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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Tornado kills 1, leaves 14 injured

The destructive tornado which swept across Auckland's North Shore today killed one person, injured 14 others and left a trail of destruction from Albany to Glenfield.

While this is at the lower end of the scale compared to the type of tornadoes that have been ripping through the United States in recent weeks, it is still the largest tornado to hit New Zealand in several years.

"If the winds were strong enough to lift cars, they would probably be more than 200kmh and we just don't get events like this in New Zealand very often. Usually they are EF0 or 'mini-tornadoes.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown later told Campbell Live a man in his 30s had died, while other reports said he was found in the Albany Mega Centre carpark.

St John Ambulance northern region operations manager Murray Holt said a triage centre was set up at Albany shortly after the tornado swept through.

There's probably six or seven seriously damaged cars, and I saw cars flying off the ground about 30 metres in the air. They landed in car parks and some went through the old Placemaker's building."

The twister hit Albany, about 15km north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, just before 3pm, ripping roofs off houses and commercial buildings in teh suburb's commercial centre, uprooting trees and turning cars and a campervan on their sides.

Tornadoes were very rare in New Zealand because the land mass in much colder than tornado-prone areas like the southern US, Hickey said.

During May 1991, a tornado hit Albany causing roofing iron to be lifted from homes and the destruction of a small church on the south-western side of the village.

New Zealand's worst tornado hit Hamilton in 1948, killing three people, injuring 80 others and destroying more the 200 homes and businesses.

Albany tornado around 200km/h

Metservice has confirmed there is a slim risk of more tornadoes this evening as a storm system passes over the upper North Island.

However, it says any more tornadoes will be smaller than the one that devastated buildings and killed one person in Albany this afternoon.

North Shore Hospital spokesman Paul Patton said 20 injured were due to arrive at the hospital with another two being sent to Auckland Hospital.

Manley said at least 14 were injured in today's tornado which had winds averaging 200km/h, forecasters says.

A North Shore police spokesman said emergency services were busy fielding calls from the public with reports of damage to homes and cars.

Witnesses reported cars with people inside being tossed across carparks when the tornado ripped through the suburb of Albany like a freight train about 3pm.

It was earlier reported that two had died, but it was later said there had been confusion in the immediate chaos.

An Auckland Council spokeswoman said it has activated its emergency co-ordination centre, based in the city's cbd.

The spokeswoman said Civil Defence staff were heading to the North Shore to evaluate the scene.

A spokesman for Auckland Mayor Len Brown said he was with councillors attending meetings this afternoon.

''He knows of the tornado and is aware of the reports of multiple injuries and is being kept briefed on the situation.

Most tornadoes take place in Autumn and Spring, and we thought there was the possibility of flash flooding with the weather today, but this has gone one step ahead with the rotation of the air.

"They are very hard to predict and the weather in today's situations can go from heavy downpour to light showers in a matter of minutes. But today did have perfect conditions for a tornado with the storms and all this unstable air swirling about.

Monday, May 2, 2011

World 'safer' without Bin Laden, says Obama

WASHINGTON — Calling it a “good day for America,” President Obama said Monday that the death of Osama bin Laden had made the world “a better place,” as new details emerged about the daring overnight raid in Pakistan that killed him.

He is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, as well as a number of other deadly bombings.

He topped the US "most wanted" list.

But his details on the list have now been updated with a simple banner indicating his current status: "Deceased".

Today we are reminded that as a nation there is nothing we can't do," Obama said. He hailed the pride of those who broke out in overnight celebrations as the stunning news spread around the globe.

An elite crews of American forces killed bin Laden during a daring raid on Monday. Bin Laden was shot in the head during a firefight and then quickly buried at sea. White House officials were mulling the merits and appropriateness of releasing a photo.

Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and the most hunted man in the world, was buried a few hours after his death in the North Arabian Sea, from the American aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in what was clearly an effort to prevent his grave becoming a shrine to his followers.

DNA tests carried out after the operation indicated with "99.9%" certainty that the man shot dead was Osama Bin Laden, US officials said.

He was killed along with a son and two other men who put up resistance during the raid, ending any hope of arrest and prosecution. A woman used as a human shield protecting Bin Laden during the raid was also killed, but several other women and children survived and are in Pakistani custody, officials said.

The US has put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.

CIA director Leon Panetta said al-Qaeda would "almost certainly" try to avenge the death of Bin Laden.

Osama's luxurious villa in Pakistan's garrison town Abbottabad

BBOTTABAD, Pakistan — Frightened neighbours say they had no idea that the man living in a three-storey villa hidden behind barbed wire in a leafy, well-to-do Pakistani town was the world's most wanted extremist.

In the dead of night, residents of the middle-class area, home to retired army officers and businessmen, woke to a helicopter gunfight, which filled them with dread.

Described by US officials as "extraordinarily unique" the compound housing the terrorist leader was more like a fortress than a residential dwelling.

Surrounded by 18ft walls topped by barbed wire, the only access was through two security gates.

I did not have the slightest idea what was going on," said local resident Waseem. "It is a very quiet neighbourhood, the most peaceful area."

Ejaz Mahmood, a tailor, said he heard a blast in the early hours of Monday and "saw a fireball coming down from the air".

Residents were stunned when they switched on their television sets after daybreak to hear US President Barack Obama announce that bin Laden had been killed in their home town.

One of Bin Laden's neighbours, who lived just 100 metres away from him, described how he took to his roof to witness the dramatic raid.

"The helicopter swept past my house, flying very low, coming very close. I threw myself to the ground thinking it was going to collide with my house," Zahoor Abbasi said.

There was a massive explosion: a huge flame leapt into the sky from the house, and then shortly afterwards it all appeared to be over.

Residents said the neighbourhood, about two hours' drive from the capital Islamabad, was home mostly to migrants from the Swat Valley -- previously a stronghold of Taliban militants in the northwest -- and Afghanistan.

The compound that once housed bin Laden is near potato fields and eucalyptus trees in a valley ringed by hills.

It has 12-18 foot (four-to-six metre) high walls and was closely guarded on Monday by police and soldiers, said reporters.

Despite its size, the "owner" who aided bin Laden – who was linked to the property by US intelligence agents – and his brother had "no explainable source of wealth".

The property also had no telephone or internet services associated with it.

"Intelligence analysts concluded that this compound was custom-built to hide someone of significance," said the official.

Locals said large Landcruisers and other expensive cars were seen driving into the compound, which is in a regular middle-class neighbourhood.

Salman Riaz, a film actor, said that five months ago he and a crew tried to do some filming next to the house, but were told to stop by two men who came out.

Never in our wildest thoughts did we think Osama bin Laden was staying in this house," said Aurangzeb Khan, a local driver.

He told that the owner of the house was a man named Arshad, who would buy 10 to 15 rotis (traditional flat bread) from a nearby shop for each meal.

Khan remained doubtful about the raid after the story of bin Laden's demise emerged.

"It all seems like a drama or a kind of game being played by Pakistan and the United States," he said.

Who gets bin Laden's $25 million bounty

NEW YORK-- The photograph of Osama bin Laden on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list has a new caption: Deceased.

But it was unclear Monday how much, if any, of the up to $25 million in reward money offered on the terrorist leader has been granted.

The FBI made no comment yesterday as to whether any part of the bounty would now be paid after US Navy Seals successfully targeted his compound in Pakistan.

Its Most Wanted website was updated almost immediately after President Obama’s announced bin Laden’s death.

In addition to the $25 million reward, $2 million was also offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.

His FBI Most Wanted profile page listed him as "armed and extremely dangerous.

In the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency, the FBI and other intelligence agencies have worked to locate bin Laden, who was found living in a compound outside of Islamabad.

The use of reward money has become an important asset in the government's fight against global terrorism.

Bin Laden had been on the list since June 1999 and was wanted “in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people.

The US Government is also offering a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture or conviction of bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

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