Wildfires burn through three states
FORT COLLINS, Colo., June 13 (UPI) -- Fire sweeping across the western and southwestern United States forced evacuations, scarred more than 80,000 acres and killed at least one person.
In Colorado, officials plan to increase the number of fire engines fighting a wildfire in the northern part of the state Wednesday, hoping to stop the blaze that burned more than 43,000 acres.
Officials said they want to more than double the 40 fire engines battling the lightning-sparked blaze that was about 10 percent contained Tuesday, CNN reported.
The fire already has destroyed dozens of buildings and forced thousands of people from their homes since it began Saturday near Fort Collins, officials said.
Officials said the fire was responsible for one death.
National Guard military police have been activated to monitor checkpoints and control access, The Denver Post reported. The approximately 50 guardsmen were being helped by police units from Colorado State University and Fort Collins, and the Colorado State Patrol.
Officials: Drones hit suspected hideouts
SANAA, Yemen, June 13 (UPI) -- Three Yemeni security officials said U.S. drone strikes hit al-Qaida hideouts in southern Yemen Wednesday, killing at least nine suspected terrorists.
The defense ministry said 30 people died during airstrikes in Azzan, but didn't say whether all of the deaths were from airstrikes by unmanned aircraft or by Yemeni forces conducting airstrikes in the area, CNN reported.
Officials said no senior al-Qaida leaders died in the attack.
Militants fled to Azzan, in Shabwa province, after they lost control of Abyan province Tuesday, officials said.
Yemeni security officials said at least 14 U.S. drone strikes were conducted in the past two days over both provinces. One targeted the convoy of Jalal Beleidi, a key commander of the Ansar al-Sharia militant group, who escaped unharmed, the officials said.
Russia to fulfill its Syria arms contract
DAMASCUS, Syria, June 13 (UPI) -- Russian state-controlled arms trader JSC Rosoboronexport intends to fulfill its contract to supply arms to Syria, the agency's No. 2 official said.
"No one can ever accuse Russia of violating the rules of armaments trade set by the international community," Deputy Chief Executive Officer Igor Sevastyanov said in Paris in remarks carried by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency Wednesday.
"The contract was signed long ago and we supply armaments that are self-defense rather than attack weapons, and there can be no talk about any violations by Russia or Rosoboronexport either de jure or de facto," he said in response to a question about whether Russia would continue to carry out its contract to supply Pantsir-S1 short- to medium-range surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems to Syria.
"De jure" and "de facto" are used instead of "in law" and "in practice" when describing political or legal situations.
Barber wins Ariz. special election
TUCSON, June 13 (UPI) -- Ron Barber, a former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., injured in an assassination attempt, won a special election to replace her.
Barber -- also seriously wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting spree at a Giffords meet-and-greet political event outside a grocery store in Tucson -- defeated Republican Jesse Kelly 53 percent to 45 percent, unofficial results indicated.
Kelly, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, conceded the race for the conservative-leaning southeastern Arizona district to Barber, 66, in a speech to Tucson supporters late Tuesday.
Barber told supporters: "Just about 10 minutes ago I received a call from Jesse Kelly. It was a most gracious call. And Jesse said, 'Congratulations on your victory, and I know you will make a great congressman for Arizona.' How about that?"
Giffords, who resigned Jan. 25 to focus on her recovery from a bullet wound to the head, supported Barber and campaigned on his behalf, but played only a small role in the campaign.
N.D. voters retain state property tax
FARGO, N.D., June 13 (UPI) -- Voters in North Dakota decided Tuesday against ending the state property tax, rejecting arguments the state can operate on revenues from oil and other sources.
With 324 of the state's 426 precincts reporting, voters were rejecting Measure 2 by 77 percent to 23 percent, the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald reported.
Andy Peterson, president of the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce and a spokesman for Keep it Local -- a coalition of interests that opposed Measure 2 -- told the newspaper voters "understand that government isn't free."
"They didn't want to sacrifice local government and they didn't want to sacrifice their schools," he said.
Backers of Measure 2 blamed the loss on having been outspent by opponents during the campaign.
'Goodfellas' mobster Henry Hill dead at 69
NEW YORK, June 13 (UPI) -- Henry Hill, a former mobster who was the basis for characters in the films "Goodfellas" and "My Blue Heaven," has died in Los Angeles, his girlfriend said.
He was 69.
TMZ reported the one-time Lucchese crime family associate died Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
"He had been sick for a long time," his girlfriend, Lisa Caserta, told TMZ. "His heart gave out."
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was accused of extortion, theft, kidnapping, assault, drug dealing and a host of other offenses during his career in organized crime, but he spent his later years working with troubled youth and as a consultant to law-enforcement agencies. He also was an artist, popular guest on Howard Stern's radio show and author of "The Wiseguy Cookbook."
