
Area firefighters save homes in Mexico
North County fire crews returned triumphantly Friday after saving a poor neighborhood in the Mexican town of Tecate from the flames of a raging fire at the U.S. border.
But they didn't do it alone Thursday.
Mexican bomberos (firefighters) and Tecate residents young and old pitched in with hoses and shovels to help save their often flimsy homes. Overhead, air tankers and helicopters from the United States provided critical water and fire retardant drops.
Still, it was the firefighters from Escondido to Oceanside, Fallbrook to Rancho Santa Fe who earned and got much of the glory. A
Mexico's Televisa, Univision legal fight heats up
A legal dispute between Televisa and its U.S. partner, Univision, has escalated, with the Mexican broadcaster filing two more claims in a fight over royalties,
Televisa (TV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (TLEVISACPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it amended an existing suit against Univision to include new claims that the U.S. company aired sports programs from Televisa outside an existing programming deal and has refused to air Televisa advertising.
In May, Televisa filed suit against Univision Communications Inc. (UVN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California over royalties, and its
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking to improve his image with Hispanics at home, arrived in Mexico on Friday and met with Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy about security issues, immigration and a controversial border canal.
Schwarzenegger has come under fire from many of his state's 12 million Hispanics for opposing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and proposing health and welfare cuts that would have hit Hispanics hard.
He angered both Californians and the Mexican government when he praised a citizen border patrol and said California's border with Mexico should be closed – something he quickly apologized for.
In Mexico, Schwarzenegger
Muslim envoys in Mexico call for immediate cease-fire in Lebanon
Ambassadors of Islamic countries in Mexico on Friday issued a statement, calling for the establishment of an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and an end to Israeli attacks.
They called on the Mexican government to join the international movement for establishment of a cease-fire in the occupied territories of Palestine and Lebanon.
The envoys of the Muslim states which are members of the Organization of Islamic Conference also invited all parties involved to sit at the negotiating table as the only alternative to solve Middle East issue.
We condemn every kind of
Schwarzenegger to Mexico
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking to improve his image with Hispanics at home, was heading to Mexico on Friday to meet with Baja California Governor Eugenio Elorduy about security issues, immigration and a controversial border canal.
Schwarzenegger has come under fire from many of his state's 12 million Hispanics for opposing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and proposing health and welfare cuts that would have hit Hispanics hard.
He angered both Californians and the Mexican government when he praised a citizen border patrol and said California's border with Mexico should be closed -- something he quickly apologized for.
His trip to
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A British citizen born in Lebanon was released Wednesday by Mexican authorities, less than 24 hours after his arrest in the state of Baja California Sur on suspicion of having ties to terrorists linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Amer Haykel "does not represent any threat to national security and is not wanted by authorities of any country," read a statement released late Wednesday by Mexico's Interior Ministry.
"He's not a terrorist. He was just a tourist," said Mariana Morales, a spokeswoman at the British Embassy in Mexico City.
Haykel was arrested Tuesday at a
Schwarzenegger to Mexico
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking to improve his image with Hispanics at home, was heading to Mexico on Friday to meet with Baja California Governor Eugenio Elorduy about security issues, immigration and a controversial border canal.
Schwarzenegger has come under fire from many of his state's 12 million Hispanics for opposing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and proposing health and welfare cuts that would have hit Hispanics hard.
He angered both Californians and the Mexican government when he praised a citizen border patrol and said California's border with Mexico should be closed -- something he quickly apologized for.
His trip to
New Eruption at Mexico's Volcano of Fire
A small eruption Tuesday of the Volcano of Fire in western Mexico scattered ash onto adjacent towns, the Jalisco state civil defense agency said.
No injuries were reported.
Clouds obscured the plume of gas and ash triggered by the eruption at 5:07 a.m. (6:07 a.m. EDT). The towns affected were to the west and southwest of the volcano, the agency said.
The 12,533-foot volcano on the border of Jalisco and Colima states — 420 miles west of Mexico City — is among the country's most active and most dangerous.
It has erupted repeatedly in recent years. On Sept.
Damaged barge capsizes in Gulf of Mexico
The 441-foot barge left Houston late Thursday en route to Tampa, Florida, when it hit debris in the water about 100 miles east of Galveston.
That gouged a 30-by-six-foot hole in the starboard bow. The Coast Guard and other responding crews erected a containment boom around the vessel. But the Coast Guard says progressive flooding caused the barge to list onto its side and it capsized.
The Coast Guard says the barge isn't obstructing marine traffic. There's no estimate of how much of the 300-thousand gallons of oil has leaked from a damaged tank
Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, Mexico. Situated along the state's northern border with the U.S. state of California, Mexicali is a short distance (about 2 hours drive) from San Diego, California. Mexicali has an International Airport, served by Aeroméxico, Mexicana de Aviación and AeroCalifornia, among others.
Mexicali is a sister city of Calexico, California, which lies directly across the international border, as each city's name combines California and Mexico.
Mexicali is also known for its bullfighting arena, called "Plaza de Toros Calafia".
Mexicali has also the largest Chinatown, called La Chinesca, and the largest number of overseas Chinese
