Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wind-whipped fire burns 18 homes in Boise
Fire officials say a wildfire that started in a field of sagebrush and spread quickly up a ridge burned at least 18 homes in a Boise neighborhood.
The fire ignited at about 7 p.m. Monday and spread quickly through the southeast neighborhood behind wind gusts that topped 30 miles per hour.
Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan says no one was injured. Crews are still trying to figure out how the blaze began.
Fire officials say more than 100 people were evacuated. Officials say nine homes were destroyed and another nine damaged by flames.
The location and intensity of the fire triggered a general fire alarm, meaning every Boise firefighter was called to help. Fire crews from Meridian, Kuna and North Ada County were also called in.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management also sent four engines and about 20 firefighters to the scene.
Resident Michael Robinson told KTVB-TV that he and his wife and dog fled their home immediately after the fire began creeping up the ridge.
Robinson says his home and those next to him burned so quickly that it seemed like they were - quote - "full of gas."
Crews Battling Four-Alarm Blaze in Boise
It's Still Coming
Getting Ready!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Photosynth
Imagine being able to share the places and things you love using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the mind-blowing detail of the real world. With nothing more than a bunch of photos, Photosynth creates an amazing new experience.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Getting poor to use toilets 'a major health conundrum'
Humanitarian organizations have for decades tried various ways -- be it new systems, pumps or subsidies -- of getting people in developing countries to stop defecating outdoors due to the serious health risks concerned.
But despite their efforts, an estimated 1.2 billion people, primarily in Asia and Africa, still don't use toilets to defecate, a forum of experts meeting in Stockholm was told.
For many extremely poor people who are given toilets by aid groups, it becomes the most precious item they own and therefore they use it as a religious shrine or a dry place to store firewood, international development consultant Kamal Kar said.
"What's becoming quite apparent is that the way you actually have an impact on health, development and poverty alleviation is when people adopt certain behaviours," Clarissa Brocklehurst, the head of UNICEF's water, environment and sanitation programme, told AFP.
In recent years, experts have found that the best method has been to shame people into using some form of toilets, even the most primitive sort, to confine excreta.
"It's just a matter of getting them to understand that what is a long established habit is in fact harmful and that you can do something about it," said Brocklehurst, one of 2,500 experts meeting in Stockholm to discuss water and sanitation issues at World Water Week.
She cited the example of India, where 48 percent of the population, or some 665 million people, still practice "open defecation".
International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age
The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age of their gold-medal winning gymnastics star because she was too young to compete.
An IOC official told The Times that because of "discrepancies" that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.
The investigation was triggered as a US computer expert claimed yesterday to have uncovered Chinese government documents that he says prove she is only 14 - making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics - rather than 16, as officials in Beijing insist is her age.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Zimbabwe inflation hits 11,200,000 percent
Zimbabwe's inflation rate has soared in the past three months and is now at 11.2 million percent, the highest in the world, according to the country's Central Statistical Office.
Official figures dated Monday show inflation has surged from the rate of 2.2 million percent recorded in May, despite the government's price controls.
The country's finance minister confirmed the new figure in an interview but said the rising inflation rate was not confined to Zimbabwe alone.
"While our case has been aggravated by the illegal sanctions imposed by the Western powers, rising food prices are a world phenomenon because of the use of bio-fuel," said Samuel Mumbengegwi. "But we will continue to fight inflation by making sure that prices charged are realistic."
In February, the price of a loaf of bread in the country was less than 200,000 Zimbabwe dollars. On Monday, that same loaf of bread cost 1.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.