World ignoring Zimbabwe humanitarian crisis

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is being buried under a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions but the world is looking elsewhere, an opposition parliamentarian said on Monday.

David Coltart, a white member of Zimbabwe's divided Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, said people were dying in droves due to a combination of very high numbers of AIDS cases, inflation running at 1,200 percent and widespread malnutrition.

"We estimate that 3,500 people a week are dying due to the convergence of these three factors. Average life expectancy of a woman has dropped to just 34 years. The cemeteries are filled to overflowing," he told Reuters.

"I am appalled how much Zimbabwe has fallen off Europe's radar screen," he said on a whirlwind visit to Europe. "I understand the preoccupations with Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur, but our people are dying like flies and no one seems to notice."

In June Coltart joined the faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambare, which broke away last November from the main party led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Coltart said the divided opposition was not helping Zimbabwe.

"Divisions in the opposition have exacerbated the problem because we no longer have a coherent voice to speak about the atrocious situation," he said.

But he was dubious about the chances of the MDC, the main opposition to Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF after 26 years in power, healing its rifts any time soon.

Mugabe set out in 2000 on wholesale nationalisation of the white-dominated commercial farming sector, the backbone of the once-thriving agrarian economy of the former British colony of Rhodesia.

But in the process food production and the economy has crashed, bringing with it widespread starvation.

Coltart complained that in an effort to offset some of the worst effects of the economic meltdown, Mugabe was selling off state assets at bargain basement prices to China.

"The Chinese are giving balance of payments support to a completely discredited regime," he said. "They are participating in a fire-sale. There are deals in the minerals and energy sectors but we don't know on what terms."

"All we see in return is third rate shoes and clothes which are undermining our textile industry, and a few fourth rate roads which rapidly become impassable," he added.

Mugabe justifies the land reform as reversing the legacy of colonisation and blames the economic disaster on outside meddling.

Mugabe is due to stand down at presidential elections in 2008, but there has recently been speculation that to hang onto power a little longer he might move the date to 2010 on the pretext of making them coincide with parliamentary elections.

Strong winds bustle along the Han river in the coastal city of Danang. Vietnam has counted the cost after Typhoon Xangsane ripped through the centre of the country, damaging more than 200,000 homes, downing power lines and killing at least 11 people.(AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam)


A woman walks past fishing boats after the passage of the typhoon Xangsane in the Vietnamese central coastal city of Da Nang. Typhoon Xangsane barreled into central Vietnam, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee and cutting electricity and many telephone lines after killing scores of people in the Philippines.(AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam)


A passenger bus passes in-between two overturned delivery vans at the height of Typhoon Xangsane as it hit Manila, Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006.

Philippines braces for another storm, after deadly typhoon

MANILA (AFP) - A new tropical storm is heading for the Philippines, threatening to disrupt relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Xangsane, which killed 76 and left millions without power and drinking water.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, the storm was located 690 kilometers east of the Bicol region, the southeast section of the main island of Luzon which was hard hit when Xangsane struck the Philippines last week.

Before hitting Vietnam Sunday, Xangsane toppled electrical posts, uprooted trees and caused landslides and flooding in the Philippines. The official death toll as of late Sunday stood at 76 deaths, with 69 people still missing.

The new storm was expected to intensify as it moves into northern Luzon, where electricity and drinking water supply have yet to be fully restored.

"The disturbance is likely to intensify further," the state weather bureau said, adding that the storm would be felt within the next 24 hours.

It said a "surge of strong winds is expected" over Bicol, the central provinces as well as in the southern island of Mindanao, and urged the public to "take appropriate actions."

President Gloria Arroyo visited the storm-hit town of General Trias south of Manila on Monday and ordered round the clock relief efforts to make sure there will be no additional casualties as the new storm approached.

She also ordered police and military security to protect fallen electrical posts amid reports copper wires were being stolen.

"(They) have to be the ones to work together to secure the wires and everything else that have fallen against looting," Arroyo said.

Distributor Manila Electric Co. said services had been restored to 94 percent of customers in the greater Manila area as of Monday.

But it said fallen trees, billboards and other debris were hindering repair work in areas south of Manila, which still remained in the dark four days after the typhoon.

"We also continue to receive reports that some of our fallen wires are being stolen," company spokesman Elpi Cuna said, urging the authorities to help guard the downed facilities.

The Office of Civil Defense said that some 170,000 people in and around Manila were still living in evacuation centers.

Thai Floods have affected almost 945,000 people

GENEVA (AFP) - Thirteen people have been killed and tens of thousands affected by floods sparked by heavy rain across a swathe of Thailand, the United Nations' emergency aid agency has said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Monday that 26 homes have been totally destroyed and more than 1,200 partially damaged.

More than 1,400 roads and 179 bridges have been destroyed, OCHA said Monday.

The total amount of damage from initial surveys by local authorities is estimated at 4.3 million dollars (3.35 million euros), it said.

The flooding began after a series of tropical depressions began moving across Thailand in recent weeks, and has affected almost 945,000 people.

Eighteen provinces are still inundated, with water levels remaining high in key rivers.

The Thai government is running its own aid effort and has not requested any international assistance, OCHA said.

Hurricane Isaac prompts storm watch for Newfoundland

MIAMI (Reuters) - A tropical storm watch was in effect for eastern parts of the Canadian province of Newfoundland on Sunday as Hurricane Isaac churned through the north Atlantic.

Isaac, the fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season, was expected to weaken as it neared Newfoundland. The storm watch, alerting residents to possible severe weather within 36 hours, covered the Avalon Peninsula, including Cape Race and St. John's.

At 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Sunday, the center of Isaac was about 930 miles south-southwest of Cape Race and was moving north at about 13 mph (21 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Isaac had sustained winds of 80 mile per hour (129 km per hour), the center said. It was expected to reach Newfoundland late on Monday.

Isaac was the ninth storm of an unexpectedly mild Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.

Forecasters had predicted an above-average season following last year's record-breaker, which saw 28 tropical storms, 15 of which became hurricanes.

Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. Gulf coast in August, 2005, became the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history with about $80 billion in damage. It killed about 1,500 people and swamped the city of New Orleans.

Bird Flu: What is the Risk?


Spreading Our Way?

As the migratory season begins, Sky News has learned that the risk of a deadly bird flu pandemic hitting Britain this winter is even higher than last year.

In a series of exclusive reports, our correspondents and reporters have been looking into the threat that H5N1 poses to the UK.

Two migratory routes cut across the country and as the days get colder, the chances of infected birds arriving on our shores gets higher.

Farmers are being urged to watch flocks carefully and even the public is being asked to remain vigilant.

Health Correspondent Thomas Moore says that if the virus arrives in the country it could be in every British city within a fortnight.

"And with no in-built immunity to such a new virus, it would be open season for the bug," he said.

Some 56,000 people could die in a pandemic, with at least a quarter of the population falling sick.

"That's not scare-mongering," he said. "That's the bottom end of the Department of Health's predictions."

Sky News Environment Correspondent Robert Nisbet says the Government is targeting specific areas for surveillance in a bid to minimise the risk.

But he added that it is "impossible to monitor the skies".

New fear: A crunch in veggie consumption

After years of encouraging adults and kids to eat their vegetables, nutritionists are worried that there will be a backlash from last month's E. coli outbreak in fresh packaged spinach.

"I'm worried that this might slow down consumption of bagged vegetables, which consumers love," says New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle, author of Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology and Bioterrorism.

"And it might slow down the consumption of raw vegetables. You expect your vegetables to be clean. You certainly don't expect a dangerous animal-borne pathogen in them," Nestle says. E. coli lives in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle.

28 at Mass. hospital catch whooping cough

WORCESTER, Mass. - Whooping cough has been diagnosed in more than two dozen medical workers at the same hospital in the past three weeks, and 55 others who have shown symptoms are being tested, a spokesman said Saturday.

Since Sept. 7, 28 cases of whooping cough have been confirmed at St. Vincent Hospital, said Dennis Irish, a hospital spokesman.

The outbreak appears to be confined to the hospital staff, with all victims part of the surgical department except one records worker, said Dr. Anthony Esposito, the hospital’s chief of medicine.

Sex crimes and the Vatican

Colm started an investigation with the BBC in March 2002 which led to the resignation of Dr Brendan Comiskey, the bishop leading the Ferns Diocese.

Colm then pushed for a government inquiry which led to the Ferns Report.

It was published in October 2005 and found: "A culture of secrecy and fear of scandal that led bishops to place the interests of the Catholic Church ahead of the safety of children."

The Catholic Church has 50 million children in its worldwide congregation and no universal child protection policy although in the UK there is the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children & Vulnerable Adults.

Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq

"It is the oldest story in the coverage of government: the failure to tell the truth," Woodward charges.

"The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon [saying], 'Oh, no, things are going to get better,'" he tells Wallace. "Now there’s public, and then there’s private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret. No one is supposed to know," says Woodward.

"Why is that secret? The insurgents know what they’re doing. They know the level of violence and how effective they are. Who doesn’t know? The American public," he adds.

Rice doesn’t recall '01 CIA warning on al-Qaida

SHANNON, Ireland - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she cannot recall then-CIA chief George Tenet warning her of an impending al-Qaida attack in the United States, as a new book claims he did two months before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“What I am quite certain of is that I would remember if I was told, as this account apparently says, that there was about to be an attack in the United States, and the idea that I would somehow have ignored that I find incomprehensible,” Rice said.

Rice was President Bush’s national security adviser in 2001, when Bob Woodward’s book “State of Denial” outlines a July 10 meeting among Rice, Tenet and the CIA’s top counterterror officer.

The meeting between Tenet, Rice and Cofer Black of the CIA was not mentioned in the reports from several investigations of the Sept. 11 attacks, but Woodward wrote that it stood out in the minds of Tenet and Black as the “starkest warning they had given the White House” on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his network.

Woodward sticks to story
Tenet asked for the meeting after receiving a disturbing briefing from Black, according to the book.

But though Tenet and Black warned Rice in the starkest terms of the prospects for attack, she brushed them off, Woodward reiterated Monday. He told NBC’s “Today” show that Black told him the two men were so emphatic, it amounted to “holding a gun to her head” and doing everything except pulling the trigger.

Black reportedly laid out secret intercepts and other data “showing the increasing likelihood that al-Qaida would soon attack the United States.” Tenet was so worried that he called Rice from his car and asked to see her right away, the book said.

“Tenet and Black felt they were not getting through to Rice,” Woodward wrote of the session. “She was polite, but they felt the brush-off.”

Three Gorges dam to displace 1.4 million -Xinhua

BEIJING, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The number of people relocated to make way for China's massive Three Gorges dam could top 1.4 million, above previous estimates of 1.13 million, Xinhua news agency said.

More than 1.2 million people have already been resettled, Xinhua said, citing Pu Haiqing, head of the Office of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee under the State Council, China's cabinet.

The $22.5 billion hydro-power project will be completed a year early in 2008, creating a reservoir 175 meters deep, Pu said.

The dam will provide power and flood control for energy-hungry China, but its creation has flooded historic cities and sites and further endangered rare creatures, including a type of fresh-water dolphin.

Many of those moved from prime agricultural land have received little compensation or job prospects in the hastily-built cities above the waters, human rights groups charge.

Wildfire burning along Columbia River in central Washington state threatens homes

BRIDGEPORT, Washington (AP) — A wildfire in central Washingtonstate was threatening several homes after destroying two outbuildings, fire officials said.
The wind-driven blaze was burning over 8,000 acres, or more than 12 square miles. Itwas 25% contained Sunday evening, said Dan Johnson, aspokesman for the Washington State Patrol's fire protection bureau.

Stiff winds had calmed by Sunday evening, Johnson said.Officials expect to have the fire fully contained by Wednesday.

No evacuations had been ordered. The fire was about a half-mile from the threatened homes, Johnson said.

It started Saturday afternoon and is believed to have been sparked by a downed power line, said Melissa Gannie, a fire protection bureau spokeswoman.

The blaze was burning near Bridgeport, a town of about 2,000, in steep terrain in a narrow strip along the Columbia River.

About 100 firefighters were battling the blaze, Gannie said.

Meanwhile, California firefighters were in the final stage of surrounding one of the biggest blazes in state history, which has burned 254 square miles of brush and timber since erupting Labor Day.

A helicopter crashed while returning to pick up more fire retardant and water. Two pilots aboard walked away with minor injuries.

The fire was 95% contained, and officials expected to have it fully surrounded by Monday.

The fire, ignited by someone burning debris, burned mainly inthe Los Padres and Angeles National forests. At one point, it threatened the Ventura County communities of Ojai, Santa Paula andFillmore.

The fire destroyed one rural home and damaged another. It also burned a handful of structures including barns, sheds, an unoccupied cabin and a camping trailer.

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Oct 2

Oct 2 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Monday as of 1400 GMT.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

*BAGHDAD - Thirteen bodies were found with gunshot wounds in different districts of Baghdad on Monday, a source in the Interior Ministry said. Fifty had been found on Sunday.

*BAGHDAD - A mortar round killed a civilian and wounded three others on northern Baghdad's Morocco street, an Interior Ministry source said.

*KIRKUK - Gunmen seriously wounded two policemen when they attacked a police checkpoint in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

*HAWIJA - A roadside bomb wounded two firefighters when it exploded near a fire station in the town of Hawija, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms snatched 14 people from computer stores in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

*BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Islamic Party, the most prominent among the Sunni minority, said all 26 people kidnapped from a meat processing factory in Baghdad's Amel district on Sunday were Sunnis and were found dead in south Baghdad on Monday. Police, however, said four of the 26 had managed to escape and they had said that some of their 22 colleagues were Shi'ites. Their fate was unclear, an Interior Ministry official said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed three people and wounded eight in the Saadoun district in central Baghdad, police said.

NEAR SUWAYRA - Police found the bodies of four people shot dead near Suwayra, police said.

BAGHDAD - A car bomb targeting a police patrol killed two people and wounded two in the Waziriya district of northern Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - A British soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack on their base in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad on Sunday, the British Ministry of Defence said.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed Faris Khalil, a colonel in the Interior Ministry, in central Baghdad, police said.

ISHAQI - Gunmen killed three men in Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday, local officials said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol, wounding three soldiers in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, a source in the Interior Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded a civilian in eastern Baghdad, a source in the Interior Ministry said.

DHULUIYA - Gunmen killed a man on Sunday in the town of Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad, local officials said.

NEAR BAGHDAD - Gunmen kidnapped two people on Sunday just north of Baghdad, local officials said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed a policeman in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

ANBAR PROVINCE - Two U.S. marines, one from a combat unit and the other from a headquarters unit, died on Sunday from wounds sustained due to enemy action in Anbar province, the U.S. military said. A third, also from the headquarters unit, died in a vehicle accident.

SUWAYRA - Seven headless bodies were retrieved from the Tigris downstream from Baghdad at Suwayra, 40 km (25 miles) south of the capital, police said. All had their hands tied.

NEAR KUT - Gunmen attacked a police patrol, killing two officers and wounding three, 40 km (25 miles) south of Kut, capital of the mainly Shi'ite central province of Wasit, police said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

BAGHDAD - Parliament renewed the government's emergency powers for a month. Contrary to expectations, it did not conduct a second reading of a bill on regional autonomy.

U.S. population to top 300 million this month

In the areas of land-use, water, biodiversity, forests, fisheries and aquatic resources, Americans are consuming more than they did in the past. The report found:

-- Each American occupies 20 percent more developed land -- housing, schools, shopping and roads -- than 20 years ago.

-- Each American uses three times as much water as the world average; over half the original wetlands in the United States have been lost, mainly due to urban and suburban development and agriculture.

-- Half the continental United States can no longer support its original vegetation; nearly 1,000 plant and animal species are listed by the U.S. government as endangered or threatened, with 85 percent of those due to habitat loss or alteration.

-- The United States consumes nearly 25 percent of the world's energy, though it has only 5 percent of the world's population, and has the highest per capita oil consumption worldwide.

-- Each American produces about 5 pounds (2.3 kilogram) of trash a day, up from about 3 pounds (1.4 kilogram) in 1960; the current rate is about five times that in developing countries.

After U.S. population hit 200 million in 1967, Paul Erlich gained notoriety with a book called "The Population Bomb," which predicted mass starvation due to population growth.

Smoke haze over Singapore as Indonesia fires rage

SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Forest fires in Indonesia have sent air pollution to the highest level in Singapore this year, the National Environment Agency said on its Web site.

The agency said south-southwesterly winds had helped blow smoke from land and forest fires in Jambi and South Sumatra to Singapore, obscuring sunlight and reducing temperatures and visibility.

The city-state's Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) level reached 73 on Monday although rain could bring some relief, the agency said. A PSI reading between zero and 50 is considered "healthy", 51-100 "moderate" and 101-200 "unhealthy".

Each year, uncontrolled slash-and-burn practices by farmers, plantation owners and loggers on the Indonesian islands sends billows of smoke to Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand.

"The current dry weather conditions in southern parts of Sumatra are expected to persist until mid-October," the NEA said.