Oil spill threatens Corsica

A 40 km long oil spill threatens the island of Corsica and in particular the Natural Reserve of Scandola, World Heritage (UNESCO). The source of the spill is unknown but probably originate in some oiler ship which decided to clean up its tanks, illegally, at the sea. 

It is estimated that only 10-20% of the sheen are hydrocarbons, what may somewhat limit the impact. Whatever the case if the NE winds continue the spill will hit Corsica in few days. 

Sources: News 24, Gara[es].

Greece: bus fare killing triggers protests

On August 13th a bus fare evader, Thanassis Kanaoutis, 19, was violently attacked by the inspector, who, with help of the driver, threw him out of the moving bus killing him.

As the young man's body laid on the ground and people protested angrily, the inspector went on threating other passengers and even demanded a woman arrested by police. 

On the 16th the funeral for Kanaoutis became a protest and the crowd marched to Athen's center erecting fire barricades (→ video).

Police then intervened, arresting ten. Police took over the rebellious neighborhood establishing a de-facto state of emergency. 

However on the 17th the protests resurfaced defying police threats. The subsequent popular assembly demanded the right to protest at the location of the murder and free access to public transport, which is after all public, right?

Daily gatherings at the location of the fascist murder have continued since then.

Source: Contra Info.

Quebec oil train catastrophe: five confirmed dead, "many" missing, town destroyed

Yesterday's oil train catastrophe in Lac-Megantin, Quebec, has left a whole town destroyed and burning, with an unknown but extremely high death toll.

Some news excerpts collected by Energy News:

NBC News, July 8, 2013: Fires were still burning more than 24 hours after a driverless train carrying petroleum products derailed and exploded in a Quebec town, setting off a massive blaze [...] Quebec provincial police Lt. Michel Brunet refused to say how high the death toll could eventually go, but said authorities have been told “many” people have been reported missing. [...] Burning crude spilled into the storm sewers and rose up through street manholes, setting buildings on fire, the head of the rail company that ran the train told Reuters. [...] Police officials said they believe at least 50 tanks caught fire [...] 

NPR, July 8, 2013: [...] According to the Montreal Gazette, “the city’s downtown core was almost completely destroyed by the blast. It housed a mix of commercial and residential units in historic buildings.”

Water powered car... since 1969

This may be one of the main Filipino contributions to Humankind ever. Daniel Dingel, a Filipino engineer, has been developing and improving water-powered cars since 1969. It is just unbelievable that the revolutionary vehicle, that right now consumes only one liter of salty water per hour, has not replaced fuel-powered cars altogether.

In fact it has found all kind of troubles and obstacles, although the prototypes are actually running through the streets and highways of Manila with just a few liters of water. What are we waiting for?

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Website: Watercar (Yahoo! groups).

Brazil: popular protests continue in Sao Paulo, Rio and other cities

The Brazilian social protests threaten the World Cup. Yesterday police attacked with rubber bullets and tear gas some 3000 demonstrators (right) who tried to reach the Maracaná stadium when an international match between the selections of Mexico and Italy was taking place. 

On Saturday similar incidents took place at a match between Brazil and Japan. Police charged brutally as well, resulting in 33 injured and some 20 people arrested. 

The public expenditure waste in the World Cup has become a contentious issue as the cost of life climbs up and public investment is diverted from social needs to the show.

Hundreds of thousands march in Sao Paulo

As mentioned before, some 20,000 people marched on Thursday evening through the streets of Sao Paulo, faced with the most brutal police repression. The trigger is the rise of 7% in bus tariffs, what is not trivial when transport may be 26% of any worker's expenditure and its quality is extremely low (obsolete and packed buses). Sao Paulo particularly has been developed as a business for corrupt transport companies. 

The demand of many protesters is now free public transport, as the woman at the right puts it: if you do not pay for education and hospital, why would you pay PUBLIC transport?

All public services in Brazil are low quality but it is particularly annoying when you have to pay lots for it. 

Yesterday there were more protests in the largest city of the Southern Hemisphere reaching the overwhelming figure of hundreds of thousands:

As of now, I have no reports on possible repression. However previous protests were almost literally massacred, with hundreds injured, including a journalist who will most likely lose his left eye. 

Solidarity protests also took place in Argentina, where protesters marched to the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires. 

Sources: Occupied Taksim, Webguerrillero[es] (link 1, link 2).