California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amazon is teaming with payments company Affirm to offer online shoppers a buy-now-pay-later option that does not involve credit cards.

San Francisco-based Affirm Holdings Inc. announced Friday that its flexible payment service will soon be available on Amazon.com.

The news sent Affirm’s stock up more than 35% in after-hours trading.

With the service, Amazon customers can split the total cost of purchases of $50 or more into monthly payments, and are told the total cost of the transaction up front. Affirm said there are no late fees.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters battling a stubborn California wildfire Friday near the Lake Tahoe resort region faced gusty winds and dry conditions that made vegetation ready to burn.

The Caldor Fire has proved so difficult to fight that fire managers this week pushed back the projected date for full containment from early next week to Sept. 8. But even that estimate was tenuous.

“I think that’s going to be assessed on a day-by-day basis,” said Keith Wade, a spokesman for the incident management team.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — California’s parole board voted Friday to free Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin after two of RFK’s sons said they supported releasing him and prosecutors declined to argue he should be kept behind bars. But the governor ultimately will decide if Sirhan Sirhan leaves prison.

Douglas Kennedy was a toddler when his father was gunned down in 1968. He told a two-person board panel that he was moved to tears by Sirhan’s remorse and that the 77-year-old should be released if he’s not a threat to others.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Some 14,000 firefighters facing changing weather conditions battled more than a dozen large wildfires across California on Friday, including a growing blaze that was slowly pushing toward the Lake Tahoe resort region.

Winds and temperatures were expected to pick up in coming days while humidity drops, adding to the challenges endured by crews working in rugged terrain.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Apple has agreed to let developers of iPhone apps email their users about cheaper ways to pay for digital subscriptions and media by circumventing a commission system that generates billions of dollars annually for the iPhone maker.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wildfire that burned several homes near Los Angeles may signal that the region is facing the same dangers that have scorched Northern California.

The fire in San Bernardino County erupted Wednesday afternoon, quickly burned several hundred acres and damaged or destroyed at least a dozen homes and outbuildings in the foothills northeast of LA, fire officials said. Crews used shovels and bulldozers and mounted an air attack to keep the South Fire from the tiny communities of Lytle Creek and Scotland near the Cajon Pass.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Ash rained down on Lake Tahoe on Tuesday and thick yellow smoke blotted out views of the mountains rimming its pristine blue waters as a massive wildfire threatened the alpine vacation spot on the California-Nevada state line.

Tourists ducked into cafes, outdoor gear shops and casinos on Lake Tahoe Boulevard for a respite from hazardous air coming from an erratic blaze less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

MODESTO, Calif., Aug 24 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Army interpreter Hamidullah Ehsan saw what was coming.

Two weeks before the Taliban forces marched into Kabul this month, he managed to get his mother and two siblings out of Afghanistan. They are now registered with the United Nations refugee agency in neighboring Tajikistan.

It is a huge relief for Ehsan, who translated for multiple army units in Kandahar from 2008 to 2012 during the 20-year war against the Taliban and fears reprisals from the militants.

PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Crews were digging in and burning out fire lines amid another round of high winds that contributed to the fury to a Northern California wildfire.

“We have a firefight ahead of us and the wind today is going to make it very challenging,” said Keith Wade, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, on Saturday.

PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Dry and windy weather dogged firefighters’ efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken Northern California on Thursday.

An estimated 11,000 firefighters were on the lines of more than a dozen large wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings, forced thousands of people to flee communities and filled skies with smoke.