Met office issues heatwave warning as Britons bake

LONDON (Reuters) - The Met Office warned healthcare providers to be ready to help high-risk groups on Wednesday as Britain's heatwave looks set to intensify.

Temperatures were expected to reach 32C (89.6F) in London and 31 in the southeast on Wednesday, while other areas of the country could see daytime temperatures of 28 to 30C.

Forecasters say the hot and humid conditions -- Britain's first prolonged heatwave for seven years -- could continue for the rest of the month and into the early part of August.

"There is a 90 percent probability of heatwave conditions between 0900 on Wednesday and 2100 on Thursday in parts of England," the Met Office said on its website.

It raised its three-stage hot weather warning for those looking after potentially vulnerable groups like children and the elderly to "be prepared" from "be aware."

The Department of Health issued its own advice on how to cope with the heat.

"Keeping the home as cool as possible during hot weather and remembering the needs of friends, relatives and neighbours who could be at risk is essential," it said.

"The elderly and those who are ill are particularly vulnerable during hot weather, and the most oppressive conditions occur in our towns and cities."

Heat can make heart and respiratory problems worse, and in extreme cases can lead to potentially fatal heat stroke, it added.

Despite the dangers, the heatwave makes a pleasant contrast for many Britons after last year's washout Summer and the coldest Spring this year for more than 50 years.

Britain's hottest July temperature was 36.5C, recorded in Surrey in 2006. The hottest ever in the UK was 38.5 (101.3F) degrees recorded in Kent in 2003.

(Reporting By Mark Anderson; editing by Stephen Addison)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/met-office-issues-heatwave-warning-britons-bake-115825771.html

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Stocks edge higher on earnings news, Bernanke

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are closing with slight gains after earnings gains from major U.S. companies and reassurance from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that there was no "preset course" for ending the bank's massive bond-purchasing program.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,470 Wednesday. American Express and Caterpillar held the Dow back.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,680. The Nasdaq composite rose 11 points, 0.3 percent, to 3,610.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.49 percent from 2.53 percent.

Toy maker Mattel sank 7 percent to $43.16 after its second-quarter income plunged.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was thin at 3.1 billion shares.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-edge-higher-earnings-news-bernanke-155027895.html

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Wolves' Muhammad adjusting in his NBA role

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? As hard as the start of his NBA career has been, Shabazz Muhammad wouldn't have it any other way.

The rookie swingman for the Minnesota Timberwolves got off to a quiet start in his first two games in the NBA summer league, averaging 7.5 points in 24 minutes while shooting 6 of 16 from the field.

It's a big difference, from playing with boys to men, as he found out Monday as the Phoenix Suns squad overcame a 24-point deficit and closed on a 10-2 run thanks in part to a turnover by Muhammad. With the score tied at 89 and 3.3 seconds remaining in the game, Marcus Morris took a sideline inbounds pass, dribbled twice and nailed a jumper just in front of Phoenix's bench.

Moments earlier, the spotlight was on Muhammad. And while taking an inbounds pass, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward fumbled the ball away.

"It was a hard one for us today, we were up (big) and gave up the lead and it just didn't go our way tonight," Muhammad said. "I tried to get on the floor and it didn't do my way, some plays go like that. We want to win. This is hard; this feels like a real game. You see the environment over here; everybody is pretty upset, as I am."

Nevertheless, with all he has been through since the days he played AAU basketball, through his short-lived career at UCLA and plenty of off-court distractions surrounding his father, Muhammad is exactly where he wants to be.

"It's hard on me, I'm a young guy trying to figure it out," Muhammad said. "(But) my confidence level is always high. There are a lot of good guys in the summer league, and I'm just going to continue to do what I've got to do and just play a little bit better."

When Muhammad arrived at UCLA last year, he was expected to help lead the Bruins back to glory. But he had to sit out the first three games of the season and repay $1,600 in impermissible benefits after the NCAA and UCLA found Muhammad accepted travel and lodging during three unofficial visits to Duke and North Carolina, travel arrangements made by his father, Ron Holmes.

It was also revealed in a Los Angeles Times story in March that Holmes shaved a year off of his son's age when he was young to give Muhammad an advantage against younger competition on the summer AAU circuit and in high school. Holmes also ran into trouble of his own with the law.

Minnesota summer league coach David Adelman, son of Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman, said the team's first-round draft pick may find things easier in the NBA.

"In some ways," Adelman said, "I hope this is kind of a breath of fresh of air, like: 'You've made it, you're in the NBA and now let's just learn the NBA game and get better every day and there's nothing to prove.' We just want him to get better every day. His attitude has been very forthright and he just wants to learn."

Adelman said Muhammad needs to improve his physicality and ball handling.

"In the NBA, the guys, they range from being so big, or so quick, or so physical," Adelman said. "And every night you have to have a different game in how you play. I think that's something that's going to grow. I think he's always been the strongest guy, and a lot of guys are like that when they come into the NBA. Now it's a matter of how do you change up your game night to night with the matchups you have."

Muhammad said summer league assistant coach Shawn Respert has been instrumental in working with him daily.

"I love that he has a tremendous motor and great knack to compete," Respert said. "Until he learns some of our system and some of the progression we have in our offense, he's got to just slow down a little bit, and that way his brain can just process what we're trying to accomplish after the first option, and to the second and third options of our plays. And then when he gets that down, he can speed up again."

Perhaps slowing down a bit might have helped on that sideline with less than 8 seconds left against the Suns on Monday, but Adelman doesn't regret drawing up the play for the young star.

"I think Shabazz has been through a lot the last year, where this is just one day and he'll forget about it," Adelman said. "We gave him the ball because we trust him. ... It was unfortunate, he lost control of the ball. That stuff happens to better and worse players than him. It's a summer league; he's going to learn a lot from it."

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/Wolves-Muhammad-adjusting-in-his-NBA-role-4668723.php

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South Africa's Du Plessis admits: I'm cheering for the Aussies in the Ashes......

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10151443623681324&id=78819211323

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Lamar Odom?s Alleged Mistress Jennifer Richardson Speaks Out!

Lamar Odom’s Alleged Mistress Jennifer Richardson Speaks Out!

Most of us heard reports that Lamar Odom was picking up a little on the side during his marriage to reality star Khloe Kardashian, but brushed it off as simply rumors. But, the other woman Jennifer Richardson has come forward and said she had a full-on relationship with Lamar and they even talked about having ...

Lamar Odom’s Alleged Mistress Jennifer Richardson Speaks Out! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/07/lamar-odoms-alleged-mistress-jennifer-richardson-speaks-out/

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Report: Arizona wildfire grew quickly, was erratic

PHOENIX (AP) ? A wildfire that began with a lightning strike and caused little immediate concern because of its remote location and small size quickly blazed into an inferno, leading officials to rapidly order more resources in the hours before flames killed 19 members of an elite Hotshot crew, according to a report released Monday.

The report provides precise detail about the response to the fire that began June 28 outside the small town of Yarnell, Ariz., including the unpredictable weather around the blaze and the exact times in which it escalated and key resources were deployed. The report described how the fire worsened hour by hour ? causing flames up to 20 feet high ? as managers called in inmate and Hotshot firefighting crews and air support.

The report does not address the question of why the fire crew was still on the mountain above the town more than an hour after the winds shifted about 180 degrees and brought the fire back toward them.

After the fire was ignited about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix, it was assessed by an aerial unit and found it to be "less than one acre, in a large boulder field ... showed very little smoke" and no structures were at immediate risk.

Officials ordered two inmate crews, an engine and a helicopter to report to the scene early Saturday morning, June 29, to "work multiple lightning fires" in the area.

By the next day, the Yarnell Hill Fire was the only one still burning and had grown only slightly, to about 4 acres. Small, single-engine aircraft were used throughout the day as crews worked the ground.

By 5:30 p.m., the fire was only about 6 acres in size.

Air support was ordered but couldn't respond due to thunderstorms and high winds, according to the report. Later, a DC-10 capable of dropping large amounts of fire retardant to prevent the spread of flames was available but not ordered due to concerns about its effectiveness in the steep, boulder-strewn terrain and because darkness was setting in.

By 7:38 p.m., the blaze had grown to about 100 acres but was still "advancing slowly."

On Sunday at about 8 a.m., the 20-member Granite Mountain Hotshots team arrived and headed in to fight the fire, as small aircraft and helicopters worked the blaze from above. Heavy air tankers were ordered just after noon, but only one was able to respond, making multiple retardant drops on the fire.

According to the report, the fire had now increased in size to about 1,000 acres and was burning swiftly through an area that hadn't experienced a significant wildfire in nearly 50 years.

Two large air tankers were sent back to the Yarnell Hill Fire to try to stall its advance.

A few hours later, at 3:26 p.m., officials received word of heavy winds from a thunderstorm moving into the area as the fire grew.

Soon thereafter, the blaze was so out of control that officials asked for half of the available western U.S. heavy air tanker fleet ? six planes. It was about 4 p.m.

Five of the planes weren't deployed because of the limited number of tankers in the nation's aerial firefighting fleet and the dangerous weather conditions at the time. Jim Paxon, a spokesman for the Arizona Division of Forestry, which was managing the fire, said one plane had been headed to the fire from California, but engine problems forced it to turn back.

Paxon noted that even if the planes had been available, winds were so strong they couldn't have been used to save the firefighters' lives.

"We could have had air tankers stacked up from here to the stratosphere and it wouldn't have made a difference," he said Monday. "The fire went through retardant lines like they were non-existent."

Within 45 minutes, at 4:47 p.m., the Hotshot crew radioed that they were trapped and deploying their emergency shelters. Less than two hours later, 19 of them were found dead. Only one crew member who was assigned as the lookout survived.

A national team of investigators is working to understand more about the firefighters' deaths and is expected to finish an initial report in about two months.

Paxon said the behavior of the fire and the enormous "blowup" when the winds shifted was highly unusual.

"It was just an extreme situation," he said.

The fire destroyed more than 100 homes before it was fully contained July 10.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-arizona-wildfire-grew-quickly-erratic-020055060.html

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Rallies, marches follow Zimmerman verdict

NEW YORK (AP) ? Thousands of demonstrators from across the country ? chanting, praying and even fighting tears ? protested a jury's decision to clear George Zimmerman in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager while the Justice Department considered whether to file criminal civil rights charges.

Rallies on Sunday were largely peaceful as demonstrators voiced their support for 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's family ? and decried Zimmerman's not guilty verdict as a miscarriage of justice. A march in Los Angeles had minor unrest when a group threw rocks and batteries at police.

The NAACP and protesters called for federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted Saturday in Martin's February 2012 shooting death.

The Justice Department said it is looking into the case to determine whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Zimmerman has been acquitted in the state case. The department opened an investigation into Martin's death last year but stepped aside to allow the state prosecution to proceed.

The evidence generated during the federal probe is still being evaluated by the criminal section of the Justice Department's civil rights division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office for the Middle District of Florida, along with evidence and testimony from the state trial, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and religious and civil rights leaders urged calm in hopes of ensuring peaceful demonstrations following a case that became an emotional flash point.

Sunday's demonstrations, held in cities from Florida to Wisconsin, attracted anywhere from a few dozen people to a more than a thousand.

At a march and rally in downtown Chicago attended by about 200 people, some said the verdict was symbolic of lingering racism in the United States. Seventy-three-year-old Maya Miller said the case reminded her of the 1955 slaying of Emmitt Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was murdered by a group of white men while visiting Mississippi. Till's killing galvanized the civil rights movement.

"Fifty-eight years and nothing's changed," Miller said, pausing to join a chant for "Justice for Trayvon, not one more."

In New York City, hundreds of protesters marched into Times Square Sunday night, zigzagging through Manhattan's streets to avoid police lines. Sign-carrying marchers thronged the busy intersection, chanting "Justice for! Trayvon Martin!" as they made their way from Union Square, blocking traffic for more than an hour before moving on.

In San Francisco and Los Angeles ? where an earlier protest was dispersed with beanbag rounds ? police closed streets as protesters marched Sunday to condemn Zimmerman's acquittal.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urged protesters to "practice peace" after the rock- and bottle-throwing incident. Police arrested one man.

Rand Powdrill, 41, of San Leandro, said he came to the San Francisco march with about 400 others to "protest the execution of an innocent black teenager."

"If our voices can't be heard, then this is just going to keep going on," he said.

Earlier, at Manhattan's Middle Collegiate Church, many congregants wore hooded sweatshirts ? the same thing Martin was wearing the night he was shot ? in a show of solidarity. Hoodie-clad Jessica Nacinovich said she could only feel disappointment and sadness over the verdict.

"I'm sure jurors did what they felt was right in accordance with the law but maybe the law is wrong, maybe society is wrong; there's a lot that needs fixing," she said.

At a youth service in Sanford, Fla., where the trial was held, teens wearing shirts displaying Martin's picture wiped away tears during a sermon at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.

Protesters also gathered in Atlanta, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., along with a host of other cities.

In Miami, more than 200 people gathered for a vigil. "You can't justify murder," read one poster. Another read "Don't worry about more riots. Worry about more Zimmermans."

Carol Reitner, 76, of Miami, said she heard about the vigil through an announcement at her church Sunday morning. "I was really devastated. It's really hard to believe that someone can take the life of someone else and walk out of court free," she said.

In Philadelphia, about 700 protesters marched from LOVE Park to the Liberty Bell, alternating between chanting Trayvon Martin's name and "No justice, no peace!"

"We hope this will begin a movement to end discrimination against young black men," said Johnathan Cooper, one of the protest's organizers. "And also to empower black people and get them involved in the system."

In Atlanta, a crowd of about 75 protesters chanted and carried signs near Centennial Olympic Park.

"I came out today because a great deal of injustice has been done and I'm very disappointed at our justice system; I'm just disappointed in America," Tabatha Holley, 19, of Atlanta said.

Civil rights leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, urged peace in the wake of the verdict. Jackson said the legal system "failed justice," but violence isn't the answer.

But not all the protesters heeded those calls immediately after the verdict.

In Oakland, Calif., during protests that began late Saturday night some angry demonstrators broke windows, burned U.S. flags and started street fires. Some marchers also vandalized a police squad car and used spray paint to scrawl anti-police graffiti on roads and Alameda County's Davidson courthouse.

In Los Angeles, police said a crowd of about 100 protesters surrounded an officer and eventually had to be dispersed by officers firing beanbag rounds.

___

Associated Press reporters Suzette Laboy in Miami, Terence Chea in San Francisco, Keith Collins in Philadelphia, Pete Yost and Eric Tucker in Washington and Luisa Leme contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rallies-marches-zimmerman-verdict-064105495.html

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