Nation and World briefs for September 14

Germany implements temporary border checks to limit the growing tide of refugees

BERLIN (AP) — Germany introduced temporary border controls Sunday to stem the tide of thousands of refugees streaming across its frontier, sending a clear message to its European partners that it needs more help with an influx that is straining its ability to cope.

Germany is a preferred destination for many people fleeing Syria’s civil war and other troubled nations in the migration crisis that has bitterly divided Europe. They have braved dangerous sea crossings in flimsy boats — another 34 drowned Sunday off Greece — and made long treks across unwelcoming countries in hopes of a better life.

More than a week ago, Germany and Austria agreed to let in migrants who had massed in Hungary, saying it was a one-time measure to ease an emergency. The flow has continued undiminished, and while Germans have remained welcoming, officials said the numbers were straining the country’s ability to provide accommodations.

Berlin has become increasingly frustrated with the reluctance of many other countries in the 28-nation European Union — especially those in the former Eastern bloc — to share the burden of hosting the newcomers. Sunday’s action, focusing on the Austrian border, came a day before a meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the crisis.

“The aim of this measure is to limit the current influx to Germany and to return to orderly entry procedures,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters. “This is also urgently necessary for security reasons.”

Fire official: More than 100 homes destroyed by California wildfire

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — At least 100 homes were destroyed by a wildfire in Northern California’s Lake County that raced through dry brush and exploded in size within hours, officials said Sunday. The devastation comes after a separate wildfire to the southeast destroyed at least 81 homes.

California Department of Forest Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant says wind gusts that reached up to 30 miles per hour sent embers raining down on homes and made it hard for firefighters to stop the Lake County blaze from advancing. Four firefighters were injured Saturday while battling the flames.

There’s no official tally of the destruction yet because firefighters are focused on new evacuation orders and on residents’ safety, he said.

“This has been a tragic reminder to us of the dangers this drought is posing,” he said.

People were ordered Sunday to evacuate Clear Lake Riviera, a town with about 3,000 residents, and other areas near the blaze, Cal Fire said.

Merkel triggers contrasting images in Greece, migrant crises; but pragmatic style consistent

BERLIN (AP) — In the space of two months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has gone from being portrayed as the heartless villain in Europe’s debt crisis to the heroine of those flooding in to find refuge on the continent.

But while different crises have triggered contrasting perceptions of the German leader, Merkel’s behavior has appeared consistent: a first-unhurried, then decisive approach to the challenge; an insistence that Europe must abide by international rules; an eye on public opinion at home; and hope that German leadership will help bring about a European solution.

Merkel hasn’t pleased everyone in Europe with her approach to either crisis. Several countries that backed her insistence on tough conditions for Greece’s new bailout, such as the Baltic nations and Slovakia, are now on the other side of the argument over whether to welcome refugees to Europe.

But the 61-year-old is undaunted, and her enduring domestic popularity is holding up as she approaches her 10th anniversary in office in November. That longevity has been based partly on her knack for convincing Germans that she is on top of complicated crises and taking account of their worries — something that has earned her the nickname “Mutti,” or “Mom.”

Her insistence that Germany and its fellow members in the 28-nation European Union all have a duty to shelter people fleeing civil wars has cemented something similar among hopeful migrants.

Republican presidential hopefuls take sharper aim at Trump before Wednesday’s debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gladiator season may have arrived in the fight for the Republican nomination.

Three days before the next Republican presidential debate, signs abound that some rivals of billionaire developer Donald Trump are taking direct aim at his decisive lead with attacks on his divisive rhetoric and vague policy.

“There will probably be more elbows thrown at that debate,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The field would narrow, he added: “There’s not enough hard cash to go around to pay campaigns in these states in order to keep 17 candidates alive.”

From the campaign to cable television, some of Trump’s rivals are testing ways to hobble his bid, since the mogul’s own bombast and lack of policy details have not.

Kentucky clerk case divides religious liberty advocates; some say Davis poor choice for hero

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has become a hero to many conservative Christians who see her refusal to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage as a litmus test for religious liberty in an increasingly secular culture.

But lost in the uproar are the voices of Christians, some equally conservative, who disagree with Davis’ stance and worry that holding her out as a martyr will ultimately hurt the cause of religious liberty.

“I think she’s wrong on the merits, wrong theologically and her stance is harmful to Christians both in the religious liberty debate and in trying to present Christianity to the watching world,” said Peter Wehner, a Christian commentator who served in the last three Republican presidential administrations.

Many religious conservatives have shifted their focus in recent years from trying to stop the legalization of same-sex marriage to carving out protections for those who object to it on religious grounds. A Washington florist who was fined over her refusal to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding is celebrated by conservative Christian leaders across the U.S. who point to her story as an example of government overreach they fear will only grow.

But Davis’ position as a government official has some of those same conservative leaders warning that she may not be the ideal figure to rally around. As Rod Dreher, a senior editor at “The American Conservative,” put it in a recent essay, Davis’ case is “not the hill to die on.” Rather, a line in the sand should be drawn “when they start trying to tell us how to run our own religious institutions – churches, schools, hospitals, and the like – and trying to close them or otherwise destroy them for refusing to accept LGBT ideology.”

After Iran deal, Obama faces uphill struggle in regaining the trust of Israelis

JERUSALEM (AP) — Seeking to sell his nuclear deal with Iran to a skeptical Israeli public, President Barack Obama has repeatedly declared his deep affection for the Jewish state. But the feelings do not appear to be mutual.

Wide swaths of the Israeli public, particularly supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have little trust in the American leader, considering him naive and even hostile. One recent poll showed less than a tenth considered him “pro-Israel.”

Such misgivings bode poorly for Obama as he tries to repair ties with Israel in the final year of his presidency, and they would certainly complicate any renewed effort at brokering peace between Israel and its neighbors — once a major Obama ambition.

The tense personal relationship between Netanyahu and Obama are certainly a factor in the poor state of affairs, and Netanyahu has made a number of missteps that have contributed to the tensions.

On a trip to the White House in 2011, the Israeli leader appeared to lecture Obama on the pitfalls of Mideast peacemaking. Netanyahu has close ties to the billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, and during the 2012 presidential race, Netanyahu appeared to favor Obama’s challenger, Mitt Romney.

New training employs actors, the mentally ill to calm NYC cop encounters with people in crisis

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman called Emily, tears streaming down her face, stood on a ledge threatening to jump. For 15 minutes, a police sergeant used the common thread that connects them — they’re both mothers — to gradually talk her out of killing herself.

The scene, played out earlier this month at the New York Police Department’s training facility, was an act — part of a training program meant to help patrol officers in the nation’s largest department better handle the growing number of interactions they have with people in emotional or mental distress.

“Even though it’s a scenario, my hands are like this,” said a shaking Sgt. Cecilia Luckie after talking to Erin Shields, the actress portraying Emily. “My mouth is dry.”

Patrol officers like Luckie are often first on the scene to the 911 calls and on-the-street pick-ups of people in crisis — a mother calling because her mentally ill son is acting erratically, a person threatening to jump off a building or a homeless veteran acting strangely on a street corner.

Police received more than 130,000 so-called “emotionally disturbed person” calls last year — about 23,000 more than in 2011, an increase experts say mirrors a national trend resulting from too few supportive housing options and services in the wake of a decades-old deinstitutionalization movement.