Northwest reels from deadly back-to-back storms

8:52 a.m. EST, Wed December 5, 2007

(CNN) -- A pair of storms that slammed into the Pacific Northwest had much of the region under water Tuesday, leaving five people dead, thousands without power and major highways shut down.

The governors of Oregon and Washington have declared states of emergency, hoping to speed relief efforts after storms that pushed up water levels in some areas 25 feet in less than 48 hours. "My priority is to ensure the safety of Oregonians by providing whatever resources they need to stay warm and dry and protect their property," said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

The floodwaters came frighteningly close to some motorists. One recalled driving in reverse for half a mile Monday evening after realizing his commute home might end badly.

"You don't realize how quickly you can become a victim. It scared the living crap out of me," Ed Crowdis told The Associated Press.

Oregon's National Guard was using inflatable rafts to rescue stranded residents in some places. "They're moving down the streets, and through the backyards," Maj. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the National Guard, told the AP.

One of the areas hardest hit is Vernonia, whose 2,300 residents have been stuck after landslides covered roads into the town, the AP reported. There were also forced evacuations in many places, including the Seattle area.

Monday was the second-wettest day in the city's history, officials told CNN affiliate KING-TV. Floodwaters also made a mess of homes and stores in suburban Seattle. "It's done; we're out of business," wine shop owner Steve Body told KING. "We just grabbed everything and took it to higher ground."

Despite the dangerous conditions, people in some areas were reluctant to leave, but many were finally persuaded to flee. Firefighters in Centralia, Washington, made the situation clear to Katrina Puris and her family, the AP reported. "They were yelling: 'If you're not coming out now, we're leaving,' " Puris said. "So I just grabbed everything I could and we just ran."

Her three young children were calm as a truck took the family to higher ground, but Puris was terrified, she told the AP. "They were pretty good. They were all quiet," she said. "I was scared. I was bawling."

U.S. Coast Guard and Navy helicopters have been plucking people from danger zones, sometimes from rooftops, according to KING-TV. "If there's anyone out there right now ... if they need assistance, we'll try our best to come to their rescue," said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Tara Molle.

The storm that hit the region Monday brought hurricane-force winds only a day after another severe storm system had moved through. "It's a double whammy we're getting here -- first we had a huge windstorm that went on for more than 12 hours," said Grays Harbor County, Washington, Sheriff Michael Whelan. "We have, literally, across the county, thousands of trees down."

Bryant warns Karla Homolka against returning to Ontario -- Reports also surface Homolka was admitted to Montreal hospital in labour and refused treatment by staff

Toronto Star

Feb 10, 2007 04:30

If schoolgirl killer Karla Homolka decides to return to Ontario, with or without a child, Niagara Region police will gather evidence with an eye to seeking a recognizance order to guard public safety, Attorney General Michael Bryant said yesterday.

His comments came on the heels of reports Homolka gave birth Feb. 3 to a seven-pound boy at a Montreal hospital.

"The last contact that Niagara police had with her was that she expressly was not going to come into this province," Bryant said at a Liberal policy conference in Niagara Falls. He would not comment on whether authorities would take steps to remove a child from her care should she come back to her home province.

According to an anonymous letter sent to Journal de Montréal, Homolka was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital Jan. 30, but was sent home hours later after her contractions proved to be false labour. The letter said hospital staff recognized Homolka and refused to treat her.

On Feb. 2, she was readmitted, under the name Leanne Teale, and gave birth the following day. The birth was a complicated one, with the baby's umbilical cord rolled up around his neck, an anonymous source at the hospital's mother-child unit told the newspaper. It's believed Homolka, 36, was released from the hospital, which is located in a residential area northwest of downtown Montreal near St. Joseph's Oratory, on Monday morning ...

According to Quebec's Order of Nurses, the hospital is conducting an internal investigation into a complaint Homolka was turned away when she tried to check in. "We don't have any reason to believe at this point that any discrimination has occurred," said spokesperson Chantal Charron. The order's disciplinary committee has been in contact with the hospital, Charron told the Star.

Tim Danson, lawyer for Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, the teens slain by Homolka and her former husband Paul Bernardo in 1991, said yesterday the parents are despondent by recent reports.

"There's a very disturbing irony to all of this," said the Toronto lawyer. "They'll never be grandparents from Kristen and Leslie, and won't have a normal life. And, here's Karla Homolka who's free and giving birth – that's the disturbing irony."

Homolka served 12 years in prison for the sex murders of both teens as well as the fatal drug rape of her sister, Tammy, 15. She was released from prison in July 2005 and made her home in Joliette, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. Five months later, a Quebec Superior Court justice lifted court-imposed conditions placed on her freedoms.

Hospital to probe claim staff refused to help Homolka -- Killer gave birth at St. Mary's Feb. 3

MICHELLE LALONDE, The Gazette

Saturday, February 10 2007

St. Mary's Hospital is investigating allegations one or more of its staff members may have refused care to killer Karla Homolka before she gave birth to a boy there last Saturday, the head of Quebec's professional nurses association said yesterday.

"If there was reason to believe a nurse was involved in a case where someone is discriminated against and refused care, then our disciplinary board would investigate," said Gyslaine Desrosiers, president of the Quebec Order of Nurses. The Journal de Montreal claimed yesterday to have received an anonymous letter by fax stating Homolka first went to St. Mary's on Jan. 30 with contractions but was sent home because her labour had not started.

She was admitted to the hospital in Cote des Neiges on Feb. 2, gave birth to a healthy boy the next day and went home Monday morning, according to the report.

The letter writer alleged that hospital staff recognized Homolka, although she identified herself as Leanne Teale, and some refused to take part in her care ...

The nurses' order contacted the hospital yesterday to ask about the newspaper report, and was told the hospital was beginning an investigation, Desrosiers said. "When there is published information like this, our order contacts the hospital immediately to find out if there is a need for an investigation. ... We are verifying the information and the hospital administration is investigating, but Ms. Homolka has not complained." Hospital officials refused to comment yesterday.

The nursing order's code of ethics states nurses cannot refuse care to a patient in need for any but the most serious reasons, Desrosiers noted. In such a case, a nurse would have to notify his or her superior immediately and ensure the patient's care was not interrupted.

The code of ethics specifically forbids refusal of care because of a patient's race, colour, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, age, religion, political convictions, language, nationality or ethnic background or origin, social class or handicap.

It also states "except for serious reasons, the nurse who is furnishing care to a client cannot abandon that client." A nurse may withhold care if his or her safety is at risk, for instance. "A nurse could not, for example, just say to a patient, 'I won't take care of you because my dad was an alcoholic like you,' " Desrosiers explained. "There are procedures - notifying a superior, etc. But nurses get all kinds of patients all the time, prisoners and ex-prisoners, and I've never heard of someone refusing to care for a patient because of a criminal record."

Hospital investigates care around Homolka birth

Mon. Feb. 12 2007 11:15 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

CTV News has confirmed that Karla Homolka gave birth to a child last week, while an investigation is underway to determine whether a nurse refused to give the notorious killer medical care.

Quebec's Order of Nurses says Homolka gave birth on Feb. 6 in Montreal's St. Mary's Hospital. "Ms. Homolka was there, she had a baby," the Order's Gyslaine Desrosiers told CTV News. "She was a pregnant woman and she had a baby and everybody gave her the care she needed." The identity of the child's father remains a mystery.

The Order is aware of the birth because St. Mary's is probing an anonymous tip, sent to a local newspaper, claiming one nurse refused to care for Homolka when she first arrived.

Hospital officials said they have no idea if the tip is true, or even if any rules were broken. But Arthur Schafer, a medical ethicist at the University of Manitoba, said nurses should never refuse treatment. "Nurses and physicians are not priests," said Schafer. "Their role is not to judge the virtue or wickedness of their patients. Their role is to provide medically necessary services to everyone who needs them."

Homolka left prison in 2005, after serving 12 years for her part in the brutal sex slayings of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. Homolka's ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, is serving a life-sentence for the killings. Mahaffy was only 14 when she was abducted, tortured and murdered in 1991. Her body was then dismembered, weighted down with concrete and thrown into a lake.

One year later, Bernardo and his then-wife Homolka kidnapped French, 15, before raping, torturing and killing her. They videotaped the brutal crime, as had they done with Mahaffy.

Homolka agreed to testify against Bernardo in 1993, resulting in a 12-year sentence for two counts of manslaughter. "Karla Homolka got away with murder," said Tim Danson, lawyer for the victims' families. "She should have been sentenced to life imprisonment like Paul Bernardo, and should never be in a position to have children."

Homolka lived with Bernardo in Port Dalhousie, a suburb of St. Catharines, Ontario. But she has since attempted to blend into Quebec society, even unsuccessfully trying to change her last name to Tremblay -- one of the province's most common surnames. She had already changed her name to Karla Leanne Teale.

Danson said the French and Mahaffy families were distressed to hear the news. "The real disturbing irony is that she's having children while their own children cannot," he said.

"The thought is fundamentally repugnant to them because they know that this is the person who participated in the kidnapping and murder of their children," said Danson. "The thought that she's even free, let alone having children, is something they're having trouble coming to grips with."

Danson said although Homolka has completed her prison sentence, the families believe medical evidence suggests Homolka is a dangerous psychopath who thinks only of herself. Any decision Homolka makes revolves around herself and her own best interests, Danson said. "She would not have thought at all about the … future of her child."

Iraq And US Invite Syria, Iran To Meet, Invitation To Neighbors Meeting Reflects Change Of Attitude By Bush Administration

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007

(CBS/AP) The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a "neighbors meeting" on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

"We hope that all governments seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region," Rice said in remarks prepared for delivery to a Senate committee. Excerpts were released in advance by the State Department.

After first rejecting much of the Baker-Hamilton Report, the White House is now embracing a key component of it — engaging directly with Syria and Iran, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

The move reflects a change of approach by the Bush administration, which previously had resisted calls by members of Congress and by a bipartisan Iraq review group to include Iran and Syria in diplomatic talks on stabilizing Iraq.

"I am pleased to announce that we are also supporting the Iraqis in a new diplomatic offensive: to build greater support, both within the region and beyond, for peace and prosperity in Iraq," Rice said, adding that U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that success in Iraq "requires the positive support of Iraq's neighbors."

At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow told reporters the administration is "happy that the government of Iraq is taking this step and engaging its neighbors. And we also hope and expect that Iran and Syria will play constructive roles in those talks."

But Snow cautioned people to be patient, noting that "this is one where the agenda is being set up by the government of Iraq. And the conditions, especially for bilateral conversations with the Iranians, are pretty clear."

The administration in recent weeks had increased its public criticism of Iran's role in Iraq, charging it with supplying deadly weapons, including advanced technologies for the most lethal form of roadside bombs. The administration also has accused Syria of harboring anti-Iraqi government forces and allowing weapons to cross its border.

Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates testified Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the administration's budget request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Iraqi government announced in Baghdad that it is preparing the meeting for mid-March, and that invitees include members of the Arab League and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

The conference will focus on reconstruction issues and economic development as well as security, adds Axelrod.

Syria will be represented at the conference by Ahmed Arnous, an aide to the foreign minister, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans had not yet been formally announced. Other Arab countries and Iran have not confirmed their attendance or the level of delegates they would send.

Rice said the mid-March meeting will be held at the sub-ministerial level. That is to be followed, perhaps as early as the first half of April, by a full ministerial-level meeting with the same invited countries, plus members of the G-8 group of leading industrial powers.

"I would note that the Iraqi government has invited Syria and Iran to attend both of these regional meetings," Rice said. She also noted that the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, had recommended inviting Iran and Syria to such a neighbors meeting. At the time of that recommendation in December, President Bush rejected that diplomatic approach.

Ahmadinejad offers to have direct talks with Bush

The Associated Press

April 23, 2007

TEHRAN, Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday proposed holding talks with U.S. President George W. Bush — a surprise suggestion from the hard-line leader whose country is at odds with Washington over its disputed nuclear program and involvement in Iraq, Iran's state-run Arabic satellite TV channel reported.

"Last year, I announced readiness for a televised debate over global issues with his excellency Mr. Bush. And now we announce that I am ready to negotiate with him about bilateral issues as well as regional and international issues," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on the Web site of Al-Alam.

The Iranian leader did not elaborate on what specifically he wanted to talk to Bush about, but he said the talks "should be held with media present."

It was not immediately clear if Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, supports Ahmadinejad's proposal.

Khamenei has regularly rejected any direct talks between Tehran and Washington because of what he calls the U.S. "bullying" policy toward Iran. The two countries have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The Bush administration said the U.S. has already offered discussions. "Instead of offering televised debates or a media spectacle, the United States has offered actual discussions if Iran would only agree to what the international community has asked for repeatedly: stop uranium enrichment and reprocessing," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House, said Monday. "We're ready whenever they are."

US - Iran Talks on Iraq: Signs of Hope for a Possible Formula

Turkish Weekly Opinion

Arzu Celalifer Ekinci,
Iran expert

Tuesday , 15 May 2007

US-Iran Talks on Iraq

It is well known that Iraq has a huge security problem after the war period and the aspects of this insecurity are increasing day by day. Beside the conflicts with foreign forces, the dimension of sectarian and ethnic violence is mounting up. By the time two major countries are accusing each other about this chaotic situation. While the US sees Iran as the biggest threat to Iraq Stability, Iran sees US as the sole responsible of this chaos. US accuses Iran of supplying Shiite militias with bombs and weapons that kill American troops and Sunni minorities in Iraq; Iran refuses all these accusations and accuses US for all these instabilities in region and spreading fear in the Middle East. It is obvious that both US and Iran are competing to be more influent in the region. The recent Middle East tour of US Vice President Dick Cheney and following Gulf visits of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clearly reflects the growing rivalry between these two countries. But it is clear that Iraq shall not be a competition ground of two countries anymore. Because it seems that the instability in Iraq may have more expensive costs in long-term for all parties and the region.

Until the beginning of this year, US had refused to have dialogue with Iran about stabilizing Iraq and solving the current problems. As is remembered the Baker-Hamilton Report has also highlighted the dialogue option as a possible solution to this chaos. They had tried to impose a new approach on their administration by putting the dialogue option with Iran on the table. But the Bush Administration had refused this option and put a precondition to negotiate with Iran. They have said that no negotiation will be done with Iran since they halt their nuclear program. As Iran did not accept this precondition the dialogue process could not be started.

It is also remarkable to remind the divergence and disagreements in regard with dialogue in both countries. On one hand the divergence between US State Department and the Vice President’s Office regarding the engagement with Iran, on the other hand the pro and con ideas in the decision-making system of Iran in this regard. But the current conditions have changed the scene. Despite their differences on nuclear program, finally after many various opinions, arguments and discussions, both Iran and US have agreed to meet in Baghdad and have ‘limited talks’ on problems in Iraq. This meeting will be held between senior US and Iranian officials in Baghdad.

“Following consultations between Iranian and Iraqi officials, Tehran has agreed to hold negotiations with Washington to relieve pains and suffering of the Iraqi people, support and strengthen the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and stabilize security and peace in that country," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

“The purpose is to try to make sure that the Iranians play a productive role in Iraq,” said Gordon Johndroe, the White House's National Security Council spokesman.

Actually the US has faced many challenges in Iraq since the invasion in 2003 and the Bush Administration is under pressure from both the Democratic-controlled Congress and members of its own Republican party. That is why they try to launch the diplomatic channels with Iran to solve the security problems going on in Iraq. Of course the Iraqi leaders’ and some Middle East Arab allies’ persistent demand on US-Iran cooperation in Iraq was a triggering factor too. Middle East countries are so concerned about the sectarian tensions, and all those countries are aware of the influence of Iran on Shiite groups. So that, from their point of view, reducing the sectarian tensions among Shiite and Sunnis depends on a possible US-Iran cooperation in Iraq.

The meeting to be held in Iraq is for sure an important step, but despite the planned talks, mutual suspicion and tension between the two countries runs high. There are still some major imbalances in US’ policies toward Iran that hardening the situation. It will be quite difficult for US to get concrete results from those meetings while applying sanctions and threatening Iran, arresting Iranian officials and trying to mobilizing the Gulf States against Iran. The first thing to be done is creating the proper ground for talks. This can be realized by providing security guarantees to Iran and the famous ‘Grand Bargain’ option shall be vitalized.

Certainly an Iran that does not perceive threats from a superpower will be a more confident partner to make cooperation in regard with solving the security problems in Iraq. Since Iran is one of the biggest countries in the Middle East and has some important strategic cards in hands, US cannot underestimate Iran’s role and support to provide the stabilization in Iraq. And on the other hand, Iran cannot underestimate the economic, strategic and political power of US. Iran is also aware of the fact that cooperation is better than isolation. And despite the disagreements in country’s decision-making system, there is a major consensus on normalizing the relations with US. But definitely Iran does not prefer to experience the same things as in Afghanistan case. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Iran has appeared to have a variety of motives to cooperate with US in Afghanistan and it is definite that the engagement with Tehran on this issue provided many significant benefits for US’ war on terror. But despite of this cooperation, Iran was placed in 'Axis of Evil’ list by President Bush in January 2002. That’s why that the Iranian Government is supposed to be more careful and conducting a better policy for not experiencing the same thing in Iraq case.

Consequently, we shall not building castles in air by expecting miraculous results from that first meeting. But precisely this attempt can be considered as constructive. There is a long list of problems between US and Iran and solving these problems depends on mutual negotiations. It is not important that the negotiations will be limited to Iraq issue or not, but it is really important that they decided to start from somewhere.

Italian mayor burnt alive in car

BBC News

29 Feb 08 12:34

The mayor of the small Italian town of Cervino, north of Naples, has been found burnt alive in his car, in a Mafia-style killing. Police quoted by Italian media say Mayor Giovanni Piscitelli, 52, was shot and wounded and his feet bound with wire. Then his car was set alight.

Reports said Mr Piscitelli had recently acted against some municipal staff and the dispute had been featured on TV. Police have not yet named any suspects in the case.

Mr Piscitelli's charred body was found next to his car - apparently after he had managed to open a door to escape the flames. The car was in a mountainous area a few kilometres from Cervino. The centre-left mayor was elected in 2004.

Storm Causing Flooding And Power Outages In New York City

Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 9:37 AM EDT

By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- A fierce nor'easter drenching the New York City region on Monday forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents from their homes, disrupted commuter train service and stranded passengers at major airports after 500 flights were canceled.

The storm was especially harsh in the Westchester County suburbs north of New York City, where flooding led two communities along Long Island Sound -- New Rochelle and Mamaroneck -- to declare states of emergency. The National Guard was called into the area overnight to help with rescue and evacuation efforts.

The unusual spring storm also grounded flights Sunday at the region's three major airports, shut down some suburban trains, caused power outages to more than 10,000 households, and forced some Queens residents to take to the streets in boats.

Some 7.81 inches of rain was recorded in Central Park on Sunday and early Monday, the National Weather Service said. The previous record for April 15, measured in Central Park, was 1.8 inches in 1906.

More than 6.75 inches of rain was recorded in New Rochelle. The National Weather Service said it did not immediately have figures available for Mamaroneck.

New Rochelle and Mamaroneck, about 10 miles north of the Bronx, declared states of emergency early Sunday evening. Mamaroneck called for a voluntary evacuation for coastal areas on the Sound and a Red Cross shelter was opened in the Mamaroneck High School gymnasium.

That shelter was filled to capacity Monday morning with about 300 people sleeping on cots. The town was considering opening a second shelter in another part of the high school, said Mamaroneck Town Administrator Stephen Altieri. Local police and fire departments spent the night rescuing residents from about 60 to 70 homes, he said.

Kathleen Reale, 41, was brought to the Mamaroneck shelter with her twin boys after firefighters plucked them from their window using a front-loader. She said in the 10 years she has lived in the town, the flooding has never been this bad. "I mean everything will be ruined," she said, adding that furniture was destroyed when flooding reached her knees in her garage and basement. "Everything will be gone. it's unbelievable."

All Westchester County schools were closed on Monday. The Metro-North Railroad in Westchester suspended service on two of its branches for several hours. New York City also opened nine emergency storm shelters in flood-prone locations, and on Long Island ferry service to Fire Island was canceled ...

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had hundreds of extra workers on duty to handle flooding and other storm-related problems with its commuter rail lines and New York City buses and subways.

Cars were stuck in the water on numerous roads. The Hutchinson River, Bronx River and Saw Mill parkways were shut at times because of flooding ...

The rain turned many streets, driveways and parking lots into pools. Fire Island ferries were suspended Monday. "For us the big problem is tide," said George Hafele, president of Fire Island Ferries on Sunday after service was first shut down. "We're sitting here watching the tide come up dramatically."

'Horror Show' Storm Pummels Metro Area; Outages Galore

Monday, 16 April 2007 7:18PM

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) -- A menacing spring storm punished the Northeast for a second straight day Monday, dumping more than 8 inches of rain on Central Park and sending refrigerators and pickup trucks floating down rivers in one of the region's worst storms in recent memory.

"This one is really a horror show,'' Gov. Eliot Spitzer said after touring hard-hit areas north of New York City.

The nor'easter left a huge swath of devastation, from the beaches of South Carolina to the mountains of Maine. It knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and claimed at least five lives, including two men from New Jersey.

And the storm showed no sign of letting up. The National Weather Service predicted showers through Wednesday night in the New York City area, with rain mixed with snow at times.

New Jersey: 2 Die in Storm; 1,400 Evacuated

The storm was especially harsh in the Westchester County suburbs north of New York City and in New Jersey, where the state was placed under a state of emergency and more than 1,400 residents were evacuated - many by boat.

Both Westchester and Rockland Counties have declared states of emergency. However, County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef rescinded a State of Emergency order for Rockland County at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Vanderhoef said some areas of Rockland County are still experiencing severe flooding, particularly in the West Nyack area, but most of the water is receding.

Flooding led two Westchester communities along Long Island Sound - New Rochelle and Mamaroneck - to declare states of emergency.

Roads along rivers were severely disrupted. Parts of the Saw Mill, Bronx River and Hutchinson River parkways were closed. In Yonkers, the Saw Mill River claimed the adjacent Saw Mill Parkway, with only a guard rail in the road's center visible.

In Croton-on-Hudson in northern Westchester, half of the commuter train station's parking lot was under water. It was a combination of unusual high tides and water causing the Croton River to spill its banks.

N.Y. Flooding Produces Widespread Damage

In the New York suburbs, among the hardest-hit areas were New Rochelle, Mamaroneck and Croton-on-Hudson. The National Guard was called into New Rochelle and Mamaroneck overnight, bringing in military trucks and Humvees to rescue and evacuate people. One family was plucked from their home with a front-end loader.

"There was debris flowing down the river like you wouldn't believe - refrigerators, I mean, you name it, it was going down the river,'' said homeowner John Vitro, whose basement at one point had water 5 feet high.

In Mamaroneck, resident Nicholas Staropoli said a truck near his home "actually floated up on the riverbank.''

Nor'easter prompts state of emergency in N.J.

Philadelphia Business Journal - 10:59 AM EDT Monday, April 16, 2007

A state of emergency was declared in New Jersey on Monday by acting Gov. Richard Codey, who urged residents not to travel unless necessary after flooding resulted in the closure of multiple roads.

Rainfall and high winds from a nor'easter storm over the last 24-hours soaked the state, resulting in significant river and tidal flooding and coastal beach erosion, Codey said in an executive order declaring the emergency. Portions of Route 70 in South Jersey was among the numerous roads closed, while other major roadways, including the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, remained operational, as did mass transit.

The National Weather Service is forecasting more rain and flooding as bodies of water crest throughout Monday, Codey said. The state of emergency allows state National Guard units to be mobilized as needed and empowers the Director of Emergency Management to order evacuations and designate shelters.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine remains in critical, but stable condition in the intensive care unit of Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., after being injured in an automobile accident last week.

Major flooding along Connecticut River

by Matt Scott

Posted Apr. 18, 2007 12:24 PM

(Middletown-WTNH) _ 14 feet and rising. That's how far the Connecticut river has spilled over its banks in Middletown, and it's not done rising yet. "People have been here a lot of years, saying it's been the highest it's been in a long time," Middletown Fire Chief Gary Ouellette said.

The Connecticut River, a river that usually overflows, is overflowing a lot more than usual. In 28 years with the fire department Ouellette says only once was it worse. "Back in 1984 we had the water reach the top of the restaurant awning and reached the Route 9 area," he said.

This time it's close, close enough for residents across the river in Portland to watch and wait. "This is getting up there, about as bad as it gets I guess," Dave Johnson of Portland said.

Local businesses are watching the rising waters very closely. At the Wesleyan University boathouse, folks cleaned out all the boats and shut the electricity off a couple of days ago in anticipation of a flood.

Ouellette is watching the water rise, not to save the police boats but rather to save the public safety docks. "We pulled the boats out two days ago," he said. "Our concern now is the docks. They're tied to pylons that are one foot away from the water overtaking them. We've tied cables to secure them."

"Forget the boats, you're worried about losing the docks?"

"Yeah, the boats are safe. We're worried about the docks."

Officials from the Federal Emergency management Agency, FEMA, flew over the state yesterday to do a damage assessment, the New Haven Register reported this morning. Gov. Jodi Rell applied for federal assistance after touring some of the hard hit area's herself. Long time residents told her it's the worst flooding they've seen in 20-years ...

Freak storm wreaks havoc; excessive flooding in metro-NYC

Newsday.com

July 18, 2007, 12:04 PM EDT

The skies opened up just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, unleashing a torrential downpour that has wreaked havoc on the metro-New York area, closing most major roads and most major north shore branches of the Long Island Rail Road due to excessive flooding, knocking out electrical power to more than 40,000 Long Island Power Authority customers and causing delays of more than four hours on flights at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, as well as causing excessive delays at Newark-Liberty International.

The National Weather Service even briefly issued a tornado warning for western Suffolk County, before rescinding it. But LIPA officials reportedly received calls about a tornado knocking down trees and power lines in the Town of Islip, causing massive outages. Reports were WALK radio -- 97.5 FM -- was even knocked off the air.

The bad news regarding all the bad news is that the National Weather Service is predicting the thunderstorms will continue on and off throughout the day and into the evening, which figures to make the already bad situation even worse as we approach the evening commute.

Suffolk County Executive Steve ordered the opening of the county's Emergency Operations Center in Yaphank in response to the storm.

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi said there had been serious flooding at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, with patients being diverted to other area hospitals -- and said county officials also were considering the evacuation of the Sun Harbor nursing home in Roslyn due to high water and would monitor the situation before making a decision.

The Federal Aviation Administration is reporting that a so-called "Traffic Management Program" is in effect at both Kennedy and LaGuardia, with arriving flights delayed more than four hours at LaGuardia and gate holds and taxi delays of about three hours at both LaGuardia and Kennedy.

The New York State Department of Transportation is reporting flood-related closures of all lanes on the westbound Long Island Expressway from Route 231 to Bagatelle Road in Suffolk, as well as the closure of all lanes on the Northern State Parkway westbound at Route 106-Route 107 and on the Meadowbrook State Parkway northbound at Route 24.

Many local roads in Nassau and Suffolk have been reported closed due to flooding, as well -- and the NYSDOT has issued flood warnings to motorists using Long Island roads.

There have also been reports of flood-related closures on sections of the Cross Island Parkway, Cross Bronx Expressway and Clearview Expressway.

The Grand Central Parkway was flooded in a usual Queens hot spot -- between the Jewel Avenue Exit and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, where cars were forced to funnel one-by-one past flooded areas.

The Long Island Rail Road is reporting that flooding on the Main Line around Mineola has caused the suspension of service on the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Oyster Bay and Montauk branches. Earlier, the railroad reported that all train service on the Port Washington Branch had been suspended due to "weather-related high water" at various locations on the branch.

Flooding has also caused the suspension of all-Manhattan-bound service on the E, F, V and R New York City subway trains in Queens. One transit rider on F train, Romeo Chowdry of Jamaica, said he had spent three hours on a host of different trains and buses -- just to get to Woodside, where he was stranded on the train.

The storm caused 42,000 LIPA customers across Long Island to lose power due to downed lines, according to LIPA CEO and
President Richard Kessel. He said that by noon service had been restored to about 15,000 customers -- and said he expected service would be restored to most customers by nightfall. The hardest hit areas were in the Town of Brookhaven and Hempstead, though there were also significant outages in Huntington, Town of Islip, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon, Smithtown, Southampton and East Hampton.

Lethal Poison Ricin Found In Las Vegas Motel

February 29, 2008 8:00 a.m. EST

(AHN)- A package of ricin, a lethal poison used purportedly for terrorist activities, was found inside a room of the Extended Stay America Motel Thursday afternoon, not far from the Las Vegas Strip. Seven people, mostly motel staff and the first batch of police investigators who ran to the scene, have been taken to hospitals to be quarantine.

Officials from the FBI, Las Vegas Health District, a hazardous materials team and the National Guard were at the scene to investigate. Homeland Security officials also joined local police in the investigation. Initial tests reveal that the package contained ricin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected to release their findings Friday.

Ricin is a poison made from waste left over after processing castor beans. The toxin can be in form of a mist or pellet and can be dissolved in water or weak acid. It works by getting inside the cells of a person's body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. As little as 500 micrograms, an amount the size of the head of a pin, can be lethal.

Guns, anarchy text found in room with ricin

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mar. 01, 2008

The Las Vegas hotel suite where vials of ricin were found Thursday also contained guns and literature about anarchy with information on the deadly toxin, police said Friday.

Nevertheless, Las Vegas police continued to downplay the significance of the ricin discovery, saying they had ruled out terrorism as a motive. "I want to assure everybody that the Las Vegas Valley is safe," Las Vegas police Capt. Joseph Lombardo said. "We don't currently have any terrorist threat at this time or possibility of contamination (due) to ricin."

The Metropolitan Police Department reported one person has been injured by the biological agent.

That man has been in critical condition at Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center for more than two weeks.

Police said the man is 57 years old and was staying in the suite at the Extended Stay America on Valley View Boulevard near Flamingo Road where the ricin was found. Police have not identified the man, but a Homeland Security internal document obtained by the Review-Journal states that he is Roger Von Bergendorff.

The man placed an emergency call from the suite on Feb. 14, saying he was in respiratory distress and asking to be transported to a hospital, police said. "He's unable to speak with us right now," said Deputy Chief Kathy Suey, who leads the Police Department's Homeland Security Division. His medical condition, however, was consistent with exposure to the poisonous substance, authorities said.

If a person exposed to ricin doesn't die within three to five days, the victim usually recovers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven other people, including three police officers and three employees at the long-term stay hotel, also were hospitalized as a precaution. No one other than Von Bergendorff had exhibited signs of ricin exposure.

Before Thursday's discovery of the deadly poison, hotel management and Las Vegas police had visited the suite twice without detecting it.

Swedish nuclear power plant shut down for weeks after fire

STOCKHOLM, Nov 14 (AFP) Nov 14, 2006

A Swedish nuclear reactor was shut down, possibly for weeks, after a transformer at a power plant caught fire, but no one was injured, Sweden's nuclear energy authority and news reports said Tuesday.

"A fire in the Ringhals 3 reactor took place near midnight (2300 GMT Monday)," the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate said in a statement on its website. "The reactor was shut down on an emergency basis, and all security systems worked as they should have."

The cause of the fire was unknown, said an inspectorate spokesman, who pointed out that the transformer was located in a separate building located some 50 to 60 meters (yards) from the reactor.

Ringhals 3 is located in southwestern Sweden.

The reactor was expected to be stopped for at least two weeks, according to Swedish news agency TT.

Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors, accounting for almost half of the country's electricity production.

Nuclear scare stirs up Sweden (17 November 2006)

edie news centre

Sweden was hit with the second nuclear scare in recent months after an 'explosive' fire at a transformer, which led to the shut-down of a reactor this week.

The Ringhals 3 nuclear reactor in south-west Sweden was shut down on Monday night after a major explosion at a transformer 200 meters away.

The safety scare follows July's incident at Sweden's Forsmark nuclear reactor, which one nuclear expert termed "almost as serious" as Chernobyl.

The Forsmark incident saw back-up generators fail during a power cut, led to the shut-down of four of the country's nuclear reactors, and brought anti-nuclear protesters onto the streets of Swedish and German cities.

Nuclear power remains a controversial issue in Sweden, which relies on ten nuclear reactors for almost half of its electricity.

The government promised over 25 years ago to wean the country off nuclear power by 2010 following a referendum on the issue, but is now having second thoughts with climate change and energy security considerations high on the political agenda.

Japan Quake Causes Nuke Plant Leak, Fire

Jul 16 04:20 PM US/Eastern

By KOJI SASAHARA
Associated Press Writer

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) - A strong earthquake shook Japan's northwest coast Monday, setting off a fire at the world's most powerful nuclear power plant and causing a reactor to spill radioactive water into the sea—an accident not reported to the public for hours.

The 6.8-magnitude temblor killed at least 8 people and injured more than 900 as it toppled hundreds of wooden homes and tore 3-foot-wide fissures in the ground. Highways and bridges buckled, leaving officials struggling to get emergency supplies into the region. Some 10,000 people fled to evacuation centers as aftershocks rattled the area. Tens of thousands of homes were left without water or power.

The quake triggered a fire in an electrical transformer and also caused a leak of radioactive water at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world's largest in terms of electricity output. The leak was not announced until the evening, many hours after the quake. That fed fresh concerns about the safety of Japan's 55 nuclear reactors, which supply 30 percent of the quake-prone country's electricity and have suffered a long string of accidents and cover- ups.

About 315 gallons of water apparently spilled from a tank at one of the plant's seven reactors and entered a pipe that flushed it into the sea, said Jun Oshima, an executive at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Officials said there was no "significant change" in the seawater near the plant, which is about 160 miles northwest of Tokyo. "The radioactivity is one-billionth of the legal limit," Oshima said of the leaked water.

Eliot Brenner, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, said the agency told Japan's government it was ready to provide assistance if needed but had not received any request for help.

Brenner said he didn't have details about the incident. But a U.S. nuclear industry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was a Japanese affair, said the transformer fire and water leak occurred in systems linked to different reactors ...

First word of trouble at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power plant was a fire that broke out at an electrical transformer. All the reactors were either already shut down or automatically switched off by the quake.

The blaze was reported quelled by early afternoon, and the power company announced there was no damage to the reactor and no release of radioactivity.

But in the evening, the company released a statement revealing the leak of radioactive water, saying it had taken all day to confirm details of the accident. But the delay raised suspicions among environmentalists, who oppose the government's plan to build more reactors.

"The leak itself doesn't sound significant as of yet, but the fact that it went unreported is a concern," said Michael Mariotte at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a Maryland-based networking center for environmental activists. "When a company begins by denying a problem, it makes you wonder if there's another shoe to drop."

The accident comes as the government is discussing improving the earthquake resistance of such plants, said Aileen Mioko Smith of the Japan-based environmentalist group Green Action.

The fire indicated that some facilities at nuclear power plants, such as electrical transformers, were built to lower quake-resistance levels than other equipment, like reactor cores, she said. "That's the Achilles heel of nuclear power plants," said Mioko Smith, who pointed out that it took plant workers two hours to put out the transformer fire.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari told the power company early Tuesday not to resume plant operations before making a thorough safety check, Kyodo reported.

Radiation leak higher at Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan, July 18 (AFP) Jul 18, 2007

Radiation in water leaked from the world's largest nuclear plant after a major quake was 1.5 times higher than initially estimated, the operator said Wednesday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant, said however there remains no health risk from the leak. TEPCO now puts radiation in the leaked water at 90,000 becquerels, up from the initially reported 60,000 becquerels. "There was a mistake in calculating the radioactivity of water leaked into the sea," the company said in a statement.

The correction comes amid mounting public distrust in the nuclear power plant.

TEPCO has also said the plant suffered 50 operating faults in Monday's killer quake, including a fire, leakages of water and oil, misplaced duct pipes and broken equipment.

Mayor orders nuclear power plant be shut down until its safety is confirmed

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (AP) -- The mayor ordered that a nuclear power plant hit by a strong earthquake be shut down Wednesday until its safety could be confirmed after a long list of problems -- including radiation leaks, burst pipes and fires -- came to light.

The malfunctions and a delay in reporting the problems at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant fueled concerns about the safety of Japan's 55 nuclear reactors, which have suffered a string of accidents and cover-ups.

"They raised the alert too late. I have sent stern instructions that such alerts must be raised seriously and swiftly," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo. "Those involved should reflect on their actions."

The facility is the world's largest nuclear plant in power output capacity. Japan's nuclear plants supply about 30 percent of the country's electricity, but its dependence on nuclear power is coupled with deep misgivings over safety. The power plant suffered broken pipes, water leaks and spills of radioactive waste when it was hit by the earthquake Monday, the plant's operator said.

Signs of problems, however, came first not from the officials, but in a plume of smoke that rose up when the quake triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer. It was announced only 12 hours later that the magnitude 6.8 temblor also caused a leak of about 315 gallons of water containing radioactive material. Officials said the water leak was well within safety standards. The water was flushed into the sea.

The company also said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack. Later Tuesday, it said 50 cases of "malfunctioning and trouble" had been found. Four of the plant's seven reactors were running at the time of the quake, and they were all shut down automatically by a safety mechanism ...

NEWS:
Japan nuclear plant shuttered, radioactive leak worse than thought - July 18, 2007.
Japan Nuke Plant Leak Worse Than Thought - July 18, 2007.
Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant ordered shut down amid new scares - July 18, 2007.
Mayor orders shutdown of nuclear plant struck by quake in Japan - July 18, 2007.
Radiation leak higher at Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant - July 18, 2007.
Japan quake triggered dozens of faults at nuclear plant - July 17, 2007.
Nuclear waste drums lose lids in Japan quake - July 17, 2007.

Pakistan's Waco? The Storming of the Red Mosque

CounterPunch
By JAVED HUSSEIN

July 10, 2007

The siege of the mosque has been going on for over a week, but today the military struck. It has been a violent confrontation with both sides firing on each other indiscriminately. It started during the early hours today with the military now determined to brook no further resistance. There has been sporadic gunfire the whole day and over fifty Islamic militants and a dozen soldiers lie dead. I saw several militants, their faces covered with blood-soaked cloth, raising their hands and surrendering to the military.

Darkness has fallen on the city now, but the fires in the complex that houses the mosque and the two religious schools are still burning.

There are reports that nearly a hundred people have been killed today, but it is difficult to get too near the mosque since the area is now sealed off.

Since last January a radical Islamist cleric, Abdul Aziz, and several hundred supporters (many of them armed) had been resisting the government. The land on which the mosque and its schools were built was, according to government sources, illegally occupied. The clerics insisted they had authorisation, but to divert attention from their land-grab they organised their students into vigilantes , kidnapped Shia women on the pretext that they were prostitutes, occupied a children's library and hurled an ultimatum at the government: all brothels, music shops were to be closed down immediately; all billboards that depicted women had to be removed and if the government refused a spate of suicide-bombers would make the city ungovernable.

Abdul Aziz tried to escape yesterday disguised as a woman and covered from head to toe in a black 'burqa', but he was soon discovered and taken into custody. His brother Abdul Rashid refused to surrender and was reportedly preparing for martyrdom.

Earlier, General Musharraf had calmly informed the jihadis that they had two choices: surrender or 'be killed'. Nearly a thousand men and women had surrendered over the last few days and today the killings began. We will not know the final outcome for a few days in terms of how many have died.

What pushed the government was China's angry response to the killing of three Chinese workers on July 8th in the religious stronghold of Peshawar. Military intelligence reported that the militants who had carried out the killings were linked to the group in the Islamabad mosque. This coupled with the break-down of direct negotiations led to the final assault today.

What is noticeable is that there is very little public support in the capital for the militants. Normally angry crowds gather to berate the driver of an official car when he has braked too late and hurt a bystander. But the crowds are silent, few have any sympathy with the militants. A young student, Mohammed Azhar, told me: 'I don't like anyone to die, but these guys are dangerous and putting our lives at risk. I have three sisters in medical college. They wouldn't be there if these people had their way.'

Javed Hussein has been reporting on the siege for German radio.

Bloodshed at Pakistan's Red Mosque; cleric is shot dead; eyewitness says "bodies everywhere"

EuroNews

10/07 19:23 CET

A radical Islamist cleric who took hundreds of women and children hostage in a bid to force a Taliban-style regime in Islamabad, is dead. Pakistan's interior minister said 43-year-old Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed during an attack by troops against the famous Red Mosque. He had refused to surrender, insisting he wanted to be a martyr to provoke an "Islamic revolution" in Pakistan. There is so far no news on the fate of the hostages he was holding as human shields.

Ghazi, and at least 100 of his followers, had held government troops at bay for seven days. But when another round of negotiations failed overnight soldiers moved in. At least 50 militants and eight soldiers have been killed so far in day-long fighting, many more have been injured.

One eyewitness inside the Mosque said there were bodies everywhere. The militants, who have vowed to fight to the last man, are armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. The government believes they are al-Qaeda linked. acklash in other parts of the country.

Militant Cleric, 60 Others Killed at Pakistan's Besieged Red Mosque -- Huge explosions; mosque in flames; hundreds of women and children remained unaccounted for

VOA News

10 July 2007

Pakistani security forces stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque Tuesday more than a week after hundreds of militants barricaded themselves inside. The operation began just before dawn Tuesday after negotiations broke down. From Islamabad, VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports at least eight soldiers and around 60 militants have been killed, including radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

Huge explosions rocked Islamabad's Red Mosque early Tuesday morning as security forces blasted their way into the heavilyarmed compound.

Thousands of soldiers battled militant forces for more than 13 hours in the heart of Pakistan's normally sedate capital. Officials say the mosque's firebrand cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed along with around 60 other militants.

Hundreds of women and children remained unaccounted for following government warnings that many may have been used as human shields.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said the mosque's gunmen were fully prepared and mounted a strong resistance, forcing a much longer than expected operation. "The militants are using all kinds of weapons," he said. "They have machine guns. They have rocket launchers. They have been using grenades."

The government says at least 70 women and children have been rescued and another 70 militants taken into custody. Ambulances ferried scores of wounded to nearby hospitals throughout the day, while the terrified parents of students trapped inside waited for information about their loved ones.

The bloody standoff began last Tuesday after the mosque's radical students clashed with local security forces.

Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque, has been a well-known source of Islamic militancy and its supporters recently pushed to impose a strict Islamic law on the capital.

In a written statement released Sunday, Ghazi said he hoped his death would spark a nationwide Islamic revolution in Pakistan.

The military assault came less than an hour after government negotiators said they had failed to end the seven-day standoff. The militant leaders reportedly refused to give up a demand for complete amnesty and safe passage out of Islamabad.

Government officials say there were a number of foreign terrorists, including several with possible ties to al-Qaida, are inside the mosque.

The standoff was widely regarded as a major political embarrassment for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is a key U.S. ally in the war against terror. Moderates accuse President Musharraf of allowing religious extremists to gain a powerful foothold throughout Pakistan.

Those critics were largely silenced during this week's siege, but there are already fresh concerns that the capital's unrest could spark a much wider militant backlash in other parts of the country.

Lost Star, Evangeline Lilly’s House Burns Down

‘Lost’ star Evangeline Lilly lost her home to a fire yesterday morning

E Canada Now

(20.12.06).

The actress’ rented Hawaii residence, which she shares with two female members of the ‘Lost’ crew, was destroyed by a blaze which broke out at 6.30am.

Lilly’s publicist Cara Tripicchio said: “Unfortunately, it is true that the home she rented in Hawaii did burn down this morning.

“Evangeline was on set already when the fire occurred and luckily, her roommates were not in the house either. Thankfully, everyone is safe.” Honolulu Fire Captain Kenison Tejada received the alarm call at 6.43am.

He said: “When we arrived the house was fully engulfed. It was a complete loss. We stopped the fire from spreading. It took us maybe 15 to 20 minutes to knock down the main body of fire.

“The only thing standing was the roof and a couple of the interior walls. Most of the contents had been destroyed. The home was pretty much destroyed and uninhabitable.”

Fire investigators arrived on the scene after the fire had been controlled but the cause has not yet been determined.

Morgan Janus, a neighbour who lives opposite, told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper: “I woke up to my dogs barking. There were loud popping sounds, like something electrical.”

Lilly, 27, who plays Kate in the cult TV drama, is dating co-star Dominic Monaghan.

The British actor, who starred in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, visited the house yesterday to inspect the damage but refused to comment.

Filming for ‘Lost’ is scheduled to break for Christmas at the end of the week.

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Lilly Thankful For Fire

Contactmusic.com

18/01/2007 20:24

LOST star EVANGELINE LILLY is philosophical about losing her possessions in a December (06) blaze at her home in Hawaii, because the tragedy was a blessing in disguise.

The actress, who plays castaway KATE in the hit desert island drama, was renting home in Kailua, Hawaii which was destroyed by fire last month.

The star lost everything she owned in the blaze, but insists it wasn't all bad. She says, "Fire is the greatest purifier and it feels really good. It feels really pure to have no possessions. It's kind of a fun place to be at."

bb

Chin-Chin Gutierrez's house destroyed by fire -- Chin-Chin reportedly sustained injuries

PEP Philippine Entertainment

Erwin Santiago | Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The house of Chin-Chin Gutierrez was completely ruined by a fire that also injured her.

Photo: Courtesy of ABS-CBN

Just five days before Christmas, the house of actress-environmentalist Chin-Chin Gutierrez in 115 Gonzales St., Loyola Heights, Quezon City was completely ruined by fire.

According to Chin-Chin's neighbors, the fire started at around 3:30 in the morning today, December 20. The neighbors saw Chin-Chin outside her house calling for help.

"Si Chin-Chin nandiyan sa may semento, nakasigaw. Hinahawakan niya yung kamay niya. Sumisigaw siya, ‘Help!'" said an unidentified female neighbor.

It was reported in GMA-7's Unang Hirit that the fire started at the second floor of the house. Since the house is made of wood, the fire quickly spread throughout the house.

Another unidentified female neighbor said Chin-Chin suffered injuries while helping her mother, Cecilia Gutierrez, and their helpers out of the burning house.

"Nakita ko po siyang may sunog po yung dalawa niyang kamay. Tapos yung buhok niya po, sunog din," said the neighbor.

According to GMA News.tv, the actress and her mother were rushed to Medical City for treatment. Chin-Chin's mother, who is suffering from diabetes, is reportedly now in stable condition.

Meanwhile, one of Chin-Chin's neighbors remarked that the entire house could not have been turned into ashes if only the firemen arrived early.

"Kung dumating yung bombero nang maaga, siguro hindi nasunog lahat yung bahay. Late-late na dumating yung bombero, ang tagal."

A certain Oscar Villegas from the Quezon City fire department explained that their response time is dependent on the time they received the call.

He said, "Alam n'yo minsan, kumporme sa tawag e. Sa amin, [‘pag] natanggap namin, takbo agad kami e. Ang istasyon naman natin, meron tayong truck dito, nasa City Hall yung isa. Nandito yung isa sa may Project 4, malapit lang naman dito sa Katipunan. Kaya kung talagang nakatawag agad nang maaga, makakatakbo kami nang mas mabilis."

It took more than an hour before the fire was placed under control.

GMA News.tv also reported that the fire, which reached the third alarm, destroyed some P1 million in property and damaged two of the actress' vehicles that were parked outside the house.

No other houses were affected by the fire. One of the neighbors of Chin-Chin is singer-composer Jim Paredes who is currently out of the country.

Chin-Chin is a mainstay of the ABS-CBN primetime drama series Maging Sino Ka Man.

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ChinChin Gutierrez’s nose and forehead burned in housefire

PinoySpy New Media

Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 12:19 am

The nose and forehead of actress Chin Chin Gutierrez were burned when fire struck her house in Loyola Heights, Quezon City yesterday morning.

The actress also sustained bruises on her arms. Police said Chin Chin sustained her burns and injuries when she tried to save her mother, Cecilia. Both were rushed to the Medical City for emergency treatment.

Investigators said the fire broke out at 3 a.m. at the second floor of the house. Faulty electrical wiring blamed for starting the fire.

Aside from suffering a burned nose, ChinChin also lost her Honda CRV and a Mitsubishi Lancer which were destroyed in the blaze.

Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal escape lodge inferno

New York, Dec 30 (ANI): Star siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal made a safe exit, when a falling tree crashed into the building they were in, causing a fire at their holiday destination- Manka's Inverness Lodge in northern California.

The siblings along with many other guests, that included academy award winner Francis Mc Dormand and her filmmaker hubby Joel Coen, got out in time, with Jake helping the innkeeper to rescue people caught in the fire. "Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire," Innkeeper Daniel DeLong was quoted by the New York Daily News as telling Marin Independent Journal.

The fire was spotted at 2:43am by a neighbour who heard a tree fall a few minutes before the small fire in the back of the lodge, and guests were forced to evacuate, but there are nor reports of injury to any of the guests.

The neighbour, Judy Prokupek, spotted the famed siblings, who had no idea they'd be out in the cold weather in the middle of the night.

"They weren't dressed to come out. It was early," Prokupek told Marin Independent Journal.

The fire was finally extinguished at 7:30am, by firefighters from Marin County, Inverness. Initial reports suggest that the fire was started by a tree smashing into the back corner and smashing a water heater, causing the fire.

"It was during a very high windstorm and a tree came down. The cause of the actual fire has not been determined at this point, but it totally destroyed the lodge, "Kaaren Gann, the Inverness Fire Dept. spokeswoman, told People magazine.

The Brokeback Mountain star and World Trade Center actress visited the lodge frequently because it had private chalets. (ANI)

Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal narrowly escape holiday fire

Celebrity News

BY: Actress Archives | Friday, December 29, 2006

Stars and fire don't mix. First, Evangeline Lilly's house on Hawaii burned down just before Christmas and now the Gyllenhaal siblings, Jake and Maggie, were forced to evacuate Manka's Inverness Lodge, where they were spending time between the holidays, when a fire broke out in the early morning hours of Wednesday. The Northern California lodge had its main building and acclaimed restaurant destroyed but E Online reports that there were no injuries to the staff or dozen or so guests.

Daniel DeLong, who co-own's Manka's Inverness Lodge, told The Marin Independent Journal, "Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire."

Jake Gyllenhaal, star of Brokeback Mountain, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of World Trade Center and Stranger Than Fiction, stay at the two-story lodge frequently because it has private cabins. According to E Online, the Gyllenhaals are joined by Prince Charles and Frances McDormand as regular high-profile clientele.

The fire was spotted at 2:43am by a neighbor who said she heard a tree fall a few minutes before the small fire in the back of the lodge and guests were forced to evacuate. The neighbor, Judy Prokupek, even spotted the famous siblings who had no idea they'd be out in the cold weather in the middle of the night, "They weren't dressed to come out. It was early."

The fire wasn't contained until 7:30am, by firefighters from nearby Marin County, Inverness, Bolinas, and Skywalker Ranch.

Initial reports suggest that the fire was started by a tree smashing into the back corner and hitting a water heater, sparking the fire.

Kaaren Gann, the Inverness Fire Dept. spokeswoman, told People magazine, "It was during a very high windstorm and a tree came down. The cause of the actual fire has not been determined at this point, but it totally destroyed the lodge."

The Marin Independent Journal spoke to Scott Howard, a Novato resident, who said, "I heard that all their records were burned in the fire. They had reservations for New Year's and guests coming in from out of the area. They were trying to get the word out on television and radio. There's no way to contact all the people who had reservations."

No one's quite sure where the Gyllenhaals are now - if they stayed in the cabins or moved on to another place for the New Year's holiday.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is up for a Golden Globe next month for her work in Sherrybaby and World Trade Center just came out on DVD. She'll next be seen in High Falls, debuting at next month's Sundance Film Festival.

Malibu fire destroys actress Suzanne Somers' home

09 Jan 2007 19:34:57 GMT

REUTERS/GUS RUELAS, STR LOS ANGELES, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The oceanfront home of "Three's Company" star Suzanne Somers was destroyed in a fast-moving fire that also gutted three other houses in the exclusive seaside community, the actress said on Tuesday.

The wind-whipped fire broke out on Monday evening close to Pacific Coast Highway and quickly overran a strip of multimillion-dollar homes, burning four to the ground and damaging four others.

"There's not a death in the family," Somers told reporters as she visited the charred remains of her estate on Tuesday. "We'll rebuild and I really think we'll learn something great from this," she said. "What else can you do with tragedy but look for the opportunity to grow? It was a beautiful house. It was a beautiful place to live."

Fire investigators said they were trying to determine how the fast-moving blaze started. "Our investigators are out there right now," Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Ed Lozano said. "As far as I know there hasn't been a point of origin established." Lozano said it was too early to determine if the fire had been deliberately set, adding "that's what they are working on right now."

One resident, who was not identified by fire officials, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and was listed in good condition. Some residents were forced to evacuate ahead of the flames, which charred about 20 acres (8 hectares) before the blaze was fully doused by firefighters aided by water-dropping aircraft.

Malibu is home to some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Mel Gibson, Pamela Anderson and Barbra Streisand.

Somers, 60, shot to fame in the 1970s playing lovable ditz Chrissy Snow on the hit sitcom "Three's Company." In recent years she has become better known her endorsement of various fitness products.

Suzanne Somers' Home Destroyed in Fire

Posted Jan 9th 2007 11:13AM by TMZ Staff

TMZ has confirmed that the home of Suzanne Somers was completely destroyed in a fast-moving fire that also engulfed several other multi-million dollar homes in Malibu. Most homes in the area go for between $5 and $15 million.

The blaze burned near Malibu Colony, one of the area's original beachfront neighborhoods. The densely built stretch of luxury homes is a favorite of celebrities, and boasts such residents as Mel Gibson, Pierce Brosnan, Pamela Anderson, Barbra Streisand, Ted Danson, David Geffen and Courteney Cox-Arquette.

Somers, perhaps best known for her role on the 80s sitcom "Three's Company," currently sells diet and lifestyle products with her husband of nearly 30 years, Alan Hamel.

Celebs' homes in danger

Metro.co.uk

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Wild fires have ravaged the celebrity and rich person-filled Los Angeles enclave of Malibu, leaving many stars fearful for their homes.

Sitcom actress Suzanne Somers lost her house in the blaze, which tore through the area on Monday night.

It was worth between two and three million dollars, although luckily no-one was at home at the time.

Former Dallas star Victoria Principal copied many other locals by hosing down her pad in the hope that it would stave off the flames. Her publicist also says that she was giving out food and water to her high-priced neighbours. "She was on the roof watering away all afternoon and evening," says the rep.

Firemen have so far contained the fire, but other starry residents will be nervous that the pattern could repeat itself.

Mel Gibson owns a house nearby, as does Courteney Cox and her husband David Arquette. Pamela Anderson also lives there, as does Cher and Barbra Streisand.

Suzanne Somers: 'I Am So Grateful To Be Alive'

Access Hollywood

BURBANK, Calif. (January 22, 2007) – Suzanne Somers lost her Malibu home when fire raged through the area. Now, the actress is opening up to Access Hollywood about coping with the loss of her home and those who have helped her through the tough times.

Access caught up with Somers in Los Angeles at the 18th Annual Producers Guild Awards where she opened up about maintaining her composure and grace after losing her home. "That was really my soul speaking…I just kept looking at these ashes thinking nobody died, we didn't die, we should have died. That house blew up in 15 minutes, so we should have died and we just left two and a half hours before that not knowing we would never see it again, so it's pretty shocking, but I am so grateful to be alive," Somers told Access.

She also said that many of her celebrity friends have reached out to her to help. "People have been so unbelievably kind and thoughtful…everybody from Barry Manilow, who took me to Madison Square Garden this week and people call, like Rosie O' Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres. And Jackie Collins sent me a necklace because all of my jewelry burned up, that is why I am not in any diamonds. I don't have anything left, but it was the gesture, it is just so beautiful," Somers added. "That's what made me cry."

Somers has also received a helping hand from more than just her famous friends. "There was a guy at a Mexican restaurant who wouldn't let me pay for my soup," she said. "I started crying and he goes, 'It was just soup.'"

Jane Seymour's house hit by Malibu blaze

What's On TV - Britain's best TV listings, storylines, news and video

Tuesday 23rd October 2007

The Malibu home of Dancing with the Stars contestant Jane Seymour has been hit by the wildfires raging through California. On the way to ABC's studio to film the show, the actress said her husband James Keach was fighting the fire around their home.

She told showbiz website People.com: "As you can see, my husband is not here. "The fire is close to our home, and there was a mandatory evacuation. My husband is illegally there, fighting the fire." Asked how she managed to focus on her dancing, Seymour, 56, said: "With great difficulty. I actually decided to abandon my cell phone. I told a friend if there's something I need to know, then let me know."

Malibu firefighter helicopters have also dropped water on the neighbourhood of Friends actress Courteney Cox and sprayed protective foam on the home of Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation. He told the New York Post: "It's been very touch-and-go for the last 24 hours."

A spokeswoman for Sting said he left Malibu after the fire destroyed his neighbour's house. Mel Gibson, Kelsey Grammer and Victoria Principal also abandoned their homes, all of which were dangerously close to the flames.

More than a quarter of a million people have been evacuated and thousands of homes are at risk throughout southern California, US authorities said. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called it 'a tragic time for California' and pledged to do everything in his power to assist the firefighting effort and help those who have lost their homes.

Wildfires threaten stars’ Southern Calif. homes -- Tori Spelling, Jane Seymour among those affected by blaze

MSNBC

3:11 p.m. ET Oct 23, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Thousands of Southern California residents have been forced to flee their homes due to the current slew of fires raging through the area. Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott are just two of the many celebrities who have found their property in the middle of an evacuation zone. The couple has been forced to evacuate the bed and breakfast they own, Chateau La Rue, the one featured in the Oxygen series “Tori & Dean: Inn Love.”

Our friend that is also our groundskeeper there, he got a reverse 911 call from the Sheriff saying get out, so he said it’s pandemonium,” Spelling told Access Hollywood at Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars.” “He’s on the road now and the B&B is locked up. We canceled guests for the week.”

Even though they came out last night to support friend Jennie Garth’s latest "Dancing” performance, the couple was glued to wireless news reports, worried about their property and friends.

“In between commercials I was on the Blackberry trying to get updates from friends that are watching the news and (checking) online,” Spelling sighed.

Meanwhile, backstage at “Dancing,” Jane Seymour confided in Access, that if the fires hit her house, which they have been threatening to do, she would lose so much. "If my house goes down I will lose — I don’t want to even consider what I would lose,” she said. “I would lose all my families memorabilia, I’d lose all my oil paintings, I’d lose, oh gosh, every costume from every movie. There is so much. When I was running out of the house I didn’t know what to take.”

The former “Bond” beauty said her husband is staying at their property, despite amandatory evacuation, to try and save it. “My husband is there,” she said. “He was supposed to leave. There was a mandatory evacuation two days ago. I ran out of there and we got he kids out this morning, but he is determined to support the firemen and he is determined to fight that blaze. So it’s very, very scary.”

On Monday, Richard Gere and John Travolta flew in from the East Coast for the 11th annual Hollywood Awards, giving them a bird’s eye view of the inferno. "It’s as far as you could see in both directions,” Gere told Access. “The smoke was actually in the plane as we flew through.”

"It was a large area, surprisingly large. I mean I never like to see that,” Travolta said.

When Access Hollywood visited Malibu, it was a virtual ghost town, due to the fires and mandatory evacuations.

Country star Tanya Tucker was in Las Vegas when her home fell under threat, but her daughter, Pressly, was inside. “I’ve never been in this situation before so I really didn’t know kind of, what to expect,” Pressly Tucker said. “We got out of there (at) about 9:15, and they said that if the winds hadn’t changed, that it would’ve taken over the house by 9:30, so we were really lucky.”

Media mogul David Geffen owns the Malibu Beach Inn. As a result of the fires, Geffen has opened its doors to evacuees and firefighters alike, free of charge. Eighty firefighters have been sleeping at the property in shifts, as they fight the blaze. “Mr. Geffen thought the best thing to do was to open it up to the people taking care of all the homes,” Malibu Beach Inn Managing Director Alan Goldschneider told Access. “We’re feeding (the firefighters). They’re coming in, in like batches for six hours, and then they leave and another crew comes in immediately, they go out and another crew comes in. It’s been that way since Saturday morning.”

TIA CARRERE - CARRERE BACK HOME AFTER EVACUATION

ContactMusic.com

26/10/2007 02:06

WAYNE'S WORLD star TIA CARRERE is all smiles again after spending three nights in a hotel praying that her fire-scorched home wouldn't be destroyed. The actress was one of many stars evacuated from their homes as wildfires spread throughout southern California earlier this week (beg22Oct07). Carrere was told she was safe to return to her Malibu residence just before attending the Hollywood premiere of new movie Dan In Real Life on Wednesday night (24Oct07).

On the red carpet, she joked that the dress she was wearing was one of the only items she had been able to rescue from her home when firefighters told her to get out. She said, "I've been very lucky and I can now return home." Also returning home after evacuation are country singer Tanya Tucker, Kelsey Grammar and Sting. More than 1,400 homes have been destroyed by the 18 fires that began at the weekend (20/21Oct07).

Fire destroys Madonna's childhood home -- Blaze deemed 'suspicious' by authorities

NME.COM

Jul 1, 2008

A fire has destroyed the childhood home of Madonna, gutting the suburban Detroit, MI house in what authorities called ‘suspicious’ circumstances.

The vacant two-storey house in the Rochester Hills area of Detroit went up in flames on Friday night (June 27), after a fire started in the living room of the house causing extensive damage.

Arson experts from the Oakland County Sheriff's Arson Unit and the Rochester Hills Fire Department are carrying out an investigation into the blaze. They were alerted by a passer-by who saw flames shooting out of the house.

Madonna spent her early years in the house with her five siblings.

Meanwhile, the singer is currently dogged with rumours that she is about to divorce Guy Ritchie after the Times of London reported she engaged the same divorce lawyer used by Paul McCartney in his split with Heather Mills.

--By our New York staff.

Arson attack destroys Madonna's childhood home

MyParkMag, UK

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

The Detroit home in which pop superstar Madonna grew up has been burnt to the ground following a suspected arson attack.

The singer lived in the Rochester Hills home with her parents and five siblings before moving to New York in 1977 to pursue a career as a ballet dancer, before eventually becoming a megastar.

A woman driving in the neighborhood reportedly noticed smoke coming from behind the two-story brick house and called the emergency services. And when firefighters arrived, flames were shooting through the side of the roof.

Local Fire Chief Ron Crowell told the Detroit Free Press newspaper: "The fire appears to have started in the living room. We brought it under control in about 10 minutes," adding: "There was significant loss."

An anonymous neighbour also told the newspaper that even after Madonna gained fame she would sometimes return to the Oklahoma Avenue home.

Storms cause chaos across Europe

Herald Sun

May 29, 2007 02:18am

HEAVY storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning killed at least 23 people in Europe and Turkey, officials said.

Nine people died in eastern Turkey, including six killed in severe flooding in mountainous Agri province near the Iranian border, where river waters were swollen by melting snows. Two more people were missing. In nearby Van province, a two-year-old child died when landslides triggered by heavy rain demolished a house. Two other girls also died and another person was injured after being struck by lightning.

Six hikers died in Greece while trying to cross a river in the south. They were in a group of 18 people swept away by a flood wave in the rain-swollen Lousios river. Prosecutors charged the hike's organisers with involuntary manslaughter.

In France, two divers and a yachtsman drowned yesterday off the western coast of Brittany in extreme weather. The yachtsman fell into the sea from his 21-metre boat in heavy seas. The two divers were part of a group of six who were caught up in strong waves. The others made it safely to shore ...

Extreme weather - including drought, heavy storms, flooding and flash frost - have wreaked havoc across Europe this spring. Aside from the human toll, it has also destroyed crops and damaged infrastructure in France, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey and other countries.

Lightning and torrential rain lashes Germany

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Jun 16, 2007, 10:35 GMT

Hamburg - Snowploughs were needed to clear hail in Munich and a Berlin museum was flooded when lightning and torrential rain lashed Germany during the night, emergency officials said Saturday morning.

At the Allied Museum in Zehlendorf, Berlin, dedicated to the US, British and French occupation of Berlin from 1945 to 1994, local floodwater entered the building's lowest level but did not damage any exhibits.

Elsewhere in the capital, main roads were swamped when drains choked.

Extreme weather hits Europe

CCTV.com | 06-22-2007 16:50

Europe is experiencing mixed weather. Southern areas are baking in a heatwave while the west has been hit by heavy rainstorms ...

Over in western Europe, Germany has been drenched by a heavy rain storm leading to widespread floods. People have been forced to wade through deep floodwaters and push their vehicles out of the water. Several flights were cancelled at Frankfurt airport Europe's third largest airport.

And in Austria, a sudden storm mixed with heavy rain killed two people in the capital of Vienna ...

Flooding causes havoc in Britain

POSTED: 0812 GMT (1612 HKT), June 26, 2007

SHEFFIELD, England (Reuters) -- Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes in northern England as officials warned a dam could collapse following severe flooding that has killed three people. A 68-year-old man and a teenager died in Sheffield and another man, in his 20s, was killed in Hull as torrential rain brought chaos to much of England and Wales.

Police and local authority officials said Tuesday they had removed about 250 people from their homes near Rotherham in South Yorkshire after cracks appeared in the Ulley Dam. "For the people in the area concerned, those who need to be moved have been," Chief Superintendent Matthew Jukes, the police commander for Rotherham, told BBC radio.

He said it was difficult to tell if the wall would collapse. "The situation is really not getting any better and not getting any worse
fortunately," he said. "It does have some cracks in it and there is just a steady flow of water at the moment which we're quite able to deal with in terms of the emergency response."

Structural engineers were working to shore up the dam and pump out water from a reservoir covering more than 30 acres four miles south of the town. "The water, if it escapes, will run into a valley area but would fairly rapidly spread out," Chief Executive of Rotherham Council Mike Cuff told BBC Radio. "It would reach the M1 motorway and it would then spread out to the areas we think that would be most affected. If the dam should burst we would be talking in terms of maybe 15 minutes or so before water would reach residential areas." The Highways Agency said it had closed the M1 in South Yorkshire because of the flooding.

People in the Sheffield area were advised not to travel unless they had do. Police said the situation was exceptional and council leaders said the unprecedented rainfall had caused millions of pounds of damage. Weather forecasters predicted conditions would improve on Tuesday after the torrential downpours that killed three people ...

Floods force thousands from homes

BBC NEWS UK

Tuesday, 26 June 2007, 22:16 GMT 23:16 UK

The village of Catcliffe near Sheffield is under water

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that is now believed to have claimed four lives. Hundreds of families in Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Shropshire have been moved to safety.

In Worcestershire police searching for a missing motorist have found a body. On Monday, a man and a teenage boy were swept to their deaths in Sheffield and another man died after becoming trapped in a storm drain in Hull.

About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and about 700 have left villages near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, amid fears the nearby Ulley dam could collapse. Up to 21 severe flood warnings are still in place, but forecasters say the worst of the weather has passed ...

'Phenomenal' conditions

Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy to the families of the dead and those displaced by what he described as an "extraordinary and very serious event".

"The immediate thing is to make sure we get the right co-ordination with the emergency services... and that we try to make sure we prevent any further loss of life," he said.

The Environment Agency labelled current weather conditions "phenomenal". The agency's flood expert, Phil Rothwell, said: "We've had a sixth of the annual rainfall in 12 hours. Climate change experts tell us that this is the sort of thing we need to expect for the future."

Of the 21 severe flood warnings in place, 13 are in north-east England, seven in the east of the country and one in the Midlands.

The Met Office, which forecasts the weather and works closely with the Environment Agency in dealing with floods, had issued an early warning last Friday. It had correctly predicted that 50-100mm of rain would fall in the 24 hours from 2200 BST on Sunday, with the worst-affected areas being Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Meanwhile, finance chiefs are warning that the floods will cost small businesses millions, and insurers are expecting tens of millions in claims from homeowners. The government has offered emergency aid to the worst affected areas to help with the cost of the clear-up.

Washed away

South and East Yorkshire saw some of the heaviest flooding, with thousands of homes left without power and three people dying.

A 68-year-old man was killed after being swept away as he tried to cross a road in central Sheffield. In a separate incident in the city a 14-year-old boy, named as Ryan Joe Parry, was killed after falling into the River Sheaf at Millhouses. And 28-year-old Mike Barnett died after becoming trapped in a storm drain in Hull. He had been trying to help his grandfather clear the flooded drain in the Hessle area.

Hundreds of people have left their homes in the villages of Whiston, Canklow, and Catcliffe and Treeton, amid fears the Ulley dam could collapse.

Jamie Courtney, South Yorkshire Fire Service's head of service delivery, said: "We have a real possibility of failure of the Ulley reservoir wall, the consequences of which would be widespread damage and flooding. "This is a precautionary measure for the public's safety and we would ask people to co-operate fully."

Police have also found the body of a man after a search for a motorist feared to have been washed away in his car by rising water at Bow Brook, Pershore, Worcestershire. And in north Wales, fire crews have rescued a man who had been marooned on a small piece of land in the middle of the River Dee in Llangollen since Sunday.

BBC weather forecaster Philip Avery said the worst of the weather had passed. "Long term the outlook is pretty unsettled going into the weekend, but nothing of the order of what we have had," he said.

Britain Under Water As Rain Heads North -- "These are the sorts of rain falls we experience in the past every 100 years, every 150 years, sometimes every 200 years."

Sky News

20:01, Saturday July 21, 2007

The emergency services are taking the strain tonight as many parts of Britain remain under water.

It is more than 24 hours since storms swept across the country, dumping huge amounts of rain on already saturated ground, leading to widespread flooding in dozens of towns. Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire have been worst hit counties. But other areas have also suffered.

The Prime Minister has praised the emergency services, and insisted no one could have predicted the extent of the deluge. Gordon Brown said the emergency services and armed forces were doing all they could to help the victims and are doing a "superb" job.

The Environment Agency has issued five flood warnings for the River Avon - people stranded in Stratford-upon-Avon have had to be evacuated by helicopter. Around 200 people are still in emergency accommodation in Gloucester after being stranded by the flood waters. That figure is down from 2,000. Worcestershire and Herefordshire have been badly hit, with the fire service receiving more than 1,000 calls in the past 24 hours. Lifeboat crews were called in to help with the rescue operation.

Local officials in Evesham have appealed for volunteers to help fill sandbags to hold back floodwater that forced 800 people from their homes. Hundreds of families who spent the night in their cars on the M5 should soon be on the move after the motorway finally reopened. Train passengers were stranded in Oxford and Banbury and flooded residents were moved into council offices. Seventy homes and offices have been evacuated in Buckingham because of rising waters.

Emergency services in Gloucestershire have confirmed that one month's rain fell in just two hours.

Baroness Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency, told Sky News: "These are the sorts of rain falls we experience in the past every 100 years, every 150 years, sometimes every 200 years - they're very extreme."

Across Lincolnshire, minor roads and villages have been blocked off because of the floods. In Louth, flood sirens have sounded, warning people of the rising waters.

Lifeboatmen have been carrying out flood rescue operations in Worcestershire after being called in by the local authorities. They helped in operations in Droitwich, Kidderminster, Wick, Pershore and Hawford, where many people were trapped on top of caravans.

There are severe delays on the transport network with rail and roads suffering as well as many airports. Passengers were taken off trains at Oxford and Banbury on Friday night. They were forced to sleep at Cherwell School in north Oxford. And First Great Western are "strongly" advising people to avoid Paddington, Bristol and Oxfordshire stations.

The Environment Agency has issued dozens of flood warnings. A Coastguard rescue helicopter was called in to help with the evacuation of people in Tewkesbury and Evesham.RAF helicopters worked through the night to rescue people in the area. At Heathrow, it is one of the busiest weekends of the year as the school holidays begin, and there are warnings of yet more hold-ups.

Sky weather forecasters say more rain is on the way, adding to concerns for many areas.

Bombing near Bhutto's convoy kill at least 124 in Pakistan

October 18, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide bombing killed at least 124 people and injured more than 320 around midnight Thursday in Karachi, Pakistan, near the motorcade of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to the country earlier in the day after eight years of self-imposed exile, according to hospital and police sources.

Bhutto and those with her were uninjured, and her companions said she reached her family home safely. Video footage showed her exiting a bullet- and blast-proof vehicle after the bombing. She apparently had moved from the roof of the vehicle to the inside just moments earlier.

"I can see body parts strewn all over the road," said CNN's Dan Rivers, who was at the scene. "There are dead bodies everywhere. ... It is a large-scale attack, by the looks of things."

Authorities believe the suicide bomber was on foot and threw a grenade to attract attention before setting off the second, major blast, Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi told CNN.

The bomber is believed to have acted alone, he said. Police do not think a car bomb was involved, he said. Police would not say who they think was behind the bombing, citing the ongoing investigation.

"The truck that Benazir Bhutto was riding on was surrounded by police cars -- so the suicide bomber could not get onto the truck and could not get anywhere near it, so he blew himself up and that has caused many casualties, mostly among the policemen who were riding beside the truck," Tariq Azim Khan, Pakistani information minister, told CNN.

Video footage from the scene showed the street jammed with emergency vehicles, and injured victims writhing in the middle of the road. At least one fire appeared to have been sparked by the blast. Rivers and his crew were filming the motorcade just before the bombing. "We remarked on how lax security was around her," Rivers told CNN's Wolf Blitzer after the bombing. "We got within touching distance of her vehicle. There was no security around, nobody stopping vehicles getting close to [the motorcade]."

The windshield of the vehicle in which Bhutto was riding was smashed by the blast, Rivers said, and a vehicle following hers was totally burned out. The scene, he said, was "absolutely horrendous," with blood literally running in streams down the street.

Because the streets were crowded with Bhutto's supporters, ambulances had difficulty reaching the scene. People resorted to driving the injured to hospitals in private cars. People's Party Leader Qasim Zia, who was riding on Bhutto's truck, told CNN one of his bodyguards was seriously injured. The injured included at least 20 leaders of the party, he said, and most of those killed were members of security forces or police who were surrounding Bhutto's truck at the time of the bombing.

Zia said there were heightened security measures in place. Bhutto, 54, is a polarizing figure in Pakistan because some Muslims in the traditional Muslim nation object to a female leader and because of her pro-Western policies.

The party considers the incident an assassination attempt against Bhutto, officials said...

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

December 27, 2007

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died after a suicide bombing that killed at least 14 of her supporters, ex-government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan and Pakistan's primary television networks said. Bhutto suffered bullet wounds in the aftermath of the bomb attack, TV networks report.

Video of the scene just moments before the explosion showed Bhutto stepping into a heavily-guarded vehicle to leave the rally. Khan said while it appeared Bhutto was shot, it was unclear if her bullet wounds were caused by a shooting or shrapnel from the bomb.The suicide attack left at least 14 dead and 40 injured, Khan told CNN in a telephone interview.

The attacker is said to have detonated a bomb as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.

Video from the scene of the blast broadcast from Geo TV showed wounded people being loaded into ambulances. Up to 20 people are dead, the report said ...

Killed Bhutto's body flown home

December 27, 2007

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- The body of Pakistan's assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was being flown home Friday, as sporadic violence was reported in cities across the country.

Bhutto was killed Thursday leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi. The Interior Ministry said she died from a gun shot wound to the neck, fired by an attacker who then detonated a bomb killing 22 other people.

Angry mobs took to the streets, blocking roads, torching cars and pelting rocks at police, local television footage showed. Police fired on a crowd, killing two people, in the city of Khairpur in the Sindh province, GEO TV reported. In Peshawar, officers used tear gas and batons to break up a demonstration, the station said.

Authorities called for calm and police asked residents to stay inside. Many obliged, shuttering shops or rushing home from work, and surrendering the streets to protesters who set fire to banks, shops, gas stations and more, Pakistani media reported.

It's all mayhem everywhere," Shehryar Ahmad, an investment banker in Karachi, told CNN by telephone. "There's absolutely no order of any kind. No army on the streets. No curfew." Ahmad said that he saw dozens of burned-out cars as he drove home from work. A one-mile strip leading to Bhutto's Karachi house was a "ghost town," he said.

Bhutto's body was being transported to the family's ancestral graveyard in Gari-Khuda Baksh in Sindh province, where she will be buried later Friday, said Sen. Safdar Abbasi, a leader of her Pakistan People's Party.

The first leg was completed when, according to Pakistani TV stations, a Pakistan Air Force plane landed at Sukkur at about 3:15 a.m. Friday (5:30 p.m. Thursday ET). Bhutto's body was accompanied by her husband and three children.

Bhutto is expected to be taken the rest of the way to her ancestral home by helicopter. Authorities are avoiding road travel because it could be mobbed by grieving supporters, the television stations reported.

Her coffin body was removed from Rawalpindi General Hospital late Thursday -- carried above a crowd of grieving supporters.

Bhutto spent her final moments giving a stirring address to thousands of supporters at a political rally in a park in Rawalpindi, a city of roughly 1.5 million that is 14 km (9 miles) south of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. She climbed into a white Land Rover and stood through the sunroof to wave to crowds after the speech.

It was then that someone fired two shots, and Bhutto slumped back into the vehicle, said John Moore, a news photographer with Getty Images who saw what happened.

Seconds later an explosion rocked the park, sending orange flames into the throng of Bhutto supporters and littering the park with twisted metal and chunks of rubble. The carnage was everywhere, he said.

The assassination happened in Liaquat Bagh Park, named for Pakistan's first prime minister -- Liaquat Ali Khan -- who was assassinated in the same location in 1951. The attack came just hours after four supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Thursday, Pakistan police said. Several other members of Sharif's party were wounded, police said.

Bhutto, who led Pakistan from 1988-1990 and 1993-96, but both times the sitting president dismissed her amid corruption allegations. She was the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, and was participating in the parliamentary election set for January 8, hoping for a third term as prime minister. A terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people on the day she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile.

Bhutto had been critical of what she believed was a lack of effort by Musharraf's government to protect her. Two weeks after the October assassination attempt, she wrote a commentary for CNN.com in which she questioned why Pakistan investigators refused international offers of help in finding the attackers.

Bhutto said she'd blame Musharraf if killed

December 27, 2007

(CNN) -- Two months before her death, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto sent an e-mail to her U.S. adviser and longtime friend, saying that if she were killed, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would bear some of the blame.

She cited his government's denial of her request for additional security measures after the October suicide bombing that targeted her upon returning to Pakistan from exile. "Nothing will, God willing happen," she wrote to Mark Siegel, her U.S. spokesman, lobbyist and friend.

"Just wanted u to know if it does in addition to the names in my letter to Musharaf of Oct 16nth, I wld hold Musharaf responsible. I have been made to feel insecure by his minions and there is no way what is happening in terms of stopping me from taking private cars or using tinted windows or giving jammers or four police mobiles to cover all sides cld happen without him."

Bhutto was seeking to become prime minister for a third time when she was assassinated; her death comes exactly two weeks before Pakistan's January 8 parliamentary elections.

Bhutto wrote the e-mail on October 26, eight days after at least 130 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in Karachi by the suicide bombing that occurred as Bhutto's motorcade passed. Siegel forwarded that e-mail to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, with instructions he not report on it unless Bhutto was killed.

Just before returning to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile, Bhutto told CNN she was aware of threats against her and said that some had come from people who hold "high positions" in Pakistan's government. She said she had written a letter to Musharraf about her fears, apparently the same letter she refers to in her e-mail to Siegel.

After the October bombing, she accused elements in the government and security services of trying to kill her and asked Musharraf for "basic security," including vehicles with tinted windows and private guards in addition to police guards. Three United States senators repeated the request in a letter to Musharraf.

Bhutto was concerned by the lack of security she had upon her arrival in Karachi and called the October 18 bombing "very suspicious," Siegel said. He accused Pakistani authorities of not investigating the assassination attempt and of refusing Bhutto's request for Scotland Yard and the FBI to aid in the investigation.

Bhutto and her husband had asked for jammers to impede the detonation of bombs; special vehicles with tinted windows; and four police vehicles to surround her at all times, Siegel said. "She basically asked for all that was required for someone of the standing of a former prime minister," Siegel told CNN's "The Situation Room." "All of that was denied to her. ... She got some police protection, but it was sporadic and erratic."

Bhutto was concerned the problem was worsening as the January elections neared, Siegel said.

After the October attack, Bhutto said police offered to let her use a helicopter for the trip from the airport, but she told them she wanted to be near her people. She said she did not regret that decision. "She believed in democracy, and she believed in speaking to the people," Siegel said. "It's not reckless to go out and touch the people. Don't blame the victim for the crime. The person that was supposed to be protecting Benazir Bhutto and the other candidates was the government of Pakistan with the government of Pervez Musharraf."

At the same time, Siegel acknowledged, "She was moving almost in a sea of humanity," he said. "No system in the world can protect you against that." Blitzer noted that Bhutto was shot Thursday while standing out of her vehicle's sunroof -- seen by some as a a reckless action after the October incident.

Getty Images senior staff photographer John Moore, who was at the scene of her assassination, told CNN he was surprised at Bhutto's actions, considering the earlier suicide attempt. The rally was smaller than expected, he said, and the people he spoke with said they "were just afraid to come out, for the simple reason that they all remembered what happened in Karachi."

Siegel grew emotional as he told Blitzer that Bhutto was "the bravest person I ever knew. ... She knew that there were risks coming back, but those risks were important, she thought, for the fight for democracy."

Iran revolutionary guards crossing into Iraq

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite Network

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 08:54 GMT

British Forces spotted Iranian Revolutionary Guards Forces crossing borders into Southern Iraq, the Sun British Newspaper reported. While Britain’s Defense Ministry did not confirm the report, a ministry spokesman talked about evidence on using explosives from Iran to attack their troops in Southern Iraq. The Newspaper noted that senior military officials confirmed radar sightings of Iranian helicopters crossing into the Iraqi desert.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards suicide unit’s incursion of S. Iraq is another step in undeclared war

DEBKAfile

June 27, 2007, 11:11 AM (GMT+02:00)

Early this week, Tehran deployed in southern Iraq and southern Iran contingents of Revolutionary Guards Corps of suicide fighters in anticipation of an American attack on Iranian soil.

Those units were posted to fight off a possible US Marines landing in southern Iran. Tehran believes the American force will be assigned with destroying RG bases and infrastructure in the south and sabotaging the oil wells and installations of Iranian province of Khuzestan.

The RG fighters were dropped by helicopter in southern Iraq on June 24 and 25. Their task will be to launch suicide attacks on US and British bases and command posts in the region the moment Iran comes under American attack.

Also in anticipation of a showdown, Tehran announced Tuesday at only two hours notice the rationing of gas for Iran’s private motorists to 100 liters per month. Protesters started torching gas stations Wednesday.

For lack of refining capacity, the oil-rich country imports 40% of its gasoline needs and oil products. Tehran sharply reined in private consumption to free up reserves for the armed forces in case of war and keep power stations and water supplies running in an emergency.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that these two steps in three days attest to the certainty of Iran’s government and military that a military confrontation with the US is around the corner.

The British Sun newspaper first disclosed the Iranian troop thrust into southern Iraq Monday, June 25, reporting: “It is an extremely alarming development and raises the stakes considerably. In effect, it means we are in a full war with Iran – but nobody has officially declared it.” DEBKAfile’s military experts add: In effect, the Iranian military incursion of Iraq is the fourth military invasion of foreign territory underway in the Middle East at this very moment. None are officially admitted.

1. The Turkish army is fighting Kurdish PKK rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan on the other side of their border. Almost daily, Turkish units backed by tanks, fighter planes and helicopters cross into northern Iraq and battle with the rebels. Washington, Ankara, Baghdad and Irbil blandly ignore this ongoing war.

2. In the second week of the six-week long confrontation between the Lebanese army and the pro-Damascus radical Palestinian Fatah al-Islam near Tripoli, the Syrian army and security service began pushing into the embattled camp reinforcements of hundreds Palestinian fighters, members of groups under their control. These fighters, an estimated 1,600-strong, have since fanned out in clusters in northern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, the mountains north of Tripoli and south of Beirut. The Syrian army keeps them well supplied with ammunition, food and fuel.

3. Israeli tank and armored infantry forces conduct ongoing counter-terror operations against Hamas, Jihad Islami and allied Palestinian terrorist groups in southern and northern Gaza. Since the Palestinian Islamist Hamas takeover of Gaza last week, Israeli tanks supported by helicopter and pilot-less aircraft are engaged in ongoing firefights with Palestinian anti-tank units.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards suicide unit's incursion of S. Iraq is another step in undeclared war - June 27, 2007.

Iraqi Villagers Hide in Caves, Flee Iranian Shells

Reuters

August 20, 2007 13:18h

Frightened villagers hid in caves in Iraq's mountainous northeast while others fled on Monday, saying four days of intermittent shelling by the Iranian military had destroyed farms and killed livestock.

"Iran is attacking us like Satan. Many cattle were killed, farms were burned, we have nothing left," Qadir Mohammed, a cattle herder from Qandoul village in Iraq's remote northeast, told Reuters. "We do not know when are going to be killed. This is not a way of life. We cannot eat, sleep or move," he cried.

Qandoul is about 2 km (1 mile) from the Iranian border.

Local officials and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region said on Saturday that two women had been hurt in the shelling, across a front of about 50 km (30 miles). There has so far been no comment so far from Tehran or Baghdad about the shelling.

Cross-border fighting occasionally occurs as Iraq's neighbours combat Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in Iraq's mountainous and remote north and northeast.

The latest shelling targeted villages near the town of Qal'at Dizah, 325 km (200 miles) north of Baghdad.

Qal'at Dizah mayor Hussein Ahmed said about 300 families had been evacuated from villages to his town. Villagers fled in police vehicles and on mules, carrying food, clothing and blankets with them.

"This is the first time that these villages were attacked by Iran," Ahmed said. Some houses were destroyed and dairy farms and orchards had also been damaged, with some still burning, officials said.

"We are in a struggle for survival. If I leave my house we will starve. I will not leave my house," said Goli Mohammed, a 55-year-old woman who sells milk from her cows in Qandoul. "There is no place I could go to," she told Reuters.

Another woman in the nearby village of Danaw was gathering clothes into a sack as she prepared to leave. "I cannot bear it any more because it is random shooting," Nazar Mohammed, 21, said before she fled. "Trees were set ablaze, we tried to put it out, but in vain. Why aren't the Iraqi and the Kurdish governments moving to stop the shelling?" she said.

Others in different villages decided to stay in their homes but sent their children away. "We do not want our children to be killed," said Halima Mohammed Amin as she helped her six children into a police car in the village of Dirshkan.

On Saturday, the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed near the border of northern Iraq had been engaged in an operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since 1984, when it launched its struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's southeast.

Pentagon official: U.S. attacks al Qaeda suspects in Somalia

POSTED: 0343 GMT (1143 HKT), January 8, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. gunship attacked suspected al Qaeda targets in southern Somalia, a senior Pentagon official said Monday. The AC-130 flew its mission within the last 24 hours, the official told CNN. The operation was launched based on intelligence that al Qaeda operatives were at the location, but there was no immediate indication of how successful the strike had been.

The official said the al Qaeda operatives had fled south late last month from Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after Ethiopian-backed Somali troops forced out Islamist militants who had taken over much of southern Somalia.

He did not identify the operatives, but U.S. officials accused the Islamic Courts Union of harboring suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. The Islamists -- who wrested control of Mogadishu from a U.S.-backed coalition of warlords in June -- denied the allegations.

The Pentagon official said earlier Monday the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had moved within striking distance of Somalia, but its jets had not yet been put to use.

U.S. authorities believe three al Qaeda operatives accused in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania have been hiding in Somalia for years. The three are believed to be closely tied to the Somali Islamic group - the ICU.

The FBI Web site lists the wanted men as Fahid Mohammad Ally Msalam; Fazul Abdullah Mohammed; Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali; Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah; Anas al-Liby; and Ayman al-Zawahri. Rewards for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of each of the suspects is up to $5 million. However, there is a reward of up to $25 million for al-Zawahri.

According to the FBI, al-Zawahri is a physician and founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an organization opposed to the secular Egyptian government. In approximately 1998, the EIJ, led by al-Zawahri, merged with al Qaeda.

In November 2006, American officials confirmed that al Qaeda operative Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, who was also wanted in connection with bombings, was killed in April in Pakistan. "We had seen intelligence evidence these three al Qaeda operatives were very much influencing the leadership of the council of the ICU -- for example providing logistics, fuel and arms to the militias," said Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. State Department's Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.

U.S. officials in East Africa said earlier this week that al Qaeda operatives were developing the ability to attack U.S. targets just as they did when the embassy bombings killed hundreds. Intelligence shows al Qaeda stepped up its operations in Somalia in June after an Islamic militia took power.

Their camps taught radical Islam to young men, weapons flowed in from eastern European arms dealers and money arrived from the Middle East, U.S. officials said. "What we were really concerned about was there seemed to be much more recruiting, much more training going on. They were positioning themselves to expand their area of influence beyond Somali borders," said Rear Adm. Richard Hunt of Task Force Horn of Africa.

Neighboring Ethiopia was also worried by the prospect of a hard-line Islamic regime next door. Its invasion to oust the Islamic militia met with no objections from Washington.

Al Qaeda's deputy leader urged Somalia's Islamic militia to attack Ethiopian forces, according to an audiotape on the Internet, The Associated Press reported last week. "I speak to you today as the crusader Ethiopian invasion forces violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia," said Ayman al-Zawahri, the AP reported.

About 40 percent of Ethiopians are Christian, according to the U.S. State Department.

U.S. strikes at al Qaeda in Somalia, "many dead"

Tue 9 Jan 2007 5:22 AM ET

By Guled Mohamed

No escape … Somali refugees run through a dust storm at the Ifo refugee camp, near Dadaab, about 80 kilometres from the border with Kenya. Photo: Reuters/Radu Sigheti

MOGADISHU, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. attack plane killed many people with barrages of gunfire in a remote Somali village occupied by Islamists thought to be hiding at least one al Qaeda suspect, a Somali government source said on Tuesday. In the first known direct U.S. military intervention in Somalia since a failed peacekeeping mission that ended in 1994, an AC-130 plane rained gunfire on the desolate southern village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late on Monday.

"I understand there are so many dead bodies and animals in the village," the senior source told Reuters.

The U.S. Navy also confirmed it had moved the aircraft carrier Eisenhower to the Somali coast -- Africa's longest -- to beef up a naval cordon it had already put there as the Islamists sought refuge in the remote southern tip.

"They are, with other ships, making sure that terrorists are not able to use the sea as a means of transport," said Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

U.S. intelligence believes Abu Talha al-Sudani, identified in grand jury testimony against Osama bin Laden as an explosives expert from Sudan, is the leader of east Africa's al Qaeda cell and has been in and out of Somalia for over a decade.

"The Americans are saying an al Qaeda member heading operations in east Africa is among the Islamists there," the source said. He did not know the man's name or whether he died.

U.S., Ethiopian and Kenyan intelligence officials say some Islamists have provided shelter to a handful of al Qaeda members, including suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a 2002 hotel bombing on the Kenyan coast.

Besides al-Sudani, Washington has named Comorian Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan among the al Qaeda members in Somalia.

The Washington Post, quoting unnamed military sources, said al-Sudani was one target of the raid.

U.S. conducts first overt strikes in Somalia since 1994; second airstrike this month

POSTED: 1609 GMT (0009 HKT), January 24, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military carried out an airstrike against an al Qaeda operative in southern Somalia this week, the second strike this month, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

The strikes are the first overt U.S. military actions in Somalia since the U.S. military pulled out of Mogadishu in 1994, months after militia fighters loyal to a Somali warlord shot down two Black Hawk helicopters, killing 18 U.S. special operation troops.

In this most recent strike, a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked Monday overnight into Tuesday along Somalia's southern border with Kenya. The airstrike was aimed at a "midlevel al Qaeda operative," according to a U.S. official. The operative survived the attack and was taken into custody by Ethiopian forces, according to the official.

About half a dozen other people were killed, but there was no information on their identities, an official said.

The United States has been closely watching the region for al Qaeda operatives on the run since the militant Islamic Courts Union was recently driven from power by Somali forces, backed by the powerful Ethiopian military.

U.S. officials have accused the Islamic Courts Union of harboring al Qaeda terrorists, including the suspects in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa. The Islamists, which were driven from power late last month after seizing control of Mogadishu in June, have denied the allegations. U.S. Navy aircraft continue to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance missions over Somalia, the official said.

In the earlier airstrike on January 7, the U.S. military targeted Adnan Hashi Ayrow, a member of the Islamic Courts Union, who is believed to have fought against the United States in Afghanistan. Ayrow is believed to have survived the attack. Initial reports indicated the January 7 strike targeted the three embassy bombing suspects, but a senior U.S. official in Kenya told CNN it was unclear if the three were in the region in the first place.