Right or wrong? Facebook monitors chat conversations and informs the police of anything suspicious - but the privacy breach does catch paedophiles

By Eddie Wrenn
On March 9 of this year, a piece of Facebook software spotted something suspicious.
A man in his early thirties was chatting about sex with a 13-year-old South Florida girl and planned to meet her after middle-school classes the next day.
Facebook's extensive but little-discussed technology for scanning postings and chats for criminal activity automatically flagged the conversation for employees, who read it and quickly called police.
Officers took control of the teenager's computer and arrested the man the next day, said Special Agent Supervisor Jeffrey Duncan of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The alleged predator has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of soliciting a minor.

For better or for worse: Facebook monitors chat logs and certain phrases are flagged up for attention

Duncan, one of a half-dozen law enforcement officials interviewed who praised Facebook for triggering inquiries, said: 'The manner and speed with which they contacted us gave us the ability to respond as soon as possible.'

But the measures - while proving of utmost importance in a situation like this - does raise big privacy concerns in the debate about how much of our data we should entrust in these big companies.
Facebook is among the many companies that are embracing a combination of new technologies and human monitoring to thwart sex predators. Such efforts generally start with automated screening for inappropriate language and exchanges of personal information, and extend to using the records of convicted pedophiles' online chats to teach the software what to seek out.
Facebook's software likewise depends on relationship analysis and archives of real chats that preceded sex assaults, Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan told Reuters in the company's most expansive comments on the subject to date.

Privacy line: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, pictured in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week

Like most of its peers, Facebook generally avoids discussing its safety practices to discourage scare stories, because it doesn't catch many wrongdoers, and to sidestep privacy concerns. Users could be unnerved about the extent to which their conversations are reviewed, at least by computer programs.
In part because of its massive size, Facebook relies more than some rivals on such technology.
'We've never wanted to set up an environment where we have employees looking at private communications, so it's really important that we use technology that has a very low false-positive rate,' he said. In addition, Facebook doesn't probe deeply into what it thinks are pre-existing relationships.

A low rate of false positives, though, also means that many dangerous communications go undetected.

Some adults have used Facebook to target dozens of minors before assaulting one or more and then being identified by their victims or the victims' parents, court records show.
'I feel for every one we arrest, ten others get through the system,' Florida's Duncan said of tips from Facebook and other companies.
Another pillar in Facebook's strategy is to limit how those under 18 can interact on the site and to make it harder for adults to find them. Minors don't show up in public searches, only friends of friends can send them Facebook messages, and only friends can chat with them.
The gaping hole in the defense of Facebook and many other sites popular with teens is that minors can easily make up a birth date and pretend to be adults - and adults can pretend to be minors.

'There are companies out there that are doing a very good job ... [and] ...There are companies out there that are more concerned about profitability.'

- Brooke Donahue, FBI special agent

Technology is available for verifying the ages of Web and app users. One of the providers is Aristotle International Inc, which offers a variety of methods, including having a parent vouch for a child and make a token payment with a credit card to establish the parent's identity.
Yet even though defensive techniques are now available and effective they can be expensive. They can also alienate some of a site's target audience - especially teen users who expect more freedom of expression.
While many top sites catering to young children are quite vigilant, the same can't be said for the burgeoning array of online options for the 13- to 18-year-old set.
'There are companies out there that are doing a very good job, working within the confines of what they have available,' said Brooke Donahue, a supervisory special agent with an FBI team devoted to Internet predators and child pornography. 'There are companies out there that are more concerned about profitability.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2173081/Right-wrong-Facebook-monitors-chat-conversations-informs-police-suspicious--privacy-breach-does-catch-paedophiles.html#ixzz20qYbGrOc

Spectacular black and white pictures show the best views of Saturn's rings ever captured

By Daily Mail Reporter
These stunning black and white photographs look like the result of a particularly creative art project.
But in fact they are part of a scientific mission - and they were captured not by an artist, but by a satellite orbiting the planet Saturn.
The beautiful images taken by the Cassini probe show parts of the rings which encircle the solar system's second largest planet.

Stunning: These beautiful pictures of Saturn's rings were taken by a space probe orbiting the second largest planet in the solar system

Satellites: As well as rings, the Cassini spacecraft has taken amazing pictures of Saturn's moons

Artistic: But the beautiful images were actually created in the name of science

As well as providing a visual treat for the earthbound unable to get up close and personal with the rings, they are providing a valuable service to scientists, according to Space.com.
Although the rings appear to be static and fixed, they are in fact constantly moving and fluctuating in ways which have puzzled astronomers and can now be studied more closely.
In addition, it is now known that the rings contain 'propeller shapes' caused by small moonlets passing through, another phenomenon being brought to light by Cassini.

Harmonious: But although Saturn may look peaceful, its rings are in fact constantly fluctuating

Angles: The new images were made possible by Cassini changing its orbit for the first time in two years

Useful: Scientists are using the images to analyse mysterious propeller shapes which frequently appear within the rings

The probe was first launched in 1997, and has been orbiting Saturn since 2006.
It has recently changed the path of its orbit, which is why it is transmitting clear images of the planet's rings for the first time in two years.
'We're entering a new episode in Cassini's exploratory voyage through the Saturn system, said Carolyn Porco from the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
'These new ring results are an early harbinger of great things to come.'

Great view: But we on earth can also see Saturn on a clear night, as the planet is shining very brightly at the moment

Dark: But the images are shedding new light on the iconic rings which surround Saturn

Those of us stuck here on earth can also get a chance to observe Saturn - even if our view is somewhat less spectacular.
The planet is shining very brightly at the moment and can be seen with the naked eye on a clear night.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2173783/Spectacular-black-white-pictures-best-views-Saturns-rings-captured-space-probe.html#ixzz20qY2l62T

New Bodies For Old - Part 1

New Bodies for Old!

by Lambert Dolphin

---

In spite of vigorous medical research, better drugs, superior treatment protocols, the mortality rate for the human race remains a flat 100%. In under developed countries disease and poor diets sometimes mean the life expectancy was only 35 or 40--or less.

Solomon tells us our appointed time is 70 or sometimes 80 years

"The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away....So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:10, 12)

Death as it is described in the Bible does not mean we cease to exist, nor does it imply cessation of consciousness. Furthermore the Hindu idea of reincarnation is refuted by the Bible (see Hebrews 9:27).God alone has real life--all life comes from Him. Jesus is called "the Author Life" in Acts 3:15. In simple terms those persons who have a live connection with Jesus possess self-renewing eternal life--here and now.

Job's Hope

This is not a detailed discussion on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and details of what the Bible says about future resurrections of both believers and non-believers. In this brief study we want to focus especially on what we can infer about the nature and characteristics of the Christian's resurrection body.

Biblical revelation is progressive in time. Old Testament revelation about life after death is vague and obscure. Sheol is "the grave" but few details are given, it seems to be a place of gloom and mystery. God's purposes for Israel are national. Obedience to God would bring secure land, crops and cattle, prosperity, deliverance from enemies, good health and family happiness. A glorious future for the nation is described, but little is said about what happens to an individual when he or she dies. Hannah understood God was responsible for life and death, and He has the power to impart life, " The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up." (I Samuel 2:6)

In the midst of his trials, suffering, and bad advice from his friends Job indicated he had a personal hope of resurrection, "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:23-27). (For a study of Job see Beyond Suffering - Expository Studies in Job, by Ray. C. Stedman).

The historic choice made by our first parents, Adam and Eve, cut the race off from a relationship with God--we are all born mortal--it is in our very genes. (See Arthur C. Custance, "The Seed of the Woman.")

The Man who is Now in Heaven

From the pen of A. W. Tozer, Pastor at Moody Bible Church in Chicago, about 50 years ago: The teaching of the New Testament is that now, at this very moment, there is a Man in heaven appearing in the presence of God for us. He is as certainly a man as was Adam or Moses or Paul; he is a man glorified, but his glorification did not de-humanize him. Today he is a real man, of the race of mankind, bearing our lineaments and dimensions, a visible and audible man, whom any other man would recognize instantly as one of us. But more than this, he is the heir of all things, Lord of all lords, head of the church, firstborn of the new creation. He is the way to God, the life of the believer, the hope of Israel, and the high priest of every true worshiper. He holds the keys of death and hell, and stands as advocate and surety for everyone who believes on him in truth. Salvation comes not by accepting the finished work, or deciding for Christ; it comes by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole, living, victorious Lord who, as God and man, fought our fight and won it, accepted our debt as his own and paid it, took our sins and died under them, and rose again to set us free. This is the true Christ; nothing less will do.

The Bible often talks about the multitudes who do not as yet know God--people who have not been reconnected to the Source of Life. These are already "dead." It is by believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord that spiritual rebirth occurs. Ephesians 2 describes this process:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Quite a number of supernatural events take place when a man or woman, boy or girl, opens his or her heart to Jesus the Lord. The dormant spirit of that person, out of touch with God until now, is now connected to the Holy Spirit of God. The individual is then the immediate possessor of eternal life and can never die.

"He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may [continue to] believe in the name of the Son of God." (I John 5:10-13)

The new believer in Jesus is taken by God out of from under the evil government of this present world system and placed under the direct government of Christ, while still remaining in the world,.

God..."has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us [translated us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:12-14)

God also blots out all our sins, cut us off inside from the fallen life of Adam by circumcision of the heart. We are immersed by the Holy Spirit (baptized) into Christ so that we are once for all identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, (see Romans 6:3-9)

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:12-14)

We are already made into totally new persons (2 Cor. 5:17). For the rest of our lives on this present earth we will experience the realization of this newness of life. Our bodies and spirits are made new and our physical bodies, though not yet redeemed, experience resurrection life and renewing from God.

And if Christ is in you, although your body is still dead because of sin, the spirit in you is alive because of [Christ's] righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to quicken [revitalize] your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.(Romans 8:10-11)

The beginning of the process, our being "born again," or "born from above" as described in John Chapter 3 sets in motion all that follows, and is called "regeneration."

"For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3)

The rebirth experience also causes us to be born into God's family and also we are adopted so that our membership in the household of faith is dual. We are adopted into the family as adult sons. My friend Glenn Miller of the Christian Think Tank notes that God's mercy goes into a prison and unchains guilt prisoners under sentence of death for their sins. The prisoners are taken out of jail and set free in front of the detention facility. Then, God's grace sends a limousine to the curb, picks up the released sinner. He is now a royal son adopted into the household of the king as an immediate heir of the king's estate!

Violent storm turns night into day over Washington- residents claim the ‘most intense’ lightning storm ever seen

 

Video of the storm below.

Posted by The Extinction Protocol

Cisco Wilkinson of west Pasco took this photo at 4 a.m. Saturday. “It was so bright, I was temporarily blinded,” Wilkinson said. “It looks like it’s daytime.”

July 15, 2012 – WASHINGTON – There were a lot of tired people in the Tri-Cities on Saturday after an early morning electrical storm rattled homes and flashed bright lights through windows. The system that led to a severe thunderstorm warning from the National Weather Service also cooled down the Mid-Columbia after a string of 100-plus degree days. The light show and downpour didn’t appear to cause any significant damage, with police and fire officials surprised at how few calls were received. However, it might not be over, with the forecast calling for a slight chance of thunderstorms through the rest of the week as the temperatures heat up again. Those storms continue to bring the threat of lightning sparking wildfires. The thunder and lightning that moved through the area earlier Saturday seemed anything but normal to the dozens of residents who took to social media to describe the experience. Some referred to it on the Tri-City Herald’s Facebook page as “the best storm ever” or the “most intense” they’ve experienced in the Northwest. People awakened by the loud booms reported staying up through the early morning hours because they were fascinated by Mother Nature’s spectacular display, or simply realized that attempts at sleep were futile. A severe weather alert issued at 2:37 a.m. said two storms were located six miles southwest of Kennewick and moving north at 30 mph. Within minutes, the storms moved over the Tri-Cities and seemed to hunker down for almost three hours, with cloud-to-cloud lightning that often was so bright it appeared to be daytime. The National Weather Service’s warning described it as “a dangerous storm,” and told residents to prepare for damaging winds, destructive hail and deadly lightning that could strike the ground. People were instructed to seek shelter inside a strong building, but away from windows. The weather service took two calls from the public reporting hail the size of a quarter in Kennewick. Public reports of wind speeds in Kennewick ranged from gusts of 35 to 40 mph to gusts up to 60 mph that drove the rain and hail sideways. “I’m sure it’s been a blast for people to watch the lightning,” Brooks said. The weather service had been expecting the storms to form for a couple of days because of instability with a low-pressure system and warm temperatures, Brooks said. –News Tribune

Freak wave of tornadoes carve trail of destruction through northern Poland, leaving 1 dead

Pretty amazing video of the tornado below...

Posted by The Extinction Protocol

July 15, 2012 – POLAND - A freak wave of tornadoes ripped through northern Poland on Sunday, wrecking houses and swathes of forest and leaving one person dead and another 10 injured. Tornadoes are not unknown in the European Union’s largest eastern country but the scope and power of Sunday’s twisters was unusual and comes in a summer already marked by flash floods, hailstorms and gales. Some 1,200 rescuers were working to remove fallen trees, unblock roads and restore utilities in the hardest hit Baltic region of Pomerania. Trees were uprooted, buildings damaged and power lines downed, while some 550 hectares of woodlands in the Tuchola Forest area were flattened. “I saw a black column coming our way,” an injured inhabitant of the Wycinki village, whose farm was destroyed by the tornado told state television. “It carried everything away with it … birds, debris, sucked up water from the lake.” A caravan with a family of three inside was seen flying through the air in the village of Stara Rzeka and breaking into pieces upon landing, but its occupants suffered no serious injuries, news channel TVN24 reported. “The sole fatality was a 60-year-old man in the Pomeranian village of Wycinki who was crushed to death by his collapsing summer cottage,” fire brigade spokesman Pawel Fratczak told Reuters by telephone. The tornadoes were the latest outburst of violent weather that has battered Poland since the start of the month with hailstorms, gales, cloudbursts and flash floods. TVN24 reported meteorologists categorizing the twister as a class two tornado with wind velocity of up to 200 km/h. –Reuters

 

Meet the Ruling Faces of Evil - Part 2

More of the fantastic photo compilations of zengardner.  See the whole bunch at http://www.zengardner.com/meet-the-ruling-faces-of-evil/                                                                               

Ouch…that hurts the eyes…

“And if that light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness.” Wow. Hillary is something else.

“How YOU doin?” Mafia boys: Robert DeNiro type Egyptian puppet Mubarak, and the Masonic ‘pretend bad guy’ Putin–all in the game. (posted before Egyptian takedown)

I know. Icy, like the country. Remind you of a wolf?

Putin rival and Rothschild agent, notorious Russian oligarch Boris Berezovski. Pleasant fellow.

Vladimir Lenin looms large. Ruthless comes to mind. You’d hide your children if you saw this guy on the street. In retrospect, an obvious demon. Then, just another “charismatic leader”.

Zionist manipulating media mogul Rupert Murdock. A face you can trust.

(Using an open hand, cover his mouth and above, leaving only his chin frown….see the alien?…….freaky!)

More media mogul madness. “Mouth from the South” eugenicist Ted Turner implodes. Lovely people, I know.

Another mind-controlling media behemoth, Viacom, also sports a friendly face for its head, Sumner Redstone. Lizards unite!

Now we’re getting honest…this could apply to several mugs you’ll see here. Kaa-reepy. Entities with no empathy, just a lust for power and control and the execution of the plan that benefits them and theirs, whatever the cost to anyone else. “It’s just business.”

Victor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary. Keep an eye on him. “A man of fierce countenance” for sure. Scary.

That shot could be a Big Brother billboard very easily. Amazing.

Speaking of which: Orwell’s famous predictive programming image

You could replace that image with most national leaders today. Orwell was “on the take” and prepping us for today, btw, like Aldous Huxley. Read their books again and see if your skin doesn’t crawl.

This one’s clinical. Young psychopath in waiting. Very troubling, and revealing.

Seems Tony hadn’t quite perfected his lying smile yet, like here:

Mr. Teethy Smiles (don’t forget the eyes) – Sun symbolism and all to go along with his switch to Catholicism. Strange, occultic badass in a shiny suit. How they LOVE bold disguises!

Life imitates art—-or which way is it again? Whatta smile!

David Rockefeller just plain can’t smile. What lurks in there….whew. Another Batman character pales in comparison.

Don’t worry, he’ll pay. They all will…and so will we. Sow love and truth, it comes back quick!

Earlier Rockefeller powerbroker/bankster/Illuminist. Nelson in offical White House photo. Evil’s not a happy place.

Strange memorial: Think Time Magazine (founded by Bonesman “Baal” Henry Luce) had an “inside” message? Very creepy death mask with very “pronounced” shnoz message to the “brethren”? How they honor their own.

Speaking of Bonesmen, here’s “Temporary”…..son of “Magog” his father…(I kid you not)…with fellow bonesman John Kerry..and we weren’t supposed to question this?

How they love to be cloaked in the flag. The smirk of assured confidence…so they think….

A couple of evil crows for the ages. Never mind Skull and Bones ‘Magog’ George, even the neocons fear Barbara, alleged daughter of Aleister ‘Crow’ley.

“Dad, is that you?”. Mr. Evil Eye himself, Aleister “The Beast” Crowley.

Barb’s frisky unwed mother, Pauline Pierce, did hang with him and the OTO gang, for real.

Wondering yet? (Go here)

Nice face. Freemasonic master magus of the 33rd Degree, General Albert Pike, sporting Baphomet symbol.

You’ll find a statue ‘honoring’ him in Washington DC. After all, our government was founded on and is laced with Freemasonry.

Speaking of Freemasons, here’s neocon John Bolton giving a sign.

Take a good look. This former UN Ambassador is gonna have war with Iran if he has to do it himself.

And he wants to be Prez. Wound’t that be ducky.

Now a trip back in time again…

Léon Trotsky and Jacob Schiff: communist birds of a feather and Rothschild agents……and….

Meet the (agent) father of the parasitic Federal Reserve–Paul Warburg. Nice to know the forefathers of our slavery.

And another old cronie from hell, below….

Pol Pot, mass murderer of millions in Cambodia. Cooly evil. There is no empathy with these entities. They are not one of us. Do not expect any form of guilt, remorse or ability to reason.

As for modern mass murdering, now sanitized by fake ‘science’…

A world that exalts evil. Wicked Monsanto corporation’s CEO Hugh Grant being lauded for their genetically modified Seeds of Deception and attempt to take over the world’s food supply. Backwards world. Corporate evils on the rise.

Robber Bankster Richard S. Fuld lying before congress about his 500 million dollar takaway from Lehman Bros before it went under. A pure breed of greed rules Wall Street. Everyone knows it, but….

Speaking of mind control…..all that crazed ambition takes its toll–or more than meets the eye?

…”buzz–click–whirrrr–rebooting…please wait..instructions forthcoming..”

Mysterious blood rain falls again from skies over Kerala, India

Civilization Unraveling - Belfast and Israel Erupt in Violence and Rioting

Civilization unravel: Belfast explodes in new wave of rioting and violence – history repeat?

Posted by The Extinction Protocol

July 14, 2012 – IRELAND – A night of serious rioting after rival Protestant and Catholic parades were allowed to go ahead within hours of each other in the nationalist Ardoyne district of north Belfast has left 20 police officers injured. The chairman of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission has defended the decision to allow to parades to take place. The Commission was established to adjudicate on contentious marches, and even though there has been major trouble at this particular Catholic/Protestant flashpoint every year for over a decade, the chairman Peter Osborne said given the circumstances, the rulings were correct. Mr. Osborne told BBC Radio Ulster: “It is complete and utter nonsense to blame the Parades Commission for the violence last night. There has been violence in this location for many, many years now.” He added: “It is time for politicians to take ownership of contentious parades… that’s the way forward.” In Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second largest city, petrol bombs were thrown in the nationalist Bogside but no injuries reported. One car has been set alight after a petrol bomb was thrown at it in the Fahan Street area. Petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at police by nationalists and loyalists in Ardoyne. The officers’ injuries are not believed to be serious. Police responded by using water cannons to contain the crowds. Six non-lethal baton rounds have been fired by the security forces. There have been two arrests, although police expect more to follow. –Belfast Telegraph

 

Civil unrest in Israel: Shocking event during social protest in Tel Aviv: A Haifa resident in his 40s set himself on fire on Saturday during a march for social justice on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street and was rushed to the Sourasky Medical Center suffering from third degree burns on 80% of his body. He was later transferred to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. Doctors in Sourasky said there is no danger to his life but that he is in serious condition. Earlier on Saturday, some 10,000 protesters marched from Habima Square towards the government compound on Kaplan Street to mark one year since the first tent was erected in Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard. “Today we are marking a one year anniversary to the civil awakening, to our taking of the streets and the profound understanding that we have stood by too long while our future was being sold away,” protest leader Daphni Leef said. Meanwhile, dozens marched along Tel Aviv’s promenade as part of a separate protest. The demonstrators are carrying signs which read “The answer for rent – revolution” and chanting “The people demand social justice.” Thousands marched in Jerusalem and dozens gathered in Haifa and Afula. –Ynet

Torrential rains kill 20 and displace 3 million in China

 

Posted by The Extinction Protocol

July 14, 2012 – CHINA – Heavy storms battered many parts of China over the last two days, killing 20 people and affecting more than 3 million others, officials have said. The storms swept across 15 counties and cities, causing floods and landslides. In eastern province of Shandong, four people have died, and more than 100,000 forced to evacuate from low lying areas, Xinhua reported. More than 3 million people have been affected in the province. Floods have inundated crops, damaged houses and killed livestock. The disaster has caused an economic loss of more than 1.5 billion yuan (around USD 240 million). Eight people were killed on Friday after rainstorms triggered landslides in the city of Liupanshui in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, the city government said. –Indian Express, Novosti