The elements

Published June 5, 2013
A firefighter watches a 1,400-acre wildfire northeast of Castaic, Calif. Crews battling this wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles took advantage of cool morning weather Friday to make progress but scattered flames continued to climb hillsides. A flare-up prompted Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to briefly evacuate about 25 homes along a canyon road in the Angeles National Forest Friday morning but residents were later allowed to return. —Photo by AP
A firefighter watches a 1,400-acre wildfire northeast of Castaic, Calif. Crews battling this wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles took advantage of cool morning weather Friday to make progress but scattered flames continued to climb hillsides. A flare-up prompted Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to briefly evacuate about 25 homes along a canyon road in the Angeles National Forest Friday morning but residents were later allowed to return. —Photo by AP
Children and their parents watch as a folk artist breathes fire during a performance ahead of International Children's Day in Kaifeng, Henan province. International Children's Day falls on June 1.—Photo by Reuters
Children and their parents watch as a folk artist breathes fire during a performance ahead of International Children's Day in Kaifeng, Henan province. International Children's Day falls on June 1.—Photo by Reuters
Tracy Bennett, ranch manager of Hidden Valley Ranch, a corporate retreat and guest ranch near Pecos, N.M., watches a large plume of smoke rise from a wildfire. Bennett had to evacuate four guests the day before when the fast-moving fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest threatened the ranch and nearby cabins and vacation homes.—Photo by AP
Tracy Bennett, ranch manager of Hidden Valley Ranch, a corporate retreat and guest ranch near Pecos, N.M., watches a large plume of smoke rise from a wildfire. Bennett had to evacuate four guests the day before when the fast-moving fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest threatened the ranch and nearby cabins and vacation homes.—Photo by AP
Flames erupt from the Southwest Inn on US 59 in Houston.—Photo by AP
Flames erupt from the Southwest Inn on US 59 in Houston.—Photo by AP
Protesters gather around a fire set by them during a rally at the Taskim square in Istanbul. Public anger has flared among urban and secular Turks after police violently broke up an anti-development sit-in in the landmark Taksim Square, with protests spreading to dozens of other cities as demonstrators denounced what they see as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style.—Photo by AP
Protesters gather around a fire set by them during a rally at the Taskim square in Istanbul. Public anger has flared among urban and secular Turks after police violently broke up an anti-development sit-in in the landmark Taksim Square, with protests spreading to dozens of other cities as demonstrators denounced what they see as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style.—Photo by AP
Whirligigs by Vollis Simpson along the entrance to Fearrington Village near Pittsboro, N.C. Simpson, a self-taught artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has died. He was 94. Simpson's wife, Jean, told the Wilson Daily Times that her husband died in his sleep.—Photo by AP
Whirligigs by Vollis Simpson along the entrance to Fearrington Village near Pittsboro, N.C. Simpson, a self-taught artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has died. He was 94. Simpson's wife, Jean, told the Wilson Daily Times that her husband died in his sleep.—Photo by AP
High winds snapped this power pole on from Highway 81 just south El Reno Okla. Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, killing a mother and baby and crumbling cars and tractor-trailers along a major interstate.—Photo by AP
High winds snapped this power pole on from Highway 81 just south El Reno Okla. Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs on Friday, killing a mother and baby and crumbling cars and tractor-trailers along a major interstate.—Photo by AP
A child reacts as a goat runs past her with flood water in foreground in Nyanga township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. According to Cape Town city's disaster center over two thousand people have been displaced over the weekend as a cold winter storm hit the Western Cape.—Photo by AP
A child reacts as a goat runs past her with flood water in foreground in Nyanga township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. According to Cape Town city's disaster center over two thousand people have been displaced over the weekend as a cold winter storm hit the Western Cape.—Photo by AP
People remove mud from a street in the flooded western Austrian village of Koessen. Torrential rain caused widespread flooding and landslides across Austria on Sunday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.—Photo by Reuters
People remove mud from a street in the flooded western Austrian village of Koessen. Torrential rain caused widespread flooding and landslides across Austria on Sunday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.—Photo by Reuters
A man pours away dirty water as he and others work to dig wells due to a water shortage in the city of Aleppo.—Photo by Reuters
A man pours away dirty water as he and others work to dig wells due to a water shortage in the city of Aleppo.—Photo by Reuters
A message is written in dirt on the side of a home that was damaged by a tornado  in Moore, Oklahoma. Residents of Moore, Oklahoma continue to recover and sift through the remains of their homes two weeks after a devastating EF-5 tornado ripped through the town killing 24 people and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.—Photo by AFP
A message is written in dirt on the side of a home that was damaged by a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Residents of Moore, Oklahoma continue to recover and sift through the remains of their homes two weeks after a devastating EF-5 tornado ripped through the town killing 24 people and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.—Photo by AFP
A female skeleton, believed to have reached between 18 and 25 years of age, presumably of a medium social status, is uncovered with two clay crocks at the tomb of a priestess of the Colombian Moche culture in the Sun and Moon complex, a sanctuary developed between 200 and 700 AD, beside rocky hill more than 700 km north of Lima. According to research anthropologist Santiago Uceda, this discovery in northern Peru could change the history of the Peruvian pre-Hispanic culture.—Photo by AFP
A female skeleton, believed to have reached between 18 and 25 years of age, presumably of a medium social status, is uncovered with two clay crocks at the tomb of a priestess of the Colombian Moche culture in the Sun and Moon complex, a sanctuary developed between 200 and 700 AD, beside rocky hill more than 700 km north of Lima. According to research anthropologist Santiago Uceda, this discovery in northern Peru could change the history of the Peruvian pre-Hispanic culture.—Photo by AFP
A child cools off in a water fountain plaza at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, California,  where summer afternoon temperatures reached 75 degrees.—Photo by AFP
A child cools off in a water fountain plaza at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, California, where summer afternoon temperatures reached 75 degrees.—Photo by AFP
A man is hit by a jet of water as riot police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in central Ankara. Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day.—Photo by Reuters
A man is hit by a jet of water as riot police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in central Ankara. Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day.—Photo by Reuters
A firefighting helicopter drops water on a wildfire burning in Lancaster, California. A wildfire raging north of Los Angeles prompted evacuations and burned structures as the so-called Powerhouse Fire has burned an estimated 25,000 acres and is only 20 per cent contained. —Photo by Reuters
A firefighting helicopter drops water on a wildfire burning in Lancaster, California. A wildfire raging north of Los Angeles prompted evacuations and burned structures as the so-called Powerhouse Fire has burned an estimated 25,000 acres and is only 20 per cent contained. —Photo by Reuters
A participant lands in the the water with his home-made flying machine during the "Red Bull Flugtag" (Red Bull Flightday). Some 35 teams took part in the competition by launching their human-powered home-made flying machines off a pier over a body of water.—Photo by AFP
A participant lands in the the water with his home-made flying machine during the "Red Bull Flugtag" (Red Bull Flightday). Some 35 teams took part in the competition by launching their human-powered home-made flying machines off a pier over a body of water.—Photo by AFP
An aeral view shows the Prague Zoo under water as the Czech capital was flooded, with metro stations and elementary and secondary schools shut after the Vltava river rose, flooding parts of the historic city centre due to heavy rainfalls.—Photo by AFP
An aeral view shows the Prague Zoo under water as the Czech capital was flooded, with metro stations and elementary and secondary schools shut after the Vltava river rose, flooding parts of the historic city centre due to heavy rainfalls.—Photo by AFP

Sometimes its easy to disregard a presence that is more or less constant in ones life. Such is the case with the four elements, ever present and unpredictable, they need to be seen as the formidable forces that they are.—Images by Agencies.

Editorial

Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...
Dangerous law
Updated 17 May, 2024

Dangerous law

It must remember that the same law can be weaponised against it one day, just as Peca was when the PTI took power.
Uncalled for pressure
17 May, 2024

Uncalled for pressure

THE recent press conferences by Senators Faisal Vawda and Talal Chaudhry, where they demanded evidence from judges...
KP tussle
17 May, 2024

KP tussle

THE growing war of words between KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is affecting...