Scores of people fled their homes in southern Australia yesterday fearing that rising temperatures and strong winds could fan blazes burning in forests into unstoppable firestorms.
Tensions were high in Victoria, where devastating fires swept a vast area of the state on Feb. 7, destroying more than 1,800 homes and killing more than 200 people in the country? worst fire disaster.
Some of the blazes have been burning for weeks in the state, though all fires were being contained in unpopulated areas by firefighters hosing down the edges and building firebreaks.
But after several days of temperatures in the high 20s Celsius, temperature went up into the mid-30s Celsius yesterday while gusting winds caused at least two fires to flare and threatened to carry glowing embers into new areas.
Residents were warned to either leave early or prepare themselves to fight the fires.
Country Fire Authority officials said properties around Upwey on the eastern verge of the state capital of Melbourne and at Enoch Point, about 80km northeast, could be under threat.
Simon O?allaghan, a member of the Yarra Ranges Shire Council, said more than 100 people left their homes near Enoch Point early yesterday.
?t? a precaution in terms of getting people out early,?O?allaghan told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
The conditions were far less severe than on Feb. 7, when record temperatures of around 47慢 and 100kph winds created what officials have dubbed ?lack Saturday.?br />
The confirmed death toll stands at 209 and is expected to rise as more remains are identified from the ruins.
Queen Elizabeth II? daughter, Princess Anne, toured the disaster zone yesterday, a day after arriving in Australia to attend ceremonies marking a national day of mourning for the victims.
Some sites remain sealed off by police as they search for bodies and evidence of arson. One man has been charged with starting one of the fires and arson is suspected in at least one other.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier John Brumby announced yesterday that the two governments would pay all the cleanup costs of people affected by the fires.
Brumby said a contractor would be selected by the end of the week to begin demolishing damaged buildings and clearing away rubble.
Families would each get cleanup services worth up to A$25,000 (US$16,000).
?he cleanup task is absolutely crucial to getting on with the task of rebuilding,?Brumby told reporters in Melbourne.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS