More than 200 flee forest fire in northern Saskatchewan

STONY RAPIDS, Sask. — A fast-moving forest fire fuelled by hot, dry winds was bearing down on two remote communities in northern Saskatchewan, forcing more than 200 people to flee their homes.

RCMP Sgt. Carole Raymond said as of Sunday evening, the fire was less than three kilometres from Stony Rapids and Stony Lake, which are fly-in communities near the boundary with the Northwest Territories.

It’s the second time this month that people in the area had to leave their homes due to a forest fire.

Prisoners from the local RCMP detachment and most of the elderly and those with health problems were flown out, and some residents drove to Black Lake, about 90 minutes southeast, Raymond said.

China’s restrictions mean shortages for Canadian fireworks distributors

China’s failure to ship fireworks has sent some of this country’s companies scrambling to meet demand in anticipation of Canada Day celebrations – the biggest day for pyrotechnic displays.

“In Canada, I haven’t heard of shows being cancelled like there have been in the U.S.,” said Fred Wade, president of the Canadian Pyrotechnic Council, “but there are shortages of various types of product.”

Fireworks distributors in Canada say in some instances they have had to import fireworks from Spain and Italy as orders from China failed to arrive.

Others say they were able to dip into their large inventories to make up for the shortage.

The problem can be traced to an explosion at a Chinese fireworks warehouse in February that led to a ban on fireworks shipments at the southern port of Sanshui, Guangdong province.

Rhapsody to challenge iTunes by embracing the iPod

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Digital music seller Rhapsody is launching a $50 million marketing assault on Apple’s iTunes, offering songs online and via partners including Yahoo Inc and Verizon Wireless, Rhapsody said on Monday.

The songs will be sold in MP3 format, which means users of the Rhapsody service will be able to play them on iPods.

Before now Rhapsody, jointly owned by Real Networks Inc and Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks, had focused on a subscription service, allowing unlimited song streaming for $13 to $15 a month, rather than selling downloads.

But Rhapsody Vice President Neil Smith said the fact the service has not been compatible with Apple Inc’s top-selling iPod digital player has limited Rhapsody’s reach.

Blizzard finally announces Diablo III

THE third instalment of the popular Diablo game series has been announced by video game development studio Blizzard Entertainment.

11,000 passionate fans watched the first demonstration of Diablo III at Blizzard’s two day Worldwide Invitational event in Paris.

The studio, part of Vivendi Games, is well known for its game World of Warcraft, which now has over 10 million subscribers to its online world. Blizzard is also behind Starcraft – one of the most popular videogames for competitive play, even ten years after its original release.

Diablo III comes almost eight years after Diablo II was released in 2000. The new role-playing game (RPG) will see players cut a swathe of bloody destruction across a dark fantasy world teeming with evil.

Whether playing alone or with friends, the game promises plenty of replay value thanks to a heavy emphasis on randomly generated content, and a choice of five distinct character archetypes.