God is STRONG.
The Most Powerful.

600 missing as storm hits Bay of Bengal

DHAKA (AFP) - At least five Bangladeshis were killed and 600 fishermen were missing after a heavy storm struck villages in the Bay of Bengal, police and aid workers said.

"We have found dead bodies of four fishermen near Kuakata beach" on Bangladesh's south coast, said Shamsul Alam, the Red Cross's cyclone preparedness officer.

"More than 200 trawlers returned to the shore but still we have so far 58 tralwers with over 600 missing in the storm," said Alam on Wednesday.

The storm late Tuesday night and early Wednesday caught the fishermen by surprise and many trawlers could not make shore, police said.

Crews try to corral three SoCal wildfires before return of hot, dry winds


Capt. Bruce Steinberg keeps watch on the Pine Fire Tuesday, Sept. 19, near La Canada, Calif.

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. — Fire crews worried about the possible return of hot, dry Santa Ana winds fought three separate wildfires Wednesday that crept through national forests toward towns.

No houses were immediately threatened as prevailing cooler weather, lighter winds and higher humidity helped reduce the spread of flames.

"It's pretty slow," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Lisa Duke said of the 2,500-acre Pinnacles Fire in San Bernardino National Forest.

The fire was burning northeast of the city of Lake Arrowhead, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

It was 10% contained after flames closed Highway 173. Two firefighters were injured when a Bureau of Land Management water truck overturned. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The fire was moving into an area overgrown with dry grass and brush. It would have to cross a ravine and creek then travel several miles before reaching hundreds of homes.

Officials recommended voluntary evacuation of some nearby high desert communities, including a section of Apple Valley.

Another fire was burning 10 miles north of La Canada Flintridge in Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles.

Dubbed the Pines Fire, it was 40% contained after burning 150 acres and prompting authorities to close a portion of Angeles Crest Highway, forest spokeswoman Kathy Peterson.

At U.N., Chavez calls Bush 'the devil'

UNITED NATIONS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil."

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address Tuesday. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."

The leftist leader, who has joined Iran in opposing U.S. influence, accused Washington of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world."

"We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head," he said.

This is in the Revelations of course.
The "woman" or "prostitute" is America.
And she thinks she rules the world.
The World has 7 continents.

Revelation 17:9
Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.

Iran leader says U.S. abusing U.N. power

UNITED NATIONS - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took aim at U.S. policies in Iraq and Lebanon on Tuesday, and accused Washington of abusing its power in the U.N. Security Council to punish others while protecting its own interests and allies.

Ahmadinejad also accused the United States and Britain of using their veto power on the Security Council to further their own interests and he said it had become an "instrument of threat and coercion."

"If they have differences with a nation or state, they drag it to the Security Council," and assign themselves the roles of "prosecutor, judge and executioner," Ahmadinejad said. "Is this a just order?"

Ahmadinejad also criticized the Security Council for failing to call for an immediate cease-fire after war broke out between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A truce was only reached on Aug. 14 to end the 34-day conflict.

"The Security Council sat idly by for so many days, witnessing the cruel scenes of atrocities against the Lebanese ... Why?" asked Ahmadinejad, whose government is one of Hezbollah's main backers.

The United States and Britain refused to call for a cease-fire during the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah, declaring it part of war on terror. Only after Israel's failure to defeat Hezbollah and the deaths of nearly 1,000 Lebanese civilians did Washington and London agree to push for a truce by the U.N. Security Council.

The Iranian leader had harsh words about U.S. efforts in Iraq, saying "the occupiers are incapable of establishing security in Iraq" and every day hundreds of people get killed "in cold blood."

In an interview with "NBC Nightly News," Ahmadinejad was asked about Bush's appeal to the Iranian people.

"We have the same desire ... to be together for the cause of world peace," he said through a translator.

"We think that the American people are like our people. They're good people, they support peace, equality and brotherhood," he said.

He said his issue was with the U.S. administration.

"I explicitly say that I am against the policies chosen by the U.S. government to run the world because these policies are moving the world toward war," he said.

Senate Democrats want probe of U.S. hiring in Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats hoping to capture control of the U.S. Congress in this fall elections called on Tuesday for probes of the Bush administration's Iraq rebuilding effort, which they likened to the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Senate Democrats urged congressional and Pentagon investigations into hiring and contracting practices in Iraq. The requests came after the Washington Post newspaper reported young novices with Republican political connections got high-level jobs rebuilding Iraq in 2003 and 2004.

"Iraq, in one of the most critical moments in its history when the United States was there was being run by neocons (neoconservatives) in diapers," said Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, a senior Democrat.

"The Coalition Provisional Authority became the Bush administration's FEMA in Iraq," Durbin added, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A spokeswoman for the Senate committee that oversees federal hiring was not immediately available for comment. But the committee held a hearing this summer on "lessons learned in contracting" for Iraqi reconstruction and many of the criticisms raised by Democrats were echoed there.

At that hearing, Chairman Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, spoke of "waste, greed and corruption" that have "drained" funds that should have been spent rebuilding Iraq.

Collins also drew parallels between U.S. rebuilding efforts in Iraq and the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, saying, "In both cases, mistakes, mismanagement and abuse led to unacceptable waste of precious resources and prolonged suffering."

Saddam Hussein ejected from trial

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial has ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom for refusing to sit down moments after hearings began.

A short time later, the former Iraqi leader argued with the new chief judge and was ejected. "Take him out," Al-Khalefa said. "Get out."

Hussein and six former officials of his ousted regime are accused of mass murder and atrocities during the Anfal campaign against northern Iraq's Kurdish population in the late 1980s. The campaign, which included the use of chemical weapons, is blamed for the deaths of an estimated 100,000 Kurds.

UN: Nearly 6,600 Iraqi civilians killed in July, August

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Violence killed nearly 6,600 Iraqi civilians during July and August, while more than 8,000 were wounded, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq.

More than 20,600 Iraqi civilians have died in attacks so far this year, according to UNAMI.

Monsoon season in Phoenix was wettest since 1999

PHOENIX (AP) — More than 3 inches of rain fell on the Phoenix area during the monsoon season, making it the wettest since 1999, when 5.19 inches fell.
The National Weather Service said 3.33 inches of rain fell between the July 2 start of the monsoon season and the official end of the season last Thursday Sept. 14.

‘There was no warning with this storm.’

On Sunday night the National Weather Service ruled that it was an F2 tornado that caused the damage. The tornado, which had wind speeds in excess of 150 mph, started just to the west of Cowley Lake in Hassan Township and traveled northeast for eight miles, ending in Ramsey.

The storm left its toll elsewhere in the city as well. Oldfather said a tour of the city from a helicopter with the benefit of daylight showed 200–300 homes that had “suffered moderate to severe damage.”

The American Red Cross said 437 homes in Rogers were affected by the storm. As many as 3,000 homes were without power as well.

Oldfather said the serious damage, for the most part, was spread between a one-block area in southern Rogers and a “swath three blocks wide by seven or eight blocks long” in north Rogers.

“Not many houses were spared there,” he said.

SOUTH AFRICA: Alarming AIDS figures reported in new study

JOHANNESBURG, 19 September (IRIN) - HIV/AIDS is sweeping through parts of South Africa's east-coast province of KwaZulu-Natal, where researchers are finding alarming HIV prevalence levels among women.

"The study might be considered somewhat biased, as only women were tested, but the figures do suggest a worrying upward trend which could be part of a bigger problem," Medical Research Council (MRC) researcher Prof Gita Ramjee told PlusNews.

During recent clinical trials into the effectiveness of vaginal microbicides at eight test sites around KwaZulu-Natal, the MRC found prevalence rates of between 38 percent and 50 percent, and in the Embo area south of the port city of Durban, a prevalence of more than 66 percent was discovered.

Rising HIV rates in traditionally conservative Indian communities, such as Chatsworth township, also grabbed the attention of caregivers working with HIV-positive people in the area. The MRC found HIV prevalence reaching 48 percent in some parts of Chatsworth.

Honey Allee, a nurse and AIDS educator working in Chatsworth, told PlusNews she was not surprised. "In a community where people still hide behind cultural practices, and avoid the taboo subjects of sex and promiscuity, there is bound to be marked presence of HIV and AIDS."

Allee said she witnessed the end-result of AIDS denial almost daily. "In a culture where divorce is practically unheard of and frowned upon, women are forced to engage in unprotected sexual activity with unfaithful male partners. The importance of boy-children also contributes to the rising prevalence of HIV among women in these communities."

This is an old article, but I just adore the symbolism:

Date palm buds after 2,000 years

Israeli researchers say they have succeeded in growing a date palm from a 2,000-year-old seed.
The seed was one of several found during an excavation of the ancient mountain fortress of Masada.

Scientists working on the project believe it is the oldest seed ever germinated.

Researchers in Jerusalem have nicknamed the sapling Methuselah, after the biblical figure said to have lived for nearly 1,000 years.

Crews battle trio of wildfires burning in Sierra

UNDATED Fire crews are battling rugged terrain and gusty winds as they tackle three wildfires burning in the Sierra.

The largest is the Bassetts fire in the Tahoe National Forest about one mile north of California 49.

It has burned some 400 acres and is threatening several cabins. There's no containment.

A 20-acre fire burning in the Tahoe National Forest is 75 percent contained. The Boca Fire is burning near the reservoir.

The Mule Fire is burning in a remote area north of Placerville, California. The 50-acre fire did not threaten homes or other structures and is 20 percent contained.

Three wildfires scorch Southern California

OJAI, Calif. (AP) - Fire officials say they expect the main front of the wildfire that's been burning for two weeks in the Los Padres National forest to head northeast toward a group of mountains.

Winds are expected to keep under 15-miles-per-hour, and officials say that could give crews an opportunity to gain better control of the so-called Day Fire.

Forest Service spokeswoman Dee Dechert says firefighters have to work fast, since stronger winds are forecast for Thursday and Friday.

The blaze has burned about 93 square miles and is 15 percent contained.

Firefighters have a fire in Banning nearly surrounded. The Ranch Fire broke out yesterday, just before noon near 10th and Gilman. Firefighters evacuated hundreds of homes at the Highland Springs Resort.

Those evacuations have been lifted this morning.

More than 360 firefighters were working on the fire. Firefighters say it's blackened at least 1,400 acres while destroying a barn and an outbuilding.

One evacuated resident says he was surprised to see how fast the fire moved.

Firefighters say the blaze is suspicious in nature. They expect to have it surrounded this morning.

Authorities say it doesn't appear that fire will merge with another wildfire burning nearby in Beaumont.

Crews say the two fires are burning about eight miles apart and have burned nearly 3,000 acres. They expect full containment for both early today.

The Orchard Fire broke out Saturday afternoon and has blackened 1,500 acres.

Firefighters say the fire has destroyed two homes and two outbuildings. A Calimesa city councilmember says the city was about to make one of the buildings a historic site, because it was once a stagecoach stop.

'Seemed like world was ending' as storm passed

EL DORADO, Mexico (Reuters) -- Hurricane Lane left a trail of destruction on Mexico's Pacific coast that killed three people, washed away roads and knocked down flimsy homes before fizzling out on Sunday.

Lashing rains turned creeks into raging currents, destroying a bridge between the city of Culiacan and the tourist resort of Mazatlan when Lane made landfall on Saturday as a powerful Category 3 storm. Dozens of trucks and their drivers were stranded.

Lane's winds toppled electricity towers, trees and traffic signs.

"It seemed like the world was ending," said farm worker Jesus Javier Quintero.

Houses near the town of El Dorado, where the eye of the storm hit, were flooded before Lane lost punch and slowed to a tropical depression on Sunday.

"Everything is damaged," said resident Santos Garcia, 48. "The fridge is swimming out back," he said.

A young man died when his car fell in a river in Culiacan, police said on Sunday. The storm earlier killed two others.

Streets were flooded in Culiacan, the capital of the western state of Sinaloa. As the storm petered out, some 2,000 people who spent the night in shelters were sent home.

A handful of people gathered on a broken bridge near the city and stared at a small car swept into a stream.

The storm, still whipping up gusts and dumping isolated rain, was dissipating inland over western Mexico, according to the Miami, Florida-based National Hurricane Center.

One man died in the village of Pueblos Unidos when he was knocked over by fierce winds, police said. Lane earlier killed a 7-year-old boy by triggering a rock fall in Acapulco.

The storm had been expected to move up through the Sea of Cortez and make landfall farther north, but it swung suddenly to the east and crashed into the coastline, flooding streets in Culiacan and knocking out power in parts of Mazatlan.

Revelation 18:8
she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong.

A column of smoke rises out of the Angeles National Forest Pines as a wildfire burns near La Cresenta, Calif. Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


An air tanker makes a retardant drop along a flank of the Pines Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest near La Cresenta, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2006. The blaze, dubbed the Pine Fire, has burned at least 80 acres and prompted authorities to close a portion of Angeles Crest Highway, said forest spokeswoman Kathy Peterson. (AP Photo/Mike Meadows)


Smoke rises from the Day Fire near Fillmore, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006. Firefighters are working to contain the sprawling Day Fire in the Los Padres National Forest with onshore winds helping slow the blaze's progression. (AP Photo/Rob Varela, Pool)


Fire rages behind a parked fire-fighting vehicle at the Pine Fire above the La Canada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County, California September 19, 2006. Local media reported the fire stands at 150 acres and started in the Angeles National Forest in the late afternoon. REUTERS/Gene Blevins (UNITED STATES)


An air tanker makes a water drop on the Pine Fire above the La Canada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County, California September 19, 2006. Local media reported the fire stands at 150 acres and started in the Angeles National Forest in the late afternoon. REUTERS/Gene Blevins (UNITED STATES)


A plume of smoke rises from the Pine Fire above the La Canada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County, California September 19, 2006. Local media reported the fire stands at 150 acres and started in the Angeles National Forest in the late afternoon. REUTERS/Gene Blevins (UNITED STATES)


Downtown Los Angeles is seen through the smoke from Pine Fire above La Canada Flintridge area of Los Angeles County, California September 19, 2006. Local media reported the fire stands at 150 acres and started in the Angeles National Forest in the late afternoon. REUTERS/Gene Blevins (UNITED STATES)