Heavy rains and landslides leave 20 dead and many missing as flooded rivers and collapsed bridges hamper rescue operations At least 20 people have been killed and 50 others missing in Japan after the country’s western coast was hit by typhoon Talas on Sunday. The typhoon has unleashed heavy rains, triggering landslides, and is slowly moving north. The government has ordered evacuation of 460,000 people in western and central Japan. Hundreds of people are still stranded as the rescue efforts are being hampered by flooded rivers and collapsed bridges, local agencies report. The typhoon has caused record amount of rainfall in some areas, making it the worst storm to hit the country since 2004. Talas has damaged Nijojo castle, designated as an important cultural treasure and a popular tourist attraction in the ancient city of Kyoto. Public broadcaster NHK showed a bridge swept away after torrential rain. People holding umbrellas waded through knee-deep water in city streets and residential areas. Many cars were washed away in the floods. Japan’s meteorological agency warned of more heavy rains, strong winds, floods and landslides. It has issued landslide warnings in nearly all of the country’s prefectures. Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather guardian.co.uk
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Tight security around courts for first such trial since 1985 as UVF members get ready to give evidence against former comrades A ring of steel will be erected around Belfast’s courts district on Tuesday morning as Northern Ireland holds its first terrorist supergrass trial in a generation. Riot police are on standby and separate courts will be opened to keep rival factions apart in preparation for the appearance of two self-confessed members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), who will give evidence against former loyalist comrades. Fourteen alleged UVF activists face 97 charges ranging from murder to blackmail. The accused belong to the notorious Mount Vernon UVF, a North Belfast terror unit heavily infiltrated by police special branch. The trial will hear accusations that some of those charged with the murder of the rival Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member Tommy English in October 2000 were police agents at the time of the killing. English was murdered at his home in Newtownabbey during a UVF-UDA feud that erupted on Belfast’s Shankill Road two months earlier. The man accused of killing English is Mark Haddock, one of the alleged leaders of the UVF in north Belfast. Haddock was himself targeted by his own terror group after he was unmasked as a special branch informer. Until last week Haddock had been living at a secret address in England under a court order that banned the media from identifying his location. He flew back to Northern Ireland from England on Friday and has since been held in custody. The bulk of the evidence against Haddock has been supplied by David and Robert Stewart, brothers who are serving a prison sentence for aiding and abetting the killers of English. The pair agreed to turn state’s evidence in return for reduced jail sentences. Security sources in Northern Ireland told the Guardian that the police fear the UVF may stage violent protests across Belfast in the hours running up to one of the biggest trials since the controversial supergrass hearings of the 1980s. In June the UVF orchestrated three days of sectarian rioting in east Belfast after mounting an organised attack on the Catholic enclave of Short Strand. Police in Northern Ireland are so concerned about potential trouble that they and the courts service have set up a unique arrangement for relatives of the accused and families of their alleged victims to watch the opening day of the case. Friends, supporters and relations of the alleged UVF gang will be allocated a court a short distance from the main courthouse where the trial will be held. Loyalists have already staged protests against the trial, which they claim is solely based on the evidence of “paid perjurers”, a phrase the UVF used in the 1980s against a number of witnesses in the supergrasses trials that put dozens of loyalists in prison. Banners have been slung across main routes into loyalist districts from a new organisation called Families Against Supergrass Trials. The group has accused police of double standards, claiming investigations are focused on loyalist rather than republican past crimes. At the height of the first supergrass trials between 1982 and 1985, 25 men turned state’s evidence. Loyalist and republican informers put hundreds of suspects behind bars for dozens of murders. In the case of IRA supergrass Christopher Black, 22 of his former comrades were jailed for more than 4,000 years between them. But the system collapsed in 1985 after a judge ruled that another informer’s testimony was “unworthy” and almost all of those who had been held on remand were freed. Northern Ireland UK security and terrorism Police Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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By Angus Shaw — The Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe — A top research group on Thursday rated Zimbabwe’s capital as the worst of 140 world cities in which to live. The British-based Economist Intelligence Unit said its researchers excluded cities in Libya, Iraq and other war zones. Harare, where power and water outages occur daily, scored a 38 percent “livability rating,” the group said. The group said the threat of civil unrest and the availability of public health care and public transport in Harare were intolerable. Energy and water supplies were undesirable, it said, calling phones and Internet services uncomfortable. Zimbabwe formed a shaky coalition government in 2009 after years of political violence and economic meltdown. Melbourne and Vienna were rated the two easiest cities to live in. The research group is a respected economic and risk consultancy linked to the Economist magazine. The annual global cities survey advises companies on the level of hardship employees face and recommends pay adjustments for those who move to cities where living conditions are particularly difficult, with “excessive physical hardship or a notably unhealthy environment.” A livability rating – compiled onsite in the cities by experts and statisticians – given as 80 to 100 percent means there are few challenges to daily living standards such as housing, health, education and transportation. Fifty percent or less means most aspects of living are “severely restricted,” the group said. Harare’s rating highlighted continuing “bleak prospects” for the capital’s population of nearly two million, the survey said. It said quality housing was available for only the wealthy, and that quality private education was available in the city, but it is costly and takes good teachers away from Harare’s impoverished government schools. Cities across sub-Saharan Africa had an average livability rating of 50 percent, compared to 92 percent in Western Europe and 91 percent in North America. PHOTOS: The World’s Worst Cities To Live In …
Continue reading …Just days after going viral, the New Mexico state trooper caught by a surveillance camera having sex on the hood of a Honda has been fired, reports the New Mexican . Police officials said the sex was not criminal nor done in exchange for anything in the trooper’s official duties, but…
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Grab your binoculars. This weekend you’ll be able to see the closest supernova to our plant within the last generation from your own backyard. The supernova, spotted last week by astronomers in the Pinwheel Galaxy, which Wired reports is from our perspective in the Big Dipper, is an exploding white dwarf star. Watch this Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Astrophysicist explain how to pinpoint it… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Blaze Discovery Date : 03/09/2011 01:19 Number of articles : 2
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Tony Blair to seek path back to peace talks in effort to avert collision over Palestinian bid to win UN recognition of statehood Tony Blair is expected to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders this week in an attempt to find a path back to peace negotiations and avert a potential diplomatic collision over a Palestinian bid to win UN recognition of their statehood. The former British prime minister has reportedly been entrusted with the task of finding a formula to restart talks that would be acceptable to the members of the Middle East quartet – the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations – as well as to both sides in the conflict. Blair met Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, last week and has further meetings scheduled for this week. The US is accelerating efforts to forestall the Palestinians’ bid to win recognition of their state, according to a report in the New York Times . Barack Obama is anxious to avoid a situation where the US has to veto such an attempt, thus risking the anger of the Arab world. The US has made it clear it will wield its veto if the issue comes to a vote at the security council. Blair is said to be pushing for a consensus around the key issues of borders and acknowledging Israel as a “Jewish state”. However, Israeli officials are unhappy with Obama’s speech in May in which he spoke of a Palestinian state “based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps”, saying this should not be the starting point of talks. The Palestinians reject formally acknowledging Israel as a Jewish state as it disregards the 20% of the population that is Palestinian and undermines the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. Both sides have little confidence in the other’s expressed willingness to return to negotiations. There are also difference of opinion within the quartet that may prove difficult to bridge. Blair has a long track record of negotiating between the Israelis and Palestinians built up over four years as the quartet’s special envoy. According to Daniel Kurtzer, former US ambassador to Israel, the US administration needed a high-profile political figure to push the parties towards negotiations. “There is a bit of outsourcing going on to someone like Tony Blair just to see if he can make something work,” he told Reuters. “If he can, the administration will glom on to it and if he can’t the administration has not soiled its nest.” Israel Palestinian territories Middle East Tony Blair Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Muammar Gaddafi’s stronghold said to be a scene of growing desperation with no power or water and food running low Libyan rebels say 25 doctors are seeking entry into one of Muammar Gaddafi’s besieged strongholds in a bid to avert an escalating humanitarian crisis. The town of Bani Walid is said to be a scene of growing desperation with no power or water for a week, food running low and Gaddafi loyalists firing in the streets. Rebels have surrounded the town, one of the last in Libya that remains in the deposed leader’s grip. Despite ongoing clashes they were continuing last ditch efforts to negotiate a peaceful surrender. Rebels claimed their first priority is now bringing emergency relief to the population. At a desert outpost around 60km away, Abusif Ghnyah, a rebel spokesman who comes from Bani Walid, said: “There is no fruit or vegetables and a shortage of water. People are relying on food stored in their house. The city has been without electricity for a week and the houses rely on electricity, even for water. There is nothing at the hospital.” Two of his colleagues had gone to Bani Walid to negotiate passage for 25 doctors, Ghnyah said. “We are not fighters. We want to supply food, medicine and so on. We are preparing for humanitarian intervention. But unless it is 100% safe, we will not go in.” The talks appeared to have broken down because rebels want the doctors and ambulances to go in with an armed convoy. Pro-Gaddafi elements in Bani Walid, 140km southeast of Tripoli, have found this unacceptable. Ghnyah said 120 people gathered in Bani Walid last week and agreed a negotiated surrender, only for the meeting to be disrupted by Gaddafi loyalists shouting dissent. Ghnyah claimed that around 20 loyalist gunmen are causing mayhem in the town, “most likely” on the instructions of Gaddafi himself. “We have heard some of the Gaddafi gangs controlling Bani Walid are making trouble for the people. They are firing into the air and threatening people. They are giving guns to children. They are destroying the city.” On Saturday the rebels claimed that Bani Walid’s radio station was under their control and flags had been raised in defiance. Ghnyah added: “The whole population of Bani Walid is with us but they are frightened for their lives. Their lives are not safe if they say they are with the 17th of February [the date of the uprising]. I heard yesterday the streets are empty of people except these gangs.” Many of the rebel fighters moving up to 10km west of Bani Walid in pickup trucks with mounted artillery guns hail from the town and belong to its dominant tribe, the Warfala. They say they are unwilling to take it by force and risk civilian casualties unless entirely necessary. Various deadlines for surrender have come and gone. Ghnyah added: “We have told them they are our brothers, our elders, and we are not going there for bloodshed. We are patient because we want to save the lives of people. We don’t want to fire one shot, we don’t want to hurt the people.” But asked how just 20 Gaddafi sympathisers could be holding a town of 60,000 people hostage, Ghnyah replied: “That’s a good question.” Rebel officials have given conflicting statements about the situation in Bani Walid and other loyalist areas. Dao Salhin Eljadek, a colonel in the Tripoli Military Council, contradicted earlier reports by suggesting that Gaddafi’s sons, Saif and Saadi, are still in Bani Walid. “Saif is in Bani Walid and has given about 80 FN guns to snipers and mercenaries,” he said. “Saif is causing problems and is causing us to fight each other. The people of Bani Walid should abandon him.” He added: “I know Saadi is in Bani Walid and negotiating a surrender. If they give up, they will be given a fair trial. Everyone who was working with the Gaddafi regime, as soon as surrendering, will be treated humanely and kept safe under our control until going to court.” Asked to estimate the strength of Gaddafi’s forces, Eljadek commented: “Numbers don’t matter. We’ll do our best for the country.” Meanwhile Nato reported bombing an ammunition storage facility near Bani Walid. It also bombed a military barracks, a police camp and several other targets near Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte on Saturday night, as well as targets near Hun, a possible staging ground in the desert halfway between Sirte and Sabha. National Transitional Council officials announced plans to bring their heavily-armed fighters under control and try to integrate thousands of them into the police force and find jobs for others. Interim interior minister Ahmad Darat said: “We only need the revolutionaries for the first month. We have a plan we will announce today to include 3,000 of the revolutionaries in the interior ministry who will be trained and will work in national security. “The rest of them work in business or are builders etc – they don’t want to be in the police. They will give up their weapons. It’s just a matter of time and organisation.” Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I’m very proud of the 1000 people so far who put themselves on the line to save our world — and ashamed that I’m not there with them. I’m so impressed by their commitment to protecting our environment from this insane climate hazard: More than 200 people were arrested outside the White House Saturday following two weeks of protests directed at President Obama in an effort to persuade him to deny final permitting of a controversial 1,661-mile pipeline that would carry oil from Alberta, Canada, to Port Arthur, Tex. The arrests follow more than 1,000 arrests made since protesters arrived in late August to conduct sit-ins along Pennsylvania Avenue. While a White House decision is not expected until December, the protests centered on an environmental impact statement released Aug. 26 by the US State Department that concluded there will be “no significant impact” on natural resources affected by the pipeline route. If Obama approves the pipeline, it will begin a series of additional permits, approvals and authorizations, with operation set to launch in 2013. T he $7 billion, 36-inch pipeline, called the Keystone XL, is expected to deliver 830,000 barrels, or 34.9 million gallons, per day across Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma into Texas. TransCanada, a leading North American pipeline operator, started operation of Keystone I, a 36-inch pipeline system, in June 2010, making it possible to deliver Canadian oil to markets across Midwest farmland in several states, from the Dakotas through Illinois. Keystone XL will incorporate a section of that existing pipeline in its delivery through the bottom half of the US. Environmentalists say TransCanada has a failed safety record regarding its pipeline operations. Federal regulators shut down Keystone I following two leaks, on May 7 and May 29. The first released 400 barrels, or 16,800 gallons, of crude oil in Sargent County, North Dakota. The second involved a leak at a pump station in Doniphan County, Kan., which released 10 barrels, or 420 gallons, of crude oil into the environment. The pipeline was restarted days later. In a statement, Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer said “TransCanada takes all incidents very seriously … none of the incidents involved the pipe in the ground. The integrity of Keystone is sound.” As always when it comes down to environmental roulette, their response is, “Trust us.” Why should we? The stakes are too high.
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Andy Roddick is not worried about finding work after his professional tennis career is over. The 2003 U.S. Open winner told ESPN’s Chris Fowler that he’s “pretty convinced” that he could be a tennis analyst in the future. Why? Because Roddick says it’s “the easiest job in the world.” “It just doesn’t take much thought,” he said after his first-round win at the U.S. Open on Tuesday night. “If I’m grinding and I’m winning, you guys are like, ‘He’s reinvented himself.’ If I’m playing like crap and pushing, then, it’s, you know, ‘He’s horrible and he needs to hit the ball.’ Everyone’s an expert but I’m better than most of them, I believe.” That Roddick doesn’t hold analysts in high regard isn’t very surprising, considering the way that they have parsed his actions as of late, specifically when he hit the ball into the stands in a moment of frustration during a recent match in Cincinnati. After the chair umpire docked him a penalty point for his actions, Roddick angrily pleaded his case to the umpire. One of the analysts broadcasting the match said that he was “absolutely out of line.” WATCH INTERVIEW AT THE TOP
Continue reading …Small Airplane Terror Threats: Feds Warn Of Threats Days Before Sept. 11th 10 Year Anniversary
September 4, 2011 No Comment
WASHINGTON — The FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Authorities say there is no specific or credible terrorist threat for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But they have stepped up security nationwide as a precaution. According to a five-page law enforcement bulletin issued Friday, as recently as early this year, al-Qaida was considering ways to attack airplanes. The alert, issued ahead of the summer’s last busy travel weekend, said terrorists have considered renting private planes and loading them with explosives. “Al-Qaida and its affiliates have maintained an interest in obtaining aviation training, particularly on small aircraft, and in recruiting Western individuals for training in Europe or the United States, although we do not have current, credible information or intelligence of an imminent attack being planned,” according to the bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. The bulletin also says al-Qaida would like to use sympathetic Westerners to get flight training, then get them to become flight instructors. Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, described the bulletin as routine. “We shared this information with our partners to highlight the need for continued awareness and vigilance,” he said. Aviation security is much tighter than it was a decade ago, but al-Qaida remains keenly interested in launching attacks on airplanes, believing large attacks with high body counts are more likely to grab headlines. Threats to small airplanes are nothing new. After the 2001 attacks, the government grounded thousands of crop dusters amid fears the planes could be used in an attack. In 2002, U.S. officials said they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf. And in 2003, U.S. officials uncovered an al-Qaida plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. ___ Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.
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