Strike against Syria? Obama backs it, but wants Congress to vote

It's official: U.S. President Barack Obama wants lawmakers to weigh in on whether to use military force in Syria.

Obama sent a letter to the heads of the House and Senate on Saturday night, hours after announcing that he believes military action against Syrian targets is the right step to take over the alleged use of chemical weapons.

The proposed legislation from Obama asks Congress to approve the use of military force "to deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential for future uses of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction."

It's a step that is set to turn an international crisis into a fierce domestic political battle.
There are key questions looming over the debate: What did U.N. weapons inspectors find in Syria? What happens if Congress votes no? And how will the Syrian government react?

In a televised address from the White House Rose Garden earlier Saturday, the president said he would take his case to Congress, not because he has to -- but because he wants to.

"While I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course, and our actions will be even more effective," he said. "We should have this debate, because the issues are too big for business as usual."

Obama said top congressional leaders had agreed to schedule a debate when the body returns to Washington on September 9. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing over the matter on Tuesday, Sen. Robert Menendez said.

U.N. inspectors leave Syria
 

Flash floods hit Central Trinidad

Torrential rainfall has caused flash floods in Central Trinidad.

Flood caused damage to the houses in Cacandee Road and Lyle Lane in Felicity, Trinidad Express reported.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) had issued weather warning bulletin expecting bad weather.

MUST WATCH: Stunning Taiwan rockslide video

Mudslide in Pingtung County of Taiwan has injured at least 17 people, local medias reported.
According to the Taiwan News, mudslide hit a train (Tze-Chiang Limited Express) near a tunnel in Pingtung County.

Several other rockslides event have been recorded across Taiwan.

Video below shows a car being hit by rockslide in Taiwan. A camera on second vehicle travelling behind the second car captured the dramatic moment in Keelung City.

Suicide bombing kills 6 near Afghanistan bank

Six people died Saturday in a suicide bomb attack in front of a bank in southern Afghanistan, the Kandahar provincial governor's office said.

A government statement said 20 people were injured. Most of the casualties were civilian customers of Kabul Bank in the city of Kandahar, the statement said.

Colombian president deploys 50,000 troops after violent protests

Fifty thousand soldiers will patrol the streets of Bogota, Colombia, after violent protests that left at least two people dead and dozens injured, President Juan Manuel Santos announced Friday.
Speaking on Colombian national television, the president said he may also send troops to other locations around Colombia that have seen violent clashes between protesters and security forces.

Caracol showed video of violent clashes between riot police and protesters in downtown Bogota, as well as images of other groups of protesters who blocked major highways connecting the Colombian capital with surrounding cities.

Vandals have smashed windows at foreign businesses, banks and fast-food restaurants. They also damaged billboards and security cameras at bus stations around the capital.

The protests have their roots in a strike that started on August 19. Farmers from around Colombia are demanding government support and credits, saying they can't compete against powerful agricultural businesses that benefit from free trade agreements.

Farmers who travelled to the capital to protest were joined by labour unions and student groups in marches and protests throughout Bogota.

Santos said those who staged acts of vandalism and attacked businesses are not legitimate farmers voicing their demands, but vandals taking advantage of the situation to loot and steal.

"Unfortunately, several of these protests were infiltrated and taken advantage of by vandals whose sole purpose is to create chaos and destruction and damage public and private property," Santos said. "There's no protest that merits the loss of human life, even if the demands being made are legitimate."

The Colombian president offered a reward equal to $2,600 for information that allows authorities to identify and capture those responsible for the acts of vandalism and attacks against security forces.
Ariel Avila, a Colombian political analyst, told that guerrilla groups have tried to infiltrate the protests and have participated in acts of sabotage including burning buses and some other acts seen in recent days.

"But in general, this social movement has not been infiltrated," Avila said. "Here in the country's central region, in the provinces of Cundinamarca" -- which surrounds Bogota -- "and Boyaca, there has not been guerrilla activity in at least 15 years, so what the president said is not entirely accurate."
Avila, a former professor at the National University of Colombia and the current director of an organization that monitors armed conflicts in Colombia, said that the farmers strike is causing shortages of food products in the capitals of four provinces, including Bogota. Each city has more than 500,000 inhabitants.

'War-weary' Obama says Syria chemical attack requires response

Declaring himself "war-weary" but determined to hold Syria accountable for using banned chemical weapons, President Barack Obama said Friday he was considering a limited response to what U.S. intelligence assessed with "high confidence" as a Syrian attack that killed more than 1,400 people.
Obama told reporters he had yet to make a final decision, but hinted at a military strike that sources and experts say would entail cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy ships at Syrian command targets -- but not at any chemical weapons stockpiles.

"It is not in the national security interests of the United States to ignore clear violations" of what he called an "international norm" banning the use of chemical weapons, Obama said at a meeting with visiting heads of Baltic nations Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

He called the Syrian attack a "challenge to the world" that threatens U.S. allies Israel, Turkey and Jordan while increasing the risk of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists.

President Bashar al-Assad's government has claimed that jihadists fighting with the rebels carried out the chemical weapons attacks on August 21 to turn global sentiments against it, a claim dismissed by Obama and others who say there is no evidence to support that claim.

Why Russia, Iran and China are standing by al-Assad

Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry released details of a declassified U.S. intelligence report in an effort to muster support at home and abroad for a military response against al-Assad's government.

Syrian army captain among 4 charged in Lebanon bombings

Beirut, Lebanon -- A Syrian army captain was among four people charged in last week's deadly bombings in Tripoli, Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency reported Friday, citing a government official.

The Syrian is Capt. Mohammed Ali, charged with installing car bombs and killing. The others are Lebanese, including two sheikhs, Hashem Minkara and Mustafa Ahmad Gharib.

The blasts Friday in Tripoli occurred near mosques run by Sunni imams with ties to Syrian rebels. The pair of car bombings killed at least 45 people.

3 killed in Egyptian clashes, state TV says

Three people were killed and 60 others were injured in clashes amid protests in Egypt on Friday, Egyptian state TV reported, citing the health ministry.

Details on where and how the casualties happened weren't immediately available.

Friday featured more protests in Cairo by supporters of former President Mohamed Morsy.

Egypt has been in turmoil since the military ousted Morsy in early July. The military and Morsy opponents have battled Muslim Brotherhood members and other Morsy supporters.

Earlier this month, hundreds of people -- citizens as well as members of security forces -- were killed. Many of the deaths occurred when the military used force to clear two pro-Morsy sit-in sites in Cairo, and when violence raged after pro-Morsy supporters staged demonstrations two days later.

Prosecutor: Revenge was motive in kidnapping of 12 Mexican youths

Mexico City -- What happened to 12 youths who were kidnapped in broad daylight from a bar in Mexico?

The mystery, which has jolted the country's capital for months, appeared to be one step closer to resolution Monday:

The victims were killed shortly after the kidnapping, Mexico City Prosecutor Rodolfo Rios Garza told reporters on Monday. And the motive was revenge, he said.

The crime occurred in retaliation for another killing at a bar in the city's upscale Condesa neighborhood, he said.

The prosecutor's revelation comes a day after an attorney representing victims' families said authorities had found that at least 10 of the bodies discovered last week in a shallow grave near Mexico City corresponded to the group kidnapped from the Heaven after-hours club.

The mysterious mass kidnapping in Mexico's capital in May drew international attention after furious family members protested, claiming authorities weren't taking the case seriously.

The allegations have sparked concerns about whether violence has surged into Mexico's capital, where residents largely have been spared from drug war casualties seen in other parts of the country.

India arrests Yasin Bhatkal, Indian Mujahideen terrorism suspect

New Delhi -- Indian intelligence agencies have arrested Yasin Bhatkal, one of the country's most wanted terrorism suspects, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said Thursday.

Bhatkal is believed to be a co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen, a militant group banned in India and listed by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.

Intelligence officials arrested him Wednesday in the eastern state of Bihar, near India's border with Nepal, Shinde said.

"He is currently under Bihar Police's custody and is being interrogated," he said.

The U.S. State Department said in 2011 that the Indian Mujahideen has "significant links to Pakistan" and is responsible for "dozens of bomb attacks throughout India since 2005" that have caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

Bhatkal is wanted in relation to multiple bombings in Mumbai in July 2011 that killed 27 people in three busy marketplaces. Indian authorities suspect him of planning those attacks.

He is accused of masterminding several other bombings, including one that hit a bakery in the city of Pune in 2010, killing 17 people.

His group has been linked to a series of deadly outbreaks of violence in India.

The U.S. State Department says the Indian Mujahideen played a "facilitative role" in the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, when coordinated attacks on hotels, hospitals, and railway stations left more than 160 people dead.

The group is also responsible for 16 synchronized bombings in Ahmedabad in 2008 that left 38 people dead, according to the State Department.

The Indian Mujahideen's "stated goal is to carry out terrorist actions against non-Muslims in furtherance of its ultimate objective -- an Islamic Caliphate across South Asia," the State Department says.

Dozens die in Kenya bus crash

At least 37 people were killed following a bus crash west of Nairobi, Kenya, police said Thursday.
The wreck took place in the predawn hours in Ntulele, when the bus overturned on the Nairobi-Narok highway.

At least 32 others suffered multiple injuries and were evacuated to a district hospital, police said.
Earlier, the Red Cross had reported 41 killed in the mishap, citing police.

Between 3,000 and 13,000 people die in road accidents in Kenya every year, the World Health Organization says.

Most of the victims are motorcyclists and pedestrians, but one third of them are vehicle passengers often riding on unsafe public transportation.

Road safety laws are lacking, the WHO says.

"There are no laws for helmet wearing, blood alcohol concentration levels for drivers or child restraints in Kenya and where road safety laws do exist they are poorly enforced."

The WHO says that main roads between Nairobi and the eastern part of the country -- such as the Nairobi-Narok highway -- are very dangerous. Speeding is a particular problem.

Baghdad bombs: Dozens killed, scores wounded

Tensions festered in Iraq Wednesday after nearly 50 people died and dozens of others were wounded in a string of bombings mostly in and around Baghdad, police said

The bloodshed occurred during an intense time in Iraq. The country has endured months of escalating violence stemming from decades-old discord between the nation's Sunnis and Shiites, the two largest branches of Islam. And the government says it is gearing up if the Syrian conflict next door escalates.
Seventeen attacks unfolded in and around Iraq's capital, primarily in Shiite areas, police said. Police believe the strikes -- which killed 46 people -- occurred over a two-hour period and appeared to be coordinated.

Violence in the Baghdad area struck 11 locations.

Iraq's deadliest month: Who's behind the bloodshed?

Incidents occurred in a range of neighborhoods, including Kadhimiya, Sadr City, al-Hurriya, and Bayaa. A suicide bomber walked into a restaurant in Mahmadouiya, about 18 miles south of Baghdad, and killed two people.

Separately, three police officers died in a car bombing in Mosul, in northern Iraq.
More than 180 people were wounded in all of the attacks.

Iraqi security forces are conducting an operation called Revenge for the Martyrs, designed to track down al Qaeda members in and around Baghdad.

Jacqueline Badcock, the U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative for Iraq, said, "no political goal or grievance can possibly justify this daily bloodshed of innocent civilians."

"This relentless wave of senseless killing has left thousands dead since April and reflects the merciless nature of its authors," she said.

Militants in Afghanistan kill at least 12

At least 12 people were killed and dozens were injured Wednesday in separate attacks in Afghanistan, including an insurgent assault near a post for coalition and Afghan forces, local authorities said.

In the eastern Afghan city of Ghazni, insurgents killed at least six civilians and two Afghan troops -- and injured 57 other people -- in an attack near a Provincial Reconstruction Team compound Wednesday afternoon, the provincial governor, Mosa Khan Akbarzada, said.

The Taliban claims responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
The assault began when a suicide bomber detonated his car near the PRT compound, according to Akbarzada. Then six attackers opened fire on Afghan troops, he said.

Most of the casualties were women and children, according to Akbarzada.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed the attack involved a a suicide vehicle bomb, indirect fire and small arms fire. It declined to say whether its personnel were injured.
Earlier Wednesday, in a suicide car bomber killed four people and injured 15 more in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, a government official said.

The attacker rammed his car, laden with explosives, into a military convoy in Lashkargah, Helmand province spokesman Omar Zwak said.

He believes the bomber was targeting foreign soldiers, but all who died were civilians, he said.
CNN is seeking comment from the ISAF on possible coalition casualties. There has been no claim of responsibility for the Helmand attack.

Roadside blasts in Helmand province, which is in southern Afghanistan, killed eight people earlier this month.

Wednesday's attacks came a day after Taliban fighters opened fire on coalition fuel trucks in southwest Afghanistan, killing six drivers and injuring 10 other people, according to a local official.
At least 40 of the ISAF vehicles burned in the attack in Farah province, said provincial government spokesman Abdullrahman Zhwandai.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Farah attack.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan increased 23% in the first six months of this year, the United Nations said in a report released at the end of July.

The increase in deaths and injuries so far this year was mainly driven by the stepped-up use of improvised explosive devices, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in its report.

What's killing all those dolphins? NOAA thinks it's a virus

The primary cause for hundreds of recent dolphin deaths along the East Coast is likely a virus, and there's no way to stop its spread right now, federal officials say.

The virus, the cetacean morbillivirus, is similar to measles in humans or canine distemper in dogs, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

After consulting with disease experts and conducting tests from five affected states, NOAA found that 32 dolphins were either "suspect or confirmed positive for mobillivirus."

The five affected states are New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. North Carolina has also seen an increase in dolphin strandings, according to NOAA.

As of Sunday, there have been 488 dolphin strandings from New York to North Carolina, more than 300 dolphins above the annual average.

The strandings, where dolphins have gotten stuck in shallow water or have washed up on shores, are over nine times the historical average for July and August in the mid-Atlantic region. Some stranded are found alive, but most are found dead, with many in a state of advanced decomposition, according to data published on NOAA's website.

In Virginia, at least 164 dead dolphins have been found this year, said Joan M. Barns, public relations manager for the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach. Seventy-eight have washed ashore so far in August, she said.

There is no vaccination for the mobillivirus, but additional testing on other animals is underway.
Scientists at the NOAA hope that learning more about the virus will help them address factors that may facilitate its spread. While the virus is generally spread through the air or through contact with other animals, it is not infectious to humans.

On August 8, NOAA issued an Unusual Mortality Event in response to the high number of deaths. The declaration brought special federal attention to the deaths as something that serves as an indicator of ocean health and may give "insight into larger environmental issues which may also have implications for human health and welfare," according to NOAA's website.

The UME declaration for the mid-Atlantic bottlenose dolphins is one of 60 that the agency has issued since it was established under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1991.

Causes, including infections, biotoxins, human intervention and malnutrition, have been determined for the 29 of those cases.

Biden: 'No doubt' Syria unleashed chemical attack, must pay a price

Damascus, Syria -- Saying "there is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons attack in Syria: the Syrian regime," Vice President Joe Biden signaled Tuesday that the United States -- with its allies -- was ready to act.

"Those who use chemical weapons against defenseless men, women and children should and must be held accountable," Biden said in a speech to the American Legion.

The vice president's remarks echo those made by other U.S. officials in recent days, as well as many of the nation's foremost allies.

French President Francois Hollande said his administration was "ready to punish those who made the decision to gas these innocent people," adding that "everything leads us to believe" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are responsible.

British Prime Minister David Cameron -- who talked Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama -- called lawmakers back from their summer vacations to consider a response to Syria, as the UK military prepares contingency plans.

And U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC on Tuesday that U.S. forces are "ready to go" if ordered to strike Syria by President Barack Obama.

"The options are there. The United States Department of Defense is ready to carry out those options," Hagel said.

Western leaders were reacting to a growing consensus that the Syrian regime was responsible for an August 21 attack that killed more than 1,300 people, most of them dying from exposure to toxic gases, according to rebel officials. The opposition -- which has said it's been targeted by chemical weapons attacks in the past as well -- backed up its latest allegations with gruesome video of rows of dead bodies, including women and children, with no visible wounds.

Japan Fukushima toxic water leak a Level 3 'serious incident'

Japan's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday said a toxic water leak at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant has been classified as a level 3 "serious incident" on an international scale.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it had made the decision after consulting with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said Juntaro Yamada, a spokesman for the regulator.

As news emerged last week of the leak of hundreds of tons of radioactive water from a storage tank, the NRA said it was planning to issue the alert, its gravest warning since the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami that sent three reactors at the plant into meltdown.

The leak had previously been assigned a level 1 "anomaly rating" on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, which ranges from zero, for no safety threat, to seven, for a major accident like the meltdowns.

The decision to issue the level 3 alert came two days after a Japanese government minister had compared the plant operator's efforts to deal with worrying toxic water leaks at the site to a game of "whack-a-mole."

Toshimitsu Motegi, the industry minister, said Monday after visiting the plant that "from now on, the government is going to step forward." His ministry has been tasked by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to come up with measures to tackle the mounting problems at Fukushima Daiichi.

Yosemite wildfire grows, threatens reservoir, power station

Yosemite National Park, California -- The numbers are staggering and the prospects are scary as a still-growing California wildfire menaces Yosemite National Park and San Francisco's water supply.

The tourist hotspot Yosemite Valley and its iconic attractions, including the El Capitan rock formation, currently are safe, miles from the Rim Fire's reach. However, the blaze was on the edge of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which serves 2.6 million customers in the Bay Area.

Water quality remains unchanged, despite ash that has fallen on the 459-square-mile reservoir, because the water is drawn from a depth of 260 feet, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The city was already transferring 275 million gallons of water daily from Hetch Hetchy to other reservoirs because Hetch Hetchy is full, but as a precautionary measure, the city increased that amount by 27 million gallons, a Tuesday statement said.

The commission said it was confident the Rim Fire would not affect the reservoir: "Due to the rocky, granite terrain and limited brush along the perimeter of the reservoir, there is little risk for direct water quality impacts."

The fire could threaten the area's hydroelectric generators, which provide much of San Francisco's electricity.

Because of the approaching flames, officials shut down the generators, and the city -- more than 120 miles to the west -- temporarily is getting power from elsewhere.

"All of San Francisco's municipal electric customers continue to be fully supplied; there will be no interruption in electric service," the commission said.

The Rim Fire, which has devoured about 184,000 acres, was still only 20% contained as of Tuesday evening.
It is the seventh largest blaze in California's recorded history.

"There's a lot of concern, and there's a lot of work to be done," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Lee Bentley said.

Firefighters on Tuesday were able to build fire lines in several locations.

Evacuations were ordered south of Highway 120, north of Old Yosemite Road and along the Highway 108 corridor between Tuolumne City and Pinecrest.
"Access and difficult terrain remain concerns for crews and equipment," said an incident report. "Rapid fire growth and extreme fire behavior are hampering suppression efforts."

As many as 20 helicopters and DC-10 and C-130 air tankers were aiding the efforts of 3,800 firefighting personnel.
A top priority is stopping the fire from spreading farther in Yosemite National Park.

A portion of Tioga Road in the park will be closed for several days beginning Wednesday so that firefighters can perform fire suppression.

"The work that will be performed over the next few days is instrumental in suppressing the Rim Fire within Yosemite. The safety of the firefighters working along the road is our paramount concern," park Superintendent Don Neubacher said in a statement.

Tamarack Flat and Yosemite Creek campgrounds, both located along Tioga Road, will remain closed.

U.N. probes alleged gas attack; U.S. warns Damascus

U.N. experts got to inspect the site of a reported chemical attack on civilians near Syria's capital Monday as the United States accused the Syrian government of trying to cover up the attack.

The U.N. inspectors entered the town of Moadamiyet al-Sham and appeared to be examining the area accompanied by doctors, according to videos posted on social media by Syrian activists. The team had a "very productive" day and will continue its work Tuesday after examining its findings Monday evening, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.

Government and opposition forces have accused each other of unleashing poison gas last week in the suburban Damascus area of Ghouta. Syria's opposition said that as many as 1,300 people were killed, prompting new calls for Western powers to intervene in the country's 2-year-old civil war.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the use of chemical weapons a "moral obscenity" that could not go unanswered, and he said Syrian actions are "not the behavior of a government that has nothing to hide."

California’s Rim Fire

The winter of 2013 was among the driest on record for California, setting the stage for an active fire season. By August 26, the Rim Fire had made its way into the record books. At just 15 percent contained, the fire is now the 13th largest in California since records began in 1932. Apart from being large, the fire is also threatening one of the United States’ greatest natural treasures: Yosemite National Park.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite tracked the growth of the fire between August 23 and August 26 in this series of nighttime images. The VIIRS day-night band is extremely sensitive to low light, making it possible to see the fire front from space. The brightest, most intense parts of the fire glow white, exceeding the brightness of the lights of Reno, Nevada to the north. Pale gray smoke streams north away from the fire throughout the sequence.

The perimeter of the fire grows from day to day along different fronts, depending on winds and fire fighting efforts. On August 24, fire fighters focused their efforts on containing the western edge of the fire to prevent it from burning into Tuolumne City and the populated Highway 108 corridor. They also fought the eastern edge of the fire to protect Yosemite National Park. These efforts are evident in the image: Between August 23 and 24, the eastern edge of the fire held steady, and the western edge receded. The fire grew in the southeast.

On the morning of August 25 fire managers reported that the fire was growing in the north and east. In the image, the most intense activity is just inside Yosemite National Park.

Fire fighters reported that the Rim Fire continued to be extremely active on its eastern front on the morning of August 26, and this activity is visible in the image. By 8:00 a.m., the fire had burned 149,780 acres. The fire forced firefighters in Yosemite National Park to take measures to protect the Merced and Tuolumne Groves of Giant Sequoias, but the National Park Service reported that the trees were not in imminent danger. While parts of the park are closed, webcams show that most of the park has not been impacted.

The Rim Fire started on the afternoon of August 17. It has destroyed 23 structures and threatened 4,500 other buildings. Its cause is under investigation.

 

Mudslides kill 13 after Fernand hits Mexico

Mudslides killed at least 13 people after Fernand slammed into the east of coast of Mexico, state media reported Monday.

Fernand was a tropical storm when it made landfall late Sunday, bringing heavy rains. The storm quickly fizzled into a tropical depression and had dissipated by Monday afternoon, forecasters said.
But even as it weakened, authorities in the state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico said the storm brought heavy rains that caused deadly mudslide in several locations.

All of the deaths were caused by mudslides that buried homes, Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte said, according to Mexico's state-run Notimex news agency.

Fernand formed over the western Bay of Campeche on Sunday.

As of 4 p.m. ET, the storm's remnants were about 75 miles (125 km) west-southwest of Tuxpan, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kilometers per hour), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

The storm was expected to dump between 4 and 8 inches of rain over the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, northern Puebla, southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosi, with more than 15 inches of rain in some places.

Forecasters warned that more life-threatening mudslides were possible.

27 killed in attacks across Iraq

Shootings and explosions throughout Iraq on Sunday killed at least 27 people and injured more than 60 others, police said.

In one attack, police said, a hidden bomb detonated inside a popular coffee shop in northeastern Baghdad's predominantly Shiite al-Shaab neighborhood. The blast killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 20 others, police said.

Another attack occurred near the northern city of Mosul, police there said, when gunmen ambushed a vehicle carrying Iraqi soldiers, killing five.

Last month was the deadliest month in Iraq in the last five years since the peak of sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. According to the United Nations, 1,057 Iraqis were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in July.

The bloodshed appears to mark a new round of violence to hit Iraq in recent months, much of it stemming from decades-old discord between the nation's Sunnis and Shiites, the two largest branches of Islam.

Sunnis have felt politically marginalized under a Shiite-led government since the ouster of longtime leader Saddam Hussein in a 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
 

Tropical Storm Fernand forms off the east coast of Mexico

Tropical Storm Fernand is expected to make landfall early Monday, just hours after it formed over the western Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico.

As of Sunday evening, the storm was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Veracruz and 160 miles (260 kilometers) southeast of Tuxpan, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.
Fernand had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was heading west at 9 mph.

The storm may strengthen before moving inland, which will happen sometime early Monday morning, the hurricane center said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Gulf Coast from Veracruz north to Tampico.
Fernand is expected to dump between 4-8 inches of rain over the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, northern Puebla, southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosi, and as much as a foot of rain in some places.

"These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the hurricane center said.

 

Major fire at HPCL refinery in Visakhapatnam - INDIA; two killed, 37 injured

A major fire broke out at state-owned HPCL refinery-cum-petrochemical complex here Friday evening, killing two persons and injuring 37 people, police said.

The fire broke out at 4 pm and was brought under control after ome time. The exact cause of the accident could not be ascertained, HPCL officials said.

Two workers were killed in the accident and 37 people were undergoing treatment at various hospitals, out of whom the condition of three to four persons was stated to be critical, they added.

As per initial reports, the fire broke out due to blasting of cooling tower due to short circuit.

A majority of the injured workers belonged a private firm working for the cooling tower. A thick layer of smoke engulfed the area causing panic among nearby residents. They said they heard a massive sound from the scene and plumes of smoke billowed out of the area.

"All other units of the refinery are safe. But as a precautionary measure, we will have to shut down some units," HPCL Director (Refineries) B.K. Namdeo said.

The firm has shut part of its 166,000 barrel per day (bpd) Vizag refinery after the fire in the cooling tower. A company source on Friday said the firm closed a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and a gasoline unit at the refinery, which sends most of its petroleum products to domestic markets.

"We have shut some of the secondary processing units as a precautionary measure because there will be a shortage of cooling water," said this source, who is not authorised to speak to the media.

"There was a fire in the cooling tower. It has been contained and has not spread to other areas," HPCL Chairman S. Roy Choudhury said, adding the extent of the damage and impact on production was not immediately known.

Fire tenders from all over the city were pressed into service to control the fire. The injured persons were shifted to various hospitals, including the INS Kalyani.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed anguish over the incident and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families. He directed the District Collector and the Police Commissioner to take up rescue operations and provide necessary medical assistance to the victims.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure and Investment Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao asked the officials to shift the injured to corporate hospital for immediate treatment. He asked the joint inspector of factories to conduct a preliminary investigation into the incident.

In September 1997, fifty six workers were killed in a major fire accident in the refinery due to spark in LPG pipeline between port and Vizag refinery.

HPCL directors are rushing to accident site and the company has already instituted an inquiry to go into the cause of the accident. The company will take care of all medical and other expenses including compensation for the injured, a company spokesperson said. 

Severe Floods Hit Eastern Russia- Aug 21 2013

In August 2013, unseasonably heavy rains brought historic flooding to far eastern Russia and northeastern China. Russia’s Amur and Khabarovsk regions were the hardest-hit areas. They received upwards of 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain in the first twelve days of August alone.

Forecasters have described the event as the largest-scale flood in Russia’s history. Floodwaters forced more than ten thousand people from their homes, inundated vast swaths of farmland, and swamped numerous roads.

In the city of Khabarovsk, the Amur River had swollen to a record height of 696 centimeters (274 inches) on August 21, according to media reports. If the river height reaches 780 centimeters (307 inches), officials in Khabarovsk will begin mass evacuations of the city, which is home to 575,000 people.

Coastal flood damage could soar to $1tn a year by 2050

Flood damage in 136 of the world's largest coastal cities could soar to $1tn (£640bn) a year by 2050, because of climate change combined with rapid population increases, economic growth, and subsiding land, according to a study.

The report by Nature Climate Change says the cities at greatest risk, as measured by annual average flood losses, are Guangzhou (China), Miami (US), New York (US), New Orleans (US), Mumbai (India), Nagoya (Japan), Tampa-St Petersburg (US), Boston (US), Shenzen (China) and Osaka-Kobe (Japan).

Owing to their high wealth and low flood protection, Miami, New York and New Orleans comprise 31% of total losses. Adding Guangzhou, the four top cities account for 43% of global losses as of 2005, when the cost of worldwide flood damage was an estimated $6bn a year.

Total dollar cost is one way to assess risk; another is to look at annual losses as a percentage of a city's wealth, a proxy for local vulnerability. Using this measure, Guangzhou, Guayaquil (Ecuador), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) are among the most vulnerable.

Flood defences were typically designed for past conditions, so even a moderate rise in sea level would lead to soaring losses in the absence of adaptation, the study warns. Inaction, it adds, could lead to losses in excess of $1tn a year.

Coastal cities will, therefore, have to improve their flood management, including better defences, at an estimated cost of $50bn annually for the 136 cities. The estimated adaptation costs are far below estimates of annual aggregate damage losses, should improvement measures not be introduced.

The study echoes a report in May by the UN office for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR) which warns that it will become increasingly untenable for governments and businesses to sweep the risk of disaster under the carpet, citing the examples of hurricane Sandy in the US, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the Thai river floods.

The UNISDR report also says economic losses from disasters have spun out of control, and called on the business community to incorporate disaster risk management into their investment strategies to avoid further losses. The study, entitled Creating shared value: the business case for disaster risk reduction, reviewed disaster losses in 56 countries. It found that direct losses from floods, earthquakes and drought have been underestimated by at least half. This century, losses from disasters have amounted to $2.5tn.

Even with better protection, the magnitude of losses will increase – often by more than 50% – when a flood occurs. Dr Stephane Hallegatte, author of the Nature Climate Change study, said: "There is a limit to what can be achieved with hard protection: populations and assets will remain vulnerable to defence failures or to exceptional events that exceed the protection design."

To help cities deal with disasters, policymakers should consider early warning systems, evacuation planning, more resilient infrastructure, and financial support to rebuild economies, the report says.

To estimate the impact of future climate change, the study assumes that mean sea level – including contributions from melting ice sheets – will rise 0.2-0.4 metres by 2050. About a quarter of the 136 cities are in deltas and exposed to local subsidence and sea-level change, especially where groundwater extraction accelerates natural processes.

Big Blast at Sakurajima Volcano, Japan - Aug 19 2013

Although Japan’s Sakura-jima volcano is one of the most active in the world, it rarely makes headlines. One or two small explosions typically occur every few days, with effects no greater than a light dusting of ash on the surrounding cities.

On August 18, 2013, a large eruption sent ash 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above Kagoshima Bay, breaking the established pattern. It was possibly the largest eruption ever from the Showa Crater, which formed in 1946.

Natural-color satellite images, collected by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, compare Sakura-jima on August 19, 2013 (a day after the eruption) to the state of the volcano on April 13, 2013. The most visible change is a field of pyroclastic flow deposits that stretch up to 760 meters (2,500 feet) from Showa Crater. On the eastern (right-hand) slopes of Sakura-jima, light-colored, intertwined channels are visible on an older deposit. These are likely the result of erosion that revealed light, unweathered material or the deposit of fresh ash by short-lived streams.

Super Typhoon Utor over the northern Philippines

Super Typhoon Utor made landfall as a Category 3 storm over the northern Philippines in the early morning hours of August 12, 2013. It was the strongest storm to hit the Philippines so far this year. To date, one person has been reported dead, 23 were missing, and hundreds were evacuated, according to news reports. Heavy rain and landslides isolated the rural communities most affected by the storm.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired images of the typhoon about 15 hours before landfall, on the afternoon of August 11. At the time, the powerful storm had winds of 115 knots (213 kilometers per hour, or 132 miles/hr) and was rapidly strengthening. At its strongest, Utor was a Category 4 super typhoon, with estimated winds of 130 knots (240 km/hr or 150 miles/hr).

Weakened by its encounter with the Philippines, Utor emerged over the South China Sea as a Category 2 storm. It was forecast to track northwest and come ashore over southern China on August 14.

Climate change’s nasty new natural disaster: ‘Himalayan tsunamis’

This summer’s devastating “Himalayan tsunami” is a grim omen for the future of the millions of people living downstream from the majestic mountain range.The June floods wiped out the Hindu pilgrimage town of Kedarnath and may have killed as many as 6,000 people.

But the scale of the disaster could be dwarfed by future flooding, experts warn.

“The Kedarnath floods may be only a small precursor to never-seen-before mega floods,” Maharaj K. Pandit, director of Delhi University's Center for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain & Hill Environments, told India Today.

According to preliminary studies, dozens of houses were smashed and hundreds of religious pilgrims were swept away when a lake above the eighth century Kedarnath Temple burst its natural dam of loosely packed glacial sediment, sending a sudden deluge of water down on the town.

Many now believe it was an accident waiting to happen — and similar accidents will happen again and again as the region gets warmer.

Rising temperatures due to global warming are fast creating thousands of glacial lakes across the region. The growing volume of meltwater is dangerously increasing the risk of sudden glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), according to the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

As the volume of water increases, so does the pressure on the dams of ice or glacial sediment, called moraine, which hold the lake in place on the side of the mountain. Once that pressure reaches the tipping point, heavy rainfall from a sudden cloudburst, a landslide, or an earthquake can breach the dam, sending a deadly torrent of ice, rock and water down on the people living below.

The results can be catastrophic.

In the weeks following the June 17 flood disaster, tens of thousands of residents, tourists and religious pilgrims were successfully evacuated. But officials still believe there are at least 5,748 people missing across the north Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Their survival is unlikely, even if Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has so far refused to declare them dead.

Meanwhile, it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild homes, lay new roads, replace destroyed bridges and restore power lines, Bahuguna estimates.

"Around 200 of my bridges have been washed away, nearly 5,000 roads damaged, connectivity to 4,300 villages snapped — electricity and water supplies disrupted, telephone lines collapsed," the chief minister told Reuters.

In some ways the epicenter of the tragedy, Kedarnath, looms largest in the minds of many experts. Around the region, countless other areas face similar threats.

“When you talk about glacial lakes, in Nepal alone there are more than 1,400 lakes, and if you talk about the whole Himalayan Range ... there are about 20,000 glacial lakes,” Pradeep Mool, who monitors the risk of glacial lake outbursts for ICIMOD.

More than 200 of these lakes have been classified as potentially dangerous. Some of them — like a 250-acre lake holding 5 billion gallons of meltwater high in the mountains of the northeast Indian state of Sikkim — could affect people living hundreds of miles downstream.

Precious few of these lakes even existed a few decades ago.

“When I look at some of the lakes, especially in the Nepal Himalayas, where I have done detailed field work, [it's shocking how fast they have grown],” Mool said.

“In the case of Imja lake, for instance, there was no lake there at all 50 years back. When I ask the people, they say ‘It was a tiny pond when I was a kid.’ Now it's already about 580 meters wide and 2.3 kilometers long and about 100 meters deep.”

That's particularly ominous as torrential monsoon rains sweep across Uttarakhand again last week, hampering the rebuilding effort with new deadly landslides.

Along with the new meltwater, increasingly frequent cloudbursts endanger the villages and cities of both Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh — where there are some 250 glacial lakes above population centers like the tourist town of Manali.

Already, images from remote sensing satellites show that the water level in Parchu Lake, in Tibet, is rising rapidly, putting some two dozen towns and villages along India's Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh at risk, according to another India Today report.

A 2005 outburst from the lake that caused some $300 million in damage has prompted local authorities to draw up plans for the evacuation of these areas, officials say. But in the watershed areas of countless other Himalayan lakes, India remains woefully unprepared.

“Unfortunately, we still have no mechanism to incorporate good science into policy,” Delhi University's Pandit told GlobalPost. “There is not even any talk about these serious scientific issues.”