Disasters

The United Nations reports that the estimated number of people dying of hunger has gone up for the first time in nine years. One Twin Cities non-profit group is trying mightily to improve the situation.
A former resident of Marshall who survived Sunday's earthquake and tsunami in Malaysia saw "this big white line in the distance" as he looked out to the ocean and seconds later was swept away by a wave of water 6 feet over his head, he wrote in an e-mail to his parents.
Wreck divers are part of a romantic breed of explorers who take risks to satisfy their and our curiousity. A new book describes the adventures of two divers on a mysterious wreck off the coast of New Jersey.
The forest fire in Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota continues to burn because of dry conditions. Lightning started the fire on July 8. Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Mike Johnson, fire information officer for Voyageurs National Park.
Chilling radio transmissions by the Sept. 11 hijackers from the planes they commandeered were played publicly for the first time Thursday, providing a vivid and horrifying portrait as they unfolded on that fateful day before confused air traffic officials and military personnel. Midmorning was pre-empted by coverage of the 9/11 Commission hearing
The terror strikes of Sept. 11, 2001 overwhelmed all immediate efforts at response or even full comprehension, a bipartisan commission reported Thursday, and spread confusion to the point that Vice President Dick Cheney mistakenly thought U.S. warplanes shot down two aircraft. Midmorning was pre-empted for coverage of the hearing
Bluntly contradicting the Bush administration, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday there was "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States. In a chilling report that sketched the history of Osama bin Laden's network, the commission said his far-flung training camps were "apparently quite good." Midmorning was pre-empted to allow coverage of the 9-11 commission
Sept. 11 plot mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed originally envisioned an attack involving 10 hijacked planes with himself as the pilot of one in which all male passengers would be killed and he would deliver an anti-American harangue upon landing. The assertion was among new details about the plot revealed Wednesday in a report by the staff of the independent commission investigating the attacks. Midmorning was pre-empted to allow coverage of the commission hearing.
Some parts of southern Minnesota were saturated with up to eight inches of rain from storms into early Wednesday. Flash flood warnings have been issued for Blue Earth and Nicollet counties. Mudslides also hit a stretch of Hwy. 169 between Mankato and St. Peter. Officials closed that stretch of the road for a time after it was covered with four to five inches of mud. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Tim Boyer, communications supervisor at the State Patrol in Mankato.