Haiti

A school has collapsed today in Puerto Principe, the capital city of the island of Haiti, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more, according to the witnesses.

The authorities have not yet given an official report on the situation, but the police and UN forces are still searching for any people trapped under the school walls.

Nobody knows for sure what has caused the collapse; the La promesse, College evangelique is a four stories high building and did not seem to have any obvious structure problems.

Dozens of parents entered the building, looking for their children and hoping they were not lying under some wall of concrete. The police and the UN peace forces are now putting all their efforts in helping the parents and in ensuring all the persons that were in the building at the time of the collapse are rescued.

Carl Henry Boucher, police spokesman, has declared that more than 25 people have been transported to the hospital with severe injuries and that the doctors fear for the lives of many of them.

Coach Crash Site

Six people, all of them Belgian were killed and 26 injured in a coach crash that took place in Southern Egypt, yesterday.

The bus has overturned causing the immediate death of six people and severe injuries in all the other passengers. Four of the injured are still in a critical condition, and they have been transported to the Intensive Care Unit of a Cairo hospital.

Sources say the driver lost control of the bus carrying the Belgian tourists on the way from Aswan to the ancient temple of Abu Simbel; unfortunately, poor roads cause quite a high number of such accidents in Egypt every year.

All the Belgian tourists have been immediately attended by Egyptian authorities and those who were in conditions to travel were transported back to Belgium.

Senator Barack Obama

Five days before the big day, the two potential presidents of the United States are endorsed by almost the same number of people.

That can only make them force things and try anything they can in order to get the voters on their side.

With that in mind, Senator Obama ventures on Republican territory, in Arizona, North Dakota and Georgia.

As McCain is campaigning strongly in Ohio, Obama is in Iowa and will also travel to Chicago to be with his daughters on Halloween.

While attending a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Obama announced his supporters that they should be ready for a series of attacks coming from his opponent. He stated that this can only go to prove how McCain sees competition and what his ways of acting are.

The two ads that will be seen in the Republican states are based on two main ideas: the great resemblance between McCain and Bush, and the most important principle of Obama’s campaign, which is “unity over division”.

Milan, Via Montenapoleone

Milan, Italy. At midday, Via Montenapoleone- one of the city’s fanciest shopping streets – is very crowded. People are coming in and out of stores; surveillance cameras watch their every move.

One would think that in such conditions the less probable thing to happen would be a robbery in a jewellery store. Yet, that is not true.

On Friday, 24th of October a thief has managed to steal jewellery worth one million dollars from a shop owned by Gino Pederzani. He did all that in broad daylight, after having gained access to the shop by posing as a window cleaner.

The man was wearing the cleaning company’s uniform and took advantage of the personnel’s lack of attention; he unscrewed the window, calmly collected the pieces of jewellery, placed them in the bucket and then disappeared into the shopping crowd.

His prejudice aside, the owner of the shop appreciates the whole operation as a ‘masterpiece’ and admires the thief’s audacity. Nevertheless, he said he will make sure such events no longer happen in his shop in the future by improving the security techniques.

Festus Mogae, Former President of Botswana

Festus Mogae, Botswana’s former president, had been announced as the winner of the $5 million Ibrahim Prize. This prize was set up by Mo Ibrahim, telecommunications entrepreneur and it is estimated to be the most valuable in the world.

Mr. Mogae was awarded this prize by Kofi Annan, ex Secretary General for the United Nations, and it comes in recognition of his ten years of good governing.

He was president of Botswana during two mandates; he managed to consolidate democracy in his country and instate a strong respect for the law and for human rights in general.

The most important issue he had to deal with during his time in the office was that his country has one of the highest number of HIV/Aids infected persons, and his greatest accomplishment was to make anti-retroviral drugs available for all those infected.

Mr. Annan expressed his deep admiration towards the man who managed to give a chance for all the ill to get treatment, who managed to keep one of world’s largest diamond producer at a low corruption level and who tried by all legal means to bring his country forward, from all points of view.

South Korean Firefighters

Other than banks and the Stock Market, the financial world crisis seems to affect people on a personal level as well. In Seoul, South Korea, a man called Jeong, wanted to commit suicide due to various financial problems.

In an attempt to suicide, he tried to burn out his room and consequently the building he was living in.

Unfortunately, he didn’t stop at that and, in his way through the building situated in Southern Seoul, he stabbed five of his neighbors to death and wounded other seven with a sashimi knife. A sixth person died when jumping out the window to escape the fire. The doctors are not yet sure if all the wounded will make it.

The paradox of this situation is that the 31 year old suicidal man did not suffer any injuries. He has been arrested and the two other knives and the tear gas gun he had in his possession were seized as police evidence.

He justified his actions by saying that he had been really depressed ever since he lost his job, in April. Sources say he has a history of mental problems, including past suicide attempts, severe migraines, and they say he has even had eight murder convictions in the past.

Steatoda paykulliana

Scientists have recently discovered the presence of several exotic species of spiders living in the UK. Their theory is that the warmer climate is now allowing exotic spiders to survive in the UK after arriving here in food and plants cargos.
Amongst the new species, scientists have identifies a false widow spider, an imitation of the black widow.

Organizations such as Buglife and The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have started worrying about it and will take a closer look at the rules concerning introducing merchandise from exotic countries into the UK.

The British Arachnological Society has identified three species of spiders that are apparently full time residents of the UK. The first one is the  Steatoda paykulliana, a black widow look-alike that is normally to be found in North Africa, and West Asia. It has recently been introduced in the country and colonies have already been spotted in Plymouth.

The second species, on the other hand, has been in the UK for a longer time, but the cold weather has stopped it from spreading. Now that the climate is getting warmer every year, the  Steatoda nobilis is populating the entire South Coast area.

Finally, the third species is the  Segestria florentina, a large biting venomous spider, who has been moving towards the North of the country year by year.

In the view of latest discoveries, environmental organizations are keeping a closer eye on the evolution of these species in the UK and are coming up with plans to stop the migration of exotic insects towards new habitats.

Tijuana Mexico Border

U.S. State Department issued a safety warning for people who want to travel to Mexico these days; public violent confrontations between Mexican drug dealers have been taking place in Nogales, Ciudad de Juarez and Tijuana.

Mexican narcotics cartels have started fighting over getting full control of the US Arizona border-area, in the Northern part of Mexico; the authorities have sent military forces in the area to try to calm down the situation. The conflicts have got to such an extent, that the shootings now take place in broad daylight, in crowded places such as shopping centers, restaurants, etc. Also, there have been reports of U.S. citizens being harassed while crossing Mexico territory.

The confrontations seem to be turning, on occasion, into battle field re-enactments involving the use of automatic weapons and even grenades.

In an attempt to reassure the potential visitors that Mexico is a safe country, the Tucson Consulate representatives say that warnings like this are very common and that they should not be seen as actual dangers.

U.S. Customs say that the effect of the latest events has not yet been noticed on the numbers of travellers, and that the average number of people entering U.S. territory through Nogales is of 40,000 a day.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009

The Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix will be replaced by the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009, according to a decision made by the World Motor Sport Council. The Emirate authorities have issued a proposal according to which the race should take place on an urban circuit during the night, but the Council has not yet decide upon that.

The celebration of the Grand Prix will take place on the 15th of November 2009 and it will be the last of a season which will start in Australia on the 29th of March and which comprises 18 races. The only race on the American continent will be the one organised in Brazil.

The Grand Prix of Spain is scheduled for the 10th of May, the one of Europe -once more celebrated on the urban circuit of Valencia- on the 23rd of August and the one in Brazil on the 1st of November.

The FIA will be the one in charge of the organization of all the above mentioned events and they are seriously thinking about applying a strategy of cost reduction starting 2010.

Argentinian Tango Dancers

It normally takes two to tango; but the TANGO PASION company has more than two members. Ever since they started their activity, more than ten years ago, this American group originally from New York, has been collaborating with the SEXTETO MAYOR orchestra (Latin Grammy Award winner in 2003).

They have recently started touring with their new show called ‘MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES’. The show is based on an opera work of Astor Piazzolla; it tells the story of Maria, a Buenos Aires prostitute who dies half way through the story but whose ghost continues to haunt the dark streets and the smoky bars she found her customers in.

The narrator will guide you through all the sides of that complex woman, suburban, mysterious, attractive, daring, a true femme fatale and at the same time you will experience the love and passion of tangos and milongas.

This year you can see the show between the 19th of December and the 08th of January at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, in Paris. If you miss them then, there is still a chance for 2009 in England, Portugal, Holland, France, and USA.

Istanbul Fashion

With two International Fashion Weeks per year, a fashion academy and millions of euros invested in the fashion industry, Istanbul is on the way of becoming the new Milan.

If you visit Istanbul, don’t forget to go to Osmanbey, a hyper-commercial center, with a tradition of over 40 years in the clothing market. Osmanbey is an entire shopping quarter with stores with clothes for ladies, for children, sport articles, evening dresses, clothes for pregnant women, outfits for everybody of all ages. 

Osmanbey is the heaven of pret-a-porter clothes, where 4000 international fashion brands are exposed there.

Today, Turkey is the provider of worldwide famous brands like: Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce & Gabbana. In the past twenty years, Turkey has become the most important provider of clothes of Russia, of the Commonwealth and all the Arab countries. It is the forth biggest provider in the world of pret-a-porter clothes, holding 12% of the imports made on the European market.

Turkish fashion designers are becoming more and more famous all over the world.

In January, this year, the Fashion Academy was opened in Istanbul. This new institution promises the best designers in the field whose creations will make Istanbul the new capital of fashion.

Madagascar

If you are interested in clubs, restaurants, night life, museums or urban architecture, then don’t go to Madagascar. Madagascar is the place where wild nature reigns and where the flora and the fauna are unique.

Solitary beaches, tropical forests, abrupt mountains are the sites that draw tourists to the far away island of Madagascar. 

Situated in the Indian Ocean, at 40 kilometers from the African Coast, Madagascar is the forth biggest island in the world. 160 million years ago, the island of Madagascar was united with Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica and India, in a super-continent named Gondwanaland.

The capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo, is situated in the center of the island at 1600 meters altitude.

Leaving aside the poverty and the diseases, Madagascar is a fascinating and unique land. Looking carefully at the fauna and flora of the island, you get the impression that time stopped and you expect to see dinosaurs. Madagascar holds 5% of the plant and animal species of the world. Here you can find species that not a long time ago biologists considered them belonging to the dinosaur age. Specialists believe that Madagascar’s fauna still preserves surprises.

Nicolas Sarkozy

In view of the G8 meeting which will take place in the US next week, President Sarkozy has planned a meeting with the British, German and Italian representatives, in an attempt to reach a common European attitude towards the global financial crisis.

At the summit will also be attending the President of the European Comission, Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the Central Bank of Europe, Jean-Claude Trichet and the President of the Euro-group, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Apart from the common points of discussion, UK and France have also presented specific ones: UK suggested that a fund of 15 billion Euro is necessary to support the development of small businesses; France wants to ensure the protection of European banks; Germany does not agree with any of the coordinated European financial plans that had been made public before the meeting took place.

The President of the European Parliament has totally disagreed with this summit stating that Europe’s entire financial and economical strategy cannot be planned only by four countries.

Bollywood Dancers on Set

Bollywood workers have called off the strike they initiated some time ago and have apparently reached an agreement with their managers. Union leaders say that the payment issues are being negotiated and that the work day will be limited to only 12 hours.

The two sides have signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year which established the salaries for all workers in the film and TV industry and included a 15% increase in wages over one year.

The most affected segment was that of the reality shows, who have even had to cancel some of their daily programs. The cameramen, technicians, carpenters and even dancing girls working in these shows could not put up with the 30 hour/day work schedule.

The workers complained they didn’t even have time to have lunch and that the conditions were inhumane. Also, they had not received their wages for over more than 6 months.

Dinesh Chaturvedi, Union leader, warns the workers that, although the negotiations are going well, it will take a while before the production houses will be able to pay the $ 11 million worth of wages.

Park Hyatt Dubai

The United Arab Emirates have always been a great tourism market and the country’s touristic potential is, nowadays, highly appreciated by international hotel chains, such as Hilton, Kempinski, Sheraton, Continental.

The Hyatt group owns more than 365 hotels in 45 countries and it comprises brands like Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suits. They already own four hotels in the United Arab Emirates and the new Park Hyatt they are planning to build in Abu Dhabi would be the third Park Hyatt in the region.

The hotel will be built in the cultural district of Saadiyat Island , it will be surrounded by a golf course and the clients will be able to enjoy the wonderful view of the Persian Gulf from the 9-kilometer long private beach.

The Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas will be built in association wiht Abu Dhabi National Hotels, and the project will be coordinated by Peter Fulton (S-W Asia Hyatt Managing Director) and His Excellency Saif Mohammed Al Haieri (Chairman of ADNH).

The hotel will have over 270 rooms and 40 villas, a variety of international restaurants and will occupy a surface of 75000 square meters. The grand opening is scheduled to tale place in 2010.

Toyota Eco-car

Eco-cars are the latest trend in eco-vehicles. The eco-cars of the new generation are based on electric energy. Toyota intends to launch a hybrid vehicle, which uses electric energy.

By the end of 2009, Toyota is planning to introduce a hybrid car, equipped with a lithium-ion battery. These new vehicles will be available in the U.S., Japan and Europe. The mass-production of Toyota eco-cars will be delivered in 2010. 

After creating an eco-car that uses a lithium-ion battery, the next challenge will be to develop long-lasting batteries. With a sale of more than 1.5 million hybrid cars worldwide, Toyota is the leader in eco-cars. The company believes that their eco-vehicle system is superior to other of the same kind, because with the Toyota system, the car charges itself while being driven.

Toyota also wants to expand its eco-car production to least one million a year by 2020. The goal of the Japanese company is to have a future without petrol cars.

Honda Insight 2008

On Thursday, 02nd of October, the Paris Motor show visitors have witnessed the official presentation of the new Honda Insight Hybrid.

Honda plans to take lead of the hybrid technology market by launching three hybrid models over the next four years. The first of this series is the Insight, which will be commercialized on the European, Japanese and North American markets starting next year. The other two models will be a hybrid sports car and a version of the Fit and Jazz existing model.

When compared to Toyota Prius, Honda scores on the amount of fuel per mile -approximately a gallon/40 miles in the city- whereas Toyota gets about 48.

Also, Honda representatives have declared that the Insight will have a lower price than Toyota, thus becoming more affordable to more categories of consumers.

The Insight and the Prius are somewhat similar in shape and size; they both have 5 doors and a hatchback configuration, but statistics show that the Honda Insight is more likely to become the best sold hybrid model in Europe.

Baghdad - bomb attack

Baghdad. Thursday, 02nd of October, 8 a.m.
Two suicide bomb attacks on Shiite mosques killed more than 24 people.

The poor neighborhood of Zafaraniya and the middle classed New Baghdad now look the same way: broken glass everywhere, damaged cars and buildings, dusty streets.
The authorities declared they saw it coming; still, there was nothing that could have been done to avoid these attacks.Who is to blame? You can get a different answer from every person you ask.

Clerics think it could have been the Al-Qaeda group based in Mesopotamia; the crowd suspects the Americans are involved. Ever since the US got involved in this war, the local population has been suspicious and sometimes even hostile towards the American troupes.

In the meanwhile, the Iraqi people are carrying on with their religious celebrations. Living in constant terror has toughened them; they are enjoying every minute of their lives, as it can anytime be the last time they smile, dance or see their loved ones.