Monday, November 23, 2009 LONDON: Engineers and emergency workers checked hundreds of bridges for damage on Sunday, fearful some could collapse and isolate villages, as heavy rain lashed northwest England.In the southwest, a 46-year-old canoeist, believed to be from the Reading area died after becoming wedged under trees on the flooded River Dart near Newton Abbot in Devon on Saturday.A search was under way for a 21-year-old woman believed to have been swept into the River Usk in Brecon, mid-Wales, late on Saturday.Conditions were predicted to worsen on Sunday, with up to 50 mm (2 inches) of rain on high ground, and winds inland of up to 55 mph (90 kph)."I have spoken to people...they are running short of food, they are running short of medication. Things are getting pretty desperate," Tony Cunningham, member of parliament for Workington, told a local television channel.He said some people were having travel about 35 miles to get food and milk because of diversions.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the worst hit area, Cumbria, on Saturday to see the damage caused by record rainfall, and pledged 1 million pounds ($1.51 million) of aid.Heavy rain during the past few days has left hundreds of people sheltering in rescue centres, hotels and with family and friends, with the expectation that some will not be able to move back into their homes for up to six months.Water levels were receding on Sunday, but one bridge in particular, Calva Bridge in Workington, Cumbria, was described as extremely unstable and "could potentially collapse at any time".Five bridges have already collapsed in the area, including one in Workington which resulted in the death of Police Constable Bill Barker.He was directing motorists off the bridge when it collapsed, sweeping him down river.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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