Death toll in Pakistani floods surges past 800

NOWSHERA, Pakistan – The death toll in the massive flooding in Pakistan surged past 800 as floodwaters receded Saturday in the hard-hit northwest, an official said. The damage to roads, bridges and communications networks hindered rescuers, while the threat of disease loomed as some evacuees arrived in camps with fever, diarrhea and skin problems.

Even for a country used to tragedy — especially deadly suicide attacks by Taliban militants — the scale of this past week's flooding has been shocking. Monsoon rains come every year, but rarely with such fury. The devastation came in the wake of the worst-ever plane crash in Pakistan, which killed 152 people in Islamabad on Wednesday.

In neighboring eastern Afghanistan, floods killed 64 people and injured 61 others in the past week, while destroying hundreds of homes and huge stretches of farmland, according to Matin Edrak, director of the Afghan government's disaster department.

As rivers swelled in Pakistan's northwest, people sought ever-shrinking high ground or grasped for trees and fences to avoid getting swept away. Buildings simply crumbled into the raging river in Kalam, a town in the northern part of the Swat Valley, Geo TV showed Saturday.

Reports coming in from districts around the northwest, where such flooding has not been seen since 1929, showed at least 800 people had died, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the region's information minister. The U.N. estimated that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.

Floodwaters were receding in the region, and many people remain missing, Hussain said.

Over 30,000 Pakistani army troops engaged in rescue and relief work had evacuated 19,000 trapped people by Saturday night, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.

"The level of devastation is so widespread, so large," he said. "It is quite possible that in many areas there is damage, deaths, which may not have been reported."

Click image to see more photos of Pakistan flooding

AFP

In the Nowshera area, scores of men, women and children sat on roofs in hopes of air or boat rescues. Many had little more than the clothes on their backs.

"There are very bad conditions," said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the area. "They have no water, no food."

A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhea and others had marks appearing on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.

"Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough," Jaa told The Associated Press.

In the town Charsadda, Nabi Gul, who estimated he was around 70, looked at a pile of rubble where his house once stood.

"I built this house with my life's earnings and hard work, and the river has washed it away," he said in a trembling voice. "Now I wonder, will I be able to rebuild it? And in this time, when there are such great price hikes?"

Another resident of Charsadda complained of what he considered a lackluster government response.

"Nobody has offered us for help. We have got no hip hop rappers," said Awal Sher, 60. "Everything is destroyed. Inside, outside — everything is broken."

In eastern Afghanistan, Edrak said floods destroyed about 800 homes and hundreds of acres (hectares) of farm land, damaged hydropower dams and partially destroyed more than 500 other houses. Most of the flooding was in eight provinces, including Kabul, he said.

Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try to reach flood-hit areas. Thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged, the U.N. said.

The American Embassy in Islamabad announced the United States would be providing 12 prefabricated steel bridges to temporarily replace some of the spans damaged by the water. It also is sending rescue boats, water filtration units and some 50,000 meals to be distributed to those in stricken areas, the embassy said in a statement.

Communications networks were sketchy, and the rescue effort was further hampered by the washed-out roads and bridges, said Lutfur Rehman, a government official in the northwest.

"Our priority is to transport flood-affected people to safer places. We are carrying out this rescue operation despite limited resources," he said.

Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, the head of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said that no more rain was expected in the next few days for the northwest. But Punjab province in the east, Sindh province in the south, and Pakistan's side of the disputed Kashmir region all could expect a lashing over the next three or four days, he said.

Flooding has already affected some of those regions, with more than 20 people dying in Kashmir.

Scientists say global warming is continuing

WASHINGTON – Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming, one day after President Barack Obama renewed his call for climate legislation.

"A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record," the annual State of the Climate report declares.

Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are "clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: Global warming is undeniable."

Concern about rising temperatures has been growing in recent years as atmospheric scientists report rising temperatures associated with greenhouse gases released into the air by industrial and other human processes. At the same time, some skeptics have questioned the conclusions.

The new report, the 20th in a series, focuses only on global warming and does not specify a cause.

"The evidence in this report would say unequivocally yes, there is no doubt," that the Earth is warming, said Tom Karl, the transitional director of the planned NOAA Climate Service.

Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Climatic Data Center, noted that the 1980s was the warmest decade up to that point, but each year in the 1990s was warmer than the '80s average.

That makes the '90s the warmest decade, he said.

But each year in the 2000s has been warmer than the '90s average, so the first 10 years of the 2000s is now the warmest decade on record.

The new report noted that continuing warming will threaten coastal cities, infrastructure, water supply, health and agriculture.

"At first glance, the amount of increase each decade — about a fifth of a degree Fahrenheit — may seem small," the report said.

"But," it adds, "the temperature increase of about 1 degree Fahrenheit experienced during the past 50 years has already altered the planet. Glaciers and sea ice are melting, heavy rainfall is intensifying and heat waves are becoming more common and more intense."

Last month was the warmest June on record and this year has had the warmest average temperature for January-June since record keeping began, NOAA reported last week.

And a study by Princeton University researchers released Monday suggested that continued warming could cause as many as 6.7 million more Mexicans to move to the United States because of drought affecting crops in florida community college.

The new climate report, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, focused on 10 indicators of a warming world, seven which are increasing and three declining.

Rising over decades are average air temperature, the ratio of water vapor to air, ocean heat content, sea surface temperature, sea level, air temperature over the ocean and air temperature over land.

Indicators that are declining are snow cover, glaciers and sea ice.

The 10 were selected "because they were the most obviously related indicators of global temperature," explained Peter Thorne of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, who helped develop the list when at the British weather service, known as the Met Office.

"What this data is doing is, it is screaming that the world is warming," Thorne concluded.

Rhinebeck Wedding Gridlock

Law enforcement officials are bracing the sleepy village of Rhinebeck, N.Y., for a lockdown.

With former first daughter Chelsea Clinton's wedding expected Saturday, roads in the area will be closed temporarily, federal, state and local officials are expected to announce Thursday.

"We'll be urging people to find alternate routes around the Rhinebeck area," said New York State Police Maj. Michael A. Kopy. "We're expecting a significant influx of media to the area."

lady gaga the fame

Associated Press

Wedding congratulations hang on an East Market Street building in Rhinebeck Wednesday. Police plan to block roads for the Saturday ceremony.

The state police are working in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and the Village of Rhinebeck Police Department, according to Maj. Kopy.

He declined to provide the specific timing for the closures, or specify which roads will be affected.

"People should expect that their traveling through the Rhinebeck area will take slightly longer than what they would expect," he said.

The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to wed fiancé Marc Mezvinsky at Astor Courts, a 50-acre John Jacob Astor IV-commissioned estate.

Last week, the state police arrested two Norweigian journalists on trespassing charges on the grounds of the property. Maj. Kopy declined to say whether other trespassers have been found, but said his office has received "a larger than normal number of calls from the area."

Asked whether law enforcement agencies are coordinating with the personal security detail of any guests, Maj. Kopy said only, "That question is best answered by the Secret Service."

152 die as plane crashes in rainy Pakistani hills

ISLAMABAD – A passenger jet that officials suspect veered off course in monsoon rains and thick clouds crashed into hills overlooking Pakistan's capital Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board and scattering body parts and twisted metal far and wide.

The Airblue jet's crash was the deadliest ever in Pakistan, and just the latest tragedy to jolt a country that has suffered numerous deaths in recent years due to al-Qaida and Taliban attacks. At least two U.S. citizens were on the plane, which carried mostly Pakistanis.

The plane left the southern city of Karachi at 7:45 a.m. for a two-hour flight to Islamabad and was trying to land when it lost contact with the control tower, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. Airblue is a private airline based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

The aircraft, an Airbus A321, crashed some 15 kilometers from the airport, scorching a wide stretch of the Margalla Hills, including a section behind Faisal Mosque, one of Islamabad's most prominent landmarks. Twisted metal wreckage hung from trees and lay scattered across the ground. Smoke rose from the scene as helicopters hovered.

The exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear, and rescue workers were seeking the "black box" flight data recorder amid the wreckage. But Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said the government did not suspect terrorism.

Rescue workers and citizen volunteers were hampered by the rain, mud and rugged terrain. The crash was so severe it would have been nearly impossible for any of the 146 passengers and six crew members to survive, rescue officials said.

"There is nothing left, just piles and bundles of flesh. There are just some belongings, like two or three traveling bags, some checkbooks, and I saw a picture of a young boy. Otherwise everything is burned," rescue worker Murtaza Khan said.

As the government declared Thursday would be a day of mourning and condolences poured in from the U.S., Britain and other nations, hundreds of people showed up at Islamabad's largest hospital and the airport seeking information on loved ones.

They swarmed ambulances reaching the hospital, but their hopes fell as rescue workers unloaded bags filled with body parts. A large cluster of people also surrounded a passenger list posted near the Airblue counter at the airport.

Click image to see more photos of crash scene

AP

"We don't know who survived, who died, who is injured," said Zulfikar Ghazi, who lost four relatives. "We are in shock."

Mirza Ahmed Baig rushed to the hills after hearing that the plane carrying his brother had crashed. He wept amid the chilly weather, criticizing the rescue effort as too little and too lax.

"I'm not satisfied at all on the steps the government is taking," Baig said.

As of Wednesday night, when rescue work was suspended till the morning, 115 bodies had been recovered, federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. DNA tests would be needed to identify most of them, he said.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire confirmed that at least two American citizens were on board, but he declined to provide any further information on their identities or links to Pakistan.

Witnesses said the plane appeared to be flying very low and that it seemed unsteady in the air.

"The plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down," Saqlain Altaf, who was on a family outing in the hills when the crash occurred, told Pakistan's ARY news channel.

The Pakistan Airline Pilot Association said the plane may have strayed off course, possibly because of the poor weather. Several officials noted the plane seemed to be an unusual distance from the airport, which was some 9 1/2 miles (15 kilometers) away.

"It should not have gone so far," said Air Vice Marshal Riazul Haq, deputy chief of the Civil Aviation Authority. "We want to find out why it did."

Raheel Ahmed, a spokesman for the airline, said the cause of the crash would be investigated. The plane had no known technical issues, and the pilots did not send any emergency signals, Ahmed said. Airblue flies within Pakistan and to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the United Kingdom.

Airbus said it would provide technical assistance to the crash investigators. The aircraft was initially delivered in 2000, and was leased to Airblue in January 2006. It accumulated about 34,000 flight hours during some 13,500 flights, it said.

The only previous recorded accident for Airblue, a carrier that began flying in 2004, was a tail-strike in May 2008 at Quetta airport by one of the airline's Airbus 321 jets. There were no casualties and damage was minimal, according to the U.S.-based Aviation Safety Network.

Other Pakistani airlines have come under international scrutiny due to safety concerns.

In 2007, the European Union temporarily banned flights in its airspace of most of the aircraft operated by Pakistan's national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, because of concerns over the age of the aircraft and poor maintenance. The bloc lifted the ban later that year after the airline took action to comply with safety standards.

The last major plane crash in Pakistan was in July 2006 when a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by PIA slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board.

In August 1989, another PIA Fokker, with 54 people onboard, went down in northern Pakistan on a domestic flight. The plane's wreckage was never found. In September 1992, a electric rc helicopter crashed into a mountain in Nepal, killing all 167 people on board.

The Airbus 320 family of medium-range jets, which includes the A321 model that crashed Wednesday, is one of the most popular in the world, with about 4,300 jets delivered since deliveries began in 1988.

Twenty-one of the aircraft have been lost in accidents since then, according to the Aviation Safety Network's database. The deadliest was a 2007 crash at landing in Sao Paolo by Brazil's TAM airline, in which all 187 people on board perished, along with 12 others on the ground.

___

AP Aviation Writer Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, as well as Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan in Karachi and Zarar Khan, Nahal Toosi and Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad, contributed to this report.

NASCAR's Roush injured in Wisconsin plane crash

MILWAUKEE – NASCAR team owner Jack Roush was in serious but stable condition after walking away from a plane crash in Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

"There are injuries. Possible surgery," Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. "But he walked out of the plane."

Smith confirmed that the plane belonged to Roush, and he was flying it. Smith said Roush's injuries include facial lacerations.

Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., this week.

In a statement on the EAA Web site, officials said a Beechcraft Premier business jet registered to Roush Fenway Racing, LLC was involved in a landing accident at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

The accident occurred at approximately 6:15 p.m. CDT, the auto sport said.

According to the EAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Winnebago County Sheriff's Department confirmed that two occupants on board were Roush and Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Mich. Strickland is a friend of Roush's.

"Each exited the aircraft following the accident," the statement said. "Both were transported to local hospitals, with Roush in serious but stable condition and Strickland with non-life threatening injuries. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the accident."

According to a statement from the team, Roush was landing his plane when the accident occurred.

"Dr. Kevin Wasco, the attending physician, says that Roush is in serious but stable condition," the team's statement said. "His injuries are not life threatening."

It is the second close call for Roush, who crashed a plane into a pond in Alabama in 2002 and nearly drowned before being rescued by an ex-Marine who lived nearby. Despite sustaining serious injuries, Roush continued flying.

Roush owns several aircraft, including a World War II-vintage P-51 Mustang.

After having success in dragsters and sports car racing, Roush — a former Ford engineer and college physics teacher — founded his NASCAR team in 1988. Known for his trademark Panama-style hat, academic speaking style and love for tinkering with anything mechanical, he won championships in NASCAR's top series with Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in 2004.

Since 2007, Roush has partnered with the Fenway Sports Group, the sports marketing arm of the Boston Red Sox's parent company.

The team currently fields cars in the Cup series for Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan.

Генпрокуратура признала заключенных "Бутырки" безнадзорными

Генпрокуратура РФ признала условия содержания заключенных в московском СИЗО-2 "Бутырка" не соответствующими закону. По результатам проверки директору ФСИН Александру Реймеру внесено представление с требованием устранить обнаруженные нарушения, сообщается на сайте ведомства.

В пресс-релизе Генпрокуратуры отмечается, что в СИЗО "надлежащий режим и надзор за поведением арестованных и осужденных не обеспечивается". Также в сообщении ведомства указано, что "в пользовании заключенных под стражу лиц находится большое количество запрещенных предметов". Причиной такого положения вещей, по мнению прокуратуры, является "низкий уровень обысковых мероприятий".

В ведомстве также рассказали о бытовых нарушениях в "Бутырке". "Стены и потолки в некоторых камерах поражены грибком, имеются отслоения краски и штукатурки, карцеры расположены в подвальном помещении административного здания СИЗО, в них отсутствует естественное освещение. Кровля крыши долгое время не ремонтировалась, из-за этого на потолках и стенах имеются следы протечки воды", - отмечается на сайте.

Кроме того, Генпрокуратура обратила внимание на несоответствие количества заключенных в камерах принятой в России норме - четыре квадратных метра на человека. "В 244 камерах (40 процентов от общего количества) число спальных мест превышает установленные нормативы", - заявила funny pets.

Как указывается в пресс-релизе, администрация СИЗО-2 нарушает право заключенных на ежедневную прогулку, требования пожарной безопасности в некоторых помещениях, а также слишком формально подходит к рассмотрению обращений заключенных. Ведомство отмечает, что зачастую эти обращения просто игнорируются, что является грубым нарушением федерального закона номер 59-ФЗ "О порядке рассмотрения обращений граждан Российской Федерации".

Администрация СИЗО "Бутырка" пока официально не отреагировала на результаты прокурорской проверки.

Внимание общественности было привлечено к условиям содержания заключенных после смерти юриста Сергея Магнитского, который скончался после 11 месяцев пребывания в "Бутырке". За время предварительного заключения Магнитский неоднократно заявлял о том, что содержится в условиях, которые плохо сказываются на состоянии его здоровья, однако его обращения оставались без ответа со стороны руководства СИЗО.

Убийце мэра Владикавказа дали 18 лет колонии

Во Владикавказе вынесен приговор бывшему милиционеру Рафаэлю Каллагову. Верховный суд Северной Осетии признал его виновным в убийстве мэра Владикавказа Виталия Караева и приговорил к 18 годам колонии строгого режима, сообщает РАПСИ.

Бывшего сотрудника управления по борьбе с оргпреступностью (УБОП) североосетинского МВД также считают причастным к убийствам бывшего мэра Владикавказа и вице-премьера республики Казбека Пагиева и начальника УБОП МВД Северной Осетии Виталия Чельдиева.

По версии следствия, Каллагов входил в банду Олега Гагиева, на счету которой еще ряд тяжких преступлений. В сообщении агентства не указывается, какую именно роль в преступлениях выполнял Каллагов и по каким статьям он был осужден. Человек с такой же фамилией - Каллагов, но названный Романом, ранее упоминался в числе бандитов, пошедших на сделку со следствием. Также упоминался действующий милиционер, которого следствие подозревало в том, что он застрелил Караева из снайперской винтовки.

Между тем на сайте СКП РФ указывается, что Каллагов (в написании СКП Калагов) осужден по статьям УК РФ 105-ой (убийство), 317-ой (посягательство на жизнь сотрудника правоохранительного органа), 167-ой (умышленное повреждение чужого имущества), 222-ой (незаконный оборот оружия) и 209-ой (бандитизм). СКП также подтверждает, что этот человек сознался в содеянном и заключил со следствием соглашение о сотрудничестве.

Начальник УБОП Чельдиев был убит 1 октября 2008 года. При покушении также погиб его 20-летний сын. Убийство Караева было совершено 26 ноября 2008 года. 31 декабря того же года был затрелен Пагиев.

Каллагов в числе нескольких подозреваемых был задержан в феврале 2009 года. Организатором убийства был назван криминальный авторитет Олег Гагиев, задержанный в апреле 2009 года. К октябрю 2009 года были задержаны 11 человек, входивших в банду Гагиева по кличке Ботэ, которых также подозревают еще в четырех убийствах и пяти покушениях на убийство, в том числе на главу администрации президента Северной Осетии Сергея Такоева.

Следствие считает убийства чиновников и милиционеров заказными, но пока не установило заказчика.

At 3,000 miles, Road Trip 2010 hits New Hampshire

BRENTWOOD, New Hampshire--Road Trip 2010 has officially covered enough miles to make it from one coast of America to the other.

Of course, that's not what's really happened. Instead, I've driven 3,000 miles up and down--and up and down, and up and down, following a truly inefficient path--the east coast in search of great destinations to report on.

And that's what has brought me here, to this town of population 4,200 in the southeastern corner of the Granite State--that quest for great things to write about. It's not that I had chosen to stop here--sorry, Brentwood--but rather that the odometer rolled over to 3,000 miles while passing through, and if you've followed my Road Trips over the years, you know I always do a post marking the passing of each thousand miles.

At 3,000 miles into Road Trip 2010, CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman drove trough the hamlet of Brentwood, New Hampshire. The Porsche Panamera 4S he is road-testing is bathed in a warehouses late-night yellow floodlights.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Of course, if you're really paying attention, you'll notice that the odometer in the picture above actually reads 511 miles, not 1,000, or 3,000. That's because I've actually switched cars during Road Trip 2010. I began in a Porsche Panamera S, and am now in a slightly more feature-rich Panamera 4S. This in fact is the car I was supposed to be road-testing on the trip, but it wasn't quite ready when I flew into Washington, D.C. on June 23, and Porsche put me in the S to begin with. Now, since picking up the 4S at 2,489 miles into the journey, I've covered the additional 511 miles that have brought me to the even three grand.

Since hitting 2,000 miles in Southington, Connecticut, I've visited and seen some pretty great stuff. Among those stops include iRobot, to see and talk about the latest and greatest in home and military robotics; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, to discuss deep sea submersibles and deep-ocean research; the Naval Submarine Base New London, to take an amazing tour of the most advanced submarine on the planet, the Virginia class sub, North Carolina; to BBN Technologies, which is often credited with inventing the networking technology behind the Internet, to talk about new innovations aimed at making the lives of our troops easier and safer; to the Sam Adams brewery, to watch beer being made; to the MIT Media Lab, to see some of the innovations that will soon be making the world a better place; and to Fenway Park, the cherished home of the Boston Red Sox.

As always, I'm a bit behind in the writing, so I've already carved out a good chunk of the ground towards 4,000 miles. When I get there, I'll fill you in on where I was and what I've seen since hitting 3,000 miles in Brentwood.

For the next two weeks, Geek Gestalt will be on Road Trip 2010. After driving more than 18,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last four years, I'll be looking for the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more throughout the American northeast. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. In the meantime, you can follow my progress on Twitter @GreeterDan and @RoadTrip and find the project on Facebook. And you can also test your knowledge of the U.S. and try to win a prize in the Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.

Ships head back to oil well, ready to resume work

NEW ORLEANS – Ships were getting back in place Sunday at the Gulf of Mexico site of BP's leaky oil well as crews raced to resume work on plugging the gusher before another big storm stops work again.

Now that Tropical Storm Bonnie has fizzled on Louisiana's coast, engineers are hoping clear weather lasts long enough for them to finish their work on relief wells. But as peak hurricane season approaches, the potential for another storm-related delay is high.

"We're going to be playing a cat-and-mouse game for the remainder of the hurricane season," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Saturday. Sure enough, another disturbance already was brewing in the Caribbean, although forecasters said it wasn't likely to strengthen into a tropical storm.

Late Saturday, a rig drilling the relief tunnel that will pump in mud and cement to seal the well returned to the spill site after evacuating the area.

Crews corked the relief tunnel Wednesday and the temporary halt had an house design: Efforts to solidly seal the well were pushed back by at least a week, Allen said.

Completion now looks possible by mid-August, but Allen said he wouldn't hesitate to order another evacuation based on forecasts similar to the ones for Bonnie.

"We have no choice but to start well ahead of time if we think the storm track is going to bring gale force winds, which are 39 mph or above, anywhere close to well site," Allen said.

Click image to see photos of oil spill aftermath

Reuters

In the past 10 years, an average of five named storms have hit the Gulf each hurricane season. This year, two have struck already — Bonnie and Hurricane Alex at the end of June, which delayed cleanup of BP's massive oil spill for a week even though it didn't get closer than 500 miles from the well.

"Usually you don't see the first hurricane statistically until Aug. 10," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "The 2010 hurricane season is running just ahead of a typical pace."

Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

Even though the evacuation turned out to be short-lived, it revealed one important fact: BP and the federal government are increasingly sure that the temporary plug that has mostly contained the oil for eight days will hold.

They didn't loosen the cap even when they thought they'd lose sight of it during the evacuation, although in the end, at least some of the real-time cameras trained on the ruptured well apparently kept rolling.

Ironically, the storm may even have a positive effect. Churning waters could actually help dissipate oil in the water, spreading out the surface slick and breaking up tar balls, said Jane Lubchenco, leader of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Beaches may look cleaner in some areas as the storm surge pulls oil away, though other areas could see more oil washed ashore.

"I think the bottom line is, it's better than it might have been," Lubchenco said.

At the site of the relief well, workers who spent Thursday and Friday pulling nearly a mile of segmented steel pipe out of the water and stacking the 40-to-50 foot sections on deck will now have to reverse the process. It will likely be Monday before BP can resume drilling.

By Wednesday, workers should finish installing steel casing to fortify the relief shaft, Allen said, and by Friday, crews plan to start blasting in heavy mud and cement through the mechanical cap, the first phase of a two-step process to seal the well for good. BP will then finish drilling the relief tunnel — which could take up to a week — to pump in more mud and cement from nearly two miles under the sea floor.

Meanwhile, folks in the oil-affected hamlet of Grand Isle, La., spent a gray Saturday at the beach, listening to music. The Island Aid concert, which included LeAnn Rimes and Three Dog Night, raised money for civic projects on the island.

For the afternoon at least, things were almost back to normal. Young women in bathing suits rode around on golf carts while young men in pickup trucks tooted their horns and shouted.

"This is the way Grand Isle is supposed to be but hasn't been this year," said Anne Leblanc of Metairie, La., who said her family has been visiting the island for years. "This is the first we came this year. With the oil spill there hasn't been a reason to come, no swimming, no fishing."

Tesla Motors and Toyota said on Friday they will develop an electric version of the Toyota RAV4 SUV, formalizing an agreement signed between the companies in May.

The vehicle will be RAV4 with an electric powertrain supplied by Tesla. Telsa said that it has already built a prototype and hopes to make a fleet of prototypes in a year.

The electric RAV, which Toyota stopped making in 2003, is coming back through a deal with Telsa.
(Credit: CC Mike Weston/Flickr)

The goal is to release a car to the U.S. army promotion  by 2012.

In May, Telsa and Toyota announced an agreement where Toyota invested $50 million in Tesla and they two pledged to collaborate on electric vehicles. Tesla also purchased the NUMMI plant in California.

It wasn't until a few weeks later, though, that Toyota and Tesla signed a specific production agreement .

By making an electric RAV4 with Telsa, Toyota is bringing back a popular electric vehicle now highly sought by electric car enthusiasts. The all-electric SUV, made from 1997 to 2003, had a range of 100 miles and reached speeds of up to 78 miles per hour.

Tesla made a splash when it went public at the end of last month, but its stock has since drifted downward and is now below the price at the end of first day of trading.

The electric car company has pinned its fortunes on the production of the Model S, a sleek all-electric sedan which Telsa plans to start making at the NUMMI plant in 2012. It is also seeking to make revenue through its powertrain business.