ATHENS, Greece - The number of people arrested on suspicion of setting scores of wildfires in Greece has risen to 33, Greek federal officials announced Tuesday.The Ministry of Health reported the death toll had risen to 63, the Athens News Agency reported.Tuesday morning, firefighters said 89 new fires were started in the previous 24 hours and dozens of others were burning throughout the country unchecked.Airplanes and helicopters are assisting fire trucks and hand-to-hand bucket brigades ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army soon will deploy a faster and more lethal pilotless plane to Afghanistan and then to Iraq, it was reported Tuesday.The Reaper flies three times as fast and can carry eight times more weapons than the Predator, the pilotless U.S. plane in use since 2001, USA Today reported.The Reaper, with its longer range and speed, is well suited to roust Taliban fighters from Afghanistan's vast and mountainous terrain, said Brig. Gen. ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A deadline for U.S. aid agencies to comment on a Bush administration plan to screen as many as 2,000 employees has been extended five weeks.The U.S.Agency for International Development notified organizations on July 17 of its intent to allow the FBI to run background checks on executives and mid-level aid employees and set a deadline for comments of Aug. 27 -- last Monday -- The Washington Post reported.However, James Kunder, acting deputy administrator, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered wing inspections on some 780 Boeing aircraft after a fire in a jet destroyed a plane in Japan last week.Airlines and other operators were given three weeks from last weekend to complete the inspections and must repeat the inspection after every 3,000 landings, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.The directive didn't specifically mention the Aug. 20 incident when a China Airlines B-737's wing burst into flames after landing ... [full story]

DALY CITY, Calif. - Donations from a California family to Democratic campaigns may warrant a probe of possible violations of campaign finance laws, it was reported."There are red lights all over this one," Kent Cooper, a former disclosure official with the Federal Election Commission, told The Wall Street Journal in a story published Tuesday.The six members of the Paw family, of Daly City, Calif., are among the biggest donors to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham ... [full story]

Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies are asking the public’s help in finding out who is responsible for a rash of spray-painted graffiti that included swastikas and the phrase “White Power” which were discovered Sunday morning at several Sisters-area businesses and roadways. The sheriff’s office received several complaints on the morning of August 26 reporting the criminal mischief, Sgt. Vance Lawrence and Deputy Russell Stanage reported in a news release.  The graffiti consisted of dark red spray-painted ... [full story]

Two boys, a 13-year-old from Sisters and a Redmond resident, 14, have been arrested in connection with three small smoldering arson fires discovered this morning near Hinkle Butte Drive and Lake Drive in Sisters, deputies reported. Cloverdale Fire Department personnel reported one suspicious fire, and Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area about 9 a.m.  An arriving deputy found two additional fires in “fairly close proximity” to the first fire, Sgt. Vance Lawrence and ... [full story]

Albany Police detectives took a 28-year old Albany man into custody at a Portland hospital Saturday afternoon where he has been recovering since allegedly shooting his 58-year old lover and himself in the head earlier this month.  The woman died from her injuries. According to a news release, Joel Jensen and Deborah Davis were involved in an intimate relationship from the fall of 2006 until Davis ended it several weeks prior to the shooting.  On ... [full story]

PRINEVILLE, Oregon — The Prineville District of the Bureau of Land Management in partnership with the National Park Service, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument will be conducting the Branson North controlled burn on approximately 4,000 acres between Branson and Fossil Creek.  Ignition will be between September 4th and October 1, 2007. Fire Specialists indicate the prescribed burn will help improve wildlife habitat, reintroduce the role of fire in rangeland ecosystems, reduce the expansion of ... [full story]

PRINEVILLE, Oregon – Prineville Bureau of Land Management fuel specialist are planning to conduct a controlled burn seven miles south of Clarno near Wagner Mountain between September 4 and October 15, 2007.  Crews will be conducting the burn on about 8,000 acres to improve wildlife habitat, reintroduce the role of fire in rangeland ecosystems, reduce the expansion of invasive juniper woodlands and reduce hazardous fuels in the urban interface. All controlled burns are weather-dependent and completed ... [full story]