Northwest usa bracing for much more

Dutch rescue succeeds in saving horses


Rescue workers on horseback lead a herd of horses through flooded fields from a small knoll in Marrum, northern Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 3, 2006. Rescue workers saved a herd of around 100 horses that have been stranded on a tiny knoll since a fierce storm threatened to submerge them three days ago, in an incident that has transfixed the nation. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

MARRUM, Netherlands - A herd of horses marooned on a lowland knoll for three days by rising floodwaters waded to safety on Friday, led by wranglers following an underwater path marked out by half-submerged stakes.

The horses were neck deep at times and had to swim at some spots, especially the foals. But they began to canter as they neared the edge of the brackish water, and burst into a gallop once they reached solid land, apparently relieved at being able to stretch their legs.

The plight of the herd of about 100 horses has gripped the Netherlands since a storm surge Tuesday night pushed sea water into the wilderness area outside the dikes of Marrum, a town 90 miles northeast of Amsterdam. Before they could be saved, 19 of the horses drowned or died of exposure. Several rescued by boat earlier in the week have contracted lung infections.

With support from rescue workers on the knoll and a chain of small boats indicating the route, the four young women on horseback — riders from the town's Cavalry Club — on Friday guided the remaining animals about 650 yards to higher ground. All but one horse followed them without hesitation.

"It worked, and it went off almost perfectly," said Jacob Prins, a firefighter from the nearby town of Hallum who helped in the operation.

The remaining horse was led back later, escorted by firefighters on foot. They needed to attach a rope to its hindquarters to compel it to walk the final stretch. It collapsed after reaching shore, and was covered by blankets and attended by veterinarians.

Flash floods surround houses in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa, November 3, 2006. Local authorities ordered evacuation of a 6,800-people town in Sanliurfa province on the Syrian border. People were asked to leave the town due to flood alarm as waters flowing from highlands approach, officials said.
REUTERS/STRINGER/TURKEY

Salmonella outbreak linked to restaurant tomatoes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Contaminated fresh tomatoes served in restaurants were the cause of a recent salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens of people in 21 states, health officials said Friday.

The outbreak, now over, sickened at least 183 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were no reports of deaths, although 22 people were hospitalized. Interviews with victims, including detailed surveys of what they had eaten and where before falling sick, led investigators to suspect restaurant tomatoes as the cause.

"We have identified tomatoes eaten in restaurants as the cause of this outbreak. We don't have any information that a name or a certain type of restaurant is involved. As far as we can tell, it's across the board," said Dr. Christopher Braden, a foodborne outbreak and surveillance expert with the CDC.

The Food and Drug Administration has begun probing the source of the contaminated tomatoes, said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The cases of illness peaked in late September, leading officials to believe the outbreak is now over.

"We don't believe there is a need to issue a specific warning to consumers regarding the consumption of tomatoes," Acheson said.

Outbreaks of salmonella in tomatoes occur periodically. A 2004 outbreak, linked to tomatoes sold in Sheetz convenience stores, sickened more than 400 people.

The states involved in the latest outbreak are: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. There also were two cases reported in Canada.

The salmonella cases came on the heels of an E. coli outbreak, caused by tainted spinach from California, that killed three people and sickened more than 200 others.

Wind blew Lidle's airplane off course in New York City

WASHINGTON — A light wind was cited by federal investigators Friday for blowing a small airplane carrying Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle off course and into a New York City high-rise on Oct. 11.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the wind, coupled with the pilot's inability to turn sharply, forced the aircraft away from its intended path over the East River and into the building.

The airplane, which also carried flight instructor Tyler Stanger, struck the building and fell 30 stories to the street below. Investigators do not say whether they determined who was at the controls of the Cirrus SR20.

The report issued Friday said the airplane was flying along the East River between Manhattan and Queens when it attempted a U-turn with only 1,300 feet of room for the turn. To make a successful turn, the aircraft would have had to bank so steeply that it might have stalled, the NTSB said in an update on the crash.

Lidle and Stanger were making an aerial tour of Manhattan before flying back to California.

Though Stanger was an experienced pilot, Lidle was not.

Investigators found no problem with the propeller and engine, nor did they find any evidence of a fire or other damage while the airplane was in flight.

If the pilot used the full width of the river to turn, he would have had 2,100 feet, the NTSB said. Instead, the pilot was flying closer to the middle of the river, leaving a smaller margin for error, the staff report said.

Two days after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered small, fixed-wing planes not to fly over the East River unless the pilot is in contact with air traffic controllers.

Small planes could previously fly below 1,100 feet along the river without filing flight plans or checking in with air traffic control. The FAA said the rule change — a temporary one — was made for safety reasons.

The NTSB's update outlined factual information about the crash, but did not conclude what the probable cause of the crash was. The full board will likely vote on a ruling at a later date.

Greenhouse gases hit record high

The steady rise in atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change shows no signs of abating, a UN agency has announced.
The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide rose by about half a percent in 2005, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said.

It said levels were likely to keep rising unless emissions of CO2, methane and nitrogen oxides were slashed.

The announcement comes on the eve of UN climate negotiations in Nairobi.

"There is no sign that N2O (nitrous oxide) and CO2 are starting to level off," Geir Braathen, a senior scientist at the WMO, told reporters.

"It looks like it will just continue like this for the foreseeable future."

Scientists say the accumulation of such gases - generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas - traps energy coming originally from the Sun, causing global temperatures to rise.

This is expected to lead to melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and more extreme weather events such as storms and floods.

'Drastic measures'

The WMO said concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) were measured at 379.1 parts per million (ppm), up 0.53% from 377.1 ppm in 2004.


Concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) reached 319.2 ppm in 2005, an annual increase of 0.2%.

Levels of methane, another greenhouse gas, remained stable, it said.

The trend of growing emissions from industry, transport and power generation is set to continue despite international agreements on regulating them, the UN agency warned.

"To really make CO2 level off we will need more drastic measures than are in the Kyoto Protocol today," Geir Braathen explained.

"Every human being on this globe should think about how much CO2 he or she emits and try to do something about that."

Compulsory caps

The Kyoto Protocol sets limits for emissions of six greenhouse gases for the richer countries of the world which have ratified it. The period for which targets exist runs until 2012.

The US and Australia have rejected the compulsory cap. China has ratified the Protocol, but as a developing nation, it is not required to reduce its emissions - despite its booming economy.

A report by former World Bank economist Sir Nicholas Stern this week warned of severe problems if global warming was ignored.

Governments involved in the United Nations climate convention and the Kyoto Protocol are due to meet in Nairobi from Monday to examine their future path in combatting global warming.

The latest data were gathered from monitoring stations, ships and aircraft around the world and are published in the WMO's second annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.