Over 400 Killed in Tropical Storm

There are over 430 people dead and many more left missing after Tropical Storm Washi hit the southern Philippines.

Continuous, torrential rain led to flash floods and burst river banks, which swept people into the sea whilst many were sleeping. Illigan and Cagayan de Oro were the two cities on the northern coast of Mindanao that were hit by this storm, which has left many homeless and searching for family members.
Reports from the Philippine National Red Cross Secretary say that 215 people were brought to funeral parlours in Cagayan de Oro, and 144 in Illigan.
Floods swamped a quarter of Illigan and at least 10 villages on its outskirts, causing disaster for all who live there.
There is also thought to be massive damage to Mindanao's agricultural sector.

The Philippines are struck by around 20 storms a year, but many take a more northerly path, avoiding the area recently hit. As a result Benito Ramos (Head of the National Disaster Rescue Agency) has suggested that the toll may have been so high because Mindanao residents are unaccustomed to catching the full force of these types of storms.

Tropical Storm Washi follows two Typhoons that hit in September, killing around 100 people in Luzon. It is also claimed to be worse than Tropical Storm Ketsana that hit Manila in 2009 killing just over 400 people.

Riots: Not Root of All Problems

The 'riots' earlier this year have cost our country in excess of £100 million and all the media coverage is focusing on how they are ruining the economy. This is not surprising as the majority of looters did in fact turn out to be working class youths, and within this mainly men; this conveniently provided the police and the government with a perfect opportunity to shift attention to those seen in our society as `typical delinquents`.
However, the same media coverage was not received for the bankers in the UK who from 2008 to this date have managed to rack up a debt of around £940 billion (as of July 2011). Surely this is what is really ruining our economy?
These high-flying workers have broken down our country and continue to cause trouble, leaving the general public to pay for all their mistakes.
The recession was all over the news in 2008, but now is rarely mentioned on television as all attention is shifted to events such as looting which is now used to blame for the state of the economy. The recession is still a big problem that the UK is dealing with and although we were all told that we were out of the recession, this does not mean we do not have to worry.
The country is still in great debt and things are not looking promising for the future, especially when the establishment is hiding the truth from everyone.
The public need to know that the riots are not the cause of all the UK's economy problems!

Panic On The Streets Of London

The London riots have been getting progressively worse over the last 3 nights, with the worst of the trouble resulting in over 1,700 reported fires around the city. One of the most reported last night was Reeve’s furniture store in Croydon, which is a local family business that has been open for over 100 years. It seems as though Croydon fell victim to arsonists more than looters, as Reeve’s was full of 3 piece suites and other furniture that no looter would be carrying home!

The motive behind these ‘riots’ is now becoming a distant memory as they are no longer fighting for a cause, but simply carrying out acts of thuggery and arson. Many of the offenders are youths from deprived backgrounds simply gaining material goods, with no apparent awareness of the controversy around the death of Mark Duggan, which of course, is what sparked the riots in Tottenham 3 days ago.

As well as Croydon; Hackney, Clapham Junction, Ealing, Camden, and Enfield were all targeted with criminal reports echoing one another. All crimes committed are similar, with the most popular shops to be looted being electronic stores, shoe shops and off licenses, reflecting the shallow, materialistic intent of the looters. The biggest damage to come from last night is sure to be the Sony electronics warehouse in Enfield, which was looted by around 20 youths on bikes. It is reported that on their way out they decided to set it on fire, seeing as it was of no further use to them. The blaze is still being fought this morning as the extent of this fire is revealed. Fire fighters have been working over night to control and put out this fire and has certainly been proven to be the largest over the night.

The damage to small businesses and big chains, which have been targeted over the last 3 nights is unimaginable. Some shops are able to get away with only the need for a replacement of glass to their shop fronts, while others such as many branches of Curry’s, have been completely emptied with large numbers of stock being taken

To add to the injury, the uproar has spread to other places around the UK with reports in Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol. This must be sounding rather familiar to those who remember the riots in 1981, which started with the Brixton Riots dubbed ‘bloody Saturday’ which was fuelled by a similar incident. It was believed that amongst controversy in Brixton, a young teen, Michael Bailey had a stab wound and was left to die by police officers who were surrounding the area. This was later proved not to be the case but this apparent neglect from the police sparked the riots that followed. These resulted in over 100 vehicles being burnt (56 being police vehicles) and almost 150 damaged buildings (30 of which being burnt). It was suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved with 82 arrests that night. Following this came the Toxteth riots (in Liverpool), which again caused damage with looting and cars being set on fire. As well as this were the Handsworth Riots (Birmingham) which were again as a result of the Brixton riots and linked all three. This was not as severe as the other two but all three had repercussions in 1985 and 1991, which were more severe and consisted of looting, arson and unlawfulness.

These riots led to the Government drawing attention to the young people and The Youth Training Schemes were brought in. With regards to the police policy in England, their Public Order Manual was produced as a response and was subsequently used in training for police forces.

However, this sheds no light on what will happen in the current riots as no one is coming forward with plans of action. David Cameron has come out today saying that there will be 16,000 police officers on the streets tonight but nothing has been discussed, or at least mentioned to the public, about how they will approach the rioters. It seems safe to say that the tactics used up until now with lines of riot police being formed did not prove much help as the rioters were still left to cause as much damage as they wanted.

Capello, Still England Manager

Today the FA have confirmed that Fabio Capello is to remain the manager of the England football team.
There seems to be quite a discussion on whether Capello is the right man, but instead of debating his technique or success with leading the England team, these talks are about his nationality.
Some are saying that England should have an English manager, but is that really the problem?
We did win the World Cup with an English manger all those years ago, but we have had many since who have done no better than the non-English managers we have also had leading the team.
With Capello quoted saying "I am more determined than ever to succeed with the England team", I think we should focus more on how Capello deals with future competitions, and see whether he is capable of actually leading England to success. The recent World Cup leads me to believe that we don't stand much of a chance in future competitions unless something drastically changes. Capello has a great track record, we need to see this reflected in the England team's performances. He has now been given another chance to prove himself, and if he does, no one will be complaining that he is not English; so why complain about it now?

photo: getty images