ROME - The first round of voting for Italy's next president ended in stalemate with no candidate obtaining a majority of two-thirds of parliamentary votes needed.
Italian lawmakers were unable to break a deadlock which threatens to further stall incoming prime minister Romano Prodi's accession to power, a month after winning a general election.
The presidential candidate presented by the right-wing coalition, Gianni Letta, outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's close aide and undersecretary, received 368 votes, according to a first count.
There were 438 blank votes after Prodi said that the centre-left would leave their ballots blank, in a signal that he could not muster the votes to have his candidate elected in the first round.
Earth Changes
OTTAWA -- Canadian soldiers have no business being in Afghanistan and their presence there merely enables the United States to carry on its "illegal and immoral" war in Iraq, prominent U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan said yesterday.
"I believe my country shouldn't be in Afghanistan anyway," Ms. Sheehan said at a news conference on Parliament Hill. "It's never about spreading freedom or democracy or making the world safe, it's about lining the war profiteers' pockets."
While lambasting President George W. Bush and the U.S. government for the Iraq war, Ms. Sheehan also fired broadsides at the UN-backed international mission in Afghanistan.
"My country supported Osama bin Laden in the fight against Russia," she said. "And now they go in and tear down that country. It's back in the hands of the drug lords, it's producing more opium than ever, and it's not safe. There's not any rebuilding going on, because it's being occupied by occupying forces."
"I believe my country shouldn't be in Afghanistan anyway," Ms. Sheehan said at a news conference on Parliament Hill. "It's never about spreading freedom or democracy or making the world safe, it's about lining the war profiteers' pockets."
While lambasting President George W. Bush and the U.S. government for the Iraq war, Ms. Sheehan also fired broadsides at the UN-backed international mission in Afghanistan.
"My country supported Osama bin Laden in the fight against Russia," she said. "And now they go in and tear down that country. It's back in the hands of the drug lords, it's producing more opium than ever, and it's not safe. There's not any rebuilding going on, because it's being occupied by occupying forces."
FREDERICTON -- In what could signal a frightening new fact of life in the age of global warming, Canadian and U.S. forecasters are warning that another major hurricane season is brewing in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 2006 hurricane season officially opens on June 1, and already scientists are telling people living in eastern North America that numerous storms are predicted, with as many as five major hurricanes packing winds of 180 km/h or greater.
"It's kind of comparable to what we were looking at last year at this time," says Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S.
The 2006 hurricane season officially opens on June 1, and already scientists are telling people living in eastern North America that numerous storms are predicted, with as many as five major hurricanes packing winds of 180 km/h or greater.
"It's kind of comparable to what we were looking at last year at this time," says Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Dartmouth, N.S.
New Smyrna Beach - Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency Monday as brush fires burned more than 8,000 acres, destroyed homes and forced authorities to shut down highways.
Officials are tracking about 50 active wildfires throughout the water-parched state, and Bush said lightning was probably not to blame in most cases.
"The likelihood is most of these fires have been created by either negligence or people doing harm," he said.
Officials are tracking about 50 active wildfires throughout the water-parched state, and Bush said lightning was probably not to blame in most cases.
"The likelihood is most of these fires have been created by either negligence or people doing harm," he said.
NAIROBI - Dozens of man-eating crocodiles plied flood waters along Kenya's Indian Ocean coast after heavy thunderstorms that killed at six people and fried nearly 50 pelicans.
About 30 of the carnivorous reptiles were spotted swimming near children's playgrounds and municipal parks in Kilifi, frightening parents in the coastal town where floods have claimed at least six lives in the past week, officials said Saturday.
About 30 of the carnivorous reptiles were spotted swimming near children's playgrounds and municipal parks in Kilifi, frightening parents in the coastal town where floods have claimed at least six lives in the past week, officials said Saturday.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Hundreds of starfish have been found dead on a beach on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, and a scientist says a nonnative parasite is likely to blame.
LEAD, S.D. - Residents of the northwestern Plains on Thursday started to dig out from this week's spring blizzard, which dumped up to 5 feet of snow, cut power and threatened to flood low-lying areas.
The heaviest snow was reported in the city of Lead in western South Dakota, near the Wyoming line, where the weather service reported 59.4 inches.
Crews struggling with the weight and volume of snow also had to find a place to put it after scooping it up, said Pat Milos, Lead's city administrator.
The heaviest snow was reported in the city of Lead in western South Dakota, near the Wyoming line, where the weather service reported 59.4 inches.
Crews struggling with the weight and volume of snow also had to find a place to put it after scooping it up, said Pat Milos, Lead's city administrator.
NEW ORLEANS - Mother Nature has outdone herself with this cruel joke: Southern Louisiana, much of which was underwater not so long ago, is in the throes of a severe to extreme drought.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita accounted for most of the rain the region has seen in more than a year, weather experts say. Southeastern Louisiana is on pace for its driest January-though-April ever.
According to the Lincoln, Neb.-based National Drought Mitigation Center, southern Louisiana is under conditions of either severe or extreme drought - with the extreme conditions closer to the coast.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita accounted for most of the rain the region has seen in more than a year, weather experts say. Southeastern Louisiana is on pace for its driest January-though-April ever.
According to the Lincoln, Neb.-based National Drought Mitigation Center, southern Louisiana is under conditions of either severe or extreme drought - with the extreme conditions closer to the coast.
| DATE | TIME (GMT) | MAG | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/04/20 | 12:20:42 | 4.3 | NORTH OF ANGUILLA, LEEWARD ISL. |
| 06/04/20 | 17:50:43 | 5.5 | NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN |
| 06/04/20 | 23:25:05 | 7.7 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/20 | 23:38:49 | 5.4 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 00:06:13 | 5.1 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 00:32:36 | 5.1 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 00:39:45 | 4.5 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 00:42:00 | 4.5 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 00:51:12 | 5.2 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 01:12:08 | 4.6 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 01:30:05 | 4.9 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 01:44:12 | 5.1 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 04:32:45 | 6.1 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 07:32:28 | 4.7 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 07:40:05 | 5.0 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 08:57:37 | 4.6 | NEAR E COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 09:46:15 | 4.8 | EASTERN XIZANG |
| 06/04/21 | 11:14:20 | 5.7 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
| 06/04/21 | 11:19:50 | 5.2 | KORYAKIA, RUSSIA |
JAKARTA - Flash floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains in Indonesia's East Java have killed at least 23 people, the state Antara news agency said as mopping up operations got underway.
The disaster is the latest to strike on the island of Java, one of the most densely-populated in the world, where scores of people have been killed this year in rain-related catastrophes.
The disaster is the latest to strike on the island of Java, one of the most densely-populated in the world, where scores of people have been killed this year in rain-related catastrophes.
Comment: Comment: Voting officials later revealed that in an unheard of act of selflessness, Berlusconi had actually cast five votes: two for himself, and three for his friend in prison. They noted, however, that Berlusconi had also signed his ballots and wrote a little note at the bottom that read, "Dear little person, Save this signature. It'll be worth billions. Now, get back to work! What do you think I'm paying you for, you [expletive deleted]?!"