The following articles are compiled by:

Rick Allinson

Rick@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

Deadly blizzards bring Asia chaos
Source: BBC 
 

09 January 2008 – Heavy snow and bitterly cold weather have caused scores of deaths and major disruption in parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Pakistan.

 

Some areas have seen snow for the first time in years, with people struggling to keep warm in sub-zero temperatures amid power shortages.

 

In Iran, heavy snow over recent days has seen eight people frozen to death after being trapped in their cars.

 

Tens of thousands of other motorists were rescued from their vehicles.

 

Some desert areas in Iran reported snowfalls for the first time in living memory.

 

But other countries in the region have been suffering similar problems.

 

Avalanche

 

Central Asian nations have reported unusually cold temperatures.

 

In Kyrgyzstan, a government agency said 50 homeless people froze to death over the first four days of the new year.

 

In Tajikistan, people are struggling to keep warm in daytime temperatures as low as -10C, at a time when cutbacks in energy exports from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan mean electricity supplies have been reduced to a total of about four hours a day.

 

Heavy snow has also caused casualties in Afghanistan. 

 

Dozens killed in Iran blizzards
Source: BBC 
 

09 January 2008 – At least 28 people are reported to have died in Iran's heaviest snowfall in recent years.

 

Eight people froze to death as severe blizzards left 40,000 people stranded in their cars, authorities said.

 

Although most have now been rescued, another 20 people are reported to have died in car crashes caused by the weather, officials said.

 

Tehran has declared two days of national holiday, urging people to stay at home to avoid the bitter cold.

 

The temperature has been down as low as -24 degrees Celsius, and for the first time in living memory there has been snow in the country's southern deserts.

 

Comments: More wild weather and this time it is in Iran and central Asia. -24 degrees Celsius is extremely cold and for a region that is not used to seeing this kind of weather it would be very hard for people to cope with that temperature. In other areas, severe flooding is being reported in Zambia where the government estimates 1.5 million people could be displaced if heavy rains continue. Other areas hit by flooding are Quebec, Indiana, London, Australia, New Zealand, and a handful of other countries. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook BC's central coast and an earthquake measuring 6.9 hit Tibet both earlier today. There seems to be no shortage of eventful weather to report.

 

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Sarkozy seen as backing Blair for top EU job
Source: EU Observer

 

09 January 2008 – Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will attend a conference of French president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party UMP on Saturday (12 January), in what is said to be his first intervention for a party other than his own.

The move is fuelling speculation that Mr Blair, who belongs to the UK's center-left Labour party, is in the running for EU president – a new high-profile job that can be held for up to five years starting in 2009.

The two men will debate Europe and Mr Blair may get clear backing from Mr Sarkozy in exchange of his participation at the conference, according to media reports.

The UMP meeting marks the launch of its pre-electoral campaign before the municipal elections in France on 9 and 16 March – but there is set to be much speculation around Mr Blair's attendance.

The president of the socialist group in the French national assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has accused Mr Sarkozy of preparing the ground for Mr Blair's candidacy for the EU top job with Saturday's event.

"I see something emerging from the UMP's side and from the president of the republic (…), which is preparing Tony Blair's candidacy for EU president", Mr Ayrault was reported as saying by French news agency AFP on Tuesday (8 January).

"This candidacy is not acceptable, because it is not acceptable that the first EU president is a man who supported and participated in the war in Iraq", he added.

Other politicians who have already expressed interest in what is to set to be one of the EU's top jobs include Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern.

Two more positions are also up for grabs next year – president of the European Commission and EU foreign minister.

Haggling over the nominations for the post is set to start in earnest in the second half of this year when France takes over the EU presidency.

 

Comments: update; after yesterdays report on the Irish PM vying for one of the top 3 EU jobs, now it seems that Tony Blair is in the running for one of these positions and most likely the EU president post. If you read the article yesterday then you would know that there will be heated debates and arguments over who gets the jobs and already it looks like it will be a bumpy ride. In the second half of 2008, when France takes over the EU presidency, negotiations for the EU three major political jobs - president of the European Commission, president of the council and EU foreign minister - are set to begin. This will be a key event to watch and see how it all unfolds.

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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