News on the go: Sept 5, 2013

Maura Zurick

The wildfire that started Aug. 17 and burned large parts of Yosemite National Park and the area around it was caused by a hunter’s illegal campfire, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday. Officials have not arrested anyone, and they are withholding the hunter’s name until they investigate further. The blaze destroyed 111 structures and 11 homes, but the fire now is 80 percent contained.

Despite support from a Senate panel for a United States military strike against Syria, President Barack Obama had trouble convincing some world leaders Thursday. In addition to Syria’s ally Russia opposing military action, China and the European Union condemned a potential attack when Obama spoke to officials behind the scenes of the G-20 summit. Obama’s attempts to rally countries to his cause were intended to increase pressure on Congress to bring the measure to the full floor.

An assassination attempt on Egypt’s interior minister injured 22 people Thursday, but the official was unharmed. This is the first attack of its kind since Egypt ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The attack littered a major boulevard in Cairo with debris, charred cars and damaged building facades. (read full story here )

A new study Thursday said England’s King Richard III, whose body was found last year under a parking lot in Leicester, England, appears to have been infected with roundworms in his intestine at the time of his death. Researchers in the study, published online in the journal Lancet, said it is unlikely the worms did him any serious damage, and they could have come from food tainted with eggs. (read full story here)

Contact Maura Zurick at [email protected].