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Evacuations, Fear In US As Hurricane Ida Grows To Category 4 Storm

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Louisiana has declared a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Ida
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New Orleans:
Hurricane Ida was upgraded to a Category Four storm, the US National Hurricane Center said Sunday, staying on course to hit New Orleans with sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour).
Sunday, when Ida is due to make landfall, marks 16 years since Katrina, the devastating hurricane that flooded 80 percent of New Orleans, left 1,800 people dead, and caused billions of dollars in damage.
"Major Hurricane Ida continues to strengthen... Now a dangerous category 4 hurricane," the NHC said on its website.
"Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it makes landfall along the Louisiana coast this afternoon," the center earlier said in its latest advisory when Ida was raised to Category Three.
Shops were boarded up and evacuations were underway Saturday in the southern US city, with officials warning residents to leave immediately or hunker down to ride out the storm.
"Everybody is scared because it's the anniversary of Katrina and people didn't take it seriously at the time," said Austin Suriano, who was helping board up the windows of his father's watch repair shop.
Category Four is the second highest on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, with winds rising up to 140 miles per hour.
President Joe Biden warned Saturday that "Ida is turning into a very, very dangerous storm" when it had built to a Category 2 hurricane.
Earlier in the day, people evacuating from New Orleans and other cities clogged roads heading north as officials warned locals to leave immediately or hunker down.
All Sunday flights were canceled at New Orleans airport.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said Ida would be one of the most powerful storms to hit the state since the 1850s.
In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned residents to take Ida with utmost seriousness.
"Time is not on our side," she told a briefing. "It's rapidly growing, it's intensifying."
Southern Louisiana was bracing for massive damage and flooding as the fast-intensifying storm roared northward after pummeling western Cuba.
"Extended power loss is almost certain," New Orleans homeland security director Collin Arnold told reporters Saturday. "I'm imploring you to take this storm seriously."
Biden said hundreds of emergency personnel had been sent to the region, along with food, water and electric generators.
Shelters were being prepared around the region, but Louisiana has been one of the hardest-hit states by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Biden urged anyone heading to a shelter to wear a mask and take precautions.
The National Weather Service is forecasting a "life-threatening storm surge" -- as high as 11 feet near New Orleans and 15 feet around the mouth of the Mississippi River -- when the hurricane makes landfall.
It warned of "catastrophic wind damage" and said Ida could spawn tornadoes.
Louisiana has declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm.
The emergency declaration, approved by Biden, will expedite federal storm assistance to the southern state.
The hurricane made landfall late Friday in western Cuba as a Category One storm, packing winds near 80 miles per hour but causing mostly minor damage.
'Very painful'
The dire warnings about Ida inevitably sparked memories of Katrina, Governor Edwards said in a briefing.
"It's very painful to think about another powerful storm like Hurricane Ida, making landfall on that anniversary," he said.
One big difference, he said, was the huge investment since then in an extensive storm protection system of levees, gates and pumps.
Still, Eric Suriano, the watchmaker, remembers Katrina vividly: "It was the nightmare of my life."
Meantime, a Category One hurricane named Nora made landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Nora's center "remains near the coast of Mexico after making landfall in the northwest Jalisco" province, the center said.
Last week, a rare tropical storm struck the US northeastern seaboard, knocking out power, uprooting trees and bringing record rainfall.
Scientists have warned of a rise in cyclone activity as the ocean surface warms due to climate change, posing an increasing threat to the world's coastal communities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hurricane-ida-upgraded-to-category-4-storm-us-forecasting-agency-2522562">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hurricane-ida-upgraded-to-category-4-storm-us-forecasting-agency-2522562</a>

news world Evacuations, Fear In US As Hurricane Ida Grows To Category 4 Storm

Louisiana has declared a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Ida New Orleans: Hurricane Ida was upgraded to a Category Four...

UAE Says To Resume Visas For Tourists Vaccinated Against Covid

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The UAE is made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
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Dubai:
The United Arab Emirates announced it will resume issuing visas to all tourists fully vaccinated against Covid from Monday, a month before Dubai hosts the delayed Expo 2020 trade fair.
The move comes amid a drop in coronavirus infections in the oil-rich Gulf country, after it reported less than 1,000 cases per day last week for the first time in months.
The UAE's decision to reopen its doors to tourists from all countries was taken in order "to achieve sustainable recovery and economic growth", the official WAM news agency reported on Saturday.
Those eligible would have to be fully inoculated with one of the Covid-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organization, which include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
"The decision applies to citizens of all countries, including those arriving from previously banned countries," WAM said.
"Passengers arriving on tourist visas must take a mandatory PCR test at the airport," it added.
The UAE is made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
While life in the country has largely returned to normal amid the Covid pandemic, it continues to enforce strict rules on wearing masks and social distancing.
Dubai was last year counting on the six-month Dubai Expo 2020 -- delayed a year by the health crisis and now set to open in October -- to attract millions of visitors and boost the economy.
Heavily reliant on tourism, the emirate was one of the first destinations to open its doors to travellers, accepting tourists in July last year, just a few months after the pandemic took hold.
Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, has been more cautious, opening up to some visitors only in December.
The UAE as so far recorded more than 715,000 cases of Covid-19 infection, including 2,036 deaths.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uae-says-to-resume-visas-for-tourists-vaccinated-against-covid-2522553">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/uae-says-to-resume-visas-for-tourists-vaccinated-against-covid-2522553</a>

news world UAE Says To Resume Visas For Tourists Vaccinated Against Covid

The UAE is made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Dubai: The United Arab Emirates announced it will resum...

Theranos Founder Claims Abuse By Ex-Boyfriend In Fraud Trial-Court Filings

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Theranos, which Elizabeth Holmes founded in 2003 at the age of 19, collapsed in March 2018
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Theranos Inc founder Elizabeth Holmes has accused her former boyfriend, who was president of the blood-testing startup, of abusing her, court documents unsealed on Saturday showed, hinting at a possible defense strategy with jury selection in her fraud trial set to start next week.
In court filings submitted more than 18 months ago, Holmes' lawyers said they planned to present evidence that Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani abused her emotionally and psychologically in a relationship that spanned more than a decade. That includes the period when the company claimed its technology could enable a wide array of medical tests with a few drops of blood.
Theranos, which Holmes founded in 2003 at the age of 19, collapsed in March 2018 when she, Balwani and the $9 billion company were charged with fraud by U.S. regulators. Theranos had made Holmes, a Stanford University dropout, a Silicon Valley star.
In the filings Holmes' lawyers argued that the alleged "intimate partner abuse" was relevant to the question of whether she knew that financial information provided to investors and others was false. Holmes intends to blame Balwani, alleging he exerted controlled over her through the abusive relationship, the filings indicate.
Balwani, whose case is being handled separately, has denied the allegations.
"Mr. Balwani unequivocally denies that he engaged in any abuse at any time," his lawyers wrote in a December 2019 filing.
Holmes and Balwani have both pleaded not guilty to charges that they defrauded investors, doctors and patients by falsely claiming Theranos could revolutionize medical lab testing with its technology.
Lawyers at Williams & Connolly for Holmes and attorneys for Balwani at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe could not immediately be reached for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Schenk, the lead prosecutor on the case, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Holmes' lawyers had previously flagged they would make her mental health an issue in the case. Last year they said Mindy Mechanic, a California State University at Fullerton professor specializing in psychosocial consequences of violence, trauma and victimization, would offer expert testimony at trial.
The case is United States v. Holmes, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 18-cr-00258.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-claims-abuse-by-ex-boyfriend-in-fraud-trial-court-filings-2522551">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-claims-abuse-by-ex-boyfriend-in-fraud-trial-court-filings-2522551</a>

news world Theranos Founder Claims Abuse By Ex-Boyfriend In Fraud Trial-Court Filings

Theranos, which Elizabeth Holmes founded in 2003 at the age of 19, collapsed in March 2018 Theranos Inc founder Elizabeth Holmes has acc...

Israel Strikes Gaza After Fire Balloons, Border Clashes

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Israel Strikes Gaza After Fire Balloons, Border Clashes" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/fja3cijg_gaza-afp_625x300_29_August_21.jpg" title="Israel Strikes Gaza After Fire Balloons, Border Clashes" /></div>
Palestinians burn tyres along the border between Gaza Strip and Israel east of Gaza City
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Jerusalem:
The Israeli air force attacked two sites in Gaza on Sunday, the army said, after Gazans clashed with forces on the border and launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel.
Israeli "fighter jets struck a Hamas military compound used for manufacturing weapons and training as well as an entrance to a terror tunnel adjacent to Jabalia," the Israeli army said.
"The strikes were in response to Hamas launching incendiary balloons into Israeli territory and the violent riots that took place yesterday," it said in a statement.
The army said both incidents were "examples of how Hamas continues to employ terror tactics and target civilians."
There were no reports from the Gaza Strip of any casualties caused by the Israeli strikes.
Speaking in Washington, where he had met with US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he held Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas responsible for any unrest from the Palestinian enclave.
"As I have already said, our actions in Gaza will serve our interests," he told reporters before boarding a plane back to Israel.
"As far as I'm concerned, the address (of those responsible) has been and remains Hamas."
On Saturday evening, two wildfires broke out in the Eshkol region near the Palestinian enclave, Israeli firefighters said.
Protests erupted later in the day, with the Israeli army firing tear gas and stun grenades as Palestinians burned tyres on the border between Gaza and Israel, an AFP reporter said.
The health ministry in Gaza said 11 Palestinians had been hurt in the clashes, three of them by live fire.
Earlier Saturday, Gazans laid to rest Omar Hassan Abu al-Nile, 12, who died of his wounds a week after being shot by Israeli forces during border clashes.
In 2018, Gazans began a protest movement demanding an end to Israel's blockade and the right for Palestinians to return to lands they fled or were expelled from when the Jewish state was founded in 1948.
The often-violent weekly demonstrations backed by Hamas sputtered as Israel killed some 350 Palestinians in the territory over more than a year.
Hamas and Israel then fought a devastating 11-day conflict in May, the worst between the two sides in years, which ended with an informal truce.
Incendiary balloons from Gaza have continued in the following months, with Israel blaming Hamas.
Israel has at the same time been easing restrictions on civilian life and commerce for the territory it has blockaded since 2007, when Hamas took power.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-strikes-gaza-after-fire-balloons-border-clashes-2522480">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-strikes-gaza-after-fire-balloons-border-clashes-2522480</a>

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Palestinians burn tyres along the border between Gaza Strip and Israel east of Gaza City Jerusalem: The Israeli air force attacked two ...

Japan's Okinawa Suspends Moderna Shots After Detecting More Contamination

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Japan is investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches
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Tokyo:
Japan's Okinawa region suspended the use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday after another contamination was spotted, the local government said.
It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches -- though the cause of their death is unknown.
The Okinawa prefecture, in southern Japan, said Sunday's vaccination programme was partially postponed.
"We are suspending the use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines as foreign substances were spotted in some of them," it said in a statement.
The lots affected by the contamination spotted in Okinawa on Saturday are different from the 1.63 million doses suspended after the two deaths, according to local media reports.
That suspension came after the health ministry said two men, aged 30 and 38, died in early August after getting their second Moderna doses.
Those doses were drawn from one of three batches suspended by the government on Thursday after several vials were found to be contaminated.
The ministry said however that it was investigating the cause of death and it is unknown currently if there is a causal link with the vaccine.
"At this time, we do not have any evidence that these deaths are caused by the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, and it is important to conduct a formal investigation to determine whether there is any connection," Moderna and its Japanese distributor Takeda said in a joint statement on Saturday.
The nature of the particles found in the vials, which were manufactured by a Moderna contractor in Europe, is also not known yet.
"The vials have been sent to a qualified lab for analysis and initial findings will be available early next week," Moderna and Takeda said.
The contractor, Spanish pharmaceutical firm ROVI, said in a statement Thursday that it was investigating the cause of the contamination in the batch, which was only distributed in Japan.
It added that the issue may have originated on one of its manufacturing lines.
Around 44 percent of Japan's population has been fully vaccinated, as the country battles a record surge of coronavirus cases driven by the more contagious Delta variant.
More than 15,800 people have died from Covid-19 in Japan, and large parts of the country are under strict virus restrictions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/japans-okinawa-suspends-moderna-shots-after-detecting-more-contamination-2522469">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/japans-okinawa-suspends-moderna-shots-after-detecting-more-contamination-2522469</a>

news world Japan's Okinawa Suspends Moderna Shots After Detecting More Contamination

Japan is investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches Tokyo: Japan's Okinawa region suspended...

Saturday Emergency Broadcast! SPARS/Operation Lockstep Breaking News Update

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On this emergency Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by Chris Sky to discuss the unfolding tyranny in Canada and how the public is fighting back. Also, Dr. Peter Breggin joins the show to break down the latest COVID data showing that natural immunity provides 13x more protection from COVID than the mRNA injections.
The Big Tech purge is here! Follow <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/the-big-tech-crackdown-is-accelerating-follow-infowars-on-these-growing-alternative-platforms/">Infowars and Alex Jones on other growing platforms</a> now to stay informed as the information blackout accelerates.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/saturday-emergency-broadcast-spars-operation-lockstep-breaking-news-update">https://www.infowars.com/posts/saturday-emergency-broadcast-spars-operation-lockstep-breaking-news-update</a>

news Saturday Emergency Broadcast! SPARS/Operation Lockstep Breaking News Update

On this emergency Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by Chris Sky to discuss the unfolding tyranny in Canada and how the public is...