Hurricane Threatens Gulf of Mexico

Low-pressure air in the southeastern United States will move toward the Gulf of Mexico, and potentially 50 percent turned into a tropical storm within 48 hours. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center about the threat of bad weather in the area of the location of the worst oil spill in American history,According to weather forecasts, the low air pressure will cause the flow of warm water in the Gulf on Monday morning local time, and will be able to produce locally heavy rain and strong winds along the central Gulf Coast region.

Commander of the National Disaster Management Agency Thad Alen, who heads the government’s response in tackling the oil spill, said at the weekend, the activity of disposal wells that are designed to permanently block the oil wells will be finished after the giant energy company BP to end the period of testing and planning some time ago.Disposal wells by BP, the owner of the well which was leaked last week, also suspended because of bad weather.

Tony Hayward will leave BP at the upcoming October

Prepare “got away” with golden lifeboat when the ship was aground. Maybe that’s the right impression for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of oil company BP, Tony Hayward. When the company he led was a problem with leaking oil wells that pollute waters of the southern United States (USA), Hayward would leave it preached. He did not go empty-handed, but brought abundant coffers. If so leave the British company that Hayward will soon receive a pension amounting to 600 000 pounds sterling per year. Hayward reportedly will leave in October following the BP refinery oil spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. According to BP’s pension scheme, as quoted from the page of the BBC, Monday, July 26, 2010, BP employees who joined before April 2006 can receive a pension at any time at the age of 53 years. Hayward, who has worked with BP for 28 years, is entitled to receive the facility.

In addition to pensions, Hayward will also receive one-year salary plus benefits worth more than one million pounds sterling. Thus, the total retirement package to be received later Hayward approximately 11 million pounds sterling. British executives were also able to maintain its shareholding in BP. Those shares could be worth several million pounds sterling depending on the performance of BP shares on the stock.

Although the official announcement from BP will be made on this Tuesday, the news that the Hayward will retire in October will aggressively overseas media reported yesterday. His position will be replaced by a colleague, a U.S. citizen named Robert Dudley. While according to the news, Hayward will be promoted to non-executive positions at BP’s joint venture in Russia. Hayward is one of BP’s boss is reaping a lot of criticism. That followed a statement-related statement handling oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico are considered to offend the local community.

Seven Cuban political prisoners and members of their families arrived in Madrid on Tuesday

MADRID Seven Cuban political prisoners and members of their families arrived in Madrid on Tuesday, the first of a group of inmates the government in Havana has promised to release, an official said.The prisoners arrived on two flights that left Cuba’s capital Monday night, a Spanish Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Together with their families they numbered around 35, the official said.It was the start of a mass liberation of dissidents promised by Cuba – actions once seemed unthinkable.

Cuba says it will free a total of 52 inmates after Cuba’s Roman Catholic Church reached an agreement last week with the government to liberate those still imprisoned from a 2003 crackdown that jailed 75 activists.Spain, which took part in the negotiations, agreed to accept the first group.The Foreign Ministry official was speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry regulations.

He said six former inmates – Lester Gonzalez, Omar Ruiz, Antonio Villarreal, Julio Cesar Galvez, Jose Luis Garcia Paneque and Pablo Pacheco – were aboard an Air Europa flight that arrived at 12:49 p.m. (1049 GMT, 7:49 a.m. EDT) at Barajas airport.A seventh released prisoner, identified as Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, arrived on an Iberia flight about an hour later.

The seven were expected to come through arrivals together after the second plane landed. It was not immediately known how many of them would speak to the media.”They have come from jail to the plane. I feel a mix of joy and pain because to live in freedom one must leave the country,” said Blanca Reyes, representative in Madrid for the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White, who was at the airport.

One of the released, Omar Ruiz, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason, told The Associated Press on Monday he and six other former inmates were driven in a van to Havana’s Jose Marti International airport, where they were reunited with relatives in a special waiting room. All were then escorted to an Air Europa flight bound for Madrid.He said Cuban officials were watching them.”That’s why I won’t consider myself free until I arrive in Spain,” he said.

The government of Raul Castro has pledged to free 52 Cubans who international human rights group say were jailed for their political beliefs. That process is expected to take three or four months and is part of a landmark deal last week between Cuban authorities and the island’s Roman Catholic Church that was brokered by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.Spanish authorities have said that once the Cubans arrive, they will not be required to stay in Spain and will be free to head elsewhere.

The church says another 13 opposition activists and dissidents behind bars will go free soon. It was not known if subsequently released prisoners will be allowed to stay in Cuba or will be forced to go to another country. Both the U.S. and Chile have offered to grant them asylum, in addition to Spain.(AP)

Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.The Category 1 storm, which became the first June hurricane on the Atlantic side of the United States since 1995, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday.

The hurricane center’s advisory issued at 2 a.m. ET said Alex was moving erratically, but generally westward, at 5 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 255 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas ahead of the expected arrival of Alex, the White House said Tuesday night.A hurricane warning was issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours.

A tropical storm warning was in place along the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Port O’Connor.The storm continued to move away from the massive BP oil catastrophe near the Louisiana coast in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but it already was complicating cleanup efforts. The storm created 12-foot waves on Tuesday and oil skimming ships were sent back to shore, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The rough seas may force crews to replace and reorganize booms meant to deter the oil from reaching shore, reported CNN’s Ed Lavandera.Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said that even though Florida may dodge a bullet with this storm, the Atlantic hurricane season is just beginning.”In Florida, we’ve had a lot of hurricanes a number of years ago, but we handled them very well,” he told CNN’s Campbell Brown. “The difference and the distinction that we face now is that we have a Gulf of Mexico that’s full of oil. So our hope and our prayer is that we don’t have a mixture of hurricanes with oil that could potentially damage the beautiful beaches of Florida. But if we do, we’re prepared for it.”

Brownsville, Texas, Mayor Pat Ahumada said his city was expecting to distribute 60,000 sandbags and provide shelter for roughly 2,000 families. Utility crews were put on standby to handle outages. At the same time, 90 buses had been provided by the state government in case an evacuation is required.”I expect about 10 percent of residents to evacuate voluntarily, which already started yesterday,” Ahumada said. “I see a steady flow of people going out, but no bottlenecks — which is good.””We’re not taking it lightly,” he said. “We’re ready for a worst-case scenario.”

On Monday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster proclamation for 19 counties and ordered the pre-deployment of state resources. The governor’s declaration allows the state to initiate necessary preparedness efforts, such as pre-deploying resources to ensure local communities are ready to respond to disasters.The governor’s order puts up to 2,500 National Guard personnel, eight UH-60 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft on standby for rapid deployment as needed, Perry’s office said in a statement.(CNN)

to watch

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/hurricane.alex/?hpt=T1&fbid=d3drOUu-5r2

Gulf residents prepare for Alex

Tropical Storms Hit Central U.S., 10 Killed

Managua Tropical Storm Alex, the season’s first hurricane in the Atlantic, killing at least 10 people in Central America, local media reported on Monday. Hundreds of people were evacuated from lowland areas in El Salvador, when Alex storms into the Gulf of Mexico. Six people were killed and their bodies were found drifting in the River San Lucas, said an official with Nicaragua. In the western part of Guatemala, a landslide buried two farmers as they worked on a road improvement project, the Office of Emergency Response, Conred, reported.

U.S. National Disaster Management Center, Alex is still going strong storms on Tuesday local time Wednesday Hurricane season this year came not as usual. Pacific typhoon, Agatha, who appeared before the June 1 killing 156 people in Guatemala.Tropical storm Alex was somewhat weakened after the rain down in Belize, but continue to create gusts of wind and heavy rains, said the United States National Hurricane Center .

Nevertheless, the storm did not immediately threaten the activities of oil drilling in wells Macondo of BP Plc (British Petroleum), U.S. Coast Guard said. Alex, the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season in 2010, has a wind speed of nearly 65 km per hour and was at about 90 km west of Chetumal, Mexico.

The storm was expected to subside when entering Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula, said Miami-based hurricane center. Atlantic cyclone began to move on June 1 to 30 November and meteorological experts predict this year will be the most prone to hurricanes. (Xinhua-Oana)

Tropical storm Darby strengthened off Mexico's Pacific coast on Thursday

Tropical storm Darby strengthened off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Thursday and could become a hurricane but is not expected to threaten land before next week, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.Darby, the fourth named storm of the eastern Pacific season, had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and was 230 miles south of the Mexican beach town of Puerto Escondido. The strengthening storm was moving west at 12 mph.

Darby could become a hurricane later on Thursday and might turn north and head toward land early next week, the Miami-based hurricane center said.Pacific hurricanes can cause damage to tourist resorts in Mexico but pose no threat to the country’s oil industry, which is primarily located in the Gulf of Mexico.

Farther out in the Pacific, Celia remained a strong Category 2 hurricane but posed no threat to land.The first hurricane of the Pacific season, Celia was 735 miles south of Baja California and had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. Celia was forecast to continue moving west away from land.(Reuters)

Oil Refinery Explosion Victim Search Suspended

New Orleans, The savior of the U.S. coast to stop the search eleventh offshore refinery employees who are listed as missing, on Friday (23/04/2010)They were missing after an explosion at the refinery, offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico earlier this week.Supposedly Mary Landry, commander of the rescue beaches in the district are likely eleventh victim was near the blast site.”Conditions are very fragile new oil refineries. His position has been tilted, and going to drown,” she said.

Meanwhile, local authorities currently environmental pollution caused by oil that spilled from the refinery building structure which collapsed into the sea.”For a while, not feared. There is no oil leakage and environmental disasters of this incident,” said local official.

Crude oil prices on the New York Stock Exchange is now approaching U.S. $ 84/barrel

Crude oil prices on the New York Stock Exchange is now approaching U.S. $ 84/barrel, even in this time have the highest record in the last 17 months. Significant increase was thanks to the President of the United States (U.S.), Barack Obama, who announced the offshore oil drilling in new areas.

based on the transaction on Wednesday afternoon New York time (Thursday morning GMT), the price of light sweet crude for May rose contract U.S. $ 1.39 to U.S. $ 83.76 per barrel. This is the highest price since October 9, 2008 – which was recorded at U.S. $ 86.59 per barrel.

Among analysts caution that investors reacted positively after Obama announced the licensing of offshore oil drilling at a new location along the Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, and the northern coast of Alaska.

Policies that once lifted the ban on oil drilling along the U.S. coast, except in the Gulf of Mexico. The ban was valid for 20 years. According to Obama, the newly enacted policies that the U.S. is no longer dependent on foreign manufacturers in meeting energy needs.

Meanwhile, before the announcement from Obama, the U.S. Energy Department weekly report revealed crude oil inventories, which this time 2.9 million barrel rise. Similarly, gasoline stockpiles in the U.S., rose 300,000 barrels last week. Surveys of government is greater than expected by economists.