"We are in uncharted territory," said Roy Wilsher, chief fire officer in Hertfordshire county, to a news briefing. "This is the largest fire of this kind that the UK and Europe have dealt with."


The conflagration began just before sunrise on Sunday morning when a series of explosions ripped through the Buncefield depot located 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London and not far from Luton airport. Indeed, many nearby residents at first thought that an airplane had crashed. At least 43 people were injured in the blasts -- most suffering cuts and bruises from flying glass and debris -- and windows and doors were blown off nearby homes. Twenty or more tanks at the facility were destroyed, but seven managed to survive the night unscathed. Fully 32,000 liters of water per minute are being sprayed on the fire, pumped from a nearby lake.

Exactly how long it may take to extinguish the blaze remains unclear. While a gigantic black cloud continues to darken the sky near the site -- which is operated by Total UK and part-owned by Texaco and stores 16 million liters (4.2 million gallons) of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel -- smoke has also begun swirling around making conditions difficult for firefighters, said Wilsher. On Monday morning, firefighters had advanced to within 100 meters of the flames.

Concerns that the water or foam used to fight the fire could pollute the nearby groundwater have since been resolved. The national Environmental Agency has said it is constantly monitoring water quality nearby to check for contamination. The noxious fumes released by the fire, are not so easily contained. A number of policemen were being examined for respiratory problems and some 2,000 people were evacuated from the area. A nearby motorway has been closed down.

Déjà vu in Lebanon

It's all too familiar: An anti-Syrian lawmaker in Beirut, Lebanon is killed when a car bomb exploded as his motorcade drove by.

It happened on February 14, the date former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated and it happened again on Monday. This time, the victim was parliamentarian Gibran Tueni, who was also the general manager of An-Nahar, the country's leading newspaper. He had just returned from France a day earlier, where he periodically stayed out of fear of being assassinated. At least two others were killed in the attack including Tueni's driver and an unidentified bystander.

The killing comes just hours before a UN team investigating Hariri's murder goes before the UN Security Council to present its findings. Monday's blast is the most recent of 14 similar explosions that have hit Christian and anti-Syrian areas in Beirut since Hariri was killed. "This is a new terrorism message," said Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, referring to the series of attacks. He said the killing of Tueni was intended to silence a voice who had sought those responsible for the Hariri killing.

The Syrian government immediately denied that it was involved in the killing with Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah telling LBC television, "Those who are behind this are the enemies of Lebanon." That, of course, is what many Lebanese have been saying all year, and have just as often been pointing fingers at Syria. The country continues to deny any involvement in the killing of Hariri even after an October report by the UN investigator looking in to the case implicated a number of high-ranking Syrian officials. Since that report, Syria has been doing its best to discredit the UN commission, led by Detlev Mehlis of Germany, even while claiming cooperation with Mehlis's team of investigators. Jumblatt is demanding a new UN commission to investigate the ongoing series of bombings in the Lebanese capital.

Race Riots in Australia

A day and a night of racially-motivated hooliganism  has left 30 people injured in the beachside suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The riots flared up on Sunday after a rally of some 5,000 white Australians at Cronulla Beach turned indiscriminately on people who looked Muslim or of Arab descent. The riots spread when the non-white youths started smashing cars in retaliation, and one man was left stabbed. Police had to use batons and pepper spray to control the violence.

The rally at Cronulla Beach started as a protest in support of two white lifeguards who had allegedly been attacked a week before by Arab-looking kids. The protesters sang patriotic Australian songs, chanted anti-Lebanese slogans, and generally got drunk. Police think neo-Nazis helped organize the violence, but it didn't help that "talk back" radio in Sydney has whipped up sentiment against Muslims who have criticized local beachgoers for their skimpy bathing suits.