NewsHum

Landslides hamper Pakistan relief

2010-08-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

Al Jazeera - Landslides have cut off large portions of Pakistan's Swat Valley and hampered efforts to help the 15 million people affected by Pakistan's worst flooding in decades.

Many roads and bridges have been washed away by the floodwaters, and heavy rains are preventing helicopters from taking off.

The United Nations has described the flooding, that has killed an estimated 1,600 people nationwide, as the worst natural disaster in years.

"This disaster is worse than the tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake," Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesman for the UN Office for the C-oordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said........read more>>

Iraq suicide bombers target city of Baquba

2010-03-03T04:45:00.001-08:00

Suicide attacks in the central Iraqi city of Baquba have killed at least 31 people and injured dozens more.

Two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other near government buildings in the capital of Diyala province, 60km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

A later third blast targeted the city's main hospital, where victims of the first attacks were being treated.

The attacks come just days before parliamentary elections, the third since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Nearly a million military and police personnel have been placed on the highest alert ahead of Sunday's polls, defence officials have told the BBC, amid fears the country could slide back into sectarian conflict.......... read more>>

China activist demands quake recovery budget info

2010-03-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

BEIJING — A prominent Chinese artist and activist has filed a suit against the Ministry of Civil Affairs for allegedly failing to respond to his request for information about the toll and cost of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Ai Weiwei told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he filed a request in November asking the ministry how many buildings fell in the quake, the amount of donations received, the cost of recovery and other details but has yet to receive a response.

China enacted a freedom of information regulation on May 1, 2008, allowing citizens to request information and get a response from the government within 15 to 30 days, but implementation has been slow and uneven.......... read more>>

Gates outlines study on letting gays serve openly in the military

2010-03-02T22:39:00.000-08:00

A Pentagon study on how to implement a plan to allow gays to serve openly in the military, "can only be successful if it is managed in a way that minimizes disruption to a force engaged in combat operations," according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gates made the comments in a letter sent Tuesday to the four service heads and other senior staff who will work on a study looking at implications of repealing the "don't ask don't tell" law.

President Barack Obama requested that the Congress repeal the law and directed Gates to consider how best to implement a repeal.

The letter by Gates included an outline with objectives for the study and how to approach executing it throughout the services......... read more>>

Chileans' instincts saved their lives

2010-03-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said all emergency measures should be in place by Tuesday, three days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed large swaths of the central and southern parts of the nation.

The death toll stood at 723 Tuesday, with 544 reported killed in Maule, where a sewer system collapsed and several water towers were close to toppling, the National Emergency Office said. The death tally was expected to climb, officials said.

Although damage was significant in Santiago, the nation's capital, electricity and water were restored to much of the city by late Monday and many residents could use their cell phones and other conveniences. About 90 percent of the city's stores were open......... read more>>

Gossip Girl`s Leighton Meester puts music career on hold - to go back to acting

2010-03-01T13:48:00.001-08:00

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester is putting her music career on hold to star in a new movie.

The actress and singer is to shoot the indie dramatic comedy The Oranges, opposite House star Hugh Laurie.

The film, which also stars Catherine Keener, centres around a man's romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, which turns all their lives upside down....... read more>>

Pound hit over hung parliament fears

2010-03-01T13:45:00.001-08:00

The pound was punished today amid worries that plans to slash the UK's soaring deficit could be delayed by political uncertainty.

Fears of a hung parliament after the looming general election have been fuelled by a narrowing Conservative poll lead and sent sterling to a nine-month low of 1.478 against the dollar at one point.

The pound was also on the back foot against the euro, falling as low as 1.09 before clawing back some ground against both currencies.

"If there is one thing markets hate it is uncertainty, and the prospect of a hung parliament could keep sterling on the defensive until the general election is done and dusted," Capital Economics' John Higgins said.......... read more>>

Microsoft offers browser choices to Europeans

2010-03-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own.

Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission.

The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position.

A pop-up window will prompt people to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft's Internet Explorer........... read more>>

Peter Gabriel and Jamie Cullum cover tunes, and 'Alice in Wonderland'

2010-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

On March 2 two Alice in Wonderland soundtracks, plus a title from Peter Gabriel surfaces after seven years with a backscratching idea, Jamie Cullum returns after only four, and ABBA's Benny Andersson. Peter Gabriel, Scratch My Back
On Gabriel's first studio album in seven years, he covers songs by artists such as Radiohead and Paul Simon, who will in turn record his music on an upcoming collection called I'll Scratch Yours. The 12 tracks are the first of a series of "song exchanges" with artists reinterpreting one another's music, including Lou Reed's "The Power of the Heart" and David Bowie's "Heroes." He performs with a 54-piece orchestra - no guitar or drums - which he will take on the road for The New Blood tour, a limited engagement at select venues in Europe and North America. The collection was released in the UK/Europe February 16 on Virgin Records.......... read more>>

Death toll in Chile quake reaches 723

2010-03-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Rescuers searched for survivors Monday as crews sought to deliver food and water and prevent looting after the fifth strongest earthquake in some 100 years ravaged central and southern Chile.

More than 1.5 million people were without power in and around the capital of Santiago, according to Chile's National Emergency Office, but the hardest-hit areas after Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake were farther south in the Maule and Bio Bio regions along the coast.

Authorities said 544 of the 723 reported deaths were in Maule, where a sewer system collapsed, water towers were close to toppling and communities lacked basic services, the emergency office said.......... read more>>

Showdown over healthcare reform

2010-03-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, you could almost hear it echoing through the halls of the White House: "We were this close."

Barack Obama, the US president, has for years talked about the need for health insurance reform. He campaigned on the issue and spent his first year in office focusing on what is his top domestic priority.

The House and the Senate were both able to pass health insurance reform bills in the past, but as the two chambers were reconciling their differences, a giant roadblock emerged from something unexpected in Massachusetts.......... read more>>

Prudential in talks over AIG Asia

2010-03-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

Prudential, the British insurer, says it is in "advanced" talks to purchase AIA, the Asian arm of US insurance company AIG, in a deal that would create the biggest insurer in Southeast Asia.

A source close to the deal said late on Sunday that AIG had agreed to sell its Asian division to Prudential for around $35bn.

"The board of Prudential plc notes the recent press speculation regarding a possible transaction involving AIA Group Limited," the London-listed Prudential said in an official statement on Monday......... read more>>

Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, David Cook, Celine Dion and Beatles music for Olympic Figure Skating

2010-02-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

February 27, 2010 -- The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver may be held to showcase athletics and skill, but for those in the figure skating audience tonight, music is a factor. This is especially so tonight at the exhibition skate when these ice stars glided to songs familiar around the world. Many of the songs chosen came from recording artists who have recently come up the ranks in reality contestant shows like American Idol and X Factor, while other music moved toward the more classical tunes of yesteryear.

Celebrity musicians featured last night in Vancouver included Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, and David Cook. Ice-bound performers set their choreography to the beauty of the music while dancing all over the rink in front of an enthusiastic audience. Also included in the popular list of tunes was the Beatles with their iconic tune Yesterday......... read more>>

Chile and Haiti: A Tale of Two Earthquakes

2010-02-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile early on Feb. 27 was 500 times stronger than the 7.0 quake that killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians last month. And yet the number of casualties in Chile appears to be exponentially smaller, with the official death toll still in the hundreds. Far fewer people were rendered homeless than in Haiti, and much of the telephone service in Santiago and parts of central Chile had been restored within five hours. (Read a TIME reporter's first-hand account of the earthquake in Chile.)

Comparisons between the two countries will no doubt be much discussed when the U.N. hosts a conference in New York City on March 31 to hash out how best to help Haiti rebuild. Donor governments already know why there was so much less destruction........ read more>>

Debra Medina, new star of America's right, is firing up the race for Texas governor

2010-02-28T08:13:00.001-08:00

Lytle is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of town, one of hundreds that dot the vast flat ranchlands of southern Texas. A smear of houses by the main highway between San Antonio and Laredo. Population: 2,383. The first streets only got paved here in the years after the second world war.

A sewage system took a little longer, not being built until the 1960s. In short, Lytle, Texas, has never been big enough to have much impact on the politics of the Lone Star state. And few Texas politicians have ever paid much attention to it.Until Debra Medina, that is. When Medina breezed into Lytle's community hall the locals found themselves confronted with a Texan version of Sarah Palin.

She wore a sharp scarlet skirt suit, librarian-style glasses and a puffed-up hairdo. More than 60 Lytle residents had gathered to meet her, a hefty turnout on a weekday at 11am for a Republican ........ read more>>

Time for Obama to meet Ahmadinejad

2010-02-28T08:03:00.001-08:00

The two-day visit by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, to Syria and his warm meetings with his Syrian counterpart as well as with the leaders of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas have ruffled many feathers in the US, Europe and Israel.

Although they said much about the future of the region, including the end of the 'Zionist regime', the anti-Israeli gathering has sent a primarily strategic not polemical message: We stand united - an attack on one of us is an attack on all....... read more>>

8.8 quake strikes Chile

2010-02-28T07:43:00.001-08:00

SANTIAGO, CHILE—A MASSIVE 8.8-MAGNITUDE EARTHquake struck Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people, collapsing buildings and setting off a tsunami.

A huge wave reached a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 660 kilometers off the Chilean coast, said President Michele Bachelet.

In the moments after the quake, people streamed onto the streets of the capital, hugging each other and crying.

“Never in my life have I experienced a quake like this, it’s like the end of the world,” one man told local television from the city of Temuco, where the quake damaged buildings and forced staff to evacuate the regional hospital....... read more>>

'State of Catastrophe' After Chile Quake

2010-02-28T07:32:00.000-08:00

RIO DE JANEIRO -- A deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, ripping apart buildings, highways and bridges and leaving a path of smoky rubble across a long swath of this earthquake-tested country before sending waves rumbling across the Pacific Basin.

At least 300 people died, according to local news services that quoted the director of Chile's emergency management office, and more than 1.5 million people were displaced. The death toll was expected to rise, particularly around Concepción, Chile's second-largest metropolitan area, which is roughly 70 miles from the quake's center.

There, cars lay mangled and upended on streets littered with telephone wires and power cables. A new 14-story apartment building fell, while an older, biochemical lab at the University of Concepción caught fire......... read more>>

Britain braces itself for floods as forecasters warn of heavy rain Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254033/Britain-braces-floods-f

2010-02-26T13:08:00.001-08:00

Britain should brace itself for floods as heavy rain is set to fall across most of the country this weekend, the Environment Agency and the Met Office warned today.

February looks further set to end on a wintry note with snow and gale force winds blowing across England and Wales on Sunday.

Forecasters say heavy and persistent rain falling on already sodden ground in England on Sunday, particularly in the south, could lead to river flooding.

Parts of Essex were already submerged under water last night as heavy rainfall caused localised flooding.

Interest subsidy on home, crop loans to continue

2010-02-26T04:48:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday extended by a year the one per cent interest subvention scheme for housing sector and provided Rs 700 crore for it in the budget for 2010-11.

"I proposes to extend the interest subvention scheme for housing sector to March 2011," he said, unveiling the budget proposal in the Lok Sabha.

Under the scheme, introduced last year, home buyers get one per cent interest subsidy for banking loans up to Rs 10 lakh provided the cost of house does not exceed Rs 20 lakh............ read more>>

Libya's Gaddafi urges 'holy war' against Switzerland

2010-02-26T04:03:00.001-08:00

Libya's Muammar Gaddafi has called for a jihad, or holy war, against Switzerland, as an ongoing diplomatic row between the two nations heats up.

He criticised a recent Swiss vote against the building of minarets and said Muslims must boycott the country.

There have been tensions between the nations since 2008, when one of Mr Gaddafi's sons was arrested in Geneva, accused of assaulting two servants.

A Swiss foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the jihad call.

The Libyan leader made his comments while speaking at a meeting to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. .......... read more>>

Boralex Announces its 2009 Results

2010-02-26T03:53:00.001-08:00

MONTREAL, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Boralex Inc. ("Boralex" or the "Corporation") ended fiscal 2009 with a solid performance despite a difficult economic context.

(in millions of dollars, except per share data) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three-month Twelve-month periods ended periods ended ---------------------------------------------------- December 31, December 31, December 31, December 31, 2009 2008 2009 2008 ---------------------------------------------------- Revenues from energy sales 46.1 54.3 184.8 197.2 EBITDA 12.0 15.6 57.3 68.8 Net earnings 14.7 4.4 24.4 20.4 per share (basic and diluted) $0.39 $0.12 $0.65 $0.54 Cash flows from operations 11.3 11.1 47.4 55.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boralex ended fiscal 2009 with total revenues from energy sales of $184.8 million, down 6.3% compared to $197.2 million in 2008. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to $57.3 million versus $68.8 million a year........... read more>>

Suicide bombing hits Afghan capital

2010-02-26T03:42:00.001-08:00

KABUL – (UPDATE 3) A suicide bomber killed 10 people near an upmarket shopping and hotel complex in the heart of Kabul on Friday, and police shot dead two other would-be attackers, officials said.

Witnesses reported at least two smaller blasts around the Safi Landmark complex as police cordoned off the area, ambulances rushed to the scene and sporadic gunfire was heard.

People in pyjamas were seen being led from a guesthouse in the area and taken away in ambulances.

A military official said that 10 people were killed and 11 others wounded........ read more>>

Obama summit raises stakes in healthcare wrangle

2010-02-26T03:33:00.000-08:00

Rarely have so many members of Congress talked for so long, with such restraint, before so many TV cameras, to so little obvious effect.

After more than seven hours of back and forth in the refined surroundings of Blair House, Republicans and Democrats went their separate ways - each side convinced that they were still right.

No-one had really expected anything else.

President Obama had hoped Congress would sign off on health reform last summer, but the issue goes to the heart of the ideological differences between the two parties, and even between liberal and moderate Democrats.

Politicians on the left want more government involvement to ensure that healthcare is available to all. Those on the right say keep the government and the lawyers out, and let the market decide........ read more>>

Fresh clashes erupt in West Bank town

2010-02-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

HEBRON, Occupied West Bank: Around 100 Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron early on Thursday over an Israeli plan to renovate two holy sites in the occupied territory, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the decision.

The plan has infuriated Palestinians and been criticized by the United States as a “provocative” act that could further complicate efforts to re-launch Middle East peace talks suspended during the Gaza war more than a year ago.

Young men hurled rocks at soldiers who fired tear gas and stun grenades in running clashes near the disputed Tomb of the Patriarchs, according to an Agence France Presse correspondent who saw four Palestinians detained by soldiers......... read more>>