At least one man dead, 208 homes destroyed, and conditions for the New South wales bushfires will be even worse tomorrow.  You can help with a donation to the Red Cross.   Meanwhile, the Roma couple caring for a mysterious blond girl is charged in Greece – Survivors of the immigrant ship disaster in the Mediterranean aren’t allowed to go to their own memorial – A famous singer is charged with slipping drugs in a female friend’s drink.  And America is scary.

A Greek court formally charged a Roma couple with abducting a young blond girl, in a case that’s attracted international attention.  DNA tests show that little Maria is not their daughter, although they insist the girl’s birth mother gave her to them somewhat legitimately, though the “adoption” isn’t exactly “legal”.  The girl is being cared for a charity while European nations search their missing persons files for a missing blond girl.

Adding insult to injury:  Survivors of the immigrant shipwreck off of the Italian island of Lampedusa say they’re being excluded from a memorial to their drowned shipmates.  A big screen TV was installed at a detention center so they could watch the ceremony, 220 kilometers away on Sicily.  366 East African immigrants were killed when their ship capsized and sank; many of the 155 survivors had family members among the dead.

French President Francois Hollande telephoned his US counterpart Barack Obama to say that NSA spying is “unacceptable between friends and allies.”  The newspaper Le Monde ran a report, based on Edward Snowden’s security leaks, that the US recently spied on more than 70 million calls in France, which is not the only nation complaining about NSA spying this week.  Mexico’s government says the NSA’s alleged hacking of the e-mail account of then-President Felipe Calderon in 2010 is an unacceptable violation of international law.  That Snowden-sourced revelation was reported by the Germany’s Spiegel.

A middle school student in Sparks, Nevada took his parents’ unsecured gun to school, and shot three people:  Two students are injured and a math teacher who tried to intervene was killed.  The kid with the gun then committed suicide.  Also in America’s shooting gallery, a 2-year old girl across the country in Fayetteville, North Carolina found her dad’s .22 underneath the couch, and accidentally shot herself to death.  The 19-year old father is now charged with involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Los Angeles prosecutors say singer CeeLo Green “allegedly slipped ecstasy to a 33-year-old female while the two were dining at a downtown Los Angeles restaurant.”  The Grammy award winner and TV talent show host is not charged with raping the woman, but is facing a drug charge that could land him in prison for four years if convicted.

Venezuela’s Air Force shot down two “hostile” planes over the country’s airspace over the weekend.  The aircraft were allegedly smuggling drugs from Central America, and the pilots refused to obey orders from the Bolivarian Armed Forces to land.  The military says it has stopped more than 35 tons of drugs so far this year.

Egyptian Christians fear more bloodshed after bearded gunmen on a motorcycle pulled up to a wedding at a Coptic Church in Cairo and opened fire on the crowd.  Four people including an eight-year old girl were killed and several more are recovering from injuries.  The minority Christian community fears it will suffer more revenge attacks after the ouster of Islamist former president Mohammed Morsi.  The interim Prime Minister is condemning the attack and promising the gunmen will be brought to justice.

Incredibly, the smog in northeastern China has gotten even worse.  How bad is it in Harbin?  This guy takes 20 steps away from the camera and disappears.  Drivers can’t see for more than a car length or two ahead.

Harbin City’s coal-fired heating systems kicked in for the season on Sunday, and air pollution is now at least 40-times higher than the international safety standard.  It’s made worse as local farmer burn off husks and weeds after the fall harvest.  Everything is closed, from schools to airports; hospitals are overwhelmed with people suffering respiratory ailments.