May 5, 2009

Featured TwitPics: Heavy rains drench Brazil

Heavy rains have been falling across Brazil today, and Twitterers have been reporting power outages, flooding and other issues as a result. They're also posting TwitPics. Here are a few:


Posted by @rafamonteiro


Posted by @caroleller


Posted by @robertocamarajr


Posted by @lawira

TwitPics compiled by Paula Goes.

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Feud between Italy PM Berlusconi and his wife continues

Per The Independent, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has demanded a public apology from his wife, Veronica Lario, a day after she told the Italian press that she would file for divorce from the flamboyant 72-year-old.

Telling his side to the Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's prominent newspapers, Silvio explained that there was no harm in hiring women who happened to be of statuesque beauty for his cabinet and that political enemies influenced Veronica to file for divorce just weeks before European elections, per The Independent.

Reaction to the news from Italy is streaming in today via tweets:

  1. Affaritaliani
    affaritaliani (Milano, Italy) Berlusconi a Porta a Porta: "Veronia ammetta l'errore. Ho rispetto per le donne" (Berlusconi a Porta a Porta: "Verona admit the error. I have respect for women")
  2. Andrej Mrevlje
    andrejmrevlje (Italy) Is Berlusconi married to Veronica Lario or to 75% of Italians. Sorry but this so far comes only in Italian. http://tinyurl.com/
  3. massimiliano
    maxcontri (Rome, Italy) si chiede dove siano i 3 italiani su 4 che amano berlusconi... (wonders where the 3 Italians out of 4 who love berlusconi ...) from twhirl
  4. Karen-Louise
    VecchiaCasa (Umbria, Italy) The Vatican has now joined in the fight between Berlusconi & his soon to be ex-wife Veronica, imagine having to tell the PM how to behave!!!
  5. xantar
    xantar76 (Padova, Italy) #Berlusconi: "Tutte calunnie della sinistra e non รจ vero che frequento minorenni" (#Berlusconi: "All of the left and slander is not true that minors attend")

Others in the Twitterverse are also buzzing about this political power couple.

  1. DivorceNews
    DivorceNews (U.S.A.) ITALY: Who will take custody of Silvio Berlusconi and Veronica Lario’s 3 kids? http://ow.ly/4VAZ
  2. John Bell
    NewsBell (Connecticut) >Wife of Italian Prime Minister and media baron/billionaire, Silvio Berlusconi just said she wants a divorce because of his wandering eye
  3. Jerome
    RichJava (Undisclosed) Italian Prime Minister is a pervert! Cavorting with young women & asking his wife to apologize to him (via @bevysmith) Ever Visited Italy?
  4. Zito and Karen Blake
    zitokarenblake (Boston, Mass.) 72 year Italian Prime Minister in war of words with 52 year old wife over 18 year birthday girl. Yeesh!
  5. JTD
    TRUEdatBlog (New York, N.Y.) Blogging 'Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Hot Water with his Wife, Veronica Lario' http://tinyurl.com/dlezve
  6. Greg Weitzman
    GWeitz (New York, N.Y.) the Italian Prime Minister makes 17 year old girls call him "papi"? That lucky bastardo Berlusconi


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Pakistani government asks Swat citizens to flee region

Per The Times of India, Pakistani officials asked Swat residents to evacuate Mingora, the main city in the Swat Valley which is now controlled by the Taliban. This request for evacuation comes one day after Pakistani government and the Taliban declared their peace deal " stands dissolved," according to the article.

Armed Taliban fighters are patrolling the area, clashing with Pakistani security forces and over 500,000 refugees are expected to flee the region, according to AP reports.

Tweets on this occurrence reflect rage, confusion and attempts to clarify the situation to others.

  1. sadya
    maverika (Karachi, Pakistan) @Refugees do u have any official numbers on the displaced people of the Swat & Dir region in Pakistan?
  2. PriyaRaju
    PriyaRaju (Chennai, India) Taliban bastards are taking over Swat. Remember Mullah Omar, CIA & ISI? Yeah, the madcap that you helped in the past.
  3. Imran Anwar
    imrananwar (Lahore, Pakistan) @Chicagoeba There is a difference between Taliban insurgency in some region and Taliban "invading" Pakistan


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Tweets for a Cause reaches the world through Twitter

Philanthropy support network Tweets for a Cause (@tweetsforacause) generated worldwide reaction after posting a single tweet this morning, with more than 300 retweets of its message (some removed the user name) and 5,000 link clicks.

On the first Tuesday of every month, Tweets for a Cause plans to send out one tweet in an effort to mobilize the Twitter community and get word out about an important cause. This first tweet raised awareness about breast cancer and benefited the Susan G. Komen Atlanta Chapter. Each time a different charity will be benefited.

Here's the first tweet and some follow-up tweets from @tweetsforacause:

  1. Tweets For A Cause
    tweetsforacause 8 Signs Your Mom, Wife, Sister May Have Breast Cancer: http://bit.ly/wUSED ~ PLZ READ & RT!
  2. Tweets For A Cause
    tweetsforacause Over 2,900 link clicks in the first 20 minutes. Great job! Let's keep tweeting throughout the day!
  3. Tweets For A Cause
    tweetsforacause WOW! Twitter driving thousands of visits/hr to "8 signs of breast cancer page" http://bit.ly/wUSED via @KenRobbins

Here's some early reaction to the project from across the Twitterverse:

  1. GoodwillNG
    GoodwillNG (North Georgia) @tweetsforacause Thanks for hte follow. Looking forward to connecting with you. Applauding your concept.
  2. Birgit Hoff
    EmmaPeel_ (Cologne, Germany) Wanna be a Tweetheart? RT @tweetforacause Would you tweet once per month to help your community? Here's how: http://bit.ly/VeQ (plz retweet)
  3. Detroit Diaper Bank
    DADiaperBank (Southeast Michigan) @alittlegnocchi @helpamotherout Tweets for a Cause - http://tinyurl.com/crq9lo Kind of cool eh? - Very cool! How does a cause get featured?
  4. Bill Stevens
    DailyTwiTips (Midwest U.S.A.) Great cause and also a good stress test for the twitter servers - http://www.tweetsforacause.org/instruction.html
  5. Siobhan Bulfin
    SiobhanBulfin (Wellington, New Zealand) recommend following @tweetsforacause for breast cancer awareness and other causes in need of public awareness and fund raising.


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Georgia claims attempted coup at military base

Per Reuters, the defense ministry of Georgia accused Russia of a planned coup shortly after soldiers at a military base rebelled near Tbilisi.

CNN reports that the rebellion involved about 500 troops and it was quickly brought under control, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili. There was not “direct evidence” to suggest outside involvement, according to CNN.

A journalist in London provided the first tweet on the incident, which was soon followed by a Twitterer in Tbilisi posting a blog entry in Georgian:

  1. samgadjones
    samgadjones (London, U.K.) #Georgia Defense Min: Military Coup Under Way - Reuters ... no sign of Twitter revolution yet, a la Moldova...
  2. Mirian Toronjadze
    BigCrow (Tbilisi, Georgia) Military armed revolt in #Georgia #tbilisi : http://bigcrow.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/military/

Initial reaction soon came in from around the world in the form of tweets, including additional context from CNN News Editor Saeed Ahmed:

  1. Saeed Ahmed
    CNNSaeed (Atlanta, Ga.) #Georgia attempted mutiny quashed. Goal was to disrupt NATO exercises beginning tomorrow
  2. florian avdic
    floco (Germany) weiterer pr-coup? RT @Gudat: RT @reutersfeeds: #reuters #news Georgia says uncovers Russian-planned military coup http://tinyurl.com/ddg2j
  3. den.
    lepetitvagabond (Singapore) Breaking news from Georgia? Must be some Ruskie plot.
  4. ้™ˆ้œ‡
    Chen_Zhen (Jiangsu, China) Georgia has uncovered an attempted military coup.this [expletive] will never occur here in china where army serve party


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Top U.S. officials predict recession to end in 2009

Per The Daily Telegraph, two top U.S. officials believe the recession will be over by the end of the year. The thoughts were supported by recent housing and construction data, which suggests the worst may be over as the S&P 500 stock moved into the positives' territory.

Jeffrey Lacker, Richmond Federal Reserve President, believes that the stimulus injected into the economy, combined with the resilience of U.S. customers, will stimulate growth by year's end. Thomas Hoenig, Kansas City Federal Reserve President, predicts it will take most of 2009 to get out of the recession before a slow and steady recovery in 2010.

Twitterers in the United States and elsewhere expressed their views on the topic:

  1. angelinafoster
    angelinafoster (San Jose, Calif.) Recession is coming to an end??? I hope so...http://tinyurl.com/yo7q8m/c/a/2009/05/04/BUR217EBU3.DTL&feed=rss.business
  2. vajira ekanayake
    vajja (Colombo, Sri Lanka) So, recession is going to end in 2009 itself !!! , hope these Fed guys know what they r talking !!!
  3. PeterSantilli
    PeterSantilli (Southern California) @kylesellers If you think the USA is going to "pull out of this recession" during your lifetime, you must be an optimistic meth dealer
  4. randysvh
    randysvh (Seattle, Wash.) Change your buying habits to support the USA economy. Otherwise save your money as you are going to need it later, when the recession grows
  5. americanwoman35
    americanwoman35 (Miami, Fla.) Small American businesses need your help! Buy American, Vacation in the USA, help us fight this recession!
  6. Kate Mullen
    BellMullen (Dubai, U.A.E.) Sitting in the office, waiting for my day to really start - I hate the recession


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