24 News Update
24 hours Latest News Update
24 hours Latest News Update
Feb 3rd
Cyclone Yasi – The first category five cyclones in a century to cross the coast – caused widespread destruction across north Queensland overnight.
Small communities including Mission Beach, where Yasi hit at midnight, nearby Tully, Innisfail and Cardwell were hardest hit by Yasi’s violent winds and rains.
The coastal community of Cardwell which is about 50km south of Tully is completely devastated. Million-dollar boats torn apart at a nearby marina and buildings reduced to shells. Power lines are down everywhere and the town is barely recognizable. More >
Feb 3rd
Chinese New Year: The year of Rabbit. Happy New year China! The new year in the China named after rabbit begins on Thursday!
2011 is the year of Rabbit starting Thursday 3rd February and on Wednesday ends the year of the Tiger. The lunar horoscope says the rabbit is naturally happy and a homebody. In China, there’s no housecleaning on New Year’s Day – it would wash away the good fortune.
New York’s Empire State Building lit up its tower red and gold to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year on Wednesday.
“The lights on top of the Empire State Building, carrying the spirit of peace, cooperation, prosperity and harmony, have played an important role in promoting intercultural understanding and people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States,” said Dong Xiaojun, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate More >
Feb 2nd
Australia: Queensland coast is about to hit by a deadliest tropical Cyclone Yasi with ferocity the likes of which hasn’t been seen since 1918 as officials warned it could be the deadliest storm in generations.
Yasi was upgraded to a category five storm from category four as it menaced the populous east coast, where it was expected to hit around 10pm (1200 GMT) on Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Yasi is on track to make landfall between Innisfail and Cardwell about 11pm (AEST) tonight (2am Thursday NZT), with authorities confident they have the site within a 30km range of accuracy.
The cyclone already has winds of 295km/h that have knocked out weather monitoring equipment on Willis Island, off Cairns, and was bringing down trees at Ayr, near Townsville, on Wednesday morning.
Yasi will cross the coast on the high tide, meaning a storm surge that will accompany it will be devastating for low-lying areas. More >
Feb 2nd
Raja, the Former Telecom minister of India was arrested today along with his two former associates in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
Raja, his former personal secretary R K Chandolia and former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura were arrested for allegedly abusing their official position and manipulating the tendering procedures to benefit certain telecom companies in getting the spectrum. Raja was born in May, 1963 in a Dalit family in Perambalur, Tamil Nadu. Raja got a BSc and law degrees from Trichy. He was a student leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, More >
Feb 1st
Japan Volcano eruption: The volcano became active last Wednesday firing red-hot magma and volcanic bombs into the air in southern Japan erupted Tuesday with its biggest explosion yet, shooting out a huge plume of gas, boulders and ash.
This is the largest eruption since it burst back to life last week covered wide areas in ash, shot boulders onto distant roads, knocked down trees and broke hundreds of windows in hotels and offices. The danger zone around Shinmoedake volcano was widened to keep residents safe
Mount Kirishima, a volcano on the southern island of Kyushu, began erupting on Jan. 26. A giant ash cloud poured from the volcano, prompting the Tokyo VAAC to issue an ash warning for places above 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers).
NHK said the eruption was five times larger than the initial activity last week, which was Shinmoedake’s first major eruption in 52 years. More >
Jan 28th
Nelson Mandela recovered and discharged: Madiba all in good health! The 92-year-old former African President Nelson Mandela spent two nights at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, reportedly suffering from respiratory difficulties.
Mandela’s nephew Lubabalo Sigonya, 37, said: “We are all very concerned right now. Anything could happen at his age. We pray for the best though because he has done so much for us.”
Close relative Nozolile Mtirara, 90, whose late husband grew up with Mandela claimed that Mandela was not in a critical condition and that he only had a problem with his legs. More >
Jan 28th
The yearly anti-Oscars i.e., Razzie nominations are out! The Twilight Saga: Eclipse scored nine nominations Monday for the Razzie awards that recognize the worst films of the year. Eclipse has a tough competitor to get golden Raspberry as “The Last Airbender” also got 9 nominations.
Razzie Nominations 2011: The other films nominated for the worst film of the year are “The Bounty Hunter” starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City 2, and the Twilight parody Vampires Suck.
The worst actor category nominees are Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson from Twilight, along with Jack Black for Gulliver’s Travels, Ashton Kutcher for Killers and Valentine’s Day and Gerard for The Bounty Hunter.
And the worst actress nominees are Jennifer Aniston for The Bounty Hunter and The Switch, Miley Cyrus for The Last Song, the four lead actresses of Sex and the City 2, Megan Fox for Jonah Hex and Kristen Stewart for Twilight. More >
Jan 28th
Australian Open 2011: This time we are not going to see Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s fight in final. Roger Federer lost his semifinals to Novak Djokovic. And the world’s No.1 Nadal has already left with injury.
The Swiss was beaten 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 6-4 by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. “It’s not the end in any way. It’s a start for many other tournaments after this,” Federer said.
Expectations are that the possible final showdown on Sunday will be between Djokovic and Andy Murray. Swiss press described Federer as “bankrupt on court” against Djokovic, powerless to stop the imperious Serb from eliminating the four-time More >
Jan 27th
Rafael Nadal left Australian open 2011 after sustaining a shattering hamstring injury early in his quarter-final. He lost to fellow Spanish player David Ferrer. Ferrer is to face Murray in the second semi-final on Friday night.
Nadal injured his left hamstring in the second game of his quarterfinal against David Ferrer and went down 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. After taking a medical timeout on the changeover down 2-1, Nadal returned to the court with his left thigh bandaged and had a hard time sprinting side to side or getting a good push off his leg. While he may have been able to take out a less fleet or less accomplished foe in a similar condition, it was an impossible task against his friend and Davis Cup teammate Ferrer, who is nearly as fast and is relentless from inside the baseline. More >
Jan 27th
Playstation Meeting 2011: The PSP2 is finally revealed by Sony at the playstation meeting 2011 in Tokyo Japan. Sony gives us our first official look at the PlayStation maker’s next bold foray into handheld gaming, the “Next Generation Portable.”
Many of the features are already known from leaks, speculations and rumors. Sony confirmed many of the features of the PSP2. The PSP2 features a high-resolution, touch-sensitive OLED screen that’s larger than the original PSP screen, tilt-sensitive SIXAXIS controls, dual analog sticks, front and back-facing cameras, and a touch sensitive back panel.
The new PlayStation Portable is as powerful as a PlayStation 3. The device features built-in WiFi and 3G wireless connectivity and uses an all-new form of media storage for games.
PSP2 will be out this holiday. The hardware specifications are as follows. More >