SUMMER 2011 NEWS UPDATES: 23rd JULY- AMY WINEHOUSE DIED

Amy Winehouse was found dead in her house in Camden, London on Saturday, July 23rd. Here is how the news was covered at the BBC.



News video:



Video "BACK TO BLACK", Amy Winehouse:



"Back to black" lyrics:

He left no time to regret

Kept his dick wet

With his same old safe bet

Me and my head high

And my tears dry

Get on without my guy

You went back to what you knew

So far removed from all that we went through

And I tread a troubled track

My odds are stacked

I'll go back to black



We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to.....



I go back to us



I love you much

It's not enough

You love blow and I love puff

And life is like a pipe

And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside



We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to



We only said goodbye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to



Black, black, black, black, black, black, black,

I go back to

I go back to



We only said good-bye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to



We only said good-bye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her

And I go back to black



Video "REHAB", Amy Winehouse:



"Rehab" lyrics:

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know

I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine

He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go



I'd rather be at home with ray

I ain't got seventy days

Cause there's nothing

There's nothing you can teach me

That I can't learn from Mr Hathaway



I didn't get a lot in class

But I know it don't come in a shot glass



They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know

I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine

He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go



The man said 'why do you think you here'

I said 'I got no idea

I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby

so I always keep a bottle near'

He said 'I just think you're depressed,

this me, yeah baby, and the rest'



They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know



I don't ever wanna drink again

I just ooh I just need a friend

I'm not gonna spend ten weeks

have everyone think I'm on the mend



It's not just my pride

It's just 'til these tears have dried



They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know

I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine

He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

SUMMER 2011 NEWS UPDATE: 22nd JULY- NORWAY'S TERRORIST ATTACKS

The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011.

The first was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22. The car bomb was placed outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other government buildings. The explosion killed eight people and wounded several others, with more than 10 people critically injured.

The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. The camp was organized by AUF, the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party (AP). A gunman disguised as a policeman opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees, including personal friends of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit.

The Norwegian Police Service arrested Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian right-wing extremist for the mass shootings on Utøya and subsequently charged him with both attacks. The European Union, NATO and several countries around the world expressed their support for Norway and condemned the attacks.

BBC News video:

ESO & BAC STUDENTS MUST MOVE OUT OF IES PASEO DAS PONTES

Photos by Victor Echave

As you can see in these photographs, ESO & BAC Students from IES "Paseo das Pontes" de A Coruña protested this morning in front of their school, against the news of the closing down of these study levels there. The Galician education authorities have decided, without any notice, that this school together with another six throughout Galicia will be turned into schools where only Professional Training studies will be taught. This change implies that all the secondary school students and teachers will be diverted to others nearby. In the case of the IES "Paseo das Pontes" in A Coruña, students and teachers will have our school, IES "Rafael Dieste", and IES "Salvador de Madariaga" as the official ones to receive them, although some may want to go to other schools.
Students and teachers are against the way and the time that this change has been introduced, without knowing or being able to give any possible opinions or different solutions to it. Students have to decide in 24 hours where they want to study during the next course. Teachers will have to wait to see where they will be able to teach.

E.COLI CUCUMBER CRISIS

The E.coli cucumber crisis has hit the news throughout Europe this week. Here's coverage on the British media:

[bbc.co.uk]
E. coli cucumber scare: Spain angry at German claims

Spain has expressed anger at links being made between Spanish cucumbers and a deadly E. coli outbreak.
The country's agriculture minister said Germany pointed to Spanish cucumbers "without having reliable data".
Meanwhile, German officials have voiced doubts about whether the Spanish cucumbers they are investigating carried the deadly E. coli strain.
The outbreak has led to 16 deaths - 15 in Germany and a woman who died in Sweden after travelling to Germany.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national disease institute, says more than 1,150 people within Germany have been affected by enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, also known as EHEC.
In many instances, the gastrointestinal infection has led to Haemolytic-uraemic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems and is potentially fatal.
The RKI has confirmed 373 cases of HUS in Germany.
"We want Germany to provide, without any delay and distractions, the necessary information of its investigation", Rosa Aguilar Spanish agriculture minister
German authorities initially pointed to organic cucumbers from Spain. But Spanish officials have refused to accept the blame, saying it is still unclear exactly when and where the vegetables were contaminated.
Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said: "We are disappointed by the way Germany handles the situation."
"We want Germany to provide, without any delay and distractions, the necessary information of its investigation so that the European Union can know what is causing the E. coli outbreak."
Speaking at an EU meeting in Hungary, she also said the issue should be treated as a "common problem" and that there should be compensation for Spanish and other European producers affected.
The Netherlands has also said it will ask for compensation.
The president of Spain's fruit and vegetable export federation has urged the government to deal with the outbreak, saying it was costing Spanish exporters $200m (£120m) a week.
Asked which countries had stopped buying Spanish produce, Jorge Brotons was quoted as telling a news conference: "Almost all Europe. There is a domino effect on all vegetables and fruits."
Authorities in Hamburg said four suspect cucumbers found there last week - including three imported from Spain - were carrying EHEC, but not the same kind found in patients.
"As before the source remains unidentified," Hamburg state health minister Cornelia Pruefer-Storcks said.
"Our hope of discovering the source of the cases of severe complications with HUS unfortunately has not been fulfilled by these first results."
She also defended the decision to link the outbreak to Spanish cucumbers last week.
"It would have been irresponsible with this number of ill people to keep quiet about a well-grounded suspicion," she said. "Protecting people's lives is more important than economic interests."
Earlier, a senior German scientist warned that the outbreak could worsen.
"We hope the number of cases will go down but we fear it will worsen," said Oliver Grieve, of the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, where many victims are being treated.
German authorities have warned people to avoid eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.
In Sweden, authorities said there were 39 suspected E. coli infections, including 15 with HUS.
On Tuesday, Swedish authorities said a woman in her 50s had died in hospital, after being admitted on Sunday following a trip to Germany.
Cases have also been reported in Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK.
Several countries have taken steps to curtail the outbreak, such as banning cucumber imports and removing the vegetables from sale.

Video from SkyNews:

Video from Euronews:

CHAMPION LEAGUE FINAL 2011: BARÇA BEATS MANCHESTER UNITED AT LONDON'S WEMBLEY STADIUM

Barça Football Club won last night their fourth Champion League Final against Manchester United at London's Wembley Stadium. Here's how British media have reported the news:

[guardian.co.uk]

Champions League press reaction: 'This Barça is the best team in the world'
• Spanish press places Barcelona in the pantheon of greats.

The Spanish press were united in hailing Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final as a landmark for the club and for European football. As they groped for superlatives nearly all the newspapers found space for a headline containing Sir Alex Ferguson's quote: "No one has given us such a hiding."
The notoriously madridista Marca saluted the victors as "A dream Barça", with all its echoes of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team of the 1990s. Indeed the paper referred to the "Pep Team" after their coach, Pep Guardiola, and described their football as "excellent".

La Vanguardia did not stint on the hyperbole with the headline: "Barcelona enters Olympus with the gods."

El País proclaimed: "Wembley falls in love with Barça." Recalling the club's first European Cup victory at the same stadium in 1992, the paper observed: "From Wembley to Wembley Barcelona has undergone an extraordinary process of maturing ... There is no better defence of an idea than victories, but there is no better victory than the fact that the stability of a club does not depend exclusively on a final result, but on a route map. That is the greatness of this Barça, which, make no mistake, will also be the principles that will enable them to vaccinate themselves in defeat."

The already pro-Barcelona Mundo Deportivo was beside itself and felt the best way to express its enthusiasm was by placing four exclamation marks after the word "Champions" (in English).

The celebrating Barcelona fans, the culés, have taken up José Mourinho's pointed question – with its suggestion of skulduggery – of "why?" do Barcelona keep winning as a chant: "por qué?". El Mundo Deportivo produced a long list of reasons why, including Guardiola's brilliance, David Villa's conclusive third goal, Eric Abidal's return from life-threatening surgery, etc...

In Barcelona 132 people, including 37 local police, were injured in disturbances as up to 50,000 people celebrated the victory on the streets. Police made 84 arrests for public order offences around Plaça de Catalunya, Las Ramblas and the Arc de Triomf which come in the wake of weeks of unrelated street protests in the Catalan capital.

Videos from Euronews:

GRIMSVÖTN: ANOTHER ICELANDIC VOLCANO DISRUPTS EUROPEAN SKIES A YEAR AFTER

Here's information on Iceland's 2011 volcano, which threats to close down European skies:

[bbc.co.uk]
Iceland has closed its main international airport and cancelled domestic flights after its most active volcano, Grimsvotn, began erupting.
A plume of smoke has risen 20km (12 miles) into the sky from the volcano.
But Iceland's Meteorological Office says the eruption should not cause widespread disruption to air traffic.
Last year, ash clouds from another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokul, led to the closure of a large section of European airspace.
Governments feared that ash particles could cause aircraft engines to fail, and the closure caused chaos to air travellers.
Different ash
Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for the Isavia civil aviation authority said: "We have closed the area until we know better what effect the ash will have."
The authority said Keflavik airport, the country's main hub, would remain shut for the rest of Sunday.
But officials say the eruption is unlikely to have the same impact as Eyjafjallajokul in 2010.
University of Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said this was Grimsvotn's largest eruption for 100 years, "much bigger and more intensive than Eyjafjallajokull".
He added: "There is a very large area in south-east Iceland where there is almost total darkness and heavy fall of ash. But it is not spreading nearly as much. The winds are not as strong as they were in Eyjafjallajokull."
He said this ash was coarser than last year's eruption, falling to the ground more quickly instead of floating long distances.

Video from ITN News:

Video from Channel 4 News:

SPAIN'S LOCAL & REGIONAL ELECTION RESULTS

Once again, we've looked at the British media to see how the news of Spain's local and regional elections has been covered:

[From bbc.co.uk]

Spain's governing Socialist party has suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.
Amid anger at the failing economy, the centre-right Popular Party (PP) won 37% of the vote to the Socialists' 28%, and nearly all the 13 regions up for grabs.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero conceded defeat but ruled out early general elections.
There was a shock result in the Basque country, where a new radical separatist alliance beat the Socialists.
The new grouping, Bildu, which was nearly banned by the courts for members' alleged links to the armed group ETA, won more than 25% of the council election vote.
That put it second behind the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, which won about 30%, and pushed the Socialists, with 16%, into third.

Voting took place amid mass protests against high unemployment and the government's handling of the economy.
Young demonstrators holding sit-ins in Madrid and other cities said rallies would continue for another week.
Mr Zapatero said three years of economic crisis had taken their toll.
"It destroyed thousands of jobs. It is a crisis that had profound effects on citizens' morale. I know that many Spaniards suffer great hardship and fear for their futures," he said.
"Today, without doubt, they expressed their discontent," he added.
However, he vowed to pursue job-creating reforms until the end of his mandate. A general election must be held by March of next year. He has already said he will not stand for re-election.Bastions fall
Jubilant PP supporters celebrated outside their party headquarters in Madrid as the final votes were being counted.
The party seized power in several regions, including Castilla-La Mancha where the Socialists have always held power.
In municipal elections, the PP won by about two million votes, compared to its victory margin of 150,000 in 2007.

The Socialist party also lost bastions such as the town halls in Barcelona and Seville.
Prime Minister Zapatero's government has been struggling to overcome recession and create jobs.
Spain's overall jobless rate soared to 21% in the first quarter of this year, the highest in the industrialised world. Youth unemployment stands at 45%.
Meanwhile, thousands of young protesters remain camped out in squares across the country.
What began as a sit-in in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square a week ago has turned into a national protest movement popularly known as 15-M.
About 30,000 people were estimated to have occupied the central square in the run-up to the vote.
The protests, which have also taken place in cities including Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao, have so far been peaceful.
Demonstrators defied a government ban on political protests on the eve of the election.
On Sunday, protesters in Puerta del Sol voted to stay in the square until at least 29 May.

Video from Euronews:

SPANISH TAKE THE STREETS ON PROTEST BEFORE SUNDAY'S LOCAL ELECTIONS

The 2011 May Spanish protests, also referred to as the 15-M Movement, Spanish revolution or Indignados (Spanish for outraged) are a series of demonstrations in Spain whose origin can be traced to social networks and the ¡Democracia Real Ya! (True Democracy Right Now!) civilian digital platform, along with 200 other small associations.

Starting on 15 May 2011 with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities,the series of peaceful protests demand a radical change in Spanish politics, as protesters don't consider themselves to be represented by any party nor favoured by the measures approved by politicians. The protests have been staged close to the municipal elections, to be held on May 22. The press has related them to the economic crisis, Stéphane Hessel's Time for Outrage!,the NEET troubled generation and current protests in the Middle East and North Africa, Greek, as well as the Icelandic protest and riots.
Even though protesters form a heterogeneous and ambiguous group, they share a strong rejection against Spanish politicians, the current two-party system in Spain between PSOE and PP and political corruption and a firm support for basic rights: home, work, culture, health, education.
A protester in Madrid with the hashtag #spanishrevolution in his banner. Social networks have played a decisive role in these demonstrations, but Twitter has been the most important by far, with hundreds of tweets per minute in critical moments and some hashtags becoming rapidly global trending topic, such as #DemocraciaRealYa, #NoLesVotes, #AcampadaSol or #NoNosVamos.
These protests have also appeared in a critical situation: Spanish youths are academically more prepared than ever before but they're facing a 50% youth unemployment, and 89% of Spaniards think political parties only care about themselves, according to Metroscopia. Protesters' purpose is to camp in cities' main squares until May 22.
There have also been several protests outside Spain: Braga, Coimbra, Faro, Lisboa and Porto in Portugal, Dublin in Ireland, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Paris in France and London in the United Kingdom.

Video from Euronews:

PS22: A CHOIR OF TEN YEAR-OLDS FROM THE INTERNET TO LIVE-PERFORMANCE SUCCESS

The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York). It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders (10 year-olds), and is directed by Gregg Breinberg. Students are assigned to the chorus after an annual auditioning process at the beginning of each school year. PS22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island which draws students from a wide cross section of ethnic groups and socio-economic levels. The chorus meets twice a week during school hours to practice, and performs throughout the year at school functions, local events, and on special requests. It has been featured on several major national news and music networks after its videos had gained international attention within the popular video-sharing site YouTube. As of April, 2011 the chorus’s videos have been watched more than 32,000,000 times.
The PS22 chorus was founded in 2000 by the school's music teacher, Gregg Breinberg, who started blogging about it in September 2006 following requests on a Tori Amos fan page, where he had shared some of his videos. Since then the chorus has become an Internet phenomenon.
The students performed at the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27, 2011, as you can see on this video:

Their latest is a cover version of Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart" –which has, in just over a day, already had over 25,800 views.

Compare with the original by Roxette:

You can watch more on their blog:
http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

LORCA'S EARTHQUAKE ON THE BRITISH MEDIA

Last Wednesday afternoon, two earthquakes shook the town of Lorca (Murcia) in the southeast of Spain. The news has had coverage on the British media. We have found some examples:

[From bbc.co.uk]

Hundreds of people have spent the night outdoors in the southern Spanish town of Lorca after an earthquake which killed at least 9 people.
The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings after striking at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), 120km south-west of Alicante.
Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.
Wednesday evening's quake came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor.
It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens.
Military deployed
Spanish TV captured dramatic images of a church bell tower crashing to the ground, landing just metres from a cameraman.
Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces. Old buildings were badly damaged.
As night fell many people were still too afraid to return to their homes.
"The whole of the centre of Lorca has been seriously damaged," a delegate from the regional government of Murcia told national radio.
"There are thousands of very disorientated people."
A doctor told the online edition of El Pais that she and her colleagues went into the streets and treated people with serious injuries, many of them "unconscious".

Video report from ITN-News with footage from RTVE:

Video report from Euronews:

Video from BBC-Breakfast News:

SPANISH CHAMPION GOLFER, SEVE BALLESTEROS DIES AT 54

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota (9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He announced himself to the golfing world in 1976, when at the age of 19 he finished second at The Open Championship. A member of a gifted golfing family, Ballesteros won five major tournaments between the years of 1979 and 1988, including The Open Championship three times, and The Masters twice. He was also successful in the Ryder Cup, helping the European team to five wins both as a player and captain. He is best known for his great short game, and his erratic driving of the golf ball.
Because of back-related injuries, Ballesteros struggled with form during the 1990s. In spite of this, he continued to be involved in the game of golf, creating the Seve Trophy and running a golf course design business. Ballesteros eventually retired from competitive golf in 2007 because of continued poor form, and in 2008 was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. After reports that Ballesteros would make a return to the spotlight at the 2010 Open Championship, following the advice of doctors, he did not travel to St Andrews in 2010 for the Open Championship.
Ballesteros was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for the second time at the BBC Sports Personality Awards 2009. He was presented with the award at his home in Spain by his friend, compatriot and former Ryder Cup team-mate José María Olazábal. Ballesteros died of brain cancer on 7 May 2011, aged 54.

Video on Seve Ballesteros death from SkyNews:

Video on Seve Ballesteros death from ITN News:

Video extract from "Seve's story":

OBAMA CONFIRMS BIN LADEN'S DEATH

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎, March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011) was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda, responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship and was disowned by his billionaire family.
Osama bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings. Since 2001, Osama bin Laden and his organization had been major targets of the U.S. War on Terror. He was believed to be hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas with fellow al-Qaeda leaders.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in an operation conducted by a small group of American military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Video Obama's statement to the world on Bin Laden's death+a short Bin Laden's biography:

Video first 5 minutes CNN TV coverage on 9/112001:

WILLIAM & KATE: THE LATEST BRITISH ROYAL WEDDING IN LONDON TODAY

Interest on the latest British Royal Wedding has been big. Two billion people around the world are said to have tuned in. It has been the biggest media event ever staged in the UK and the TV companies from all over the world are pulling out all the stops – putting cameras all over the country and using their most popular presenters and knowledgeable experts to tempt viewers.Our interest here is because you can hear some English once again.

Video Kate walking down the aisle:

Video William & Kate exchanging of vows:

25 YEARS OF PIXAR ANIMATION

Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville California, United States. The studio has earned twenty-six Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm before it was acquired by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion; the transaction made Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney. Pixar has produced eleven feature films, beginning with Toy Story in 1995. It was followed by A Bug's Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003, The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, Up in 2009 and Toy Story 3 (to date, the highest-grossing animated film of all-time, grossing over $1 billion worldwide), in 2010. All eleven films that Pixar has produced have been largely successful, both critically and commercially. The $602 million average gross of their films is by far the highest of any studio in the industry.

All the films produced by Pixar are among the fifty highest grossing animated films of all time. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up and Toy Story 3 make it to the top 50 list of highest-grossing films of all time, with Toy Story 3 at #5, Finding Nemo at #21, Up at #39, and The Incredibles at #50. All eight Pixar films released since the inauguration of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001 have been nominated for that award, commencing with Monsters, Inc.. Six of the eight have won the award: Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Up and Toy Story 3 are among the only three animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. On September 6, 2009, executives John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich were presented with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale Venice Film Festival. The award was presented by Lucasfilm founder George Lucas.

Pixar will be celebrating 25 years of animation in 2011, the same time its upcoming film, Cars 2, is released. Pixar celebrated its 20th anniversary with the first Cars. The Pixar: 25 Years of Animation exhibition was held at the Oakland Museum of California from July 2010 until January 2011.

Video 25 years of Pixar Animation:

Pixar's first short animation story from 1986 "Luxo", Pixar's logo:

TSUNAMIS IN SPAIN? SOONER OR LATER, YES

This is a report appeared on April, 11th in Spanish newspaper "El País" about the possibility of a tsunami occuring in our country. The risk exists.

In 1755 a tidal wave swept through Cádiz and Huelva, killing 1,240 people; Spain has no early warning system to alert of great waves, experts warn Tsunami is a Japanese word, but that does not mean to say that destructive tidal waves only happen in the Pacific. On All Saints' Day in 1755, Cádiz and Huelva were hit by a devastating wave after an earthquake on an Atlantic fault line some 400 kilometers off the coast. Although far fewer people lived on the coast then than today, the wave claimed 1,240 lives. Scientists don't know whether history will repeat itself next year or in 500 years, but given the destructive power of this phenomenon, they are calling for an early warning system. The tremor is remembered as the Lisbon earthquake because it destroyed the city and killed 12,000 people in Portugal. It measured around 8.4 on the Richter scale, according to reconstructions by scientists, explains Emilio Carreño, head of the Seismic Network of the National Geographic Institute (IGN). "The quake was felt in Germany and nearly all the cathedrals with towers in the peninsula were damaged," adds Carreño. The quake generated a tsunami. The cliffs of the Algarve were barely damaged but in the zone between Cádiz and Huelva, home to marshes below sea level, it made a huge impact. In Ayamonte (Huelva) alone, 400 drowned. In Cádiz, where waves measured up to 6.5 meters, the governor ordered the closure of the sea wall gate, which helped save lives. The event generated so much alarm and surprise that it is well documented. Mauricio González, a researcher with Cantabria University's Oceanographic and Coastal Engineering Group and a tsunami expert, says the 1755 quake was not an isolated case. "Over 18 tsunami-generating quakes were registered between 300BC and 1900," in the Gulf of Cádiz. In the Mediterranean, tsunamis are less destructive but they can be dangerous for bathers, and low-lying zones in summer. Since the devastating tsunami in Indonesia in 2004, scientists began to study the phenomenon and how to predict it. A European project has now identified the possible sources of tsunamis and their effect. Since the Japan nuclear disaster, atomic power plants' resistance to quakes is also under review across Europe. In Spain, nuclear plants are situated outside the zone with the highest seismicity, and Lisbon 1755 was one of those taken into account. However, González explains, "there is still no early warning system. [...] In Japan, the warnings meant only a fraction of the deaths seen in Indonesia." Paradoxically, "Unesco's detection system would enable Spain to find out about tsunamis, but it wouldn't know how to respond to an alert," he adds. González has modeled the alarming impact of a tsunami on Cádiz, now home to 125,000. "A great tsunami will hit the Spanish coast tomorrow or in 100 years." It's just a question of time. RAFAEL MÉNDEZ - Madrid - 11/04/2011

EARTH HOUR 2011

[Taken from: http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/]
The whole world’s buzzing about Earth Hour! Earth Hour switch-offs start in the mid-Pacific - 8.30 Saturday morning our time - then you can trace the excitement as it spreads east, till it’s our turn at 8.30pm tonight.
Check out the memorable images from across the world as they come in.
Iconic landmarks going dark range from: Niagra Falls in Canada; Times Square in New York; the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio; Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Big Ben and the London Eye in the UK; the Alhambra in Spain; Eiffel Tower in Paris; Brandenburg Gate, Berlin; Tivoli, Copenhagen; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; Kuwait Towers; Milad Tower, Tehran; Davis Station, Antarctica; and of course the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Video Earth Hour 2011 official video:

ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI, NOW IN JAPAN

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami. Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude quake, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant but officials said there were no radiation leaks.
The death toll is unclear, but police say 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the port city of Sendai. At least 90 other people are reported to have died, and many more are unaccounted for.

Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, the tremor struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.
The first waves from the tsunami have reached the US mainland at Oregon, and people have been evacuated from coastal areas of that state and in California and Washington.
Some of the biggest waves of between 6-7ft (about 2m) would hit near California's Crescent City, predicted the US National Weather Service.
The waves earlier passed Hawaii, but there were no reports of major damage.
A tsunami warning was extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert has since been lifted in most parts, including the Philippines, Australia, China and Indonesia.

Video of the news on TV:

After the earthquake and tsunami now the worries are about the nuclear threat as some of Japanese nuclear plants have been seriously affected, specially at Fukushima, and leaks are feared. Here is a recent video:

TONIGHT'S OSCAR NIGHT: YOU'RE INVITED!

Tonight's Oscar night in the United States. We'll be hearing the repeated formula: "Any the Oscar goes to..." We have collected the TV promos for the ceremony featuring Anna Hathaway & James Franco, who will be the hosts of this year's show. We're also including the video where this year's nominations were announced last January, 25th 2011. Any bets for who will be the winners?

[UPDATE: AND THE OSCARS GOES (WENT) TO...

"THE KING'S SPEECH": best film, best director, best original script & best actor: Colin Firth.

"THE BLACK SWAN": best actress: Natalie Portman.

"TOY STORY 3": best animated film & best original song]

Promo video Oscar 2011 (1): Promo video Oscar 2011 (2), "You're invited": Video Oscar Award nominations 2011:

NEW ZEALAND'S EARTHQUAKE

Another disaster has hit down under. This time it's not Australia, it's New Zealand.
At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under rubble.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country's second largest city on a busy weekday afternoon.
The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. "Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said.
Power and water was cut and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout Christchurch in the aftermath of the quake, which was centred three miles from the city. The US Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles.

Video from New Zealand TV news:

5 GRAMMY AWARDS FOR LADY ANTEBELLUM

Lady Antebellum's country music bursted out to stardom at last night's 53rd Grammy Awards, with 5 awards in the categories: Best Recording-Procution, Best Country Album, Best Song-Writing, Best Country Song, Best Performance for "NEED YOU NOW"."It's the song that has put us upside down. It's changed our lives", said Hillary Scott, the group's vocalist. They were the moral winners as they won 5 out of 6 nominations.
Lady Antebellum is a country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Made up by Charles Kelley (lead & background vocals), Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin) & Hillary Scott (vocals)

Video "NEED YOU NOW", Lady Antebellum (+lyrics & Spanish translation subtitles):