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‘Ice rink’ conditions disrupt electricity, turn roads deadly

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — A storm packing heavy snow and howling wind moved north Sunday, knocking out power in homes and making conditions hazardous for holiday travelers.

High wind and ice that coated power lines blacked out tens of thousands of people in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Ice slicked roadways through the region.

Everything is just an ice rink out there, said Rock County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Selby in Wisconsin.

Some 74,000 customers were without power in Michigan on Sunday morning, down from 104,000 at the peak, Consumers Energy said. In Illinois, about 58,000 customers were without power in the Chicago metro area and 5,500 others were in the dark in southern and central Wisconsin.

The storm blew heavy snow from Texas to Wisconsin, causing at least five deaths and dozens of injuries as multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways Saturday.

Much of the region affected by this storm on the Plains was still recovering from a severe ice storm early last week that knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. See how winter precipitation forms

Up to a foot of new snow was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota. Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Strong wind could make traveling hazardous all weekend, said Craig Cogil, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, Iowa. Parts of that state were expected to get as much as 10 inches of snow by Sunday morning, he said.

At least three people in Minnesota and one person each in Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents that authorities said were weather related.

The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. Authorities said it would take a few days to determine exactly how many vehicles were involved. Watch the massive wreck on I-40 in Texas

Eighteen people were taken to hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries, Sgt. Michael Poston said.

There were cars crashing while they (firefighters) were there, Fire Department Capt. Bob Johnson told the Amarillo Globe-News. They could hear them (the crashes), but they couldn’t see them.

Many were holiday travelers, including families with small children not dressed for the weather, Sgt. Shawn McLeland said. Other drivers spotted them and opened Christmas presents to provide warmer clothing for the children.

Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow.

The Kansas traffic death came in a 30-car pileup about 30 miles west of Topeka that closed a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 70. See Kansans battle the icy elements

The storm also was blamed for a wreck involving 20 to 40 vehicles, including three tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 29 in St. Joseph in western Missouri. Police closed about 100 miles of I-29.
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Soldiers try to find families for Iraqi orphans

Anyone interested in participating in the effort to care for these children can contact Scott Southworth at shsouthmwt.net

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) — Having overcome great obstacles to adopt an Iraqi orphan with cerebral palsy, Capt. Scott Southworth is spearheading an effort to find families to care for another 21 disabled children from that unhappy land.

Soldiers found the boys in June in a government-run Baghdad orphanage, naked and emaciated on cement floors in their urine and feces. Swarms of flies covered some. Others were tied to the outside of their cribs.

It was just gut-wrenching, Southworth said.

A soldier in the military police unit Southworth led in Iraq, Sgt. Kerry Otwaska, saw a television clip on the orphanage in June. Devastated, he called Southworth, who contacted another comrade, Lt. Sheree Gunderson.

All three had spent time visiting children at the Mother Teresa orphanage in Baghdad, and they recognized some of those boys in the television report who had been moved to the government facility. Three of them have since died.

Feeling sorry for them on our end isn’t enough, Southworth said. We need some action.

The Iraqi health inspector general has expressed support, and they are waiting for the Iraqi government to give them permission to bring the boys — with disabilities like autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy — to the United States. The U.S. government then has to grant the boys visas.

The three are screening people who have offered to help. They have found families, mostly in Wisconsin, for about half the boys, Southworth said. They plan to ask local doctors to donate their help.

Southworth points to his own success in adopting Ala’a.

This isn’t a dream we want to make reality, he said. It’s a reality we want to expand. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Iran: Bushehr nuclear plant ready by March, more planned

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iran’s first nuclear power plant will be operational within three months, providing electricity to Iran’s national power grid by the summer, according to Iranian Energy Minister Parviz Fattah.

Russia, which is building the Bushehr plant for Iran, started delivering nuclear fuel to the facility a week ago as part of a compromise effort to alleviate concerns over Iran’s nuclear intentions while supporting Iran’s right to a nuclear energy program.

The United States, several European nations and Israel suspect Tehran has been trying to acquire nuclear weapons, but Iran denies its nuclear program is for anything but peaceful purposes. A recent U.S. intelligence summary concluded that, contrary to earlier suspicions, Iran halted its nuclear weapons development in 2003.

Iran also said Sunday it will soon announce international tender for construction of 19 new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, citing Kazem Jalali, an official with the parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission.

Jalali said the measure would be taken in line with the parliament’s approval for generating 20,000 megawatt of electricity to meet domestic demands, the IRNA report said.

Fattah told reporters Saturday that the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which was previously expected to be completed last September, will become operational on March 21, 2008, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, or IRIB.

The plant will deliver 500 megawatts of electricity to the power grid by summer and 1,000 megawatts by March 2009, IRIB reported.

Atomstroiexport, Russia’s nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, completed the first stage of nuclear fuel deliveries a week ago, the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency said.

The United States, several European nations, and Israel suspect Tehran has been trying to acquire nuclear weapons, but Iran denies its nuclear program is for anything but peaceful purposes. A recent U.S. intelligence summary concluded that, contrary to earlier suspicions, Iran halted its nuclear weapons development in 2003.

Atomstroiexport, the Russian monopoly, is building the $1 billion Bushehr plant under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency. The Russian foreign ministry and nuclear officials said the fuel delivery was under full IAEA safeguards.

A statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official Web site last week said Iran had provided additional written guarantees that the fuel can only be used at and for the Bushehr plant, and that the spent fuel will be returned to Russia for utilization and storage.

The U.N. Security Council has repeatedly demanded that Iran suspend its own enrichment of uranium and has imposed limited sanctions on Tehran for refusing to comply. Russia, France, and China — all permanent Security Council members — have voiced concerns about the proposed sanctions.

A recent U.S. National Intelligence Estimate said Iran stopped work toward a nuclear weapon while under international scrutiny in 2003 and is unlikely to be able to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb until 2010 to 2015.

Construction of the plant was expected to be completed in September, but was delayed because of lack of financing and delayed equipment deliveries from other countries, the official Russian news agency Interfax said.
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Victims of the forgotten ‘tsunami’

RAJESHWER, Bangladesh (CNN) — More than a month after Cyclone Sidr tore across Bangladesh killing more than 3,000 people and affecting at least 8.7 million, photojournalist John Cobb visited badly hit areas and contributed this story for CNN.

As I walked into Rajashwer village in southern Bangladesh, the only sign of human habitation was tarpaulins strung up along the river bank. The heart of the village looked as though it had been through a tumble dryer.

Possessions were knotted into the branches of fallen trees, corrugated metal roofs and wooden walls were scattered and smashed beyond repair.

The last time I saw such scenes was three years ago, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami. Accounts of survivors from Cyclone Sidr bear striking similarity to those of the tsunami survivors.

Searching amongst the debris in Rajashwer village was an older man, sifting though a pile of twisted metal roofing. Kanchan Ali Khan, 70, spent the night of November 15, 2007 clinging to a tree, having been swept up by a tidal surge of water that was 15 feet (4.5 meters) high.

It was dark and pouring with rain. I feared for my life. I heard people crying for help everywhere, he whispered.

Typical of many coastal villagers, Kanchan has lost not only his home, but also his livelihood. He is a fisherman, but most boats and nets were destroyed during the cyclone.

Although he now has no income or resources with which to replace his boat and nets, Kanchan considers himself one of the lucky survivors. See dramatic photos of cyclone survivors.

His neighbor, Soleman Khan, lost seven members of his family during the cyclone. The body of Soleman’s eldest son was found, still clinging to his two dead children.

As a photojournalist working with charity Help the Aged and their international partner, HelpAge International, it is my job to document in the impact of such disasters affected older people.

It is an emotionally grueling experience. People are traumatized, memories are fresh, and healing processes have yet to begin.

However, I am often surprised by the openness of conversation and humbled by the hospitality offered by people who have literally lost everything.

I was particularly struck by Kanchan Khan’s description of the tidal surge and the subsequent impact upon his livelihood. His story was almost identical to that of a fisherman I interviewed in Nagappattinam, southern India, after the tsunami in 2004.

Unlike the intense media coverage during the months that followed the tsunami, there was not an international film crew in sight just a few weeks after Cyclone Sidr.

The cyclone resulted in far fewer fatalities than the 2004 tsunami. In large part this was due to an effective early warning system and training for people in disaster risk reduction.

But the United Nations estimated It has nevertheless affected 8.7 million people and damaged or destroyed a quarter of a million homes.

Bangladesh, the fourth largest rice producer in the world, has also had its rice harvest severely damaged, with major implications for both the economy and food security.

Local organizations such as the Resource Integration Center have been at the forefront of the relief effort targeting older people in southern Bangladesh. Using its network of Older People’s Associations it has identified the most urgent cases for support, and distributed blankets and foodstuffs.

Bill Gray, HelpAge International’s Emergency Manager says: It is essential that older survivors get the support they need themselves to recover and to play their vital part in the recovery of their communities.

The next stage of rehabilitation from dependency to independence is crucial.

Some cyclone survivors have no possessions left, or the means with which to earn their living.

The Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal, launched by the Disasters and Emergency Committee on November 22, is trying to mobilize support and funding for affected populations.

Having witnessed the devastation that Cyclone Sidr has caused, and the human suffering that continues, I can only hope that the Appeal will reach its target and that people such as Kanchan and Soleman will be able to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
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Rangers held to a draw at Aberdeen

GLASGOW, Scotland — Scotland international midfielder Lee McCulloch was sent off for lashing out at Scott Severin as a 1-1 draw at Aberdeen cost Rangers the chance to move level with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League on Sunday.

Lee Miller’s strike in first-half injury time secured a point for the home side after Charlie Adam had given Rangers the lead on the half hour mark.

McCulloch had provided the cross for Adam’s close-range strike but that was to be his last positive contribution to the match.

Two minutes later, he was given a straight red card for kicking Severin in an off-the-ball clash that came as tempers boiled over following a crude challenge by Chris Clark on Alan Hutton.

Aberdeen equalised soon afterwards with the final move of the first half.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor failed to hold a cross from Richie Byrne and Miller nipped in to head the loose ball over the line.

Despite their numerical advantage, Aberdeen failed to dominate after the break and Rangers almost snatched all three points when Zander Diamond sliced a clearance in front of goal, only just clearing his own crossbar.

Despite the setback, Rangers remain well-placed to reclaim the title from Celtic, who are two points clear at the top but have played two games more than their biggest rivals.

Celtic, who have taken only six points from their last five matches, were held to a 1-1 draw by Hibernian on Saturday. E-mail to a friend

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