The rapidly dissipating remnants of Hurricane John brought heavy showers to the deserts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States Monday. Moisture from John was causing thunderstorms over eastern Arizona, southern New Mexico and west Texas, and could still dump 2.5 to 7 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) as far west as southern California through Tuesday, causing some flooding, said Mark Willis, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. John was downgraded to a tropical depression Sunday and was weakening fast Monday. The storm's maximum sustained winds dropped to about 30 mph (45 kph) and its vague center was about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the mining town of Santa Rosalia. Officials said as much as 45 centimeters (20 inches) had fallen in isolated areas of the normally arid Baja California peninsula, and forecasters said warned of deadly flash floods. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 09:13:00 09-04-06 |
Kabul suicide bomber kills five |
At least four Afghan civilians and a British soldier have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a Nato convoy in the capital, Kabul, officials say. At least three UK soldiers and four civilians were hurt in the blast on the Kabul-Jalalabad road. Separately, a Canadian soldier has been killed and several others wounded in a so-called "friendly fire" incident. The deaths come amid a major offensive against the Taleban. The UK lost 14 troops in a plane crash on Saturday. Initial reports from Afghan police said two British soldiers had been killed in the Kabul bombing, but in a later statement the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said one soldier had died and another was very seriously injured. An Afghan interior ministry spokesman told Reuters news agency the suicide bomber had rammed his car into the Nato convoy.The friendly fire death happened at dawn as Nato troops battled Taleban insurgents in the Panjwayi district, west of Kandahar. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5311464.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:11:00 09-04-06 |
Chinese director 'given film ban' |
Director Lou Ye has been banned from making films in China for five years for submitting an entry for the Cannes festival without government approval. Lou entered romance Summer Palace for competition without clearing it with China's censors, state media reported. The film, which features explicit sex scenes, takes place around the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Lou said at Cannes in June that he would consider changing the film's content so it could be seen in China. An official at China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television confirmed news of the ban to the country's official Xinhua News Agency, but declined to give any further comment. The news agency reported that the film would be confiscated along with any income made from it. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5313008.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:09:00 09-04-06 |
2 Workers Shot to Death at South Carolina Fast-Food Restaurant; Fellow Employee Arrested |
Two fast-food workers were found shot to death after their restaurant failed to open on time, and a fellow employee was arrested Monday and charged with murder and armed robbery. Authorities said they believe John Henry Portee, Jr., 27, intended to rob the Wendy's restaurant, said Richland County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan. Portee was arrested around 2 a.m. Monday, almost a day after the two women were shot to death while preparing to open the restaurant at Columbia Place Mall, Cowan said. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2392460
full News |
Editor - 09:08:00 09-04-06 |
Credit-Default Swaps Show Russian Risk at Lowest Since March |
Russian debt is less risky to hold after Standard & Poor's raised the country's credit rating, according to London traders betting on the creditworthiness of countries in the credit-default swap market. The perceived risk of owning Russia's $81 billion of bonds fell 2.8 percent to the lowest since March 3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Credit-default swaps are financial instruments based on bonds and loans that are used to speculate on an increase or decrease in indebtedness. S&P raised Russia's foreign currency credit rating one level, to BBB+, after the government cleared all of its debt to the Paris Club group of creditor nations with a $23.7 billion payment. The nation is the world's second biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and with prices close to record highs S&P said it expects foreign exchange reserves will top $285 billion by the end of the year. ... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a41l8DgBd_18&refer=worldwide_news
full News |
Editor - 09:06:00 09-04-06 |
Ultimatum for Darfur peace force |
Sudan has said the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force should leave Darfur unless it drops plans for the UN to take over its mission. The announcement follows concern about a week-old offensive by Sudanese troops in the remote western region. A UN resolution passed last week, seeking to replace the weak AU peacekeeping force with 17,000 UN troops, was rejected by Khartoum. The UN has warned of a new "man-made catastrophe" in war-torn Darfur. Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol said the AU had previously stated that its force would leave Sudan when its current mandate expires at the end of September, if no agreement was reached between the UN and the Sudanese government. "We are not kicking out the AU troops," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, downplaying previous official comments. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5311144.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:05:00 09-04-06 |
|
post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|