WILMINGTON, N.C., July 20 (Reuters) - Tropical storm Cristobal weakened slightly off the Carolinas on Sunday but still brought gale-force winds and dumped heavy rain on the North Carolina coast.
Tropical Storm Dolly speeds across Caribbean toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
A tropical storm warning was in effect from Campeche, Mexico, to the Belize order. The center of the storm was about 165 miles (265 kilometers) southeast of the island tourist destination Cozumel on Sunday evening, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Dolly was moving northwest at 14 mph (22 kph), on course to cross the Yucatan on Sunday night and reach the Gulf of Mexico on Monday. The storm had sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) with higher gusts.
Magnitude 3.0 - NEVADA
2008 July 20 02:40:49 UTC
Magnitude 5.2 - CARLSBERG RIDGE
2008 July 20 08:21:42 UTC
Magnitude 4.0 - NEAR THE COAST OF WESTERN TURKEY
2008 July 20 10:15:24 UTC
Magnitude 4.4 - CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA
2008 July 20 11:08:31 UTC
Magnitude 4.7 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 July 20 02:22:54 UTC
Magnitude 4.9 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 July 20 14:16:21 UTC
Magnitude 4.8 - OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2008 July 20 20:48:15 UTC
Magnitude 5.8 - BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
2008 July 20 21:30:30 UTC
Threat of mass starvation looms in Zimbabwe after latest harvest fails
Millions of Zimbabweans are threatened with starvation after the widespread failure of the latest harvest brought on by the government's disastrous mishandling of land redistribution, and food shortages in the shops caused by hyperinflation.
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A medical worker in Matabeleland, where the maize crop failure was almost total, said that there were widespread food shortages and what did arrive was mostly given to members of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
"The situation is extremely severe in Matabeleland. Hunger is extreme. There are the odd maize deliveries but it only goes to people with Zanu cards. Even where there is food people can't afford it," she said.
Mugabe is a raid dog and should be dealt with accordingly.
Olympic Plagues
Chinese officials appear to have been victorious in their Herculean effort to rid China's Olympic sailing venue of foul-smelling green algae that clogged bout a third of the waterway over the past month. About 10,000 soldiers, working alongside local volunteers, had raced against time to scoop up the algae with shovels, rakes and their bare hands. Huge piles of the damp green microorganisms were dumped along the shore of Qingdao, a major resort city. Environmentalists say the algae grew to such a scale because of the sewage and agricultural waste that flows into the Yellow Sea. But Chinese officials downplayed the link to pollution, saying instead that this year's unusually large bloom was due to heavy rain and hot weather. Chinese Olympic officials could also face trouble on Beijing's western front from swarms of locusts that threaten to descend on the capital from Inner Mongolia.
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Drought still causing problems for state
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor report released this week, almost all of Chilton County is classified in a severe drought compared to 29 percent of the whole state. Most of the areas affected by the D2 severe drought are in northeastern Alabama.
All but about six percent of the state is currently experiencing some drought. The only areas not classified in a drought are Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Because of the drought, Alabama Power is taking additional steps to conserve water.
Alabama Power has cut releases from its hydroelectric dams to the minimums required to protect fisheries, endangered species, water quality and critical municipal and industrial uses. These minimal releases are the only times the company is generating any power from its dams.
First of 6 tanker brings Greek drinking water to drought-stricken Cyprus
NICOSIA, Cyprus: A tanker bringing Greek drinking water to Cyprus began nloading into a reservoir on the drought-stricken Mediterranean island Wednesday.
The vessel is one of six tankers that will ferry water from Greece in successive shipments until November to restore Cypriot water reserves, after an almost rainless winter led the government in March to cut water supplies to homes by a third.
Cyprus reached a deal with Greece for a total of 2.1 billion gallons (8 million cubic meters) of water to be brought in by November at a cost of €43 million (US$68.8 million).
It's town against farmer
GOVERNMENTS will be forced to consider hoarding water to meet the needs of regional towns dependent on the Murray-Darling river system by the end of next year.
State and federal ministers released another bleak assessment of the future of the river system yesterday. They agreed to continue emergency measures first put in place in 2006 that mean water in the lower areas of the Murray-Darling will be used only for people rather than for agriculture and irrigation.
Drought creates tension along both banks of the Jordan
A thin trickle of murky, polluted water made its way from the Jordan River to the Dead Sea this week, the normally small amount of water further diminished by drought. The situation has made it difficult for farms and towns on the Jordanian and Israeli sides of the river to continue farming or hosting tourists on the Dead Sea's northern shores.
Last week the water crisis almost sparked a diplomatic incident between Israel and Jordan. The Jordanians said Israeli farmers dammed the river beside the Adam Bridge (also called the Damia Bridge) and stopped the flow of water southward so they could irrigate their crops. Senior Defense Ministry officials contacted the Israel Defense Forces, which quickly dispatched earthmoving equipment to clear stones from the river and prove that Israel is not deliberately stopping the river's flow. The river was cleared under the watchful eyes of a Jordanian military commander, and the Jordan Valley Regional Council denied Jordanian charges that it had dammed the river.
Iranian Parliament Allocates 5bn Dollars to Eliminate Drought Damage
Bukan, Mahabad, 19 July: The representative of Bukan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly has said that the Assembly has allocated 45,000 billion rials [5bn dollars] to compensate for the damage caused by the drought and frost.
Mohammad Qasim Osmani said in an interview with IRNA on Saturday [19 July] that 20,000 billion rials of this sum will be paid to farmers and villagers for the damage caused by the drought and frost.
Moderate drought conditions continue in Lenoir County
Rain forecasted for tonight and Sunday morning is expected to bring some temporary relief to the area as a low pressure hugs the North Carolina coast, sending scattered showers inland, Accuweather meteorologist Carrie McCabe said.
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For local farmers, the good news comes too late. Corn crops were devastated this year by drought conditions, especially in southern Pitt County, local farmer Kendall Hill said.
Texas endures drought and bit of a monsoon
LUBBOCK — Exceptional drought has returned to Texas.
Last year at this time, nearly the entire state was free of any drought stage. On Friday, about 4.5 percent of the state was in exceptional drought, the most severe stage on the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Parts or all of as many as 20 counties in the northern portion of South Texas are in exceptional drought, including Bexar, Travis, Bastrop and Hays counties.
Water scarcity in the deserts of central Asia
In Uzbekistan, it is said that every drop of water contains a grain of gold. Water is a precious resource in the desert lands of Central Asia, where only the Aral Sea and a few rivers must provide enough water for the region's 60 million people. But while the desiccation of the Aral Sea has been well documented, very little attention has been focused on the ecological destruction of the sea's two dependent rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya.
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"Living in the center of Tashkent, water shortages are always embarrassing and just unacceptable for me. People have to go to nearby government buildings or restaurants asking for a bucket of cold water. In case of absence of hot water, it's common that families boil cold water in large amounts for showering and washing clothes, dishes and general cleaning," says Samira Umarova, an Uzbek student now studying in Canada. She criticizes the Uzbek government for its incompetence in managing water policy. "If the Uzbek state can't handle the issue, then they should allow foreign companies to deal with this problem by investing into water resource management and infrastructure."
Drought of a different sort:
Pope says 'spiritual desert' is spreading
The Pope launched a fresh assault on consumer culture and materialism today, warning of a “spiritual desert” spreading across the world in a speech to a sprawling, flag-waving crowd of about 400,000 worshippers at a mass in Sydney.
Benedict XVI, who yesterday apologised to children abused by paedophile priests, challenged young people to help build a “new age” by rejecting the “indifference, spiritual weariness and blind conformity” of the times. He also urged them to fill the growing gaps in the ranks of priests and nuns.
“A new generation of Christians is being called to help build a world in which God’s gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished — not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed,” the pope told the crowd, which the church claimed was the biggest on record in Australia.
Full text here.
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