At least 19 people are believed to be missing after two high-rise buildings collapsed in Rio de Janeiro late on Wednesday.
Rescue workers are searching through the rubble for survivors. Five people are said to have been lightly injured.
Rescuers freed a cleaner from inside a buried lift after he managed to call a friend on his mobile phone.
City Mayor Eduardo Paes said current investigations were pointing towards structural problems.
He discounted speculation that a gas explosion could have caused the collapse.
The mayor told Globo News television that “19 people who were inside the buildings have not returned home”.
The buildings, which were respectively 10 and 20 storeys high and were located near the Municipal Theatre and the headquarters of oil giant Petrobras, crushed a four-storey construction site on their way down.
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WASHINGTON – The battle for the 2012 Republican presidential candidacy is heating up: Eight of the party’s candidates took part in a broadcast Republican presidential debate in Iowa on Thursday night, the second debate in the upcoming presidential campaign.
Texas Governor Rick Perry was able to steal the spotlight after annouceing his plans to join the Republican race to the White House during his visit to New Hampshire. The 61-year-old conservative evangelist is expected to battle it out for the same public voters as Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has yet to officially announce her candidacy though she sparked some rumors when she arrived in Iowa as well.
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in her last blog posting as she crosses the Atlantic headed for her finish line on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten on Saturday, Miss Dekker complains of her “intimidating, frightening and traumatic” treatment.
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Teenage Dutch sailor Laura Dekker vows never to return to Netherlands!…
Laura Dekker,16, has now torn down the Dutch flag as she approached St. Maarten.
“From the moment my plans became public, youth care and other government organisations tried to stop me. They asked the judge to take me away from my father and to lock me up in a secure clinic! By doing this they tried to stop me from sailing,” she wrote.
“Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that youth care would lock me up.”
The Dutch authorities, who tried to put Miss Dekker into care two years ago over her solo-sailing adventures, have claimed that the teenager is not doing enough school work while piloting her 38 foot yacht through heavy Atlantic seas.
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The billionaire investor George Soros has a new prediction for America. While it might be as dire as it gets for the financial wiz, this bet concerns more than just the value of the buck. According to Soros, there’s about to be an all-out class war. Which is what Soros is looking for.
Soros, 81, previously bet against the British pound in the early 90s and made $1 billion off its collapse. In the years since, he’s remained active in investing, but also in advocacy.
He’s helped keep Wikipedia afloat thanks to impressive contributions and through donations to the Tides Center, has indirectly funded Adbusters, the Canadian anti-capitalist magazine that put Occupy Wall Street on the map. Speaking to Newsweek recently, Soros neglected to acknowledge his past successes, but instead offered a word of warning: a period of “evil” is coming to the western world.
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Congressman Frank to wed same-sex partner in Mass.!…
By · CommentsBarney Frank, the 16-term congressman from Massachusetts who was one of the first openly gay figures in U.S. national politics, plans to marry his partner, his office said on Thursday.
Frank, 71, will marry Jim Ready in a ceremony in Massachusetts, capping a nearly five-year relationship. Ready, 42, lives in Maine, where he has a small handyman business and practices photography, Frank’s office said.
No other details on the date or location of the wedding were released.
Frank announced in November he would not seek re-election this year. He has been an influential Democratic voice in Congress on financial issues and was the author of U.S. financial reform law.
Frank said decision to retire was provoked by the difficulty of running for re-election in a newly redrawn district and his desire to spend more time writing and teaching. He has told several aides he did not want to die in Congress.
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Ashley Callingbull Is a Miss World Canada Finalist!…
By · CommentsCree model and actress Ashley Callingbull is among the final 20 women competing for the Miss World Canada title. She has previously represented Canada in the Miss Humanity International, Queen of the World, and Miss Friendship competitions, and was second runner up for Miss Universe Canada 2010.
Callingbull is currently appearing on the acclaimed APTN drama Blackstone, about the fictional Blackstone First Nation. As her profile rises, her appeal is also broadening—she was recently featured on the popular men’s entertainment site theChive, and received rave reviews.
“Best Chivette ever,” reads the first comment on the page.We’re guessing many ICTMN readers will agree.
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Despite President Obama’s decision last week to delay the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas for environmental reasons, most voters think creating jobs trumps the environment.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of Likely U.S. Voters say, generally speaking, that creating new jobs is more important than environmental protection. Twenty-nine percent (29%) disagree and say protecting the environment is more important. Another 12% are not sure.
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on January 19-20, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports.
59% Say Creating New Jobs More Important Than Protecting Environment.
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The Daily Presidential Tracking Poll!…
By · CommentsRasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 25% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13.
That’s the president’s best rating in a month and comes at a time when the number who say the country is moving in the right direction has reached the highest level in seven months at 26%. Consumer confidence is up sharply from three months ago, but still down from a year ago.
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Barack Obama showed he was cool as a cucumber when he went to Congress Wednesday to address his country after ordering a deadly team of Special Forces to enter Somalia and free a kidnapped American woman. In his last State of the Union address before he puts his job on the line to seek re-election, At 6:43 p.m. on Tuesday as Mr. Obama stepped into the House chamber to deliver his speech, he looked right at Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta standing in the crowd and said: “Leon! Good job tonight. Good job.”
Only a few of his aides knew what he was speaking about. For thousands of miles away, a group of American Special Forces who the President had ordered nine months ago to stealthily enter Pakistan and take out Osama bin Laden, had safely ejected from a military aircraft 30,000 feet above Somalia and dropped to the ground, only opening their parachutes shortly before touching ground.
Members of Seal Team Six made their way to a Somali pirate’s enclave where their coordinates had shown that American aid worker Jessica Buchanan and her Dutch colleague Poul Hagen Thisted were being held for ransom by the Somali pirates who have made millions of dollars from hijacking marine ships as well as any ship daring to come within range of the Somali borders.
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YAHOO hires a new CEO!…He Says they can do better!…
By · CommentsYahoo Inc Chief Executive Scott Thompson said reviving the company’s flagging display advertising business was his “highest priority,” even as he crafts a broader plan to bring the struggling Internet company back to fighting form.
“There’s no question that we need to do better,” said Thompson on his first quarterly earnings since taking the reins earlier this month, as Yahoo reported another decline in sales and profit on Tuesday.
Analysts prodded Thompson for clues about his plans for Yahoo Inc, which fired former CEO Carol Bartz in September and last week saw co-founder Jerry Yang resign unexpectedly, but all they received were boilerplate comments about how the company needs to “do better” and “get innovative products that matter into the market.”
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Jay Leno’s Garage!…
By · CommentsWelcome to Jay Lenos Garage where auto fascination becomes reality. Thanks to Mercedes-Benz, Automotive Rhythms was able to experience the plethora of vehicles and motorcycles Mr. Primetime owns. Simply Amazing! Distributed by Tubemogul.
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Give Your donation to:
Bank: ABN AMRO
Account number: 57.41.51.753
IBAN code: NL46ABNA0574151753
BIC code: ABNANL 2A
Account holder’s name: Laura Dekker (note:unfortunately there is a charge for international banking)
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Ten percent of each donated EURO will go to Sea Shepherd
Netherlands, an organisation whose mission is to end the
slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.
If you would like to support the Sea Shepherd Organization only,
this is also possible of course, by doing so directly to their
organization.
23-1-2012 |
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| The dark and starry night sky slowly vanishes its floating lights sprinkling to dust as small islands appear on the horizon. I can see Sint Maarten very far in the distance. St. Eustatius is behind me, Saba is abeam and St. Bath is on starboard. The Simpson Bay bridge opening is for 3 pm this afternoon so I have to keep at a maximum speed of 4 knots but even with the mainsail reefed, the Genoa furled and the mizzen Guppy is still going at 5,5 knots… 366 days ago I was sailing by on the opposite side of those islands heading southward as I watched Sint Maarten fall over the horizon. Now I recognize the shape of the islands and it sinks into my mind that Sint Maarten is just ahead, that I have circumnavigated the whole world in one year… solo. I decide to bring about Guppy as a strong squall is coming on us and anyway she is already going too fast. A heavy curtain of rain hides the islands from me and I am annoyed that even though Sint Maarten is right there close, I still have to wait. But two more hours are nothing to 41 days of sailing. So I am an hour away from St. Barth, and I have stopped our progression to wait for the signal from Sint Maarten to come in. I sailed around the world and I am still surprised that it just feels so incredibly normal… And then here goes Guppy all sails up rushing to Simpson Bay with more and more boats coming on side. On one of the boats I can see my father and my mother, and I have to look twice to recognize my sister who turned up with bright red hair. With the boat flotilla in tow I slowly manoeuvre Guppy under the bridge (this makes it the second time) heading for a huge crowd of people waiting just for me! It is overwhelming, too fantastic and most of the time I don’t believe it is really happening. Then it is family hugs, some interviews and much action and it is over before I can take it all in. But after a good night sleep it all slowly sank in. All but for my feeling that what I did is totally normal. By the way I am not disappointed at all that the Guinness Book of World Records won’t recognize my attempt. Back in 2009 Mike Perham was recognized as the last ever of the now abolished youngest circumnavigator category. In any case I did not start on my trip to achieve any record but I did it just for myself. It is sweet to me that I won’t be sailing for a while, that I don’t have to keep everything in order all the time, and that I get to see my parents if I feel like it , even though that may take getting used to. I still don’t know how long I will stay here or where I will go next. For now I am having a great time and enjoying my family. Then in early March I will be back in the Netherlands to attend the HISWA [ Amsterdam Boat Show, March 6 to 11, Amsterdam, http://www.hiswarai.nl ]. And then I want to sail some more with ‘Gup’ over to the Panama Canal again and the Pacific to New Zealand as my final destination. I have been asked many times if I will keep blogging. Of course I will keep on writing my blog but certainly I won’t be writing as much as I did in the past year. I don’t have internet access aboard Guppy, Sailmail only and I don’t want to keep bothering my father with putting my texts on my page. So when I am ashore I will update my blog but not in Dutch since most people understand English but not Dutch. Because I barely spoke Dutch during my trip, going from English to Dutch and back is a bit difficult, in fact writing the blog in a single language was only half the work… Back in 2009 and 2010 with the boards putting on the pressure the sponsor who had agreed to lend me the Hurley 800 withdrew his offer and I was left without a suitable boat at the beginning of 2010. I would like to thank my family who put up all their money together so I could buy the boat I was dreaming of, a battered 33 year old Jeanneau Gín Fizz that underwent a complete refit before I could go sailing on her. I want to thank my father for helping me get the boat in super good condition again. I also would like to thank each and everyone of the people who supported and helped me, and again I want to mention my sponsors, my family, my friends and especially my father. Without you all I would never have been able to do this, to learn much about myself, to learn about the world and to fulfill my lifelong dream. And finally many, many thanks for all the comments in my guestbook and in so many languages, it’s really just amazing!
Laura & Guppy
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Gunmen in Southern Philippines kill 15 fishermen!…
By · CommentsThe incident happened on Monday off Basilan province, a stronghold of Muslim rebels.
Three other men were wounded in the incident.
Police have identified several suspects involved but no-one has been arrested yet.
“They (the victims) were fishing on another group’s turf,” regional military spokesman Lt Col Randolph Cabangbang told the Agence France Presse news agency.
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Since Laura Dekker was born off the shore of New Zealand, how is it possible that the judge and and Child Protective Services were threatening to lock her up in the Netherlands?
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Democrat, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announced Sunday that she has “more work to do” on her recovery after an assassination attempt and will resign from her congressional seat this week.
In a video release posted on her website and tweeted from her Twitter handle, the congresswoman said that she is getting better but wants to do what’s right for her constituents.
“I don’t remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week,” she says.
“Arizona is my home, always will be. A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that, but I know that on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better: Jobs, border security, veterans. We can do so much more by working together,” she says in the two-minute video.
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Washington is deploying a second carrier strike group in the Gulf. US officials also confirmed their commitment to maintaining a global fleet of 11 aircraft carriers despite budget pressure to cut the fleet’s size.
The USS Enterprise, along with the other six ships in the carrier strike group, will deploy to the Middle East in March. It means the US will maintain two carrier strike groups in the Persian Gulf region. The warships are expected to support the country’s battle operations in Afghanistan, its anti-piracy efforts and other missions.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, as saying in a speech to about 1,700 sailors aboard the USS Enterprise. “We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it’s better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Iran claims it is not concerned with the move, saying it is a part of routine activity.
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Oil and Gasoline in the Gulf!…
By · CommentsThe push to move away from nuclear power because of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has propelled demand for gas on a global basis — and the subsequent rise in its prices will inevitably hurt Japanese buyers, according to a department head of an Edinburgh-based research and consultancy firm.
“There is an impact (by antinuclear movements) on gas demand because gas and coal will end up replacing some of the nuclear generation that is lost,” Noel Tomnay, head of global gas research at Wood Mackenzie Ltd., said in Tokyo.
“At the global level, no one can build renewable sufficiently fast enough to remove the need for either fossil fuels or nuclear generation. Consequently, you are making a political choice between carbon emissions and nuclear generation,” said Tomnay, who is on a one-week visit to the country to hold conferences and meetings with his clients amid growing demand for gas.
Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, predicted the moratorium would be a financial disaster for Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal insisted Louisiana residents didn’t want to collect unemployment or cash BP checks. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told the audience the moratorium would turn “Louisiana into a state of bankrupt businesses.”Nearly a year later, the dire issues these men spoke so passionately about persist. While the moratorium and equally potent “defacto moratorium” have given way to the slow trickle of deepwater permits, the total of active rigs in the deep and shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico on April 15 was 26 – half the number of that date a year ago.
“You could hold the rally, again, today, because it’s just as relevant today as it was then,” Briggs says. “The message hasn’t changed: If we shut down the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that are sitting out there waiting to go to work, you’ll see a tremendous impact. The story of our industry in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t over.
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Weekend and early next week Weather!…
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Gingrich takes the lead over Romney!
Exit polling data shows Gingrich convinced voters he would be the toughest Republican opponent against President Barack Obama in the November general election.
Elect-ability – Republican campaign-speak for a candidate’s ability to beat Obama – had been one of Romney’s top selling points until Saturday.
Conventional wisdom was that the former Massachusetts governor’s emphasis on jobs and the economy and his perceived appeal to independents would help him against Gingrich, who is often seen as erratic and divisive.
But Gingrich’s combative style in debates resonated with voters keen for a heavyweight debater to take on Obama, who is grudgingly respected by Republicans as a formidable campaigner.
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