Michel Temer pide al gabinete seguir con reformas de pensiones y presupuesto
El recién juramentado nuevo presidente brasileño Michel Temer impuso el miércoles a su gabinete la tarea de seguir adelante con las reformas de pensiones y presupuesto, así como con propuestas para crear empleos.
El mandatario dijo que a partir de hoy las expectativas son mucho más altas para el gobierno. Señaló que espera que en los próximos dos años y cuatro meses se realice lo prometido: reactivar nuevamente a Brasil.
Michel Temer pide al gabinete seguir con reformas de pensiones y presupuesto
Gobierno venezolano y oposición, en crucial pulso en las calles por el revocatorio
Acusándose de buscar un estallido de violencia, la oposición y el gobierno de Venezuela medirán sus fuerzas este jueves con marchas multitudinarias a favor y en contra de un referendo revocatorio del mandato de Nicolás Maduro, confrontado al malestar popular por la crisis económica.
Gobierno venezolano y oposición, en crucial pulso en las calles por el revocatorio
Gabon parliament set ablaze after Bongo declared winner
Libreville (AFP) – Angry protesters torched Gabon’s parliament Wednesday after President Ali Bongo was declared winner of what he claimed was a “peaceful and transparent” election, but which the opposition said was fraudulent.
It only took a few minutes for the announcement to sink in before several of Libreville’s poorer neighbourhoods erupted in anger, with thousands of people taking to the streets to express their fury.
According to official results made public shortly after 1500 GMT, Bongo won Saturday’s presidential poll by just 5,594 votes, taking 49.80 percent to 48.23 percent for his rival Jean Ping, a veteran diplomat and former top African Union official.
The results will remain “provisional” until they are approved by the constitutional court.
By nightfall, protesters vented their fury by setting fire to the parliament building, sending skyward a plume of flame and black smoke, witnesses and AFP correspondents said.
Fires were visible in other parts of Libreville and explosions were heard as protesters faced off against heavily armed security forces.
“The whole building is catching fire,” a man outside parliament who gave name as Yannick told AFP.
The parliament lies on the same road as the state TV headquarters, senate, town hall, oil ministry, several embassies and the French cultural centre.
As soon as Bongo’s victory in Saturday’s poll was announced Wednesday, people took to the streets of the city’s slums, chanting “Ali must go.”
– Slim margin –
As helicopters flew overhead and smoke rose above poorer neighbourhoods, soldiers, police and gendarmes stopped traffic on the main highway where protestors braved tear gas to set tyres alight.
Protestors shouted, “Jean Ping president!” and “They stole the election.”
Ping, a half Chinese career diplomat has rejected the results, and before they were announced had declared it was he who won.
There was also trouble Wednesday in the economic capital Port Gentil, which saw the worst of the violence that followed Bongo’s 2009 election victory.
That contested vote followed the death of Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the oil-rich country for 41 years.
Any appeal by Ping would likely focus on disputed results in one of the country’s nine provinces — the Haut-Ogooue, the heartland of Bongo’s Teke ethnic group.
In Saturday’s vote, turnout was 59.46 percent nationwide but soared to 99.93 percent in Haut-Ogooue, where Bongo won 95.5 percent of votes.
“It’s going to be difficult to get people to accept these results,” one member of the electoral commission confided to AFP, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
“We’ve never seen results like these, even during the father’s time,” he added.
Opposition delegates in the electoral commission have vowed to fight for a recount.
– ‘Let’s change together’ –
Ping, the European Union and former colonial power France have called for voting figures from each of Gabon’s polling stations to be made public to ensure the credibility of overall result.
In 2009, Bongo was declared winner of the election after his father’s death. In the ensuing clashes several people were killed, buildings looted and the French consulate in the economic capital Port Gentil torched.
EU observers, who were barred from the meeting of the electoral commission on Wednesday, said the vote on Saturday was “managed in a way that lacked transparency”.
Joining the EU in pressuring Bongo on Wednesday, the French foreign ministry called for the electoral commission to show “transparency and impartiality”.
“Only in this way can the credibility of the results be guaranteed,” a spokesman for the French foreign ministry on Wednesday.
Gabon is a former French colony which has been hit by the global slump in the price of crude oil, its biggest export.
One third of Gabon’s population lives in poverty, despite the country boasting one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes at $8,300 (7,400 euros) thanks to pumping 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
Bongo, 57, campaigned under the slogan “Let’s change together,” playing up the roads and hospitals built during his first term and stressing the need to break with the bad old days of disappearing public funds and dodgy management of oil revenues.
The campaign period was marked by months of bitter exchanges between the two camps, including accusations, and strenuous denials, that Bongo was born in Nigeria and therefore ineligible to run.
Ping’s own roots — he is Sino-Gabonese — served as ammunition for Bongo’s camp, which has suggested he and his son are secretly serving Chinese interests.
Gabon parliament set ablaze after Bongo declared winner
US commercial flights take off for Cuba after more than half-century
Santa Clara, Cuba (CNN)When JetBlue Flight 387 touched down Wednesday in Cuba, it was the first direct commercial flight between the US and the island in over a half-century.
Travel ban remains in effect
US commercial flights take off for Cuba after more than half-century
Shannon Airport emergency landing: 12 taken to hospital
Twelve people, including three children, have been injured on a transatlantic flight after it encountered “severe and unexpected turbulence”.
The incident prompted the United Airlines flight to make an emergency landing in the Republic of Ireland.
Ten passengers and two crew members were taken to hospital from Shannon Airport shortly before 06:00 BST.
All have now been discharged with the exception of one flight attendant.
The United Airlines flight was travelling from Houston, Texas, to London Heathrow when it diverted to the airport in County Clare.
One of the passengers on the plane, John Dunton-Downer from London, said it felt like they were going to crash.
‘It felt like the plane was going down’
“We reached the mid-Atlantic when, suddenly, there was a sensation of the plane slamming into mid-air. It felt like it was made of paper and hitting a solid object,” he said.
“People, including babies, hit the ceiling and there was a lot of screaming. It felt like the plane was going down.
“We were told to get out of our seats and sit on the floor.
“The captain said that we had hit turbulence due to unforeseen weather circumstances.”
After the plane landed at Shannon Airport, the injured were taken to University Hospital Limerick, with cuts, bruises and minor head injuries.
“As of 10:30, one patient was still being assessed and the remaining 11 were discharged,” said the hospital.
“Hospital staff are working with the airline to transport the passengers back to Shannon Airport to continue their onward journey to London.”
What causes plane turbulence in the skies?
According to to the Federal Aviation Administration, turbulence can be caused by:
- air movement not normally seen
- atmospheric pressure
- jet streams
- air around mountains
- cold or warm weather fronts
- thunderstorms
In-air turbulence is the leading cause of injury to people on flights, according to the FAA, and on average 58 people in the US are injured during turbulent flights when not wearing seatbelts every year.
Most accidents involving turbulence happen at 30,000 ft (9144m) or above.
The Boeing 767-300 jet had 207 passengers and 13 crew members on board, and had been due to arrive at Heathrow at 06:55 BST.
“The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel,” said the airline.
“United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA-880.
“Customers will be departing Shannon to London Heathrow shortly on an alternative aircraft,” it added.
Shannon Airport emergency landing: 12 taken to hospital
Russian military claims airstrike that killed senior Islamic State strategist
MOSCOW — Russia claimed Wednesday it carried out the airstrike in Syria that killed one of the Islamic State’s most senior leaders, but U.S. officials said they had no evidence to back Moscow’s account and were examining whether the militant was hit in an American strike.
The statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry cited “intelligence channels” confirming that the attack Tuesday near Aleppo killed Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the Islamic State’s main spokesman and a leading strategist involved in planning attacks overseas.
The claim could not be independently verified. It also came after the Pentagon said it had targeted Adnani in an airstrike in a different location in the Aleppo region, and was still assessing the results of the attack.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters that U.S. officials had “no information” to support the Russian claim. White House spokesman Josh Earnest also said he was “not aware of any facts” to back Moscow’s report.
The U.S. strike was conducted by an unmanned drone firing Hellfire missiles on the northern edge of the town of Bab, about three miles from the town center, said a U.S. official. The Pentagon believes Adnani was traveling in a vehicle at the time with at least one other person, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the attack.
The Russian statement said the airstrike by a Su-34 bomber based in Syria killed as many as 40 Islamic State fighters, including Adnani.
[Aleppo’s humanitarian crisis deepens]
According to the ministry, the strike took place near the village of Maarat Umm Hawsh, a village north of Aleppo and about 16 miles west of Bab, which is controlled by the Islamic State.
The United States and Russia have both intervened in the Syrian conflict with airstrikes and other military support, but remain fundamentally opposed over the fate of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, which backs Assad, has portrayed its intervention primarily as a crusade against the Islamic State and other groups it deems “terrorists.” The West has accused Russia of indiscriminate bombing of civilians and more moderate rebel groups, including those backed by the United States.
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If a Russian attack did kill Adnani, it would be an unusual, targeted strike against a senior Islamic State official by Moscow, exhibiting Russia’s growing capabilities in Syria and bolstering the Kremlin’s information campaign that its intervention is legitimate.
The Islamic State had issued a statement announcing Adnani’s death, but gave no information on who carried out the attack.
Islamic State says leader killed in Syria Play Video0:44
The Islamic State said one of its longest-serving and most prominent leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has been killed in Syria. (Reuters)
“Al-Adnani’s removal from the battlefield would mark another significant blow to ISIL,” Cook said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
[Adnani was architect of attacks and rhetoric]
“He has coordinated the movement of ISIL fighters, directly encouraged lone-wolf attacks on civilians and members of the military, and actively recruited new ISIL members,” Cook added on Tuesday.
The Islamic State urged followers to avenge Adnani’s death, and vowed to keep fighting even as it suffers setbacks in the battlefield.
In an online edition of the Islamic State’s newspaper al-Naba, distributed hours after the announcement of Adnani’s death, the group told its fighters to keep fighting.
“This religion will always stand, unharmed by the death of any person,” the news site said, telling supporters they should “stand up and die” just as Adnani did, al-Naba said, according to a translation carried by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant statements.
The death of Adnani coincides with a string of setbacks for the militants in both Iraq and Syria, where they have been rapidly losing control of some of their most significant strongholds.
[Freelance attacks suggest new twist in Islamic State-inspired bloodshed]
Most recently, the group lost Jarabulus, a transit point for foreign fighters on the Turkish border that was recaptured by a joint force made up of Syrian rebels and Turkish troops.
Most of the Islamic State fighters who had been based in Jarabulus fled ahead of the advancing force to Bab, a strategically important town about 30 miles east of the city of Aleppo that is expected to become the venue for one of the next important battles.
A Syrian news website called Syrian View reported that Adnani was killed just outside Bab at around 3 p.m. by a coalition airstrike that struck his car, killing him and another Islamic State fighter.
He had been on his way to visit the front lines near the nearby town of Manbij, which was captured two weeks ago by a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force, the website said. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, Islamic State supporters took to various forms of social media to lament the news and call for revenge attacks.
“The Muslims are revived by the blood of those who you kill, and the fire of the jihad is ignited with it, and its flames intensify,” said the Nashir Foundation, a pro-Islamic State group, on its Telegram channel, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
“Today is the day of revenge. Kalashnikovs are not enough. Today is the dugma [bomb] day,” said another posting by a purported fighter using the name Abu Asim al-Masri. Dugma is a local colloquialism used to refer to truck-sized suicide bombs that are a hallmark of the Islamic State.
Adnani had been widely tipped as a likely successor to the current head of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the language used in the eulogies further indicated the esteem in which he was held.
“The way he’s being described in the obituaries, the indications of lineage, the epithets, point to him having been the next caliph,” said Aymenn al-Tamimi, an analyst specializing in militant groups with the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum.
Adnani was the most recognizable figure in the group after Baghdadi, especially now that dozens of its senior leaders have now been killed.
“I can’t think of many figures who are still alive,” he said. “This is part of a wider decline of the Islamic State; the territorial losses, manpower losses, loss of senior personnel.”
Russian military claims airstrike that killed senior Islamic State strategist
Tropical Storm Hermine nears Florida, Hawaii on hurricane watch
A tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico could produce near hurricane-force winds by the time it makes landfall in Florida, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Hermine, with gusting winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km), was forecast to strengthen before reaching Florida’s north-central Gulf Coast on Thursday afternoon, and then sweeping across the northern part of the state with diminished winds and later northeast along the Atlantic Coast.
Storm preparations were also under way on Hawaii, which was opening shelters and closing offices, schools and roadways on Wednesday to prepare for Hurricane Madeline, which is expected to hit the southern part of the state’s Big Island hardest.
Florida’s governor declared an emergency on Wednesday ahead of the brewing storm, which could bring life-threatening flooding.
Heavy rains were already pounding parts the state on Wednesday. As much as 15 inches (40 cm) could fall from central to northern Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said, warning of storm surges and “life-threatening inundation.” Many school districts along the Gulf Coast canceled after-school activities and ordered students to stay home on Thursday.
On its current path, the system would dump as much as 10 inches of rain (25 cm) on coastal areas of Georgia, which was under a tropical storm watch, and the Carolinas.
Lori Hebert, 40, woke up on Wednesday to flood waters seeping into her house in the Tampa Bay region. Catfish came onto her driveway as the street flooded outside her home in Gulfport, a small waterfront city.
“We haven’t gotten the main storm yet,” she said, loading a dozen orange sandbags into her van.
U.S. oil and gas producers in the eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico have removed workers from 10 offshore platforms, moved drilling rigs and shut some output because of the storm.
On Hawaii’s Big Island, residents were warned that Madeline, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of about 75 mph (120 kph), could dump as much as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain in isolated areas.
Madeline was expected to weaken to a tropical storm later on Wednesday, but another brewing hurricane also could affect the state over the weekend.
Governor David Ige signed an emergency proclamation that runs through Sept. 9, freeing up state resources.
Island residents were bracing themselves for a week of possible power outages and food rationing because of delays of the cargo ships that bring all of their essential supplies, said Galen Yoshimoto, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman.
“On an island, we can’t roll things from one island to another,” he said.
Tropical Storm Hermine nears Florida, Hawaii on hurricane watch
Businessman lobbies for cruise pier in New Guinea
St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): As government works toward the construction of a second cruise ship pier at Basseterre’s Port Zante, a New Guinea-based business is proposing construction of another cruise pier in that area. Regiwell Francis is the owner and Director of St. Kitts Marine Works.
“Down at New Guinea we have naturally deep water and it runs right along the breakwater we have there, actually at 120 feet from the breakwater we are already in 35 feet of water. So we do not need to dredge down there, we could drive piles and make a pier where a cruise ship could come alongside. Also the pier we are looking at designing would accommodate commercial vessels as well, whereas presently we only have one commercial dock so if something happens to the pier at Bird Rock, Tropical can’t land their containers on the island and we’ll have to send it to another island and get it here somehow. We’re looking at providing an alternate.”
Mr. Francis points out that his boat yard and docking services are already doing a brisk business and so has the necessary facilities already in place to accommodate the docking of cruise ships.
“We are port of entry right now, when vessels come from outside to haul out we have customs on our compound, immigration has an office there. We do need to get permission for the pier, we’ve presented to the planning board and we have presented to sustainable. I think the planning board is ok with it but we have issues with sustainable and the government giving approval because this is a major project, we have to really prove we’re going to make good use of it. That’s the stage we’re at we’re trying to prove to the government that this is good for the country. Times are changing and I’m going through the steps of trying to point out and lobby. To start off with in early November, we should be having our first ship anchor outside and tendering passengers because as I said the company came to me because they liked the area being outside of Brimstone Hill, so we’re looking forward for that event to occur and then the ministers of government we figure they can see it and somehow seeing something helps to encourage them in their mind to give them the go ahead.’
St Kitts Marine Works is not interested in getting involved in the tourism business, Mr. Francis emphasizes.
“I’m not competing, I’m making it clear I’m handing it over to SCASPA so they will have an additional asset at no cost. I’m looking at facilitating the process and getting a commission from the head count that passes through. They collect taxes per head, I’m requesting a percentage for St Kitts Marine Works because we have to get the capital to build the pier. I’m proposing we maintain the pier so SCAPA would have nothing to do but have the expenses of security, staff and out of the profit we share a percentage.”
Mr. Francis says he’s ready to start construction.
“We’re not looking for financing from outside, we’re doing it ourselves. The area would now be opened up because we have 39 booths which we’re looking at putting in the field for locals to use. The cruise ships want to come to an area that’s like an old time village where they can have access local products, local fish and lobster and crafts. I’m going through the procedures with the government and waiting my turn and waiting for their responses giving the information they require as they request.”
Businessman lobbies for cruise pier in New Guinea
Justice ministry calls for 6000 JPs
Jamaica – More than 6,000 committed persons of integrity are needed to join the ranks of justices of the peace (JPs) to bring social stability, civility and, ultimately, economic growth to Jamaica. The call was made by Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck, who wants to double the current commissioned number of more than 6,000 JPs, who provide voluntary service to the country.
“I would like to see more JPs because JPs are decent, law-abiding, honest and upright citizens. You are the people with conscience and character. You are the people who are appointed and continue to work because we see in you persons of unquestioned integrity and we want more like you.”
He said that while the ministry is on a drive to recruit more JPs, those who fail to abide by the Justice of the Peace Jurisdiction Act and the Justice of the Peace (Appointment Code of Conduct) Rules, 2006, will be addressed.
“I say to every one of you make sure that those whom you recommend to this noble vocation are persons of repute because we are going to put in place a programme to decommission JPs who act inappropriately,” Chuck revealed.
To become a justice of the peace visit the Ministry of Justice website at http://www.moj.gov.jm or call us at 906-4923-31 for more information.
Justice ministry calls for 6000 JPs
Protection failure – JPS says system flaw caused islandwide blackout
Jamaica – Early indications from the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) have pointed to a breakdown in its protection systems as the most likely cause of the islandwide power outage that occurred over the weekend.
While the company has said that more fulsome investigations into the issue will take time, it has confirmed that the outage was triggered during scheduled maintenance work at the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) substation in Kingston.
“The scheduled work was part of ongoing system improvements being done by JPS to our power delivery (transmission and distribution) network,” Winsome Callum, director of corporate communications at the power company, said in an emailed response toThe Gleaner.
Breakdown In Operating Procedures
According to Callum, initial investigations have revealed that there was a breakdown in the implementation of the established operating procedures for the work being done. This, she said, triggered a system fault that led to the outage.
“Preliminary indications are that the first level of the protection system did not operate as expected. As a result, several units at our power plants went offline. The network, in turn, shut down to protect itself from possible damage,” she said in explaining the failure on the protection system.
The protection system is a built-in mechanism on the national grid which is designed to safeguard against procedural errors.
“The protection system is designed to operate at different levels, ranging from isolating areas with a fault all the way up to the ultimate protection being to shut the entire electricity network down in the event of a major system fault,” the power company said.
The electricity supplier has indicated that in the coming days, its investigations will be focused on evaluating why the protection mechanism did not operate as expected.
The power company said it has already taken corrective measures and will be investing in system upgrades to create what it describes as a self-healing grid.
In the meantime, the Office of Utilities Regulation will today meet with executives of the JPS to discuss details of the ongoing investigations into the power outage.
The utility regulator wrote to the company yesterday requesting a preliminary report into the incident.
Callum confirmed that Energy Minister Dr Andrew Wheatley was provided with a preliminary overview on the outage and was to receive an initial report yesterday.
Protection failure – JPS says system flaw caused islandwide blackout
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