Dizzy Heights

Looking down from high places can be exciting experience, but can also cause a vertigo. Anyway, i`d love to visit some of these places, vertigo or no…

Obama re-elected as US president

 Obama wins

Barack Obama is projected to have won a second term as president. The Democrats are projected to have retained control of the Senate, while the Republicans are projected to have kept control of the House of Representatives.

President Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

With results in from most states, America's first black president has secured the 270 votes in the electoral college needed to win the race.
Mr Obama prevailed despite lingering dissatisfaction with the economy and a well-funded challenge by Mr Romney.
Mr Obama's margin of victory is not yet certain because two states have yet to report results.
Mr Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has called the president to concede the race.
With Florida still too close to call, Mr Obama has won 303 electoral votes to Mr Romney's 203.

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There will be many problems ahead in a second term, but for the president's supporters, this is a moment of joy and relief.”

Mark Mardell North America editor

In Boston, where his campaign was headquartered, Mr Romney congratulated the president in an emotional concession speech.

He said he and Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan had "left everything on the field" and had given their all in the campaign.
"This election is over, but our principles endure," he said. "I so wish that I had been able to fulfil your hopes to lead the country in a different direction."
The state of Alaska, where polls have yet to close, is expected to vote for the Republican.
Under the US constitution, each state is given a number of electoral votes in rough proportion to its population. The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes - by prevailing in the mostly winner-takes-all state contests - becomes president.
The popular vote, which is symbolically and politically important but not decisive in the race, remains too close to call.
On Tuesday, the president held the White House by assembling solid Democratic states and a number of important swing states such as Colorado, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin. His narrow victory in Ohio, a critical Mid-Western swing state, sealed the victory.

303

Obama

206

Romney

270 to win

Results in full

Billions spent

Mr Romney won North Carolina and Indiana, both of which Mr Obama won in 2008, as well as the solid Republican states.

But he was unable to win in Ohio or other states needed to breach the 270 threshold.
Also on Tuesday's ballot were 11 state governorships, a third of the seats in the 100-member US Senate and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
Republicans are projected to keep control of the House, while Democrats are tipped to remain in control in the Senate.
Mr Obama's re-election victory came despite lingering high employment - 7.9% on election day - and tepid economic growth.
But voters gave him credit for his 2009 rescue of the US car industry, among other policy accomplishments, and rewarded him for ordering the commando mission that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan last year.
He and Mr Romney, as well as their respective allies, have spent more than $2bn (£1.25bn) - largely on adverts in swing states.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk

Africa from the Air

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.[2] With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population.


The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent has 54 sovereign states, including Madagascar, various island groups, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a member state of the African Union whose statehood is disputed by Morocco.

 
Africa, particularly central eastern Africa, is widely regarded within the scientific community to be the origin of humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago – including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago.

Amazing Images by Ashok Kumar (Slideshow)

 

Taiwan Republic Of China ( Slideshow)

Taiwan republic of china-(catherine)

Awesome sand art collection (Slideshow)

Awesome sand art collection (catherine)

Amazing Tourist and Trucking place in China to visit - "Shanxi"

Shanxi province is a beautiful place in China. It looks fantastic and truly amazing on these photos. Shanxi Province got its name due to its location to the west of Taihang Mountain. Shanxi neighbored on Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia & Autonomous Region. It is located to the east of the Yellow River, and is also known as Hedong. Shanxi belonged to Jin State in Spring and Autumn Period, so it is abbreviated in Jin. Shanxi occupies an area of 156,000 square kilometers and has a population of over 32 million, including its minority ethnic population. Its capital is Taiyuan City.

Being at a high altitude, Shanxi Province has a cold and dry climate and has an annual rainfall of between 400-600 millimeters. The province is also frequently plagued by sandstorms, especially in the spring, so it is often useful to bring along both sunglasses and a hat when visiting. Generally speaking, the province’s climate is the best between May and October. Shanxi is one of the birth places of Chinese civilizations with a long history and traditional culture. As early as one hundred million years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese lived and propagated in this region. Legend tells us that the Yellow Emperor, founder of the Chinese nation, once lived in Shanxi for a certain period. Today, many Neolithic sites from that period can still be seen dotted across the vast expanse of the province.

Shaanxi is also abundant in natural beauty beyond its rich historical legacy. As one of the five best-known mountains in China, Mt. Huashan, 120 kilometers east of Xian, is famous for its breath-taking cliffs and awe-inspiring landscape. The Hukou Waterfall on Yellow River, the second biggest one in China, is very overbearing and magnificent. And Moutain Lishan and the nearby Huaqing Hot Springs are very attractive. Their beautiful legends will bring you into a moving love story between emperor Xuanzong and a beauty named Yang Yuhuan. Shaanxi is both a base area of Chinese new-democratic revolution and a place with unique folk customs. The loud resounding Shaanxi opera, the joyous clattering of gongs and drums, the exquisite cut – paper art and the peasants’ paintings full of a rich flavor of life attract more and more tourists’ attention from home and abroad.

Watch the Video of Shanxi China province