Powered By Blogger

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Heavy Flooding Has Shut Down the Indian City of Chennai for the Second Time in a Month

INDIA-WEATHER-RAIN
STRDEL—AFP/Getty ImagesRescue workers and volunteers use an inflatable boat to take residents through floodwaters in Chennai, India, on Dec. 1, 2015, during a downpour of heavy rain in the southern Indian city
Heavy rains lashed the southern Indian city of Chennai on Monday and Tuesday, causing widespread flooding in the major metropolis for the second time in less than a month.
Authorities issued a flood warning and educational institutions were closed, with vehicles seen afloat in the floodwaters in many parts of the city. All flight operations at Chennai airport were also suspended after the runway and tarmac were submerged, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
More rain is expected across the state of Tamil Nadu — of which Chennai is the capital — on Wednesday, and the army was deployed late Tuesday evening to manage the situation. The death toll from rain-related incidents in the state has now risen to 188 over roughly the past three weeks, including dozens killed during similar flooding in mid-November.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he spoke to the state’s Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and “assured all possible support.”

UK parliament to vote on strikes against ISIL in Syria

The British parliament is set to debate and vote on a motion authorising the use of military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Syria.
The move comes amid  divisions over the planned intervention within Prime Minister David Cameron's own Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party.
Several Conservative MPs are expected to vote on Wednesday against the proposal and the government will probably rely on Labour MPs breaking ranks with their leader Jeremy Corbyn to approve the move.
The government in its motion says the legal basis for the proposed intervention is in line with UN Resolution 2249, which calls on member states to "eradicate" ISIL's safe havens in Iraq and Syria.
"[The government] acknowledges the importance of seeking to avoid civilian casualties, using the UK’s particular capabilities; notes the government will not deploy UK troops in ground combat operations," the motion reads.
The plan to strike ISIL in Syria is backed by a majority of the British people, according to two recent polls, but has prompted anti-war demonstrations.
Thousands turned out onto the streets of London and other cities across the UK on Saturday to voice their opposition to the air strikes and hundreds protested outside parliament on Tuesday, the day Cameron announced the debate.
Critics argue that striking Syria will now will put civilian lives at risk and further complicate the Syrian Civil War, which has already killed hundreds of thousands.
Cameron drew up plans to hit ISIL in Syria after the November 13 attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.
British forces are already targeting ISIL in Iraq and have previously targeted British ISIL members with drone strikes in Syria.

Parents Are Naming Their Babies After Instagram Filters

Millennial parents are looking to Instagram filters to help name their children, according to one parenting site. The most popular name derived from the photo-sharing app was Lux, which rose 75% on the list of baby boy names compared to last year, new statistics from BabyCenter.comshow.
Ludwig, Amaro, Reyes, Hudson and Kelvin also increased in popularity for boy names, while baby girls were named Juno, Valencia and Willow.
The parenting site gathered data from more than 340,000 parents in the world, it said, though the findings are unofficial.
The U.S. Social Security Administration is set to release the official list of top baby names from this year in 2016.
Noah topped the list of boys’ names and Emma dominated the list of girls’ names in 2014. Those names were bumped this year by Jackson and Sophia, according to BabyCenter.com.
The pregnancy and parenting site also said names of planets and characters on the hit TV show Empire were trending this year. The name Royalty also jumped 88% in popularity for girls.
Here’s BabyCenter’s compilation of the top 10 names for both genders:
10 most popular girl names of 2015
1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Mia
6. Isabella
7. Zoe
8. Lily
9. Emily
10. Madison
10 most popular boy names of 2015
1. Jackson
2. Aiden
3. Liam
4. Lucas
5. Noah
6. Mason
7. Ethan
8. Caden
9. Logan
10. Jacob

Digital Rights Group Alleges Google Invades Student Privacy

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Google is being accused of invading the privacy of students using laptop computers powered by the Internet company’s Chrome operating system.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, depicts Google as a two-faced opportunist in a complaint filed Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission.
Google disputes the unflattering portrait and says it isn’t doing anything wrong.
The complaint alleges that Google rigged the “Chromebook” computers in a way that enables the company to collect information about students’ Internet search requests and online video habits. The foundation says Google is dissecting the activities of students in kindergarten through 12th grade so it can improve its digital services.
The complaint contends Google’s storage and analysis of the student profile violates a “Student Privacy Pledge” that the company signed last year. The pledge, which covers more than 200 companies, contains a provision guaranteeing that students’ personal information won’t be exploited for “non-educational” purposes.
The foundation is calling on the FTC to investigate Google, stop it from using information on students’ activities for its own purposes and order it to destroy any information it has collected that’s not related to education.
Google applauded the Electronic Frontier Foundation for caring about student privacy, but said it believes it is following the laws enforced by the FTC.
“Our services enable students everywhere to learn and keep their information private and secure,” Google said in a statement.
Chromebooks have become particularly popular in schools because some models sell for less than $300 and can be easily maintained by Google over the Internet.
But the way Google has managed some of its other products have previously gotten the Mountain View, California, company into trouble for violating its users’ privacy.
In 2012, Google paid a $22.5 million fine after the FTC concluded the company had created a technological loophole that enabled its digital advertising network to shadow the online activities of people using Apple’s Safari browser without their consent.
The agency determined Google’s Safari surveillance violated an earlier promise not to mislead consumers about privacy issues. That pledge came after Google set up a social networking service called Buzz in 2010 and exposed people’s email contacts. Google agreed to period privacy audits as part of that settlement with the FTC.

Marching Band Masterfully Covers Adele’s Hello

There’s nothing like Adele’s “Hello” to get a bunch of college kids in the mood for the game, right?
This weekend, the Southern University Marching Band — one of the top marching bands in the country and a self-proclaimed human jukebox — went where so many people (Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato included) have already gone by covering the lead single off Adele’s massive 25. And just because the British singer’s heartbreaking lyrics of lost love aren’t there, doesn’t mean this version is any less emotional.
25, Adele’s third studio album, sold a record-breaking 3.38 million copies in the U.S. in its first week, surpassing previous record-holder *NSYNC (for 2000’s No Strings Attached).

Assad: Coalition Airstrikes Made IS Stronger

As MPs prepare to vote on whether Britain should join its allies launching airstrikes in Syria, the country's president accused them of "supporting terrorists".
But he praised military action by his ally Russia, which has been accused of targeting moderate rebels as well as jihadists.
Mr Assad said: "Since the beginning of that (US-led) coalition, if you want to talk about facts, not opinion, since the beginning of that coalition, ISIS (Islamic State group) has expanded and the recruiting from around the world has increased.
"While since the participation of Russia in the same fight, so-called against terrorism, ISIS has been shrinking. And al-Nusra (Nusra Front) of course and the other terrorist groups. So this is reality. The facts are telling."
Asked what it would take to end Syria's four-year civil war, which has killed more than 200,000 people, Mr Assad said: "When those countries that I mentioned - France, UK, US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some other - stop supporting those terrorists.
"(the next) day the situation will be better and in a few months we will have full peace in Syria, definitely. If they stop."
The US, UK, and other Western powers fighting Islamic State have demanded that Mr Assad steps down and have backed rebel groups fighting his forces.
Meanwhile the Syrian president has referred to all his opponents as "terrorists" and accused world leaders pushing for his departure of "supporting terrorists".
The Syrian leader is backed by Russia and Iran and he praised Vladimir Putin for launching a bombing campaign backing Assad's forces in September.
In a wide-ranging interview with Czech TV, Mr Assad also said: 
"The feeling is very sad. Especially if you think about every person of those Syrians who left Syria has sad story behind him.
"It reflects the hardship of the Syrians during the crisis. From this (rational) way of looking at the situation, it's a loss.
"Every one of those is a human resources that left Syria. So that will undermine. Undermine your society and your country. Definitely. But at the end we have to deal with the reasons."
:: On Turkey Downing A Russian Jet:
"I think it has shown the real intention of Erodgan (Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan) who, let's say, lost his nerve because the Russian intervention has changed the balance on the ground.
"So the failure of Erdogan in Syria, the failure of his terrorist groups means his political demise."
:: On Relations With The West:
"If you look at the relation with the West, in 2005 I was the killer. In 2008 and after I was a peacemaker.
"Then in 2011 I became the vulture. Now, there's some positive change - of course shy kind of change, not the explicit one."
:: On Stepping Down:
"Now in the middle of the war, I'm not going to say I'm leaving for any reason," he said.
"When there's election, the Syrian people will decide if they want me, I'll be happy to be president, if they don't want me, I'll be happy to leave it, I don't have any problem."
:: On France's Effort To Broaden The Anti-IS Coalition:
"If they wanted to learn from what happened in Paris recently, why didn't they learn from Charlie Hebdo (attack)? The same principle, the same concept.
"And we said at that time that this is only the tip of the iceberg. What's under the water is much bigger. They didn't learn."


Mark Zuckerberg Will Donate Almost All Their Facebook Shares

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, plan to give away 99% of their Facebook shares to charity, Zuckerberg said Tuesday in a Facebook post. The news comes as the couple also announced the birth of their first child, a daughter named Max.
That portion of Facebook shares is currently valued at $45 billion, according to Zuckerberg. The donations won’t happen right away: a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission says the Facebook CEO plans to “sell or gift” no more than $1 billion worth of Facebook stock every year over the next three years.
That SEC filing also indicates Zuckerberg plans to contribute the funds to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. He will continue to control the voting rights of any shares held by that organization.