Archive for July, 2010
Death toll in Pakistan floods tops 800
Posted in Islam, News, Politics on July 31st, 2010 by admin – Comments OffReporting from Islamabad, Pakistan —
As the death toll from this week’s flash floods rose to at least 800 Saturday, authorities tried desperately to rescue thousands of stranded villagers from rooftops and deliver emergency relief to stricken areas.
The country’s hardest-hit region was the northwest province of Khyber-Pakhtunkwha, where provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at least 800 people had died in flooding caused by record-breaking monsoon rains. Hussain said that although the threat of further flooding had subsided in many areas in the northwest, authorities were struggling to provide relief to thousands of victims, many of whom were in dire need of food, drinking water and medicine.
“All of the government’s attention should be directed at combating this calamity,” Hussain said.
‘Black box’ found in Pakistan plane crash wreckage
Posted in Islam, News, Tech on July 31st, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —
Recovery workers found the “black box” flight data recorder Saturday in the wreckage of Pakistan’s worst-ever plane crash, and it appeared to be in good condition, officials said.
An analysis of the data on the recorder could provide clues as to why the Airblue flight crashed Wednesday into the hills overlooking the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, killing all 152 people onboard, including two Americans. The recorder’s decoding may take weeks, however.
The black box was found during a difficult recovery effort hampered by rain, mud and a lack of proper roads in the heavily forested Margalla Hills. It has been handed to aviation officials, said Ramzan Sajid, a spokesman for the Capital Development Authority, a government agency. He said the box was found in wreckage of the plane’s tail section.
House approves oil spill legislation
Posted in News, Politics, economy, what on July 31st, 2010 by admin – Comments OffIn its most sweeping response to the gulf oil spill, the House on Friday approved legislation that would impose new environmental safeguards for offshore drilling, remove a liability cap for spill damages, and slap industry with a new tax to fund conservation projects nationwide.
The Democratic-drafted legislation passed on a largely party-line 209-193 vote but faces trouble in the deeply divided Senate.
“The Deepwater Horizon explosion and the subsequent damage that has occurred over the past 102 days is indeed a game-changer,” said Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Firefighters gain ground on Crown fire
Posted in News on July 31st, 2010 by admin – Comments Off%content%
Firefighters gain ground on Crown fire
Notre Dame High holds prayer service for student killed in Sherman Oaks hit-and-run
Posted in News on July 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffSoldier suspected in WikiLeaks case moved from Kuwait to Virginia military jail
Posted in News, Video on July 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffWASHINGTON —
The Army intelligence specialist charged with leaking U.S. military secrets to the WikiLeaks website has been moved from Kuwait to a military jail in Virginia.
In a statement Friday, the Army said Pvt. Bradley Manning was flown Thursday to Quantico Marine Base where he will be held while awaiting trial for leaking top-secret military intelligence to WikiLeaks.
The 22-year-old intelligence analyst is accused of leaking a classified helicopter cockpit video of a 2007 firefight in Baghdad that left a Reuters photographer and his driver dead.
3 Americans killed in Afghanistan, making July deadliest month of war for U.S.
Posted in News, Politics, economy, what on July 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffKABUL, Afghanistan —
Three U.S. troops died in blasts in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for July to at least 63 and surpassing the previous month’s record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly 9-year-old war.
The three died in two separate blasts in southern Afghanistan the day before, a NATO statement said Friday. The statement gave no nationalities, but U.S. officials say all three were Americans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending notification of kin.
U.S. and NATO commanders had warned that casualties would rise as the international military force ramps up the war against the Taliban, especially in their southern strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. President Obama ordered 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan last December in a bid to turn back a resurgent Taliban.
Disney agrees to sell Miramax Films to investor group led by Ron Tutor
Posted in Entertainment, News, economy on July 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffAfter months of negotiations with various buyers that failed to bear fruit, Walt Disney Co. finally reached a deal to sell its Miramax Films unit in a deal that severs the independent movie pioneer’s 17-year association with the Burbank studio.
Disney late Thursday signed a definitive agreement to sell Miramax to Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by Los Angeles construction magnate Ron Tutor, for more than $660 million, putting the future of the company with a long string of award-winning films into the hands of a Hollywood outsider.
Tutor and his partners, including Los Angeles private equity firm Colony Capital, delivered a nonrefundable down payment of $40 million to Disney on Thursday, which will be held in escrow until they secure all the financing by a closing date of no later than Dec. 3. Tutor and Colony Capital will each put up about $100 million of the purchase price, while minority investor Jerome Swartz, a retired engineer and philanthropist, is expected to contribute an additional $25 million to $50 million in equity.
1,500 L.A. homes threatened
Posted in News, Politics, what on July 30th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffThree wildfires broke out in northern Los Angeles County on Thursday, the worst of which was threatening at least 1,500 homes in Leona Valley, near Palmdale.
Some structures have been lost to the so-called Crown fire, officials said, but they will not be able to determine whether those were homes or outbuildings on the many ranches in the area until sometime Friday.
Capt. Sam Padilla, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said the Crown fire has burned nearly 6,000 acres and there was zero containment. In addition to Leona Valley, evacuation orders were issued for the nearby community of Ana Verde and the fire was moving east toward Quartz Hill, leaving the possibility of more evacuations overnight.
