International Air Passenger Traffic Slows
Global air passenger traffic increased by 3.5 percent in July, down from 7.5 percent reported in the previous month, according to industry sources.
As reported by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the biggest increase occurred in Middle Eastern companies, where traffic rose 11.2 percent.
Similar trends appeared in Latin American companies (5.7 percent), Africa(5.2 percent), Europe (4.8 percent) and Asia-Pacific (0.9 percent).
Meanwhile, U.S. airline international passenger traffic declined by 2.1 percent compared with July 2011.
The highest annual increase appeared in domestic markets: China (nine percent), Brazil (8.5 percent) and Japan (4.2 percent).
The IATA also noted that cargo transfer in the month under review contracted by 3.2 percent compared with the last year’s balance.
Only in the Middle East were positive results shown, with a rise of 16 percent.
The Association represents the interests of some 240 commercial airlines, which operate about 84 percent of global air traffic.
Isaac Floods Southern U.S. Leaving Thousands Without Power
Thousands of residents were either evacuated or left trapped in Louisiana, in the southern United States, due to the onslaught of Cyclone Isaac, which was downgraded from hurricane to tropical storm, without losing much strength.
Throughout Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, 948,564 families awoke on Thursday without electricity service, after the storm toppled dozens of trees and prevented immediate tservice restoration.
As a tropical storm with winds of 73 kilometers per hour, Isaac moved north of the Mississippi River this morning, leaving more than 635 mm of standing water in the western part of New Orleans and surrounding areas.
In Washington Parish, Mississippi, police went door to door to alert neighbors that forecast flooding from the nearby river Bogue Chitto would reach levels exceeding three meters.
The passage of Isaac caused one death and more than 3,000 displaced persons in Louisiana, as well as property damage in Mississippi, Alabama and regions surrounding lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas.
President Barack Obama declared the southern territories hit by Isaac as major disaster areas, a temporary federal provision that results in a larger and faster delivery of aid to these departments.
In its tour of the Caribbean, the storm killed eight and displaced nearly 5,000 in Haiti. It struck the eastern end of Cuba, leaving fifty houses damaged and disrupting energy service, especially in the municipality of Baracoa, Guantanamo.
The U.S. Gulf Coast area had not been hit by major hurricanes since 2008 when Dolly, Ike and Gustav churned through the region.
Uzbekistan Bans Foreign Military Bases on its Territory
Uzbekistan’s parliament voted Thursday to ban foreign military bases on its territory.
The members of the Senate, parliament’s upper house, approved a foreign policy bill at a plenary meeting. The document, which declares that Uzbekistan will not take part in any military and political blocs, allows no deployment of foreign military bases or other facilities on its territory.
Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said at the meeting Uzbekistan reserved the right to leave any interstate structures if they became military-political blocs.
The document, which previously was adopted by the lower house, will become law after Uzbek President Islam Karimov signs it.
In June, Uzbekistan suspended its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an intergovernmental military alliance in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Via PL