67% of Greeks believe wildfires arsonist conspiracy; RMT Union shuts down London transport; US negotiator says DPRK not 'de-listed'...

4 September :: Greece political climate soured by nationwide fires; 67% of those polled believe fires started deliberately by arsonist conspiracy, 31% say foreign entities, while 26% suspect property developers; Christian Science Monitor reports "European Commission's European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) estimates that 469,000 acres burned between Aug. 24 and 28 alone. The financial ministry now estimates the damage to be more than $1.6 billion, or 0.6 percent of Greece's GDP", while the Greek gov't is saying the fires appear to be part of an "asymmetric threat" plotted by unnamed conspirators; 6 people have been detained so far on arson-related charges; ecological experts, European officials say fires likely linked to extreme dry conditions, climate anomaly across southern Europe, poor land management tied to agricultural practices, and global warming... A strike by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) has halted Underground trains across London; authorities said trains were running with severe delays or not at all on all lines except the Northern and Jubilee; RMT says failed maintenance-service managing firm Metronet has not provided unequivocal guarantees not to lay off workers or cut pensions in future; another strike is planned by RMT after the current three-day strike, if Metronet does not provide signed guarantees... One day after North Korea's state-run news service reported it had been delisted by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism, in exchange for shutting down Yongbyon nuclear facility, US assistant sec. of State Chris Hill says no such thing has occurred, DPRK still listed as terror-backer, that other unnamed steps are required... La Vanguardia newspaper reports US security, biotech/health sectors seeing surge in investment, Washington, DC, locations, due to Iraq war, with gov't spending soaring, industrial concentration increasing around the funding capital, the Congress, and a massive and growing economic gap between the wealthy interests that rim the city and the inner-city poor that make up a large part of Washington's hometown population...