Typhoon Nida at Hong Kong

The residents of Hong Kong woke up today morning to learn that the city is literally at stand still as authorities shut down the city to prepare for the Typhoon Nida. Authorities asked the people to stay back at their homes and even warned of flooding though the typhoon is now downgraded. With a wind speed of upto 90 miles per hour Nida could prove disastrous for the Hong Kongers.
As Hongkong is facing the Typhoon, Chinese authorities are taking no risk. Cities in the Peral River delta area are preparing for the worst as residents seems to piling stock of food supplies. The super market food shelves emptied as the news hit the cities early on Monday. The airport authorities at Shenzhen airport canceled all flights from Monday midnight. More than 320 flights are expected to rescheduled as a result of the typhoon. The streets are empty and heavy rainfall is continuing as we report this.

Majority of the bus services and ferry are canceled. The trains are running at less frequently. The Hong Kong stock exchange is closed for trading on Tuesday.
For latest situation on Hong Kong weather condition visit the weather.com’s update.

Earth Quake in Italy

Mirandola, ItalyOn Tuesday morning a 5.8-magnitude earth quake shook a large swath of northern Italy, killing around 15 people. The initial reports indicate that the quake also brought down buildings in the area already damaged by an earthquake that struck the area a week ago.

The latest earth quake struck at 8:30 am when many more local businesses and factories were open. This is likely to result in higher death toll in the latest earthquake in Italy. The tremors were reported to have felt as far away as Austria. The center of the quake is believed to be approximately 25 miles (40km) north-west of Bologna, near Mirandola, close to where a 6-magnitude quake struck in the early hours of 20 May, which killed seven people.

According to Guardian,

In Cavezzo’s old city centre, several buildings and the back half of the city church were reduced to rubble. Tents had been set up near the town’s sports complex and cots laid out in the tennis courts. Frightened residents sat or stood outside their homes, unsure of their next steps.

“I ran out of the fruit and vegetable store where I work as everything was falling off the shelves,” said Marzia Dondi, 42, as she stood outside her home with her two sons, aged 15 and 9. “We haven’t slept inside since last Sunday’s quake. We’re afraid to go back in. What a disaster. We were finally starting to calm down.”

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/29/north-italy-earthquake-deaths

Rescue workers are searching for survivors at the quake hit area. Authorities have asked the people not to panic and have faith in their rescue operations.

Chipwrecked Movie Trailer

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Movie 2011
Chipmunks Here is the new 2011 edition of Alvin and the Chipmunks called the Chipwrecked. Watch the Chipwrecked movie trailer here.

The animation movie which is set to release on December 16th, 2011 is produced by Fox Studios.

Story: The Chipmunks are on a cruise vacation along with their beautiful female Chipettes. Filled with enthusiasm, the Chipmunks and Chipettes turn the luxury cruise into their playground. Soon the trouble started and the cruise gets chipwrecked.
When the guardian of the Chipmunks, Dave Seville sets out to find the lost chipmunks, the six find a new castaway on the island which leads to unexpected events.

Genres: Animation, Kids/Family, Comedy and Sequel

Egypt restless owing to continuous protest against military regime

Cairo is rampant with protests and violent clashes between military regime’s security forces and opposition groups that are continuously demanding for transition of power.

Egypt’s capital city- Cairo witnesses another day of severe protests by the people who are opposing military rulers. The protesters are continuously gathering around Tahir Square in the central part of the city to demonstrate against the regime. The protests in Egypt follows the same in many nations of the Middle East asking for freedom from military or autocratic governments and advocating democracy or civilian rule—a trend which has emerged recently in many countries and popularly known as the Arab surge globally.

Around 3000 demonstrators in Egypt have surrounded Tahrir square in Cairo, whereas police is trying to scatter the crowd using rubber bullets and firing tear gas. Interior Ministry of Egypt is located very close to Tahrir Square, which has become an epicenter of protests, which finally forced President Hosni Mubarak out in February. However, the military has now postponed the transfer of power to civilian rulers by 2013.

The protests, however, have continued with a suspicion over the intentions of military rulers that they might try to retain power despite parliamentary polls and election of new government in Egypt.

Syrian rebels fail to achieve Russia’s support against President Assad

Moscow seems unmoved from Syrian protesters’ call for endorsing their fight against President Bashar al-Assad.

Burhan Ghalion, the chief of Syrian National Council [SNC], and who is also leader the protesters demanding Assad’s resignation, stated that he failed to convince Russia to support their struggle. Ghalion was in Moscow for a talk with Russian diplomats.

Instead, Russian leaders asked SNC leader to negotiate with President Assad and stop violent demonstrations. Clashes between Syrian government forces and protesters have caused hundreds of deaths so far.

Last Monday, around 70 people lost their lives in another conflict. Human right activists are strongly opposing violence in Russia.

However, the claims of deaths of civilians can not be verified even as the Syrian government has restricted access to country for foreign media.

According to the United Nations, around 3500 people have died since demonstrations started in Syria calling  President Assad to resign. However, the Syrian government claims the deaths were caused by violence by militant groups.

The Russian government does not support UN Security Council’s criticism against Syria and also flayed the Arab League for suspending Syria’s membership. There was no agreement on any issue between the Syrian opposition leader and Kremlin, revealed Ghalion in Moscow. He further revealed that he felt President Assad’s oppressive government enjoyed full support from the Russian government.

South Sudan protesters call on Warrap State to evacuate

Protesters in South Sudan threatened to overthrow the local government of Warrap state and appealed to the international bodies and civilians to vacate the area.

The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) asked UN staffs to vacate Warrap state within 3 days after the army attaked Mayom Town. The SSLA stated that people of Warrap state will be free from poverty and corruption after they dismiss the local government.

The army also clarified that they had asked residents of Warrap State to evacuate in order to keep them safe. The United Nations did not take any action, however, and did not remove its volunteers who are engaged in humanitarian works in South Sudan and providing food to people there.

South Sudan became an  independent nation following a peace deal with Khartoum government this year in July. This also ended the many decade-long civil war in united Sudan. Hoever, Northern Sudan is still facing tribal conflicts within its border that has taken thousands of lives so far.

According to officials of South Sudan, the SSLA attacked on Mayom Town killing many civilians and soldiers.

Philip Aguer, spokesperson of South Sudan military criticized the attack by the SSLA because it led to civilian deaths. He stated that Mayom was back under the control of government which the SSLA rejected. The SSLA also claimed to have captured Tomor Town and were now moving toward Bentiu too.

Leading Mexican presidential contestant pledges to fight against drugs

Santiago Creel who is fighting for presidential polls in Mexico assured the nation to fight against drug gangs provided he win.

Former interior minister of National Action Party (PAN) of Mexico stated this while giving an interview. Surprisingly, the minister is a candidate from a ruling party, yet dares to talk about government’s failures.

Creel also stated that he would withdraw from current government policies and separate the army from fight with drug abuse.

Santiago expressed his dissatisfaction with President Felipe Calderon’s military strategy, and stated that the policy has already served its purpose and now needs to be changed.

Creel explained that the present policy is quite expensive and elaborate which was not needed now. Creel is right now leading as a candidate from PAN for presidential elections in 2012.

Drugs have led to many violent disputes in Mexico since President Calderon involved army since December 2006 after coming into power. This, however, damaged his reputation within his party. Involvement of army also strained Mexico’s relationship with the United States.

The United States backed his military approach to solve drug-related crisis but Calderon was severely criticized by Mexican diplomats and opposition leaders.

The violence has caused more than 44,000 deaths in Mexico.

 

Libyan Sufi shrines attacked by Muslims

Tripoli witnessed another communal violence as fundamentalist Muslims attacked more than half a dozen shrines, which belong to “sacrilegious” sects. This has increased conflict and tension in the country, which is already boiling in the fire of revolution after ouster of autocratic ruler Mummar Gaddafi.

National Transition Council [NTC]— the rebellions party, is seeking for recognition from the international community and this communal violence may halt their desires in this regard. The new Libyan government is also fighting to combat extremists and trying not to let them influence politics and social life in the country as well as in the entire North African region.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, NTC chief has taken this violent outbreak very seriously and even appealed to top Muslim cleric to issue religious “fatwa” against the insurgents.

He also called on people to stop creating such nuisance and said that it was not a right time to do so. Jalil stated this while addressing a news conference on Tuesday.

The destruction seems to be targeting a particular sect as the targeted shrines belonged to Sufis. Fundamentalist Sunnis do not approve of Sufi practices as they consider worshipping graves as similar to idolatry, which is prohibited in Islam. According to some witnesses, many military officials were also involved in the breaking of Sufi shrines in Tripoli.

Myanmar to check human right abuses

Myanmar sets up human rights commission to investigate into cases of human rights abuses in the country, states UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, while talking to the local media. The country has established the human rights commission to protect its citizens against human rights abuses.

The organization consists of bureaucrats and scholars who are 15 in total, according to a report published in a national newspaper. Hoever, there is not detail available about the duties and jurisdictions of the panel.

The establishment of a human rights organization has occurred in the wake of newly founded civilian administration in Myanmar. This is also an initiative toward improving Burma’s image on international level.

The authority of the newly established organization to challenge the functionalities of government is not yet been declared clearly and therefore experts doubt its capacity. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN official in Burma called on formation of human rights commission for Burma last month during his visit to the country.  He was also given permission to visit Insein jail, situated near Rangoon. At present, Insein jail holds 2,000 political prisoners of Burma.

Democrats Plot against Perry for 2012 polls

The Democrats party is working for the downfall of its potential threats to the election Rick Perry who is the governor of Texas State. The Democrats are trying to play him down as a credible opponent in the election even as the governor has barely joined the race.

The target of attack against Governor Perry is on the economic front which he is using as a font as a credible alternative to President who is rated low on the economy. Perry has boasted that his government had created over forty percent of the jobs in the last years which the country had generated within the same period. This is going to be a critical issue in 2012 poll as the economy is going to be in the front burner.

The Democrat saw the economic campaign as being played by Perry as not having any affect in the election. The party had sent series of emails to media houses in the country where they release a bill which is detrimental to the course of Perry who is now a leading contender since he joined the race few weeks back.

The email said that Perry’s economic policy was against middle class families in the state just as they maintained that workers in the state are the most deprived as they are paid below the national minimum wage in the country. Even other indexes of life the mail maintained that the quality of life of people of Texas is among the worst in the country.