hFirefighters search for victims of blazes

hFirefighters searchfor victims of blazes
GUTHRIE, Okla. -- Melisa Reimer sorts through debris at her grandmother Wilma Clayton's home in Guthrie, Okla. Clayton escaped the burning home Sunday with no injuries. Meanwhile, authorities went house to house in a search for victims in burned-out towns Monday as firefighters in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma battled grass fires across the drought-stricken region. Since last Tuesday, fires have charred thousands of acres of grassland and farmland and destroyed more than 250 structures in the three states. Four deaths were reported last week in Texas and Oklahoma. One of the weekend blazes destroyed most of this ranch-and-cattle town of some 100 people near the Oklahoma line, burning about 50 homes and 40,000 acres as wind swept the fire 13 miles. Everyone had been accounted for in Ringgold, Texas, but crews searched from house to house for potential casualties in other fire-blackened towns, including Kokomo and Cross Plains, Texas, where more than 90 homes and a church were destroyed last week.
Teen promises to sharedetails of trip to Iraq
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Faced with his first school day since his solo trip to Iraq, American teen Farris Hassan kept a low profile Monday but promised to share more details about his odyssey after getting some rest. "I'm really tired," the 16-year-old told reporters outside his father's condominium building. "I'm glad to be back." Farris, who was inspired by a high school journalism class to see Iraq up close, said he would hold a news conference sometime today. He was scheduled to return to classes at Pine Crest School today, after he and his parents meet with officials there to discuss his absences. One pressing concern for Farris is an upcoming calculus exam, he said. Farris's mother, Shatha Atiya, said the school has no plans to suspend her son but did want to discuss his decision to skip classes when he began his travels Dec. 11. Atiya also said there would be "consequences" for not telling his family that he was going to a dangerous war zone. "I'm just extremely happy he's home safe," she said. Farris returned home Sunday night to a throng of reporters and camera crews, then had a steak dinner with his father, his mother said.
Official: U.S. is keepingAl-Qaida from spreading
DJIBOUTI -- Al-Qaida is active in Somalia, but U.S. counterterrorism forces are succeeding in keeping its influence from spreading in East Africa -- using shovels as their weapons, a commander said Monday. Maj. Gen. Tim Ghormley, who assumed command of the task force in May, said his troops are focusing on humanitarian projects including drilling wells and refurbishing schools and clinics to improve the lives of residents in the region and keep them away from the terror network. "We know that Al-Qaida al-Itihaad is in Somalia," Ghormley told reporters in an interview at his base in the impoverished nation of Djibouti. "They'd like to export that ... if we weren't there, they would be." Though the Al-Qaida-linked group al-Itihaad was largely destroyed or disbanded by Ethiopian troops fighting inside Somalia by 1997, some of its members have regrouped under new guises and have begun to grow, according to an International Crisis Group report released in July. Somalia, divided into warring fiefdoms and with no central government, remains fertile ground for terrorists.
Bodies found after floods
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Rescuers searching through mud and debris left by flash floods in central Indonesia found 17 bodies today, bringing to 51 the number of people killed in the disaster. Several villages were inundated when heavy weekend rains triggered a landslide on a hill in Panti, a subdistrict of East Java province, and forced a river to break its banks early Monday. Hundreds of houses and boarding schools were destroyed or washed away, said Burhanudin, who goes by only one name. Many people were found shelter in mosques and boarding schools.
Associated Press