Six men and a woman were detained in raids in The Hague, Amsterdam and nearby Almere, the national prosecutor's office said. (...) Riot police moved in to strengthen security at the Binnenhof castle in the city where Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and others have offices.

A number of charities have already launched appeals to help with the earthquake relief efforts in south Asia. As always in a natural disaster, the immeadiate need is for cash.

Give to the charity of your choice, or consider one of these and while you have the checkbook or charge card out consider giving even more to the US hurricane victims.

Direct Relief
In the US, 805 964-4767

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
In the US, 800-HELPNOW

Mercy Corps International
In the US: 503-796-6827

Muslim Aid

Oxfam

Relief International
In the US, 800 573-3332 or 310 478-1200

UNICEF
In the US, 800-367-5437

World Vision
In the US, 888-56-CHILD

From California Yankee.

Village after village was reduced to rubble, and landslides flattened an apartment building after an earthquake shook the Pakistan-India border Saturday. More than 18,000 people were killed, a Pakistani official said.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's chief army spokesman, told Pakistan's Geo TV network early Sunday that the magnitude 7.6 quake had killed more than 18,000 people and injured about 41,000. The toll included 250 girls who died when their school in northwestern Pakistan collapsed, as well as 200 soldiers on duty in the Himalayas.

Reuters reports that Osama bin Laden is in poor health and is seeking medical attention.

“Osama bin Laden is trying to obtain medical attention,” Colonel Don McGraw, director of operations at the Combined Forces Command in Kabul, told a group of British reporters, including one from al-Hayat, it said.

“He (McGraw) refused to say what the al-Qaida leader is suffering from or whether it is the same kidney disease which Pakistani officials said in the past he was suffering from,” the newspaper added.

Al-Hayat said it was not clear how the U.S. military had obtained its information or where it thought bin Laden might be.

Another Reuters report states that Afghan commanders let bin Laden escape to Pakistan from Tora Bora in 2001:

Lutfullah Mashal, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, said commanders helped the al Qaeda leader escape from the Tora Bora mountains as U.S. warplanes and Afghan forces attacked his hideout near the Pakistan border in late 2001.

“The help was provided because of monetary aid availed by al Qaeda and also partly because of ideological issues,” Mashal said.

“Osama along with other al Qaeda people managed to go to Parachinar (in Pakistan) at the time and then Pakistani forces battled the al Qaeda runaways, killing around 70 of them,” Mashal added, referring to an area in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency.

He said commanders loyal to Maulvi Yunus Khalis had helped the al Qaeda leader escape. The whereabouts of Khalis, a top mujahideen leader from the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, is unknown.

From California Yankee.

Rehnquist had an extraordinary career.

Rehnquist's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1880 and settled in Chicago. His grandfather was a tailor, his grandmother a school teacher. Rehnquist grew up in Wisconsin, the son of paper salesman and a translator.

Rehnquist attended college after World War II on the GI Bill. At Stanford, he earned both a bachelor and a master of arts degree in political science. A distinguished student, Rehnquist was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1948. He continued his education at Harvard where he received another master of arts degree — this time in government. Rehnquist returned to Stanford Law School in 1950; he graduated at the top of his class.

Rehnquist clerked for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson. He Practiced law in Phoenix before moving to Washington. He served as Assistant Attorney General of the US from 69-71

President Nixon nominated Rehnquist to replace Justice Harlan in 1971. A Democratic Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination. When Rehnquist took his oath of office on January 7, 1971, he was the court's youngest member.

In 1986, President Reagan elevated Rehnquist to chief justice to replace Warren Burger.

Rehnquist was the force behind the court's push for greater states' rights. The chief justice has been the leader of five conservatives, sometimes called “the Rehnquist five,” Rehnquist and O'Connor, Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Thomas - who generally advocate limited federal government interference.

Rehnquist was the second-oldest person to preside over the court.

Evidence that authorities were beginning to get a grip on gargantuan problems varied from the successful and orderly evacuation of Baptist Mercy Hospital to a sharp reduction in the menacing bands of idle refugees, many of them intent on looting that had haunted Uptown neighborhoods in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

With thousands of National Guard troops being mustered to join the Louisiana guardsmen already deployed to the hurricane-stricken city, one of the early signs of the beefed-up military presence was a Blackhawk helicopter touching down near the Riverwalk to deliver water to some 1,000 refugees still sheltered in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

[. . .]

As a greater presence of Chinook and Huey military helicopters became apparent in the skies over New Orleans, the near-term tactical goal was a simple one: to rescue survivors and complete an evacuation that, while massive in the days just before the hurricane struck, still left behind somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 of the city's 480,000 residents, many of them infirm, elderly and low-income people without the means to escape.

By day's end, the massive bus-lift to Houston had reduced the Superdome's population to a few thousand refugees, authorities said. But many now homeless people continue to wait on bridges and highway ramps. And while officials remained adamant about the need to get out of a flooded city without power, water, or much prospect of these services being restored for months to come, efforts to comply were frequently mired in miscommunication.

From California Yankee.

Both the House and Senate will be back at work by tomorrow to begin work on a package of federal disaster aid for areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Western Florida affected by Hurricane Katrina, the aide said. Lawmakers were initially slated to return to work next week from an August break.

According to Bloomberg, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the federal government has spent $2 billion on Katrina emergency aid so far.

From California Yankee.

The Army has put on alert roughly 3,000 active-duty ground troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to be prepared to deploy to New Orleans to help bring security to the flooded city amid looting and lawlessness, said an Army official, who asked not to be named.

The brigade-sized force, likely to be from the 82nd Airborne Division, would engage in crowd control and site-protection activities, the official said.

U.S. law bars active-duty military troops from engaging in domestic law enforcement, but the Army official said crowd control and site-protection were not defined as law enforcement activities.

The official said another 240 troops from the Army's 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, also were going to the region.

From California Yankee.

Reuters reports the number of National Guard troops under the command of state governors would reach 21,000 by the end of Friday and top 30,000 in the next few days:

The crew of up to 5,000 on the carrier would bring to nearly 35,000 the number of National Guard and active duty military troops committed to the biggest domestic relief effort ever mounted by federal agencies in the United States.

There also are nearly 8,000 sailors and other active duty troops committed to the effort, most of them aboard ships or flying air support missions.

The Truman will provide a major naval command post in the Gulf of Mexico, helping coordinate the actions of nearly a dozen other warships and supply vessels, including two Navy helicopter assault ships.

The Navy dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island will also join the relief effort. Whidbey Island will provide the capability to employ a movable causeway to help where bridges were destroyed.

The hospital ship Comfort will soon join the relief effort, providing an offshore floating medical center with 12 operating rooms and up to 1,000 beds.

From California Yankee.

****

Government agencies and private relief organizations are mounting what the Washington Times reports is the largest mobilization ever for a natural disaster after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

You can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina by making a financial donation to any of the following charities:

For a complete list of charitable agencies recommended by FEMA, visit http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm.

The American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is launching the largest mobilization of resources in its history for a single natural disaster. More than two hundred Red Cross shelters are housing thousands of residents who fled Katrina’s wrath. More than 200 emergency response vehicles and countless other Red Cross resources are en route or on the scene to provide hot meals, snacks, bottled water and distribute other much-needed relief supplies.

You can help the victims of Hurricane Katrina by making a financial donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.

You can make a secure online contribution by visiting the Red Cross Online Donation Page.

You can also donate by phone:

1-800-HELP-NOW
(1-800-435-7669)
English speaking

1-800-257-7575
Spanish Speaking

Catholic Charities USA

1-800-919-9338, or online at http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/

Salvation Army

1-800-SAL-ARMY, or online at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

United Methodist Committee on Relief

1-800-554-8583, or online at http://gbgm-umc.org/

UPDATE:

Episcopal Relief & Development:

1-800-334-7626 or http://www.er-d.org/

Archdiocese of Miami-Dade

Monetary donations are being accepted by the Archdiocese of Miami, Catholic Charities, Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, 9401 Biscayne Blvd., Miami Shores, FL 33138.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Monetary donations are being accepted by The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 4200 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33179.

Or visit www.jewishmiami.org/pledge.cfm and make a notation in the comment box for Hurricane Katrina Relief. For more information, call 305-576-4000.

Operation Helping Hand

The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and the United Way of Miami-Dade have activated Operation Helping Hands to help hurricane victims:

Operation Helping Hands c/o United Way of Miami-Dade, P.O. Box 459007, Miami, Florida 33245-9007.

Operation Blessing

(800) 436-6348 or online at https://www.cbn.com/giving/ob/option.asp?m=alertbar&so=3

America's Second Harvest

(800) 344-8070 or online at http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

Adventist Community Services

(800) 381-7171 or online at http://www.adventist.communityservices.org/index.html

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

(800) 848-5818 or online at http://www.crwrc.org/donate/online.html

Checks be made out to “CRWRC,” earmarked “Hurricanes 2005,” and sent to 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49560 or PO Box 5070, STN LCD 1, Burlington, ON, L7R 3Y8.

Church World Service

(800) 297-1516 or online at https://secure.churchworldservice.org/catalog/display.php?product_id=177

Convoy of Hope

(417) 823-8998 or online at http://www.convoyofhope.org/

Lutheran Disaster Response

(800) 638-3522 or online at http://www.elca.org/disaster/

Mennonite Disaster Service

(717) 859-2210 or online at http://www.mds.mennonite.net/

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

(800) 872-3283 or online at http://www.pcusa.org/pda/

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is accepting donations at its 3,800 stores and Web site, www.walmart.com.

From California Yankee.

The Associated Press reports Hurricane Katrina weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and made a slight turn to the right before making landfall at 6:10 a.m. CDT near the bayou town of Buras. Katrina passed just to the east of New Orleans as it moved inland. Although New Orleans avoided the worse case scenario, the hurricane caused lots damage:

Elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, the storm flung boats onto land in Mississippi, lashed street lamps and flooded roads in Alabama, and swamped highway bridges in the Florida Panhandle. At least a half-million people were without power from Louisiana to Florida's Panhandle, including 370,000 in southeastern Louisiana and 116,400 in Alabama, mostly in the Mobile area.

At New Orleans' Superdome, home to 9,000 storm refugees, the wind peeled pieces of metal from the golden roof, leaving two holes that let water drip in. People inside were moved out of the way. Others stayed and watched as sheets of metal flapped and rumbled loudly 19 stories above the floor.

Building manager Doug Thornton said the larger hole was 15 to 20 feet long and four to five feet wide. Outside, one of the 10-foot, concrete clock pylons set up around the Superdome blew over.

Elsewhere in the city, the storm shattered scores of windows in high-rise office buildings and on five floors of the Charity Hospital, forcing patients to be moved to lower levels. At the Windsor Court Hotel, guests were told to go into the interior hallways with blankets and pillows and to keep the doors to the rooms closed to avoid flying glass.

From California Yankee.

Canada is sending its navy back to the far northern Arctic port of Churchill after a 30-year absence.

The visit by two warships to the area is the latest move to challenge rival claims in the Arctic triggered by the threat of melting ice.

The move follows a spat between Canada and Denmark, over an uninhabited rock called Hans Island in the eastern Arctic region.

Read the full story here.

My thanks to Mr. Eberstadt for being so generous with his time. I've posted a version without hyperlinks below. The version on my own blog has hyperlinks where relevant.

Die-hard settlers took to rooftops in the tiny Gadid enclave shouting “Nazis” as forces swept in, hours after clearing Gaza's main anti-pullout strongholds and all but breaking the back of opposition to ending 38 years of occupation.

With the latest poll confirming solid support among the Israeli public for the first removal of settlements from land Palestinians want for a state, troops rushed to wrap up their toughest tasks before the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sunset.

Marching past flaming cars, unarmed riot troops surrounded Gadid's synagogue and forced their way in as 90 protesters, mostly radical youths who had locked themselves inside, lay on the floor. Some prayed. Others cried or shouted abuse.

In what has become a familiar scene this week, police wrestled them out one by one and carried them to waiting buses - as they had in raids on two other enclaves on Thursday.

“This is a desecration of everything that is sacred to Jews,” said Boaz Puterel, 30, echoing the belief of ultranationalist Israelis that the Gaza Strip is part of God's gift to the Jewish people and should never be relinquished.

Read the rest of the story here.