Raw organic milk blamed for E. coli in 4 kids

FRESNO, Calif. - Four children in three California counties got sick after drinking raw milk, prompting a state quarantine and recall against raw milk products from Fresno-based Organic Pastures Dairy.

The quarantine against raw milk and cream, announced Thursday, has been expanded to include raw butter, raw buttermilk and raw whey.

The children are in San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties. At least two are in intensive care. The state Food and Agriculture Department says one of the others was released from a hospital.

Officials blame the e-coli bacteria. None was immediately found at the dairy, but tests are being done on raw milk samples pulled off grocery shelves.

But even before tests are done, state law allows for a recall when a food is making people sick.

Organic Pastures products are sold throughout California and online.

Missouri twisters shred homes, school

ST. JAMES, Missouri (AP) -- Two tornadoes swept through south-central Missouri on 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 were reported.

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

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

Twelve-year-old Devin Wilburn said students at St. James Middle School had just completed a tornado drill. Thirty seconds later, they interrupted their science test to rush back into the hallway for the real thing. The children knelt down and put their hands over their heads, he said.

"I just heard a bunch of thunder and ripping, because the top of the roof came off," Devin said.

No teachers, children or staff members were injured.

Preliminary information indicates a tornado warning was issued about 30 minutes before the storm hit, said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield.

A tornado also destroyed about half of the Manchester Packaging Co. plant, which makes polyethylene film and bags, according to its Web site. Southard said the twister ripped 70-foot-by-70-foot holes in the main building of a Wal-Mart distribution center and another Wal-Mart building used to service trucks.

Devin's father, Chuck Wilburn, was sleeping when he was awakened by a "roaring wind noise." Wilburn, 42, said he ran to let the dogs in from outside.

"I opened the door and saw the barbecue grill flying across the yard," said Wilburn, whose house lost a window and some siding.

Southard estimated between 100 and 125 homes were damaged. He said most of the damage was to roofs but some porches also collapsed.

The storm also ripped down trees, blocking traffic and leaving about half the city of about 6,000 people without power. St. James is 86 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Authorities also reported that two other small tornadoes downed trees and took off shingles in rural parts of southeast Missouri. Tornadoes and hail were also reported in northern Arkansas.

Chavez: Bush should resign as president

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched yet another verbal attack against President Bush upon returning from a highly charged U.S. visit Friday, calling on the American leader to resign.

"He should renounce the presidency if he has any dignity. The president of the United States has failed completely," Chavez said at the inauguration of a natural gas project in northwestern Venezuela.

It was Chavez's first appearance since returning from the United States, where he called Bush "the devil" at the United Nations' General Assembly and later criticized him in a speech to supporters at a church in Harlem.

The comments coming near U.S. legislative elections have drawn condemnation even from some of Bush's critics.

Thousands rally against pope in Mideast

JERUSALEM - Thousands of Muslim worshippers staged marches against Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, waving green Hamas banners and denouncing him as a "coward" and an "agent of the Americans."

At Islam's third-holiest shrine, the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, hundreds of worshippers hoisted black flags and banners that read, "Conquering Rome is the answer." Protesters chanted, "The army of Islam will return." The march dispersed peacefully.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Hamas supporters took to the streets after prayers, shouting slogans against the pope and waving Hamas flags. Raising their hands to the sky, the more than 2,000 protesters chanted: "We put up with hunger, detention and occupation, but we won't put up with the offending the prophet. We sacrifice our lives for you prophet."

Marching in the streets of Nablus, the protesters called the pope a "coward and agent of the Americans."

More than 500 supporters of a coalition of six Islamic parties, called Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, demanded the pope's removal and accused him of supporting the policies of President Bush.

"If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior MMA leader, told protesters in Islamabad, who carried placards reading "Terrorist, extremist Pope be hanged!" and "Down with Muslims' enemies!"

In Karachi, another MMA leader, Ghafoor Ahmed, accused the pope of wanting to force "Christians and Muslims against each other."

Bush 'taken aback' by Musharraf comment

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday he was "taken aback" by a purported U.S. threat to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age if it did not cooperate in the fight against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program, Musharraf said that after the attacks, Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb his country if it didn't help fight terrorists.

He said that Armitage had told him, "Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age."

Armitage has disputed the language attributed to him but did not deny the message was a strong one.

Earlier Friday, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said he didn't know the specifics of what Armitage might have said to the Pakistanis.

"But we have made very clear that we went straight to President Musharraf in the days after 9/11 and said it's time to make a choice: Are you going to side with the civilized world or are you going to side with the Taliban and al-Qaida," Bartlett told CBS' "The Early Show."

"Mr. Armitage has said that he made no such representations," Snow said. "I don't know. This could have been a classic failure to communicate. I just don't know."

"U.S. policy was not to issue bombing threats," Snow said. "U.S. policy was to say to President Musharraf, `We need you to make a choice'."

Why should every nation stop what they're doing, and either side 'with' or 'against' America? What makes America so special that each nation should be included on their 'war on terror'? What makes them so superior?
I wonder these things...

Hezbollah leader: Arsenal undiminished

BEIRUT, Lebanon - In his first public appearance since the start of his group's 34-day war with Israel, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said his group has more than 20,000 rockets, and that an increased U.N. peacekeeping force will not hurt its guerrillas' arsenal. Nasrallah also thanked God for what he called "a divine, historic and strategic victory" over the Jewish state.

I don't see God having any hand in this.
When man makes bombs, and blows things up, and murders thousands of civilians.
Well, that's the workings of Humanity.
I think that's a bad idea to bring God into this.
Bad news, if you ask me.

Riots after Indonesia executions

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of religiously divided Sulawesi after three Christian militants were executed by firing squad.
Protesters torched cars, looted shops and set prisoners free from a jail.

But Palu, where the executions took place, remained calm. Mourners attended church services to pray for the men.

The three executed Christians were found guilty of masterminding attacks on Muslims in central Sulawesi in 2000 that killed 70 people.

The three men were accused of masterminding a series of attacks on the Muslim community in the Central Sulawesi district of Poso in 2000.

The attack was part of a wave of violence triggered by a brawl between Christian and Muslim gangs in December 1998, that left more than 1,000 people dead. The two sides signed a peace deal in 2002.

Human rights workers also claim that while it was possible the three men took part in some of the violence in 2000, they were almost certainly not the masterminds.

"I've been told by police that my father was killed," Tibo's son, Robert, told the Associated Press news agency early on Friday. "But it's useless for me to say anything now. The government never listened to him when he was alive."

The executions had been due to take place last month, but the three men were given a reprieve after a plea for clemency from Pope Benedict XVI, and demonstrations by thousands of Christians.

Despite government denials, many Indonesians connect the timing of the men's deaths with the planned execution of three Muslim militants for their part in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, that killed more than 200 people.

Iraq torture 'worse after Saddam'

Torture may be worse now in Iraq than under former leader Saddam Hussein, the UN's chief anti-torture expert says.

"What most people tell you is that the situation as far as torture is concerned now in Iraq is totally out of hand," the Austrian law professor said.

"The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein," he added.

Brutal methods

The UN report says detainees' bodies often show signs of beating using electrical cables, wounds in heads and genitals, broken legs and hands, electric and cigarette burns.

Bodies found at the Baghdad mortuary "often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances".

Many bodies have missing skin, broken bones, back, hands and legs, missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails, the UN report says.

Victims come from prisons run by US-led multinational forces as well as by the ministries of interior and defence and private militias, the report said.

The most brutal torture methods were employed by private militias, Mr Nowak told journalists.

The report also says the frequency of sectarian bloodletting means bodies are often found which "bear signs indicating that the victims have been brutally tortured before their extra-judicial execution".

It concludes that torture threatens "the very fabric of the country" as victims exact their own revenge and fuel further violence.

Typhoon Yagi heads toward Japan

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A powerful typhoon packing winds of up to 198 km (124 miles) per hour was moving slowly towards Japan on Friday, and forecasters said it could brush past Tokyo over the weekend before veering back into the Pacific.

Typhoon Yagi, whose name means "goat" in Japanese, is a Category 4 storm, just a notch below a Category 5 super typhoon, according to British-based Web site Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com).

About 2,000 people live on the subtropical resort island.

Yagi was moving northwest at 30 kph (19 mph) and was forecast to weaken before coming within several hundred kilometres of the densely populated Tokyo region over the weekend, probably bringing high winds, but little rain to the area, the agency said.

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

Pope invites envoys of Muslim states to meeting

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has invited representatives of Muslim countries to meet next week at his summer residence, the Vatican said Friday.

Benedict will meet Monday with ambassadors from predominantly Muslim countries. A Muslim council that advised the Italian government on integration issues also was expected to participate, the ANSA news agency said.

Stormy Weather Ahead

The tail end of Hurricane Gordon has been lashing the South West of England - and the stormy weather looks set to continue next week.

But despite winds reaching over 80mph in some areas, other parts of the country have been enjoying a balmy Indian Summer.

Yesterday, the mixed weather saw parts of England basking in warm sunshine with a September 21 record high temperature of 28.4C while rain battered golf fans in Ireland.

And overnight in the South West, trees were brought down, boats torn from their moorings and train services disrupted after the sea eroded ballast on part of the Penzance to London line.

Golf fans drenched Around 1,000 homes were left without power for several hours and more stormy weather is forecast for the region in the near future.

Huge waves off the South Coast have been enjoyed by entrants of the Bristish Surfing Association Gold Rush competition in Newquay.

The worst of Hurricane Gordon hit Northern Ireland and South West Scotland, leaving 100,000 homes in Ulster without electricity and roads blocked by fallen trees.

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


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.
12:25 a.m. ET, 9/20/06

OJAI, Calif.. — Fire crews made an all-out effort Thursday to surround a two-week-old wildfire before hot, dry Santa Ana winds arrived to renew its ferocity.
At the same time, they made progress against two smaller blazes also burning in national forests.

The National Weather Service issued a "red flag" warning for critical fire conditions from Friday afternoon through Sunday for Southern California mountains and valleys. Officials said there could be 45 mph winds, gusting to 65 mph at times on Saturday.

The fire, which has cost $24.1 million to fight, nearly doubled in size the last time the winds appeared.

Elsewhere, the 2,370-acre Pinnacles Fire in San Bernardino National Forest was burning northeast of Lake Arrowhead, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. It was 80% contained and crews hoped to fully surround it by Saturday evening.

Another fire was burning 10 miles north of La Canada Flintridge in Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles. It was 75% contained after burning 113 acres — less than a square mile — and prompting authorities to close a portion of Angeles Crest Highway. Crews hoped to fully contain it by Friday evening.

Reported West Nile cases number 12

September 20, 2006 -- Health officials said there are now 12 reported West Nile virus cases in El Paso. Seven of them are still pending confirmation, including three that resulted in death.

KFOX was the first to report that the Health District would be taking legal action to be able to treat standing water on private properties.

On Wednesday, officials had a list of 14 properties that are breeding millions of mosquitoes that could possibly be carrying the West Nile virus.

Private properties that are unkempt and have standing water are breeding mosquitoes. Just one scoop of water from an Upper Valley home, and one can see hundreds of mosquito larva.

"A few weeks ago, they were really bad. You couldn't stand out here and have a conversation," said Dawn Brooks, an Upper Valley resident.

Indonesia bird flu toll hits 50

An 11-year-old boy has become Indonesia's 50th victim of birth flu, health officials say.
The child died at hospital in Tulungagung, East Java, on Monday, after developing a fever and cough and suffering breathing difficulties.

Tests by two laboratories confirmed he had the disease, officials said.

Indonesia has the world's highest human death toll from the H5N1 virus, and has registered more bird flu deaths this year than any other nation.

There are fears the virus could mutate to a form which could be easily passed from human to human, triggering a pandemic and potentially putting millions of lives at risk.

Heavy snow in the mountains closes stretch of Interstate 70

GEORGETOWN, Colo. (AP) — Blowing snow and icy roads in the high country forced the overnight closure of part of Interstate 70, stranding some travelers with forecasts calling for up to 16 inches of snow through Friday night in the Rocky Mountains.

Drug-resistant TB on the rise 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.

Worldwide, TB kills 2 million people each year, mostly in Africa and southeast Asia.

Of gravest concern is so-called “extensively drug-resistant” TB, which recently killed more than 50 people in South Africa. It’s been found in limited numbers in the U.S. — 74 reported cases since 1993.

The strain is nearly impossible to cure because it’s immune to the best first- and second-line TB drugs. It is as easily transmitted through the air as garden variety TB.

Chinese chemical leak cuts water to thousands

SHANGHAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A leak from a Chinese chemical plant into a river has polluted water supplies for more than 4,100 people, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The spill of turpentine from a plant in the eastern province of Anhui contaminated the Jindong River on Thursday, Xinhua said. Authorities warned residents not to use water from the river and sent fire engines to distribute water.

Many residents and more than 1,100 primary and secondary school students in the area drank the polluted water before they were warned about the incident, but so far have shown no symptoms of poisoning, Xinhua said.

Such incidents are common in China's industrial areas. An arsenide pollution case in Hunan province this month cut water supplies to 80,000 people, and an explosion at a chemical plant in northeast China last year poured toxic benzene compounds into the Songhua River, which supplies water to millions.

South Asia storm toll nears 100, many missing

DHAKA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The number of people killed after storms hit eastern India and Bangladesh rose to nearly 100 with dozens of bodies of fishermen washing up along the coast, officials said on Thursday.

Hundreds of fishermen were still missing in the region, which sees frequent storms forming over the Bay of Bengal.

In Bangladesh, fishermen's groups and officials said around 50 bodies had been located on or near the shoreline.

"The sea is still rough, hampering rescue bids," said Aminul Islam, district commissioner of Cox's Bazar.

The Bangladesh navy said it was searching for the captain of a patrol boat that ran aground on Tuesday night on an island off Mongla port in the country's south. Other crew members were rescued by navy helicopters on Wednesday.

In neighbouring India, the death toll from the storm that hit West Bengal state on Tuesday night reached 16. Hundreds of fishermen remained missing though officials said some crews had returned to shore safely after being initially reported lost.

Around 180,000 people were left homeless after their mud houses were damaged or destroyed by heavy rains and strong winds. Most of the state's fatalities were due to house collapses.

The stormy weather also caused flash floods and killed 31 people in Andhra Pradesh state on India's eastern coast. (Additional reporting by Manas Bannerjee in MALDA)

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.

He said the quake occurred in an area with two existing faults.

Earthquakes are not unknown in South Carolina. One with magnitude between 3 and 4 occurs about every 18 months, and 10 to 15 lesser quakes happen each year on average.

The most devastating South Carolina earthquake on record was a magnitude 7.3 near Charleston in 1886 in which more than 100 people died.

Severe weather outbreak expected across U.S.