Australia’s PM announces day of mourning

A national day of mourning and a memorial service will honor the victims of the past week’s wildfires in southeastern Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Thursday. “It is important, it is very important that the nation grieves,” Rudd said, according to the Australian Associated Press. The government is working with the Council of Churches on the details of the service.

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Australian PM: Wildfire arson is mass murder

Investigators in Australia believe some of the deadly wildfires ravaging dry southeastern bushland may have been set, a conclusion prompting Australia’s prime minister to call such acts "mass murder." Officials in Victoria state have launched arson investigations into some of the blazes, which have killed at least 166 people, decimated massive spans of land and left thousands of people homeless. “I think it’s important that the nation braces itself for more bad news,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, tearing up at one point during a TV interview on Monday. “This is a little horror which few of us anticipated.” News that some fires may have been deliberately set brought a note of disgust from the prime minister

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An explosion, a scream, then silence

For 25 agonizing minutes, journalist Norm Beaman did not know whether his wife had perished in wild fires sweeping southern Australia, after he lost mobile phone contact following an explosion and a scream. Beaman, a veteran reporter for Channel 7 news, was racing home to his property on Mount Disappointment, north of Melbourne, talking to his wife Annie as she tried to defend their home from the fires that have left dozens dead.

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‘Slumdog Millionaire’ sweeps UK’s BAFTAs

"Slumdog Millionaire" extended its run of international acclaim as it won seven top awards on Sunday from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, including best film. Danny Boyle took top directing honors for “Slumdog.” The film also won awards for adapted screenplay, music, cinematography, editing and sound

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Raging Australia bushfires kill at least 35

Deadly bushfires raged on in southeast Australia on Sunday despite cooler temperatures and scores of firefighters trying to control the flames. At least 35 people have died in the fires, authorities said Sunday “Unfortunately those numbers will increase as we move through the day,” said Kieran Walshe, deputy police commissioner of the state of Victoria, told CNN on Sunday, adding that police are investigating possible instances of arson. “We do believe some of the fires are the result of human intervention,” he said

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Scores killed in Australia’s ‘worst fires’

At least 108 people have been killed in Australian wildfires that the country’s public broadcaster Sunday called the worst in the nation’s history. Kendra Jackson, leading senior constable of Australia’s Victoria state police, told CNN the latest death toll Sunday. The number of dead is now far higher than the toll of 75 in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983

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