Day: June 30, 2024

Note also this incident with Mr. Nadler, possibly related to the issue of use of the Direct Energy Weapons against the politicians in the suitable settings. It can be viewed, hypothetically, as the “Havana Syndrome IN PROCESS”, at time of the attack.
–
Rep. Jerry Nadler…

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) June 30, 2024

Rep. Nadler Cameras Save incident – Google Search https://t.co/KknBeiIXuK
–https://t.co/IEChGJig8e

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) June 30, 2024

ATHENS — Greek firefighters were battling a wildfire south of Athens on Sunday amid strong winds, just hours after managing to contain blazes in a mountainous area also near the capital as well as on an island in the Aegean Sea.

Dozens of firefighters, backed up by 17 water-carrying aircraft, fought to tame the new fire in a sparsely-populated area near the town of Keratea, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Athens.

Greek television showed at least one house in flames as smoke from burning pine and olive trees billowed into the sky.

With hot, windy conditions across much of Greece, dozens of wildfires broke out over the weekend and authorities advised people to stay away from forested areas.

Firefighters were still engaged on the island of Serifos where a fire had broken out amid low vegetation on Saturday and spread quickly, fanned by strong winds, damaging houses and prompting the evacuation of several hamlets.

The wildfire, which at one point had raged across 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), damaged holiday homes and storehouses, the island’s mayor, Kostas Revinthis, told Greek television.

Another fire in the mountainous forest of Parnitha near a nature reserve just outside Athens had eased by Sunday morning, officials said.

The strong winds are not expected to abate until later on Sunday, meteorologists said.

Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country but have become more devastating in recent years as summers have become hotter, drier and windier, which scientists link to the effects of climate change.

After last summer’s deadly forest fires and following its warmest winter on record, Greece developed a new doctrine, which includes deploying an extra fire engine to each new blaze, speeding up air support and clearing forests.

MONTEVIDEO — Uruguayans take to the polls on Sunday in primary elections ahead of October’s presidential race, in which th eleft-wing opposition is seen edging ahead according to opinion polls with voters concerned about rising inequality and public safety.

Polls show voters cooling on the center-right coalition of President Luis Lacalle Pou, despite its successful steering of the farming economy of 3.4 million people through the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic setbacks following the war in Ukraine.

Lacalle Pou, 50, has struggled to back up a pledge to tackle drug crime which is hurting Uruguay’s reputation as a beacon of stability in turbulent South America. A perceived weakness of the welfare state and rising corruption has also hurt his party.

That has seen the center-left Broad Front coalition, which ruled from 2004 to 2015, edge ahead of the main center-right parties, latest opinion polls showed.

Uruguayan pollster Cifra predicts the Broad Front getting 47% support in May, some 15 points ahead of Lacalle Pou’s National Party, the main force within the ruling coalition. The wider conservative bloc combined, though, would get around 43%.

Around 10% remain undecided suggesting that October’s presidential election will be tight.

Whoever wins in general elections scheduled for Oct. 27, or more likely in a November runoff, will need to bring down high homicide rates, improve the social safety net, balance trade with major partner China and keep on track an economy that is expected to grow nearly 4% this year.

Lacalle Pou remains popular but his cabinet has been rocked by accusations of political espionage and corruption. He himself cannot run for immediate re-election.

Lacalle Pou narrowly won election in 2019 by forging a “multicolor coalition” including the centrist Colorado Party which his handpicked successor, Alvaro Delgado, plans to replicate.

Delgado has pitched himself as the continuity candidate, having served as cabinet chief to the president, and is widely expected to secure the National Party nomination, polls show.

Several presidential hopefuls for the smaller Colorado Party have said they would unite behind the National Party nominee to prevent the left from returning to power.

The most contested leadership race is within the Broad Front opposition between two leftist city mayors.

Yamandú Orsi, mayor of Uruguay’s second largest region and a former teacher, is expected to beat Carolina Cosse, mayor of the capital Montevideo where almost half of the population live. Orsi’s experience and public endorsement from former president José Mujica, an icon of the Latin American left, meant he was better placed to win the presidential nomination, analysts said.

“Uruguay today is an insecure and unequal country,” Orsi told Reuters ahead of the primary vote, pledging “a modern left” that will reverse damaging rates of “poverty and destitution”.

Polls open at 8 a.m. local time (1100 GMT) and close at 7:30 p.m., with first exit polls expected around 9pm.