13 killed, New York flooded and in darkness and 6 million without power as superstorm Sandy throws a 4-metre wall of water at US
At least 13 people have been killed in the US and millions are without
power after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline and
hurled a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater at New York City.
power after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline and
hurled a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater at New York City.
Sandy knocked out power to at least 5.7 million people across the east of the country and New York's main utility said large sections of Manhattan had been plunged into darkness by the storm, with 250,000 customers without power as water pressed into the island from three sides.
The 13 deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
The Irish Times - Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Germany takes no-nonsense approach to tax evaders
Germany has no problem going after evasion – even buying up stolen data to do so, writes DEREK SCALLY in Berlin
THE CASE of Kostas Vaxevanis is unlikely to improve the dim view many Germans hold of their Greek neighbours in matters of fiscal honesty.
The Greek journalist’s court appearance for publishing the details of more than 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts made news here, in particular because two former Greek finance ministers failed to initiate tax-evasion investigations into the account holders.
Germany, on the other hand, has no problems going after its own tax evaders – even buying up stolen information to do so.
In the past five years, the German authorities have bought six sets of bank account details of German citizens, mostly in Swiss banks
A Trip Through HellDaily Life in Islamist Northern Mali
By Paul Hyacinthe Mben
For months, an Islamist regime has been terrorizing northern Mali. Hundreds of thousands have already fled the region, and those who have stayed behind are experiencing new forms of cruelty with each passing day. A SPIEGEL reporter documents a two-week journey through a region Europe fears will become the next Somalia.
Northern Mali is virtually inaccessible to journalists at present. Sharia law has been in effect there since last spring, when fundamentalists took control of a large part of the country, which had been considered a model nation until then. The fundamentalists stone adulturers, amputate limbs and squelch all opposition. They have destroyed tombs in Timbuktu that were recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site. Despite the risks, Paul Hyacinthe Mben, 39, a SPIEGEL employee and journalist in the capitalBamako , which is not yet under Islamist control, ventured into northern Mali . Before the trip, he spent weeks negotiating with Islamist leaders for safe passage. In return, he was forced to accept certain conditions. During his almost three-week stay in the north, he had to conform to the Islamists' dress code, as well as submit to a number of searches and interrogations. But he never revealed to the Islamists where he was staying overnight, and he never stayed in the same place for more than a day. He lived in constant fear of being kidnapped. He had hardly returned to Bamako before learning that seven armed men had been following him in the north, with the aim of taking him captive.
Southeast Asia
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By Tim Heinemann
Americans have fought at home and on many a distant shore with resolve in truths that they hold to be self-evident, "that all men are created equal". Under the Barack Obama administration, America appears to have abandoned this principle through its recent engagement policy with until recently military-run Myanmar.
To be sure, Myanmar matters. The country has emerged as China's main gateway to the Indian Ocean, with massive natural resource wealth at home and important international markets beyond. Myanmar has thus emerged as a key state in the US's "pivot" policy towards Asia.
The flaws in the US approach are threefold, including: (1) failing to understand the unambiguous, enduring power of ethnic
To be sure, Myanmar matters. The country has emerged as China's main gateway to the Indian Ocean, with massive natural resource wealth at home and important international markets beyond. Myanmar has thus emerged as a key state in the US's "pivot" policy towards Asia.
The flaws in the US approach are threefold, including: (1) failing to understand the unambiguous, enduring power of ethnic
populations; (2) failing to engage them fully as equal stakeholders in the country's future; and (3) forgetting that many have been faithful American allies going all the way back to World War II.
Chile drops mandatory vote – and a few incumbent mayors
Chileans replaced pro-government mayors in many of its biggest municipalities yesterday in an election that saw only a fraction of eligible voters cast ballots.
Chileans replaced pro-government mayors in many of its most important municipalities yesterday, in the country's first election without mandatory voting. It marked a reverse for the administration ofPresident Sebastian Piñera, who three years ago became the first elected conservative president in Chile in decades.
The incumbent mayors of several boroughs of the capital, Santiago, were rejected by voters in an election marked by historically low turnout. Santiago center, as well as the nearby boroughs of Providencia, Ñuñoa, and Recoleta, all shifted from mayors aligned with President Piñera to outsiders ranging from an independent to a communist.
"If you look at opinion polls and the issues of policy, Chileans are sort of center-left," says Robert Funk, a professor of public affairs at the University of Chile. The vote was a “rejection of the government,” he says, while stressing that the issues at stake were generally local, rather than national.
30 October 2012 Last updated at 01:52 GMT
Week in China: Extending 'soft power'
As China prepares for a new generation of leaders to take power, the BBC is spending a week on the road looking at both the challenges ahead for the world's most populous nation and the advances it has made.
On day two, the BBC's John Sudworth reports from Shanghai on China's ever-expanding film industry.
Much has been written about China's rising economic and political power.
But China is flexing its cultural muscles too, setting up language institutes in dozens of countries and ramping up the global reach of its state-run news service in a bid to compete with the BBC and CNN.
In its efforts to extend its so called "soft power" there is one area, however, where it really should be doing better than it is, and that's cinema.
The potential is certainly there.
Forget drafty village halls showing worthy propaganda films, China is now the world's fastest-growing cinema market.
The ongoing construction boom saw more than 3,000 new screens open across the country last year.
At around $2bn (£1.2bn), ticket sales may still be only a fifth of America's total box office revenue, but the point is that China's middle class has still got a lot of growing to do.
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