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Queenland floods make heavy weather of insurance costs

Paolo Hooke and Aaron Cook
The Sidney Morning Herald
Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:25 UTC
Image
© saidaonline.com

Household insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket this year because of natural disasters as tropical cyclone Yasi threatens even more damage in flood-ravaged Queensland.

Yasi is predicted to hit the coast between Townsville and Cairns tomorrow night or early Thursday with gusts of 250km/h and heavy rain. It could cause flash and riverine flooding, said Ann Farrell, a meteorologist at the weather bureau.

Destructive winds are expected between Cooktown and Yeppoon by tomorrow morning as Yasi approaches. A storm surge combined with high tides could flood low-lying coastal areas.
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Family

Pakistani children haunted by images of flood waters

Michael Gregory
Reuters
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:15 UTC
Raja Hussain, 10, still sees flood waters roaring towards his farming village most nights. They sound like a high-speed train.


Monsoon floods hit Pakistan six months ago. Yet, those vivid images still haunt the Pakistani child's nightmares.

"In the dreams I see myself praying to Allah for help," said Hussain.

One of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan's history left about 11 million people homeless, killed nearly 2,000, destroyed millions of acres of crops and hammered the economy.

They also inflicted a heavy psychological toll, and children are most vulnerable.
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Cloud Lightning

Passenger on storm-tossed cruise says event led to wife's death

Gene Sloan
USA Today
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:02 UTC
Image
© ABC
A taxi driver from Scotland who was aboard Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas in December when it was rocked violently by extreme winds and waves says the heavily publicized event led to his wife's death.

John Davey tells the UK's Mirror his wife, Barbara Davey, fell into a coma three days after being thrown about her cabin during the incident. She was taken to a hospital after the 2,100-passenger ship reached Malta and then airlifted back to Britain but never recovered and died on Jan. 7, the news outlet says.

Royal Caribbean said last month that more than 100 passengers were injured during the incident, which it has called serious, but the line said the injuries were mostly minor. The line said the ship unexpectedly experienced extreme conditions as it was approaching Alexandria, Egypt, that caused the vessel to roll sharply. Passenger photos posted online after the incident show toppled furniture, broken glass and other signs of a violent event.
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War Whore

Gas Canisters Used On Egyptian Protesters Clearly Marked 'Made In The USA'

Federaljacktube3
YouTube
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:04 UTC
January 27, 2011 MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show.

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People

Egyptian protesters push back armed police!

Federaljacktube3
YouTube
Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:56 UTC
This YouTube video shows protesters pushing back police on bridge in Cairo.

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Family

Afraid of the Internet Kill Switch? Purchase a Shortwave Radio


You Tube
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:25 UTC
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Stormtrooper

UK: Police use CS spray on tax protesters

Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Paige
Guardian UK
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:13 UTC
Image
© Tim Mitchell/Press Association
Protester washing eyes A man washes his eyes after police used CS gas on tax protesters in London.
UK Uncut activists hospitalised after targeting Boots in Oxford Street as part of latest day of action

Tax avoidance protesters needed hospital treatment today after police used CS spray to break up a demonstration on Oxford Street in central London.

Hundreds of people staged peaceful sit-ins at high street stores around the country as part of the latest UK Uncut day of action, designed to highlight companies it says are avoiding millions of pounds in tax.

In London protesters had successfully closed down Boots in Oxford Street - one of the companies campaigners accuse of tax avoidance - when police tried to arrest a woman for pushing a leaflet through the store's doors. Other demonstrators tried to stop the arrest and at least one police officer used CS spray, which hospitalised three people.

Jed Weightman, one of those who went to hospital, said protesters had joined hands to try and prevent the arrest.
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Radar

The Evolving Populist Political Rebellion in the Arab World

Dave Lefcourt
OpEdNews
Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
A protestor in Tahrir Square holds a photo showing President Mubarak's face crossed out as another displays a gun cartridge on January 29, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt.
What we are witnessing in the Arab world that began with the self immolation of a fruit seller in Tunisia, the subsequent rebellion there which saw the departure of the dictator Ben Ali and his 23 year rule has inspired a populist political rebellion well beyond Tunisia that has connected with and touched a nerve in many (most?)Arab people.

What started in Tunisia (the demand that Ben Ali step down over his corruption, oppression, high food prices, widespread unemployment and poverty and the humiliation by government agents that caused the desperate act of self immolation) has spread to Egypt with mass demonstrations that began Tuesday, continuing despite an official crackdown by the Mubarak regime. Through internet postings (Twitter and Facebook) larger demonstrations are planned for today in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Former Chief U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei (and an Egyptian himself) has joined in the call for Mubarak to step down.
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Footprints

Jordan's powerful Muslim opposition warns that Arabs will topple US-allied Mideast leaders

Jamal Halaby
Canadian Press.
Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:20 UTC
Image
© Associated Press Photo/Nader Daoud
Jordanian protesters shouts anti-government slogans during a demonstration outside the Prime Minister office, in Amman, Jordan, Saturday, Jan, 29, 2011. The Jordanian opposition supporters demand the prime minister step down and venting their anger at rising prices, inflation and unemployment in Jordan.
Amman, Jordan - The leader of Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States.

Hammam Saeed's comments were made at a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, inspired by massive rallies in neighbouring Egypt demanding the downfall of the country's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak.

About 100 members of the fundamentalist group and activists from other leftist organizations and trade unions chanted "Mubarak, step down" and "the decision is made, the people's revolt will remain."

Elsewhere, a separate group of 300 protesters gathered in front of the office of Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, demanding his ouster. "Rifai, it's time for you to go," chanted the group.
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Beaker

"Very Disturbing Findings" In Chemical Tests of Gulf Residents


KLFY TV-10 Eyewitness News
Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:24 UTC
Oil Blob
© KLFY TV-10

[A] new report just out has revealed some very disturbing findings. ... A blood study that was conducted on four males ages 3 to 43 and one female age 38 in December of last year. Subra says the results of those tests have revealed elevated levels of six toxic and potentially life threatening chemicals associated with crude oil, most notably Ethylbenzene which has been linked to kidney damage and cancer. ... UL Lafayette Professor Paul Klerks is an expert in the environmental toxicology and he says the high levels of ethyl benzene found in human patients is alarming but he doesn't believe its reason to panic just yet. "This is potentially cause for concern, but it's a very small sample size of five so it's really hard to tell with just a small sample size what it means as whole." ... [Their] problems included everything from trouble breathing, and bleeding from the ears, to swelling of the limbs and blood in the stool. Some of the more unusual cases include a commercial diver who is plagued by mysterious rash and the three year son of a fisherman who is suffering from kidney stones.

Part 1:

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