Thousands Driven From Homes by Floods, Death Toll Increases From 24
January 30, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Thousands Driven From Homes by Floods, Death Toll Increases 
From 24, Days of heavy rains in Peru brought continued landslides and flooding in the regions of Ayacucho, Cuzco and Puno, driving hundreds out of their homes.
In Ayacucho, around 100 homes were damaged when the Huantachaca River flowed over its banks and into a neighborhood. Locals crossed a precarious bridge while muddy water blasted the pillars. Roads and homes in the town of Huanta were full of water, mud and debris after the river ran into neighborhoods. I have been trying to bail the water out of my house since three in the morning. Twenty people helped me but I was not able to do it, a resident told. Families walked amongst the rubble of crumbled walls and tried to pull what belongings they could from homes. Local newspapers are reporting the wettest rainy season in 15 years. Thousands of tourists have been trapped at Machu Picchu, but other parts of the Cuzco region have also been hit hard by the rains, with some 13,000 affected by the floods and at least 24 dead. In Zurite in Cuzco, roads were washed out and farmers tried to move their animals to higher ground.
Thousands Driven From Homes by Floods, Death Toll Increases From 24 was first posted on January 30, 2010 at 4:02 pm.
Defiant Blair Defends Decisions Over Iraq War
January 30, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Defiant Blair Defends Decisions Over Iraq War, Former British prime minister Tony Blair defended the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, saying the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States meant Saddam Hussein had to be disarmed or removed.
The Al-Qaeda strikes against US cities had transformed the global security picture, raising the risk that militants could kill even more people if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from a rogue state were to fall into their hands, Blair said. Facing the first official public grilling on why he sent 45,000 British troops to war in Iraq, Blair batted away questions about the legality of the invasion but admitted for the first time there had been mistakes in the post-war planning. Blair defended the war’s legality, relying on the green light the government’s top lawyer gave only days before the conflict, and saying a second UN resolution had only been desirable from a political, not legal perspective. Blair also added that they did not anticipate al Qaeda and Iran would play the role that they did which he said almost caused the mission to fail.
Defiant Blair Defends Decisions Over Iraq War was first posted on January 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm.
