London,Tube chaos due to rain ..[ 1697 ]

Tube chaos as half month's rain in one day causes signal failures

Ross Lydall and Mark Blunden

Stabdard co.uk.,23.08.10 

Drenched: Ploughing through the downpour in Baker Street

Heavy rain brought rush-hour misery to Tube commuters today when downpours caused signal failures.

After a severe weather warning, more than half the usual rainfall for the month hit London in 24 hours. A monitor at St James's Park collected almost 25mm — the average for August in 43mm.

The result was unpleasant humidity on Underground trains, worsened by overcrowding caused by engineering problems. A Victoria line signal failure at Seven Sisters meant there were no trains between there and Walthamstow or between Victoria and Brixton.

The Metropolitan line was suspended between Baker Street and Aldgate after a signal failure at Euston Square, which also led to delays on the District and Hammersmith & City lines, and there were long delays on the Circle line westbound. Transport for London apologised and said the problems were resolved by about 9.30am.

Mainline commuters on First Capital Connect and Southeastern services suffered 30-minute delays between Blackfriars and St Pancras, caused by electrical supply problems.

London Fire Brigade received 26 emergency calls to flash flooding between 1am and 3am. The deluge fell on ground which had been hardened by the long spell of dry weather, making it less able to absorb standing water.

Up to one and a half inches of rain fell in parts of southern England in just a few hours and there were gale force winds in places. Flooding forced the closure of the northbound carriageway of the A249 in Kent between the junctions with the M2 and the A250.

Thorney Island in Hampshire saw nearly an inch and a half of rain in the early hours and winds of up to 40mph. The Highways Agency warned drivers to take extra care using roads across much of England. Claire Austin, forecaster with MeteoGroup, said today would remain showery, with better weather tomorrow but wind and rain returning from Wednesday afternoon.

More disruption lies in store over the coming bank holiday weekend for those using the Tube, including Notting Hill Carnivalgoers. Engineering work will close either all or part of the Victoria, Jubilee, Piccadilly, District and Metropolitan lines.

In addition, London Overground services will be suspended between Gospel Oak and Stratford over all three days. The Victoria line will be suspended on Saturday and Sunday, and the Jubilee line all day on Bank Holiday Monday. The Jubilee line will also be closed on Sunday between Wembley Park and Stratford.

The District line will be suspended on Saturday, Sunday and Monday between Barking and Upminster. The Piccadilly line will be suspended on Sunday between South Harrow and Uxbridge. The Metropolitan line will be suspended on Saturday, Sunday and Monday between Northwood and Watford and between Amersham and Chesham. On Sunday the line will also be closed between Uxbridge and Harrow-on-the-Hill and between Baker Street and Aldgate.

Passengers should check before they travel and allow extra time for journeys. Transport for London's 24-hour phone helpline is on 0843 222 1234.

Το blog ''Ναυαγός' αλλάζει θεματολογία..[ 1696 ]

  Only to Greek visitors-Μόνο για τους 'Ελληνες επισκέπτες 

To blog "Ναυαγός " το οποίο μπορείτε να βρείτε παρακάτω στην στήλη 

" Other Blogers "  
από σήμερα αλλάζει θεματολογία, και θα ασχολείται αποκλειστικά  με συγκεκριμένο Ελληνικό Φόρουμ, με το οποίο ανοίξαμε παρτίδες... 

Λεπτομέρειες ακολουθούν…

Cuernavaca, Mexico, Bodies hung..[ 1695 ]

Bodies hung from bridge in Cuernavaca, Mexico

 

The bodies were hung from a bridge on a busy road south of Cuernavaca

BBC.,22 August 2010 Last updated at 23:02 GMT

Police in Mexico say they have found four bodies hung from a bridge in an affluent town south of Mexico City.

The four men had been decapitated and mutilated before being hung by their ankles from the bridge outside Cuernavaca, in the state of Morelos.

A message had been left with their heads warning that anyone supporting Edgar Valdez would risk a similar fate.

Edgar Valdez is reportedly fighting Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the influential Beltran Leyva drug cartel.

Cuernavaca, a city of 350,000 and a popular weekend retreat spot for wealthy residents of Mexico City, is at the centre of the turf war.

The cartel has been without a leader since Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed by the security forces in December.

Edgar Valdez, a US citizen known as Barbie for his blonde hair, is a leading contender to take over as the head of the gang.

But Hector Beltran Leyva, the former leader's brother, is also vying for that position. His other brother Carlos, another contender for the leadership, was arrested in January.

Police said the killing of the four men, aged between 25 and 30, was most probably linked to the drug turf war.

They had been reported kidnapped days earlier.

The Beltran Leyva organisation is believed to have the most sophisticated intelligence of any of the Mexican drug cartels, and controls firms involved in, among others, transportation, electronics, health products and hospitality.

Control over its many and varied operations is seen as a key prize.

Afghanistan : Taliban momentum reversed ..[ 1694 ]

Taliban momentum reversed in Afghanistan, Gen Petraeus says

The momentum of the Taliban in key areas has been reversed, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan has said.

 

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan Photo: AP

BBC., Published: 9:49AM BST 23 Aug 2010

Gen David Petraeus said the Taliban had been pressed back in southern Afghanistan and in Kabul following a surge in coalition troops.

But he said there should not be a sudden exodus of troops from Afghanistan when the process of withdrawing forces begins next year.

As the toll of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan rose once again on Monday with the death of two more Nato troops, Gen Petraeus said the road ahead could be bloody but insisted the nine-year campaign was making progress.

"The momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many of the areas of the country and will be reversed in the other areas as well," he said in an interview with the BBC.

Gen Petraeus, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, said he would offer frank advice to President Barack Obama on the withdrawal of troops.

Next July would mark the start of a drawdown, but not the moment when the US military looks "for the exit and a light to turn out", he said in the interview, which was broadcast on Monday.

Both Mr Obama and David Cameron, the Prime Minister, have promised that a significant drawdown of coalition troops would begin in 11 months.

But in his first major interview since assuming command of more than 140,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan last month, Gen Petraeus cast doubt on the July 2011 deadline.

But one day after Gen Petraeus indicated that the deadline was in doubt, Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, put himself at odds with the country's top commander in Afghanistan by ruling out any delay.

Mr Gates said that American troops would start to pull out on schedule in July 2011 as he confirmed that he would leave office next year, once the drawdown was on track.

Russia to choose new Navy corvette..[1693 ]

Russia to hold competition to choose new Navy corvette - paper

The Project 20380 corvette Soobrazitelny

09:19 23/08/2010

© RIA Novosti. Aleksei Danichev

MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian Defense Ministry will hold a competition in September to select a new corvette for the Navy to replace the Project 20380 class, a business daily said on Monday, citing sources in the shipbuilding industry.

The competition should produce a mobile, fast-moving ship with a helicopter hangar and a distinct modular layout for weapons, Kommersant said.

The Project 20380 corvette is deployed to destroy enemy surface ships, submarines and aircraft, and to provide naval gunfire support for beach landings. It uses stealth technology to reduce the ship's secondary radar signature, as well as its acoustic, infrared, magnetic and visual signatures.

Five design centers are likely to take part in the competition, the paper said. Three belong to Russia's United Shipbuilding Coorperation: Zelenodolsk, Severnaya Verf and Almaz. A fourth unnamed foreign shipyard, which specializes in small civilian vessels, is a likely participant, the paper said.

The first Project 20380 corvette, the Steregushchy, entered service with Russia's Baltic Fleet in October 2008. The second, the Soobrazitelny, was launched on March 31, and two other ships of the same series, the Boyky and the Stoyky, are under construction.

The Russian Navy needs around 50 Project 20380 vessels to ensure the protection of its coastal waters, as well as its oil and gas transportation routes, especially in the Black and the Baltic seas.

However, a shipbuilding industry source told Kommersant that the Project 20180 ship "does not meet modern requirements" and a new class is therefore required.

If the competition in September is successful, the approved project "will determine the shape of surface shipbuilding for the next 15 years", the source told Kommersant.