Terminus

www.yahoo.com 6-27-08 An Omaha resident stands by a snapped hackberry tree, thought by it's owner to be the largest in the state, which was brought down by high winds. A severe storm with strong winds swept through Omaha on Friday, June 27, 2008, forcing swimmers practicing for U.S. Olympic trials to evacuate pools, canceling an outdoor concert and knocking out power to large parts of the city. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) Jackass. www.yahoo.com 6-18-08 An aisle at Jim's Foods sits in a muddy disarray after floodwaters receded, Wednesday, June 18, 2008, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The White House is asking Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency disaster aid for the flood-ravaged Midwest. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders) Mars team ponders whether lander sees ice or salt www.yahoo.com 6-16-08 By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Mon Jun 16, 7:37 PM ETLOS ANGELES - Is the white stuff in the Martian soil ice or salt? That's the question bedeviling scientists in the three weeks since the Phoenix lander began digging into Mars' north pole region to study whether the arctic could be habitable.Shallow trenches excavated by the lander's backhoe-like robotic arm have turned up specks and at times even stripes of mysterious white material mixed in with the clumpy, reddish dirt.Phoenix merged two previously dug trenches over the weekend into a single pit measuring a little over a foot long and 3 inches deep. The new trench was excavated at the edge of a polygon-shaped pattern in the ground that may have been formed by the seasonal melting of underground ice.New photos showed the exposed bright substance present only in the top part of the trench, suggesting it's not uniform throughout the excavation site. Phoenix will take images of the trench dubbed "Dodo-Goldilocks" over the next few days to record any changes. If it's ice, scientists expect it to sublimate — or go from solid to gas, bypassing the liquid stage — when exposed to the sun because of the planet's frigid temperatures and low atmospheric pressure."We think it's ice. But again, until we can see it disappear ... we're not guaranteed yet," mission scientist Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis said Monday.Even if it's not ice, the discovery of salt would also be significant because it's normally formed when water evaporates in the soil. www.yahoo.com 6-7-08 Twin Brothers Kaleb, right, and Kyle Walden, 16, take their bikes alongside Shane Spurgeon, 11, left, who swims in a flooded street in Franklin, Ind., Saturday, June 7, 2008. Storms dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on soggy central Indiana on Saturday, threatening dams, inundating highways and sending the Coast Guard to rescue residents from swamped homes. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)www.yahoo.com 5-31-08 An aircraft is seen after a severe storm Friday, May 30, 2008, over Kearney, Neb. Flooding concerns linger in the wake of a storm system that raked Kearney and Aurora with tornadoes, and unleashed hail and high winds that pounded other south-central Nebraska towns before roaring east into Iowa. (AP Photo/Bill Wolf) www.yahoo.com 5-25-08 Powerful storms kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota By HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes agoDES MOINES, Iowa - Severe thunderstorms packing large hail and tornadoes rumbled across the nation's midsection on Sunday, killing at least eight people and damaging dozens of homes, authorities said. Iowa Homeland Security administrator Dave Miller said seven of the dead were killed by a tornado in northeast Iowa — five from Parkersburg, 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, and two from nearby New Hartford. At least 50 injuries were reported."Occasionally we have a death but we have warning system. Seven deaths. It's been a long time since we've had those kinds of injuries and deaths reported," Miller said.Witnesses reported parts of Parkersburg — particularly the town's south side — were reduced to rubble, including most of the town's high school and homes.A tornado also struck just to the east in the nearby town of Dunkerton and elsewhere in Black Hawk County, where there were reports of homes damaged or destroyed. Dunkerton has fewer than 800 residents and New Hartford has about 700 people. 5-25-08 www.yahoo.com Spacecraft on track to make historic Mars landing By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer 2 hours, 2 minutes ago PASADENA, Calif. - A three-legged NASA spacecraft was closing in on Mars Sunday for what scientists hope will be the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole to study whether the permafrost could have supported primitive life. The time it takes the Phoenix Mars Lander to streak through the atmosphere and set down on the dusty surface has been dubbed "the seven minutes of terror" for good reason. More than half of the world's attempts to land on Mars have ended in failures.Phoenix is pre-programmed to plummet through the Red Planet's atmosphere, and will rely on the intricately choreographed use of its heat shield, parachute and rockets to slow its descent from over 12,000 mph to a 5 mph touchdown.Mission controllers decided late Saturday to skip an opportunity to adjust Phoenix's flight path since the lander was well on track for its target landing site.Launched last summer, Phoenix has traveled 422 million miles over nearly 10 months. Its arrival to the high northern latitudes will be closely watched by a trio of Mars orbiters circling overhead. If successful, it will join the twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which have been exploring the equatorial plains since 2004.The $420 million mission is led by the University of Arizona and managed by JPL.Mars and Earth are 170 million miles apart on landing day, which means it will take about 15 minutes for mission control to receive a confirmation signal from the lander that it is safe.The earliest that ground controllers would hear from Phoenix is 4:53 p.m. local time. If there's no word, the next opportunity would be two hours later when one of the orbiters, Mars Odyssey, makes a pass over the landing site.Phoenix is equipped with an 8-foot-long robotic arm capable of digging trenches in the soil to expose the ice, believed to be buried inches to a foot deep.The lander will analyze dirt and ice samples for traces of organic compounds, the chemical building blocks of life. It will also study whether the ice ever melted at some point in Mars' history when the planet was warmer unlike the current harsh, cold environment.Scientists do not expect to find water in its liquid form at the Phoenix landing site because it's too frigid. But they say if raw ingredients of life exist anywhere on the planet, they likely would be preserved in the ice.5-25-08 www.yahoo.com Powerful aftershock hits China; 1 killed, 260 hurt CHENGDU, China - One of the most powerful aftershocks to hit quake-ravaged central China killed one person, left dozens more injured and leveled homes Sunday, as soldiers carrying explosives hiked to a blocked-off river to alleviate the threat of floods. Some 260 people were injured in the aftershock Sunday afternoon, the government-run China News Service said, with 24 in serious condition. The agency said many homes had collapsed and roads were damaged, but gave no specific figures.The magnitude 5.8 aftershock was among the most powerful recorded since the initial May 12 quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The China National Seismic Network, which uses a different measurement system, said the aftershock was the strongest of dozens. The aftershock caused office towers to sway in Beijing, 800 miles away.Earlier Sunday, the Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the quake rose to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing. Premier Wen Jiabao has said the number of dead could surpass 80,000.Millions have been left homeless, and some are now at risk of being inundated by floods from new lakes created when landslides from the quake and aftershocks dammed rivers. Tornadoes strike western and central Kansas www.yahoo.com 5-24-08 By DAVID TWIDDY, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes agoKANSAS CITY, Mo. - Forecasters said Saturday that at least a dozen tornadoes spun across western and central Kansas a day earlier, destroying numerous homes, downing trees and injuring several people. The National Weather Service in Dodge City said there were at least 10 twisters that touched down in central Kansas, while the Goodland office reported seven or eight in the western part of the state.At least four people were hurt in Stafford County, including one person who was taken to a Wichita hospital with serious injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.Meanwhile in Colorado, where a large tornado devastated the northern farm town of Windsor, residents were expected to return to their homes in an area of town that officials had earlier deemed unsafe following Thursday's twister.Natural gas leaks and the threat of explosions had kept hundreds of residents from their homes on Friday.Officials were meeting with residents to plan their return, incident management team spokesman Dan Hatlestad said. "With no power, it may be an unpleasant place to live, but it's up to the homeowners," Hatlestad said.The tornado, with wind speeds between 111 mph to 165 mph, tore through a 35-mile stretch of northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring dozens. It tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, about 70 miles north of Denver.In Kansas, the weather service sent out survey teams Saturday morning to determine the size of the twisters. Ed Berry, science operations officer in the Dodge City office, said many of the twisters appear to be significant in size. (CNN.com) 5-22-08 At least one massive tornado swept across northern Colorado's Front Range on Thursday, killing at least one person, destroying several buildings and dumping golf ball-size hail, authorities reported.The storm struck the town of Windsor and "several other areas" of Weld County, a fire spokeswoman said.Shane Scofield, a Weld County sheriff's deputy, said numerous buildings in the town of Windsor were destroyed by the storm."Some are completely demolished and unrecognizable -- just masses of timber," he said.Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency for Weld County, sending National Guard troops to help move emergency workers into and out of the stricken area, according to a statement from his office."We will be doing all we can to assist the people of Weld County as we assess the damage and determine how the state can provide the most effective aid," Ritter said. "My heart goes out to the people of Weld County during this very dangerous time."Windsor is about 80 miles (129 km) north of Denver. The agency said said one person died at a park between Windsor and the county seat of Greeley, but no details of the death were available. www.yahoo.com 5-21-08 Oil rockets to new high above $135 on supplies TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude oil soared to a fresh record high above $135 per barrel on Thursday as a surprise drawdown in U.S. crude oil inventories and a weaker dollar prompted heavy fund inflows into the market. Investment funds flocked into the market based on its strong performance, with key U.S. crude oil having surged more than 20 percent since the start of the month and geopolitical and supply concerns keeping traders reluctant to sell.Recent bearishness towards the dollar added momentum to the oil market, as the dollar's weakness increases the purchasing power of buyers holding other currencies.The front-month July NYMEX crude contract rose to a record high of $135.04 a barrel on the Globex electronic trading platform, up 1.4 percent from the New York settlement.As of 0131 GMT, it was trading up $1.68 or 1.26 percent at $134.85, after settling up $4.19 or 3.3 percent at $133.17 in New York."The huge draw in crude inventories was surprising. All the focus is on bullish factors. You simply have to follow the trend and buy now," said Tatsuo Kageyama, an analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo."You really cannot forecast how much further the market will rally now. All I can say is the market will continue to rise," Kageyama said. www.yahoo.com Rescuers conduct search and rescue operation for survivors at the collapsed building following Monday's powerful earthquake in Beichuan county, southwestern of Sichuan province, China, Saturday, May 17, 2008. Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of floods from a river blocked by landslides. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)www.yahoo.com By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer 5-13-08 3 minutes agoMIANYANG, China - Soldiers hiking over landslide-blocked roads reached the epicenter of China's devastating earthquake Tuesday, pulling bodies and a few survivors from collapsed buildings. The death toll of more than 12,000 was certain to rise as the buried were found. Rescuers worked through a steady rain searching wrecked towns across hilly stretches of Sichuan province that were stricken by Monday's magnitude-7.9 quake, China's deadliest in three decades. Tens of thousands spent a second night outdoors, some sleeping under plastic sheeting, others bused to a stadium in the city of Mianyang, on the edge of the disaster area.As night fell, a first wave of 200 soldiers entered the town of Wenchuan, near the epicenter, trudging across ruptured roads and mudslides, state television said.Soldiers continued their efforts on Wednesday morning, and Xinhua said another 800 armed police arrived.The rescue workers warned that the toll would likely jump as their efforts continued, and Xinhua reported Wednesday that 7,700 people were killed in Wenchuan, but it wasn't clear if that figure was included in the larger toll of 12,000. Kiley Finkbiner, 16; runs the BBQ grill as the rest of her family tends to putting their Grandparents house back together on Sunday, May 11, 2008, after a tornado devastated Newtonia Mo., Saturday. The family gathered for a Mother's Day cookout. (AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Mike Ransdell) Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry surveys the tornado damage in Picher, Okla., Sunday, May 11, 2008. Henry was on site to survey tornado damage. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) by Hla Hla Htay 2 hours, 1 minute agoYANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Saturday pushed ahead with a vote on a new constitution, ignoring calls from the United Nations to focus on delivering aid to 1.5 million cyclone victims facing disease and hunger. The referendum being held in all but the most devastated parts of the country is the first balloting to take place in Myanmar in nearly two decades.Voting was postponed by two weeks in the main city and former capital of Yangon, as well as most of the Irrawaddy delta where Cyclone Nargis struck last week, leaving 65,000 dead or missing according to the junta's count.Despite growing fears for survivors left without food or shelter, the regime has refused to allow in foreign aid workers to direct the relief effort, drawing condemnation from the UN and world leaders who urged the ruling generals to open their doors.Although Myanmar says it will now accept aid from the United States, it has tussled with the World Food Programme over unloading UN supplies, triggering a brief suspension of the global body's relief flights Friday.The UN has launched an emergency appeal for 187 million dollars to help the cyclone victims, but Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has not yet succeeded in speaking directly with the reclusive junta leader Than Shwe, a UN source said.Than Shwe, 75, ignored calls to delay the referendum and allow in foreign experts, despite warnings that without international aid, people who survived the storm's onslaught in the delta could face a new tragedy as disease and hunger stalk the region.Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party has slammed the junta for proceeding with the vote in the wake of the cyclone, with some polling stations in the delta set up just blocks from makeshift shelters crowded with evacuees whose homes were destroyed. By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes agoDAMASCUS, Ark. - Violent storms unleashed tornadoes, high winds and hail in four central states and killed seven people in Arkansas, including a teenager who died when a tree fell into her bedroom as she slept. The storms late Thursday and early Friday ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo.; pelted parts of Oklahoma with hail; and knocked over tents at a popular open-air market in east Texas. Severe thunderstorms were moving into Kentucky and could make for a wet Kentucky Derby on Saturday.Greg Carbin, a meteorologist for the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said as many as 25 tornadoes may have cut through stretches of Oklahoma, Arkansas, eastern Kansas and western Missouri. yahoo news Wed Apr 30, 3:41 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with "remarkable speed and scope," calling the buildup "troubling." The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force.Hayden said while Beijing's new capabilities could pose a risk to US forces and interests in the region, the military modernization was as much about projecting strength as anything else."After two centuries of perceived Western hegemony, China is determined to flex its muscle," he said in a speech at Kansas State University. "It sees an advanced military force as an essential element of great power status."But it is the intelligence community's view that any Chinese regime, even a democratic one, will have similar national goals, said Hayden, once the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the armed forces."Don't misunderstand. The military buildup is troubling because it reinforces long-held concerns about Chinese intentions towards Taiwan," he said."But even without that issue, we assess the buildup would continue -- albeit one that might look somewhat different," he said.Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory.The United States, obliged by law to offer Taiwan a means of self-defense if its security is threatened, is the leading arms supplier to the island. By Kristin Roberts 2 hours, 58 minutes agoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cargo ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at approaching boats in the Gulf, the U.S. Navy said on Friday, underscoring tension in the region as the Pentagon sharpened its warnings to Iran.According to American defense officials, the Westward Venture cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Defense Department was traveling in international waters when two unidentified small boats approached on Thursday.After the boats failed to respond to radio queries and a warning flare, the cargo ship's security team fired "a few bursts" of machine gun and rifle warning shots, according to Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet."The small boats left the area a short time later," she said by telephone. "They were able to avoid a serious incident by following the procedures that we use."The news helped push oil prices up more than $3 to $119.50 a barrel -- within striking distance of the record $119.90 hit earlier this week -- as traders worried escalating tensions in the region could eventually disrupt crude shipments.U.S. defense officials, speaking only on condition of anonymity, first said they suspected the boats were Iranian.But a Fifth Fleet spokeswoman quickly backed away from that charge."We cannot speculate on who they are. We just don't know. We have no proof of who they were," said Lt. Stephanie Murdoch, another spokeswoman for the Fifth Fleet.In Tehran, an Iranian navy source denied that any confrontation had occurred with a U.S. ship in the Gulf. But the source, quoted by a journalist for Iran's state-owned Arabic Al-Alam TV channel, said any shooting that may have occurred could have targeted a non-Iranian vessel. Oil Prices Hit New Record High Above $119 a Barrel By VOA News 22 April 2008The price of crude oil soared Tuesday, hitting a new record high above $119 a barrel in New York trading.The price of crude oil for future delivery went to $119.48 cents a barrel.Traders say a tight balance between demand and supply means oil prices jump when supplies seem threatened or demand rises.Currently supply concerns are growing out of violence in Nigeria, reports that Russia will produce less oil this year, and a possible strike by Scottish refinery workers.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries says it will boost its current 32-million-barrel-a-day output by a bit more than one quarter by the year 2020.That will help meet growing demand in the long term but has little effect on oil prices right now. OPEC officials say there is sufficient oil on the market and blames rising prices on speculators and the falling U.S. dollar.Some information for this report was provided by AFP. Democrats criticize Bush's CIA-bill veto By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 58 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Democrats and human rights advocates criticized President Bush's veto Saturday of a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists. Bush said such tactics have helped foil terrorist plots. His critics likened some methods to torture and said they sullied America's reputation around the world."This president had the chance to end the torture debate for good, yet he chose instead to leave the door open to use torture in the future," said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.She said Bush ignored the advice of 43 retired generals and admirals and 18 national security experts, including former secretaries of state and national security advisers, who supported the bill."Torture is a black mark against the United States," she said.The bill would have limited the CIA to 19 interrogation techniques that are used by the military and spelled out in the Army Field Manual. Bush said he vetoed the measure because it is important for the CIA to have a separate and classified interrogation program for suspected terrorists who possess critical information about possible plots against the United States. Afghan president calls for end to forced marriage Sat Mar 8, 7:44 AM ET KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called Saturday on his countrymen to stop forcing their under-aged daughters to marry, especially to men several decades older, and to allow them to be educated. Speaking at a ceremony attended by about 300 women to mark International Women's Day, Karzai also said threats from a Taliban-led insurgency were keeping girls out of school."I call on religious leaders, tribal elders and particularly men: stop forcing your under-aged girls to marry, stop marrying them to old men," he said, adding later he was referring in particular to men aged above 50.Up to 80 percent of Afghan women face forced marriage, and nearly two-thirds are married before the legal age of 16, according to the United Nations.Karzai also stressed the importance of educating Afghan girls, who were denied schooling under the 1996-2001 Taliban government."In parts of Afghanistan, Afghan girls can't go to schools because of the terrorism problem," he said. "In other places, like places without terrorism problems, girls are not allowed to go to schools."Some Afghan families, particularly in rural areas, do not see the need to educate girls.Thousands of girls have enrolled in classes since the ouster of the Taliban, but there remains only one girl for every three to four boys in secondary school, the UN has said.Some of the women at the meeting appealed to Karzai to find ways to end the Taliban insurgency, which was at its deadliest last year with more than 6,000 people killed -- most of them rebels though hundreds of civilians also died."Bring us peace, we're losing our husbands, sons and brothers," said one women, Setara Achekzai."It's too much. Stop it, we want peace, we want security," said another woman, Ramzia, adding that she lost her police husband and a brother in a Taliban attack in Kandahar.Meanwhile, more than 1,000 women, including Karzai's mother, gathered in Kandahar city to call on the president to help bring peace.www.yahoo.com By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Recent clashes between Iranian and U.S. Navy forces in the Persian Gulf reflect Iran's shifted military strategy to use its Revolutionary Guard's fast boats more aggressively in the region, the top U.S. military officer said Friday.In a confrontation Sunday — captured on a 36-minute video the Pentagon made public Friday — military officials said boxes were thrown into the water by the Iranians, triggering concerns about potential mine threats. And in an incident last month, a U.S. ship fired warning shots at a rapidly approaching Iranian boat.While there are lingering questions about the origin of menacing verbal threats heard during the confrontation Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday that the clash was the most "provocative and dramatic" he has seen."The incident ought to remind us all just how real is the threat posed by Iran and just how ready we are to meet that threat if it comes to it," Mullen said.Iran denied its boats threatened the U.S. vessels and accused Washington of fabricating its video. A five-minute video released by Iran shows a man speaking into a handheld radio, with three U.S. ships floating in the distance. That footage did not show any Iranian boats approaching the U.S. vessels nor any provocation. msnbc.com updated 2 hours, 7 minutes ago ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The opposition Pakistan People's Party is set to hold a critical meeting Sunday in the wake of leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination to decide whether to still take part in parliamentary elections due Jan. 8.The People's Party meeting, which will also hear a reading of Bhutto's last will and testament, comes amid growing controversy surrounding her death.The government Saturday rejected foreign help in investigating Bhutto's assassination. The Islamic militant group blamed by officials for the attack that killed Bhutto denied any links to the killing, and Bhutto's aides accused the government of a cover-up. CBS/AP) Lights came back on for some lucky people Wednesday as utility crews struggled to repair power lines snapped by the ice storm that had blacked out as much as a million homes and businesses across the nation's midsection.Repair crews and homeowners still faced a mixture of snow, sleet and light rain that fell across parts of north Texas and central Oklahoma during the morning.Temperatures have been rising and may get close to 40 on Thursday, which should help some of the ice, but by late Friday, however, another storm could bring 2 to 4 inches of snow to parts of the region.Ice up to one and a half inches thick has glazed much of the central Plains and Midwest this week. At least 27 deaths, mostly due to traffic accidents, have been blamed on the storm system since it developed last weekend. Most viewed on MSNBC.com MSNBC News Services updated 7:46 p.m. MT, Sat., Nov. 17, 2007 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan’s military ruler faced intense U.S. pressure Saturday to end emergency rule and restore democracy, with Washington’s No. 2 diplomat personally delivering what many here see as a sharp warning from a once staunch ally.U.S. envoy John Negroponte said on Sunday he had urged Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule, warning it was "not compatible" with free and fair elections due by early January.The U.S. deputy secretary of state met Musharraf on Saturday, the first high-level meeting of a U.S. official with Washington's crucial ally since he imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3.Musharraf says the two-week long emergency — which has seen opponents jailed, judges purged and independent TV stations muffled — is needed to hold a peaceful vote in the country beset by an increasingly potent Islamic insurgency.Negroponte’s trip was seen as a last best chance to persuade him and avoid political turmoil in Pakistan, a key front in the war on terror. Stranded Nov. 1: Rescue crews pull hundreds of people to safety following days of flooding in Mexico. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer reports. MSNBC.com updated 5:03 p.m. MT, Sat., Nov. 3, 2007 VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico - The death toll in the widespread flooding in southern Mexico rose to eight on Saturday as rescuers struggled to evacuate people from rooftops and bring supplies to those protecting their homes from would-be looters.The department of civil defense in Chiapas state, which borders on Guatemala, reported finding seven bodies between Friday and Saturday. The dead included five adults swept away by swollen rivers, a 25-year-old undocumented Honduran immigrant who drowned while trying to cross a river, and an 8-year-old girl who fell from a bridge.In the neighboring Tabasco -- where one man died earlier in the week, and where almost 80 percent of the state was covered in water -- the level of some rivers began to recede slightly Saturday. The government also said it would reduce water outflows from a dam upstream.Still, the state capital of Villahermosa remained largely flooded and prey to horrifying rumors -- that crocodiles, which normally live along the banks of some rivers, had invaded the murky floodwaters in the city's center, or that the dam upstream was about to burst.The Tabasco state government said the dam was not in danger, but had no immediate comment on the crocodile rumor. Officials instead concentrated on supplying food and water to tens of thousands of people at emergency shelters, and others who had decided to ride out the flood on the roofs of their homes, in a bid to discourage looters.Many victims have spent the better part of a week trapped by the flood waters, and authorities warned of a possible health crisis. President Felipe Calderon, who surveyed the zone from the air Friday, called the flooding one of Mexico's worst recent natural disasters.ORANGE, California (CNN) -- With the number of uncontained fires down to nine in Southern California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned his attention Saturday to what he called "the ugly side of human behavior" during and after the disaster. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks Saturday at a news conference at the scene of the Santiago Canyon fire.1 of 3 more photos » At least two of the fires were started intentionally and two more have suspicious origins, he said during a news conference, issuing a warning for the arsonists."We will hunt down the people that are responsible for that," he said."If I were one of the people who started the fires, I would not sleep soundly right now, because we're right behind you," Schwarzenegger said, urging the culprits to turn themselves in. Watch the governor's tough message »Authorities said Saturday they were following 1,700 tips about a white Ford F-150 pickup that may be a lead in determining who set the sprawling Santiago Fire in Orange County.Witnesses reported seeing the 1998-2004 model truck with chrome tubular running boards on Santiago Canyon Road on Sunday afternoon, about the time the Santiago Fire started.Investigators said this week that the fire had two points of origin, and they found evidence at the scene, although they declined to describe it. By STEVEN KOMAROW, Associated Press Writer Yahoo.com ARLINGTON, Va. - The U.S. mission in Iraq is a "nightmare with no end in sight" because of political misjudgments after the fall of Saddam Hussein that continue today, a former chief of U.S.-led forces said Friday.Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded coalition troops for a year beginning June 2003, cast a wide net of blame for both political and military shortcomings in Iraq that helped open the way for the insurgency — such as disbanding the Saddam-era military and failing to cement ties with tribal leaders and quickly establish civilian government after Saddam was toppled.He called current strategies — including the deployment of 30,000 additional forces earlier this year — a "desperate attempt" to make up for years of misguided policies in Iraq."There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," Sanchez told a group of journalists covering military affairs.Sanchez avoided singling out at any specific official. But he did criticize the State Department, the National Security Council, Congress and the senior military leadership during what appeared to be a broad indictment of White House policies and a lack of leadership to oppose them.Such assessments — even by former Pentagon brass — are not new, but they have added resonance as debates over war strategy dominate the presidential campaign.The Bush administration didn't directly address Sanchez's critical views.By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON Thu Aug 23, 12:15 PM ETMoscow's latest saber-rattling - flying long-range bomber patrols toward the U.S. and Britain, launching planes from its sole aircraft carrier, redeploying the Russian fleet to the Mediterranean, engaging in war games with China and several central Asian nations - doesn't mean the Cold War has returned. What it does signal is Russia's willingness, emboldened by the oil wealth once again flowing to the government, to begin re-asserting its historic role as a strategic counter-weight to Washington. And if it can't quite muster the heft to do that alone, Moscow is increasingly allying with other nations to challenge America's global hegemony. Geopolitical rivalry long predates the United States and the Soviet Union, of course; it dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. And the revival of such competition between Washington and Moscow is no surprise given Russia's recovery from its weakened position in the 1990s, which saw its regional and global influence dramatically reduced. But an oil price of $70 a barrel oil has filled the Kremlin's coffers and allowed it to pump money into its military. And the increased spending comes on the heels of a series of moves by Washington that has upset Russia anew, ranging from NATO enlargement and proposed missile-defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland, to the Iraq war. At least partly in response, Russia recently planted a titanium reproduction of its flag at the North Pole, test-fired a new ballistic missile supposedly capable of thwarting Washington's fledgling missile shield, and has blocked moves at the U.N. aimed at granting Kosovo formal independence from Russia's ally, Serbia."Russia is back," says Cliff Kupchan, a Russia expert at the Washington-based Eurasia Group, a political risk advisory and consulting firm. "The Russian elites have more spring in their step than at any time since my first visit there in 1981, and they've had enough of U.S. unilateralism." By RICHARD JACOBSEN, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes agoTECOLUTLA, Mexico - A sprawling Hurricane Dean slammed into Mexico for the second time in as many days Wednesday and quickly stretched across to the Pacific Ocean, then weakened as it drenched the central mountains with rain that flooded houses along the coast. Coming ashore with top sustained winds of 100 mph, Dean's center hit the tourism and fishing town of Tecolutla shortly after civil defense workers loaded the last evacuees onto army trucks and headed to inland shelters.There was no escaping the wide storm's hurricane-force winds, which lashed at a 60-mile stretch of the coast in Veracruz state."You can practically feel the winds, they're so strong," Maria del Pilar Garcia said by telephone from inside the hotel she manages in Tuxpan, a town some 40 miles north of where Dean made landfall. "I hope this passes quickly and the rivers don't overflow."Sounds of crashing metal prompted farmer Moises Aguilar to take a dangerous risk in Monte Gordo, 20 miles down the coast from Tecolutla. At the height of the storm, he dashed outside his house, about 300 yards from the sea, and struggled against the wind as his neighbor's roof ripped apart."We've closed the curtains because we don't want to see what is going on out there," Aguilar said, his voice nearly drowned out by another crash. "I think that's more metal roofing from my garage." MSNBC staff and news service reports Updated: 9:51 p.m. MT Aug 2, 2007 MINNEAPOLIS - Difficult conditions hampered the search for bodies still trapped beneath the twisted debris of a collapsed bridge Thursday, as finger-pointing began over a report two years ago that found the bridge was "structurally deficient."The official death count from Wednesday evening’s collapse stood at four, but Police Chief Tim Dolan said more bodies were in the water. Hospital officials said 79 others were injured. The next Mars-bound spacecraft, the Phoenix Mars Lander. The hunt for evidence of life on Mars will go underground next year when a NASA probe digs beneath the surface of the red planet's arctic northern plains, US scientists revealed Monday(AFP/NASA/File) MSNBC News Services 6/30/07 LONDON - British police said on Sunday they had arrested two people in northern England in connection with an attempted car bombing in London and an incident at Glasgow, Scotland, airport when a burning SUV was rammed into the airport building. MEYERS, Calif. - 6/25/07 - A raging wildfire near Lake Tahoe on Monday forced hundreds of residents to flee towering flames that destroyed more than 200 buildings, turned the sky orange and fouled the lake's famously clear waters with falling ash Lieberman: U.S. Should Weigh Iran Attack By Associated Press 4 hours agoWASHINGTON - Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Sunday the United States should consider a military strike against Iran because of Tehran's involvement in Iraq."I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."The U.S. accuses Iran of fostering terrorism and Tehran's nuclear ambitions have brought about international reproach.Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 who now represents Connecticut as an independent, spoke of Iranians' role in the continued violence in Iraq.http://www.cbsnews.com Moscow 5-29-07(CBS/AP) A senior Russian official said strategic and tactical missiles tested Tuesday can penetrate any missile defense system, Russian news agencies reported. "As of today Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," ITAR-Tass quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying. "So in terms of defense and security Russian can look calmly to the country's future." Ivanov spoke after the Russian Strategic Missile Forces announced the test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads. He said Russia had also successfully tested a tactical cruise missile. "Reminiscent of the Cold War arm's race, the Russian missile launch appears to have been intended to send a message opposing the U.S. deployment of missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the United Nations. - 9-11 was not orchestrated by Iraq - "Terrorist" may have hit the buildings with the planes, but they may have had help bringing the buildings down. - Remember that no plane hit building 7, and there is no footage showing any plane hitting the Pentagon. - The Democrats have been given control of the Senate by the people, yet we're still in Iraq. - America is getting sick of George W Bush and his incompetent administration to the point of imminent economical meltdown. - This is costing us BILLIONS, and that isn't including the amount of $$$ that will be paid out to the millions of wounded soldiers over the next 30 years. - They never found any WMD's. - Iraq has never been any threat to us. - We have completely lost control of the government. - We were never justified in invading Iraq. - Bush should have been removed from power a long time ago, and he knows it.