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SoCal fire 'looking a lot better'

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif., Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Firefighters "are starting to get a handle on" a brush fire in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, fire officials said Sunday.

As crews made a stand to try to prevent the Sheep fire from reaching the town of Wrightwood, Calif., San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman Jay Hausman said firefighters were cautiously optimistic, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"Things are looking a lot better," he said.

"Overall we are starting to get a handle on this fire, although the battle is not over," Hausman said. "The weather is a major factor."

Diminishing winds made it possible for helicopter crews to drop water from lower altitudes and operations were also helped by temperatures falling into the mid 60s with humidity hovering around 40 percent.

The wildfire has burned 3,500 acres, destroyed three homes and threatened hundreds more. The first mandatory evacuation of Wrightwood in recent memory was called Sunday morning, the Times reported.

Earlier, remote canyon areas near Wrightwood, in the Angeles National Forest, were evacuated as erratic, gusty winds pushed the fire about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles in different directions, the Times said.

The Sheep fire, burning between Lytle Creek Canyon and California Highway 138 also produced a mandatory evacuation in areas in and around Heath Canyon, the newspaper said.

Officials said more than 500 firefighters from the National Forest Service and San Bernardino, Calif., were waging an uphill battle to contain the wildfire, which by Sunday morning was only 10 percent contained.

Accuweather.com reported strong winds would blow through the Southwestern United States Sunday, but also indicated some drizzle could fall around Los Angeles, which would be a help to firefighters.

In Arizona, residents of 64 homes in the town of Williams were evacuated when winds shifted and turned a controlled burn into a wildfire in Kabib National Forest, authorities said.

Buildings in Williams, known as "The Gateway to the Grand Canyon," were threatened by flames fanned by strong winds, The Arizona Republic reported.

Nearly 1,000 acres outside controlled burn areas had been scorched by late Saturday, authorities said.

Socialists appear victorious in Greece

ATHENS, Greece, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The New Democracy party said Sunday that Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has conceded defeat to Socialist leader George Papandreou in Greece's election.

The New York Times said the reported decision by Karamanlis came after Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement party took a sizable lead over the New Democracy party with 24 percent of the total 10 million election votes counted.

Socialists reportedly earned 43.4 percent of the early vote tally while Karamanlis' party earned 35.9 percent.

Following the prime minister's concession call to his opponent, Socialist supporters celebrated in Athens and Socialist official Anna Diamantopoulou spoke on television about her party's goals.

"We will bring about significant change," Diamantopoulou said. "There won't be any miracles, but the looting of the state has ended."

The nation's constitution requires the two major parties to agree on the election of a president, giving either party an effective veto, CNN reported Sunday.

Nine Pakistani militants slain in Swat

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Nine Pakistani militants, including three Taliban commanders, were slain in the Swat Valley and nearby areas of northwest Pakistan, officials said Sunday.

A statement issued by the Pakistani Army said the three commanders were among six militants killed by security forces as part of an operation at Banjar in the Swat Valley, the Press Trust of India reported.

Three other militants were killed and 16 captured in another operation during a search operation near Najigram, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Pakistani troops also arrested four suspects while carrying out a search at Chuprial, part of a total of 26 militants taken into custody in various Swat locales, including Drushkhela, Bar Shaur, Nazarabad and Chuprial, PTI reported.

Zinni: Afghan decisions must be made soon

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The deliberations over whether to send up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan need to be wrapped up soon, a retired senior military officer says.

Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, the former head of CENTCOM, whose responsibilities included Afghanistan, said Sunday on the CBS program "Face the Nation" that continuing delays over whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan could hurt U.S. efforts there.

Zinni said that while it's important to assess all of the United States' strategic options, "I think we have to be careful how long this goes on. It could be seen not only out there in the region but our allies, even (by) the enemy, as being indecisive, unable to make a decision."

The current U.S. commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has suggested that up to 40,000 more troops may be needed, but White House officials say President Barack Obama has set no deadlines on making a decision.

"We have a general out there who is probably the best qualified we could have that's telling us what we need on the ground to have the security space and the time to get those non-military things done," Zinni told CBS. "I just don't understand why we're questioning that judgment at this point."