The Wire: India's opposition landslide; Kenya bombings; California wildfires; GM ...

Posted: 05/16/2014 11:33:23 AM PDT

Updated: 05/16/2014 11:33:54 AM PDT

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi comes to power in India

Opposition leader Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist accused in the past of not doing enough to stop anti-Muslim violence, will be prime minister of the world's largest democracy after Indian voters swept the long-ruling Congress Party from power. 'I have always said that to govern the nation it is our responsibility to take everyone with us,' said Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party won a decisive majority in the lower house of Parliament. 'I want your blessings so that we can run a government that carries everyone with it.' Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state in 2002, when ethnic rioting there killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Modi was accused of doing little to stop it, though he has denied any wrongdoing. The BJP's victory was so overwhelming that it can rule without the need to form a coalition with other parties. It was a crushing defeat for the Congress Party, which has ruled India for all but a decade since its independence.

Twin explosions in Kenya kill 10, injure 70

Two coordinated bombings in Kenya's capital Friday killed at least 10 people and injured 70, shortly after the U.S. and U.K. renewed warnings about the danger of terrorist attacks there. Nairobi Police Chief Benson Kibue said two improvised explosive devices detonated in a market area near downtown Nairobi, one of them hitting a public transportation minivan. In addition to terrorist threats in the capital, Britain has warned its citizens to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and other beach towns, prompting hundreds of Britons to cancel vacations and fly home.

President Uhuru Kenyatta offered condolences but dismissed the U.S. and British warnings, saying that terrorism is a common problem, even in New York and Boston. Referring to the travel warning, he said, 'Acts like were done yesterday, by the people you just mentioned, only strengthens the will of terrorists as opposed to helping us defeat that war.' Meanwhile on the other side of Africa, in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan canceled a trip Friday to the northeastern village where 300 girls were kidnapped by terrorists last month, apparently out of fears for his safety.

One man killed in Southern California fires

Southern California wildfires killed a transient whose charred body was found in Carlsbad on Friday, but some evacuation orders were lifted as crews building containment lines were aided by cooler temperatures. In hard-hit San Marcos, where 18,000 evacuation notices were issued Thursday, residents of two neighborhoods were allowed to return home as the fire was 10 percent contained. Ten major fires have destroyed at least eight houses, an 18-unit condominium complex and two businesses since Tuesday. Crews were also fighting two fires at Camp Pendleton, home of a major Marine Corps base, including one fire that broke out Thursday and grew overnight from 600 acres to 8,000. It was 10 percent contained as of Friday morning.

GM fined $35 million for delayed recall

General Motors was fined $35 million Friday for years-long delays in recalling vehicles with flawed ignition switches that may have caused 13 deaths. GM also agreed to 'unprecedented oversight requirements' to prevent similar lapses in the future, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. GM knew about the flaw, which can turn off the vehicle, disabling the power steering and air bags, for at least a decade but started recalling vehicles only this year. GM has now recalled 2.6 million vehicles, including 2003 to 2007 Saturn Ions, 2007 to 2010 Saturn Skys, 2006 to 2011 Chevrolet HHRs, 2006 to 2010 Pontiac Solstices, and 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models. 'The fact remains that GM did not act and did not alert us in a timely manner,' Foxx said. 'What GM did was break the law. They failed to meet their public safety obligations and today they have admitted as much.'

Watergate figure Jeb Magruder dies at 79

Watergate plumber Jeb Magruder has gone to that great re-election headquarters in the sky, having died at the age of 79 in Danbury, Connecticut. Magruder, who spent seven months in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice by covering up the Nixon administration's ties to the Watergate break-in, actually died Sunday -- but somehow this was kept mostly quiet until Friday. Magruder was deputy manager of the famously acronymed Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP), and is said to have asked G. Gordon Liddy to break into the Democratic campaign headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in 1972. After his release from prison, Magruder earned a master's degree in divinity at the Princeton Theological Seminary and became a minister at First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio, then senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Wire, a summary of top national and world news stories from the Associated Press and other wire services, moves weekdays. Contact Karl Kahler at 408-920-5023; follow him at http://ift.tt/1dwAzix.

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