The Dictatorship

At least 11 dead, 180,000 forced to flee their homes as L.A. wildfires rage

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

At least 11 dead, 180,000 forced to flee their homes as L.A. wildfires rage

Jan. 10, 2025, 2:57 PM UTC/Updated Jan. 11, 2025, 2:45 PM UTC

By Clarissa-Jan Lim

At least 11 people have died and 180,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as devastating wildfires continue to scorch the Los Angeles area for a fifth day.

A series of wildfires have sparked since Tuesday because of extreme dry conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds. Two of the biggest blazes — the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire — have destroyed a total of 35,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection(Cal Fire).

Officials have said the true death toll remains unknown, as the fires continue to sweep through several areas.

Here are the latest numbers from Cal Fire:

The Palisades Fire has consumed more than 21,000 acres and is still growing in sizeforcing officials to extend evacuation orders. It is 11% contained. City Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley has called it “one of the most destructive fires in the history of Los Angeles.”
The Eaton Fire has burned through more than 14,000 acres and is 15% contained. L.A. County Fire Chief Deputy Jon O’Brien said more than 5,000 structures are estimated to have been destroyed.
The Hurst Fire has destroyed 771 acres and is 70% contained.
Further north, the Lidia Firenear Acton, has swept through 395 acres and is 98% contained.
The Kenneth Firewhich began Thursday afternoon in the Woodland Hills area near Calabasas, has razed through more than 1,000 acres so far. It is 50% contained.
The Archer Firesparked Friday, has burned through 19 acres and is 0% contained.

Several emergency alerts were mistakenly sent to millions of L.A. residents who were far from where the wildfires were burning, setting off panic.

Although officials had hoped that weaker winds late Friday would help to slow the spread of the blazes, the Palisades Fire tore through dry terrain overnightmoving closer to residential areas. Strong gusts are expected to resume later on Saturday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Clarissa-Jan Lim

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking/trending news blogger for BLN Digital. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

The Dictatorship

NATO unveils billions in arms deals to prove its firepower as Trump arrives in Ankara

Published

29 minutes ago

July 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

NATO unveils billions in arms deals to prove its firepower as Trump arrives in Ankara

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that the United States should be in control of Greenland rather than NATO ally Denmark, renewing tensions in Europe even as the trans-Atlantic military alliance was announcing billions in arms deals at a summit in an attempt to appease the mercurial U.S. leader.

Trump called the semiautonomous island “an important part” for the United States, as he repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and said he won’t let Greenland be threatened.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

President Donald Trump, left, meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrives for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Osmancan Gürdoğan, Pool Photo via AP)

The NATO alliance was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others’ territory and not threaten to seize it. At the summit, European countries and the alliance’s secretary-general, Mark Ruttewere already working overtime to address another longstanding Trump complaint: that European allies do not spend enough on their own defense.

Separately, Trump announced that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program — in a nod to his warm ties with summit host Erdogan.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, participates in a media statement with European Council President Antonio Costa, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Trump cites Erdogan ‘chemistry’ as he lifts an obstacle on F-35s

Turkey’s purchase in 2019 of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems sparked years of tensions, despite the warm personal relationship between Trump and Erdogan dating back to the U.S. president’s first term.

Legal hurdles remain before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. F-35 program, but the removal of sanctions issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act would help ease that process. Regaining access to the F-35s is a top goal of Erdogan.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were working on the issue.

Front row from left, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew G. Whitaker attend the formal welcome for President Donald Trump at the NATO summit at the Bestepe Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump said the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey is “something certainly we’d consider” given the countries’ relationship, and that “Turkey’s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.”

Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell the F-35s, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.

Trump and Erdogan showed off their fondness for each other. Erdogan greeted Trump with an elaborate ceremony involving military officials on horseback and jets overhead emitting red, white and blue smoke.

Asked what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there’s “a chemistry that works between us,” adding that “Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him.”

Turkey’s access to U.S. F-35s could complicate relationships elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has urged Trump not to sell the fighter jets to Turkey, saying it would put Israel in danger.

“This is not a force for peace and stability,” Netanyahu said on BLN. “When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression its wake.”

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon arriving for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

There is also opposition among U.S. lawmakers to Turkey having the F-35s as long as the Russian missile defense system remains in its possession. Even if sanctions are lifted, the Trump administration still faces restrictions under U.S. law that prevents Turkey from being able to purchase the fighter jets if it owns the S-400s.

NATO has ‘moment of great pride’ on defense

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Earlier in the day, NATO showcased military projects worth billions of dollars — an investment Rutte called “money well spent” and one clearly meant to try to satisfy Trump.

Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal,” to the thrum of techno music.

NATO does not own weapons — these are the property of member countries — but it has 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with newer surveillance drones.

A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will supply up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.

“It’s a moment of great pride,” he said.

Some projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, listens, as Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks at the opening of the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, listens, as Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks at the opening of the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Representatives from 15 nations announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus. Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones.

Rutte had told reporters on the eve of the two-day summit that “we will announce tens of billions in new contracts.” However, at Tuesday’s event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for his country to be allowed to join the alliance, saying his country’s armed forces are highly experienced and would boost NATO’s defense capabilities.

He highlighted Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russia and hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine’s armed forces are “eliminating” on average 30,000 Russian troops every month. He is set to meet with Trump on Wednesday in Ankara.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Metin Aktaş, Pool Photo via AP) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Metin Aktaş, Pool Photo via AP)

“Frankly we take no pride in this,” Zelenskyy said, noting that the war with Russia — now in its fifth year — is one “we did not seek but one we are forced to fight.”

Concern is mounting among some European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Yet a senior NATO official, speaking on the summit’s sidelines, said that despite some “reckless” actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, the alliance has been successful in deterring Moscow from any potential attack on a member country. The official insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Andy Wilks in Istanbul and Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

The Dictatorship

Mitch McConnell’s office doesn’t want to talk about why he’s hospitalized

Published

20 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Mitch McConnell’s office doesn’t want to talk about why he’s hospitalized

When it comes to members of Congress and medical transparency, it’s been an unfortunate year.

Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey was away from his duties for nearly four months for reasons he only recently disclosed; Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida missed roughly a month of work for a medical issue she disclosed after the fact; and Republican Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida, who’s struggled with health concerns he didn’t share, has been out for roughly a month and reportedly told GOP leaders that he won’t be voting at all unless party leaders really need him.

And then there’s Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The New York Times reported:

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the former majority leader, was hospitalized on June 14. Since then, his office has provided few updates about his condition.

The scant official statements have led to speculation around Washington and efforts to piece together information on what happened.

Questions about McConnell’s health are not altogether new. In recent years, the former GOP leader, who turned 84 in February, has been seen with unexplained bruises, has suffered unexplained falls and, in some especially unsettling moments, has frozen up and appeared unable to speak.

But as a related NBC News report noted, it’s now been 23 days since McConnell was admitted to the hospital, and if members of his team have information about why he was hospitalized or how he’s doing, they have kept those details from the public for reasons unknown.

The most recent statement from McConnell’s office, issued late last week, said the senator “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital” and that he “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

That sounded vaguely encouraging, and people of goodwill can certainly hope he continues to recover from whatever it is that led to his hospitalization in the first place, but secrecy necessarily generates questions about why a prominent public official is not sharing basic details about his condition with his colleagues and constituents.

The Times’ report added, “Emergency responders the morning the Kentucky Republican was hospitalized reported performing CPR on an unconscious individual undergoing cardiac arrest at the senator’s Washington address, according to recordings of dispatcher calls that were widely reported by news outlets last week and obtained by The New York Times.”

The recordings did not specifically identify McConnell as the patient, and the senator’s office refused to say whether the calls were related to him.

As for the near future, in the event that McConnell’s Senate seat were to become vacant, state law in the Bluegrass State has changed a couple of times in recent years. In 2021, Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature approved a measure that would require Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to fill a Senate vacancy by choosing one of three GOP options presented by state lawmakers.

In 2024, the Republican-led legislature changed state law again to remove the governor’s authority to fill a vacancy altogether: If Kentucky faces a Senate vacancy, the seat would remain empty until a statewide special election can be held.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

The Dictatorship

As the dam breaks on Graham Platner’s Senate candidacy, what happens next in Maine?

Published

20 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

As the dam breaks on Graham Platner’s Senate candidacy, what happens next in Maine?

When Democrats in Maine were introduced to Graham Platner last summer, the oyster farmer and combat veteran quickly started picking up the kind of enthusiastic grassroots support other Senate candidates can only dream of. It wasn’t long before his campaign events were drawing the crowds usually reserved for leaders such as Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders.

But a couple of months into his candidacy, as his record started to face greater scrutiny, controversies came to the fore. They were followed by more controversies and more still.

Most of his backers shrugged off the revelations, insisting that his near future was more important than his recent past. In early June, Platner held a private meeting with members of the Senate Democratic conference, who heard the candidate offer assurances that the worst was behind him. There was no reason to expect another round of damaging headlines, he said, just days before cruising to an impressive victory in Maine’s statewide primary on June 9.

As this week got underway, however, everything changed after Politico reported that a woman he previously dated had accused him of sexual assault. MS NOW reported:

Jenny Racicot, 41, of Maine said that Platner — whom she said she had casually dated on and off from 2019 to 2021 — entered her home one night late in 2021, uninvited and deeply intoxicated, and forced her to have sex despite her telling him to stop, according to the news outlet.

Racicot also detailed the allegations in a lengthy interview with BLN’s Jake Tapper, describing the accusations after they were first reported by Blue Light News.

For his part, Platner called the allegations “troubling, serious, and false” in a written statement, adding, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” The candidate nevertheless went on to post a video to social media in which he said, “[R]egardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating [incumbent Republican Sen.] Susan Collins.”

Democratic officials cannot force him to drop out of the race. Platner won his primary race fair and square, and if he decides to keep running despite the scandals, there is nothing anyone can do about it.

What the party can do, however, is pressure Platner to exit and make clear that his support in Democratic politics has evaporated. That is precisely what happened on Monday afternoon, as the state and national party completely abandoned Platner and urged him to stand down. The pushback was not limited to those who were already skeptical of his candidacy: Several prominent Democrats who had endorsed Platner reversed course after seeing the Blue Light News article, withdrew their backing and called on him to quit.

We’ll learn soon enough whether the candidate reads the writing on the wall, but in the meantime, there are two overarching questions to keep in mind: (1) How would Platner be replaced, and (2) who would Maine Democrats replace him with if he bows out?

As to the former, there is a limited window of opportunity. Under Maine lawDemocratic officials would have the power to choose a replacement candidate, but only if he withdraws before the second Monday in July. At that point, Maine’s secretary of state would declare a vacancy and state party officials would choose a new nominee before a July 27 deadline.

Platner, in other words, has a week to make up his mind.

As to the latter question, quiet whispers about possible Platner alternatives have lingered for weeks, but that conversation grew much louder on Monday. The jockeying to replace Platner began soon after the embattled candidate said he was reflecting on the race, with much of the focus turning to Democrats who ran in Maine’s recent gubernatorial primary, only to come up short against former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree. That list includes Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former state Senate President Troy Jackson and Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

There’s been related scuttlebutt about Jordan Wood, who recently lost a competitive U.S. House primary race in the northern part of Maine; Dan Kleban, who briefly ran for the Senate before exiting last year; and former state House Speaker Sara Gideon, who lost to Collins six years ago but who still has a fair amount of money left in her campaign account.

Outgoing Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her own Senate campaign in late April, appears unlikely to gain serious consideration. Watch this space.