Hundreds of homes have been burned and the true extent of the New South Wales bushfires won’t be known for a few days.  But there’s no sense waiting, please give a visit to the Australian Red Cross.  Meanwhile, there’s a troubling radiation spike at Fukushima – A mysterious little blond girl is found in a Roma camp – The US urges Syria to allow food deliveries to starving people in rebel areas.

Radiation in well water from the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor site is soaring.  Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) says water sampled on Thursday tested at 400,000 becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting substances such as strontium – the safe limit is 30 becquerels per liter for strontium-90 and 60 becquerels for cesium-134.  Plans to pump that water out and discharge it into the Pacific Ocean before it reaches the reactor buildings is no on hold.

The US is urging the Syrian government to immediately allow aid convoys ferry food and supplies to people starving in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus.  America is citing “unprecedented reports” of children dying of malnutrition just a few kilometers from President Bashar al-Assad palace.  The situation is so bad that clerics have issued a religious ruling allowing Muslims to break dietary laws and eat cats, dogs, and donkeys to survive.

Greek police are trying to determine the identity of a little blue-eyed, blonde girl found with a family in a Roma settlement.  Cops say DNA tests show she is not related to the couple she lived with, and fear she might be a victim of child trafficking.  The woman held multiple identity cards, and was registered as the mother of at least ten babies, several supposedly born within weeks of each other.  The kid, about 4-years old, is being cared for by a charity while authorities sort it out.

The anti-Ginger bullying got so bad, that Cops had to be called out to stop a string of attacks on red haired kids at a school in North England.  South Yorkshire Police police say a number of kids were hurt at Wingfield Academy in the town of Rotherham.  Some attribute the idiocy to lingering anti-Celtic bigotry.

Sugar could cost more at the market.  A massive fire consumed or damaged six sugar warehouses in the port of Santos in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer and exporter.  The fire injured at least six people, destroyed 180,000 tons of raw sugar, and it could take as long as six months to get the port’s sugar exporting operation back up and running.  Sugar futures jumped to their highest level in a year in trading in New York. 

Two US Boy Scout leaders are in hot water after toppling a 170-million year old rock formation in the western state of Utah.  They made a video of it, complete with self-congratulation.  But prosecutors are not amused, they’re considering felony charges against the men for messing with a state park (not to mention millions of years of history), and nature lovers are angry as well – the men say they’ve gotten death threats.

The International Criminal Court says Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta need not attend all of his trial on charges of crimes against humanity.  Kenyatta argued that attending the entire trial would prevent him from governing his country at a time of crisis.  Kenyatta denies allegations he orchestrated deadly violence after disputed elections in 2007.

Guinea has finally released the results of last month’s election, and the ruling party says it has “won”.  The opposition said it would not recognize the result of the poll, which international observers said was marred by “irregularities” and votes not being counted in areas hostile to President Alpha Conde.