Seven dead in U.S. Midwest flash flooding
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 9 (UPI) -- Residents of the U.S. Midwest were coping with extensive flooding Monday following weekend rainstorms that claimed seven lives in the region.
Northern Iowa, western Michigan and central Indiana received the brunt of the weekend storms. The latest severe weather claimed six lives Sunday in Michigan, where unexpected floodwaters proved dangerous. Two newspaper delivery workers were killed and a man died tending a dam near Grand Rapids, a woman died from windblown debris near Lansing and two more were killed by a falling tree in Spring Lake, CNN reported.
In Iowa Sunday, where a broken levee in Parkersburg flooded three interstate highways and about 650 people from nearby New Hartford were forced to flee to Cedar Rapids to escaping rising waters when the area received five inches of rain, the network said. In all, 1,000 Iowans were displaced by floodwaters, which weather officials said were expected to crest this week.
Meanwhile, people in central Indiana were cleaning up after a disastrous rainstorm on Saturday that killed one man and caused flooding in a large area between Terre Haute and Bloomington.
Greeks stay outdoors after quake
PATRAS, Greece, June 9 (UPI) -- Residents of two western Greek provinces were living outdoors Monday after a strong earthquake killed two people and injured 100 others.
People in Ilia and Achaia prefectures on the country's Peloponnese peninsula spent the night camped outdoors after the Sunday temblor, which local officials said was the strongest quake to hit Greece in almost 10 years, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported.
The newspaper said the magnitude 6.5 quake, centered near Patras, caused panic throughout the region when it struck late Sunday afternoon. A 55-year-old man was killed when the roof of his house collapsed and many older buildings were damaged. An 80-year-old woman died from a heart attack after suffering minor injuries from the quake.
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said damaged Peloponnese homes would be immediately restored and government aid would be given to victims directly and without red tape, the Athens News Agency said in a report.
Zimbabwe political slayings claim 36 lives
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 9 (UPI) -- A human rights group said Monday the Zimbabwean government is responsible for at least 36 political killings ahead of this month's presidential runoff election.
The African branch of Human Rights Watch, based in South Africa, said in a report that the deaths and an extensive array of other politically motivated violence and intimidation aimed at supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change party has "extinguished any chance" the June 27 runoff vote will be a fair and free contest between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.
Human Rights Watch urged the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community to exert whatever influence they could on the Mugabe regime to "end the violence and hold those responsible to account."
In all, the group said, the political violence in Zimbabwe has allegedly included 2,000 victims of abductions, beatings, torture and killings by officials and supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party, the armed forces and police, "war veterans" and youth militia.
"Since the runoff was announced, the violence in Zimbabwe has gotten even worse," Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a news release. "Zimbabweans can't vote freely if they fear their vote may get them killed."
Tokyo stabbing suspect questioned
TOKYO, June 9 (UPI) -- A 25-year-old Japanese man held in the deaths of seven people told Tokyo police he planned the attack for days as he'd become tired of his life.
"I got tired of my life. I've visited Akihabara (electronics district in central Tokyo) several times. I know that there are many people there," police quoted Tomohiro Kato as saying, that Kyodo news service reported.
Police said that on Saturday Kato rented a truck that he used in the attack the next day, the report said. The suspect reportedly told the rental company he needed a large truck to move his possessions to a new residence.
In the Sunday attacks, seven people died after being hit by a truck or stabbed and 10 others were injured, Kyodo said. Investigators said Kato told them he went to Akihabara to kill people.
Police are trying to establish a motive for the attacks before filing charges. Kato is being held on suspicion of attempted murder after being arrested at the scene of the attacks.
Police found a series of message posted on a mobile phone bulletin board, telling about the rampage, the report said, adding Kato told police he had warned about his actions in those postings.
Poll: U.S. adults split on past five years
PRINCETON, N.J., June 9 (UPI) -- A nearly equal number of U.S. adults said their standard of living has improved as said it had declined in the past five years, researches said Monday.
In a recent poll, 45 percent of the respondents indicated their standard of living had improved since 2003, Gallup reported. Forty-three percent of respondents in the same poll indicated there had been an erosion of their standard of living.
Projecting five years ahead, however, revealed some optimism, Gallup said. Sixty-two percent of the 1,012 U.S. adults surveyed indicated an expectation that their standard of living would improve. Twenty-five percent indicated a pessimistic forecast for their standard of living five years from now.
But, senior citizens on fixed incomes were less optimistic, Gallup said. Just 35 percent indicated an expectation that their standard of living would improve, compared with 39 percent who indicated their's would decline.
The survey, conducted May 30-June 1, carries a margin of error of 3 percentage points, Gallup said.
