Breaking Tweets | World News, Twitter-Style

February 9, 2009

Bomb explodes In Madrid

Per BBC News, A van packed with explosive has detonated near a conference center in eastern Madrid. It happened early Monday morning after the Basque separatist group ETA phoned in a warning to the Spanish Red Cross. No casualties have been reported.

@el_pais Spanish newspaper El Pais is on twitter and tweeting breaking news from the bombing. The El Pais website also has photos and video of the aftermath.

@joduba (Geneva, Switzerland): Social Media is more effective than traditional one, just learned via Twiiter of a boom blast in Madrid! What a crazy world!!!!

@loogic (Spain): mal día para venir a Madrid tinyurl.com/crvw68 (Bad day to come to Madrid)

@gabriellaopaz (Terrassa, Spain): Van exploded at 9am in Madrid in the same area where FITUR was held. http://bit.ly/3jxQNK

@mistercaceres (Caseres, Spain): Ferrovial, objetivo de ETA: Ferrovial, empresa frente a cuya sede en Madrid la banda terrorista ETA ha hecho est... tinyurl.com/daxsvc (Ferrovial [Spanish national railways], ETA's target: Ferrovial's Madrid headquarters has been...)

@rrey (Salamanca, Spain): Menudo susto me ha pegado esta mañana un amigo que trabaja por la zona del atentado... ¡nunca despertéis a nadie con un sms de bomba! (A friend of mine works in the area where the bomb struck this morning. Never wake anyone up with an SMS bomb!)

@ionantolin (Madrid, Spain): Viendo las fotos del coche-bomba en Flickr. (Looking at the pictures of the car bomb on Flickr)

@vitoptah: Mi sobrino "el periodista" me ha llamado a mi móvi,l después de su clase, para contarme el atentado del coche bomba en Madrid (My nephew, the journalist, called me after class to tell me about the car bomb in Madrid)

A Day in Cairo

Ever wonder what life is like in another city? Here's a collection of interesting tweets from Cairo, Egypt, on Sun., Feb. 8, 2009:

@alaa: can hear the jazz band playing at the downstairs restaurant. in the morning I could hear the church choir. sundays are very musical here.

@embee: heading out to battle cairo traffic

@andrewheiss: Reading about Nasser, Khomeini, and Saddam--standard stuff, nothing too new or exciting

@diptychal: New AUC campus is amazing at night. There's fresh air!

@anmarmansur: Google employees are so noisy it's become impossible to work in an office on the same floor as theirs.

@bobilicious: Is back in mighty Cairo. 27 degrees at 10pm. Crazy traffic. Welcomed noisiness. Just feels like home. Scary thoughts.

February 8, 2009

Plane crash kills 24 in Brazil

Per the Voice of America, a plane crash in the Amazon basin this weekend has resulted in the death of 24 people, including seven children. Brazilian authorities are still trying to determine the cause.

Though the crash occurred Saturday, some in the region didn't know until Sunday, when the news dominated international wires.

@rodrigotape (Manaus, Brazil): Em que mundo eu estou? só agora fui saber da queda do avião no Am. http://is.gd/iQkd (In what world am I? only now I know of the fall of the plane. http://is.gd/iQkd)

@pedreco noticed that the crash didn't get the same attention on Twitter as the Hudson River crash.

@pedreco (Rio de Janeiro): Quer dizer: se cai avião no Hudson, tem um monte de gente pra twittar. Mas se cai no MANACAPURU, quedê? (I mean, if the plane falls Hudson, has a lot of people on Twitter. But if it falls in Manacapuru, then?)

One woman nearby the scene offered a prayer.

@tatyamaral (Manaus, Brazil): Mais 24..em acidente aéreo.:( Como diz um prece irlandesa: "(...)que Deus os guarde nas palmas de Suas mãos..." (24 crash in plane accident.:( From an Irish prayer: "(...) that the God save the palms of his hands ... ")

Australia fires rage on

Per The Courier-Mail, "The death toll in Australia's worst ever bushfires has risen to 108 and is likely to rise as Kevin Rudd calls the arsonists who lit the fires 'mass murderers.'" Entire towns have been wiped out and 750 homes lost, but Australia's prime minister said the full impact of the fires is yet to be seen.

A huge outreach effort is underway on Twitter, and it has been spreading quickly under #bushfires.

@ShayneT (Melbourne): RT @DrCris: Via (@774melbourne) Donations of money and blood for #bushfires needed at this stage. (Via local banks and red cross).

@TunaCrust (Glen Waverley): Australians rock. Check out http://tinyurl.com/aussiesrock Victorians asking/offering (mostly offering) for help re bushfire #bushfire

@sagart relayed personal accounts.

@sagart (Melbourne): A friend in hurstbridge who's husband is fighting St Andrew's fires says to prepare for #bushfires toll to sky rocket; days of fighting

@sagart (Melbourne): Another friend is now crying (with some relief) because rain has come to St Andrews where they live #bushfires

Some twitterers posted pictures, like @ben and @coliwilso.

@ben (Melbourne): I took a photo of the sky over #Melbourne after the #bushfire. Looks apocalyptic: http://is.gd/iNYm

@coliwilso has been posting a series of pictures from Kinglake, Victoria to his TwitPic account.

One twitterer lamented the death of longtime Australian journalist Brian Naylor.

@lukeii (Melbourne): #bushfires Brian's death makes it more personal, a man I grew up seeing on TV has had their life cut short But never forget all we have lost

A Day in Moscow

Every now and then, Breaking Tweets will highlight tweets from a specific city on a specific day. Those picked will tell a story of some sort, giving you a glimpse into life in that city.

First is Moscow, Russia. Here's some interesting Moscow tweets on Sat., Feb. 7, 2009:

@george68: Today, take a walk with my child, go to the sledge, painted and updated the theme for my tweeter.Well, saturday was successful :-), and your?

@sunset_heat: сегодня в институте 10-летний корейский мальчик упал в пролет между лестницами с высоты 5ого этажа, на кафель. крики до сих пор стоят в ушах ... (Today at the institute 10-year-old Korean boy fell into the passage between the staircases to the height of the 5th floor, on the tiles. screams are still standing in the ears ...)

@sunset_heat: на момент приезда скорой он был жив. (at the time of first arrival, he was still alive.)

@rfilippov:Прогуливаюсь как арестант вокруг катка, пока все развлекаются http://twitpic.com/1detg (Walking around as a prisoner roller, until all the fun http://twitpic.com/1detg)