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Hagel: US still weighing whether to use military force after alleged chemical attack in Syria
• KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel offered no hints Sunday about likely U.S. response to Syria's purported use of chemical weapons, telling reporters traveling with him in Malaysia that the Obama administration is still assessing intelligence information about the deadly attack.
• "When we have more information, that answer will become clear," he said when a reporter asked whether it was a matter of when, not if, the U.S. will take military action against Syria.
• Hagel spoke at a news conference after meeting with his Malaysian counterpart, Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein, on the first leg of a week-long trip to Southeast Asia.
• Hagel was to give a policy speech on U.S. efforts to increase its focus and presence in the Asia-Pacific region later Sunday.
• The Syria crisis illustrates the difficulty for Hagel, trying to spend more time in Asia and the Pacific even as security challenges continue to flare up across the Middle East. He participated Saturday in a White House meeting on Syria by a video teleconference link from Kuala Lumpur.
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Firefighters battling blaze near Yosemite brace for strong winds; crews protect giant sequoias
• GROVELAND, Calif. (AP) -- Firefighters braced for strong winds that could push a raging wildfire further into the northwest edge of Yosemite National Park, threatening thousands of rural homes.
• The massive blaze was also burning Saturday in the vicinity of two groves of giant sequoias that are unique the region, prompting park employees to take extra precautions of clearing brush and setting sprinklers.
• The towering trees, which grow only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and are among the largest and oldest living things on earth, can resist fire. However, dry conditions and heavy brush are forcing park officials to take extra precautions in the Tuolumne and Merced groves. About three dozen of the trees are affected.
• "All of the plants and trees in Yosemite are important, but the giant sequoias are incredibly important both for what they are and as symbols of the National Park System," park spokesman Scott Gediman said Saturday.
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