Dozens of fires burning across West

San Diego firefighters scramble to safety as a fast-moving Los Padres National Forest wildfire blows up along Templin Highway adjacent to Interstate 5 Tuesday Sept.12, 2006, near Castaic, Calif.

CASTAIC, Calif. - The 14,000 firefighters battling dozens of blazes across the West on Wednesday were expecting another hot, windy day before a cold front might provide relief to some areas.

The National Interagency Fire Center early Wednesday reported 162 new fires over the last day, three of them large blazes that added to the 43 pre-existing large, uncontained fires across the West.

Some 8.7 million acres have burned so far this fire season, nearly double the 10-year average and the worst season in 50 years. The blackened 13,521 square miles represents an area bigger than Maryland.

Firefighters battle blaze near L.A.

CASTAIC, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters struggled early Wednesday to prevent a fire that has charred nearly 39 square miles of brushland from crossing Interstate 5, which would force authorities to again shut down traffic on one of California's busiest freeways.
The fire, which was sparked on Labor Day by someone burning debris in a remote area, has burned 24,943 acres and was 25% contained, said Ed Linquist, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. It was burning in the Los Padres National Forest and the adjoining Angeles National Forest.

Winds were pushing the fire, which was growing slowly to the east and the southwest. Spots of flames jumped over a fireline cut by a bulldozer next to the highway, and erratic winds were spreading the fire through embers, said Kathy Good of the U.S. Forest Service.

Hurricane remnants head for Canada coast

MIAMI - Hurricane Florence's remnants headed for the Canadian coast with heavy rain and tropical storm-force wind Wednesday, while Hurricane Gordon and a tropical depression swirled in the open Atlantic, both well away from land, forecasters said.

The Canadian Hurricane Center warned that Florence's remains could bring rain, dangerous surf and sustained wind of 45 mph to the eastern peninsulas of Newfoundland and southern parts of the island during the day. Tropical storm warnings were posted for those areas.

New Atlantic tropical storm could form in day or so

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Depression Eight could strengthen into Tropical Storm Helene in the Atlantic Ocean over the next 24 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

Although it is still too soon to say whether the storm will ultimately reach land, all of the major weather models, including the NHC model, forecast it would not make landfall within the next five days.

The NHC forecast the depression would strengthen into a tropical storm (winds of 39-73 miles per hour) within 24 hours and a Category 1 hurricane (winds of 74-95 mph) within four days.

The depression, which is packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, remains poorly organized over the far eastern Atlantic about 255 miles southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.

Storm causes street flooding in Indiana

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Up to 8 inches of rain flooded streets and basements around the city, tying up traffic.

No injuries were reported during Tuesday's storm, but police responded to about 25 to 50 calls of stalled cars and school buses and got reports of at least 10 manhole covers lifted out by water pressure, said Sgt. Karla Larmore.

National Weather Service forecaster Greg Meffert said he heard reports of water up to 4 feet deep at some intersections.

Evansville Regional Airport measured 1.92 inches of rain by 9 p.m. Tuesday, but most of the region received 4 to 8 inches, WEHT-TV reported.

Water flowed across the cafeteria floor at Howard-Roosa Elementary School during the school's after-school activities, which attract about 250 children.

"Right when were going to serve snacks, 1 to 2 inches of water came up through the drains," Principal Pat Day-Kohlman said. "That was a little unnerving, but we made it through it."

Gordon strengthens into hurricane

MIAMI - Hurricane Gordon formed over the open Atlantic on Tuesday, and a new tropical depression formed off the coast of Africa, forecasters said.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Florence sped toward its demise into the cooler waters off Canada's maritime provinces after battering Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said.

Gordon, with top sustained winds of 75 mph, was destined to remain over open waters and will not threaten land, forecasters said. Its winds strengthened from 65 mph earlier in the day to become the third hurricane of the Atlantic season; hurricanes have sustained winds of at least 74 mph.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Gordon was centered about 565 miles north-northeast of the Leeward Islands and moving north near 9 mph, forecasters said.

"At this point it looks like it will recurve out into the Atlantic," said Jamie Rhome, a hurricane specialist. "However, people should be reminded that we are at the peak of hurricane season and they should be updated on hurricane supplies and have a hurricane plan."

U.S. excluded bombs from Iraq murder toll

The American military did not count people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks including suicide bombings when it reported a dramatic drop in the number of murders in the Baghdad area last month, the U.S. command said Monday.

The decision to include only victims of drive-by shootings and those killed by torture and execution, usually at the hands of death squads, allowed U.S. officials to argue that a security crackdown that began in the capital Aug. 7 had more than halved the city's murder rate.

But the types of slayings, including suicide bombings, that the U.S. excluded from the category of "murder" were not made explicit at the time. That led to confusion after Iraqi Health Ministry figures showed that 1,536 people died violently in and around Baghdad in August, nearly the same number as in July.

Poisoned pigeons fall from sky in Texarkana

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) -- Poisoned pigeons began nose-diving into pavement and dying on downtown sidewalks, marring the city's annual festival.

Authorities cleaned up more than 25 sick or dead birds that apparently had eaten poisoned corn from the roof of a nearby bank branch.

"The death of these pigeons was more than an unfortunate accident," local CapitalOne Bank President Lacy McMillen said in Tuesday's online edition of Texarkana Gazette. "It was not the intention of the bank to harm any of these birds."

Arctic ice melting rapidly, study says

Arctic sea ice in winter is melting far faster than before, two new NASA studies reported Wednesday, a new and alarming trend that researchers say threatens the ocean's delicate ecosystem.

Scientists point to the sudden and rapid melting as a sure sign of man-made global warming.

"It has never occurred before in the past," said NASA senior research scientist Josefino Comiso in a phone interview. "It is alarming... This winter ice provides the kind of evidence that it is indeed associated with the greenhouse effect."

Scientists have long worried about melting Arcticsea ice in the summer, but they had not seen a big winter drop in sea ice, even though they expected it.

For more than 25 years Arctic sea ice has slowly diminished in winter by about 1.5 percent per decade. But in the past two years the melting has occurred at rates 10 to 15 times faster. From 2004 to 2005, the amount of ice dropped 2.3 percent; and over the past year, it's declined by another 1.9 percent, according to Comiso.

A second NASA study by other researchers found the winter sea ice melt in one region of the eastern Arctic has shrunk about 40 percent in just the past two years. This is partly because of local weather but also partly because of global warming, Comiso said.

A Bugun Liocichla rests on the branch of a tree at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh May 25, 2006. The striking multi-coloured Bugun Liocichla was discovered in India's remote northeast, making it the first ornithological find in the country in more than half a century, experts said on Tuesday. The Bugun Liocichla, scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China. Picture taken May 25, 2006. REUTERS/Ramana Athreya

Typhoon Shanshan

Typhoon Shanshan is forecast to strike Japan as a tropical storm at about 22:00 GMT on 17 September. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 31.7 N, 128.7 E. Shanshan is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 111 km/h (69 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

The information above is provided for guidance only and should not be used to make life or death decisions or decisions relating to property. Anyone in the region who is concerned for their personal safety or property should contact their official national weather agency or warning centre for advice.

Rich nations have 'climate duty'

Gates, Rockefeller foundations target Africa

SEATTLE - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Tuesday it was joining with the Rockefeller Foundation to fight hunger in Africa, beginning with a $100 million pledge to improve agricultural productivity.

The Gates pledge was matched by a $50 million Rockefeller donation. Officials at the two foundations said the money was just the beginning of a much bigger effort to bring the "green revolution" to Africa.

"This is just an unbelievably important issue," Rajiv Shah, director for financial services and agriculture for the Seattle-based Gates Foundation, said last week. "We're almost certain we'll make subsequent, significant investments."

Filipinos return home as Mayon volcano quietens down

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Zenaida Azores could not hide her joy, humming a tune while stuffing clothes into a bag as she and 30,000 others began to return home after the most active volcano in the Philippines quietened down.

The government has lowered the alert level around Mount Mayon in the central province of Albay after a 10-day fall in volcanic activity signalled an easing of two months of heavy rumbling and fears of an imminent eruption.

"We're so happy we could see our homes again," Azores told reporters as she got her two children ready for an hour-long trip from a makeshift relief centre in a school to the family's vegetable farm on the volcano's slopes.

"It's very uncomfortable here. We love our home even if it's small and we don't have electricity there."

"It's an answered prayer," Lorna Dematera said, clutching a wash basin as she boarded a mini-bus with three grandchildren.

"I long wanted to go back to our home. After more than a month, God heard me at last. I thank Him for putting an end to our misery here."

Isn't that so sweet of her to be so Thankful like that? I think so.

But something major here:
God isn't a 'he' or 'she'. I mean, it's Creation. Divinity.
How could people put a gender label on Creation?
Divinity is not Human.
Creation doesn't have a 'gender'.

How could anyone ever say that?
I've always wondered that. So weird to me.