On Monday, Lucasfilm dropped a full-length trailer to its next Star Wars series on Disney+, Andor.
In the prequel series, Diego Luna reprises his Rogue One role as titular Rebel spy Cassian Andor, and the trailer shows that the series will delve into the past he hinted at in that film: That his career working against the Galactic Empire began when he was just a child.
“To steal from the Empire, you just walk in like you belong. They’re so proud of themselves…They can’t imagine that someone like me could get inside their house,” he says as he’s shown infiltrating Imperial bases both as a kid and as an adult.
After some fans griped that the previous Star Wars series Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi centered too much on the desert planet Tatooine, the trailer hints Andor will be a galaxy-spanning adventure, from the-Galactic Republic’s Capital planet Coruscant, to dogfights in space, and skirmishes with Stormtroopers in on the streets of various worlds.
“This is what revolution looks like,” Adria Arjona‘s mysterious — and as of now unnamed — character urges Andor.
“Witness the beginning of Rebellion,” a title card teases.
Andor — also starring Forest Whitaker, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly and Alan Tudyk, kicks off with a three-episode premiere on September 21.
Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 01, 9:14 AM EDT
Russian troops on the move ahead of expected Ukrainian counteroffensive
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Monday Russian troops were massing in the direction of the town of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region, possibly in a bid to prepare for a large Ukrainian counterattack.
Talk of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at taking back the southern city of Kherson, about 140 miles south of Kryvyi Rih, has been gathering pace for several weeks.
The Ukrainian military also issued the maximum missile-fire-threat alert on Sunday in reaction to Russian troops massing in the Black Sea.
At least 17 warships and boats of the Russian Black Sea fleet were maneuvering near the Crimean coast on Sunday, according to Ukrainian military officials.
Among them were six Kalibr cruise missile carriers with more than 40 high-precision missiles on board, as well as four large landing ships.
Russia has also been transferring a large number of troops to occupied Crimea, Vadym Skibitskyi, of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, said on Monday.
Russia plans to deploy these troops in the south of Ukraine to conduct future combat operations, Skibitskyi said.
The official added that Russia withdrew tactical groups of airborne troops from the eastern Donetsk region and transferred them to occupied Kherson about two weeks ago.
Russian forces have resumed localized ground attacks northwest and southwest of Izyum over the weekend and may be setting conditions for offensive operations further west into Kharkiv Oblast or toward Kharkiv City, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd and Max Uzol
Aug 01, 9:09 AM EDT
A ‘day of relief for the world’ as Ukrainian grain shipments resume
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called Monday a “day of relief for the world” as his country resumed grain shipments for the first time since Russia’s offensive began.
“The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade,” Kuleba wrote in a post on Twitter. “Ukraine has always been a reliable partner and will remain one should Russia respect its part of the deal.”
Aug 01, 4:12 AM EDT
Ukrainian lawmaker hails departure of 1st grain ship a ‘historic moment’
Watching as the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set off from Odesa’s port on Monday morning, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko called it “Ukraine’s victory” over Russia.
Honcharenko, the son of a former Odesa mayor, said this “historic moment” was only possible because Ukraine had inflicted so much damage on the Russian Navy and had liberated nearby Snake Island, forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a deal.
“It shows again the the language of force is the only language Putin understands,” Honcharenko told ABC News.
Honcharenko said he believes 16 more ships in the port will now begin moving out in the coming days. But he cautioned that he thinks Putin will now try to do everything to limit the ships coming in and out to a minimum within the U.N.-brokered deal, utilizing airstrikes near Ukrainian ports as well as trying to invent bureaucratic obstacles.
The next big test of the deal will be when the first ships come to enter Odesa, which Honcharenko said is expected at the end of this week.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic, Oleksii Pshemyskiy and Patrick Reevell
Aug 01, 3:47 AM EDT
1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa port
The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain departed Odesa on Monday morning under an internationally brokered deal attempting to ease a global hunger crisis.
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni left the Ukrainian port city and is headed to Lebanon, a tiny Mideast nation that imports nearly all of its grain and lacks storage space after a 2020 explosion destroyed grain silos at its main port in Beirut. The vessel is expected to reach Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed to Tripoli, according to a statement from the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Razoni, which is carrying 26,527 tons of corn, is the first commercial ship to set off from Ukraine’s port of Odesa since Feb. 26 and the first vessel to depart under the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to a statement from the spokesperson for the the United Nations secretary-general. Last month, Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements with Turkey and the U.N. to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Aug 01, 9:14 AM EDT
Russian troops on the move ahead of expected Ukrainian counteroffensive
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Monday Russian troops were massing in the direction of the town of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region, possibly in a bid to prepare for a large Ukrainian counterattack.
Talk of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at taking back the southern city of Kherson, about 140 miles south of Kryvyi Rih, has been gathering pace for several weeks.
The Ukrainian military also issued the maximum missile-fire-threat alert on Sunday in reaction to Russian troops massing in the Black Sea.
At least 17 warships and boats of the Russian Black Sea fleet were maneuvering near the Crimean coast on Sunday, according to Ukrainian military officials.
Among them were six Kalibr cruise missile carriers with more than 40 high-precision missiles on board, as well as four large landing ships.
Russia has also been transferring a large number of troops to occupied Crimea, Vadym Skibitskyi, of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, said on Monday.
Russia plans to deploy these troops in the south of Ukraine to conduct future combat operations, Skibitskyi said.
The official added that Russia withdrew tactical groups of airborne troops from the eastern Donetsk region and transferred them to occupied Kherson about two weeks ago.
Russian forces have resumed localized ground attacks northwest and southwest of Izyum over the weekend and may be setting conditions for offensive operations further west into Kharkiv Oblast or toward Kharkiv City, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report.
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yulia Drozd and Max Uzol
Aug 01, 9:09 AM EDT
A ‘day of relief for the world’ as Ukrainian grain shipments resume
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called Monday a “day of relief for the world” as his country resumed grain shipments for the first time since Russia’s offensive began.
“The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade,” Kuleba wrote in a post on Twitter. “Ukraine has always been a reliable partner and will remain one should Russia respect its part of the deal.”
Aug 01, 4:12 AM EDT
Ukrainian lawmaker hails departure of 1st grain ship a ‘historic moment’
Watching as the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set off from Odesa’s port on Monday morning, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko called it “Ukraine’s victory” over Russia.
Honcharenko, the son of a former Odesa mayor, said this “historic moment” was only possible because Ukraine had inflicted so much damage on the Russian Navy and had liberated nearby Snake Island, forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a deal.
“It shows again the the language of force is the only language Putin understands,” Honcharenko told ABC News.
Honcharenko said he believes 16 more ships in the port will now begin moving out in the coming days. But he cautioned that he thinks Putin will now try to do everything to limit the ships coming in and out to a minimum within the U.N.-brokered deal, utilizing airstrikes near Ukrainian ports as well as trying to invent bureaucratic obstacles.
The next big test of the deal will be when the first ships come to enter Odesa, which Honcharenko said is expected at the end of this week.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic, Oleksii Pshemyskiy and Patrick Reevell
Aug 01, 3:47 AM EDT
1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa port
The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain departed Odesa on Monday morning under an internationally brokered deal attempting to ease a global hunger crisis.
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni left the Ukrainian port city and is headed to Lebanon, a tiny Mideast nation that imports nearly all of its grain and lacks storage space after a 2020 explosion destroyed grain silos at its main port in Beirut. The vessel is expected to reach Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed to Tripoli, according to a statement from the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Razoni, which is carrying 26,527 tons of corn, is the first commercial ship to set off from Ukraine’s port of Odesa since Feb. 26 and the first vessel to depart under the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to a statement from the spokesperson for the the United Nations secretary-general. Last month, Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements with Turkey and the U.N. to allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and for Russia to export grain and fertilizers.
Since Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, the cost of grain, fertilizer and fuel has skyrocketed worldwide. Russia and Ukraine — often referred to collectively as Europe’s breadbasket — produce a third of the global supply of wheat and barley, but a Russian blockade in the Black Sea combined with Ukrainian naval mines have made exporting siloed grain and other foodstuffs virtually impossible. As a result, millions of people around the world — particularly in Africa and the Middle East — are now on the brink of famine.
(WASHINGTON) — More than 60 major American companies that employ tens of thousands of U.S. workers are asking the Supreme Court to uphold the use of race as a factor in college admissions, calling affirmative action critical to building diverse workforces and, in turn, growing profits.
The businesses — some of the most high-profile and successful in the U.S. economy — outlined their position in legal briefs filed Monday ahead of oral arguments this fall in a pair of cases expected to determine the future of the race-based policy.
The companies told the court they rely on universities to cultivate racially diverse student bodies which in turn yield pools of diverse, highly educated job candidates that can meet their business and customer needs.
“The government’s interest in promoting student-body diversity on university campuses remains compelling from a business perspective,” the companies wrote in an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief. “The interest in promoting student-body diversity at America’s universities has, if anything, grown in importance.”
Among the signatories are American Express, United and American Airlines, Apple, Intel, Bayer, General Electric, Kraft Heinz, Microsoft, Verizon, Procter & Gamble and Starbucks.
Citing data and research on a rapidly diversifying America, the companies said race-based diversity initiatives are about more than what many call a moral imperative and critical to their bottom lines.
“Prohibiting universities nationwide from considering race among other factors in composing student bodies would undermine businesses’ efforts to build diverse workforces,” they said.
Eight of the top U.S. science and technology companies, including DuPont and Gilead Sciences, filed a separate brief stressing their view on the importance of racially diverse campuses for cultivating the best future innovators.
“If universities are not educating a diverse student body, then they are not educating many of the best,” they wrote, urging the court not to strike down affirmative action. “Today’s markets require capitalizing on the racial and other diversity among us … Those efforts, in turn, contribute to the broader health of our nation’s economy.”
In a series of decisions beginning in 1978, the high court has found that race can be used as one factor among many when considering college admissions applications but that a school cannot use quotas or mathematical formulas to diversify a class.
“In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity,” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in her 2003 opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger.
A conservative student group challenging the use of race as a factor in undergraduate admissions at Harvard University, the nation’s oldest private college, and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest public state university, is asking the court to overturn that precedent.
The group, Students for Fair Admissions, alleges that Asian-American applicants have been illegally targeted by Harvard and rejected at a disproportionately higher rate in violation of Supreme Court precedent and the students’ constitutional rights.
Two lower federal courts have rejected those claims.
That the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the cases is widely seen as an indication that the justices could be willing to revisit their precedents on affirmative action and end the use of racial classifications in admissions altogether.
It will be the first test on the issue for the court’s six-to-three conservative-leaning majority, following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy and the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both of whom defended race-conscious admissions.
Ne-Yo is asking for “privacy” after his wife Crystal Smith accused him of cheating.
“For the sake of our children, my family and I will work through our challenges behind closed doors,” the “Closer” singer tweeted Sunday. “Personal matters are not meant to be addressed and dissected in public forums. I simply ask that you please respect me and my family’s privacy at this time.”
Ne-Yo’s request comes just one day after Smith publicly accused her husband of cheating on her.
“8 Years. 8 Years of lies and deception. 8 years of unknowingly sharing my life and husband with numerous women who sell their bodies to him unprotected.. every last one of them! To say I’m heartbroken and disgusted is a understatement,” the model wrote in an Instagram post that was simply captioned, “God bless.”
“To ask me to stay and accept it is absolutely insane. The mentality of a narcissist. I will no longer lie to the public or pretend that this is something it isn’t. I choose me, I choose my happiness and health and my respect. I gained 3 beautiful children out of this but nothing else but wasted years and heartache,” Smith continued. “I ask that you all please stop sending me videos or information of him cheating because what he does is no longer my concern.”
“I am not a victim. I’m choosing to stand tall with my head held high. If someone can’t love you the way you deserve then it’s up to you to love yourself,” she added. “With no hate in my heart I wish him nothing but the best – Crystal Renay.”
Ne-Yo, 42, and Smith, 36, married in 2016 and share kids Shaffer Chimere Jr., 6, Roman Alexander-Raj, 4, and Isabella Rose, 1.
(WASHINGTON) — The first man to stand trial for his role in last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will be sentenced on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Guy Wesley Reffitt, 49, of Wylie, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury in March of five felony counts, including obstruction of justice as well as entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a firearm.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice have asked that Reffitt be sentenced to 15 years in prison, which would be by far the longest sentence handed down to a Capitol riot defendant. Prosecutors have also — for the first time — asked a federal district court judge to apply a terrorism enhancement, which would effectively define under law that a rioter’s actions amounted to domestic terrorism.
Reffitt is among the more than 850 people who have been charged in connection with the deadly breach of the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted a joint session of Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. Over 200 defendants have already pleaded guilty to a variety of misdemeanors and felony charges, with some being sentenced to years in federal prison.
Reffitt’s attorney, Clinton Broden, asked that his client be sentenced to no more than two years. He said he was shocked by the prosecution’s recommendation, since his client wasn’t accused of entering the Capitol or assaulting any police officers that day.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich isn’t bound by any of the recommendations or the federal sentencing guidelines, which in Reffitt’s case call for a prison sentence ranging from nine years to 11 years and three months.
During the trial, prosecutors sought to cast Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia group, as a ringleader of one of the first waves of the mob that breached the Capitol from the building’s west side.
Videos played in court showed Reffitt climbing a stone banister near where scaffolding had been put up in advance of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, and Reffitt confronting U.S. Capitol Police officers who warned him to back down before they fired less-than-lethal ammunition and pepper spray to stop his advance. Other videos presented in court showed Reffitt gesturing to the crowd behind him in what appeared to be an attempt to get them to move up the stairs toward multiple entryways that lead into the building.
At one point in the trial, prosecutors played first-person footage that Reffitt had recorded with a 360-degree camera mounted on his helmet while in the crowd at the “Save America” rally prior to the attack.
“We’re taking the Capitol before the day is out,” Reffitt says in the video. “Everybody is in the same harmony on that … dragging ’em out kicking and f***ing screaming.”
“I didn’t come here to play games … I just want to see Pelosi’s head hit every f***ing stair on the way out,” he says later. “I think we have the numbers to make it happen … without firing a single shot.”
The Justice Department’s case also relied on two key witnesses: Rocky Hardie, a former member of the Texas Three Percenters, who testified against Reffitt in exchange for immunity to cooperate, and Reffitt’s 19-year-old son, Jackson, who submitted an online tip to the FBI first alerting them to his father’s plans weeks before the riot, ultimately leading to Reffitt’s arrest on Jan. 16, 2021.
During an interview with ABC News from jail last December, Reffitt said he “never expected anything like this to happen.”
“This has been disastrous for me and my family, especially for my girls, my son — actually, all of my family,” Reffitt told ABC News.
Burt Metcalfe, the TV producer best known for working on all 11 seasons of the legendary CBS comedy-drama M*A*S*H, died July 27 in Los Angeles, Alan Alda, who played Col. Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce revealed the news Sunday, tweeting, “If you enjoyed MASH it was in large part because of Burt…We were very close. We wrote together, directed together and inspired each other. He was such a good person.” Metcalfe started out as an associate producer and rose to showrunner for the show’s final six seasons. He also directed 31 episodes of M*A*S*H, and executive-produced the CBS series Lou Grant. Metcalfe began his career as an actor during the 1950s and 60s, appearing on such series as Have Gun, Will Travel, Death Valley Days, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason and The Fugitive…
Rick Gonzalez, best known for his roles on Arrow and Coach Carter, and Pam & Tommy actor Brent Antonello have joined the cast of NBC’s Law & Order: Organized Crime for season three, according to Deadline. They’ll play NYPD detectives assigned to the Organized Crime unit. Law & Order: Organized Crime follows Christopher Meloni‘s Detective Elliot Stabler, who attempts to rebuild his career following a devastating loss, this time as part of a new elite task force tasked with taking down the city’s most powerful criminal syndicates…
A24’s dark multiverse comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once has reached a major box office milestone, crossing $100 million in global ticket sales — the studio’s first movie to hit that box office benchmark. Everything Everywhere All at Once has earned $68.9 million in the United States and another $31.1 million internationally, putting its global tally at $100 million…
DC League of Super-Pets had an impressive opening weekend, grabbing an estimated $23 million domestically. The animated superhero comedy film, featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, along with Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna and Keanu Reeves, grabbed $41.4 million worldwide.
Jordan Peele‘s Nope slid into second place, delivering an estimated $18.5 million. Its two-week domestic total now stands at $80.5 million.
Thor: Love and Thunder pulled up in third place with an estimated $13.1 million. Its North American tally after four weeks stands at $301 million, for a global haul of $662 million.
Fourth place belongs to Minions: The Rise of Gru, which collected an estimated $10.9 million in its fifth week of release. Its worldwide haul currently stands at $710 million.
Rounding out the top five is Top Gun: Maverick, snagging an estimated $8.2 million in its 10th week in theaters.
The dark comedy Vengeance — written, directed and starring B.J. Novak — was the week’s only other wide release, opening with an estimated $1.75 million — good for just a 10th-place finish despite generally positive reviews.
(NEW YORK) — Before you head to the beach or pool this summer, check the label on your sunscreen bottle.
Edgewell Personal Care Company issued a voluntary recall Friday for three batches of Banana Boat sunscreen after trace levels of benzene were found in the product during an internal review, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The recalled product, Banana Boat Hair & Scalp Spray SPF 30, is packaged in 6-ounce aerosol spray cans, which were distributed nationwide at various retail locations in the U.S. and were sold online.
The affected batches of sunscreen can be identified by the following information, located on the bottom of each can:
Lot Code: 20016AF; Expiration Date: December 2022
Lot Code: 20084BF; Expiration Date: February 2023
Lot Code: 21139AF; Expiration Date: April 2024
Benzene is classified as a human carcinogen, which, through exposure, could potentially result in cancer, according to the FDA.
“While benzene is not an ingredient in any Banana Boat products, the review showed that unexpected levels of benzene came from the propellant that sprays the product out of the can,” the company announcement stated.
Consumers in possession of the recalled sunscreen should stop using the product and discard it immediately.
Edgewell Personal Care Company has notified retailers to remove the remaining aerosol cans from their shelves. Banana Boat is offering reimbursement to consumers who purchased the recalled item.
Any adverse reactions that may be experienced with use of the sunscreen can be reported to the FDA either online or through regular mail.
(SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif.) — A fire burning out of control in a Northern California national forest and threatening a town of nearly 8,000 people has quickly become the largest wildland fire in the state this year, officials said.
The McKinney Fire in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, near the Oregon border, had burned 52,498 acres and was 0% contained as of Sunday evening, according to Cal Fire.
Two people were found dead in their car in a driveway in the town of Klamath River, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told ABC News. Firefighters said they suspected that the two were caught in the fast-moving fire as they tried to flee, according to the sheriff. More rescue teams were expected to search the area on Monday.
The fire started around 2:15 p.m. Friday in the Klamath National Forest and has caused the closure of Highway 98 in the area and the evacuation communities, including the partial evacuation of Yreka, California, officials said.
The blaze is burning through drought-dry tinderbox of high grass, brush and timber and its rapid spread has been fanned by gusty winds and numerous dry-lightning strikes, according to Cal Fire.
There was concern that lightning storms over the fire area could have sparked additional fires, officials said. But that same storm system also carried a significant amount of moisture, slowing the fire’s spread significantly over the past 24 hours, the sheriff said on Monday.
“We’re feeling pretty good” about protecting Yreka, whose western fringes were threatened by the fire, he told ABC News.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News Sunday afternoon that more than 100 structures have been destroyed, including the homes of several deputies who are continuing to work despite personally being under evacuation orders.
Many of the lost structures are along the Klamath River, with runs parallel to Highway 96, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. The Klamath River Community Hall in Klamath River was also among the structures destroyed, officials said.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said search crews rescued about 60 hikers from a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, a popular backpacking trail that runs from Canada to Mexico.
Sgt. Shawn Richards of Jackson County Search & Rescue told reporters the hikers were not in immediate danger. He said that because of the rapidly spreading fire, unpredictable winds and smoke reducing visibility to roughly 20 feet, the decision was made to rescue the hikers before conditions worsened.
Red flag fire danger warnings were issued in the area Sunday as temperatures, according to the National Weather Service, are forecast to reach 90 to 100 degrees. In addition, there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms moving in Sunday afternoon, according to the weather service.
“Strong gusty outflow winds will continue to be the drivers for the extreme fire behavior,” Cal Fire said in its latest incident report on the fire.
At least 568 firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground and from the air with helicopters and air tankers.
“Really erratic winds from the start of the incident all the way up until now,” Kelsey Lofdah, a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service, told ABC San Francisco station KGO-TV of challenging firefighting conditions. “Pretty extreme fire behavior throughout the entire shift.”
The Yreka Police Department issued evacuation orders for a neighborhood in the western part of the town “due to its proximity to the fire” about 12 miles away.
“Please leave IMMEDIATELY,” the police department wrote in the evacuation order.
The police department also issued evacuation warnings to residents in all areas of the community west of Interstate 5.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and emergency management officials are assessing the damage.
Californian Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency on Saturday for Siskiyou County due to the effects of the McKinney Fire. A state of emergency frees up more state resources to be used in battling the blaze, including dispatching more firefighters and equipment to the scene.
The McKinney Fire surpassed the Oak Fire in Mariposa County near Yosemite as the largest wildfire in the state this year, according to Cal Fire. The Oak Fire, which started on July 22, was 64% contained on Sunday after burning 19,244 acres and destroying 182 structures, including more than 100 homes, officials said.
ABC News’ Jennifer Watts and Izzy Alvarez contributed to this report.
