Firefighters put out fire through window after house door locked

03:21, December 22, 2019

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  House vote locks in impeachment as issue in ’20 Hill races

  Harley Rouda, Democratic congressional candidate in the 48th district, addresses his supporters at his election night party in Newport Beach, Calif. in Nov. 2018. (File photo: AP)The day after nearly every House Democrat voted toimpeach President Donald Trump, the chief of the House Republican campaign committee said the political fallout was clear.“Last night their obsession with impeachment finally came to a head, and they basically ended their majority,” Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer said Thursday. “Max Rose is done,” he continued, listing him among freshmen Democrats from districts Trump captured in 2016 who he said won’t survive next November’s elections.The feisty Rose, a Brooklyn native and Afghanistan combat veteran with an advanced degree from the London School of Economics, sees things differently. “Mark my words, okay?” said Rose, whose Staten Island-centered district was the only one Trump won in New York City. “We are going to beat them by such a wide margin that next time around, they won’t even talk like this again, okay?”It’s too early to say who will be proven correct as Republicans wage a challenging struggle to regain the House majority they lost last year. But less than 11 months from presidential and congressional elections, the near party-line House vote impeaching Trump locked in lawmakers’ positions on the subject. Many moderate lawmakers from swing districts had spent months saying they were on the fence.Now, voters will decide whether to reward or punish incumbents for their choices. And while Republicans and Democrats acknowledge that other issues like the economy and health care costs could overwhelm impeachment by next November, both sides — but especially the GOP — are already using the bitter impeachment fight as weapons.“This is an attack on Democracy,” blared one Trump campaign fundraising email that included a thank you from “Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.” It added, “An attack on freedom. An attack on everything ...

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  Fire in Chilean city of Valparaiso destroys about 50 homes: firefighters

  A house burns following the spread of wildfires in Valparaiso, December 24, 2019. (Photo: CGTN)A fire in a poor neighborhood of the coastal Chilean city of Valparaiso destroyed dozens of houses on Tuesday and firefighters struggled to control the blaze, authorities said.Inhabitants were said to have fled their homes in the middle of Christmas Eve festivities, some losing all their belongings and even pets.Its reported that power was cut to nearly 90,000 customers in the area as a precautionary measure."The entire Valparaiso Fire Department with support from neighboring units is deployed. The fire has consumed about 50 homes," firefighters said on Twitter. Two nearby neighborhoods were being evacuated, they said.So far, there have been no reports of casualties.The blaze, fed by high Southern Hemisphere summer temperatures and strong winds, started in a forested area and spread to the city, firefighters said.Valparaiso, known for its colorful wood-frame houses, is popular among tourists in the South American country.Wildfires have been raging in many parts of the world this year, including Brazil and Australia.

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  Fire engulfs 120 houses in Valparaiso, Chile

  Photo: AFPSANTIAGO, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 120 houses were damaged Tuesday in the coastal Chilean city of Valparaiso, triggering the declaration of an alert by the federal government.Firefighters were mobilized to control the blaze as residents in the poor neighborhood fled their homes on Christmas Eve."The entire Valparaiso Fire Department with support from neighboring units is deployed," firefighters tweeted.Apart from the houses that were affected, two adjacent neighborhoods were evacuated. In Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, helicopters were deployed to put out the blazes, they added.Fuelled by strong winds in summer, the flames started in a forested area and have burned more 100 hectares of land by far, the National Forestry Commission of the Agriculture Ministry said.Valparaiso, one of Chiles largest cities, is known for its bohemian, artistic vibe and lovely vistas.