Miscellaneous News

[Miragedriver]

Brazil Protests Demanding President Rousseff's Impeachment
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia to join demonstrations demanding President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to join demonstrations demanding President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.

Protests organized by multiple activist groups took place across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia, in some 200 Brazilian towns and cities, with the largest demonstrations held in Sao Paulo, according to local media reports.

The estimates of the number of people engaged in nationwide protests varied.

In Rio de Janeiro, the activists gathered along famous Copacabana beach, while in Brasilia protesters marched on government headquarters.

The Brazilian protesters marched across the cities, wrapped in the national flag, carrying slogans "Off!", "Impeachment Now," "Out, Dilma," according to multiple social media reports.

Earlier in the day, Rousseff sent two of her ministers, the justice minister and the general secretary, to address the protesting nation at a televised press conference. Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo was quoted by the media as saying that the government saw the rallies as an expression of democracy.

The protesters in Europe, including France and the United Kingdom, held rallies in solidarity with the Brazilian people.

Dilma Rousseff, 67 is facing a wave of discontent over a struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-owned company Petrobras.

Rousseff headed Petrobras for seven years, between 2003 and 2010, during which most of the corruption had reportedly taken place.

In March, the first wave of protests against the government of Rousseff brought together at least 500,000 people and became the largest political demonstration registered in Brazil since the 1984 protests.

Link:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Back to bottling my Grenache

 

[Equation]

Brazil Protests Demanding President Rousseff's Impeachment
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia to join demonstrations demanding President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to join demonstrations demanding President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.

Protests organized by multiple activist groups took place across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia, in some 200 Brazilian towns and cities, with the largest demonstrations held in Sao Paulo, according to local media reports.

The estimates of the number of people engaged in nationwide protests varied.

In Rio de Janeiro, the activists gathered along famous Copacabana beach, while in Brasilia protesters marched on government headquarters.

The Brazilian protesters marched across the cities, wrapped in the national flag, carrying slogans "Off!", "Impeachment Now," "Out, Dilma," according to multiple social media reports.

Earlier in the day, Rousseff sent two of her ministers, the justice minister and the general secretary, to address the protesting nation at a televised press conference. Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo was quoted by the media as saying that the government saw the rallies as an expression of democracy.

The protesters in Europe, including France and the United Kingdom, held rallies in solidarity with the Brazilian people.

Dilma Rousseff, 67 is facing a wave of discontent over a struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-owned company Petrobras.

Rousseff headed Petrobras for seven years, between 2003 and 2010, during which most of the corruption had reportedly taken place.

In March, the first wave of protests against the government of Rousseff brought together at least 500,000 people and became the largest political demonstration registered in Brazil since the 1984 protests.

Link:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Back to bottling my Grenache

Whoa, that's a surprise to me. I thought President Rouseff was very popular in Brazil?

 

[Miragedriver]

Whoa, that's a surprise to me. I thought President Rouseff was very popular in Brazil?

Well, over the past year,

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

's President Dilma Rousseff has weathered waves of criticism over government fraud, financial mismanagement, and

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

on infrastructure projects for mega sporting events like last year's World Cup — and the outlook hasn't improved since her narrow re-election last October.

A sagging economy and the biggest corruption scandal to ever hit the country have pummeled Rousseff's popularity to its all-time lowest level, according a Datafolha poll released on Wednesday, with 62 percent of those surveyed describing their assessment of the president as "bad" or "terrible." Only 13 percent thought highly of her.


Back to bottling my Grenache

 

[Miragedriver]

Putin slams 'external control' over Ukraine on Crimea visit
Source: AFP

Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday slammed alleged "external control" over Ukraine's government as he made his third visit to the Crimean peninsula since Moscow seized the region from Kiev last year.

"I am sure that despite all the current difficulties the situation in Ukraine will improve and Ukraine will develop," Putin said in televised comments during a meeting with local officials.

"It will leave behind this shameful practice... that is placing the whole of a huge European country under external control with key positions in the government and regions filled by foreign citizens."

"I think this is humiliating for the Ukrainian people," the Kremlin strongman said.

Ex-Soviet neighbors Russia and Ukraine are locked in a bitter feud over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and the Kremlin's alleged fueling of a separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has claimed the West was behind popular protests that led to the February 2014 ouster of former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych.

Ukraine in December appointed a new pro-Western government that included American, Georgian and Lithuanian citizens.

Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko is an American citizen of Ukrainian origin who once worked at the US State Department.

Flamboyant former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who once fought a brief war with Russia, has been appointed as head of the strategic Odessa coastal region.

Putin held a government meeting in the Crimean city of Yalta to discuss the stuttering economic development of the peninsula under Moscow's rule.

The region is under tough Western sanctions that have seen its banking system hit and foreign firms pull out.

Tourism, a mainstay of the region's economy, has also plummeted.

Putin's visit to Crimea sparked ire from Kiev with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko describing it as a "challenge to the civilized world".

"These trips mean further militarization of the occupied Ukrainian peninsula and lead to its greater isolation," Poroshenko said in a statement on his Facebook page.



Back to bottling my Grenache

 

[Miragedriver]

Rush-hour Bangkok bombing at busy shrine kills 18, hurts 117
Source: AP

BANGKOK (AP) — A bomb exploded Monday within a central Bangkok shrine that is among the city's most popular tourist spots, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100 across a hectic intersection surrounded by five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

With a powerful flash caught on security video and a boom heard blocks away, the blast from the improvised explosive device scattered body parts across Rachaprasong intersection, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to the metal. It exploded during evening rush hour as the area was filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers.

"Suddenly there was a big boom, and the whole room just shook, like someone dropped a wrecking ball on top of our ceiling," said Pim Niyomwan, an English instructor working on the eighth floor of the building right next to the shrine. "The whole building just shook. My four students were hysterical."

Video shortly after the blast depicts a scene of shock and desperation: people running for their lives and crying amid the debris. An emergency worker in an ambulance, frantically pounding the chest of a victim.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

"Those who have planted this bomb are cruel," said national police chief Somyot Poompummuang. "They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7 p.m. the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people."

Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion in Bangkok,Thailand, Monday, Au …

At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue center. The dead included Chinese and a Filipino, Somyot said.

As a single, devastating blow to this Southeast Asian metropolis, Monday's bombing has no equal in recent history, though Thailand is no stranger to violent attacks. A more-than-decade-long insurgency by southern Muslim separatists has left more than 5,000 dead far from the capital. In Bangkok, politically charged riots centered on this very intersection in 2010 killed more than 90 over two months.

Police said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth. Police said it was too soon to determine the motive.

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy and we will hunt them down."

The bomb detonated at Erawan Shrine, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, but is extremely popular among Thailand's Buddhists as well as Chinese tourists. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, it has enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

In this April 4, 2015, photo, visitors gather at the Erawan Shrine at the Rajprasong intersection in …

The shrine, adjacent to a five-star hotel, is at the intersection of two major arteries in the city. Throngs of tourists come there to pray at all hours, lighting incense and offering flowers purchased from rows of stalls set up on the sidewalk along the shrine. The site is a hubbub of activity, with quiet worshippers sometimes flanked by Thai dancers hired by those seeking good fortune, while groups of tourists shuffle in and out.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May last year after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous government. Anusit Kunakorn, secretary of the National Security Council, said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who orchestrated the May 2014 coup, was closely monitoring the situation.

At the same time, the military government has tightly controlled dissent, arresting hundreds of its opponents and banning protests. Tensions have risen in recent months, with the junta making clear that it may not hold elections until 2017 and wants a constitution that will allow some type of emergency rule to take the place of an elected government.

Stirring the pot has been exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. It was his sister Yingluck Shinawatra who was ousted as prime minister last year.

Last week, Thaksin posted a message on YouTube urging his followers to reject the draft constitution because he said it was undemocratic. The draft charter is supposed to be voted on next month by a special National Reform Council. If it passes, it is supposed to go to a public referendum around January.

This image taken from security footage provided by Thai PBS shows the moment of an explosion in cent …

Another source of recent tension is the annual military promotion list, with the junta's top two leaders — Prime Minister Prayuth and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit — widely believed to be supporting different candidates. The reshuffle, which comes into effect in September, has traditionally been a source of unrest, as different cliques in the army, usually defined by their graduating class in the military academy, seek the most important posts to consolidate their power.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, advising them to avoid the shrine's area.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed deep sympathy to those affected by the Bangkok explosion. He said authorities were still determining whether any Americans were among the victims.

Tourists reacted with concern.

"We didn't think anything like this could happen in Bangkok," said Holger Siegle, a German who said he and his newly wed wife had chosen Thailand because it seemed safe. "Our honeymoon and our vacation will go on, but with a very unsafe feeling."

In this image provided by Mongkol Nunthalikitkun flames burn after an explosion in Bangkok, Monday, …

While bombings are rare in Bangkok, they are more common where the Muslim separatist insurgency has been flaring: in the country's three Muslim-majority provinces in the deep south.

In March this year, several arrests were made in connection with a grenade that was tossed at Bangkok's Criminal Court. Those detained were apparently sympathizers of the pro-Thaksin Red Shirt movement. Critics of the current military government say some of the bombings may have been carried out by the junta to justify its continued suppression of basic rights and liberties. The government denies that.

In April, a car bomb exploded at a shopping mall on the resort island of Samui, injuring seven people. The motive was unclear, though the government suggested it was linked to politics.

The last major bombings in Bangkok occurred on New Year's Eve at the end of 2006, when a series of bombs at celebrations around town killed at least three people and wounded dozens. Those bombings occurred just three months after a military coup ousted Thaksin, and there was speculation that his supporters carried out the attacks in revenge. However, the bombings were never solved.

The 2006 coup set off a battle for power among Thaksin's supporters and opponents, sometimes in the form of violent protests. Protesters from both sides sometimes faced armed attacks by unknown groups, with more than 90 people killed in 2010 during pro-Thaksin demonstrations that were quashed by the army. The focus of the 2010 protests was the same intersection where Monday's blast took place.

Erawan Shrine itself also has been a scene of violence. In March 2006, a man who smashed the statue of the four-headed Brahma with a hammer. The man, believed to be mentally ill, was lynched by bystanders. A new Brahma statue was installed at the shrine within months.


Back to bottling my Grenache

 

[Jeff Head]

With respect to Tianjin, I believe, and most Americans I have talked to about it...who have done even the slightest reading...believe that the Chinese have responded well to a horrible tragedy.

Their first responders, like the US first responders on 911, rushed into a dangerous situation to try and save lives. They got there, responding to a warehouse fire, and were looking at ways, and trying to put it out.

A horrible explosion occurred, followed within a few seconds by an even much more horrible one...and many firefighters and others were killed.

Many are still missing and if they were too close to the explosions, they may never be found.

Most American understand this and are not blaming the firefighters, or the local people on the scene.

Because of US regulations and safety requirements they do wonder at the overall conditions that may have contributed to the disaster. As they would here.

But that, as it would be in America...is best considered and looked at later, after the emergency is addressed and things have been stabilized and made safe.

Today's media...and it is not just something that occurs in the US...is too impatient for that.

Most Americans I know despise this about the media. I am sure it is the same everywhere When people sensationalize things to try and get a "scoop," it almost always makes things far worse for the families and the victims. And most people with commons sense know it and do not like it.

I know that's how I feel.

 

[Equation]

Rush-hour Bangkok bombing at busy shrine kills 18, hurts 117
Source: AP

BANGKOK (AP) — A bomb exploded Monday within a central Bangkok shrine that is among the city's most popular tourist spots, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100 across a hectic intersection surrounded by five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.

With a powerful flash caught on security video and a boom heard blocks away, the blast from the improvised explosive device scattered body parts across Rachaprasong intersection, spattered blood, blasted windows and burned motorbikes to the metal. It exploded during evening rush hour as the area was filled with tourists, office workers and shoppers.

"Suddenly there was a big boom, and the whole room just shook, like someone dropped a wrecking ball on top of our ceiling," said Pim Niyomwan, an English instructor working on the eighth floor of the building right next to the shrine. "The whole building just shook. My four students were hysterical."

Video shortly after the blast depicts a scene of shock and desperation: people running for their lives and crying amid the debris. An emergency worker in an ambulance, frantically pounding the chest of a victim.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

"Those who have planted this bomb are cruel," said national police chief Somyot Poompummuang. "They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7 p.m. the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners. Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people."

Police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion in Bangkok,Thailand, Monday, Au …

At least 18 people were confirmed dead and 117 injured, according to the Narinthorn emergency medical rescue center. The dead included Chinese and a Filipino, Somyot said.

As a single, devastating blow to this Southeast Asian metropolis, Monday's bombing has no equal in recent history, though Thailand is no stranger to violent attacks. A more-than-decade-long insurgency by southern Muslim separatists has left more than 5,000 dead far from the capital. In Bangkok, politically charged riots centered on this very intersection in 2010 killed more than 90 over two months.

Police said the bomb was made with a pipe wrapped in cloth. Police said it was too soon to determine the motive.

"We still don't know for sure who did this and why," Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters. "We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy and we will hunt them down."

The bomb detonated at Erawan Shrine, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, but is extremely popular among Thailand's Buddhists as well as Chinese tourists. Although Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, it has enormous Hindu influence on its religious practices and language.

In this April 4, 2015, photo, visitors gather at the Erawan Shrine at the Rajprasong intersection in …

The shrine, adjacent to a five-star hotel, is at the intersection of two major arteries in the city. Throngs of tourists come there to pray at all hours, lighting incense and offering flowers purchased from rows of stalls set up on the sidewalk along the shrine. The site is a hubbub of activity, with quiet worshippers sometimes flanked by Thai dancers hired by those seeking good fortune, while groups of tourists shuffle in and out.

Bangkok has been relatively peaceful since a military coup ousted a civilian government in May last year after several months of sometimes violent political protests against the previous government. Anusit Kunakorn, secretary of the National Security Council, said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who orchestrated the May 2014 coup, was closely monitoring the situation.

At the same time, the military government has tightly controlled dissent, arresting hundreds of its opponents and banning protests. Tensions have risen in recent months, with the junta making clear that it may not hold elections until 2017 and wants a constitution that will allow some type of emergency rule to take the place of an elected government.

Stirring the pot has been exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. It was his sister Yingluck Shinawatra who was ousted as prime minister last year.

Last week, Thaksin posted a message on YouTube urging his followers to reject the draft constitution because he said it was undemocratic. The draft charter is supposed to be voted on next month by a special National Reform Council. If it passes, it is supposed to go to a public referendum around January.

This image taken from security footage provided by Thai PBS shows the moment of an explosion in cent …

Another source of recent tension is the annual military promotion list, with the junta's top two leaders — Prime Minister Prayuth and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit — widely believed to be supporting different candidates. The reshuffle, which comes into effect in September, has traditionally been a source of unrest, as different cliques in the army, usually defined by their graduating class in the military academy, seek the most important posts to consolidate their power.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok issued an emergency message for U.S. citizens, advising them to avoid the shrine's area.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed deep sympathy to those affected by the Bangkok explosion. He said authorities were still determining whether any Americans were among the victims.

Tourists reacted with concern.

"We didn't think anything like this could happen in Bangkok," said Holger Siegle, a German who said he and his newly wed wife had chosen Thailand because it seemed safe. "Our honeymoon and our vacation will go on, but with a very unsafe feeling."

In this image provided by Mongkol Nunthalikitkun flames burn after an explosion in Bangkok, Monday, …

While bombings are rare in Bangkok, they are more common where the Muslim separatist insurgency has been flaring: in the country's three Muslim-majority provinces in the deep south.

In March this year, several arrests were made in connection with a grenade that was tossed at Bangkok's Criminal Court. Those detained were apparently sympathizers of the pro-Thaksin Red Shirt movement. Critics of the current military government say some of the bombings may have been carried out by the junta to justify its continued suppression of basic rights and liberties. The government denies that.

In April, a car bomb exploded at a shopping mall on the resort island of Samui, injuring seven people. The motive was unclear, though the government suggested it was linked to politics.

The last major bombings in Bangkok occurred on New Year's Eve at the end of 2006, when a series of bombs at celebrations around town killed at least three people and wounded dozens. Those bombings occurred just three months after a military coup ousted Thaksin, and there was speculation that his supporters carried out the attacks in revenge. However, the bombings were never solved.

The 2006 coup set off a battle for power among Thaksin's supporters and opponents, sometimes in the form of violent protests. Protesters from both sides sometimes faced armed attacks by unknown groups, with more than 90 people killed in 2010 during pro-Thaksin demonstrations that were quashed by the army. The focus of the 2010 protests was the same intersection where Monday's blast took place.

Erawan Shrine itself also has been a scene of violence. In March 2006, a man who smashed the statue of the four-headed Brahma with a hammer. The man, believed to be mentally ill, was lynched by bystanders. A new Brahma statue was installed at the shrine within months.


Back to bottling my Grenache

My condolences to all of the victims families. It looks to be terrorists that's behind the bombings, but who though? I don't think Thailand has an ISIS problem or anything like that (no offense to any Muslims out there).

 

[SteelBird]

My condolences to all of the victims families. It looks to be terrorists that's behind the bombings, but who though? I don't think Thailand has an ISIS problem or anything like that (no offense to any Muslims out there).

Thailand has Southern (Muslim) problem who fought for independent for years. In the past, Thai authority even accused Cambodian Muslim to join the rebel in Southern Thailand. Of course, Cambodian government rejected that. I believe the Southern are behind the Bangkok bombing.

 

[B.I.B.]

Other viewpoints suggest that it is just the.result of the going political battle between the supporters of the " Red Hats " and 'Yellow Hats,' with the army rather.than the.police tracking down the perps.

 

[B.I.B.]

Brazil Protests Demanding President Rousseff's Impeachment
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across 22 Brazilian states and the federal capital, Brasilia to join demonstrations demanding President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.




Back to bottling my Grenache

I can recall your own president de Kirchner was.having popularity problems earlier on this year.how are things working out for her.now?