Medicare Officially Safer After Health Reform
The President discusses a new Medicare Trustees report showing Medicare to be on much stronger footing as a result of the reforms in the Affordable Care Act. In addition, seniors are also already getting help with prescription drug costs when they fall into the infamous "donut hole."
Agatha leaves 82 dead in Guatemala, El Salvador
The remnants of Tropical Storm Agatha were headed into the Caribbean Sea late Sunday after leaving behind more than 80 dead in Guatemala and El Salvador, authorities in those countries reported.
Most of the dead were in Guatemala, where heavy rains triggered mudslides that collapsed homes and forced thousands to evacuate. The country's preliminary death toll was 73 on Sunday, with 49 of those reported in the province of Chimaltenango, said David de Leon, Spokesperson for the National Commission for the Reduction of National Disasters. That toll was expected to rise, he said.
And El Salvador reported nine deaths from the storm. The government issued a red alert, the highest warning level, which shut down schools and opened up shelters for families in the affected areas, President Mauricio Funes said.
Agatha, an Eastern Pacific storm, struck land Saturday and was downgraded from a tropical depression to a remnant storm on Sunday. It was last reported moving toward the western Caribbean on Sunday afternoon, but was expected to keep producing heavy rains through Monday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
In Guatemala, the storm damaged more than 3,500 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 61,000 people, the nation's emergency office said Sunday. And in Mexico, the government's National Meteorological Service predicted torrential rain for Chiapas state, intense downpours in Tabasco and strong showers in Quintana Roo.
Four other Mexican states were predicted to receive moderate rain. Strong winds also were forecast.
Swollen rivers and mudslides were a concern. In Guatemala, four children were buried in a landslide outside Guatemala City, the nation's capital. Four adults were killed in the capital, disaster officials said. Another two children and two adults were killed when a boulder, dislodged by heavy rains, crushed a house in the department of Quetzaltenango, 125 miles (200 km) west of Guatemala City, officials said.
Guatemala is already under a 15-day state of calamity because of Thursday's eruption of the Pacaya volcano, which killed at least three people. At least 1,800 people had already been evacuated to shelters. The volcano also shut down the capital's international airport.
Ash from the volcano that covered city streets and other areas mixed with the heavy rain, forming a goo that caused many drainage systems to clog.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said damage from Agatha was probably worse than the destruction caused by Hurricanes Mitch in 1998 and Stan in 2005, both of which devastated the Central American country.
"The country is suffering a great tragedy, this attack by nature," Colom said from the Guatemalan emergency agency center.
Emergencies were reported in all of Guatemala's 22 states, called departments. The worst, Colom said, was the Pacific Ocean port of Champerico, which is isolated.
"We have no way of getting there to help the public, which is in danger because of flooding," Colom said.
The president said he has asked the international community for help.
Agatha is the first named storm of the Pacific hurricane season. The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1.
CNN's Esprit Smith and journalist Merlin Rodriguez contributed to this report.
51 Miss US Pageant hopeful welcome at Planet Hollywood
Reigning Miss US Kristen Dalton welcome the 51 contestant of the 2010 Miss US Pageant this day to Planet Hollywood, and fans can meet all of them this afternoon external the hotel on the Strip for the official 5 p.m. Las Vegas welcome.
On hand will be Paula Shugart, Miss Universe president; Terry Jicinsky, Senior VP of Promotion for the Las Vegas gathering and Visitors Authority; and Marilyn Winn, president of Bally’s, Paris and Planet Hollywood. It’s the third successive year that Donald Trump’s pageant has been held at Planet Hollywood. The pageant airs live on NBC on May 16.
Sassy Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa Rivers will provide unexpected drama with their offstage zingers, with entertainment by Trace Adkins, Boys like Girls and co-hosts Natalie Morales and Australian cooking hunk Curtis Stone.
For the next 2 weeks, the 51 contestants, As well as Miss Nevada USA Julianna Erdesz, face a grueling schedule of events, dinners, photo shoots and then rehearsals -- all leading up to the big day. We posted yesterday in Strip Scribbles a fast rundown of their schedule.
Our contributing photographers will be on duty this afternoon with me, and we'll post their photographs as soon as likely following the official welcome.
NASA unveils of the sun
NASA released stunning new image captured by their Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, a space telescope calculated to learn our sun.
"SDO is our 'Hubble for the sun,'" says Lika Guhathakurta, a scientist, in a report released Wednesday. NASA say SDO will play a serious role in helping scientists know our nearest star more methodically, as well as its effect on our planet.
Because its start on on February 11, SDO has been moving into a geosynchronous orbit and bringing its on-board instrument online. The images unveiled on Wednesday's press discussion are among the first images sent back by the Atmospheric Imaging meeting, the observatory's main telescope array.
One thing that make SDO unique it is ability to see the full-size picture literally. Rather than just focusing on a section of the sun, the observatory is able to monitor the whole sun in what it calls the "full disk" view.
NASA strategy to have SDO in operation for the next 5 years, and says the observatory has enough fuel on board to continue to work for an additional 5 years after it complete it is initial science mission.
Nityananda arrested in Himachal
Self-appointed god man Nityananda, who has been connected to a sex scandal following sleazy videotape recording showing him was aired, was on Wednesday under arrest from a village 50 km on or after Shimla, police said.
"He was arrested from a home near Arki town," Solan police leader Prem Thakur said.
He had been stay at a Solan hideaway for more than a month. The tainted he was arrested after a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him by a court. He has been exciting under several section of the IPCC.
Videotape recording telecast in the early hours March showed Nityananda in bed with a woman. He, but, denied any wrongdoing. On March 30, the self-styled god man had announce his decision to resign as head of his Dhyanapeetam ashram and from all trust associated with it, living a life of "spiritual seclusion" for an imprecise time.
The swami's supposed sleazy acts in company of a Tamil actress were aired by TV channel on March 3. He has claim that the images in the video have been morphed and he had not done no matter which illegal.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Granada and Malaga
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Spain at 00:08 am local time. The epicenter was located 24 kilometers southeast from Granada, 106 kilometers west of Malaga & 341 kilometers south of Madrid.
This earthquake was deep, at 616 kilometres near the Sierra Nevada mountain range. No aftershocks have yet been reported. The quake was most felt in the province of Malaga, report said. Numerous earthquakes are guessed in excess of 4.0 magnitudes to strike the region within 7 days after an earthquake of this strength.
Meanwhile, about a month ago Spanish Geologist Luis Eugenio Suarez said that Granada could suffer an earthquake within the short term, & with an intensity similar to that of February 27 Cauquenes, Chile earthquake.
The last earthquake that struck Spain was in Arenas del Rey, in Granada, 126 years ago, & a magnitude 6.6 leaving between 750 & 900 dead, 1000s injured & material destruction.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes Baja California
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake rattled Baja California, Mexico, on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.
The moderate earthquake was about 11 miles close to the west-southwest of Guadalupe VIctoria, Baja California, & about 32 miles south-southeast of Mexicali, Baja California&.8217;s capital, the USGS said.
The earthquake occurred at 9:44 a.m. & it is having 6.2 miles deep, the USGS said. It has no damages.
The earthquake occurred at 9:44 a.m. & it is having 6.2 miles deep, the USGS said. It has no damages.
Magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck South-Central Alaska
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake has struck south-central Alaska, shaking buildings in Anchorage. The Alaska Earthquake Information Centre said that it received no reports of the quake causing damage.
The earthquake was struck at 8:19 a.m. The epicenter was placed near to the 56km north-east of Anchorage & was 30km deep.
The West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre says the quake cause no tsunami warning.
A magnitude of 7.7 earthquake strikes Indonesia
A 7.7-magnitude earthquake shock off the coast of Indonesia early Wednesday, triggering 2 tsunamis & injuring more people, officials said.
6 people on Simeulue island were wounded when the quake hit, & 2 houses collapsed under the violent shaking, Police said.The island is just off the coast of Banda Aceh, a city at the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island where residents lost power after the temblor.
"The quake was felt strong, maybe about 3 to 4 minutes," said Officials.
10 yr old boy killed by bus on Disney property
A 10-year-old boy has died after being hit by a bus on Walt Disney World property.Kim Montes said the boy was deadly struck close to the Fort Wilderness resort while riding his bicycle Thursday. He comes with an 11-year-old friend, who was not hurt.
The names of the boy & his friend were not immediately released. Officials said that 17 to 20 people were aboard the bus, which was run by Disney. They said none of the bus passengers were injured in the accident.
The names of the boy & his friend were not immediately released. Officials said that 17 to 20 people were aboard the bus, which was run by Disney. They said none of the bus passengers were injured in the accident.
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