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Haïti - FLASH : Résultats définitifs du 1er tour des législatives du 9 août 2015
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Catalonia vote: Pro-independence parties win elections.Pro-independence parties in Spain's Catalonia region have won an absolute majority in regional elections.The main separatist alliance and a smaller nationalist party won 72 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament.
However, the pro-independence parties fell just short of getting 50% of the vote, winning 1.9 million out of 4 million ballots cast. The separatists say the victory gives them a clear mandate to form an independent Catalan state. Spain's central government in Madrid has pledged to challenge any unilateral moves towards independence in court. The "Junts per Si" ("Together for Yes") alliance won 62 seats. If it combines with the far-left separatist CUP party, which won 10 seats, it will be able to form a parliamentary majority. "We have won," Catalan regional President Artus Mas told his cheering supporters late on Sunday. After a celebration rally, the pro-independence camp's leaders said they would now proceed towards the creation of an independent Catalan state. "We have a clear, absolute majority in the Catalan parliament to go ahead," Mr Mas said. Analysis: BBC's Tom Burridge, BarcelonaThe result was more ambiguous than the positive rhetoric suggests. The pro-independence camp continues to say they are ready to break away from Spain, even in the face of strong opposition from the Spanish government. But they know that would be controversial and complicated. In truth, their aim is still to get a legally-recognised referendum. So they will continue to pile the pressure on the government, safe in the knowledge that a Spanish general election is less than three months away. A more fractured political landscape at the national level suggests there will either be a change in who holds power, or at least the position of the governing Popular Party (PP) will be weakened. And that might lead to a change of stance over the Catalan question in Madrid. Catalonia's quarrel with Spain explained Independence debate gets personal ahead of Spain vote |
10 Dead, Millions Evacuated After Massive Chile Earthquake
Wednesday1 evening, a gigantic earthquake shook off the coast of Chile. At a magnitude of 8.3, it was the largest earthquake on the planet so far for 2015. In fact, it was five times the energy of Nepal’s April quake. But it had many orders of magnitude less impact on human life and property.
The quake’s epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean, about 30 miles west of the small, mountain city of Illapel. Tsunami warnings forced over a million people to evacuate from Chile’s coasts, and tide buoys reported waves as high as 15 feet above normal levels. Despite the massive shaking, only 10 people are reported dead so far. In Illapel, about 1,800 people are without water, and in Coquimbo, Illapel’s province1, hundreds of thousands are without electricity, the BBC reports. The quake occurred on a massive subduction zone, where the oceanic Nazca Plate is slipping beneath the South America Plate at a rate of about three inches a year. And while the epicenter is just the point of strongest shaking, “a quake this size ruptures several hundred kilometers,” says John Bellini, a USGS geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado. The actual surface area that this earthquake shook measured over 140 miles north to south, and 62 miles east to west. The 8.3 magnitude quake has so far spawned hundreds of aftershocks, with at least 40 of them at magnitudes greater than 5.0. It’s also caused tsunami waves far across the Pacific. Officials closed beaches in Southern California and Hawaii, and tsunami warnings—and waves—reached as far away as New Zealand. 1Update: Correction 3:47pm ET 9/17/2015 A previous version of this story stated that Illapel was the capital of Coquimbo province. That’s not right. La Serena is the capital of Coquimbo. 1 UPDATE: Correction 12:12pm ET 9/18/15 The original version of this article stated that the earthquake occurred on Thursday evening. Damages on a street of Concon, some 110 km northwest of Santiago, on September 17, 2015 hit by an earthquake on the eve. A powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Chile Wednesday, CLAUDIO REYES /GETTY IMAGES A tide gauge off the shore of Coquimbo, a Chilean seaside city less than 100 miles from the epicenter of tonight’s 8.3 moment magnitude earthquake, has logged wave heights in excess of 14 feet. This comes about 90 minutes after the quake struck at 7:54pm local time. NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has predicted wave heights exceeding 36 feet along the Chilean coast, and smaller events elsewhere in the Pacific. Outside of Chile, French Polynesia, a group of over 100 islands in the middle of the south Pacific, is in the most danger. There, NOAA warns of tsunami waves from three to nine feet. That may not sound like a lot, but even small tsunami waves, which have the full force of the ocean behind them, can be destructive. The agency also included smaller tsunami warningsfor just about any nation that touches Pacific waters. |
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Schedule: 2015 Apostolic Journey Of Pope Francis To The United States Of America
Here is the schedule for Pope Francis' September 2015 Apostolic Journey to the United States of America as released by the Vatican on June 30, 2015. All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 (WASHINGTON, DC)
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WASHINGTON — The residents of the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter rose at 3 a.m. on Thursday to give everyone time to shower, fix their hair and get dressed in the best clothes they had after years on and off the streets, coping with evictions, abuse and jobs that disappeared.
They were going to have lunch with Pope Francis. By midmorning, the women were seated at what looked like a wedding reception: a sea of round tables draped in baby blue tablecloths crowned with vases of yellow and orange flowers. Never mind that the tables were under a tent on a downtown street, and that most of the 300 guests were homeless, felons, mentally ill, victims of domestic violence, substance abusers or combinations thereof. At noon, Francis emerged, as promised : Laurie GOODSTEIN. |