Friday, October 7, 2016

Florida on alert as Hurricane Matthew moves up coast



View Guardian US Briefing online

Florida on alert as Hurricane Matthew moves up coast

Haiti's death toll rises; Colombia's president wins Nobel peace prize; DoJ investigating Alabama prisons; Clinton and Trump prepare for next debate

Maintainance workers try to remove a tree from a road in Nassau, New Providence island in the Bahamas.
Maintainance workers try to remove a tree from a road in Nassau, New Providence island in the Bahamas. Photograph: Sloan Smith/AFP/Getty Images

Edward Helmore in New York


Hurricane Matthew batters Florida

As the east coast wakes up, Hurricane Matthew is moving north along the Florida coast, battering Cape Canaveral with wind speeds of up to 107mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Brevard County and Volusia County are also heavily affected, and Daytona Beach is seeing increasingly fierce conditions. Curfews are in place in several coastal districts, including Seminola County, and local news channels are broadcasting footage of near-deserted interstate roads. Conditions are expected to worsen as the day wears on. Inland areas including Orlando are starting to feel the hurricane's effects, with heavy rain and tropical storm conditions. Georgia and South Carolina are bracing for the storm to move northwards. Some 350,000 Floridians are without power while Disney, Seaworld and Universal theme parks have been shut. Two million people were warned to flee inland from the storm.

Hurricane Matthew: 'monster' storm hits Florida after hundreds killed in Haiti – live

Haiti death toll tops 300

The number of people killed in Haiti by the devastating effects of Hurricane Matthew rose to at least 339 on Friday as rescue workers and aid agencies battled to reach remote areas of the country. The hurricane, which hit Haiti on Tuesday, destroyed more than 3,200 homes, displaced 15,000 people, ruined plantations and drowned animals. The toll leapt as receding waters revealed more bodies. Relief agencies said more than one million Haitians have been affected, with hundreds of thousands of people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Haiti death toll tops 330 after Hurricane Matthew, officials say

Colombia's president awarded Nobel peace prize

Notwithstanding the recent rejection of Colombia's peace deal with Farc insurgents by his people in a referendum, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has been awarded the Nobel peace prize for his work on the historic deal. The Nobel committee said the award was given as a "tribute to the Colombian people". Santos and the leader of the Farc rebel group, Rodrigo LondoƱo, known as Timochenko, were both considered leading contenders for the prize after signing the peace deal last month to end a war that began 52 years ago, in 1964.

Juan Manuel Santos wins Nobel peace prize for work with Farc

Clinton, Trump hunker down

Donald Trump began preparing for Sunday's town hall-style debate with Hillary Clinton by insisting he wasn't preparing for it at a town hall event in Sandown, New Hampshire, where an invited audience offered written questions. "This has nothing to do with Sunday," Trump said, continuing: "You really think Hillary Clinton is debate prepping for three or four days? She is resting … she wants to build up her energy for Sunday night and that's fine." Clinton held a private fundraiser at the St Regis Hotel in New York but otherwise did not appear on the campaign trail. Meanwhile the Democratic candidate's lead appears to be strengthening to over four percentage points, according to Real Clear Politics' polling average.

Donald Trump the clear winner in New Hampshire debate featuring only himself

Alabama prison system investigated

The federal government is mounting a "possibly unprecedented" inquiry into physical and sexual assault and living conditions in Alabama's prions. The investigation comes after a series of strikes and riots that have revealed the state's prisons are in turmoil. According to the Department of Justice, the investigation will focus on whether prisoners are protected from physical and sexual abuse by other prisoners and guards, and whether living conditions are sanitary and safe in general at men's prisons. "Our obligation is to protect the civil rights of all citizens, including those who are incarcerated," said US attorney Joyce White Vance.

DoJ to investigate Alabama prisons in 'possibly unprecedented' move

UK pound in mystery 6% crash

A "fat finger" error by a trader or computerized chain reaction is thought to be responsible for the pound plunging to a three-decade low in early trading in Asia, adding to sterling's earlier losses amid speculation that Britain is heading for a "hard Brexit". The pound fell 6% to US $1.1841 on Friday morning, with traders confused as to the cause.

Pound falls 6% in Asian trading mystery

Putin's birthday

A pro-Kremlin website has compiled a book of pop culture depictions of the Russian president for his 64th birthday today. The book, In the Lead Role: Putin in Contemporary Culture, consists of 288 glossy pages of Vladimir Putin in magazines and books, television and film, graffiti, sculpture, music and consumer goods. There are numerous photographs of public stunts in support of Putin. Meanwhile in New York, police were looking for the person who draped a gigantic banner featuring a portrait of the Russian president over the side of the Manhattan Bridge.

Book celebrates Vladimir Putin as 'global cultural phenomenon'

Statue of Liberty museum plans announced

In an election year where immigration and talks of building a wall between the US and Mexico dominate, the unveiling of plans on Thursday for a new $70m Statue of Liberty museum to be built honoring liberty and mass migration seemed particularly timely. Designs for the new Statue of Liberty museum, created by the foundation in partnership with the National Park Service, were revealed at a press conference on the grounds of Liberty Island on Thursday morning.

Statue of Liberty museum: design unveiled for new $70m project

In case you missed it …

As the much of the world now knows, Kim Kardashian was robbed of her wedding ring in Paris. Marina Hyde says the heist is this year's ultimate celebrity whodunnit. Was a mystery Fiat, last seen the night Princess Diana died, involved? Even Karl Lagerfeld has weighed in on the fashion heist, offering with German practicality that "you cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you."

Kim Kardashian, the Pink Panthers and the missing jewels

You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Guardian US Briefing. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: 222 Broadway, 22nd and 23rd Floors, New York, New York, 10038


No comments:

Post a Comment