August 2008

GUSTAV AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE

HURRICANE GUSTAV TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008

13:20 PM EDT SAT AUG 30 2008

DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT GUSTAV HAS CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AND NOW HAS MAXIMUM WINDS NEAR 145 MPH...230 KM/HR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THIS MAKES GUSTAV AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. A SPECIAL ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED AT ABOUT 200 PM EDT TO MODIFY THE INITIAL AND FORECAST INTENSITIES. THE SPECIAL PUBLIC ADVISORY WILL TAKE THE PLACE OF THE INTERMEDIATE PUBLIC ADVISORY PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED FOR THAT TIME.

-- Source: National Weather Service

BULLETIN: HURRICANE GUSTAV - ADVISORY NUMBER 23

BULLETIN: HURRICANE GUSTAV - ADVISORY NUMBER 23
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008
1100 AM EDT SAT AUG 30 2008

...GUSTAV EVEN A LITTLE STRONGER AS IT CLOSES IN ON WESTERN CUBA... AT 1100 AM EDT...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS HAS DISCONTINUED THE HURRICANE WARNING FOR THE CAYMAN ISLANDS.

AT 1100 AM EDT...A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER FLORIDA KEYS WEST OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE TO DRY TORTUGAS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF PINAR DEL RIO...LA HABANA...CIUDAD DE LA HABANA...ISLA DE JUVENTUD...MATANZAS...AND CIENFUEGOS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL CUBAN PROVINCE OF VILLA CLARA.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL CUBAN PROVINCES OF VILLA CLARA...SANCTI SPIRITUS...CIEGO DE AVILA...AND CAMAGUEY.

INTERESTS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE NORTHERN GULF COAST SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF GUSTAV. A HURRICANE WATCH COULD BE ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN GULF COAST LATER TODAY.

AT 1100 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE GUSTAV WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.2 NORTH...LONGITUDE 82.1 WEST OR ABOUT 55 MILES...85 KM...EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE ISLE OF YOUTH AND ABOUT 185 MILES... 295 KM...EAST OF THE WESTERN TIP OF CUBA.

GUSTAV IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH...22 KM/HR...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. ON THIS TRACK...THE CENTER OF GUSTAV WILL PASS OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF CUBA TODAY AND TONIGHT...EMERGE OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO EARLY ON SUNDAY...AND REACH THE NORTHERN GULF BY MONDAY MORNING.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 125 MPH...205 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. GUSTAV IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS GUSTAV PASSES NEAR AND OVER WESTERN CUBA. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST AFTER GUSTAV REACHES THE GULF OF MEXICO.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 60 MILES...95 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 160 MILES...260 KM.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE BASED ON RECENT REPORTS FROM AIR FORCE AND NOAA RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS 954 MB...28.17 INCHES.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE...

-- Source: National Weather Service

Denver: A possible plot to kill Sen. Barack Obama?

Aug 25, 2008 8:30 pm US/Mountain

Plot to Kill Obama: Shoot From "High Vantage Point"

By Brian Maass

DENVER, CO (CBS4): CBS4 has now learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Sen. Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a...rifle...sighted at 750 yards."

Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative..."

The Secret Service, FBI, ATF and the joint terrorism task force are all investigating the alleged plot.

The U.S. Attorney in Denver has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon...Watch EmergencyNet News for more on this developing story..

-- Source/continues: http://cbs4denver.com/denver2008/assisination.plot.obama.2.802827.html

Georgian Conflict (Multiple Video Reports)

FAY: State and Federal Officials Begin Joint Damage Assessments in South FL

2:58 PM Aug 21, 2008

State and Federal Officials Begin Joint Damage Assessments in South FL

Tallahassee, FL- As Tropical Storm Fay continues to hover over Florida, the State Emergency Response Team is sending teams to several of the impacted counties to complete preliminary damage assessments.

Martin and Monroe were the first counties to be assessed for damages. Teams are in Brevard County today to assess impacts from the heavy rainfall and flooding that occurred over the last few days. Damage Assessment Teams from the state, along with local and federal officials will continue to assess and document damages from Tropical Storm Fay Wednesday and assessments will continue in all counties that receive impacts from Tropical Storm Fay.

"These numbers will assist us as we head into the recovery phase of our operations," said Craig Fugate, Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. "We want to ensure that we get an accurate assessment of the damages that have occurred so our residents can receive the assistance they need to recover."

After crossing the Florida Keys, Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in Collier County near Cape Romano, Florida on early Tuesday morning. Fay continued across the state and has now stalled as it drenches areas with significant amounts of rainfall. Some locations in the path of Fay have reported up to 25 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.

The Florida National Guard has deployed liaisons to Putnam, Nassau, Duval, Saint Johns, and Flagler Counties. The Florida National Guard has Soldiers on alert and ready to deploy to assist counties if needed...

-- Source/continues: http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/27232989.html

Looting reignites Russia-Georgia tensions

13 Aug 2008

Looting reignites Russia-Georgia tensions

GORI, Georgia (AFP): Separatist fighters and Russian troops looted and set homes ablaze in Georgia on Wednesday amid mutual recriminations over breaches of a truce that ended five days of bitter conflict.

A day after the truce was brokered by France, Russia faced mounting criticism in the West for its military offensive and US President George W. Bush demanded that Russian troops withdraw from Georgia.

Russian armored vehicles patrolled Gori, the flashpoint Georgian town between the capital and South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian region at the center of the conflict. Hundreds of South Ossetian rebels with some Russian army personnel went house-to-house in villages near Gori. They torched houses and looted buildings, witnesses said.

The body of a man, his mouth caked with blood, lay in a street in the village of Dzardzanis and nearby the body of a bearded man could be seen crushed under an overturned minivan, an AFP journalist reported. Human Rights Watch said its researchers in South Ossetia had "witnessed terrifying scenes of destruction in four villages that used to be populated exclusively by ethnic Georgians."

Russian tanks have blocked the main highway connecting the rebel region of South Ossetia with the rest of Georgia, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

About 100 Georgian special forces, recently returned from Iraq, set up a road block with rocket launchers and other weapons on the main highway from Gori to Tbilisi, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) away.

Russia denied its forces were headed for Tbilisi although Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told CNN television he believed Russia wanted to surround the capital.

Saakashvili expects the United States to take control of his country's ports and airports, a spokesman told AFP on Wednesday. But the Pentagon quickly denied that claim.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev halted the Russian offensive -- ordered in response to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia week -- on Tuesday and French President Nicolas Sarkozy later negotiated a ceasefire with Medvedev and Saakashvili.

Russia accused Georgia of violating the truce by failing to pursue an "active withdrawal" from South Ossetia, where Russia says 2,000 civilians were killed in the fighting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Russia would only withdraw from Georgia after Georgian troops had returned to their barracks. On Wednesday, he stepped up the ante against Washington, asking it to choose between a "relatively virtual" relationship with Tbilisi and a "partnership (with Russia) on questions that require collective action."

-- Source/continues: http://tinyurl.com/erri215

Russia snubs cease-fire, presses on into Georgia

Russia snubs cease-fire, presses on into Georgia

U.S. suggests ousting Georgian president is Moscow's goal

By TOM LASSETER and JONATHAN S. LANDAY McClatchy-Tribune

Aug. 10, 2008, 23:07PM EDT

GORI, GEORGIA: Russia pressed its invasion of Georgia by land, sea and air for a third day Sunday, striking far beyond contested South Ossetia as the Kremlin brushed aside a cease-fire offer and disputed Georgia's claim to have pulled its forces out of the rebel enclave.

Russian jets bombed near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, including civilian housing, military bases, factories and the international airport, according to Georgia officials.

Also, Russian warships deployed off the Black Sea coast, sinking a Georgian missile boat that approached them, state-run Russian news media said.

Russian troops and tanks, meanwhile, took control of Tskhinvali, the devastated capital of South Ossetia, according to Russian state-run media, and there were reports that an armored column tried to push out of the separatist enclave's boundary toward the city of Gori before being turned back by Georgian forces.

The military campaign also expanded, with Russian troops entering Abkhazia, another separatist province.

Tensions between the United States and Russia sharpened as the Bush administration suggested that Russia's objective is the ousting of President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has close ties to the United States and is seeking admission to NATO.

President Bush, in an interview with NBC, said, "I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia."

Earlier, Vice President Dick Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Ann McBride described Cheney's talk with Georgia's president, in which he said "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

Russia repeated that it is obliged to stop "numerous war crimes" against civilians, many of whom carry Russian passports, end a "major humanitarian disaster," and restore the situation to where it was before a Georgian military incursion on Friday...

-- Source/continues: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5935576.html

Georgia, Russia face off at Ossetian capital

Georgia, Russia face off at Ossetian capital

Major Invasion: 1,400 reported dead as Georgia moves troops home from Iraq

by Margarita Antidze, Reuters - via Ottawa Citizen

Published: Friday, August 08, 2008

MEGVREKISI, GEORGIA: Georgia said on Friday its forces were in control of the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, but rebels said Russian armored vehicles had entered the northern edges of the city.

"Tskhinvali and the heights around Tskhinvali and the majority of the villages in South Ossetia are under the control of Georgian forces," Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a televised address.

However, the separatists' press service said on its website cominf.org on Friday: "Russian armoured vehicles have entered the northern suburbs of Tskhinvali." It added that Georgian troops had started to retreat.

Georgian soldiers sit in their vehicles near the city of Tskhinvali, 100 kilometres from Tbilisi, Aug 8. Georgian troops, backed by warplanes, pounded separatist forces on the outskirts of the South Ossetian capital on Friday, hours after launching an assault on the breakaway region following a short-lived truce. Russia claims to have fought them back.

Moscow said its troops were responding to a Georgian assault to retake the breakaway region, and Saakashvili said the two countries were at war.

The Georgian leader said on television: "What Russia is doing in Georgia is open, unhidden aggression and a challenge to the whole world.

"If the whole world does not stop Russia today, then Russian tanks will be able to reach any other European capital."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to withdraw combat troops from Georgia and stop air strikes. "We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil," she said in a statement.

-- Source: http://tinyurl.com/erri176

Additional reference/BBC Video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7548715.stm

China blames Islamic militants for killing 16 police

Monday, August 4, 2008 - 10:59 AM ET

China blames Islamic militants for killing 16 police

CHINA(CBC News): Sixteen Chinese police officers died and another 16 were wounded in an attack on a police station in Xinjiang province in the country's northwest, officials said Monday.

Investigators said two attackers drove a truck into a line of jogging officers, and then attacked with knives and explosives, the government news agency Xinhua reported.

Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia, has a Muslim majority and there have been protests and previous incidents attributed to Muslim militants. Some of the local people, the Uighurs, have sporadically resisted Chinese rule, imposed in the 1950s.

Public security officials had learned that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement planned to make an attack just before the Beijing Olympics, set to open Friday, Xinhua said.

The police said the two attackers had been arrested. One was injured.

Islamic militants were one of the main security issues for the Olympics, Games security chief Tian Yixiang said...

-- Source/continues: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/04/china-attack.html