God is Very, Very, Very Powerful.

Typhoon batters central Vietnam coast

HANOI, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Typhoon Xangsane's heavy rains and fierce winds battered the central Vietnam coastline on Sunday after authorities evacuated 200,000 people, called in fishing vessels and cancelled domestic flights.

Officials in Danang, Vietnam's fourth largest city of about 1 million, said they expected the popular resort to take the brunt of the storm, which left a trail of destruction last week in the Philippines, killing at least 61 people with scores missing.

State-run Vietnam Television on Sunday showed footage of trees felled by wind and rains and choppy waters overflowing from the city's Han river. Power pylons were damaged and some towns were without electricity.

"The most worrisome issue is the rising floodwaters in rivers and the risk of landslides in the mountains around here," Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung told Vietnam Television in Danang.

Hung said it was not yet known whether anyone was killed, but he said about a thousand houses lost their roofs and there were some injuries.

The storm was a category 2 typhoon that can carry winds of 154-177 kph (96-110 mph), downgraded from a category 4 typhoon on Saturday as it crossed the South China Sea westward to Vietnam from the Philippines.

It was forecast to weaken further over land, but it could still cause serious damage to the mostly-rural, densely populated Southeast Asian country of 83 million.

"The wind has blown away roofs of cottages in villages near the beach but concrete buildings are still OK for now but no one dares to go outside," a resident in the UNESCO-Heritage town of Hoi An, near Danang, told Reuters by telephone.

Manila sends troops for typhoon clean-up, toll rises

MANILA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sent 2,000 soldiers on Saturday to help emergency workers clean up wide areas south of the Philippine capital after typhoon Xangsane left 61 people dead, 81 injured and 69 still missing.

About 40,000 people remained in temporary shelters two days after Xangsane, which means "elephant" in the Lao language, shut down Manila's financial markets, public offices and schools and left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines.

"We have to effect normalisation in Metro Manila and other areas devastated," Arroyo told disaster officials at a meeting on Saturday to assess the damage to infrastructure, agriculture and private property.

Arroyo ordered troops to help clear roads of fallen trees, billboards and power lines and posts as the Philippines braced for another approaching storm spotted thousands of miles away in the Marianas islands in the Pacific.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said about 15,000 houses had been either destroyed or damaged and nearly 300 million pesos ($5.9 million) worth of crops and fisheries lost.

Around 20 percent of the sprawling capital of 12 million and nearby towns in four provinces remained without electricity, water and communication services, hampering relief efforts in remote villages still under floodwaters.

Xangsane, gained further strength over the South China Sea and now packing sustained winds of up to 150 kph (93 mph) and gusts of 185 kph, was expected to hit the coast of mostly rural, densely populated Vietnam at about 1800 GMT on Saturday.

Thousands of Vietnamese evacuated before typhoon

HANOI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Thousands were evacuated, flights cancelled and fishing boats told to seek shelter on Saturday as Typhoon Xangsane whipped towards the Vietnam coast after killing at least 61 people in the Philippines.

Typhoon Xangsane, which means "elephant" in the Lao language, was forecast to hit along the 1,000-km (600-mile) coast of central Vietnam late on Saturday or early on Sunday with torrential rains that could cause flooding and landslides.

Vietnam Television reported more than 200,000 people in four central provinces had been evacuated in the biggest such operation in three decades.

"The wind is getting stronger and stronger here, we expect the storm to make landfall late tonight or very early tomorrow morning," said an official of the flood and storm prevention committee in the central city of Danang.

"We have closed the airport and completed the evacuation of all people living in vulnerable areas." State-run VTV showed footage of residents in Quang Nam province using sandbags and digging tunnels to hide from the storm.

In the Philippines, the typhoon killed 61, injured 81 and 69 were still missing, officials said. They said about 15,000 houses had been destroyed or damaged and nearly 300 million pesos ($5.9 million) worth of crops and fisheries lost.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sent 2,000 soldiers on Saturday to help emergency workers clean up south of Manila.

About 40,000 people remained in shelters two days after Xangsane shut down Manila's financial markets, public offices and schools.

Earthquake rocks Trinidad, Venezuela

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) -- A strong earthquake hit Venezuela and Trinidad on Friday, knocking out power across much of the Caribbean island and sending thousands of people in Venezuela into the streets.

Callers to local radio said there had been structural damage to some buildings in Trinidad, which was the epicenter of the 6.1 magnitude quake.

Authorities in both countries, which are separated by just a few miles of the Caribbean Sea, said there were no reports of serious injuries.

In Venezuela, the world's No. 5 crude oil exporter, there were no reports of damage to energy installations, although the state oil company said its officials were still checking their facilities after much of the east of the country shook during the quake.

Similarly, initial reports showed energy installations escaped unscathed in Trinidad.

Frightened residents on the island scurried into the streets as bottles fell off shelves and smashed in their homes, and telephone lines swayed violently overhead.

An international airport in Trinidad was evacuated and flights canceled as officials checked for any structural damage to its buildings.

As a precaution against aftershocks, local authorities ordered people to evacuate many buildings in major cities in Venezuela. In the capital Caracas, which is more than 350 miles from Trinidad, 10,000 people were briefly ordered outside, the mayor said.

Cleanup Underway After F-1 Tornado Hits Maryland

WJZ) Baltimore, Md Officials from the National Weather Service have confirmed there were two sitings and at least one touch down of an F-1 Tornado in Anne Arundel County Thursday.

The F-1classification is part of the standard Fujita scale, which measures the speed of a tornado's sustained winds. Thursday night's tornado only lasted for several minutes but meteorologists say winds measured in at 90 miles-per-hour, wreaking havoc on residents.

Three Anne Arundel County neighborhoods in particular, sustained the heaviest damage from the storm. At its peak, the storm was 250 yards wide.

"I looked out and all these trees were waving down and limbs coming off," resident Lloyd Bragg tells WJZ's Edwards. The tornado forged a path through Bragg's backyard ripping trees out of the ground and snapping them like toothpicks.

The storm then moved from Ritchie Highway toward Lower Magathy Beach before weakening over Old Man Creek. Bragg says the destruction was almost as bad as the combat he experienced in World War II.

County officials tell Eyewitness News there are 53 homes damaged and that 15 are no longer inhabitable in Anne Arundel alone.

As of late Friday night, BGE crews were still working to clear debris from power lines near Arundel Beach and Sunset Court.

Private crews were also brought in to help cut massive trees that landed on houses and streets. So far no serious injuries have been reported but at least one person sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Lightning also struck during the storm setting one man's home on fire. Pete Chubb talked to Eyewitness News about the flames that erupted when his breaker box got fried by the lightning.

"I am real lucky that one of these big trees that are down everywhere did not wind up in my house and no one was hurt," says Chubb.

Anne Arundel County officials are hoping to have their cleanup work finished and have things back to normal by Wednesday.

Reports of heavy storm damage were also made in Baltimore, Howard and Prince George's counties.

Prince George's County Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady says Bowie received the worst damage in that county with about two dozen homes sustaining minor to moderate structural damage. He says there were no reports of injuries.

Thousands of power outages were reported, but many residents have gotten back electricity.

Red tape trips up firefighting efforts

Spinach safe to eat, but FDA has bigger worries

WASHINGTON - Fresh spinach is safe to eat in the United States because all E. coli-tainted spinach has been recalled, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.

But the FDA said serious concerns remained because so many outbreaks of food poisoning in fresh greens such as spinach and lettuce have been traced to California farms. The current outbreak, which dates back to mid-August and hit 26 states, may have killed as many as three people and put 97 in the hospital.

Focus on California
He said this was the 20th outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 in leafy greens in 10 years, and half had been traced to central California.

“What it does is it raises concerns about what is going on in that environment,” Acheson said.

For instance, cattle may need to be kept away from fields where food is grown, and physical barriers may have to be used, he said.

E. coli is a common and usually harmless bacteria found in the guts of animals including people. The 0157:H7 strain can be toxic and is found in the intestines and manure of cattle.

“Having cattle that may or may not be carrying 0157 that are uphill and upstream of a field that is growing a fresh product that is going to be consumed without cooking obviously raises concerns and questions,” Acheson said.

Al-Zawahri: Bush a liar in war on terror

Bush 'concealing Iraq violence'

Mr Woodward says he was stunned to be told by the Vice-President Dick Cheney that the veteran former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, -who served Presidents Nixon and Ford during the Vietnam war - was also serving President Bush.

"He's back. In fact Henry Kissinger is almost like a member of the family. If he is in town he can call up and if the President's free he will see him," Mr Woodward said.

He added that Mr Kissinger's message was that victory was the only meaningful exit strategy.

"So fascinating. Kissinger's fighting the Vietnam war again," Mr Woodward added.

"We have to... have faith in God"

The way I see it...
God wasn't the pilot of that plane. God can take care of the souls of those that were set free from that plane crash, but God didn't fly that plane.
That's the way I see it.


Mumps cases in Ill. county rise to 63

WHEATON, Ill. - The number of mumps cases in DuPage County has increased to 63 this year, with 40 cases confirmed at Wheaton College, health officials said Friday. Medical professionals in this suburban Chicago county normally see only three cases per year and are now wondering when the outbreak will end.

"God will be the Judge and Jury this time"

Death toll from Typhoon Xangsane at 48


Worker try to clear up the portion of a busy road as a giant billboard fell during strong winds brought by Typhoon Xangsane in suburban Manila on Thursday Sept. 28, 2006. Typhoon Xangsane unleashed fierce winds and rains across the northern and central Philippines, killing at least seven people as it slammed into Manila, shutting down the capital amid widespread floods, officials said. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from a powerful typhoon that cut across the northern Philippines rose Friday to at least 48, with dozens of people missing in floods and landslides, officials said.

Residents mounted a massive cleanup and the financial markets, schools and government offices in the capital, Manila, remained closed for a second workday since Typhoon Xangsane slammed ashore late Wednesday.

Most of the deaths occurred in Laguna province, south of Manila, said Romeo Panisales, a provincial social welfare officer.

At least 19 people were killed in landslides and flash floods in the town of Santa Rosa and another 15 in five other towns. Another 29 people were missing in the same province.

The coast guard reported a yacht with at least six crew members was missing in Manila Bay. A crew member of another boat in Batangas province south of Manila also was reported missing.

Among dozens of missing were at least 30 people in General Trias town, about 25 miles south of Manila, where an irrigation dike collapsed as they were watching houses washed away by raging river waters, said Walter Martinez, a local village official.

Police officer Quintin Trinidad said only one body has been recovered.

The entire northern island of Luzon, including Manila, was without power on Thursday but electricity was restored to 36 percent of consumers by Friday morning, the state-run National Transmission Corp. reported.

The typhoon was briefly downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved toward the South China Sea heading to Vietnam, but gained strength again Friday, packing winds of 75 miles per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph, the Philippine weather bureau reported.

Chinese state media said Friday the typhoon was likely to skirt China's Hainan island but bring strong winds and heavy rain during the first few days of a weeklong national holiday.

In Manila and neighboring provinces, residents began the day by cleaning up toppled trees, broken branches, fallen sign posts and power pylons.

The capital and two other provinces declared a state of calamity to enable them to draw emergency funds.

Xangsane, the Laotian word for elephant, is the 10th typhoon this season, and the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years.

Vietnam set to evacuate before typhoon

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam prepared to evacuate thousands of people from the central coast Friday as a powerful typhoon approached from the Philippines, where it killed at least 48 people and left dozens missing.

Typhoon Xangsane was briefly downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved toward the South China Sea, but regained strength, packing winds of 75 mph and gusts of up to 93 mph, the Philippine weather bureau reported.

The typhoon is expected to make landfall in Vietnam on Sunday, with the eye of the storm likely to hit Danang and the neighboring province of Quang Ngai, said Bui Minh Tang, director of the country's national weather forecast center.

"It's as powerful as Typhoon Chanchu," he said, referring to the May storm that killed 20 Vietnamese fishermen and left more than 250 people missing.

Outlook improves on SoCal firelines


Large Ponderosa and Pine trees burn in Los Paders National Forest near Lockwood Valley, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006. A nearly month-old wildfire crept toward hundreds of forest homes Thursday. More than 4,500 firefighters, aided by aircraft, were fighting the blaze, which was burning at elevations up to about 6,000 feet up in the mountains. The fire has only destroyed two barns, two outbuildings, three trailers, an unoccupied cabin and five vehicles.(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

LOCKWOOD VALLEY, Calif. - Firefighters battling a massive Southern California wildfire for nearly a month made considerable gains Thursday thanks to favorable winds, and officials project to have the blaze contained by early next week.

Evacuations that had been urged for several mountain communities have been downgraded to precautionary, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Bee Dechert.

The blaze was 63 percent contained after burning 160,570 acres, or nearly 250 square miles, of wilderness northwest of Los Angeles since Labor Day.

The National Weather Service predicted low humidity during afternoon hours through Friday. That could dry out brush and make it easier for the fire — the fifth-largest wildfire in recorded state history — to make an explosive advance.

"The line will be tested," said Melody Fountain of the U.S. Forest Service.

Winds were light but erratic Thursday and lookouts were posted to warn crews in case the fire suddenly changed direction. "It's extremely dangerous for them to be in there," said Ventura County fire Capt. Barry Parker.

Dozens of fire engines continued to guard homes in the mountain communities.

More than 4,500 firefighters, aided by aircraft, were fighting the blaze, which was burning at elevations up to about 6,000 feet up in the mountains.

The fire has destroyed two barns, two outbuildings, three trailers, an unoccupied cabin and five vehicles.

Firefighting costs have topped $53 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has authorized the use of federal funds to cover some expenses.

Travelers to Africa, Asia returning with new virus

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Travelers to parts of Africa and Asia are returning with a new mosquito-borne virus and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Thursday it could become entrenched in new areas.

Some people returning to Europe, the United States, Canada, Martinique and French Guyana reported cases of Chikungunya fever (CHIKV) in 2006 and large outbreaks have been reported in Indian Ocean islands and in India, according to the report.

Stone blasts Bush over 9/11 role

Director Oliver Stone has criticised President George Bush, saying he had "set the country back 10 years."

He claimed the "overreaction" to the [9/11] attacks had wasted resources, encouraged fanatics and made him "ashamed to be an American".

"From September 12 on, the incident was politicised and it has polarised the entire world.

"It is a shame because it is a waste of energy to see that the entire world five years later is still convulsed in the grip of 9/11."

He added: "It's a waste of energy away from things that do matter which is poverty, death, disease, the planet itself and fixing things in our own homes rather than fighting wars with others.

"Mr Bush has set America back 10 years, maybe more."

Police: 2 priests stole millions from Fla. parish

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Two Roman Catholic priests stole millions in offerings and gifts made to their parish over several years, authorities said Thursday.

Monsignor John Skehan, who was pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church for four decades, was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he stole $8.6 million from the church, using the money to buy property and other assets, investigators said.

The 79-year-old priest was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport as he returned from Ireland and was being held on $400,000 bond on grand theft charges.

Strong quake jolts Venezuela, Trinidad

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rocked Venezuela and Trinidad on Friday, knocking out power across much of the Caribbean island and sending thousands of people into the streets.

Trinidad, the epicenter of the 6.1 magnitude quake, reported structural damage to some buildings. But authorities in both countries, which are separated by just a few miles (kilometres) of the Caribbean Sea, said there were no reports of serious injuries.

In Venezuela, the world's No. 5 crude exporter, there was no word of damage to energy installations. The state oil company said its officials were still checking their facilities after much of the east of the country shook during the temblor.

Energy installations appeared to have escaped unscathed in Trinidad.

Hours after the quake, a 5.4 magnitude aftershock rattled Venezuela and Trinidad, sending residents back into the streets.

Millions of anchovies die on Spain beach

MADRID, Spain - Millions of anchovies — a protected species in Europe — have died in northern Spain after an unexplained mass beaching, officials said Friday.

The fish, all juveniles, were found stranded along large stretches of Colunga beach, 35 miles east of the port city of Gijon, a normally pristine seaside landscape in the verdant province of Asturias.

"More than three tons have been found so far, and our main — untested — hypothesis at the moment is that they tried to flee from predators and accidentally beached," said Luis Laria, chief coordinator of a marine protection unit working with the government.

Although anchovies are exported from elsewhere in the world, including Peru and Chile, Laria said anchovies from the Atlantic off Spain and France are the most valued and expensive because of their flavor, derived from their nutrient-rich environment.

If the beached specimens had grown to full maturity, they would have represented more than 100 tons of potential breeders.

"It's a bit of a disaster," said Laria. "We can't fish them because they're so rare, and now they've killed themselves."

Blaze threatens hundreds of California homes
Crews brace for ‘explosive conditions’ with Santa Ana wind on the horizon

LOCKWOOD VALLEY, Calif. - Fire crews raced Thursday to contain the fifth-largest fire in California history before the region’s seasonal Santa Ana winds arrived in full force, but low humidity and irregular winds were complicating the effort, threatening hundreds of rural Southern California dwellings.

“We are expecting extremely low humidities today and winds,” Greg Cleveland, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, told MSNBC. “This is what’s contributed to this fire jumping the fire lines here a couple of days ago.”

A key to controlling the fire, Cleveland said, is “for us not to get our Santa Ana winds, which we get at this time. We’re just now coming into our Santa Ana wind condition period.”

Fire reaches the size of Chicago
Nearly 4,200 firefighters were working to corral the fire in Los Padres National Forest, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. By Thursday morning, it was 41 percent contained after chewing through almost 160,000 acres of wilderness, or nearly 249 square miles, roughly the size of Chicago, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Kim reported from Lockwood Valley that the stubborn blaze had sparked some gallows humor in the area. Firefighters and residents have taken to calling it the “Day-to-Day-to-Day-to-Day Fire” and the “Groundhog Day Fire” — because just when crews think they have a handle on it, it explodes again.

'Mud volcano' forcing 3,000 families to move


An aerial view shows houses flooded with mud in Sidoarjo in Indonesia's East Java province on September 27, 2006. Environmental group Greenpeace on Wednesday dumped 700 kg (1,540 lb) of mud at the welfare ministry in protest over the government's handling of a mudflow disaster. The mud has swamped four villages over an area larger than Monaco, displacing more than 10,000 people.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia will resettle more than 3,000 families whose houses have been swamped by mud surging from a gas exploration site and will dump the sludge into the sea to avoid more destruction, the government said Wednesday.

The mud appeared four months ago after an accident occurred deep in a drilling shaft on the seismically charged island of Java. It now covers more than 665 acres and is currently being contained by an ever-expanding network of dams that are breached almost daily.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said efforts would continue to cap the so-called mud volcano, which has been streaming from the ground at a rate of 1.7 million cubic feet a day.

Jakarta minister may sue Greenpeace over mud protest

JAKARTA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - An Indonesian minister at the centre of controversy surrounding a mudflow that has swamped villages may sue Greenpeace after the environmental group dumped mud at his office building, an aide said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Greenpeace activists poured buckets of greyish mud taken from the inundated East Java site -- which has grown into an area of mud ponds larger than Monaco -- in front of the office of chief people's welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie.

Much of it landed on a layer of white cloth Greenpeace had spread out, but some spilled onto the pavement.

A business group owned by Bakrie's family holds a controlling stake in Lapindo Brantas, the company blamed for the mudflow from an exploratory gas well in East Java's Sidoarjo region.

The firm has denied the mud is directly linked to the drilling operation.

"What the minister wants is that things happening to Lapindo should not be connected to the ministry," said Lalu Mara Satriawangsa, a ministry official who previously worked as a spokesman for the Bakrie family's conglomeration.

Lapindo is controlled by listed firm PT Energi Mega Persada, in turn controlled by the Bakrie group. Another Bakrie-controlled firm, miner PT Bumi Resources Tbk has plans to buy out PT Energi in an all-share deal.

"Yesterday's demonstration was very unethical. They have conducted a rally without permission and they have dumped dirt at a government office," Satriawangsa said.

"We are talking to (lawyers) and ministry officials about whether we should launch a suit," the aide said in a news conference.

Police were present during the Wednesday protest but did not intervene when Greenpeace activists dumped about 700 kg (1,540 lb) of mud just in front of the ministry's gate.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia director Emmy Hafild told reporters during the protest it was "shameless" for Bakrie to distance himself from the disaster.

The mud has submerged four villages, displacing more than 10,000 people. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the resettlement of around 15,000 residents within 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of the mud-hit area.

Lapindo earlier moved many displaced residents to shelters, including a huge new market turned into a complex of wooden cubicles. It has also promised 5 million rupiah ($549) in rent for two years for each family that lost property.

'It is a war,' says one official of locust plague


What at first glance might appear to be butterflies are actually locusts in a field just outside Cancun, Mexico, on Monday. This four-year-old girl seems unphased by the invaders.

MEXICO CITY - Clouds of locusts have descended around the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, destroying corn crops and worrying officials in a region still recovering from the devastating fury of last year’s Hurricane Wilma.

Traveling in dark fogs, locusts are grasshoppers that have entered a swarming phase, capable of covering large distances and rapidly stripping fields of vegetation.

“Imagine, they fly in the form of a flock. Imagine the width of a street,” government official Martin Rodriguez said Tuesday, describing the fields around Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Towns have formed pesticide-armed brigades and are winning the war against the 3-week-old plague that has left tourist areas unharmed, authorities said.

Squads wait until night when the flying insects are roosting on plants to blast them. They carry motorized backpack pumps to shoot chemicals in a crusade that has affected from 2,000 to 2,500 acres of farm land.

“It is a war, effectively,” said German Parra, a senior agriculture official in the Gulf state of Quintana Roo, home of tourist resorts Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

Hot weather and an absence of mobility-limiting hurricanes have allowed the insects to breed more than normal but authorities hope to end the infestation in the next eight days.

Locusts, which typically come to the region in four-year cycles, are most famous as one of the 10 biblical plagues of Egypt. “We hope that God will take pity on us and help us,” said Parra with a laugh.

Record Number Of Plague Cases

DURANGO, C.O. -- The San Juan Basin Health Department confirmed the fourth case of plague in La Plata County Monday. That is the highest number of plague cases ever for one year in the entire state of Colorado. The plague can be fatal in about one out of every seven people infected.

Samoa quake 'triggered tsunami'

A strong earthquake near the South Pacific nation of Samoa has triggered a small tsunami, a warning centre says.
Sea level readings following the quake, which had a magnitude of up to 7.0, indicated a tsunami was generated, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.

But it said a "destructive Pacific-wide tsunami" was not expected.

The quake struck some 300km (185 miles) south-west of Samoa. Waves of eight centimetres high were reported in the American Samoan town of Pago Pago.

One policeman in the capital Apia said buildings swayed and shook for about five minutes, but there was no damage or casualties.

"It was not so strong," he told the Associated Press.

While ruling out an ocean-wide tsunami, the Hawaii-based warning centre said the tsunami "may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre".

1918 flu virus's secrets revealed

An experiment to reconstruct the deadly 1918 flu virus has given a new insight into how the infection took hold.
Scientists discovered a severe immune system reaction was triggered when mice were infected with the recreated virus.

The US team believe the extreme immune response could have provoked the body to begin killing its own cells, making the flu even deadlier.

The study, published in Nature, may aid the hunt for new treatments. The 1918 pandemic took about 50 million lives.

Paul Hunter, professor of health protection from the University of East Anglia, said: "People who have died from the current form of bird flu have died in the same sort of fashion as the people who died during the 1918 pandemic. It is an extraordinarily unpleasant death.

"Clearly the difference between the virus now and the one around in 1918 is that the current one has yet to develop the ability to spread swiftly from person to person.

"It is very important to study the 1918 flu to understand the current avian flu virus."

2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation- UN report

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Some 2.6 billion people in the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, lack access to basic sanitation, increasing the risk of diarrhea and other diseases fatal to children, said a U.N. report released on Thursday.

"Despite commendable progress, an estimated 425 million children under the age of 18 still do not have access to an improved water supply and over 980 million do not have access to adequate sanitation, said Anne Veneman, UNICEF's executive director and a former U.S. secretary of agriculture.

Manila whipped as storm weakens over Philippines

MANILA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Typhoon Xangsane weakened to a tropical storm over the Philippines on Thursday but fierce winds and driving rains killed at least eight people, displaced nearly 5,500 and devastated parts of the central islands and Manila.

Xangsane, which crashed into the centre of the country on Wednesday with winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts of 160 kph, is expected to strengthen back to a typhoon when it reaches the South China Sea on Friday morning.

The storm roared through the capital city, emptying the sprawling streets as most of Manila's 12 million residents took shelter from uprooted trees, overturned trucks and cars and other flying debris.

"It sounded like a train passed on the roof," said one occupant of a fourth-floor apartment. "Then the roof in one of our rooms was gone. I can now see the sky."

The storm is headed westward and is expected to reach the Vietnam coastline early on Sunday.

"It will likely regenerate to a typhoon when it reaches the South China Sea," weather specialist Renato Molina told Reuters.

But the weather bureau said it had spotted a new depression thousands of miles to the east of the Philippines which may develop into a storm and enter the country's area of responsibility by Saturday.

Violent winds and seas stranded around 3,500 ferry passengers and killed at least eight people. A further five were feared dead after heavy rains triggered a mudslide south of Manila.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by power failure, blocked roads and cut communication lines, forcing dozens of people in the central Philippines to take refuge on roofs.

Power was interrupted in wide areas of the main island of Luzon, including Manila, forcing the suspension of train services. Taxi drivers were reluctant to take to the road.

"It's too dangerous," said one cab driver, Armando Legaspi. "Trees were falling left and right. So many things were flying out there. Visibility was also poor and I was so afraid the wind could flip my car."

Agriculture officials said an initial estimate showed 60 million pesos ($1.19 million) worth of crops, particularly fruit trees, had been destroyed.

Xangsane was the 13th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, disaster officials said.

Ninth Tropical Depression of 2006 forms

MIAMI - The ninth tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season remained in the central Atlantic on Thursday, but was not expected to become a hurricane or threaten land, forecasters said.

The depression was expected to intensify and was close to tropical storm strength, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5:00 a.m. EDT, the depression's center was located about 685 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and moving toward the northwest near 12 mph. This general motion was expected to continue during the next day, forecasters said.

The depression, which formed Wednesday, had top sustained winds near 35 mph. If the storm's winds reach 39 mph it will become Tropical Storm Isaac.

Fishermen: Seal numbers out of control

CHATHAM, Mass. - In the waters and beaches off this Cape Cod town, the shiny scalps and whiskered snouts of the gray seal are everywhere. They bask in the sun, mug for boaters and, fisherman say, eat way too many fish.

The thousands of gray seals off Chatham show the success of a federal law that protects all marine mammals, including the Cape's once-sparse seal population, which had been thinned in part by a killing bounty.

But the 1972 law didn't plan any curbs once populations rebounded, and fishermen say the ubiquitous and voracious seals are destroying their businesses and there's no way to stop them.

"The population is getting out of control," said Ernie Eldredge, a Chatham fisherman for 40 years.

Fishermen have few ideas how to manage the seals without killing them, something that no one is openly advocating and which a public enamored with the friendly animals would not easily accept. Peter Baker of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman's Association said he's convinced "there are strategies for managing seal populations that don't include clubbing baby seals."

Robert Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay sanctuary, said fishermen are too quick to blame the seals for declining fish catches. Environmental conditions or overfishing may be much more at fault, he said.

"It's way too complex to just point a finger at the seals," he said.

Prescott, of the Audubon Society, said he understands the dilemma fisherman face, but is unconvinced there's a growing imbalance between seals and fish. He added no scientific paper he's seen proves they're eating valuable commercial species.

Fishermen don't always realize they aren't the sea's only predators, he said.

"They feel they have the right to every single fish in the ocean, and nature doesn't," he said.

Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands

NEW DELHI (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale has struck off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

"The intensity of the earthquake was moderate. It was recorded north of the Andaman Islands this evening," an official at the Indian Meteorological Department said Thursday.

No tremors were felt in the archipelago -- a chain of more than 500 islands in the Indian Ocean -- the official said.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 257 kilometers (160 miles) east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands and 384 kilometers (238 miles) west of Mergui in Myanmar.

Stubborn Calif. wildfire still burning


A forest firefighter runs down Lockwood Valley Road as flames burn through the brush after the fire jumped Lockwood Valley road in Ventura, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006. The Day fire jumped 60-foot-wide bulldozer lines in Los Padres National Forest Monday night. Despite the renewed intensity, no homes had been lost to the Day Fire, which began on Labor Day and has burned more than 143,100 acres in wilderness some 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


A huge tornado caused by the wind swept fire, just moments after the fire jumped Lockwood Valley Road, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, in Ventura, Calif. Firefighters Tuesday worked to protect hundreds of rural homes in the path of a stubborn wildfire that has burned for more than three weeks in mountainous Southern California forest lands. The Day fire jumped 60-foot-wide bulldozer lines in Los Padres National Forest Monday night. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


A forest firefighter turns away to protect himself from the intense heat as the Day Fire, jumps Lockwood Valley road in Ventura, Calif. on Tuesday Sept. 26, 2006. Despite the renewed intensity, no homes had been lost to the Day Fire, which began on Labor Day and has burned more than 143,100 acres in wilderness some 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


(AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


A fence post burns as firefighters work to contain the Day Fire in the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California September 26, 2006. REUTERS/Phil McCarten (UNITED STATES)


Firefighters work to contain the Day Fire in the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California September 26, 2006. REUTERS/Phil McCarten (UNITED STATES)


A firefighter uses a bulldozer to cut a firebreak to contain the Day Fire in the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California September 26, 2006. REUTERS/Phil McCarten (UNITED STATES)

LOCKWOOD VALLEY, Calif. - Officials urged residents in rural mountain communities to evacuate as they battled one of California's largest and longest-lasting wildfires.

Thick smoke turned the sky gray and purplish Tuesday as flames rolled through pines and juniper trees on slopes of Los Padres National Forest, where more than 3,800 firefighters have battled the blaze since it started on Labor Day.

"The problem is we've had extremely dry fuels," fire spokesman Dan Bastion said Wednesday. "Brush and trees will be ignited by the heat of the fire, so there's a domino effect going on."

"It was scary. I've never seen a wall of fire 200 feet high moving right at you and there's nothing you can do," he said. "It makes you believe in the Lord, I'll tell you."

The new fire activity was a surprise setback for firefighters. The blaze had been moving relatively slowly with the dying of weekend Santa Ana winds that had the potential to greatly spread flames but did not.

The blaze has burned more than 144,880 acres — 226 square miles — of wilderness. It was ignited by someone burning debris.

Firefighting costs have topped $45.5 million.

Typhoon Xangsane pounds Philippine capital


A fisherman runs from big waves after securing his boat at a fish port in Bulan in Sorsogon province located in the southern tip of the main Philippine island of Luzon, September 27, 2006, as Typhoon Xangsane slammed into the country, leaving thousands of ferry and airline passengers stranded.

MANILA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Typhoon Xangsane lashed the Philippine capital on Thursday, grounding flights, halting vessels and closing schools and markets after triggering fatal flash floods in the centre of the country.

The storm, which brought heavy rain and winds of up to 160 km (99 miles) per hour, hit the central Philippines on Wednesday trapping nearly 3,500 ferry passengers and killing two people in a remote village after flood waters swept away dozens of houses.

Several central provinces were left without electricity and water as power lines crashed and many roads were left impassable due to uprooted trees, debris and flooding as Xangsane churned northwest towards Manila.

"It's like waking up from a nightmare," office of civil defense chief for the central Bicol region, Arnel Capili, told a radio station. "The first thing is to clear the national highway leading to Manila."

Disaster officials in the capital had raised the alert level ahead of Xangsane's arrival, the first typhoon to cross the city since 1995.

"We are asking the people to take extra precautions in the capital because we expect the eye of the storm to cross north of Manila before noon today," Nathaniel Cruz, chief forecaster, told local radio.

Worst is yet to come, US hurricane chief says

MIAMI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - If you thought the sight of the great American jazz city New Orleans flooded to the eaves -- its people trapped in attics or cowering on rooftops -- was the nightmare hurricane scenario, think again.

Max Mayfield, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, says there's plenty of potential for a storm worse than Hurricane Katrina which killed 1,339 people along the U.S. Gulf coast and caused some $80 billion in damage last August.

"People think we have seen the worst. We haven't," Mayfield told Reuters in an interview at the fortress-like hurricane center in Florida.

"I think the day is coming. I think eventually we're going to have a very powerful hurricane in a major metropolitan area worse than what we saw in Katrina and it's going to be a mega-disaster. With lots of lost lives," Mayfield said.

"I don't know whether that's going to be this year or five years from now or a hundred years from now. But as long as we continue to develop the coastline like we are, we're setting up for disaster."

Government accused of blocking hurricane report

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration has blocked the release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday.

The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to become stronger has generated debate among climate and weather experts, particularly in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

A series of studies over the past year or so have shown an increase in the power of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a strengthening that many storm experts say is tied to rising sea-surface temperatures.

Just two weeks ago, researchers said that most of the increase in ocean temperature that feeds more intense hurricanes is a result of human-induced global warming, a study one researcher said "closes the loop" between climate change and powerful storms like Katrina.

Not all agree, however, with opponents arguing that many other factors affect storms, which can increase and decrease in cycles.

The possibility of global warming affecting hurricanes is politically sensitive because the administration has resisted proposals to restrict release of gases that can cause warming conditions.

In February, a NASA political appointee who worked in the space agency's public relations department resigned after reportedly trying to restrict access to Jim Hansen, a NASA climate scientist who has been active in global warming research.

Family sickened by spinach sues processing co.

TOLEDO, Ohio - Five family members who said they were sickened after eating fresh spinach filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a processing company investigators are examining in their search for the source of the tainted greens.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeks at least $100,000 in damages from Natural Selection Foods LLC.

Roger Drummond and Laura Snider, of Bowling Green, said they and their three children became ill in late August and early September after eating packages of organic spinach salad.

A Brief History of Infinity: Space and the Universe

Human beings have trouble with infinity - yet infinity is a surprisingly human subject.

Philosophers and mathematicians have gone insane contemplating its nature and complexity - yet it is a concept routinely used by schoolchildren.

Presented by the renowned astronomer Heather Couper, these programmes take the listener on a journey with an endless audio horizon and feature contributions from musicians who write endless music; science fiction authors, who create infinite worlds and timeless beings; theologians; Buddhist lamas; astro-physicists and mathematicians.

It is infinity... in a nutshell.

Locust plague encircles Mexico's Cancun resort

MEXICO CITY, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Clouds of locusts have descended around the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, destroying corn crops and worrying officials in a region still recovering from the devastating fury of last year's Hurricane Wilma.

Traveling in dark fogs, locusts are grasshoppers that have entered a swarming phase, capable of covering large distances and rapidly stripping fields of vegetation.

"Imagine, they fly in the form of a flock. Imagine the width of a street," government official Martin Rodriguez said on Tuesday, describing the fields around Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Towns have formed pesticide-armed brigades and are winning the war against the 3-week-old plague that has left tourist areas unharmed, authorities said.

Squads wait until night when the flying insects are roosting on plants to blast them. They carry motorized backpack pumps to shoot chemicals in a crusade that has affected from 2,000 to 2,500 acres (800 to 1,000 hectares) of farm land.

"It is a war, effectively," said German Parra, a senior agriculture official in the Gulf state of Quintana Roo, home of tourist resorts Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

Locusts, which typically come to the region in four-year cycles, are most famous as one of the 10 biblical plagues of Egypt. "We hope that God will take pity on us and help us," said Parra with a laugh.

Eruption of Alaska volcano possible

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.

Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory, said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but "nothing is imminent."

According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.

3,500 firefighters work to encircle Calif. blaze


Firefighters take position along Lockwood Way as the Day Fire burns in the hills above Lockwood Canyon, California, September 25, 2006. The blaze jumped a fire line and burned an additional 1,000 acres, as it moved toward the remote community. The fire has burned 140,000 acres since September 4, 2006. REUTERS/Gene Blevins (UNITED STATES)

OJAI, Calif. - Fire crews set backfires to halt flames from reaching a remote community in northern Ventura County threatened by one of the largest and longest-burning wildfires in state history.

Authorities issued a voluntary evacuation Monday evening for about 500 people in Lockwood Valley when flames jumped over a fire line and quickly reached a peak about 1½ miles from the community.

The blaze, ignited by someone burning debris, has burned 218 square miles, or 139,720 acres, in the area 75 miles north of Los Angeles since it began on Labor Day. It was 41 percent contained.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for Ventura County. The move clears the way for government assistance with costs related to the fire.

More than 3,500 firefighters were trying to encircle the blaze, which has cost $43.6 million to fight.

Weekend severe storms blamed for 13 deaths in Midwest, South

LOUISVILLE (AP) — Debris and damaged items from homes and businesses where hauled curbside Monday as residents in the Midwest and South cleaned up after the weekend's severe thunderstorms that were blamed for 13 deaths.
At least 8 deaths were reported in Kentucky after flooding triggered by 5 to 10 inches of rain in 36 hours sent rivers and creeks over their banks. Eighteen counties and 12 cities declared states of emergency, state officials said.

Every business in the small far western Kentucky city of Fulton was flooded by four feet of water from Harris Fork Creek, authorities said.

High water remained across Kentucky on Monday, and while some flood warnings were still in effect, creeks and rivers had nearly all crested, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.

The death toll in Kentucky included two University of Kentucky students swept up by knee-deep water as they tried to cross a flooded Lexington roadway.

"This is a very exceptional event," Bud Schardein, executive director of Louisville's metropolitan sewer district, said of the flooding. "This is not the average storm, it's not even a heavy storm,"

In Illinois, authorities said lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women. Three deaths were reported in Arkansas, where six counties declared states of emergency.

In northern Arkansas on Monday, officials found the body of a retired firefighter two days after he was swept away when the Spring River overflowed its banks at a campground in Hardy.

With the floods, campers were stranded at the private campgrounds.

"People were hanging from trees," Hardy Fire Chief Lonnie Phelps said. "The river came up quick."

Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park were asked to evacuate.

"I didn't think we were going to make it out of there," said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members — wearing life jackets — swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.

In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.

Earth 'near million-year hot spot'

Indonesia mudflow breaks barriers

SURABAYA, Indonesia, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Barriers built to control a torrent of mud gushing out from an exploratory oil well in Indonesia failed to hold late on Monday, injuring six workers and inundating nearby villages.

Several experts have said the mudflow, which started to spurt in late May, could have been triggered by a crack about 6,000 feet (1,800 metres) deep in East Java province's Banjar Panji well.

However, a group of international scientists said this week the mudflow might be a natural phenomenon that could be impossible to stop.

The mud has swamped four villages over an area larger than Monaco, displacing more than 10,000 people and highlighting the chequered environmental practices in exploiting resources in Indonesia.

The Monday night barrier breaches had been predicted by hundreds of villagers living near the sand-and-gravel dykes who fled the area last week. But, several site workers who stayed in the abandoned houses failed to anticipate the flood.

Landslide buries 8 people in northern Philippines

MANILA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed and 14 were injured when a landslide slammed into a narrow mountain road in the northern Philippines, local disaster officials said on Friday.

Vicente Tomas of the Office of Civil Defence in Baguio City said passengers of a mini-bus were clearing a road near Natonin town when boulders and mud rolled down and buried them late on Thursday.

"It was raining heavily all day in the mountain province, causing the landslides," said Tomas, adding those who were pulled out from the mud were rushed to a nearby hospital.

In February, weeks of heavy rain buried nearly 1,000 people in a farming village on the central Philippine island of Leyte.

Scientists issue strongest coral warning

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Scientists have issued their strongest warning so far this year that unusually warm Caribbean Sea temperatures threaten coral reefs that suffered widespread damage last year in record-setting heat.

Waters have reached 85 degrees around the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico — temperatures at which coral can be damaged if waters do not cool after a few weeks — said Al Strong, a scientist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, in a telephone interview Monday.

The warning issued Saturday by NOAA urges scuba-dive operators and underwater researchers in the U.S. Caribbean territories to look for coral damage and use caution around the fragile reefs, which are easily damaged by physical contact.

Coral, which provide a sheltered habitat for fish, lobsters and other animals, die from prolonged bleaching, when the water temperature gets so high that it kills the algae that populate and build the reefs.

The new warning follows two watches issued since July.

Strong said the water was not expected to become as warm as last year, when sea temperatures in the territories hovered near 86 degrees for months at a time and as much as 40 percent of the coral died around the U.S. Virgin Islands.

He said researchers were monitoring how the heat affects coral recovery from last year.

"There is still so much to learn about the physiology of coral" and which species recover fastest, Strong said in a telephone interview from Maryland.

Scientists have not pinpointed what is behind the warm sea temperatures but some speculate global warming might be the cause.

Cooler air set to invade central U. S.

More E. coli infected spinach found in outbreak

WASHINGTON - More bags of spinach tainted with toxic E. coli bacteria have been found and could help investigators track down an outbreak that may have killed three people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

It said 183 people in 26 states had been confirmed with E. coli O157:H7 infections in the outbreak.

The Toronto Star newspaper said a woman in Canada's Ontario province had also been infected.

NIGER: Cholera epidemic follows floods

NIAMEY, 26 September (IRIN) - Cholera has claimed 21 lives among 206 infected people in Niger following seasonal rains that have flooded communities and left them unable to cope with a health crisis.

The United Nations has sent emergency aid to Niger following the flooding, which has affected 43,000 people. The government says 10,000 people have lost their homes.

Typhoon Xangsane Takes Aim at Philippines

Typhoon Xangsane is forecast to strike the Philippines at about 18:00 GMT on 26 September. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 12.2 N, 126.2 E. Xangsane is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 120 km/h (74 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

ACT Alert: Earthquakes in Yunnan Province

Yanjin and Daguan Counties in Yunnan Province are located on an earthquake belt and have suffered several quakes (two of magnitude 5.1 and one of 4.7, with aftershocks of 2 to 3 on the Richter Scale) in July and August 2006. Although these quakes were not of a high magnitude on the Richter Scale, they were shallow (4 to 9 km in depth) and consequently caused widespread damage.

On 22 July a quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale hit Yanjin and neighboring Daguan county, killing 22 people and injuring 106. The epicenter was in Dousha town, Yanjin County, and seriously affected areas of Yanjin, Daguan, Yiliang, Yongshan. More than 1,400 houses were destroyed and 38,000 damaged in 13 townships. According to the National Disaster Reduction Center, the quake affected at least 38,200 families (153,000 people), and 51,000 people had to be relocated. The earthquake also caused widespread infrastructure damage.

On 25 August another quake of 5.1 in the same area killed at least one person and injured 31 others. This quake was shallower than the previous one, causing wider devastation.

On 29 August, Dousha town, Yanjin County was hit by another quake, this time of 4.7, further exacerbating the situation.

FACTBOX-Bird flu's spread around the globe

Sept 26 (Reuters) - International experts on Tuesday called on countries to share freely all influenza virus samples and genetic sequencing data, key to developing a vaccine against a potential bird flu pandemic.

Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Following are some facts about the H5N1 avian flu virus and its spread around the globe.

* Since the virus re-emerged in Asia in 2003, outbreaks have been confirmed around 50 countries and territories, according to data from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

* Since the beginning of January 2006, more than 30 countries have reported outbreaks, in most cases involving wild birds such as swans.

* The virus has killed 146 people since 2003, according to the WHO. Countries with confirmed human deaths are: Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

* In total, the virus is known to have infected 249 people since 2003, according to the WHO. Many of those who have died are children and young adults.

* Vietnam and Indonesia have the highest number of cases, accounting for 93 of the total deaths.

* The H5N1 virus is not new to science and was responsible for an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland in 1959. Britain confirmed a new case in Scotland on April 6.

* H5N1 is not the only bird flu virus. There are numerous strains. For example, an outbreak in 2003 of the H7N7 bird flu virus in the Netherlands led to the destruction of more than 30 million birds, around a third of the country's poultry stock. About 2.7 million were destroyed in Belgium, and around 400,000 in Germany. In the Netherlands, 89 people were infected with the H7N7 virus, of whom one (a veterinarian) died.

* The H5N1 virus made the first known jump into humans in Hong Kong in 1997, infecting 18 people and killing six of them. The government ordered the immediate culling of the territory's entire poultry flock, ending the outbreak.

* Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye inflammations (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications. (Sources: OIE, WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Forest fires have burned 600 square miles in Washington

UNDATED Some forest fires are still smoldering, but wildfire officials says this has been the biggest year for fires in Washington since 1994.

Nearly 600 square miles (more than 382-thousand acres) have burned, compared to 90 square miles (58-thousand acres) last year.

It was a hotter, drier summer with a lot of lightning strikes. And some forests were weakened by infestations of pine beetles.

Storms, tornadoes hit Midwest, South; 12 dead

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stormy weather blamed for 12 deaths in the Midwest and South subsided on Sunday, though residents in some states remained shut out of their homes due to high waters.

Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Many Kentucky roads were still submerged on Sunday, but waters in many areas began to recede.

“It looks like everything’s kind of quieting down, and things are being handled on the local level right now,” said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort.

“It was almost Katrina-like pretty much,” said Chester Craig, a lieutenant with the Mercer Central Volunteer Fire Department. “There were vehicles underwater and people were walking around in a daze.”

Wildfires spark emergency declaration by California governor

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared an emergency in wildfire-ravaged Ventura County near Los Angeles as a set of blazes scorched the tinder-dry state.

Wind-whipped flames had thus far charred 127,569 acres (51,625 hectares) of mountainous terrain in the Los Padres National Park in what Schwarzenegger referred to as "one of the largest wild-land fires in recent California history."

"Conditions of extreme peril to persons and property exists in Ventura County due to the fires," Schwarzenegger said in his declaration.

"The magnitude of these fires exceeds the capabilities of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of Ventura County."

Australia hit by early bushfires


Australia suffers from annual bushfires

Australian firefighters are battling to limit the damage caused by more than 50 bushfires which broke out around Sydney over the weekend.
Officials said they suspected at least some of the fires, which destroyed seven homes, were started by arsonists.

The fires herald an early start to the annual bushfire season, raising fears that the blazes might be particularly strong this year.

Many of these fires occur naturally, but arson is also a common problem.

Blazes erupted to both the north and south of Sydney on Sunday, fanned by 100 km/h (60 mph) winds and very hot, arid conditions.

Hottest August on record

Bushfires are a regular feature of Australia's summer months, burning thousands of hectares of forests every year.

Scientists warn that Sunday's blazes may forecast problems later in the year, when conditions get hotter, drier and more prone to fires.

"It's a major concern that fire seasons seem to be starting earlier and lasting longer," Kevin O'Loughlin, the head of the Bushfire Co-operative Research Center, told local media.

"We've got to get a greater understanding on this, on the frequency of fires, the earlier start to the season and if there's any connection to climate change," he said.

He added that Australia had reported its hottest, driest August on record this year.

Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of the pope for his alleged disparaging remarks about Islam, on Monday, September 18, in Muzaffarabad. Protesters continued to demand that the pope apologize fully for his remarks on Islam and violence. The placard at right reads "Long live Islam."

More E. coli cases blamed on spinach

WASHINGTON - Two more cases of illness were blamed Sunday on the outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach, raising the number of people sickened to 173, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Meanwhile, a second bag of spinach contaminated with toxic E.coli bacteria has been found in Utah, and regulators hope it will offer clues about an outbreak that has killed as many as three.

Global temperature highest in millennia

19 killed as heavy rains pound eastern India


A villager wades through the flooded village of Sundarpur, about 160 km (99 miles) north of Kolkata, September 25, 2006. REUTERS/Parth Sanyal (INDIA)

NEW DELHI (AFP) - At least 19 people have died in torrential rains pounding the eastern Indian state of Bihar for the fifth straight day.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) quoting state officials said four people sheltering behind a brick-and-mortar wall were crushed to death Monday when it collapsed due to the rains in the state's Muzaffarpur town.

An unnamed women and her five children were killed in a similar rain-related accident on Sunday in the state's water-logged Nalanda district, a state administration spokesman said Monday.

Nine others were killed in separate incidents of house collapse and drowning in the past five days in Bihar where non-stop rain since Thursday has inundated large parts of the populous state, PTI added.

The provincial administration Monday shut schools and colleges in the state capital of Patna and in nearby Bhagalpur district because of the blinding downpour, the government spokesman said.

"At least 100 villages in five blocks (counties) are flooded and road networks are on the verge of collapse," an official from the state relief department told reporters in Patna.

Hundreds of people have died across India in floods since the onset of monsoon in June this year.

Revelation 14:7
Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come.
Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!

God is Strong.
God is Very, Very, Very Strong.


An air tanker makes a drop on the Napa fire west of Yountville, Calif. on Friday.


Hot, dry winds stoke Calif. wildfires

OJAI, Calif. - Hot, dry Santa Ana winds gusting to more than 50 mph Saturday stoked the flames of a three-week-old wildfire in Los Padres National Forest and ignited at least two new fires.

The fires prompted officials to evacuate about 300 homes and a college east of Ojai, while the winds briefly grounded water-dropping helicopters.

"Today we were getting kind of smacked by the winds. The helicopters were up, and they were down," said Ventura County fire Capt. Barry Parker. "We actually fared pretty well today considering what we were up against."

Late Saturday, authorities urged residents along Highway 150 east of Ojai to evacuate. The order was voluntary and prompted by flames from one of the "spot" fires cresting a nearby ridge, said Curtis Vincent, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

"It's close enough that they are feeling it's better that everyone evacuate now before they go to bed," Vincent said. "If I had friends or family in that area, I'd have them get out in a nice, relaxed fashion just to be safe."

The new blazes that began when the winds blew embers past the fire lines consumed thousands of acres of brush before burning back into the main blaze, which was about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. That fire scorched 120,816 acres — or nearly 189 square miles — since igniting Labor Day. It was 40 percent contained.

One of the "spot" blazes burned about 7,000 acres in the canyons above Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150. The campus was evacuated late Saturday.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions through Sunday in the area. Forecasters said gusts as high as 70 mph were possible during the weekend. By late Saturday, gusts were down to about 30 mph, although officials expected them to increase again Sunday morning.

Susan Freeman, an Ojai resident, said she had loaded belongings into her station wagon in case evacuations were ordered and worried about her three dogs and five cats at home. She said, "When you live with your house packed in your car for two weeks, you get scared."

The fire along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago. More than 3,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has cost $33 million to fight.

Elsewhere, a small brush fire broke out Saturday in the Angeles National Forest in northern Los Angeles County. It burned 100 acres and was 35 percent contained. No structures were threatened and no evacuations were ordered, authorities said.

Crews mopped up another fire in Angeles National Forest that was fully contained Friday after burning 113 acres. They also mopped up a 2,730-acre blaze in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained Saturday.

Dave Erzfeld, left, and Jason Austin both of Perryville, Mo., carry antique furniture out of a family member's Crosstown, Mo., home Saturday after severe storms destroyed the 131-year-old brick structure.

Storms sweep southern Midwest, 10 dead

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Severe storms crossing the southern U.S. Midwest produced heavy rains, hail and flooding and caused at least 10 deaths, local officials said on Saturday.

The storms Friday and Saturday dumped more than 10 inches of rain in southeast Missouri and stretched into northeastern Kentucky, the National Weather Service said.

The heaviest flooding occurred in the Ohio River Valley and central portions of the Mississippi River Valley, said Beth Lewandowski of DTN/Meteorlogix.

The National Weather Service said there were 37 preliminary tornado reports around the region and one confirmed tornado in Phelps County, Missouri, since the storms began Friday.

In northeast Arkansas, several people caught in fast-rising flood waters survived by clinging to trees along the Spring River near Hardy.

"The water just rose so fast, there were several individuals rescued from trees in that area," Sharp County emergency dispatcher Tamara Roberts said.

"They were basically going for help and got swept down the river," she said.

In northwest Arkansas, a 51-year-old woman was struck and killed by lightning late Friday while in a fishing boat on a small lake.

Nine people died in Kentucky, including two women who fell into a drainage ditch in Lexington, emergency officials said.

Another woman was killed in Jessamine County, Kentucky, when her pickup truck was swept off a road and overturned in a creek, county officials said. Two passengers escaped harm.

News reports said another motorist died after skidding off a highway near Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Three dead, thousands evacuated as Kolkata flooded

KOLKATA (AFP) - Three people were electrocuted and more than 2,000 evacuated after the heaviest rains in 23 years left large parts of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata under water.

Residents blamed the city's poor drainage system for failing to carry away the rainwater that had turned the city into a swamp.

But Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said there was little the capital city of West Bengal state could do.

"It's hard to fight nature's fury," he said Saturday. "If it rains beyond our capacity, we can merely watch the city going under water and wait for it to limp back to normal."

Bangladesh says thousands of fishermen missing

DHAKA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of Bangladeshi fishermen are missing feared drowned after a storm last week in the Bay of Bengal, officials said on Sunday, sharply raising earlier estimates.

Rescuers have so far found more than 100 bloated bodies after a storm last Tuesday night wrecked their boats.

"Lists provided by local government bodies, fishing community leaders and fishing boat owners suggested more than 1,700 fishermen are still missing from the Barguna district alone," said district administrator Kazi Obaidur Rahman, on Sunday.

Barguna is 300 km (188 miles) south of the capital, Dhaka.

He said 250 out of about 700 boats caught in the storm off the Barguna coast had returned to shore over the past four days. The fate of the other vessels was unknown.

"The navy, coastguard, civil administration and the fishing trawler owners' association have launched a massive search and rescue operation since Saturday," he told Reuters by telephone, adding that bad weather had prevented an earlier start.

Returning fishermen have told authorities they saw numerous bodies floating in the sea. Dogs were seen eating bodies washed up on sandy islands. The other affected districts are Patuakhali, Cox's Bazar and Bagerhat, where local officials on Sunday said nearly 2,000 fishermen were still unaccounted for.

More drug-resistant TB seen in U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO - The worst forms of the killer tuberculosis bug have been gaining ground in the United States, alarming public health officials over imported drug-resistant strains of a disease that is mostly under control in this country.

5 more E. coli cases blamed on spinach

WASHINGTON - The outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach was blamed for another five cases of illness Saturday, raising the number of people sickened to 171, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The number of states affected held steady at 25. So far, 92 people have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases — a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland — but those cases are still being investigated.

Thousands of Muslims flee east Sri Lanka, many stranded

COLOMBO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of Muslims are fleeing their homes in embattled northeast Sri Lanka for the second time in as many months but thousands more are stranded, aid workers said on Sunday, after a suspected rebel front vowed to recapture the newly resettled area.

Families who had fled the northeastern town of Mutur as it was ravaged by fighting between the military and Tamil Tigers in August only returned from tent cities and refugee camps a fortnight ago after the army drove the Tamil Tigers out.

Now the military is blocking many resettled civilians from leaving again.

Around 1,500 families left Mutur for nearby Kinniya on Saturday and more than 1,000 families were stranded at a jetty on Sunday after the government suspended ferry service to the northeastern port of Trincomalee, one local aid worker told Reuters by telephone from the area.

"The military and the government are not allowing them to move," he added. "They have stopped the ferry and also by the land route they are stopping them and don't allow them to go on."

The attempted exodus comes after a previously unknown suspected rebel front called Tamileela Thayaga Meedpu Padai distributed leaflets in the town warning residents to leave immediately.

"The final preparations have begun to recapture ... Mutur," the leaflet said. "Do not remain in Mutur... you will only face destruction."

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not immediately available for comment, but demand that the government must give back the nearby town of Sampur, which the army had captured. The town sits on the southern lip of the strategic harbour of Trincomalee.

Tens of thousands of people displaced by fierce fighting in and around Mutur had spent weeks camped out in emergency shelters in schools in the eastern town of Kantale, but government officials said they were under pressure to return life to normal for the town's regular habitants.

A year after Rita, hunters still finding corpses

CAMERON, Louisiana (AP) -- A year after Hurricane Rita, the grave at Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery sits empty, half-filled with stagnant water, its vault and casket yanked out of the ground and carried north by churning floodwater from the Gulf of Mexico.

Across southwest Louisiana, cemeteries still bear scars from Hurricane Rita like 6-foot rectangular holes in the soil. Hunters and farmers make grim calls to the coroner after stumbling across caskets miles away from the graves.

"We could be recovering caskets, from here on, for years," said Charlie Hunter, a coroner's investigator working in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes. "It's going to be a long process."

"In the marsh, duck hunters going to their duck blinds, they're still finding caskets," he said.

Hunter said his office has recovered 325 caskets and human remains the storm pulled up from the earth. One casket was found 34 miles from its grave, he said.

Of those recovered, 240 have been identified and returned to their graves.

Local funeral homes have started putting metal bracelets on the deceased, and attaching metal discs to vaults and caskets, stamped with the person's name.

That will make it easier to identify disinterred bodies when the next storm comes.

U.S. report says Iraq war has fueled terror threat

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A classified intelligence report concludes that the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat to the United States, U.S. officials told CNN Sunday.

Early wildfires threaten Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Six houses were destroyed, one man was killed and several hundred firefighters battled blazes into the night as swirling winds and scorching temperatures on Sunday gave Australia an early start to its wildfire season.

Anxious authorities greeted a cool change that swept southeastern New South Wales state late Sunday, calming gale force winds and cooling unusually hot autumn conditions that drove dozens of fires in parks and farmland around Australia's largest city.

One man was killed when a wind gust toppled a tree branch that struck him as he rode his motorcycle in Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney, police said.

State Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg said about 50 fires erupted in various locations on Sunday. Four houses were razed near Thirlmere southwest of Sydney, and two more near Cattai, to the northwest of the city.

Television networks showed footage of the skeletons of two houses still afire, as well as panicking kangaroos, horses and other animals fleeing the flames and smoke.

Water-bombing planes and hundreds of firefighters dumped thousands of liters (gallons) trying to douse the flames, which chewed through tinder-dry forests and were whipped up by winds gusting to about 100 kph (60 mph) as temperatures hit 35 C (95 F).

"We've not had a day like this in September in history," Koperberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation "It was a very, very difficult day for firefighters."

Some still homeless after deadly storms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stormy weather blamed for 12 deaths in the Midwest and South subsided on Sunday, though residents in some states remained shut out of their homes due to high waters.

Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Many Kentucky roads were still submerged on Sunday, but waters in many areas began to recede.

"It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, and things are being handled on the local level right now," said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort.

The storms that hit parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.

The death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, and in Illinois, authorities say lightning was the apparent cause of a house fire that killed elderly two women.

The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.

In Kentucky, about 200 people at Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival were evacuated by boats and school buses to transport after rising waters forced an evacuation, said Ruthann Phillips of the Red Cross.

"It was almost Katrina-like pretty much," said Chester Craig, a lieutenant with the Mercer Central Volunteer Fire Department. "There were vehicles underwater and people were walking around in a daze."

Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park in Hardy, Ark., were asked to evacuate when the Spring River began rising.

"I didn't think we were going to make it out of there," said Charles Lenderman, who awoke Saturday morning to find knee-high water in his camper's kitchen. Lenderman and family members — wearing life jackets — swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.

In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.

Crews gain ground on massive Calif. fire

OJAI, Calif. - Firefighters gained ground Sunday against a wildfire that has burned more than 200 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest, aided by calmer winds and aircraft dropping water and fire-smothering chemicals.

Winds fluctuated Sunday but were still tamer than in recent days, gusting at 40 mph compared to 50 mph Saturday and shifting away from populated communities in the afternoon. That lowered the risk of flames spreading and let more ground crews go to work.

As winds faded, local residents appeared less anxious as more than 3,000 firefighters and emergency blanketed the area.

"If something major happens, it would really be an act of God because this area has just been covered so completely by the fire service," said Mike Gram, 54, who stopped into a grocery store in Ojai.

Storms in Midwest, South leave 5 dead


Workers secure the front of a convenience store damaged during a storm Friday, Sept. 22, 2006, in St. James, Mo. The blocks in the foreground are from the station's car wash. Two tornadoes swept through Phelps County in south-central Missouri Friday afternoon, damaging more than 100 homes, a middle school and a manufacturing plant. Bruce Southard, Phelps County's emergency management director, said a firefighter videotaped two twisters moving through the town. Southard estimated the tornadoes were on the ground for about 10 minutes.(AP Photo/Kelley McCall)



Lightning strikes in a wall cloud over Fort Smith, Ark. on Friday.

Severe weather kills 1 in Arkansas

ST. JAMES, Mo. (AP) — Severe thunderstorms spawned tornadoes, large hail and lightning in parts of the Midwest on Friday, killing a boater trying to get to shore.
Two tornadoes swept through south-central Missouri Friday afternoon, damaging more than 100 homes and tearing off part of a roof at a middle school moments after a tornado drill. No deaths had been reported.

A firefighter videotaped two twisters moving through St. James, said Phelps County emergency management director Bruce Southard. He estimated the tornadoes were on the ground for 10 minutes.

"It's devastating," he said. "We've got nice houses that are just tore to pieces."

In northwest Arkansas, Deborah Massey, 51, died when her boat was struck by lightning as she and Preston Starritt, 36, both of Prairie Grove, were on Bob Kidd Lake, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said. Starritt was injured and treated at a hospital.

Several tornadoes were reported in the region, where power was knocked out, trees broken and at least one home damaged.

"I've seen storms come through, but nothing that's taken down poles like this," Springdale police Sgt. Billy Turnbough said flagpoles bent sideways.

Three dead, thousands evacuated as Kolkata flooded


An Indian pedestrian carries his briefcase upon his shoulder as he walks through a waterlogged street of Kolkata, September 22. Three people were electrocuted and more than 2,000 evacuated after the heaviest rains in 23 years left large parts of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata under water.(AFP/Str/File)

KOLKATA (AFP) - Three people were electrocuted and more than 2,000 evacuated after the heaviest rains in 23 years left large parts of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata under water.

Residents blamed the city's poor drainage system for failing to carry away the rainwater that had turned the city into a swamp.

But Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said there was little the capital city of West Bengal state could do.

"It's hard to fight nature's fury," he said Saturday. "If it rains beyond our capacity, we can merely watch the city going under water and wait for it to limp back to normal."

Some of the city's roads were waist-deep in water and the rainwater had invaded homes and swanky shopping malls alike.

"Life has virtually grounded to a halt as vast tracts of the city are under water for a second day with transport off the roads," said deputy police commissioner P. K. Chattopadhyay.

"Three people were electrocuted in the southern fringe of the city after their house was flooded," he said. "Rubber boats have been deployed in the worst-affected areas of the city and more than 2,000 people evacuated from different parts."

Twister rips roof off school seconds after drill


A rainbow rises behind a Missouri convenience store damaged Friday.

ST. JAMES, Missouri (AP) -- Severe thunderstorms spawned tornadoes, large hail and lightning in parts of the Midwest on Friday, killing a boater trying to get to shore.

Two tornadoes swept through south-central Missouri Friday afternoon, damaging more than 100 homes and tearing off part of a roof at a middle school moments after a tornado drill. No deaths had been reported.

A firefighter videotaped two twisters moving through St. James, said Phelps County emergency management director Bruce Southard. He estimated the tornadoes were on the ground for 10 minutes.

"It's devastating," he said. "We've got nice houses that are just tore to pieces."

In northwest Arkansas, Deborah Massey, 51, died when her boat was struck by lightning as she and Preston Starritt, 36, both of Prairie Grove, were on Bob Kidd Lake, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said. Starritt was injured and treated at a hospital.

Several tornadoes were reported in the region, where power was knocked out, trees broken and at least one home damaged.

"I've seen storms come through, but nothing that's taken down poles like this," Springdale police Sgt. Billy Turnbough said flagpoles bent sideways.

Carolina quake rattles homes, nerves

BENNETTSVILLE, South Carolina (AP) -- A minor earthquake shook homes and broke windows around this community Friday morning, but no injuries or serious damage was reported.

The shaking was felt in Marlboro and Chesterfield counties, adjacent counties on North Carolina state line. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the 3.5-magnitude quake struck at 7:22 a.m. about 6 miles north-northwest of Bennettsville.

"We had some folks saying the whole house shook," including some who fled outdoors, said Roy Allison, emergency manager for Marlboro County.

Generally magnitude 3.5 quakes cannot be felt.

"This one is a little small for having those sorts of things -- houses shaking or cracking windows. What it tells you is the house may be on ground that is a little more susceptible" to shaking, said Norm Levine, an assistant professor of geology at the College of Charleston.

Storms leave 170 dead in Bangladesh, India
Strong winds, heavy rain have left around 375,000 homeless

DHAKA - Storms that battered Bangladesh and eastern India have killed more than 170 people and left many missing, navy and coastguard officials said on Saturday.

Most of the victims were fishermen caught in the storm on Tuesday night while fishing in the Bay of Bengal, government officials said.

They said over a dozen navy vessels, other boats and helicopters launched a massive search and rescue operation off the Bangladesh coast on Saturday, as hopes of finding the missing alive faded fast.

“The sea is still very rough, hampering rescue efforts,” a coastguard official said.

Strong winds and heavy rain triggered by the storm also made around 375,000 people homeless in India and Bangladesh over the past four days, officials said.

Hundreds of fishermen unaccounted for
Authorities say that while many boats have managed to return to shore, the navy and coastguard are still looking for hundreds of fishermen who remain unaccounted for.

In the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, constant rain and flooding have killed around 30 people, and forced 350,000 living mainly in coastal areas from their homes.

“People have been killed mostly from houses collapsing, lightning, trees landing on them,” said Mriganka Biswas from the state’s relief department.

“Victims are now living under tarpaulin sheets provided by the government,” he said, adding that around 70,000 homes had been destroyed in the state.

In West Bengal’s capital, Kolkata, police used boats on Friday to rescue hundreds of families stranded in low-lying slums.

The storms also killed more than 40 people and left nearly 15,000 homeless in Andhra Pradesh state on India’s east coast.

Helene again reaches hurricane strength

MIAMI - Helene became a hurricane again Saturday as it moved quickly over the open Atlantic, and the storm will likely create hazardous surf conditions for Bermuda, forecasters said.

Helene's top sustained winds strengthened from 70 mph to 90 mph, above the 74 mph threshold to be classified as a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a special advisory. Helene had been downgraded to a tropical storm Friday night.

Typhoon pummels Japanese isles, seen missing Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - A powerful typhoon passed over a small group of Japanese islands on Saturday, but forecasters said the storm would veer further north into the Pacific and have little impact on Tokyo.

Typhoon Yagi, whose name means "goat" in Japanese, weakened to a Category 4 typhoon by late Friday from a Category 5, according to British-based Web site Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com), and was expected to weaken further on Saturday and Sunday.

Japanese forecasters said the storm had winds of up to 162 km (101 miles) per hour, and at 11:40 a.m. (0240 GMT), the center of the storm was about 200 km north of Chichijima, a subtropical resort island with a population of 2,000.

Television footage showed high waves pounding breakwaters in Chichijima. There were reports of blackouts, but none of injuries.

Yagi was moving north at 20 km (13 miles) per hour but was expected to start turning east on Sunday, after which it would start weakening sharply, an official at the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

The storm follows Typhoon Shanshan, whose heavy rains and strong winds killed nine people and injured hundreds in southwestern Japan last weekend.

More severe weather and flooding today across U.S.


Mostly Women die in Baghdad tanker bomb

At least 31 people have been killed in a car bomb attack on a kerosene tanker in the mainly Shia district of Sadr City in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The BBC's Ian Pannell in Baghdad says most of the victims were women queuing for cooking fuel to use throughout the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

US officials have predicted an increase in violence throughout Ramadan.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say they have captured a leader of violent Sunni militant group, Ansar al-Sunna.

The bomb attack is one of the deadliest in Iraq in recent weeks.

At least another 20 people were injured in the bomb blast, and Iraqi police Colonel Saad Abdul-Sada said that the death toll could rise further.

One witness spoke of their horror at the attack: "What did those people do? The poor civilians were trying to get kerosene and gasoline. All of them were women and children."

War Demos To Greet Blair

ens of thousands of anti-war protesters will take to the streets of Manchester today on the eve of Tony Blair's last party conference as leader.

The demonstrators want British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan.

With as many as 30,000 expected to converge on the city, Greater Manchester police said it is likely to be the biggest protest they have ever had to deal with.

Around 1,250 officers will be on duty during the march and rally.

The theme, Time To Go, reflects calls for British troops to leave Iraq and Afghanistan and there will be speeches against replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Yasmeen Ataulah of the British Muslim Initiative, which is helping to organise the event, said: "The injustice, lawlessness and devastation that the innocent people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon suffer are all a consequence of Tony Blair's collusion with the United States and Israel.

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Two more deaths possibly linked to spinach