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Worst typhoon in a decade strikes S. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Three people were killed when Typhoon Kompasu, the seventh typhoon this year, hit South Korea Thursday, Korea Meteorological Administration officials said.

National Emergency Management Agency officials said an 80-year-old man in Seosan, South Chungcheong province, died after being hit by an airborne roof tile; a 37-year-old man died in Bundang, near Seoul, when a broken tree branch hit him; and an electrical engineer died of electrocution in Mokpo while repairing a power failure, Yonhap reported.

The typhoon brought torrents and gusts that paralyzed the Seoul metropolitan area's subway system, caused huge power outages along the west coast, and forced airlines to cancel or divert domestic and international flights, Yonhap reported.

The subway outage, combined with gusts of approximately 98 feet per second, and hundreds of knocked-down trees along streets caused the worst transportation debacle in a decade, Yonhap reported.

Meteorologists said Kompasu is the strongest tropical storm to strike the Seoul metropolitan area in 15 years.

Agricultural damage is also estimated to be enormous, with owners of rice paddies and pear, grape and apple farms along the west coastal areas experiencing extensive damage from the strong winds, Yonhap said.

Airports nationwide canceled 128 domestic and international flights, NEMA said.

3 U.S. Senate seats could swing control

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The ballot fates of U.S. senators in California, Washington and Wisconsin may determine if Senate power swings to Republicans, a political writer says.

Sens. Russ Feingold, Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer face tough GOP opposition in the U.S. midterm elections Nov. 2, Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin wrote.

All told, 37 of the Senate's 100 seats are up for grabs, along with all 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Wisconsin's Feingold, known for co-sponsoring 2002's McCain-Feingold bipartisan campaign finance reform act, faces a challenge from wealthy business executive Ron Johnson, who says his campaign is about "freedom first" and has been advertising on TV since June.

"I'm going to spend what I need to get my message out," Johnson, who can fund his own campaign, told Martin.

Feingold touts that he opposes the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, both initiated by U.S. President George W. Bush and now tied to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Washington's Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is running neck-and-neck in polls with real estate salesman and former state Sen. Dino Rossi, a Republican who lost the 2004 governor's race by 129 votes.

Murray is on the state's airwaves "slamming Rossi for saying he opposed the new Wall Street regulations," Martin writes.

Rossi, who also opposes abortion rights, says Murray has "never had an opponent who had universal name identification."

California's Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has a much bigger war chest than Republican challenger former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina -- $11.3 million in early July compared with $952,786 for Fiorina, who won a contested primary June 8.

But Fiorina could tap into her own wealth, Martin writes.

Fiorina opposes abortion rights and same-sex marriage and says in a campaign ad that Boxer's concerns over global warming are like worrying about "the weather."

A July California Field Poll showed Boxer with 48 percent of likely voters disapproving of her performance and 42 percent approving.

Crew safe after fire on oil rig

HOUMA, La., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The crew of an oil rig 100 miles off Louisiana escaped an explosion and fire Thursday without injury, the Coast Guard said.

Mariner Energy of Houston, which owns Vermilion Oil Rig 380, said no oil or gas spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, CNN reported. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, however, said a "sheen" had been spotted on the surface, suggesting an oil slick.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough said the 13 people on board the rig at the time of the blast had all gotten off safely. While earlier reports said at least one was injured, Colclough said the entire crew made it into the water without harm.

Jindal said the well caught fire and the blaze spread to the rig.

The fire comes almost five months after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. An explosion on a BP platform killed 11 members of the crew and the failure of the blowout preventer allowed millions of barrels of oil to spill into the gulf.

President Hu tells Kim to follow China

BEIJING, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Chinese President strongly suggested Kim Jong Il should follow China's example by opening North Korea's economy, a South Korean official says.

The official said Hu delivered the message during Kim's visit to Beijing last week, The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, reported. He said the president used much stronger terms than Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in a similar meeting with Kim in May, even using the term "market mechanism."

"Socialist modernization is based on China's three-decade-long experience in reform and opening," Hu was quoted as saying. "Although self-reliance is important, economic development is inseparable from external cooperation."

Kim reportedly responded in kind, also talking about reform and opening the country. He introduced some market reforms several years ago but abandoned them because of the danger that an entrepreneurial class would threaten to bring down the regime.