Page 4 - MEDIA MONITORING JULY 09, 2018

A12 WORLD NEWS
Tropical Storm Beryl speeding toward eastern Caribbean
Monday 9 July 2018
By DANICA COTO Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Gusty winds began to hit the eastern Caribbean on Sunday as Tropical Storm Beryl advanced rapidly to- ward a region struggling to recover from last year’s deadly hurricanes.
The government of Domini- ca said it would shut down its water system and Puerto Rico’s governor warned of likely new power outages. People on islands across the region stocked up on food and water and pre- pared for possible damag- ing winds, rains and waves. Intermittent rainstorms al- ready were hitting Domi- nica early Sunday, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 centimeters) of rain could fall as the storm moves through or near the island on Sunday night. Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told peo-
In this GOES-16 satellite image taken Sunday, July 8, 2018, at 15:00 UTC, shows Tropical Storm Beryl, moving across the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Associated Press
exander told The Associat- ed Press that officials were worried about those still liv- ing with tarps on their roofs after Maria slammed into Dominica as a Category 5 storm last year, killing doz- ens of people.
“We are in a vulnerable state,” he said. “The system can still cause a lot of dam- age regardless of whether it’s a tropical storm or a hur- ricane.”
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Chris formed off the Caro- linas, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was likely to grow into a hur- ricane while heading to the northeast, roughly parallel to the coast. It wasn’t pro- jected to directly threaten land over the next few days, though forecasters said it could kick up dan- gerous surf and rip tides.
In the Caribbean, a tropi- cal storm warning was up on Guadeloupe and Domi- nica and long lines were re-
ported at grocery stores on several islands as people shopped for food and wa- ter.
“We can’t take chances with weather,” Jeffrey Xavi- er, manager of Mr. Clean Bed & Breakfast in Domi- nica, said in a phone inter- view. “There was a lot of buying.”
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a press conference late Saturday that the island could ex- perience power outages and urged people without sturdy roofs to move in with relatives or a government shelter. More than 1,500 power customers remain in the dark more than nine months after Maria, and some 60,000 people still have only tarps for roofs. “I’m praying for all the brothers who are still living under a plastic roof,” said 79-year-old Alfonso Lugo in the southeastern Puerto Rico town of Humacao. q
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega waves to a crowd of party faithful during a march for peace, in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, July 7,
2018. Associated Press
By LUIS MANUEL GALEANO Associated Press MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — President Daniel Ortega has rejected calls for early elections as a solution to Ni- caragua’s political crisis in which more than 250 peo- ple have been killed amid a heavy-handed crack- down on protests. Speaking late Saturday in his first public appearance in over a month, Ortega said the Central Ameri- can country’s constitution sets rules that “cannot be changed overnight be-
cause of the whim of a group of coup mongers.” He said protesters who are demanding he leave office should “seek the vote of the people” if they want to govern and must respect that his current term runs through 2021.
“We will see if the people will give the vote to the coup mongers who have provoked so much destruc- tion in recent weeks,” Orte- ga said. “There will be time for elections.” The president also blamed those who oppose him for the killings
since the onset of protests in April. However human rights groups say most of the dead are young pro- testers killed by police and often-armed civilian groups allied to Ortega’s Sandini- sta political movement. Government opponents at the mostly student-led pro- tests accuse Ortega of try- ing to install a dictatorship characterized by corrup- tion and nepotism along with first lady and Vice Pres- ident Rosario Murillo. Ortega appeared notice- ably thinner than he did in
his last public appearance, onMay30.Hespoketoa crowd of supporters and government workers at a “march for peace” in the capital, Managua.
The event was held in place of a traditional march in the city of Masaya that has been celebrated for 38 straight years to commem- orate Sandinista resistance to the former Somoza dic- tatorship. The march was called off this year because much of the city is in open rebellion against Ortega’s government.q
ple to store water because the government would be shutting down the water system as a precaution, and he warned them to
stay alert despite the storm weakening. “They should not let their guard down,” he said.
Meteorologist Marshall Al-
Nicaragua’s Ortega nixes early election as crisis solution