…California wildfires: Camp fire becomes state’s deadliest with 42 people killed***
A US think tank said on Monday it had identified at least 13 of an estimated 20 undeclared missile operating bases inside North Korea, underscoring the challenge for American negotiators hoping to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
In reports released by the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, researcher Joseph Bermudez said maintenance and minor infrastructure improvements have been observed at some of the sites, despite the ongoing negotiations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump pledged to work toward denuclearisation at their landmark June summit in Singapore, but the agreement was short on specifics and negotiations have made little headway.
Shortly after that summit, Trump tweeted that “there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.”
North Korea declared its nuclear force “complete” and halted missile and nuclear bomb testing earlier this year, but US and South Korean negotiators have yet to elicit from Pyongyang a concrete declaration of the size or scope of the weapons programmes, or a promise to stop deploying its existing arsenal.
North Korea has said it has closed its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site and the Sohae missile engine test facility. It also raised the possibility of shuttering more sites and allowing international inspections if Washington took “corresponding measures,” of which there has so far been no sign.
Asked whether those hidden sites went against the spirit of the summit and North Korea must give them up, a State Department official said Trump has made clear that “should Chairman Kim follow through on his commitments – including complete denuclearisation and the elimination of ballistic missile programs – a much brighter future lies ahead for North Korea and its people.”
Last week, North Korea called off a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York, and state media said on Monday the resumption of some small-scale military drills by South Korea and the United States violated a recent agreement aimed at lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The sites identified in the CSIS report are scattered in remote, mountainous areas across North Korea, and could be used to house ballistic missiles of various ranges, with the largest believed to be capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
“Missile operating bases are not launch facilities,” Bermudez wrote. “While missiles could be launched from within them in an emergency, Korean People’s Army (KPA) operational procedures call for missile launchers to disperse from the bases to pre-surveyed or semi-prepared launch sites for operations.”
None of the missile bases have been acknowledged by North Korea, and analysts say an accurate disclosure of nuclear weapons and missile capabilities would be an important part of any denuclearisation deal.
Sakkanmol, the site closest to the border with South Korea and its capital Seoul, appears to be “active and being reasonably well maintained,” the report found.
“North Korea’s decommissioning of the Sohae satellite launch facility, while gaining much media attention, obscures the military threat to US forces and South Korea from this and other undeclared ballistic missile bases,” Bermudez said.
In the meantime, the Camp fire in northern California has killed 42 people, making it the deadliest in state history, authorities said.
The blaze is also the most destructive the state has ever seen, incinerating the town of Paradise and displacing more than 50,000 people as other blazes continued to rage farther south.
A total of 7,177 buildings have been destroyed, Cal Fire said. The fire grew to 183 sq miles Monday, and containment was up to 30%.
Two people have also died in the Woolsey fire, a major blaze around Los Angeles.
On Monday officials said the Woolsey fire had burned 91,572 acres and was 20% contained. “We are working all day and all night to increase and reinforce that containment,” said the Los Angeles county fire chief, Daryl Osby. The fire had destroyed 370 structures, with 57,000 still at risk, Osby said.
Donald Trump said late on Monday he had approved an “expedited” major disaster declaration for California over the deadly wildfires burning at both ends of the state.
Trump tweeted Monday night that he “wanted to respond quickly in order to alleviate some of the incredible suffering going on”.
The Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, had requested the declaration, which would make victims eligible for crisis counseling, housing and unemployment help, and legal aid.
Trump previously blamed “poor” forest management for the fires. Brown says federal and state governments must do more forest management but says climate change is the greater source of the problem.
On Sunday evening, some neighborhoods allowed evacuees back in and the US 101 highway west of LA was reopened. But Osby emphasized that residents in areas near the fire’s path should evacuate early and be on high alert, as many residents insisted on sheltering in place on Sunday.
Statewide, 150,000 people have been displaced and more than 8,000 fire crews are deployed. Authorities have said 228 people are unaccounted for.
High winds and dry conditions threaten more areas through the rest of the week, fire officials warned. San Diego is under severe weather watch starting early this week, Osby said.
Around Paradise, about 1,300 people have found refuge at evacuation shelters, according to a Cal Fire spokesman, Steve Kaufman, a total which includes several shelters in Butte county and some in Sutter, Glenn and Plumas counties. But that’s only a fraction of the total displaced from Paradise, Magalia, Concow and other towns in the Sierra foothills.
Many converged on Chico, a city of about 90,000 just 20 minutes from Paradise. Hotels in Chico are at capacity with fire evacuees and some, but not all, shelters are full. Others stayed with friends and family or even in their cars, eager to remain close enough to return home at a moment’s notice, even though that could be months away.
Authorities recovered the remains of an additional 13 people in northern California on Monday. To date, three people have been identified: Ernest Foss of Paradise, 65, Jesus Hernandez of Concow, 48, and Carl Wiley of Magalia, 77. The sheriff’s department plans to bring in cadaver dogs, portable morgue units and 150 search and rescue professionals to aid with the recovery of human remains.
“This is an unprecedented event,” the Butte County sheriff, Kory Honea, said. “I want to recover as many remains as we can as soon as re possibly can because I understand the toll it takes on people not knowing what became of their loved ones.”
A Walmart in Chico has become an unofficial refugee camp for those displaced by the blaze. On Sunday, more than a dozen tents lined an empty field next to the store, while the parking lot was filled day and night with trailers and cars stuffed with belongings – toys, pillows and family photos.
Zee News with additional report from Guardian UK
