THE WILLIS UNIVERSITY

Welcome to the Willis University. This is a site dedicated mostly to the world's natural disasters. Also some random inserts of global news from credible sources and also a mixture of opinion. Some of the opinions are not suitable for all. Please remember this is my opinion only. Thanks to all for the guidance I've been given.

April 26, 2007

Condom Found in McDonald's Happy Meal, Reports Say

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A grandmother was alarmed to find a condom in a happy meal gift pack bought for her 7-year-old granddaughter at a McDonald's (MCD) restaurant in New Zealand, local media reported Thursday.

The condom was discovered Tuesday night in a bag that came with Maia Whitaker's meal, which her grandparents bought at a McDonald's outlet in the city of Wellington.

Grandpa Rowan Hutch told The Dominion Post newspaper it was lucky his wife was first to look inside the small sports bag that came with the meal.

She was aghast when she found the green condom and its packet inside the bag, he said."I was pretty horrified really. The fact my granddaughter was going to look in the bag and find this thing. It would be difficult to explain, she's only seven," said Hutch.

The outlet quickly swapped the happy meal for a hamburger and pencil case. McDonald's is investigating the find.

Spokeswoman Joanna Redfern-Hardisty said because of its popularity, the previous happy meal gift had sold out at the outlet and prepackaged sports bags were substituted as children's gifts.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268697,00.html

April 24, 2007

Astronomers Believe They May Have Found Earth-Like Planet

Does Earth have a habitable neighbor?

Astronomers from Switzerland, France and Portugal report they've discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date, according to a report in ZeeNews.com.

Click here to read complete story at ZeeNews.com.

Scientists say the planet has a radius only 50 percent larger than Earth, and is very likely to contain liquid water on its surface.

The research team used the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) 3.6-m telescope to discover the mini-Earth, which orbits a red dwarf already known to harbour a Neptune-mass planet.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268166,00.html

April 23, 2007

Tornado flattens small town in Panhandle

CACTUS, Texas — Downed power lines, flattened houses and roads littered with debris kept most residents from returning home Sunday in this rural Panhandle town hit hardest by an apparent group of tornadoes.

Officials said at least 14 people were injured, including one critically, during severe storms late Saturday that knocked out power to about 20,000 customers in the region.

About 50 people were still unaccounted for in Cactus on Sunday, Moore County Judge Rowdy Rhoades said. He believes all of them are safe and likely evacuated after hearing tornado sirens in this mostly poor city, home of the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant raided by federal immigration officials in December.

Burma hit by more bird flu outbreaks

Rangoon, (dpa) - Seven poultry farms in Rangoon's neighbouring townships have been hit by outbreaks of the H5N1 virus since February leading to the culling of 65,812 birds, Sunday dailies reported.

According to laboratory tests, 24 samples out of 675 samples from the affected farms were infected, while the virus was also detected in six samples of the dead crows out of 561 samples taken of wild birds, reported The New Light of Myanmar.

The cullings and sample tests have been conducted in cooperation with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and US Agency for International Development, between March 6 and April 21.

Restrictions on transport and sale of poultry and poultry products in the five townships has since been lifted.

The government has requested the people and breeders to come forward with information on the dead birds, to ensure bio-security and cooperate with the department in order to be able to prevent the recurrence of bird flu.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=118255

April 19, 2007

Madden 08

Looks like Vince Young the 2nd year quarterback will grace the cover of Madden 08...good luck Vince break a leg!!!!!!!!

April 16, 2007

Dying Star Bursts in Near-Perfect Symmetry

If symmetry is a sign of splendor, then the newly discovered Red Square nebula is one of the most beautiful objects in the universe.

Seen in the infrared, the nebula resembles a giant, glowing red box in the sky, with a bright white inner core. A dying star called MWC 922 is located at the system’s center and spewing its innards from opposite poles into space. (A nebula is an interstellar cloud of gas, dust and plasma where stars can both emerge and die.)

“This spectacular event is the death of a star,” said study team member James Lloyd of Cornell University.

After MWC 922 ejects most of its material into space, it will contract into a dense stellar corpse known as a white dwarf, shrouded by clouds of its own remains.

The Red Square nebula discovery is detailed in the April 13 issue of the journal Science.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dying-star-bursts-in-near-perfect/20070415150409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

5 injured, but no danger of tsunami

TOKYO – A moderate earthquake jolted central Japan on Sunday, injuring at least five people, damaging houses and a 400-year-old castle, police and officials said.

The 5.4-magnitude quake hit at 12:19 p.m. local time and was centered in Mie prefecture, about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

About six hours later, a magnitude-4.5 temblor believed to be an aftershock struck the area, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070415-0437-japan-earthquake.html

Flood Warnings Posted From Maryland to Maine as Nor'easter Batters East

NEW YORK — A fierce nor'easter drenched the Northeast, with record rainfall causing severe flooding that canceled schools, cut electricity, forced people to evacuate and slowed the morning commute Monday.

Rain began falling early Sunday along the East Coast from Florida to New England and continued Monday morning in the New York area and New England. The storm was especially harsh in the suburbs north of New York City, where flooding led two communities to declare states of emergency and the National Guard was sent to help with rescue and evacuation efforts.

Firefighters plucked Kathleen Reale and her twin boys from their window in suburban Mamaroneck using a front-end-loader.

Water reached up to her knees in her garage and basement and her family was evacuated to a shelter.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266243,00.html

April 14, 2007

Powerful Storm Grinds Toward the East Coast

An outbreak of dangerous severe weather is tearing through the northeast Gulf Coast states this evening. As the intense thunderstorms shift eastward tonight, the storm igniting the severe weather will begin to strengthen into a major nor'easter, which will slam the Northeast with heavy weighing and accumulating snow, flooding rain, high winds and potentially beach-altering erosion beginning.

Our Severe Weather Center's page displays all the watches and warnings related to the potent storm set to ignite severe weather over the South before becoming a major nor'easter off the Northeast coast Sunday.

While the Midwest Regional News story states that storm's snow that develops around the southern Great lakes will not be nearly as heavy as what fell Friday, the storm will be just as potent as it was Friday in terms of severe weather elsewhere. The Southwest Regional News story recaps Friday's intense thunderstorms and tornadoes, which the South Regional News story states that after hammering Alabama and Georgia the thunderstorms will move on to the coastal Southeast tonight into Sunday morning.

http://headlines.accuweather.com/news-top-headline.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0

Flash flood at Thai waterfall kills 23, many missing

BANGKOK - At least 23 people died Saturday and many more were missing after a flash flood swept over a popular waterfall in southern Thailand, officials said.

The tragedy took place at about 2:00 pm (0700 GMT) at the Sairung waterfall in Trang province, some 700 kilometres (434 miles) south of Bangkok.

"At least 23 people were confirmed dead and we have learned that more bodies are coming," a local hospital official said, adding that she did not know how many people were missing.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/270358/1/.html

April 13, 2007

Earthquake Hits Mexico; No Death, Damage

A strong earthquake shook southern Mexico early Friday, knocking out power in parts of Mexico City and Acapulco, swaying tall buildings and sending frightened people into the streets in their pajamas.

Civil defense officials in Mexico and the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where the magnitude-6 quake was centered, said there were no reports of any deaths or major damage. One person was injured falling down stairs trying to get to the street. Television video showed fallen ceiling tiles, and cracks running through the facades of buildings. City inspectors checked one precariously leaning five-story apartment building, where eight families evacuated.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/13/ap3609963.html

April 12, 2007

Egyptian girl dies of bird flu, 14th death

CAIRO, April 11 (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Egyptian girl has died in hospital of the H5N1 bird flu virus, bringing the number of deaths from the disease in Egypt to 14, a health ministry official said on Wednesday.

Marianna Kameel Mikhail, who was admitted to hospital in Cairo on Thursday, died of respiratory failure on Tuesday evening despite treatment with the antiviral Tamiflu and being placed on a respirator, a ministry statement said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11720107.htm

April 10, 2007

Robo Warrior

We may have seen it all before in science-fiction films. But the bionic warrior is in fact a vision of real-life warfare in the 21st century. U.S. defence chiefs hope to have their troops kitted out in the outlandish combat gear as soon as 2020.

Included in the Pentagon's Future Warrior Concept are a powerful exoskeleton, a self-camouflaging outer layer that adapts to changing environments and a helmet which translates a soldier's voice into any foreign language.

April 09, 2007

New Link

If you take a look at the links at the UW you will see there is a new one added. It's Telemuuuuuunnnnnndo!!!!! If you have never been lucky enough to watch some Telemuuuuuuuuuundo on TV your missing out. In a close poll the U conducted sees soap operas edging out game shows by a narrow margin of 56% to 44%. With the majority of single guys liking the senoritas the most!!!

Bedbugs bounce back: Outbreaks in all 50 states

Walter has stopped hugging his friends. He is throwing out his clothes and furniture, and he rarely comes out of his Tenderloin hotel room anymore.

He's not suicidal, but darn near. He has bedbugs.

Nearly eradicated in the United States 50 years ago, resistant strains of "super" bedbugs are infesting mattresses at an alarming rate. In what's being touted as the biggest mystery in entomology, all 50 states are reporting outbreaks of the blood-sucking nocturnal critters.

Quake lifts Solomons island out of the sea

RANONGGA, Solomon Islands (AFP) - The seismic jolt that unleashed the deadly Solomons tsunami this week lifted an entire island metres out of the sea, destroying some of the world's most pristine coral reefs.

In an instant, the grinding of the Earth's tectonic plates in the 8.0 magnitude earthquake Monday forced the island of Ranongga up three metres (10 foot).

Submerged reefs that once attracted scuba divers from around the globe lie exposed and dying after the quake raised the mountainous landmass, which is 32-kilometres (20-miles) long and 8-kilometres (5-miles) wide.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070407/sc_afp/solomonsquakeisland;_ylt=AmWxTgtJeBcLwaF8np6Dex0DW7oF

April 04, 2007

Softball-Sized Hail Pelts Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Violent thunderstorms battered a four-state region with hail as big as softballs and wind that damaged several homes and caused power outages.

The storms that hit Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia marked the leading edge of a mass of cold air that dropped temperatures Wednesday morning into the 20s in the central Plains and upper Midwest.

No tornadoes were confirmed during the storms Tuesday night, but strong wind heavily damaged three homes in Tennessee's Cumberland County, authorities said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263943,00.html

If there is anyone from this part of the country can you please email me some pics to post??? jamesw3113@yahoo.com

April 03, 2007

Leading Storm Forecaster Predicts 17 Named Storms in Atlantic This Year

DENVER — The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should be "very active," with nine hurricanes and a good chance that at least one major hurricane will hit the U.S. coast, a top researcher said Tuesday.

Forecaster William Gray said he expects 17 named storms in all this year, five of them major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The probability of a major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coast this year: 74 percent, compared with the average of 52 percent over the past century, he said.

Last year, Gray's forecast and government forecasts were higher than what the Atlantic hurricane season produced.

Click here for more news on Natural Disasters.

There were 10 named Atlantic storms in 2006 and five hurricanes, two of them major, in what was considered a "near normal" season. None of those hurricanes hit the U.S. Atlantic coast — only the 11th time that has occurred since 1945. The National Hurricane Center in Miami originally reported nine storms, but upgraded one storm after a post-season review.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263595,00.html

6.2-Magnitude Quake Shakes Northeast Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit a remote and mountainous area of northeastern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, shaking buildings in the capital, across the border in Pakistan and in India.

The earthquake in Badakhshan province was about 200 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul, where residents felt shaking buildings and heard rattling windows. There were no immediate damage reports.

"It was a very strong earthquake," said Agha Noor Kemtoz, the provincial police chief of Badakhshan, which shares a border with Pakistan, Tajikistan and China. "My room was shaking and the light was swinging back and forth."

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.2-quake was centered just south of Faizabad and hit at 8:05 a.m.

The quake was felt across northern Pakistan, including in the capital, Islamabad, 280 miles away. It also was felt in Tajikistan and in the Indian and Pakistan-administered portions of Kashmir, where a severe earthquake two years ago left thousands dead and caused widespread destruction.

Badakhshan is home to the towering mountains of the Hindu Kush. It is the most remote province in Afghanistan.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263482,00.html

April 02, 2007

Floods in Uruguay leave 800 homeless

MONTEVIDEO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Floods in southern and western Uruguay have left at least 800 people homeless, following last week's unusually strong rains which dumped rainfall up to 500 mm in total, the authorities said on Sunday.

The worst affected provinces were Durazno, Soriano, Florida, Rio Negro and Colonia.

About 300 residents in central Uruguayan city of Durazno abandoned their homes when the River Yi rose nine meters above its normal level. They are now staying in sports and social clubs.

In Mercedes, capital of Soriano province, 120 people were evacuated when the Rio Negro, which divides Uruguay in two, broke its banks.

Mayor Guillermo Bessozzi said his own house was waterlogged and that he had transferred important belongings upstairs.

The capital Montevideo was also affected. A dozen of people were evacuated, but forecasts said they will return to homes on Sunday, once the river returns to normal.

The National Meteorological Directorate has forecast scant rains in the flood-hit areas, which the headstreams of rivers are located.

The National Emergency System on Friday called on all the emergency committees to take actions to coordinate public and civilian groups.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/02/content_5922864.htm

Sandstorms hit north China

BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Sandstorms hit north China during the weekend, blanketing many cities in floating dust.

Sandstorm intensified in the Tarim Basin of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, closing the airport of Kashghar at 6 p.m. Sunday. A flight from Urumqi to Kashghar was cancelled.

Visibility in Kashghar was lowered to less than 2,000 meters and traveling vehicles had to have their lights on.

In Tianjin, the number of people on streets dwindled as sand reduced the visibility in the city to about 1,000 meters. Parking cars were coated by yellow dust.

But the harsh weather didn't seem to put as much strain on Tianjin's traffic. Ten highways passing through the city were functioning well and no flight were reported cancelled or delayed at the Binhai International Airport.

Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, saw the strongest sandstorm since the beginning of this year. Temperature dropped from about 28 Celsius degree to 16.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/01/content_5921523.htm

April 01, 2007

Earthquake triggers tsunami in Solomons

HONIARA, Solomon Islands - A powerful undersea earthquake Monday in the South Pacific sent a tsunami several yards high crashing into the Solomon Islands, devastating at least one village, officials and residents said.

Police and residents said a wave about 10 feet high struck the western town of Gizo, inundating buildings and causing widespread destruction. A man who answered the telephone at the Gizo police station said there were initial reports that eight people, six of them children, had been killed by the tsunami but they were still unconfirmed. The phone cut out abruptly before the man gave his name.

Gizo resident Judith Kennedy said water “right up to your head” swept through the town.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17902526/