Half million Californians forced to flee wildfires; fossil record shows high temps correspond to mass extinction; China launches lunar probe...

24 October :: More than 500,000 Californians have been evacuated as wildfires blaze out of control, more than 1,000 structures destroyed; firefighters admit they cannot control the fires, can only hope at present to protect people; Gov. Schwarzenegger has warned the White House the fires are too vast to be dealth with by state agencies... UK researchers have found link between elevated global temperatures and mass extinction throughout fossil record; findings suggest escalating global temperatures could lead to a new mass extinction; Le Monde Diplomatique has reported UN figures showing high concentrations of CO2 correspond to highest temperature spikes... Sentence for Pinochet security forces chief extended 15 years; he has been found guilty of masterminding, ordering abduction of dissident last seen at Villa Grimaldi detention center in 1974... China launches unmanned orbiter, its first lunar probe; Japan has just put its first satellite into lunar orbit, with India planning to follow; some worry 'nationalism' in region fueling new 'space race', though for now there does not appear to be a plan to militarize... Turkey has admitted it launched airstrikes against PKK positions inside Iraqi Kurdistan, crossing as far as 20km into Iraqi airspace; pres. of Kurdish regional assembly, Iraqi pres. Talabani, also a Kurd, have called on PKK to renounce the use of violence; Turkish ground forces have allegedly made isolated incursions as well, through for now no large-scale ground invasion has occurred... NYT reports "In a report made public on Tuesday, a review panel found that there were too few American officials in Iraq to enforce the rules that apply to Blackwater and other security contractors. It also found that the conduct of the contractors had undermined the broader mission of ending the insurgency and establishing a democratic government in Iraq"... China, world's #2 oil consumer, tells OPEC oil prices are too high; contacts were part of OPEC-China 'roundtable' to help steer OPEC policy with regard to China's explosive growth in petroleum demand...

Scientists craft synthetic chromosome, to announce first "artificial life"; first lady poised to succeed husband as president, of Argentina...

6 October :: Guardian reports "Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth"; if achieved, breakthrough will spur heated ethical debates on genome generation, manipulation, could lead to new energy sources; new chromosome based on Mycoplasma genitalium, a bacterium, which could be controlled in uses for cleaning up excess atmospheric carbon dioxide... New age of dynasties: a 2nd Clinton in 8 years (immediately after a 2nd Bush in 8 years)? Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wife of Argentine pres. Kirchner may succeed him? India's Congress party names another Gandhi to poss. pre-PM post, could be 4th consecutive generation to hold office; Japan names PM whose father was also PM previously; Philippine pres. daughter of fmr. Philippine leader; even Burmese opposition leader Suu Kyi is daughter of former leader; Putin, Chávez, Musharraf, just want to rule indefinitely as themselves... Democrats in US Congress vow to override Bush veto of expansion to Children's Health Insurance; Bush reiterates position that bipartisan legislation is not fully funded, while House majority leader Hoyer says new tobacco taxes will cover costs... Unsold US homes on offer reach record 10 months' worth of sales; prices are dropping in key markets, as dollar reported to have lost 40% of its value in 6 years... Geneva-based International Organization for Migrants (UN assoc.) reports 480,000 Iraqis have "registered" officially as internally displaced refugees since start of 2007, 2.2 million since war began; further 2.2 million estimated to have fled abroad means 4.4 million Iraqis (approx. 16.9% of pop.) have been made refugees in 4.5 years of conflict... Fujimori to stand trial on murder, corruption charges in Perú, after Chile's Supreme Court ordered his extradition...