The New Nation - Internet Edition

Army helps as desperation mounts in flood-hit India

Reuters, Patna

The Indian army and navy stepped up efforts on Monday to rescue hundreds of thousands of people marooned by floods and facing severe shortages of food in the east of the country.

Some villagers have been living on rooftops for days, while others are eating plants and leaves after exhausting food stocks. Aid agencies said the government of the impoverished state of Bihar should have done more to anticipate the disaster and plan relief operations in a region hit by monsoon flooding every year.

"Lessons from the past disasters should be kept in mind while planning response," ActionAid said in a statement. "A long-term comprehensive response is necessary to deal with relief, recovery and disaster preparedness."

Three million people have been displaced from their homes and at least 90 killed by floods, officials say, after the Kosi river burst a dam in Nepal, swamping hundreds of villages in Bihar and destroying 100,000 ha (250,000 acres) of farmlands.

Hundreds of boats are being used to evacuate people but more are needed, while heavy rains over the past few days have hampered rescue and relief operations, officials said.

"Such is the extent of devastation that the forces deployed are proving too small," Pratyay Amrit, a senior state disaster management official, said on Monday.

The army, which had already deployed five columns of around 120 men, sent in another 14, officials said on Monday, while three naval companies were also asked to help. The situation on the ground is getting desperate.

"We don't have any more food grain stocks left, and me and my family are all chewing plants and leaves to stay alive," Mohan Sharma said by telephone from Supaul district.

Television pictures showed people fighting to get places in boats, as soldiers in life jackets tried to restore order.

Over 467,000 people have been evacuated so far, but there are thousands still marooned. Activists and local media say the death toll could be many times higher than official estimates.

Some experts have blamed the floods on heavier monsoon rains caused by global warming, while others say authorities have failed to take preventive measures and improve infrastructure. Indian authorities are rushing doctors and medical equipment to flood-devastated northern India.

Officials say they want to ward off outbreaks of disease among the hundreds of thousands of victims crowding into relief camps.

Nearly half of the 1.2 million people who were left homeless when the Kosi River burst its banks two weeks ago had been rescued by Monday. Officials say they hope to reach the others in the next three days.

Prataya Amrit, a top disaster management official in Bihar state, says about 250,000 refugees are in government and relief agency camps. The rest have taken shelter with family or friends.

China state paper lashes India-US nuclear deal

Reuters, Beijing

China's top newspaper called a nuclear agreement between India and the United States a "major blow" to non-proliferation, raising pressure as the deal faces opposition in an international atomic cartel.

The commentary on Monday in the People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official paper, was a rare public response from Beijing on the controversial U.S. proposal to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India.

Diplomats in Vienna said on Sunday that a revised U.S. proposal to lift the ban did not sufficiently ease fears the move could compromise efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Washington needs an unprecedented exemption from the Nuclear Suppliers Group's normal rules to help seal its 2005 civilian nuclear energy deal with New Delhi. But at the group's meeting, six member nations demanded changes to ensure Indian access to nuclear markets would not indirectly help its atomic bomb programme.

Chinese officials have remained tight-lipped about the deal and given no sign they would outright block it, but official media and experts have raised worries.

The Party's official paper was unusually forthright on Monday.

"Whether it is motivated by geopolitical considerations or commercial interests, the U.S.-India nuclear agreement has constituted a major blow to the international non-proliferation regime," said the commentary by a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading state think tank.

"Irrespective of the fate of the U.S.-India nuclear agreement, the United States' multiple standards on non-proliferation issues have met with a sceptical world."

Without NSG approval in early September, the U.S. Congress may run out of time for final ratification before it adjourns at the end of the month for autumn elections.

Fate of New Orleans mutes Republican convention

AFP, St Paul

The Republican Party severely curtailed the start Monday of its convention to nominate John McCain for president as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the United States.

Stalked by memories of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, McCain shelved most of the convention's opening day. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney cancelled plans to attend to concentrate on the deadly storm.

Party leaders scurried to change their plans amid anxiety over being seen to stage a political celebration while a killer storm pummels the Louisiana coast.

"The challenges are grave and we have to, as you know, put our country first," said Senator McCain at a rally in O'Fallon, Missouri late Sunday.

"We will put aside our political hats and put on our American hats and we will do everything America needs to do and America must do because the nature of our nation to help any of us."

McCain's Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama said he would make his campaign's mammoth donor list available to channel money and volunteers towards relief efforts.

"We can activate an email list of a couple million people who want to give back," Obama told reporters after attending church in Lima, Ohio.

"I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary," said Obama who was formally installed as the Democratic nominee at a triumphant convention last week.

The Republican convention will open for two-and-a-half hours on Monday simply to put in place the start of the legal process needed to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidate, officials said.

Abbas rejects partial peace accord with Israel

AP, Jerusalem

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel's idea of an interim peace agreement at a Sunday summit, a Palestinian negotiator said, insisting on an all-or-nothing approach that virtually ruled out an accord by a January target date.

The latest meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was their shortest, lasting less than an hour. Neither side pointed to progress. Olmert entered the meeting in a weakened position after his decision to submit his resignation this month when his party picks a new leader. Just two days before Abbas arrived for talks at Olmert's residence Sunday, Israeli police passed through the same entrance to interrogate Olmert for the seventh time in a series of corruption cases.

Abbas, too, is not in a strong political position, having lost control of Gaza to Islamic Hamas militants last year.

Because of Israel's complicated political system, Olmert could still find himself in office next year, even if he resigns this month as promised. His aides said Sunday he hoped the Palestinians would sign a document outlining any agreements reached with Israel before he leaves office.

But Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas flatly rejected that at the brief summit on Sunday.

"We want an agreement to end the (Israeli) occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," Erekat told The Associated Press. "President Abbas told Olmert that we will not be part of an interim or shelf agreement," he said. "Either we agree on all issues, or no agreement at all."

Millions of Americans remain in the workforce as they live longer

AP, Chicago

Americans are changing the game plan for retirement, with millions laboring right past the traditional retirement age and working into their late 60s and beyond. While the average retirement age remains 63, that standard may soon be going the way of the gold watch - a trend expected to accelerate as baby boomers close in on retirement without sufficient savings. For 64-year-old John Lee, "retirement" bears a strong resemblance to his full-time working career - full of 40- and 50-hour weeks as an IT technical support specialist. He's not strapped but likes the extra cash and the feeling of being needed.

But for Melissa Fodor, a retired travel agent who works part-time as a caregiver for the elderly, the extra work "keeps my head above water" and there's no end in sight to that financial need at age 68.

Although the work is satisfying, she confides that "financially I'm kind of scared most of the time. Because what should happen if my health and my body fail?"