Record Number Evacuated in Malaysia’s Worst Floods

(Reuters) – More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes by authorities in five northern states of Malaysia hit by the Southeast Asian’ nation’s worst monsoon floods in decades.

Extremely high levels of floodwater and bad weather have made relocating victims and the transport of food supplies by helicopters difficult, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.

A total of 103,412 people have been displaced in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis, state news agency Bernama said, surpassing the previous record of 100,000 people evacuated during floods in 2008.

Northeastern peninsular Malaysia, which is worst affected, is regularly hit by flooding during the annual Northeast Monsoon, but this year’s rains have been particularly bad.

On Tuesday, nearly 60 foreign tourists were among almost 100 people rescued by boat and helicopter from a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its highest rainfall since 1971.

The flooding comes as communities in northwestern Malaysia mark the 10^thanniversary of the devastating tsunami that hit on Dec. 26, 2004.

Documentary: Japan – Aftermath of a disaster (Video)

Source: Al Jazeera

 Japan had been waiting decades for “the big one” to hit, an earthquake powerful enough to devastate the country.

Emergency services and the public were drilled in how to respond when the earth moved; thousands of kilometers of sea walls were built to protect the coast from tsunamis, the deadly after-effects of quakes out at sea.

But when the earthquake came on March 11, few would have predicted the devastation it caused.

The magnitude 9.0 quake, unleashed a tsunami so powerful, it tore through Japan’s defenses as though they were not there. The surge turned towns and cities into matchwood, killed thousands of people and caused a still-to-be resolved nuclear crisis.

Among the communities hit was the small port city of Miyako. In the days after the disaster its surviving citizens somehow had to carry on with their lives. This is their story.
Watch more documentaries…

Mini-Documentary: A Tsunami Of Debt Threatens Democracy (Video)

 Remember the financial crisis of 2008? Are we sleepwalking towards another financial meltdown? While the super-rich are thriving, ordinary households are taking on mountains of debt. Governments may have spent billions on bailout packages and in the absence of a fairer economic system, a debt-fueled bubble may burst with catastrophic results.

Indonesian family finds daughter swept away in 2004 tsunami

Indonesian girl lost in 2004 tsunami reunites with family

By: Kate Hodal

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/

An Indonesian family claims to have found their missing daughter a full decade after she was swept away as a toddler by the 2004 tsunami and presumed dead.

“It’s a miracle from God,” mother Jamaliah, 42, told the Jakarta Globe. “When I saw her, my heart was beating really fast … We couldn’t hold back our tears.”

White House says US can’t stop ‘tsunami’ of boycott and isolation if Israel won’t end ‘occupations’

By: Philip Weiss

Source: http://mondoweiss.net/

The press is expressing marvel/shock at a speech by Philip Gordon, a White House adviser, saying that Israel’s ongoing “occupations” and settlements are driving its international isolation and the boycott movement.

“Philip Gordon blasted Israel,” says PowerLine.  “[H]is oration read as though Gordon is a recent arrival from Planet Zog who has mistaken the Middle East for Finland,” says David Horovitz. His paper captures the story:

“Top Obama official blasts Israel for denying Palestinians sovereignty, security, dignity.

“‘How can Israel have peace if it’s unwilling to delineate a border, end the occupation?’ asks White House Mideast chief, Phillip Gordon, in blistering Tel Aviv speech”

Tsunami mosques Miracle of Allah (Video)