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Colombia's transitional justice system returned to Congress

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Colombia's House of Representatives will try to repeat a vote on a transitional war crimes tribunal on Monday after a previous vote was nullified because hardly any congressmen had shown up for the historic vote.

The transitional justice system agreed in a peace deal between the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist guerrilla group FARC was initially approved by the Senate last week.

Colombia congress approves transitional war crimes courts

However, Santos subsequently returned the bill because too few House Representatives had taken part in a previous vote.

Not even half of the lower chamber showed up to vote on the transitional justice system that should seek justice for the 8 million victims caused by the conflict last Wednesday.

http://colombiareports.com/colombias-transitional-justice-system-returned-congress/

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Venezuelan Supreme Court closes Legislative gives all power to Maduro: world condemnation

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Venezuelan Supreme Court closes Legislative gives all power to Maduro: world condemnation

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The Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision late Wednesday to take control of the opposition-controlled legislature has set off a wave of outrage, with some hemispheric neighbors, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina, denouncing the measure as a threat to democracy.

The Organization of American States' secretary general, Luis Almagro, accused the government led by socialist Nicolas Maduro of attempting “a self-inflicted coup d'etat” against its parliament. He called for an emergency meeting of the organization's Permanent Council, just two days after presiding at an extraordinary meeting in Washington about Venezuela.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department condemned the court for its “decision to usurp the powers of the democratically elected National Assembly. … We consider it a serious setback for democracy.”

Peru pulled its ambassador Thursday in protest, and countries including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile also denounced Venezuela's high court.

In a wide-ranging ruling, the court criticized the National Assembly for what it called “disrespect and invalidity of its proceedings.” It said as long as that persisted, “this Constitutional Chamber will ensure that the parliamentary powers are exercised directly by this chamber or by the body it has in place to ensure the rule of law.”

“Maduro is now the National Assembly,'' assembly leader Julio Borges said. ”It's one thing to try to build a dictatorship and another to complete the circuit.“

The court decision followed Tuesday's rare meeting of the OAS, which brought diplomats to Washington to debate how to resolve the South American country's years-long political and humanitarian crisis.

Almagro — who detailed the country's problems in a 74-page report issued in mid-March — had recommended suspending Venezuela's membership in the group unless it quickly released political prisoners and scheduled long-delayed elections, but the United States urged giving the country another chance to cooperate on re-establishing democratic norms. The U.S. was one of 20 member states that committed to taking as-yet-uncertain steps in guiding Venezuela toward that goal.

A constitutional expert said Wednesday's ruling enables the government to suspend elections, detain deputies and withdraw Venezuela from the OAS.

”This is not an ordinary sentence,“ said Luis Salamanca, a political scientist at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. He told El Nacional newspaper that the ruling gives Maduro the power to ”practically handle everything without any respect for the rules set out in the charter.“

The National Mesa Bureau, an opposition group, condemned the court's decision as a flagrant violation of the constitution.

The bureau said in a statement that the government had resorted to  ”desperate measures.“ It said that through ”legal aberration, the Constitutional Chamber urges the president to review criminal and even military laws under the state of emergency,” allowing him to more directly attack the democratically elected National Assembly and its leaders.

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Bucaramanga wants to defend title of 'most creative of the world'

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Bucaramanga wants to defend title of 'most creative of the world'

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And to retain this award, promoted at the IWC Ideas World Cup Contest, brainstorming sessions will be compiled around global issues and regional issues (employment, R & D, climate change and energy sustainability, Social exclusion and poverty, and education) that will enable citizens to dream of better living conditions and demonstrate the importance of working for the development of our region.

The activity will take place within the framework of the Innovation Week 2017, to be held between April 17 and 21, under the coordination of the Network of Institutions for Education, Research and Development of the Colombian East, Unired.

The event aims to combine efforts between the academy, the productive sector, government, society and groups of change, through spaces of mentality and culture in processes of creativity, which strengthen the dynamics of collaboration in the Network.

The idea is to project and position Santander as a creative, competitive and highly innovative region.

This week of activities will be developed in different scenarios located in Bucaramanga and its Metropolitan Area.

http://www.vanguardia.com/area-metropolitana/bucaramanga/394363-bucaramanga-quiere-defender-titulo-de-la-mas-creativa-del-mund

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COLOMBIA ENDS SEARCH FOR FLOOD SURVIVORS; DEATH TOLL AT 314

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COLOMBIA ENDS SEARCH FOR FLOOD SURVIVORS; DEATH TOLL AT 314

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Colombian officials on Friday formally abandoned the search for survivors of floods that killed at least 314 people in the small southern city of Mocoa, though 106 people remain listed as missing.

Emergency workers will turn to excavating roads and buildings, distributing aid and trying to avoid the outbreak of epidemics in the town, where water and power services remained cut a week after the avalanche of debris-filled water poured down from the mountains.

“Without adverse conditions, a person can survive a long time, but with the quantity of mud and rocks in Mocoa, that is very difficult,” said Manuel Infante, who has been leading volunteer firefighters who arrived from Cali. “I’d say that the missing are dead,” he added.

Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said it “will take a generation” to completely restore the city. He said the missing could be in hospitals in other cities, lost without phone contact, or simply dead beneath the mud and rubble.

Carlos Ivan Marquez, director general of the national anti-disaster agency, said emergency workers will begin using heavy equipment

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-ends-search-flood-survivors-death-toll-314/

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Meet the man who trains the stars and is getting thousands fit through his innovative OUT/SET fitness

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Luke Worthington is the man who gets the stars fit.

He's worked with the likes of Mesut Ozil, David Haye, Surrey cricketer Stuart Meaker and 110m British hurdle sensation Liam Collins to list a few.

The former Harlequins rugby union player has pioneered an innovative fitness programme that extends beyond the world of professional sport and transcends to the general public.

What is it? OUT/SET is a comprehensive assessment that cuts to the core of fitness desires for athletes and 'Average Joe’s' alike.

It begins with a frank discussion about lifestyle and goals. Are you training to get fit or simply to look good on the beach?

A biometric scan then evaluates the key factors: body fat, visceral fat, lean muscle mass and hydration - all of which helping to qualify goals and detect any underlying healthy issues.

This is followed by a thorough movement analysis, conducted to assess areas of weakness. And then, the OUT/SET delivers exactly what you need to do to achieve success in the gym.

It all sounds rather complex - and that’s probably because it is.

But that’s because it is based completely on what professional sports stars have had access to. And that is why it is a game changer.

"If my goal is to do 10 pull-ups or my goal is to win the World Cup, it’s all the same - it’s a personal challenge,” explains the head of trainer education at London’s exclusive gym franchise, Third Space.

But the pursuit for success in the fitness game can easily be achieved by one thing, he explains: Honesty.

"Be patient but, crucially, be honest. That’s the big thing,” he says.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/trainer-to-stars-fitness-programme-10121456

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NEYMAR WAS SENT OFF FOR BARCELONA AS THEY LOST AT MALAGA AND FAILED IN THEIR BID TO GO LEVEL ON POINTS WITH LA LIGA LEADERS REAL MADRID.

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NEYMAR WAS SENT OFF FOR BARCELONA AS THEY LOST AT MALAGA AND FAILED IN THEIR BID TO GO LEVEL ON POINTS WITH LA LIGA LEADERS REAL MADRID.

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The current Spanish champions were given a boost after Real's 1-1 draw with city rivals Atletico earlier. However, a first-half strike from ex-Barcelona forward Sandro Ramirez and a late effort from Jony Rodriguez ended their hopes. Forward Neymar was sent off in the 65th minute after receiving a second yellow.

Relive the action as it happened

The Brazil international - with 15 goals for Barca this season in all competitions - had brought down Diego Llorente with a late challenge, and then sarcastically applauded as he made his way off the pitch.

The 25-year-old is set to be suspended for the next league game against Real Sociedad on 15 April. But he could receive a longer ban if his reaction to the red card is deemed as contempt of the officials, which would mean he would miss the potentially season-defining El Clasico at the Bernabeu on 23 April.

Barca barely troubled Malaga keeper Carlos Kameni, although the Cameroon international did make two good saves to block two firm efforts from Luis Suarez.

Malaga, who began the match in 15th spot, looked far more threatening, especially on the counter-attack. They took the lead in the 32nd minute when Sandro - who left for Malaga this summer - fired past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

In the second half they had a goal disallowed when Adalberto Penaranda was wrongly flagged offside before they finally scored their second. Pablo Fornals' square ball found Rodriguez, who slotted in from 10 yards out.

The defeat means Barcelona remain on 69 points, three behind Real who have a game in hand.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39480892

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Poverty in Colombia increases after steady 15-year drop

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While President Juan Manuel Santos praised a drop in Colombia’s GINI coefficient, the country’s statistics agency on Wednesday released statistics showing that poverty in 2016 went up for the first time since 2002.

According to statistics agency DANE, the country’s poverty rate went from 27.8% to 28%, the first time poverty rose since 2002. Extreme poverty increased even more, going from 7.9% in 2015 to 8.5% in 2016.

The renewed increase in poverty was mainly due to a relatively stark increase in urban poverty. Poverty on the countryside did drop from 40.3% to 38.6%.

Colombia’s poverty and inequality statistics | Fact sheet

Particularly the capital Bogota, a metropolis of 7 million people, saw a significant increase in poverty. The rate there went from 9.1% to 10.6%. Poverty in Medellin and Cali, respectively the country’s second and third largest cities, continued dropping.

Santos was clearly not alarmed by the increase in poverty, celebrating that “we have met our goal.” In a presentation and on Twitter, he stressed that 14 million Colombians were living in poverty when he took office in 2010 and that this had dropped to 5.1 million in 2016.

The country’s national GINI coefficient behaved almost opposite to the poverty rate and continued its drop from 52.2 in 2015 to 51.7 last year.

“The social gap is closing,” Santos celebrated on Twitter.

http://colombiareports.com/poverty-colombia-increases-first-time-steady-15-year-drop/

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Rescue teams scramble to find survivors after heavy rains in Putumayo province cause mud, rocks and gushing waters to engulf city of Mocoa

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Rescue teams scramble to find survivors after heavy rains in Putumayo province cause mud, rocks and gushing waters to engulf city of Mocoa

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Searching frantically for hundreds of missing people after the southern city of Mocoa was engulfed on Saturday by a huge landslide of mud, rocks and gushing waters that swept away homes and cars and killed more than 20 people.

The Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, arrived in Mocoa on Sunday to survey the crisis. Officials from the national disaster agency had counted 210 dead by Sunday morning, with 62 children among the victims. The government later revised the death toll up to 254.. A further 203 people were injured, many in a critical condition.

A spokesman for the local power utility said it could take two weeks to restore energy in the area. Without power, gas or telephone service and with little clean water, about 600 survivors spent Sunday in makeshift shelters, on high alert for any further rainfall that could trigger another mudslide.

Lists of children who could not find their parents circulated on social media to try to reunite families, while about 1,100 soldiers and police arrived to help the relief effort.

The disaster struck in the early hours of Saturday when the rushing waters of the Mocoa river and its tributaries converged on the capital of Putumayo province, catching many people by surprise as they slept.

As the waters rose, one woman identified as Laura Montoya called an emergency helpline from the roof of her house. “We are at risk of dying,” she said, according to an account from the president’s office. “The water has filled up half the house.”

One policeman, named as 24-year-old Deciderio Ospina, was killed as he responded to calls for help from residents whose homes were being flooded. Seeing the oncoming mudslide from his patrol truck, he leapt from the vehicle, according to a police report. His body was found 20km away, along with another 20 victims.

“We have a huge challenge to find the missing,” said the director of Colombia’s disaster agency, Carlos Iván Márquez, adding that 400 rescuers were scouring the riversides for victims and survivors while helicopters searched from the air.

One unidentified woman interviewed by government television said she had lost 11 family members in the mudslide, including her mother. Five of her loved ones had been identified in the morgue and the other six were still missing. “I feel like the world is going to end,” she said.

More than 1,000 emergency personnel, including soldiers and local police were deployed to help the rescue effort and to keep order. Some shops were looted overnight on Saturday by survivors searching for water.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/01/colombia-landslide-mocoa-putumayoheavy-rains

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Young people reject milk as food bloggers promote fad diets

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Almost half of young people claim they are intolerant or allergic to cow’s milk as bloggers promoting fad diets turn a generation away from dairy products.

Hugely popular food bloggers have promoted “clean eating”, a food ideology which holds that dairy products and gluten are bad for health.

Fewer than a quarter of the people who claimed to have a food intolerance said they had received a clinical diagnosis of their condition and of those who said they had a food allergy, fewer than half had seen a doctor about it.

The study suggests that the numbers claiming to have an adverse reaction to certain foods is rising. In 2014, 10 per cent of the population said they lived in a household in which someone other than themselves had a food allergy. Last year that had increased to 13 per cent.

The move away from dairy has decimated milk sales. Britons drank 6.1 million fewer pints last year than in 2014, wiping £240 million off milk sales, according to the retail analyst Nielsen.

Experts advise against giving up dairy unless the nutrients lost can be replaced by other foods. Sian Porter, a consultant dietician, said: “If you do not plan really carefully for substitutes for food groups then you can end up malnourishing yourself.”

The NHS warns that cutting out dairy products can result in calcium deficiency.

The agency report noted that women were still far more likely to do the cooking at home. It found that 67 per cent of women said they took most or all of the responsibility for preparing food compared with only 30 per cent of men.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/milk-is-turning-sour-as-food-bloggers-promote-fad-diets-608rv9s5v

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How alcohol may be affecting your health and fitness

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How alcohol may be affecting your health and fitness

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Recent headlines are to be believed, drinking a glass of red is equivalent to an hour in the gym.

So is it true? Well, yes and no. “The message that you should drink for health reasons is off the wall,” says Joe Barry, professor of population health medicine at Trinity College Dublin and a board member of Alcohol Action Ireland. “Alcohol does not need to form part of a balanced diet. Drinking in moderation is fine, he says.

The Healthy Ireland survey 2015 says “drinking to excess on a regular basis is commonplace throughout the population”. Four out of 10 drinkers in Ireland drink to harmful levels on a monthly basis, with over a fifth doing so weekly, it adds.

Over time, this can cause anything from weight gain to increased risk of heart problems, cancer and other diseases. A World Health Organization report from 2014 links drinking to an increased risk of developing more than 200 health conditions including breast cancer. It can damage your eyes, your brain and your muscles

Fitness levels

Alcohol impairs the absorption of nutrients needed for energy such as the B vitamins and zinc. So you feel tired, have less energy and endurance. It’s a sedative, so your reaction times are slower.

Alcohol use can affect protein synthesis, reducing muscle build-up and cancelling out the benefits of a workout. Water loss caused by drinking also means the loss of important minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium and zinc. These are vital to the body’s fluid balance.

Askaboutalcohol.ie, a new website part-funded by the HSE, shines a light on all of this, including the myriad ways alcohol can interfere with your health. It also has a drinks calculator and advice.

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/fitness/how-alcohol-may-be-affecting-your-health-and-fitness-1.3017290

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Colombia lost almost 20% of its glaciers in past 6 years: survey

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Rising temperatures due to global climate change have reduced Colombia’s glaciers with almost 20% over the past six years, according to the country’s meteorological institute.

Of the 45 square kilometers of tropical glaciers registered in the country in 2010, only 37 were left in the last survey, IDEAM glaciologist Jorge Luis Ceballos told newspaper El Espectador.

The latest survey confirmed previous estimates that Colombia will be without any icy peaks on its Andes mountains within approximately 25 years.

Melting glaciers threaten Colombia’s water supply

Considering that the disappearing of the country’s tropical glaciers is irreversible, Ceballos urged the importance of studies like his on the effects of global climate change on glaciers while they still exist.

“It is like when they tell you you will die in six months, so in this time you study, learn new things, leave a registry. That’s why we consider this our generation’s obligation to reconstruct the history of what happened,” the glaciologist told El Tiempo.

Ceballos and colleagues from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru have spent the past two years surveying the Andes’ glaciers that currently has 99% of the world’s tropical glaciers. The remaining 1% is in eastern Africa.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-lost-almost-20-glaciers-past-6-years-survey/

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Colombia reports 13% increase in foreign tourism

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Colombia received more than 2.5 million foreign visitors in 2016, a 13% increase compared to the year before, according to the country’s Trade Ministry.

Visitors from the United States topped the list of visiting foreign nationals. The country brought nearly half a million visitors to the South American country.

Almost 400,000 Europeans, 350,000 Venezuelans and 180,000 Brazilians visited Colombia last year.

The majority of visitors, 58.5%, was male. However, as the country’s tourism offer slowly but surely diversifies, female foreign visitors grew as much as 16.6%.

This diversification was also regionally evident. Until last year, Bogota received more than half of the visitors. The capital city’s share as tourist recipient dropped to 46.8%.

The big winner was the Caribbean Bolivar province, home of tourist hotspot Cartagena, which saw its share rise to 14.2% of visits.

Antioquia, the province around Medellin, received 13.2% of the foreigners.

The vast majority of visitors came to Colombia for vacation. Corporate tourism dropped 1.1% while visitors coming to Colombia for medical procedures boomed with 37.6% more visitors than in 2015.

While tourism boomed, employment in the tourism sector did the opposite, it dropped 1.5 percentage point from 3.6% of all employment to a meager 2.2%.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-reports-13-increase-foreign-tourism/

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TRUMP STRESSES ALLIANCE WITH SEOUL, NK NUKES DURING SUMMIT WITH XI: HWANG'S OFFICE

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TRUMP STRESSES ALLIANCE WITH SEOUL, NK NUKES DURING SUMMIT WITH XI: HWANG'S OFFICE

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US President Donald Trump stressed the importance of the Seoul-Washington alliance and held in-depth talks over North Korea's nuclear problems during his summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the office of South Korea's acting leader said Saturday.

Trump made the remarks during his 20-minute phone conversation with Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn which started at around 7:20 a.m. after his first summit with Xi. "(Trump told Hwang) that there were in-depth discussions about North Korea's serious nuke problems and how to respond to them (during the summit)," according to Hwang's office. "(The US president said that) he delivered Washington's stance to China over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea," it said.

The phone talks came after Trump and Xi agreed Friday to work together closely to convince North Korea to curb its nuclear program in their summit talks. There is speculation that North Korea may carry out another nuclear test or launch a long-range rocket around its key anniversaries in April including the birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung on April 15.

Trump said he sufficiently emphasized to Xi the importance of South Korea and the Seoul-Washington alliance, the office said. "(The US President said that) during the summit, considerable time was spent in discussing issues of the Korean Peninsula," it said.
In response, Hwang stressed that South Korea and the US should further strengthen close coordination against North Korea's possible provocations. "I believe (the latest summit) seemed to be an occasion to reaffirm the strong alliance between Seoul and Washington," the acting president said.Trump showed support for South Korea's policy toward North Korea, vowing close cooperation to resolve North Korea's nuclear standoff.

The summit also came amid China's strong opposition to Seoul and Washington's ongoing deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on South Korean soil. China showed an explicit objection to the THAAD installation, saying that the move undermines China's security interests. The Seoul government viewed the latest phone talks as evidence supporting that high-level communication channels between the allies are smoothly working even in the midst of a leadership vacuum left by the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.

Trump discussed North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over phone on Wednesday. But there were no phone talks with Hwang, sparking concerns that Seoul may be left out of discussions in response to Pyongyang's nuke and missile issues.

Hwang and Trump also agreed to have more follow-up discussions and maintain strong coordination by using US Vice President Mike Pence's planned trip to Seoul later this month and other talks of high-level officials between the two countries, according to the office.

Meanwhile, the US and China agreed on efforts to resolve North Korea's nuclear issue, but they did not go so far as to issue a joint statement in an indication that there was no major breakthrough over the matter. "China has a red line which means that its employment of sanctions against North Korea should not be stringent enough to lead to North Korea's collapse," said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. "Washington seems to have failed to break China's threshold this time."

Major political parties in Seoul welcomed that the two leaders met and affirmed their shared concern over the North's nuclear threat but still expressed disappointment with their apparent failure in making marked progress in coming up with a solution.  "The Trump administration's first summit with China held for two days in the US ended with little progress on how to resolve the North's nuclear problem," Park Kwang-on, a spokesman for the Democratic Party's leading presidential contender Moon Jae-in, said in a comment.

"It is still noteworthy in that the leaders of the two countries shared the understanding of the seriousness of the North's nuclear issue," he added. "We expect the two will make serious efforts going forward in finding a solution to the problem."

Kim Kyung-jin, a spokesman for the centrist People's Party, also echoed the opinion, saying that it is "disappointing" in that they failed to produce any solution other than to share the concern that the North's nuclear issue is a "serious" matter. (Yonhap)

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170408000050

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Colombia's IDEAM issues "red alert" for floods after unseasonable heavy rains

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Colombia's meteorological agency IDEAM has issued its highest alert for flooding after heavy rainfall and persistent storms are affecting large areas of the country. Even though the wet winter, known as  invierno, usually hits hardest in April, most of Colombia has been bearing the brunt of very wet weather, especially the Andean interior.

The agency decided to raise its warning to a "red alert" after the pre-season rainfall has been heavier than expected, and a preventive measure for towns located along the flood plains of the Cauca and Magdalena rivers.

According to IDEAM, 28% of the country is at risk of flooding if the heavy rains of the El Niño weather phenomenon impact Colombia after causing widespread destruction across neighboring Peru.While Peru tries to come to terms with the worst flooding in decades and that has resulted in tens of thousands homeless and 70 killed, the Colombian government is putting emergency measures into place in the eventuality that El Niño, in the upcoming weeks, drops more than its expected rainfall.

The departments most at risk are Valle, Atlántico, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Antioquia, Córdoba, Cesar, Cauca and Meta. Three major cities - Bogotá, Cali and Barranquilla - have also been included in the red alert given their proximity to rivers that in the past are prone to breaking their banks, causing flooding to nearby towns. The IDEAM predicts April could be one of the wettest on record, potentially damping holiday plans for millions traveling during Holy Week.

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Cyclone Debbie: Deadly storm batters Australia

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Cyclone Debbie: Deadly storm batters Australia

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A powerful cyclone has pummelled the north-east Australian coast, causing major damage, torrential rain and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes.

Cyclone Debbie made landfall between Bowen and Airlie Beach in Queensland as a category four storm, whipping gusts of up to 263km/h (163mph).

It is moving inland as a category two storm but could cause damage for hours yet.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was aware of one death so far.

Activating a disaster response plan, he stressed the picture could develop when emergency crews were able to assess the damage.

"Conditions have deteriorated rapidly," he told parliament. "Take care and stay safe. Be prepared to shelter in place until Wednesday."

In pictures: Debbie makes landfall

Battered cockatoo and other tales of the storm

Defence force helicopters and naval vessels would be sent to Queensland with aid, he added.

He said the Australian government would be urging insurance companies to be "compassionate" and supportive of people who have claims to make following the cyclone.

'Battering ram effect'

The extent of Cyclone Debbie's devastation, which has a 50km-diameter eye wall, may not be known for some time, the authorities said.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the storm's slow speed had created a "battering ram effect", adding: "We are going to get lots of reports of damage, and sadly I think we will also receive reports of injuries, if not death."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said assessing damage was difficult because communities had been cut off from power and phone reception.

"Everyone is going to be in shock tomorrow, just to see the full impact of this cyclone," she said. "I'm bracing myself for it."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39409693