ONE NEWS

LOS ANGELES: Raging wildfires Monday gained ground around Los Angeles where they have claimed their first two fatalities and left three other people injured while threatening thousands of homes. Two firefighters died south of the town of Acton when their vehicle went off the road and rolled down a mountain slope, said Mike Bryant, a spokesman for the fire department. One of the fires, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) long, was burning largely out of control along a ridge in a populated area north of Los Angeles. It was under five percent contained, firefighters said. The US Forest Service said the blaze by midday had destroyed 14,000 hectares (35,200 acres) of land. And by late Sunday the fire in Angeles National Forest was approaching a historic solar observatory and television transmission towers on Mount Wilson, The Los Angeles Times reported citing county fire officials. Crews cleared brush around the structures, but fire officials had doubts about leaving personnel on the mountain

Monday, August 31, 2009 MEXICO CITY: A gang of armed commandos gunned down five adults and three children in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa, authorities said. Gunmen packing assault rifles opened fire on the group in an outdoor meeting place popular with young people in the city of Navolato, Sinaloa state, a state prosecutor's spokesman told foreign news agency. There was no immediate motive for the grisly attack late Saturday, the spokesman said.The dead include an underage girl, two boys, a young woman and four young men, who were just before midnight when gunmen arrived in pickups, jumped out and executed them in a hail of gunfire, the spokesman said.

Monday, August 31, 2009 DHAKA: Bangladesh has had its first swine flu-related death, a hospital spokesman said on Monday, after a 37-year-old woman died in the capital Dhaka.A woman had been admitted to the hospital just over two weeks ago and was diagnosed with the A(H1N1) virus soon afterwards.'She had been in isolation for the past two days. She had been suffering from heart complications as well as other conditions,' he said.Bangladeshi health authorities have so far reported 199 swine flu cases since the virus was first detected in the impoverished nation of 144 million people on June 18.

Monday, August 31, 2009 :: JERUSALEM: Pop star Madonna arrived in Israel for two concerts in Tel Aviv. The concerts, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, will be the final stop on her "Sticky and Sweet" tour. Madonna last visited Israel in 2006 for Yom Kippur, which she celebrated with 2,000 other Kabbalah followers.

Monday, August 31, 2009 BUENOS AIRES: The Japanese couple Kyoto and Hiroshi Yamao won the Buenos Aires World Tango Salon category during a competition with the participation of sixty couples from the Americas, Europe and Asia.Runner up was the Colombian couple Edwin Leon and Jennifer Arango followed by the locals Jorge Mariño and Sara Parnigoini, according to the results from the competition organized by the City of Buenos Aires.Over 6.000 people packed the mythical Luna Park closed stadium and gave a standing ovation to the Japanese couple which displayed “magnificent” dexterity and feeling of the dance which is traditional on both sides of the River Plate (Argentina and Uruguay) although Buenos Aires calls herself the tango capital of the world. The Japanese couple Kyoto and Hiroshi Yamao has participated several times in the annual world competition.

Monday, August 31, 2009 :: NEW YORK: A US Television has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent - Jenna Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush. Hager will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education to television's top-rated morning news show, said Jim Bell, its executive producer. Hager, a 27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when Bell contacted her. ``It wasn't something I'd always dreamed to do,'' she said. ``But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change.'' She'll essentially work two part-time jobs as a correspondent and in her school, where she will be a reading coordinator this year.

Monday, August 31, 2009 :: BOGOTA: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu. Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio says the 57-year-old Uribe is not considered a high-risk patient and his case is "developing satisfactorily". He is being treated at the presidential residence. Palacio said that Uribe began feeling ill on Friday, the same day as a summit of South American leaders in Bariloche, Argentina that he attended. He was confirmed to have the swine flu on Saturday. Colombian officials are contacting leaders and officials who may have had contact with Uribe during the summit. Colombia has reported 621 confirmed cases of the swine flu with 29 deaths, according to the social protection ministry.