Thursday, September 07, 2017
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
Hurricane Irma makes landfall in the Caribbean
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Monster Hurricane Irma slammed across islands in the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, packing a potentially catastrophic mix of pounding winds, raging surf and rain en route to a possible Florida landfall this weekend.
Irma is expected to become the second powerful storm to thrash the U.S. mainland in as many weeks but its precise trajectory was uncertain. Hurricane Harvey killed more than 60 people and caused as much as $180 billion in damage after hitting Texas late last month.
The eye of Irma, a Category 5 storm with winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour), passed over the island of St. Martin, east of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said. Category 5 is its highest category.
In Puerto Rico’s capital of San Juan, a handful of people stood on the wind-whipped shore of a beachfront park on Wednesday morning to take a last look at the ocean before seeking shelter.
“I am worried. This is going to be a huge storm, bigger than I have ever seen,” said Angelica Flecha, 45.
She has stocked her second-floor home with food and water and put metal storm shutters on the windows, but was worried about a storm surge on the island, which is under a hurricane warning.
Most businesses were closed and streets were almost empty. Cars packed parking lots of stores that were still open, with shoppers stuffing ice and water into their trunks.
Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello urged the island’s 3.4 million residents to seek refuge in one of 460 hurricane shelters.
It was not immediately clear how much damage Irma had done as it swept west.
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Two American tourists in the French territory of Guadeloupe, Loren Ann Mayo and Rachel Scharett, told CNN they were weathering the storm in their hotel room’s bathroom.
Following a loud cracking noise, Mayo said, “The balcony snapped and is now hanging on by one little piece of wire.”
Emergency officials on Antigua and Barbuda reported three injuries but minimal damage, with some roofs blown off. Communications between the islands were cut off, officials said.
“MUCH TO FEAR”
Several other Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and the Dominican Republic were under a hurricane warning.
Hurricane Irma, a record Category 5 storm, is seen in this NOAA National Weather Service National Hurricane Center image from GOES-16 satellite taken on September 5, 2017. Courtesy NOAA National Weather Service National Hurricane Center/Handout via REUTERS
In Paris, the French government said it had delivered water and food to two of its overseas territories, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, and that emergency response teams would be sent once the storm had passed.
Power was knocked out on both islands, according to prefecture officials on Guadeloupe.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said at least four buildings were damaged, including the prefecture, a fire brigade barracks and a police building and that low-lying regions had been flooded.
“For now we’re not aware of any deaths,” Collomb told reporters in Paris.
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French Overseas Territories Minister Annick Girardin said “there were was much to fear” for citizens who had not heeded calls to seek safety in more secure buildings.
Irma ranked as one of the five most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in the last 80 years and the strongest Atlantic storm recorded by the outside the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, according to the NHC.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he was monitoring the storm closely. He approved emergency declarations for Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, mobilizing federal disaster relief efforts, the White House said.
Authorities in the Florida Keys ordered a mandatory evacuation of visitors to start at sunrise on Wednesday. Public schools throughout South Florida were ordered closed, some as early as Wednesday.
Residents of low-lying areas in densely populated Miami-Dade County were urged to move to higher ground.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said there would be more mandatory evacuations around the state as Irma approached and as surges were expected to reach 10 feet (3 meters).
“We can rebuild your home, we can’t rebuild your life,” Scott said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Irma could be worse than Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the state in 1992. “We don’t know exactly where this is going to hit,” he told ABC. “It sure looks like it’s going to bear down right in the middle of Florida.”
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long, speaking on the “CBS This Morning” program, said he was confident FEMA could handle Irma, even as he acknowledged potential staffing strains so soon after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas.
Residents of Texas and Louisiana were still recovering from Harvey, which struck Texas as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 25. It dumped several feet of rain, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, and displaced more than 1 million people.
Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Ian Simpson and Susan Heavey in Washington, and Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by Catherine Evans and Jeffrey Benkoe
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Hurricane Irma threatens luxury Trump properties
Chris Kenning
3 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: The Mar-a-Lago estate is shown before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump departed with his family for New York, after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 27, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
(Reuters) - Hurricane Irma swept over U.S. President Donald Trump’s 11-bedroom Caribbean mansion on Wednesday, the first of several luxury Trump properties threatened by the storm’s path.
It was not immediately known whether Irma damaged Trump’s beachfront Chateau des Palmiers, or Castle of the Palms, on St. Martin. The gated estate, for sale for $16.9 million, is owned through a trust and had been rented out, U.S. media has reported.
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But French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said some buildings had been destroyed and social media showed flooded roads and overturned cars on the island that is roughly divided between France and the Netherlands.
The situation was being closely monitored on St. Martin and at a number of Trump properties in Florida, Trump Organization spokesperson Amanda Miller told Reuters in a statement.
“Our teams at the Trump properties in Florida are taking all of the proper precautions and following local and Florida state advisories very closely to ensure that everyone is kept safe and secure,” Miller said.
FILE PHOTO: Employees of Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump stand behind him in support at a campaign event at his Trump National Doral golf club in Miami, Florida, U.S. October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
While Irma’s exact trajectory remained uncertain, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach - which has been called the “winter White House” and valued by Forbes at $175 million - could also take a hit.
Trump bought the estate in 1985 and turned it into an exclusive club, which now boasts a membership fee of $200,000 and is a haven for the tony Palm Beach set who pull up to the gate in Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.
FILE PHOTO: Trump Towers I, II and III (L to R) are shown in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, U.S. March 13, 2017. Sunny Isles is a suburb of Miami. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
A staffer who answered the phone said it was closed and declined to comment further. Palm Beach County declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
Near Miami, Trump owns luxury high-rise condos called the Trump Towers, Sunny Isles and the oceanfront Trump International Beach Resort.
Some guests were leaving ahead of the storm but precautions were being taken and resort officials were prepared to oversee evacuations if they were ordered, marketing director Jim Monastra said.
At the Trump National Doral, an 800-acre golf resort in Miami that local media reported had completed a $250 million renovation last year, officials tweeted Wednesday that resort operations were going on as normal until further notice.
Reporting by Chris Kenning; Editing by Andrew Hay
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September 5, 2017 / 3:27 PM / Updated an hour ago
Hurricane Irma kills eight on Caribbean island of Saint Martin
Scott Malone
6 Min Read
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma killed eight people on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and left Barbuda devastated on Thursday as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida.
Television footage of the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin showed a damaged marina with boats tossed into piles, submerged streets and flooded homes. Power was knocked out on Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy and in parts of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
“It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed. I am in shock,” Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council on Saint Martin, told Radio Caribbean International.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said eight people were killed and the toll was likely to rise.
“We did not have the time yet to explore all the shores,” Collomb told Franceinfo radio, adding that 23 people were also injured. In all, at least 10 people were reported killed by Irma on four islands.
Irma caused “enormous damage” to the Dutch side of Saint Martin, called Sint Maarten, the Dutch Royal Navy said. The navy tweeted images gathered by helicopter of damaged houses, hotels and boats. The airport was unreachable, it said.
The hurricane was on track to reach Florida on Saturday or Sunday, becoming the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in as many weeks after Hurricane Harvey.
The eye of Irma was moving west-northwest off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
The island of Barbuda is a scene of “total carnage” and the tiny two-island nation will seek international assistance, said Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.
Browne told the BBC about half of Barbuda’s population of some 1,800 were homeless while nine out of 10 buildings had suffered some damage and many were destroyed.
RAIN AND WIND
“We flew into Barbuda only to see total carnage. It was easily one of the most emotionally painful experiences that I have had,” Browne said in an interview on BBC Radio Four.
“Approximately 50 percent of them (residents of Barbuda) are literally homeless at this time. They are bunking together, we are trying to get ... relief supplies to them first thing tomorrow morning,” he said, adding that it would take months or years to restore some level of normalcy to the island.
Browne said one person was killed on Barbuda. A surfer was also reported killed on Barbados.
Irma hit Puerto Rico early on Thursday, buffeting its capital San Juan with rain and wind that scattered tree limbs across roadways. At least half of Puerto Rico’s homes and businesses were without power, according to Twitter posts and a message posted by an island utility executive.
View of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Sint Maarten Dutch part of Saint Martin island in the Carribean September 6, 2017. Picture taken September 6, 2017. Netherlands Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS
The NHC said it was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the five most forceful storms to hit the Atlantic basin in 82 years.
Irma’s precise course remained uncertain but it was likely to be downgraded to a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida, the NHC said.
It has become a little less organized over the past few hours but the threat of direct hurricane impacts in Florida over the weekend and early next week were increasing, it said.
Hurricane watches were in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and much of Cuba.
STORM PREPARATIONS
Slideshow (24 Images)
Two other hurricanes formed on Wednesday.
Katia in the Gulf of Mexico posed no threat to the United States, according to U.S. forecasters. Hurricane Jose was about 815 miles (1,310 km) east of the Caribbean’s Lesser Antilles islands, could eventually threaten the U.S. mainland.
The storm activity comes after Harvey claimed about 60 lives and caused property damage estimated as high as $180 billion in Texas and Louisiana.
Florida emergency management officials began evacuations in advance of Irma’s arrival, ordering tourists to leave the Florida Keys. Evacuation of residents from the Keys began Wednesday evening.
Ed Rappaport, the Miami-based NHC’s acting director, told WFOR-TV that Irma was a “once-in-a-generation storm.”
In Cuba, 90 miles (145 km) south of the Keys, authorities posted a hurricane alert for the island’s central and eastern regions, as residents in Havana, the capital, waited in lines to stock up on food, water and gasoline.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he and aides were monitoring Irma’s progress. The president owns the waterfront Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump approved emergency declarations from that state, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, mobilizing federal disaster relief efforts.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said Irma could be more devastating than Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that struck the state in 1992 and still ranks as one of the costliest ever in the United States.
Residents in most coastal communities of densely populated Miami-Dade County were ordered to move to higher ground beginning at 9 a.m. ET (1300 GMT) on Thursday, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said
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Irma aims full fury at Florida's Gulf Coast, floods central Miami
Robin Respaut, Zachary Fagenson
5 Min Read
FORT MYERS/MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma lashed the Gulf Coast of Florida with the brunt of its fury on Sunday afternoon, knocking out electricity to 2.5 million homes and businesses statewide while flooding streets and swaying skyscrapers in Miami.
Hours after barreling across the resort archipelago of the Florida Keys, the storm crept up the western shore of the Florida Peninsula to make a second landfall at Marco Island around 3.35 ET (1935 GMT), about a dozen miles south of upscale beach town Naples on the Gulf of Mexico.
Irma’s eye wall came ashore not long after it was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 3 storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 mph).
Forecasters warned that Irma remained extremely dangerous as the monster storm toppled trees and power lines, peeled tiles off roofs and threatened coastal areas with storm surges of up to 15 feet (4.6 m). Tornadoes were also spotted through the southern part of the state.
Some 6.5 million people, about a third of the state’s population, had been ordered to evacuate southern Florida as the storm approached.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” Governor Rick Scott told a press conference. Curfews were declared on Sunday evening for the Gulf Coast towns of Tampa and St. Petersburg as several Florida counties reported arrests of looters taking advantage of homes left vacant by evacuations.
The storm killed at least 28 people as it raged through the Caribbean en route to Florida. On Sunday, Irma claimed its first U.S. fatality - a man found dead in a pickup truck that had crashed into a tree in high winds in the town of Marathon, in the Keys.
The storm’s westward tilt as it advanced on Florida put a string of Gulf Coast cities at greatest risk and spared the densely populated Miami area the full force of its wrath. The state’s biggest city, situated about 100 miles (160 km) east of Irma’s core, was anything but unscathed.
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Miami apartment towers swayed in the high winds, two construction cranes were toppled, and small white-capped waves could be seen in flooded streets between Miami office towers.
Tampa and Hurricane bays experienced extraordinarily low tides that left sea life visible and boats grounded, though forecasters warned the storm would soon drive those waters back in with storm surges along the state’s Gulf Coast.
Last week, Irma had ranked as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever documented in the Atlantic, one of only a handful of Category 5 storms known to have packed sustained winds at 185 miles per hour or more.
Before turning on Florida, the storm pummeled Cuba with 36-foot-tall (11 meter) waves after ravaging several smaller Caribbean islands.
A local resident walks across a flooded street in downtown Miami as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, U.S. September 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Its core was located about 5 miles (8 km)north of Naples by 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) and was expected to move along or over Florida’s western coast through the afternoon and evening.
Irma is expected to cause billions of dollars in damage to the third-most-populous U.S. state, a major tourism hub with an economy that generates about 5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
About 2.5 million Florida homes and businesses had lost power, according to Florida Power & Light and other utilities.
MIAMI BUILDINGS SWAY, STREETS FLOODED
Slideshow (16 Images)
Waves poured over a Miami seawall, flooding streets waist-deep in places around Brickell Avenue which runs a couple of blocks from the waterfront through the financial district and past consulates. High rise apartment buildings were left standing like islands in the flood.
One woman in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood delivered her own baby because emergency responders were unable to reach her, the city of Miami said on Twitter. Mother and infant were later taken to a hospital, it said.
Deme Lomas, who owns Miami restaurant Niu Kitchen, said he saw a crane torn apart by winds and dangling from the top of a building.
“We feel the building swaying all the time,” Lomas said in a phone interview from his 35th-floor apartment. “It’s like being on a ship.”
On Marco Island, 67-year-old Kathleen Turner and her husband rode out the storm on the second floor of a friend’s condominium after failing to find a flight out. She feared for her canal-facing home.
“I‘m feeling better than being in my house, but I‘m worried about my home, about what’s going to happen,” Turner said.
Irma comes just days after Hurricane Harvey dumped record-setting rain in Texas, causing unprecedented flooding, killing at least 60 people and an estimated $180 billion in property damage. Almost three months remain in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through November.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke to the governors of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee on Sunday and issued a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico, which was hit by the storm last week, the White House said.
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#EnvironmentSeptember 10, 2017 / 10:14 PM / Updated 6 hours ago
Factbox: Over four million lose power in Florida from Irma, utilities say
Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
Water rises up to a sidewalk by the Miami river as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, in downtown Miami, Florida, U.S., September 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
(Reuters) - More than 4 million homes and businesses have lost power in Florida, major utilities said on Sunday, as Hurricane Irma pummeled the state.
Most outages were in Florida Power & Light’s service area in the southern and eastern parts of the state. FPL, the state’s biggest power company, said more than 3.3 million of its customers were without service. As the storm moved up the coast, Duke Energy’s outages steadily climbed.
Irma hit Florida on Sunday morning as a dangerous Category 4 storm, the second highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It weakened as it moved up the state’s west coast and by late evening, it was a Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour (169 kph).
FPL is a unit of NextEra Energy Inc (NEE.N). Other big power utilities in Florida are units of Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N), Southern Co (SO.N) and Emera Inc (EMA.TO).
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Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay, Sandra Maler and Gopakumar Warrier
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#EnvironmentSeptember 11, 2017 / 6:32 AM / Updated 9 hours ago
Hurricane Irma threatens Florida's bustling tourism industry
Alana Wise, Caroline Humer
3 Min Read
Boats are seen at a marina in Coconut Grove as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, in Miami, Florida, U.S., September 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma’s path of destruction up Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sunday threatens to disrupt a thriving state tourism industry worth more than $100 billion annually just months ahead of the busy winter travel season.
Some of the state’s biggest attractions have announced temporary closures, including amusement park giants Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Legoland and Sea World, which all planned to close through Monday.
About 20 cruise lines have Miami as a home port or a port of call, according to the PortMiami website, and many have had to move ships out of the area and revise schedules.
Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean have canceled and revised several sailings as a result of the storm and have offered credits and waivers on trips where passengers are unable to travel.
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A Carnival spokesman said the situation in Florida on Sunday was still not clear enough to fully assess how widespread the effects will be.
“We will know more in the hours ahead since the hurricane is active in Florida right now,” spokesman Roger Frizzell said.
Irma made a second Florida landfall on Sunday on southwestern Marco Island as a Category 3 storm bringing winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kph) and life-threatening sea surge.
A vehicle drives along a flooded street in downtown Miami as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, U.S., September 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Disney canceled the Monday sailing of one of its cruise ships and said it is assessing future sailings, which stop throughout the Caribbean and in the Bahamas.
Florida is one of the world’s top tourism destinations. Last year nearly 113 million people visited the state, a new record, and spent $109 billion, state officials said earlier this year. The first half of 2017 was on track to beat that record pace, officials said.
Slideshow (2 Images)
The damage Irma’s winds and storm surge do to Florida’s 660 miles (1,060 km) of beaches and the structures built along them during more than 30 years of explosive population growth will be critical to how quickly the state’s ’s No. 1 industry recovers. The Gulf beaches west of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, are squarely in the storm’s path.
In 2016, more than 6.3 million people visited Pinellas County, which encompasses those cities, and generated more $9.7 billion in economic activity.
Up and down the wide, sandy beaches of Pinellas County are traditional “old Florida” waterfront hotels such as the Don Cesar, a coral pink 1920s hotel on St. Pete Beach, which was closed by the storm. There are also modern high-rises and resorts that are part of the nation’s biggest chains and brands including Hyatt Hotels, Marriott International, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
The low-lying barrier islands would be inundated if Irma’s storm surge reaches forecast heights of as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters).
While some newer structures in the area are built on elevated pilings, many older homes and businesses are not.
Reporting by Alana Wise and Caroline Humer; Editing by Joseph White and Mary Milliken
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
#EnvironmentSeptember 11, 2017 / 1:25 AM / Updated an hour ago
Caribbean faces hard road to recovery after Irma's ravages
Sarah Marsh
6 Min Read
VARADERO, Cuba (Reuters) - From Cuba to Antigua, Caribbean islanders began counting the cost of Hurricane Irma on Sunday after the brutal storm left a trail of death, destruction and chaos from which the tourist-dependent region could take years to recover.
The Category 5 storm, which killed at least 28 people across the region, devastated housing, power supplies and communications, leaving some small islands almost cut off from the world. European nations sent military reinforcements to keep order amid looting, while the damage was expected to total billions of dollars.
Ex-pat billionaires and poor islanders alike were forced to take cover as Irma tore roofs off buildings, flipped cars and killed livestock, raging from the Leeward Islands across Puerto Rico and Hispaniola then into Cuba before turning on Florida.
Waves of up to 36 feet (11 meters) smashed businesses along the Cuban capital Havana’s sea-side drive on Sunday morning. Further east, high winds whipped Varadero, the island’s most important tourist resort.
“It’s a complete disaster and it will take a great deal of work to get Varadero back on its feet,” said Osmel de Armas, 53, an aquatic photographer who works on the beach at the battered resort.
Sea-front hotels were evacuated in Havana and relief workers spent the night rescuing people from homes in the city center as the sea penetrated to historic depths in the flood-prone area.
U.S President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration on Sunday for Puerto Rico, where Irma killed at least 3 people and left hundreds of thousands without electricity. Trump also expanded federal funds available to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which suffered extensive damage to homes and infrastructure.
Further east in the Caribbean, battered islands such as St. Martin and Barbuda were taking stock of the damage as people began emerging from shelters to scenes of devastation.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the death toll on the Dutch part of St. Martin had doubled to four, and that 70 percent of homes had been damaged or destroyed.
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Following reports of looting, the Netherlands said it would increase its military presence on the island to 550 soldiers by Monday. Rutte said that to ensure order, security forces were authorized to act with a “firm hand”.
Alex Martinez, 31, a native of Florida who was vacationing on the Dutch side of St. Martin when Irma hit the island in the early hours of Wednesday, vividly described how his hotel was gutted by the storm, turning it into a debris-strewn tip.
Doors were torn from hinges, windows shattered, cars lifted off the ground and furniture blown through the rooms after Irma hit the building with a burst of pressure that was “like you were getting sucked out of an aeroplane,” he said.
Martinez, his wife and two others barricaded themselves in their bathroom, pushing with all their might to secure the door as Irma battered it with winds of up to 185 mph (300 km/h).
“That’s when we thought, ‘that was it’,” he said. “I honestly, swear to God, thought we were going to die at that point in time. Everything continued for maybe 20, 30 minutes; my wife’s there, she’s praying, praying, praying, praying, and things just kinda calmed down. I guess that’s when the eye (of the storm came).”
A man and two children wade through a flooded street, after the passing of Hurricane Irma, in Havana, Cuba September 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer
Staff deserted the hotel to look after their families and Martinez and a few others had to scavenge for food and water for three days until they were airlifted out on Saturday, he said.
Dutch authorities are evacuating other tourists and injured people to Curacao, where Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk were expected to arrive today.
MALICIOUS ACTIONS
France, which oversees neighboring Saint Barthelemy and the other half of St Martin, said the police presence on the two islands had been boosted to close to 500.
Slideshow (25 Images)
The French interior ministry said 11 people suspected of “malicious actions” had been arrested since Friday as television footage showed scenes of chaos on the islands, with streets under water, boats and cars tossed into piles and torn rooftops.
Irma killed at least 10 people on the two islands, the French government said. France’s Caisse Centrale de Reassurance, a state-owned reinsurance group, estimated the cost of Irma at some 1.2 billion euros ($1.44 billion).
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit St. Martin on Tuesday.
Barbuda, home to some 1,800 inhabitants, faces a reconstruction bill that could total hundreds of millions of dollars, state officials say, after Irma steamrolled the island.
The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said Irma had wreaked “absolute devastation” on Barbuda, which he described as “barely habitable” after 90 percent of cars and buildings had been damaged.
The government ordered a total evacuation when a second hurricane, Jose, emerged, but a handful of people refused to leave their homes, including “a gentleman (who) said he was living in a cave”, said Garfield Burford, director of news at government-owned broadcaster ABS TV and Radio in Antigua and Barbuda.
Irma also plunged the British Virgin Islands, an offshore business and legal center, into turmoil.
Yachts were piled on top of each other in the harbor and many houses in the hillside capital of Road Town on the main island of Tortola were badly damaged. Both there and in Anguilla to the east, residents complained help from the British government was too slow in coming, prompting a defensive response from London.
“We weren’t late,” Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told BBC television on Sunday, saying Britain had “pre-positioned” an aid ship for the Caribbean hurricane season and that his government’s response “has been as good as anybody else‘s.”
British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, who sought refuge in the wine cellar of his home on Necker island, called Irma the “storm of the century” on Twitter and urged people to make donations to help rebuild the region.
Additional reporting by Nelson Acosta and Marc Frank in Havana, Matthias Blamont in Paris, Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Kylie MacLellan in London, Makini Brice in Haiti; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Sandra Maler and Paul Tait
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
#World NewsSeptember 10, 2017 / 5:03 PM / Updated 17 hours ago
U.S. denies Iran report of confrontation with U.S. vessel
FILE PHOTO: An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition (IOGPE) in Tehran April 15, 2011. REUTERS/STR/File Photo
Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Iranian military vessel confronted an American warship in the Gulf and warned it to stay away from a damaged Iranian fishing boat, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, but the U.S. Navy denied any direct contact with Iranian forces.
The American vessel turned away after the warning from the Iranian ship, which belonged to the naval branch of the Iranian army, according to Tasnim. The Iranian military vessel then towed the fishing boat, which had sent out a distress signal after taking on water, back to shore.
The agency did not specify when the incident, close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, took place.
In statement, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) said the coastal patrol USS Tempest, operating in the Gulf of Oman on Sept. 6, heard the distress call of an unidentified small boat about 75 nautical miles from the Tempest’s position.
At the same time the motor vessel Nordic Voyager, much closer to the boat in distress, offered help and had made visual contact with it. The Tempest offered to support the Nordic Voyager which declined the offer, NAVCENT said.
Following the radio traffic from a distance, USS Tempest heard the Nordic Voyager coordinate additional Iranian Navy help for the vessel in distress to tow it back to Iran.
“At no time was there any direct contact between the U.S. and Iranian maritime forces,” NAVCENT spokesman Chloe Morgan said.
Tensions have been on the rise between the Iranian and U.S. military in the Gulf in recent months.
In August, an unarmed Iranian drone came within 100 feet (31 meters) of a U.S. Navy warplane as it prepared to land on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf, a U.S. official said at the time.
And in July, a U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots when an Iranian vessel in the Gulf came within 150 yards (137 meters) in the first such incident since President Donald Trump took office in January, U.S. officials said.
Years of mutual animosity had eased when Washington lifted sanctions on Tehran last year as part of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But serious differences remain over Iran’s ballistic missile program and conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
The Trump administration, which has taken a hard line on Iran, recently declared that Iran was complying with its nuclear agreement with world powers, but warned that Tehran was not following the spirit of the accord and that Washington would look for ways to strengthen it.
During the presidential campaign last September, Trump vowed that any Iranian vessels that harass the U.S. Navy in the Gulf would be “shot out of the water.”
Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh and William Maclean; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Mark Potter
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#World NewsSeptember 11, 2017 / 1:00 PM / Updated 5 hours ago
U.N. to vote on new North Korea sanctions on Monday afternoon: diplomats
Michelle Nichols
5 Min Read
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on Monday afternoon on a watered-down U.S.-drafted resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test, diplomats said, but it was unclear whether China and Russia would support it.
The draft resolution appears to have been weakened in a bid to appease North Korea’s ally China and Russia following negotiations during the past few days.
In order to pass, a resolution needs nine of the 15 Security Council members to vote in favor and no vetoes by any of the five permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
The draft, seen by Reuters on Sunday, no longer proposes blacklisting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The initial draft proposed he be subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze along with four other North Korea officials. The final text only lists one of those officials.
The draft text still proposes a ban on textile exports, which were North Korea’s second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China.
The draft drops a proposed oil embargo and instead intends to impose a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of two million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels.
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China supplies most of North Korea’s crude. According to South Korean data, Beijing supplies roughly 500,000 tonnes of crude oil annually. It also exports 200,000 tonnes of oil products, according to U.N. data. Russia’s exports of crude oil to North Korea are about 40,000 tonnes a year.
The draft resolution also no longer proposes an asset freeze on the military-controlled national airline Air Koryo.
Since 2006, the Security Council has unanimously adopted eight resolutions ratcheting up sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
The Security Council last month imposed new sanctions over North Korea’s two long-range missile launches in July. The Aug. 5 resolution aimed to slash by a third Pyongyang’s $3 billion annual export revenue by banning coal, iron, lead and seafood.
FOREIGN WORKERS
The new draft resolution drops a bid to remove an exception for transshipments of Russian coal via the North Korean port of Rajin. In 2013 Russia reopened a railway link with North Korea, from the Russian eastern border town of Khasan to Rajin, to export coal and import goods from South Korea and elsewhere.
The original draft resolution would have authorized states to use all necessary measures to intercept and inspect on the high seas vessels that have been blacklisted by the council.
However, the final draft text calls upon states to inspect vessels on the high seas with the consent of the flag state, if there’s information that provides reasonable grounds to believe the ship is carrying prohibited cargo.
The Aug. 5 resolution adopted by the council capped the number of North Koreans working abroad at the current level. The new draft resolution initially imposed a complete ban on the hiring and payment of North Korean laborers abroad.
The final draft text to be voted on Monday by the council would require the employment of North Korean workers abroad to be authorized by a Security Council committee.
However, this rule would not apply to “written contracts finalized prior to the adoption of this resolution” provided that states notify the committee by Dec. 15 of the number of North Koreans subject to these contracts and the anticipated date of termination of these contracts.
Some diplomats estimate that between 60,000 and 100,000 North Koreans work abroad. A U.N. human rights investigator said in 2015 that North Korea was forcing more than 50,000 people to work abroad, mainly in Russia and China, earning between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year. The wages of workers sent abroad provide foreign currency for the Pyongyang government.
There is new political language in the final draft urging “further work to reduce tensions so as to advance the prospects for a comprehensive settlement” and underscoring “the imperative of achieving the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.”
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Paul Tait & Simon Cameron-Moore
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Tuesday, September 05, 2017
Asylum seekers win $53 million detention settlement from Australian government
June 14, 2017 / 2:16 PM / 3 months ago
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Nearly 2,000 asylum seekers held in a remote detention center in Papua New Guinea for more than two years will receive A$70 million ($53 million) in compensation after the Australian government agreed to settle their court case on Wednesday.
Some 1,905 men who were detained at the facility between November 2012 and December 2014 filed legal claims last year against the Australian government and two contractors who ran the camp on PNG’s Manus Island.
The camp is one of two Australian facilities for processing asylum seekers that have attracted widespread criticism from the United Nations and rights groups because of their harsh conditions and allegations of systemic abuse.
Lawyers from the Slater & Gordon firm representing the men said the Australian government and security companies G4S and Broadspectrum, now owned by Ferrovial, would collectively pay the compensation.
They said the compensation would be distributed among the former and current detainees according to the length of their detention and the severity of the injuries and illnesses they alleged they had suffered. The government would also pay court costs, the lawyers told a news conference in Melbourne.
The Australian government confirmed the settlement, which it said it entered into to save taxpayers the expense of a costly trial. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton described settling the case as a “prudent” decision.
The settlement removes a major impediment to Australia ending its controversial offshore detention scheme, under which would-be asylum seekers who arrive by boat are held indefinitely in the two Pacific detention centers. The other is on the tiny and remote island of Nauru.
Australia agreed on a refugee resettlement deal with the United States late last year, under which the bulk of those detained at the two camps would be relocated and Australia in turn would settle refugees from Central America.
Asylum-seekers look through a fence at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea March 21, 2014. AAP/Eoin Blackwell/via REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump has begrudgingly agreed to honor that deal despite earlier calling it “dumb”.
Australia has said that, once the U.S. resettlement occurs, it will no longer be responsible for the asylum seekers on Manus Island or Nauru.
Many of the claimants awarded the settlement remain on Manus Island, while others have returned home.
Majid Kamasaee, the original plaintiff in the case, was one of those who agreed to return to his native Iran.
Kamasaee said he voluntarily left Manus Island because he was denied adequate medical care for a serious skin condition.
“When I arrived on Manus they confiscated my medicine. Everyday in the harsh sun my skin felt like it was on fire,” Kamasaee said in a statement read out by lawyer Ebony Birchall.
“The scars got worse and then developed growths. I was in pain every minute of every day on Manus Island,” he said.
($1 = 1.3273 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Paul Tait
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
New vision imminent for old RAH site
New vision imminent for old RAH site
News
The emergency department at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital opened this morning with a "gentle" start for doctors, but expect a big bang at the other end of town soon with the State Government set to confirm plans for the old hospital's redevelopment.
Bension Siebert
@Bension1
David Washington
@davidwashingto2
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Construction workers unveil the emergency sign during the official opening of the emergency department at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital today. Photo: AAP/David Mariuz
The Government has been in negotiations about the old RAH with local development company Commercial & General and their partner John Holland for nearly 12 months. The redevelopment is promised to include more open space for the Botanic Gardens, public institutions and residential development.
The proponent’s original pitch to the Government, revealed by InDaily last year, included an underground concert hall for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, a new contemporary art gallery and a Marriott hotel. Earlier this year, the site’s controller – Renewal SA – revealed developers had been in negotiations with the government about increased building heights, among other changes.
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Today, Urban Development Minister Stephen Mullighan said that although those negotiations were ongoing, details would be revealed very soon.
“Further announcements about the demolition, activation and redevelopment of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site are imminent,” he said in a statement.
He said the Government was continuing negotiations with John Holland and Commercial & General, but was proceeding with separate tenders for the “temporary activation” of the site and the demolition of some buildings.
Renewal SA would manage the “activation” of the site while it is under development – “one of the largest projects of its type in the state”.
A sign outside the old RAH this morning. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Early this morning, the Emergency Department at the old RAH closed, with the new ED opening simulataneously at the other end of North Terrace.
The wrapping on the new department’s sign was removed just before 7am to cheers.
Shortly after, Emergency Department head Dr Tom Soulsby said the opening had been a relatively “gentle start” for Adelaide’s new central hospital.
“We did have three ambulances by a quarter past seven – one of our first ambulance patients had been in a roll-over vehicle accident,” he told reporters.
Premier Jay Weatherill said the change-over had proceeded “as well as could possibly be expected”.
“If things keep going according to schedule that we’ve put in place, we expect to have the new hospital fully bedded-in by the end of Wednesday,” Weatherill said.
One of the first patients to be admitted arrives during the official opening of the new RAH’s emergency department today. Photo: AAP/David Mariuz
Health Minister Jack Snelling indicated that the gentle start was unlikely to continue, with the state’s public hospitals “incredibly busy this week”.
“We’ve seen a huge number of walk-in presentations, particularly at the Flinders Medical Centre and at the Lyell McEwen Emergency Department,” Snelling said.
The old RAH had been taking patients from these hospitals in recent days.
“It goes to show how well, so far, this move has gone.
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“We expect to have all of our patients moved by tomorrow.
“This is a one in 200 year event and it really goes to show what we’re capable of here in South Australia.”
Unless the smooth handover goes pear-shaped, attention will soon be focused on the old RAH site – the biggest CBD development opportunity in recent history.
One potential key element of the site that will not be clear in the near future is the shape of the proposed “Adelaide Contemporary” art gallery – the vision of Art Gallery of South Australia director Nick Mitzevich.
The preferred proponents for the site’s redevelopment included a placeholder image in its proposal to the Government, in the shape of a floating white “box”.
Unreleased proponent’s plans for the old RAH site show concert goers outside the entrance to an underground concert hall.
The white building indicates where a new contemporary art gallery might sit on the redeveloped site.
Later this month, the State Government is expected to launch an international search for a team to design the gallery, with a budget of $1.9 million for the selection and commissioning process.
Mitzevich confirmed to InDaily that he expected the search to begin this month and that it would relate to designing the proposed Adelaide Contemporary gallery at the old RAH site.
The gallery vision includes providing full access – for the first time – to the state’s 42,000-piece collection.
A spokesperson for John Holland/Commercial & General said: “The joint venture partners are excited at the transformational opportunity this site presents and are wholly committed to our vision for a place that is going to generate industries and jobs of the future.”
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Storm Harvey paralyzes a fifth of U.S. fuel output
Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey has shut nearly a fifth of U.S. oil-refining capacity, triggering worries about a gasoline supply crunch as the slow-moving tempest lumbers through the heart of America’s petrochemicals industry.
At least 3.6 million barrels per day of refining capacity are offline in Texas and Louisiana, or nearly 20 percent of total U.S. capacity, based on company reports and Reuters estimates. Restarting plants even under the best conditions can take a week or more.
As a result of the outages, major pipelines carrying gasoline, diesel and jet fuel started to adjust deliveries or close lines outright because of a lack of supply. U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 surged 4 percent to settle at their highest in more than two years.
The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to nearly half of domestic refining capacity, with some 5.6 million bpd of capacity in Texas and 3.3 million bpd in Louisiana.
More refinery closures were expected, as parts of Texas have received more than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of rain. Fuel prices were expected to keep rising as refining capacity remains down and pipelines run short. Explorer Pipeline, which runs from Texas to Chicago, will shut two lines early on Wednesday.
Total Port Arthur refinery production down to 53 percent: sources
U.S. EPA approves emergency fuel waivers for Texas, Georgia
Largest U.S. crude refinery shutting due to Harvey: sources
“These closures are already impacting markets, with crude prices lower on a perceived drop in demand and gasoline prices spiking in response to lower supply,” said Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research at Morningstar.
Colonial Pipeline, the key artery sending gasoline up the East Coast, was still shipping barrels there but had faced flooding at origination points in Texas.
The U.S. Northeast was already dealing with reduced supply. Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the region’s largest refiner, said it had sold all its available regular gasoline barrels because of increased demand, while Monroe Energy’s refinery had increased runs.
The Valero Houston Refinery is threatened by the swelling waters of the Buffalo Bayou after Hurricane Harvey inundated the Texas Gulf coast with rain, in Houston, Texas, U.S. August 27, 2017.
Nick Oxford
“Harvey will raise product prices nationwide, denting demand, especially in September,” said Barclays analysts in a note on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 edged down 13 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $46.44 a barrel.
In cash trading, the spread between Gulf Coast gasoline prices and benchmark futures rallied further, a day after hitting a five-year high in anticipation of constrained supply. That price was lately 24 cents above benchmark futures RBc1, traders said.
GASOLINE PRICES RISE
Retail gasoline prices have started to rise, too, with the average gallon of gasoline rising 1 cent overnight to $2.38 nationally. The average price in Texas rose 2 cents to $2.19 per gallon.
Motiva Enterprises MOTIV.UL began shutting down its 603,000-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, on Tuesday evening because of flooding within the plant, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) shut the large crude distillation unit and the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit at its 335,000-bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.
Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N) was shutting two refineries in the Houston area on Tuesday because of flooding, according to sources familiar with plant operations. The 459,000-bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, 45 miles (72 km) south of Houston, has flooding in its tank farm and on nearby streets, the sources said.
Exxon (XOM.N) has shut its 362,300-bpd Beaumont refinery in east Texas because of high water in the plant, said sources familiar with the plant. The company earlier shut production at its Baytown, Texas, refinery, the nation’s second largest.
Additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Writing by Gary McWilliams; Editing by David Gregorio and Peter Cooney
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Facts Sheet: Shelley Chdhry
Hello everyone, posting on this group as one of my friends really need your valuable advise.
She is a Muslim and has been in a relationship with a Hindu man since 8 years. They are not married or engaged yet but thinking of getting married soon.
When they met 8 years ago, he promised to her he will convert to Islam for her.
However, as years have passed, things have changed.
I have four questions for you guys. Please post your thoughts and feelings here as we need to see what others think as well because she is way too much emotionally and mentally attached to the guy and is desperate to marry him desperate all the below:
1. He says when he promised to convert, he was too young (He was 19). Now he has grown up and feels that yes, he is happy to follow Islam as well as Hinduism. He doesn't want to let go of his aLord Shiva. He now says that when they have kids the kids should follow both Islam and Hinduism and given a choice to choose , and only Islam should not be imposed on the kids.
He says he will pretend in front of her parents that he is a Muslim 100 percent so they can get married.
Can they get married? Should they marry deceiving parents? Would she burn in hell because she married a guy who didn't think Allah was the only God and and of the kids followed Hinduism?
2. Secondly, the girls parents are here to visit her from overseas for 2 months. The guy went for Friday prayers twice with her dad. So the girls dad has been insisting and telling the guy to meet him for 4-6 hours a week so he can teach him some prayers and tell more about Islam. Now the guy at this stage is going through a lot in terms of job and business and he is going through a hard time. So he is irritated and moody and sort of struggling with life. In terms of career this is the hardest part of his career. The guy screams at the girl saying why is your dad asking me to learn prayers as he feels it's not important to pray, according to the guy, the only thing that's important is that we should help poor and needy.
So basically he has been screaming at the girl why is your dad forcing me to do stuff I don't want to.
Do you think this is right? I mean yes the guy is going through a hard time but the parents are here just for two months and they want to finalise this proposal and make sure he is a convert and he is not taking out time for this and instead fighting with the girl that why is your dad pushing me to do these religious things?
3. He also keeps telling the girl that the parents should not interfere in their lives or when they have kids and stuff how right is this?
4. The guy is nice in the aspect that he will let her travel to see parents and siblings and buy them gifts and stuff and care for them genuinely. However, here is the issue. The girl also sends money home. Around 1500-2000$ a month because she works full time and her parents need it for basic needs. Their financial situation is not good. And the guy(her partner) is perfectly fine with it. But what the girl doesn't like is that he keeps telling her that your parents needs to realise I'm the best guy for you as I ALLOW you to send money home. She's confused as this is what she earns herself, she is not sending the guys money, and she is still contributing 2000$ to hers and the guys budget in Australia. How right is he in saying this?
Thank you so much for reading all this she's my best friend and I really need advise for her and she needs it more than anything.
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Taha Usman Omar Tariq
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Haris Hassan peace everyone :3
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Abid Mehmood If religion was a concern than that lady should not landed in this situation
I think the man will pull out as if he wants to accept islam than he will anyways with or without the lady...See more
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Muhammad Wajahat Kamil
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Arslan Malik Haha very serious , she been in relationship for 8 years so why she thinks of islam now !!!!! I would say she already did what she was not suppose to do . now don't use the name of Islam just be yourself
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Omar Tariq try a beef buffet in the marriage ceremony 😆
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Omar Tariq Hassan Tariq
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Wajid Kanwal These guys didn't ask before getting into the relationship so why ask now. Plus looks like the guy is heading towards the path of domestic violence
. So tell the girl to wake up and smell the coffee.
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Nauman Ahmed Girl is with him for 8 years she knew what she was getting into, sorry but this is a no brainer she has to leave him since he's not holding up his part of the deal and the resulting relationship can never survive longterm!
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Zarrin Seema Siddiqui I think it is a very perosnal issue. A relationship counsellor will help them to understand the implications and consequences. They are both adults and we are neither judges nor freinds to provide any advice.
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Qandeel Noor Abbasi I suggest you to ask some religious scholar.as this is the very sensitive issue.
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Muhammad Hammad Khan " will she burn in hell " hahaha that is an outrageous perspective.
If she is concerned about the validity and credibility of her actions from an Islamic perspective, you and everyone else concerned should consult an Islamic Scholar and make due to Allah for guidance,,, not ask for opinions here,, it doesnt matter what the masses think in this regard, people are not gate keepers of righteousness.
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Zaid Bin Khalid Usaid Hasan
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Tabish Chaudhry Simple, short and clear
.. GET RID OF HIM ..
It's not going to be work anymore..
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Danyal Yousaf Stop her from doing so . She will regret if done .
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Aroosa Mushtaq Girl. You need to post this problem in some other group like soul sisters, etc. Because firstly, people are not tolerant enough to think in your friends shoes. Then, every muslim would be happy to here that the guy is converting, but if that were your friend, I'm sure nobody would have been pleased to hear that. So, basically lack of empathy. Please please seek advice from some place neutral. Otherwise people will only bash her or her boyfriend.
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HuXein ChaFoo oooo shelly chodhry it looks like that they have been get married already.so why are you asking for shit recomendation?As she has crossed all boundaries before Nikah..why are you wasting our time?..Admin should delete this post.Block these type of posts
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Syed Shaz Dukaan ka iftitah hogaya hoga saalon pehle he aur ribbon bhi kat gaya hoga lakin dukan rent pe li thi us larkay ne, khareedi nahi thi.
Ab dukaan ki milkiyat lene ki bari ai tou woh bhaag raha hai.
Bibi masti khud kari aur ab yahan akar demagh baki doston ka kharab kar rahe ho.
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Aiysha Mubashir I am not sure what project she is contribiting to monthly but I am sure once the project ends the relationship will not exist. She is earning good enough to contribute to the budget and send to her parents. So if she can revaluate him based on past experiences she will reach a wise decisioN. its a bit disappointing when a Muslim girl enters relation with Hindu so yes I am sure the parents have lacked basic cultural and religious education.
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Zulqurnein Ahmed Bhatti Only Hell for both...😁
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Melody Madhu If both are religious minded..its better to marry in their own religions..love grows thru years of bonding..at this stage before marriage..only the strong will works..marriage is a separate institution...but if both r theist...God or related matters will come in their way sooner or later..
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Kazmi Awais Miss Madhu, Islam does not allow relations with any man/woman before marriage in the first place. Secondly there is no concept of "inter-faith marriage" in Islam. The marriage becomes null and void if any of the partner abandons Islam. She should have ...See more
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M. Rizwan Shirazi Guyz don't just send anyone to hell and don't try and make a judgement. Try and give a rational suggestion.
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Vazie Jani After 8 years.. her brain got active when lust has almost over... but finally she thought about it.. good on her.. If she knows islam even a little islam.she should quit and ask forgiveness from Allah for her sinful act
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Sardar Khalid Ali Dogar According to the Islamic rules and regulations this marriage will not accepted in islam until that guy will not accept islam . He have to leave the hinduizam and accept the islam by his heart . As for as the circumstances whic is explained in this pos...See more
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Sardar Khalid Ali Dogar I can guide here properly . Please in box me your contact details. Jazakmullaho khair .
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Mohsin Naveed Sulehri lol I wonder how someone can write this long for a friend or specifically a fckn indian
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Saifuddin Syed Quit this relationship is the best option. This guy already betray his commitment. Start screaming and already start thinking about children religion. He may force you to leave Islam or at-least do Puja in front of his parent. Allowing the girl to send money to parent is nothing, its a her earned money. Again "Quit This Relationship" as soon as possible.
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Muhammad Talha Kamil
آج نہیں تو کل اس لڑکی کےابا کو پتا چل جائیگا کہ لونڈا فُل ٹوپی باز ہے اور پھر کُٹ مار کر اُسے گھر سے باہر نکال دینگے، پھر وہ لڑکا کہیگا کہ "مجھے کیوں نکالا، کیوں نکالا؟؟
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Tanveer Ahmed May Allah protect her Emaan
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Muhammad Asif Just leave this guy ask forgiveness from Allah and forget your past start new life
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Nouman Qureshi This is fitna. Please be advised
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Fayyaz Alam Answer is simple: How much she loves him? Does she love him more than Islam? Then she can go ahead as her religion is secondary for her. Why do something out of social pressure if your conscience is accepting that? Second, if he doesn't want to convert...See more
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Sarmad Ali Find another person preferably practicing muslim but major problem arises when he/she does not involve parents or elders into it. On the other hand love after marriage is the eternal before marriage is lust. According to my understsnding and reading th...See more
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Ahmed Zahid Leaving the religion and differences aside, this can work with mutual understanding and co-operation. Obviously, it's easy for a guy to say that he's changed but equally difficult to follow all the rituals and convince Pakistani parents. He doesn't see...See more
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Ahsan Babar muslim larkon ki kami thi kya jo us ne apna emaan kharab kia aur non-Muslim se relation banaya
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Sajjad Ur Rehman The girl is more emmotinally and mentally into this guy but he is only using her until they get in to the bond of marriage. I think, this kind of situation will turn out to be the worst one after they both get in a legal relationship.
Boy has deceive...See more
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Umar Awan Aroosa Mushtaq, don't advise Shelley chdhry to be neutral. You are Muslim and you should keep your faith in good health. It's very basic thing if she marry to non Muslim, it will not be a marriage, rather it will be Zana. Don't advise the things that could lead to sins. Other things and needs comes later
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MoaZam ShahZad Feeling pity for that girl, but any way it would be better if the guy will revert properly by heart because he needs to find True GOD rather than confusing their kids later on and the only way to find the True GOD is comparing teachings and scripture ...See more
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Umar Awan Ahmed Zahid, what you think , will it be marriage or zina without being converted to Islam
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Mehar Ghani You should consult an Islamic scholar
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Umar Awan Shelley Chdhry, it will be zina, not a marriage with being guys converted to Islam.
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Vicky Johan i read all comments and i agree with the peoples "after 8 years she realize" :D
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Kazmi Awais Please give her my messsge:
"اب کیوں اُداس پھرتے ہو سردیوں کی شاموں میں؛
اس طرح تو ہوتا ہے اس طرح کے کاموں میں"...See more
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Muhammad Wajahat Kamil
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Kazmi Awais Jokes apart, even if a Muslim couple is married with Nikkah and his/her spouse abandons Islam, their Nikkah automatically breaks as per Islamic Sharia.
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Kazmi Awais So, she is confused on the last drink of wine that whether wine is Halal or Haram. Ask her to drink this last cup too. No need to think of good and bad now after 8 years.
She is living with him under one roof like husband and wife already, what else she wants to think about after 8 years??
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Talha Alam Kazmi sb. This means k kabhi koi sahi hona chahay tu na ho? We should be encouraging and providing every ounce of help !
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Farhan Hassan It's haram if she does marry with him without converting to Islam. And he is not accepting Islam and she must face lots of problems after marry him.
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Ali Kashif Is for a Muslim Women to marry a Christian/Hindu Men forbidden (HARAM) in Islam Dr Zakir Naik, She must listen this from Dr Zakir Naik, She will get perfect answer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL67WIyy_uk
Is for a Muslim Women to marry a Christian Men forbidden…
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2 Replies · 13 hrs
Shelley Chdhry Hello everyone, first of all, THANK YOU. A BIG BIG THANK YOU. First of all, I am a pakistani female living in Melbourne. I post a lot of stuff on different pages for my friends who want to stay anonymous. And I just want to say that I really really appreciate all your responses. I really did not expect such an overwhelming response, and I am so grateful to each and every one of you . I am still going through each one of your replies. Please know that each one of you who has responded has helped my best friend. She really needed to see and hear this from so so so many people. She thought what I was telling her and what people were telling her was wrong. But she cannot deny was 130+ of you have commented here. I am so so thankful to each one of you for your rprecious time and helping a sister in need towards to right direction. I hope she understands through these comments what she is doin is wrong, and I will be with her at each step. I will be showing everything to her tomorrow. Massive thank you to each one of you. May Allah bless you abundantly.
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M Shah Zaib this place is not to ask such questions
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Hafeez Shaikh @Khayyam Shaikh, I'm sharing this with you as the story is ineresting and raises lot of issues.
It has generated a good deal of discussion. Some people write their comments faster than speed of light.
Enjoy.
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Talha Alam Its best if u can copy the responses and delete the post from here. Or restrict commenting on this post. I personally feel now she is getting ridiculed unnecessarily. You've got what u came for.
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
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