World sees Dems' win as a Bush rejection

"Voters have punished the Republicans. They are not happy with the way the leadership has handled the Iraq war," said Chandra Muzaffar, president of the Malaysia-based think-tank International Movement for a Just World.

Bush's foreign critics cheered in Vietnam, and in Muslim-dominated countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The Republicans lost in the election because the American voters are now fed up and bored with the war," said Vitaya Wisetrat, a prominent, anti-American Muslim cleric in Thailand. "The American people now realize that Bush is the big liar."

A truck sits partially submerged in floodwaters in Hamilton, Washington, near the Skagit River on Tuesday.


By Tuesday, floodwaters had covered a roadway near Mount Vernon, Wash..


Washington Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Kenneth Alford stands on a fllooded street in Hamilton, Wash. near the Skagit River Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006 during a tour of areas hit hard by flooding in Washington State. Record rainfall brought heavy flooding to parts of the Northwest on Tuesday, killing at least one person, causing evacuations and damaging roads and houses. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)

Woman’s body found amid Northwest flooding

PORTLAND, Ore. - The body of a woman who disappeared on a storm-battered beach was found Wednesday, the third death during a wave of stormy weather in the Pacific Northwest that smashed rainfall records and threatened hundreds of homes, authorities said.

The search continued for the woman’s companion.

The Pineapple Express storm, named for its origin over the warm Pacific Ocean, had abated Wednesday after sending rivers over their banks Monday and Tuesday, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared an emergency in coastal Tillamook County, where about 100 people were evacuated because of rising water.

The two women were last seen walking on the beach near Gleneden Beach on Tuesday. Lt. Vicky Ryan of the Depoe Bay Fire District said she saw the women and “cautioned them to not go out on the beach because of the high water.”

They apparently moved to another stretch of beach, she said. The body of one of the women was found Wednesday, Ryan said. She didn’t say where the body was found, saying she couldn’t release more information until relatives were notified.

Floods turn deadly in Washington
Two deaths were reported in Washington state, a hunter whose pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River and a man who ignored road closure signs and whose vehicle was swept into the same river.

Near Gleneden Beach, 15 to 20 dump trucks hauled gravel to shore up the foundations of three houses whose foundations were threatened by erosion.

Ryan said Wednesday that 300 truckloads of rock had been dumped behind and below the homes as barriers against surf gnawing at the land.

Some highways and numerous local roads were closed Wednesday because of high water, mud and rock slides or flood damage. A section of Interstate 5 southwest of Seattle was reopened early Wednesday after being closed for about nine hours because of high water.

‘A catastrophic event’
In Snohomish, about 25 miles north of Seattle, flooding entered the municipal sewage treatment plant and damaged a diversion dam on the Pilchuck River. Larry Bauman, town planner, said countywide damage would likely exceed the $5 million caused by flooding in 2003.

“This is a catastrophic event,” Bauman said.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire had declared an emergency for 18 counties on Monday, authorizing the National Guard and the Emergency Management Division to offer assistance. Helicopters and hovercraft were put to work making rescues.

Rainfall records were set Monday across western Washington, including 8.22 inches at Stampede Pass, which broke an all-time record for a 24-hour period there of 7.29 inches, set on Nov. 19, 1962. Olympia had a record for the date at 4.31 inches.

The storm dumped up to 15 inches on Oregon by Tuesday, mostly along the coast.

At least one house was swept away and nearly 300 homes and cabins were threatened when the Cowlitz River rose out of its banks and changed course near Packwood, Wash., south of Mount Rainier, said sheriff’s deputy Stacy Brown.

Central Florida storm destroys 2 homes, damages many

ORLANDO (AP) — Two homes were destroyed and several others were damaged when a storm passed through the area, authorities said.

At least three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the Tuesday evening storm, said Alan Harris, a spokesman for the Seminole County Department of Public Safety. The worst of the damage was near Oviedo in Seminole County, where two homes were destroyed, two received major damage and six suffered moderate damage.

County officials said they planned to activated the emergency-operations center Wednesday.

About 4,700 Progress Energy customers lost power in the Winter Springs and Longwood areas, said spokeswoman Lisa Newkirk.

In Orange County, roofs were torn off and windows were broken at one apartment complex. Some residents had to be evacuated, fire spokeswoman Marianne Nuckles.

Meteorologist and former Seminole County fire Chief Terry Schenk said it was likely that a category F-1 tornado skipped across the area. Radar indicated 90-mph winds about 200 feet off the ground, he said.

The National Weather Service had not confirmed a tornado touched down, but planned to inspect.

Flooding possible from heavy rains

NEWARK (AP) — Flooding is possible from a storm that is expected to drop more than 2 inches of rain on parts of New Jersey on Wednesday, forecasters said.
As of 8:20 a.m., between an inch to nearly 2 inches of rain had fallen in parts of the state, and the entire region remained under a flash flood watch issued by the National Weather Service.

But the storm did not seem to have caused serious problems for the morning rush hour.

The Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike each had no major weather-related delays Wednesday morning.

The weather service also cautioned that local roads and small streams could experience minor flooding.

Strong undersea quake hits off PNG island

SYDNEY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck off the remote coast of New Britain island in Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, but disaster officials said it would take days to receive reports from the area.

The southern coast of New Britain is home to scattered villages that take days to reach by foot.

"We have not received any reports of damage as yet because it takes days to reach the south coast of New Britain," said disaster official Peter Barkie from the town of Kimbe in the north of New Britain.

In 1998, two tsunamis generated by an undersea earthquake killed more than 2,000 people living in small coastal villages on Papua New Guinea's remote northern shore. News of the tsunamis and deaths took days to reach the outside world.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said there was no threat of a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami from the quake off New Britain island, but it said earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis.

The earthquake early on Wednesday morning local time was centred about 178 km (110 miles) east of the town of Kandrian, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Papua New Guinea lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", a seismically active area with frequent earthquakes and volcanoes.

Somalia floods kill at least 47, thousands homeless

QORYOLEY, Somalia, Nov 8 (Reuters) - At least 47 people drowned and thousands were left homeless after two rivers that snake through Somalia burst their banks after heavy rains, residents and aid workers said on Wednesday.

Large swathes of farmland are submerged and food stocks have washed away after torrential rain pounded the Horn of Africa country for several days, swelling the Juba and Shabele rivers.

"These are the worst floods to affect the region in the last seven years," Sheikh Abdisalan Hassan, chairman of the middle Shabele Islamic administration, told Reuters.

"Children have been washed away while others have died of starvation. People badly need food and safe drinking water. I request aid agencies to help these poor people," he said.

The downpours have also affected villagers in Ethiopia, where at least 68 people have died and more than 279,000 people have been displaced from their homes.

Aid workers expect the death toll in Somalia to rise as thousands of poor farming families sleep out in the cold and are exposed to malaria and water-borne diseases. The carcasses of livestock still lie in stagnant water.

Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries, plunged into anarchy in 1991 after a dictator was overthrown by clan warlords. Since then tens of thousands have died from violence and hunger.

Fears of an all-out conflict in Somalia, which could enflame the Horn of Africa, have risen in the last few weeks after Arab League-sponsored peace talks between the Islamist movement and the Western-backed government of President Abdullahi Yusuf.

The powerful Islamists control the capital, Mogadishu, and most of southern Somalia after defeating U.S.-backed warlords.

"FEEDING ON GREEN LEAVES"

In Huruwaa village, 145 km (90 miles) north of Mogadishu, some 47 homeless families sheltered on hilly ground between a flooded Shabele river and a pool of rain water.

Khadija Adan, a mother of four, said her family had not had food for close to two days.

"We have been feeding on green leaves for the last 18 hours," Adan said in Huruwaa while suckling her baby boy. "If I could get utensils, I could cook the leaves for my children." Ibrahim Haji Ali, deputy chairman of lower Shabele region, said many people could not be traced due to driving rains.

"Over 20 (people) have died in our region alone. There must be so many other dead people since it has been raining constantly for days," he said.

Juba and Shabele are the most agriculturally productive regions in Somalia and their produce is transported to other parts of the country.

"Times change very fast," farmer Nuh Isse said. "I was rich five days ago preparing to harvest my fruits but now am begging to save my life. This is the worst disaster."

Woman fatally bitten by snake in church

LONDON, Ky. - A woman who was bitten by a snake at a church that neighbors say practices serpent-handling died of her wounds hours later, a newspaper reported.

Linda Long, 48, was bitten Sunday at East London Holiness Church, where neighbors said the reptiles are handled as part of religious services, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Tuesday.

Long died at University of Kentucky Medical Center about four hours after being bitten, authorities told the newspaper.

"She said she was bitten by a snake at her church," said Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.

Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine.

Police said they had not received any reports of snake handling at the church.

Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.

Church officials could not be reached for comment.

Istanbul launches mock quake exercise for "big one"

ISTANBUL, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Earthquake-prone Istanbul launched a major disaster simulation on Tuesday, after two small tremors reignited criticism that not enough had been done to protect the city of 12 million.

Almost 18,000 people were killed in 1999 when a strong earthquake hit northwestern Turkey, including Istanbul.

Seismologists say a major quake is likely to hit Turkey's largest city in the next three decades and newspapers have lately been full of warnings of the approaching "big one".

In a district of Istanbul hit badly in 1999, rescue workers in Tuesday's quake simulation used drills and saws to cut through the roof of a demolished building. As they reached a second survivor, an aftershock sent them running.

On the other side of town rescuers pulled bodies out of a derailed train and boats spurted water onto a ship which had caught fire in Turkey's strategic Bosphorus Strait.

Last month local media quoted National Earthquake Council Chairman Haluk Eyidogan criticising authorities for failing to enforce rules on construction and structural inspections. Istanbul's governor acknowledged that many of the city's buildings would not withstand a large quake.

Prof. Mustafa Erdik at Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, estimates a quake of 7.5 on the Richter scale would kill 40,000-50,000 people in Istanbul, Sabah newspaper on Tuesday quoted his report as saying.

Can Avci, head of the Istanbul Search and Rescue Team, said progress had been made and 11,000 people trained since 1999.

"The organisation of volunteers has improved," Avci told Reuters. "Professional teams have developed and have had training with modern equipment and then have shared this with volunteers. That's the biggest difference (since 1999)."

Istanbul now has 90 full-time professional rescue workers, compared to 20 in 1999, he said. Istanbul Municipality said 1,550 personnel took part in the simulation.

The small earthquakes in October revived memories of the 1999 quake, which Istanbul residents still describe vividly.

Grocer Gungor Dincer recalled: "At the moment of the earthquake, coming from underground, there's a sound, it's like a washing machine on a spin cycle."

Court to review nuisance monkeys

India's Supreme Court is to review the fate of 300 monkeys captured roaming on the streets of the capital, Delhi.

The court had ordered that the monkeys be relocated to forests in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

But the animals are proving unpopular there and locals there have lodged an official objection to the plan.

Thousands of monkeys roam Delhi, mostly around government offices, and are considered a public nuisance.

For years the wild animals have caused havoc, riding on the city's metro trains, roaming through parliament.

They have invaded the prime minister's office and the Defence Ministry, helping themselves to top secret military files.

They cannot be killed because many Indians see them as sacred.

Instead they have been captured, their fate decided by a bench of Supreme Court judges headed by India's Chief Justice.

Some 250 monkeys have already been relocated by a court order to forests in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

But many people there are now objecting, saying the animals are bringing with them their hooligan habits learnt in the city and are terrorising rural villages.

So the Supreme Court has been asked to find another solution. The monkey menace is proving a tricky issue, exercising some of India's most eminent legal minds.