Farmer jailed in Hong Kong for burning flag

A man has been jailed in Hong Kong for burning the national flag, in the first sentence of its kind.

S Korea suspends savings banks citing weak finances

South Korea has suspended seven local savings banks citing the weak state of their finances.

Japan urges mass evacuation ahead of Typhoon Roke

More than a million people in central and western Japan have been urged to leave their homes as a powerful typhoon approaches.

Burma begins swap scheme for cars over 40 years old

Owners of some of Burma's most antiquated cars have been queuing in Rangoon to exchange their old vehicles for permits to import newer models.

Polio strain spreads to China from Pakistan

Polio has spread to China for the first time since 1999 after being imported from Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.

Showing posts with label residents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label residents. Show all posts

Monday, October 24, 2011

Residents debate "barrel tax" in Jack Daniel's hometown

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn | Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:40pm EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - A lot more is smoldering in Lynchburg, Tennessee than this weekend's Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue.

Home to makers of the Tennessee sipping whiskey, Lynchburg is embroiled in a debate over whether they should be subject to a barrel tax to pay for what proponents are calling necessary infrastructure improvements.

Opponents of the proposal say the company does plenty already for the city and for Moore County.

"I'm opposed to it because I don't think that any government or any government entity should go after any corporation for a special tax just because they are very successful," said Kenneth Fly, owner of the Bar-B-Que Caboose.

He noted there were more than 20,000 tourists in town this weekend for what some call the Super Bowl of barbecue competitions.

"These people are spending this money and bringing tax money into this county because of this Jack Daniel's Barbecue, and the park is on land donated by Jack Daniel's," he said.

"They don't need to be the Sugar Daddy for the county."

Charles Rogers, a 76-year-old Moore County native who left for a career as a corporate executive before returning, is pushing for the right of residents to vote on whether Jack Daniel's should be subject to a barrel tax.

Rogers first raised the issue with the city council in 2007, but it was defeated.

This year the council approved a resolution asking its General Assembly delegation to introduce a private act that would enable Moore County residents to vote on such a tax.

Rogers said he thinks the distillery should pay for using the area's bucolic images to sell its product, images that have boosted tourism but put stress on the infrastructure.

If state lawmakers allowed a private act, it would take signatures from registered voters equal to 10 percent of the vote in the last presidential election to get the barrel tax proposal on the ballot.

Rogers argues it's worth the effort for improvements to area schools as well as the roads and bridges that are heavily used by tourists.

"When I moved back down here, I looked at the county's needs. Our sewage plant is on the verge of collapse," Rogers said.

(Reporting by Tim Ghianni; Editing by David Bailey and Ellen Wulfhorst)



New Automobile



Education Information

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Sirte residents turn anger on Libya's new rulers

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Rania El Gamal

SIRTE, Libya | Wed Oct 5, 2011 5:46am EDT

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Many residents of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's birth-place, blame Libya's new rulers and their Western allies for the death and destruction unleashed on their city by weeks of fighting.

Most are reluctant to talk openly about their allegiances, for fear they will be branded as members of a pro-Gaddafi fifth column. Yet their anger and bitterness is clear.

"This country has been built around one man. If he is over, Libya will be over," said a resident who gave his name as al-Fatouri, standing outside his home on the outskirts of Sirte.

"Gaddafi is like a picture frame. When part of the frame is hit, the whole picture will be destroyed, Libya will be destroyed," he said.

Sirte is the sternest test yet of the ability of the interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), to win over Gaddafi's tribe and prevent it from mounting an Iraq-style insurgency that would destabilize Libya and the region.

While most cities captured by NTC forces have rejoiced, or at least given that impression, Sirte is different because it is home to members of Gaddafi's tribe who genuinely back him.

"Let them look for Muammar, but do not kill 50,000 people to change the regime," said Fatouri. "It is not worth it that thousands die in Sirte for Muammar. This is what saddens us."

Fatouri said he, like thousands of other people from this city on the Mediterranean coast, had fled his home days ago because of the fighting. He decided later to come back.

"We refuse to leave, we don't want to suffer... We would rather die here than leave our houses and suffer," he said.

As he spoke, the sound of shelling and heavy machine guns reverberated around him and a crowd of locals gathered.

"They (NTC forces) used to start their day with bombing us, and finish it with bombing us... The kids used to hear the shelling like music," said another resident standing nearby.

FEAR OF SLAUGHTER

NTC forces say they are mounting a final push to seize Sirte after pausing to let civilians leave. They say the only people left are mercenaries, die-hard fighters and, they believe, one of Gaddafi's sons, Mu'atassem, a military commander.

NTC fighters, whose offensive is backed by NATO air strikes, say they are treating fleeing residents well, giving them food and water, and detaining only suspected Gaddafi fighters.

Several residents said that was not the true picture.

"There are no Gaddafi brigades, they are volunteers inside," said a 23-year-old who gave his name only as Bassem. He fled Sirte two days ago with his uncle, but left his parents behind.

"They didn't want to leave," he said. "Some people are scared of being slaughtered by the rebels, and some people do not want to leave their house."

Many residents fear NTC forces will exact revenge on Sirte because of its links with Gaddafi, who developed it from a fishing village to a city of 100,000 that hosted state events.

Sirte, one of Gaddafi's last bastions in Libya since the fall of Tripoli on August 23, sits on the main coastal highway between the capital and the eastern city of Benghazi.

Some of the fighters trying to capture Sirte are from Misrata, a city where thousands of people were killed by Gaddafi's forces and where hatred of his rule runs high.

"The rebels from Misrata say they will destroy Sirte because Misrata was destroyed," said Ali, another fleeing resident.

"NATO has brought destruction, and the revolution has brought destruction," he said.

As he spoke, bystanders began shouting at him that such talk would just spread "chaos and havoc." Ali retorted that they were not telling the truth and walked away in dismay.

Another angry resident shared Ali's view.

"What did America and NATO bring to us? Did they bring apricots?" he demanded. "No, they brought us the shelling and the strikes. They terrorized our kids."

(Editing by Christian Lowe and Alistair Lyon)



Career Advisor



News

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pennsylvania residents return as the Susquehanna River recedes Lee

HARRISBURG, PA. -tens of thousands of people forced to leave their homes in Pennsylvania were allowed to return Saturday as the Susquehanna retreated some flood waters higher never seen, inflated by remnants of the storm tropical Lee.

Other residents evacuated from cities of river in New York and Maryland were waiting for permission to return as damage flooding interviewed officials.

In Northeastern Pennsylvania, officials lifted an evacuation order Saturday afternoon to 60 000 70 000 residents in and around Wilkes-Barre. The rest would probably be able to return later Saturday and Sunday, said alfalfa County Emergency Management Agency Director Stephen Bekanich.

Level of the Susquehanna River had dropped to about 32 feet Saturday morning and was to be back within its banks about 29 feet, alfalfa County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla said.

Bekanich estimated that damage was in the tens of millions - but could have been more than 3 billion if the levees had not occurred.

"Held dykes", said Bekanich. "Dykes executed beautifully."

Much of the northeast was still soggy Hurricane Irene and its consequences, a week earlier at the arrival of rains of Lee remains.

The Susquehanna River crested Thursday to near 42.7 feet to Wilkes-Barre, higher than the established record during catastrophic hurricane Agnes in 1972 and 25.7 feet in Binghamton, N.Y. The River reached a record of 15 years of 32.4 feet Friday to the Conowingo dam in northeastern Maryland.

At least 15 deaths were attributed to Lee and its aftermath: seven in Pennsylvania, three in Virginia, Maryland as a single and four other people killed when he came ashore on the Gulf Coast last week. Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Corbett said Saturday Government officials had received reports of five deaths from the storm, but that the circumstances of these deaths had not been confirmed.

The President Barack Obama declared States of emergency in Pennsylvania and New York, opening the way with the Federal Government.

Mayor of Binghamton Matt Ryan said officials were working on the modification of evacuation orders issued in the flood areas so that people whose homes were flooded could perhaps back this weekend. Among the 20,000 inhabitants of the region evacuated Binghamton began Friday in return.

"We're going to redraw the lines to ensure that any person to back, he can go back so that they feel as they do something wrong,"said Ryan."

Ryan could not say when the orders would be lifted entirely, noting that the inspectors must verify all risks to the safety of flooded of gas and electricity.

Most of the 1,000 residents of the Port deposit, MD, told to evacuate due to flooding expected as early as the opening of the doors of the Conowingo dam flood to relieve pressure on the Susquehanna. Representatives of the County of Cecil will decide when residents can return after an assessment of the damage Saturday afternoon, spokesman Mike Dixon said.

"It will take some time," Dixon said assessment. "Utilities are disabled, there is a lot of contamination down there, so it is an important obstacle yet to be worked on."

Treatment of wastewater from the city is also out of service, said Dixon.

Flood waters had receded around noon of Main Street of Port deposit, which along the River, but still covered many areas. A large truck was in the street, providing water to spray teams the pavement of hardened mud.

Bill Herold, who owns The Susky River Grill, sweating in a T-shirt and shorts in front of a barrel of double smoking grill taken meals for people household in the city centre. He said that his restaurant of edge water is high enough to escape flooding.

"" We have lost our rear terrace and our beach area little we had. "."Just no power, said Herold. "For us, it's a loss of revenue, we that you know, but for all that we want to help people who are in the city, the people who remained, everyone tries to do something."

Hundreds more residents were urged to leave the Havre de Grace, MD., where the river empties into the Chesapeake Bay. Spokesman for the County of Harford Bob Thomas said that residents may be able to return home Saturday or Sunday.

At the Centre of Pennsylvania, a nighttime curfew remained in force in areas affected by the flood of Harrisburg. One person was arrested for looting, said Mayor Linda Thompson.

Ellie Martindale, a retired nurse who lived in the neighborhood of waterfront Shipoke Harrisburg for 30 years, was one of the first residents to return Saturday, as city officials ordered the evacuation Thursday.

Because his house is high, built over a garage on the first floor, Martindale said the damage was minimal - mainly mud washed in by approximately 4 feet of water from the river which ruined gypsum in driveways.

"The mud is on the floor and on any surface that might resolve," she said. "This is beautiful stuff." It clings. »

Martindale said she plans to stay in a hotel in downtown until his house is cleaned up - I hope more than a few days.



View the original article here



Peliculas Online