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Great Fire of Valparaíso
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The Great Fire of Valparaíso (Spanish: Gran Incendio de Valparaíso)[1][2] started on 12 April 2014 at 16:40 local time (19:40 UTC), in the hills of the city of Valparaíso, Chile. [4] The wildfire destroyed at least 2,500 homes, leaving 11,000 people homeless. An additional 6,000 people were evacuated from the city, which was placed on red alert and declared a disaster zone. [5][6][7][8] Fifteen people were confirmed killed and ten suffered serious injuries. An investigation by the Chilean police is taking place to determine the origin of the Valparaíso wildfire. The police believes that it may have originated south of the Camino La Pólvora area, and southwest of Parque del Puerto cemetery. ONEMI officials have reported "there is no doubt the fire was started by the intervention of third parties". It is also thought that contact by birds on an electrical transmission cable may have generated the initial spark for the wildfire,[9] but an investigation by electricity provider company Chilquinta stated that the incineration of black vultures or any other birds was unlikely to have started the fire. [10]
The wildfire started on the afternoon of 12 April at 16:40 local time (19:40 UTC) in the Camino La Pólvora area near the El Molle dump in the commune of Valparaíso. As an initial measure, the Regional Government of Valparaíso (Intendencia de Valparaíso), along with the ONEMI (Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior) and the CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal), declared red alert in the commune. [11] The fire, however, grew uncontrolled, and affected several houses. Subsequently, the Chilean government declared Valparaíso a disaster zone, which was later expanded to a state of constitutional exception, which allowed the Chilean Army to take control of the city, with the purpose of guarding the people's safety and maintaining public order. Several areas of the city were evacuated. [12]
During the wildfire, there were at least six general power outages in the city, which occurred between 18:00 and 01:00 local time, making it more difficult to extinguish the fire. This also made it easier for thieves to loot abandoned and damaged homes as a result of the evacuation. The fire is now regarded as the most catastrophic in the city's history. President Michelle Bachelet confirmed that "it may be the worst fire in the history of Valparaíso" and did not rule out that the number of victims and the damage estimate could increase as the ruins are inspected to determine the number of destroyed houses. She also sent "a message of support to all those hundreds of families who lost their homes, their things, and in some cases, their loved ones". [8] It was reported that many Valparaíso residents were suffering from smoke inhalation. [13] the impoverished neighbourhoods of Mariposa and La Cruz hills were the most affected areas. [14]
ONEMI reported that at least 850 hectares of vegetation (grassland, scrub and eucalyptus) were destroyed, and that twelve helicopters and three air tankers were struggling against the fire outbreaks that were still active in some hills. In total, according to the state organization, around 3,500 people from the CONAF, firefighters, police (carabineros de Chile), the army, health services and the ONEMI itself are working to combat and control the wildfire. The ONEMI has also sent trucks with mattresses, blankets, water, masks, tents and food rations for the victims of the wildfire, hosted in three schools and a Catholic church. [8]
The fire at Camino La Pólvora was worsened by another fire at Fundo Las Cenizas, which forced the authorities to request interregional support of firefighters. With strong winds and difficult access, the process of extinguishing the fire has proven challenging. [15]
The Chilean Red Cross chapter started the "Todos con Valparaíso y su gente" (Everyone with Valparaíso and its people) campaign, to help victims of the wildfire. [16] Other NGOs and institutions have also collaborated in relief efforts. [17] Esval (the local water supply company) announced an outage of supply on 13 April at Achupallas, Reñaca Alto, Santa Julia, Villa Dulce Ampliación, Curauma, and Placilla de Peñuelas. [17]
The wildfire re-activated in areas of Cerro Ramaditas, Rocuant, and Cuesta Colorada on 13 April, between 20:45 and 21:15 local time; the outbreaks of fire left 100 additional destroyed houses. [18] Two fire engines collided as they were reaching the area, leaving two injured firefighters. [19]
On 14 April (two days after the wildfire started), about twenty-one aircraft worked on the fire extinguishment. [20] Local firefighters reported an outbreak of fire at Ramaditas and Mariposa hills; while the ONEMI reported on 14 April afternoon there was an active fire in Fundo Los Perales. The office also announced three (out of thirteen) people killed by the wildfire were identified. The government announced the grant of 500 million Chilean pesos (approx. one million US dollars) to the commune of Valparaíso, because of the emergency. [21]
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Fire
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Crusader mass grave in Lebanon sheds light on cruelty of medieval warfare
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Tourists walk at the sea castle of the port-city of Sidon, southern Lebanon October 3, 2011. A mass grave uncovered in Sidon, Lebanon, has shed new light on the Crusades and on the cruelty of medieval warfare, a new study in the academic journal PLOS ONE has shown. Archaeologists unearthed a large quantity of human bones in the moat of the Saint Louis Castle in South Lebanon. The area was first conquered by the Crusaders after the First Crusade in 1110. Some 150 years later, the Christian city was attacked and largely destroyed by the Mamluks in 1253 and then destroyed even more by the Mongols in 1260. Pursuing the idea of liberating the holy sites from Muslim rule and encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, European powers and sometimes peoples initiated several military campaigns in the Middle East during those centuries, which led to the establishment of a number of Christian states in the area of modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria, and for a certain period managed to place Jerusalem under Christian rule , following massacres against Jews, both in Europe and in the Middle East. While widely chronicled in historical documents, very few archaeological remains have been found documenting the battles. The courtyard of the Crusader-period Knights’ Fortress in Acre’s Old City, with the Ottoman buildings and British prison above. (credit: LIAT COLLINS) For this reason, the discovery of the mass grave offered unprecedented insights into warfare in medieval times, based on analysis of the type of wounds that were detected on the remains of approximately 25 individuals. “All the bodies were of teenage or adult males, indicating that they were combatants who fought in the battle when Sidon was attacked,” UK Bournemouth University archaeologist Dr Richard Mikulski, one of the excavators, and a lead author of the study, said. “When we found so many weapon injuries on the bones as we excavated them, I knew we had made a special discovery.” Separating the bones of each warrior required significant effort. “To distinguish so many mixed up bodies and body parts took a huge amount of work, but we were finally able to separate them out and look at the pattern of wounds they had sustained,” said Dr Martin Smith, a co-author of the paper. The scholars detected a high number of unhealed blade wounds, as well as wounds caused by other weapons capable of applying blunt force. In some cases, the wounds on the back of the skeletons suggested that the soldiers were struck down as they were trying to flee, while in other cases, based on a high concentration of blade injuries on the necks, experts believe the men were executed by decapitation. In addition, archaeologists discovered that the bodies must have been left unburied and exposed to the elements for a period. “The way the body parts were positioned suggests they had been left to decompose on the surface before being dropped into a pit some time later,” Smith said. “Charring on some bones suggests they used fire to burn some of the bodies.” This specific find has allowed scholars to present an evocative hypothesis. “Crusader records tell us that King Louis IX of France was on crusade in the Holy Land at the time of the attack on Sidon in 1253,” Dr. Piers Mitchell, from Cambridge University, and a Crusader expert who participated in the research, said. “He went to the city after the battle and personally helped to bury the rotting corpses in mass graves such as these. Wouldn’t it be amazing if King Louis himself had helped to bury these bodies?” “So many thousands of people died on all sides during the crusades, but it is incredibly rare for archaeologists to find the soldiers killed in these famous battles,” he stressed. “The wounds that covered their bodies allow us to start to understand the horrific reality of medieval warfare.”
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New archeological discoveries
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StubHub giving refunds for canceled events
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MADISON (WKOW) -- If you missed out on a canceled event during the pandemic and bought a ticket through StubHub, you could get your money back. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and Wisconsin Department of Justice announced a settlement reached with StubHub, Inc. regarding the company’s refusal to pay refunds to Wisconsin consumers for events that were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under its “FanProtect Guarantee,” StubHub offered consumers full refunds of the purchase price and fees they paid for tickets if their events were canceled. In March 2020, following the mass-cancellation of entertainment events, StubHub stopped honoring its refund guarantee and instead told its customers that they would receive account credits equal to 120% of their purchases to be used for future events and denied their requests for refunds. Customers who purchased tickets before the March 25, 2020 policy change and had their events canceled can receive full refunds of the amounts they paid for their tickets, or they can elect to retain their account credits. More than 8,663 Wisconsin event-goers who purchased tickets on StubHub’s marketplace under terms that included the FanProtect Guarantee are impacted. Consumers who have not been contacted by StubHub and believe they are entitled to a refund should contact StubHub at (866) 788-2482 or DATCP’s Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 422-7128. Wisconsin is joined by nine other states and the District of Columbia in a multistate resolution with the company.
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Organization Closed
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Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure fined $3.6m for Thunder River Rapids Ride deaths
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A Victorian man who flew from Brisbane to Hobart on flight VA702 today has tested positive to COVID-19 and has not been allowed to board a flight to Melbourne
A Watch & Act warning is in place for a fire in the northern parts of Mokine, in WA's Northam Shire. Keep up to date with ABC Emergency
Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure has been fined $3.6 million over the deaths of four people on the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016.
Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty to three breaches of workplace health and safety laws.
The maximum penalty for each breach is $1.5 million — $4.5 million in total.
Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi died when their raft collided with an empty raft and flipped in October 2016.
Earlier on Monday, the Southport Magistrates Court heard emotional victims impact statements from the family of victims, including a teenager who saw her mother and two uncles killed on the Dreamworld ride four years ago.
Ebony Turner was 12 when she witnessed the deadly accident on the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016.
The teenager has been accompanied by Kim Dorsett, who is her grandmother and the mother of ride victims Kate Goodchild and Luke Dorsett.
Luke Dorsett's partner Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low also died when their raft collided with an empty raft and flipped.
Kim Dorsett gave a victim impact statement at the theme park's sentencing at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday morning.
She recounted the moment when she saw her granddaughter Ebony at the police station after being told about the tragedy.
"Ebony had survived the accident and was hysterical trying to tell of the events that had taken place that afternoon," Ms Dorsett told the court.
"'I couldn't find Mummy.
"These words have become a recurring nightmare, words that will be with me until I too take my last breath."
Ms Dorsett stopped several times to reach for tissues during her emotional address, which she had travelled from Canberra with Ebony to deliver in person.
She described her daily struggles with PTSD, loss of memory and organisational skills, and a life now lived in a "lonely village of grief".
A number of the victims' family members have been watching proceedings via video link, including Ms Low's brother, Michael Cook, and her husband, Matthew Low.
Queensland's independent Work Health and Safety Prosecutor, Aaron Guilfoyle, has charged Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure with three counts of Failure to Comply with Health and Safety Duty, Category 2, under the Queensland Health and Safety Act.
The maximum penalty for each breach is $1.5 million — equating to $4.5 million in total.
In July, Ardent Leisure appeared briefly in the Southport Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to all three charges.
A coronial inquest into the four deaths made findings of a series of failures at the park, including safety and maintenance systems that the coroner described as "rudimentary at best" and "frighteningly unsophisticated".
Work Health and Safety prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle recommended Magistrate Pamela Dowse heavily penalise Ardent Leisure, and that a conviction be recorded.
"The failures of the defendant were not momentary," Mr Guilfoyle said.
"The failures did not occur solely on the day of the incident, they were failures well before then, which led ultimately to what transpired.
"This is a rare case in which a penalty close to the available maximum is appropriate."
Late on Monday afternoon, Ebony Turner's grandfather Shayne Goodchild released a statement saying his main concern was compensation for his granddaughter. "We don’t want a garden, we want Ebony compensated," he said.
"Ardent does not accept responsibility for Ebony. "They never have and still won't.
"[Ardent CEO] John Osborne's words mean nothing," Mr Goodchild said.
"Ardent's actions speak for themselves.
"They still do not accept liability for Ebony's compensation."
Ardent Leisure's legal representative, Bruce Hodgkinson SC told the court the company did not dispute the facts presented by Mr Guilfoyle, opening his submissions with an apology.
"Ardent apologises for the terrible tragedy which occurred," Mr Hodgkinson told the court.
"Ardent apologises unreservedly to the family and friends of Roozi Araghi, Luke Dorsett, Kate Goodchild and Cindy Low for the past failures of Dreamworld as identified by this prosecution.
"Ardent expresses its deepest sympathies to the immediate and extended families for their enormous loss and ongoing suffering.
"Ardent also apologises to all those who have been so deeply impacted by this tragedy: first responders, bystanders, Queensland police and ambulance services, Dreamworld staff and many other people involved who have been affected," Mr Hodgkinson told the court.
He said since the tragedy, Ardent Leisure had been working with cross-industry experts to bring Dreamworld's safety and systems up to world standards.
He said this included comprehensive engineering reviews, situational emergency training on a planned and ad-hoc basis for staff, and the development of new safety regulations for theme parks with the Queensland Government.
"In addition to working with the regulator, Dreamworld has consulted extensively with industry and broad experience, both in the theme park industry and in the aviation, mining and oil and gas industries," Mr Hodgkinson said.
"They are industries that have had a lot of scrutiny, both internal and external, in the relation to development of safety mechanisms.
"Those have been drawn upon to ensure that the park, on an ongoing basis, has been made safe and has been brought up to world safety standards."
In a statement issued after the fine, Ardent Leisure chairman Gary Weiss and CEO John Osborne said they accepted the court's decision to impose "the largest fine in Queensland history for a workplace tragedy".
"Ardent accepts responsibility for this tragedy without qualification or reservation," their statement said.
"The majority of families, first responders and others impacted by the tragedy have received compensation.
"The Ardent board has, and continues to, press for the expeditious resolution of the remaining claims noting that, in the case of compensation for minors, the court's approval is required before compensation can be finalised. "The construction of the Memorial Garden announced in February was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this project will recommence in the next few months following consultation with immediate family members."
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Gov. Whitmer creates new food security council
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LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed executive order and created the Food Security Council within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The Food Security Council is tasked with identifying the origins and solutions for food insecurity in Michigan. Gov. Whitmer will work alongside them to ensure all Michiganders have food stability. “No one should have to worry about how they are going to put food on the table the next day,” said Gov. Whitmer. “Food insecurity is a very real and prevalent issue for many Michiganders, and COVID-19 has only made the problem worse. That is why, today, I am creating the Food Security Council to bring together leaders from both sides of the aisle to find solutions on behalf of Michigan families. I am committed to making sure every family and person has access to the quality, nutritious food they need.” Food insecurity has always affected people-namely families. However, the economic stressors of COVID-19 has made food insecurity an even bigger problem. More and more Michiganders have found themselves dependent on assistance programs and emergency food resources in their communities to meet their daily needs. “COVID-19 has magnified the effects and challenges of food insecurity and increased the number of Michigan residents who struggle with the toxic stress of being food insecure. This is a non-partisan challenge, and while multi-layered, it is solvable for the second most diverse agricultural state in the U.S.,” said Phil Knight, chair of the Food Security Council. “Creating food security is the first step towards self-sufficiency, and while it starts in the field, it is sustained in the workplace. Our hungry neighbors are worthy of our investment in them as we seek to fulfill the directives given to the council. I am honored to work with this incredibly smart and insightful group of leaders who will bring wisdom, perspective, and passion to the work of creating a food secure state. I am thankful for Governor Whitmer’s leadership that enables her to see better, beyond, and before in the creation of this council to address food insecurity across Michigan.” Previously, Gov. Whitmer extended benefits for additional food assistance for approximately 350,000 families. Nearly 1.5 million people in Michigan receive federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through the state’s Food Assistance Program. The Council consists of 16 members. They are the followin Amy Baker, of Pentwater, is the quality management director at Peterson Farms. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Labor Relations from Michigan State University. Patrice Brown, of Detroit, is a food access manager for Eastern Market. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Alex Canepa, of Ann Arbor, is the state policy manager for the Fair Food Network. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Trinity College of Dublin and a Master of Arts in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology from the University of Oxford. Kimberly Schriever Edsenga, of Grand Rapids, is the senior counsel for Meijer, Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan. Juan A. Escareño, Jr., of Detroit, is the director of government and community relations for the Midwest Independent Retailers Association. He previously served as executive vice president and recording secretary for the UFCW Local 876. Phillip B. Knight, Ph.D., of Fenton, is the executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan and the radio host of “Food for Thought” on WJR 760 AM. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Wesley College, a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Liberty University, and a Ph.D. from Trinity University. The Governor has designated Dr. Knight to serve as Chair of the Council. Diana E. Marin, of Ann Arbor, is the supervising attorney for farmworkers and immigrant workers rights at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University. Dawn S. Medley, of Lathrup Village, is the associate vice president of enrollment management and the chief enrollment officer at Wayne State University. She holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Missouri, a Master of Science in Administration from Southeast Missouri State University, and an Education Specialist in Higher Education Leadership from Linwood University. Kenneth P. Nobis, of Saint Johns, is the co-owner and operator of Nobis Dairy Farms, a senior advisor and former president of the Michigan Milk Producers Association, and a current member of the Michigan Dairy Marketing Program Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Biology from Western Michigan University. Delicia J. Pruitt, M.D., of Bay City, is the medical director of the Saginaw County Health Department. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Medicine from the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Todd J. Regis, of Flat Rock, is the vice president and director of legislative and community affairs for UFCW Local 951 and the director of their foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Western Michigan University. Tammy A. Rosa, of Gladstone, is a nutrition program quality assurance specialist and caregiver programs manager for the Upper Peninsula Area Agency on Aging. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Administrative Dietetics and Nutrition from Central Michigan University. Michelle M. Schulte, of Suttons Bay, is a program director for the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Teaching from Ferris State University and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Lake Superior State University. Laurie Solotorow, of Birmingham, is the director of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles Program. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University. Wade Syers, of Muskegon, is a food safety educator for Michigan State University Extension. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Grand Valley State University and a Master of Science in Food Safety from Michigan State University. Pam Yager, of Okemos, is the social mission manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan. The Council will also consist of four non-voting members of the Michigan Legislature: Senator Kevin Daley nominated by the Senate Majority Leader Senator Winnie Brinks nominated by the Senate Minority Leader Representative Pauline Wendzel nominated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Representative Angela Witwer nominated by the House Minority Leader. The Council will will have to conduct several studies and analyze their findings. They will have to issue a final report within 18 months.
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Organization Established
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Inside Piers Morgan's 'horrendous' divorce from nurse first wife after email scandal
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Piers Morgan spent two decades trailblazing his way through the tabloid media, rising from a showbiz journalist to editor of the News of the World before he'd reached 40.
From exposing tales of sexual deviancy in the ruling classes to securing explosive celebrity exclusives, the freshly departed Good Morning Britain host was notorious for his bulldozer approach.
And by his side through it all was Piers' first wife, nurse Marion Shalloe, whom he married in 1991 aged 26.
Their first-born son Spencer, 27, was born in 1993, just one year before Rupert Murdoch made Piers the News of the World's youngest ever editor at 29.
In a 1994 interview with the Telegraph, he revealed they'd 'recently separated' but insisted it had nothing to do with the pressure of the job or a third party.
And he had nothing but nice things to say about the mother of his child.
"She's a ward sister in a hospital. She helps save people's lives, and like all nurses, she'll hate me saying that," he said.
The couple reunited and their son Stanley, 23, arrived in June 1997 .
But when Marion was pregnant with their third child, son Albert, 19, in 2000, the marriage is said to have disintegrated following an exchange of emails between Piers and The Sun's showbiz columnist Marina Hyde, 46, who was sacked by editor David Yelland as a result.
And after Yelland claimed to have three boxes of 'explosive' emails that could 'destroy' his rival, Piers hit back, claiming Marina's sacking showed 'chronic insecurity'.
He told the Press Gazette: "They delighted in embarrassing me and in being quite destructive to a friend, and to my personal life.
"I think of Yelland sitting there with his operatives, salivating over them [the e-mails] and it makes me quite sick."
Rumours of romance between the newly-single star and Ms Hyde immediately swirled but Piers has always refused to comment on claims, telling The Times in 2010: “I’m not going into it.”
Meanwhile, Marion moved on with News of the World showbiz editor, Rav Singh. “Who is, by the way, a very nice guy I get on well with," Piers said.
Then in 2006 Piers fell almost instantly in love with The Daily Telegraph gossip columnist Celia Walden, daughter of former Tory MP George Walden, after interviewing her for GQ magazine.
Clearly smitten, he hailed her 'ridiculously beautiful', compared her to French actress Brigitte Bardot and declared that, "like Bardot, she has brought a lot of basic pleasure to a lot of basic, lusty men."
He gushed: "She inspires equal doses of admiration, lust and fear... and is, as I write, single. When God created woman, he blessed Hollywood with Bardot, and Fleet Street with Walden."
With his divorce yet to be finalised, he initially played coy about plans to make things official with Celia.
Then in 2008 his split from Marion was finally signed off, closing a chapter that Piers described as 'deeply unpleasant'.
"I've only recently got divorced. There has to be a decent period before these things are done. The divorce was a pretty horrendous experience," he told the Daily Mail in 2009.
"The day Marion and I got divorced, I said, 'You know what? We can both go away feeling awful about this, but let's never mention it again'."
Having gone on to tie the knot with Celia in 2010 before welcoming daughter Elise in 2011, Piers has no regrets about how his first marriage panned out and remains on excellent terms with Marion, who he recently revealed supported his GMB exit.
"I don't regret it because these things happen, but I'm pleased that we've stayed good friends, because it's important for your kids," he said.
"I produced three fantastic children with my ex-wife.
"The best advice I ever got was to speak to them every day - that's when you need your ex to be very accommodating. I've spoken to my kids, with just a handful of exceptions, every day in the last nine years."
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Famous Person - Divorce
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The 20 biggest celebrity divorces that defined the decade
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It’s been a whirlwind decade for high-profile celebrity divorces, with Hollywood’s elite golden couples breaking the hearts of millions upon going their separate ways. In some cases, these celebrities’ dissolving marriages created buzz (and protracted court battles) that lasted longer than their unions and served up plenty of fodder for gossip blogs and mags. They also generated their own pop-culture lexicon, with terms such as “conscious uncoupling,” TomKat and Bennifer entering and exiting the vernacular — and the all-too-familiar “irreconcilable differences” popping up in nearly every divorce petition. Although far from all-inclusive, our list includes the major celebrity divorces that defined the decade and kept news outlets’ entertainment ink flowing. It’s organized by the date the erstwhile couple announced their split, separation or intention to divorce. Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson (2010) Before he became Deadpool and she embodied Black Widow, this super pair was married for just over two years. They announced their split in 2010 after rumors they’d grown apart. Their joint statement even bore some of Reynolds’ signature wit: “While privacy isn’t expected, it’s certainly appreciated.” How they’ve moved on: They both remarried with kids, and Johansson divorced again (baby daddy Romain Dauriac in 2014). Reynolds married actress Blake Lively , with whom he costarred in 2011’s “Green Lantern,” and they have three daughters . Johansson is engaged to “Saturday Night Live’s” Colin Jost. Jesse James and Sandra Bullock (2010) Coming off her triumphant Oscar win, Bullock learned that her reality-star husband of five years had cheated on her with multiple women. She stayed essentially admirably silent during the scandal and filed for a Don’t Mess With Texas-style divorce that was finalized in only 60 days . How they’ve moved on: James got engaged to tattoo artist Kat Von D, but they called off the wedding , and he’s since married his fourth wife ; Bullock has adopted a son and a daughter , was nominated for a second Oscar and is in a relationship with photographer Bryan Randall . Advertisement Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore (2011) On the weekend of their sixth anniversary, Moore premiered a new movie in New York and Kutcher, her 1-years-younger husband, cheated on her in San Diego. Moore announced the next month that they were divorcing. The split was finalized in late 2013, with him paying her a bit more than was legally required. How they’ve moved on: Kutcher married his “That ’ 70s Show” costar Mila Kunis in 2015 and now has two kids. In September, Moore, who released a buzzed-about memoir this year, told WSJ Magazine, “I’m focusing on my relationship with myself.” 5 Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez (2011) The Latin-pop power couple married in 2004 and reportedly clashed over personal and professional issues before announcing their split in 2011 . However, they’ve remained amicable in the public eye as they co-parent twins Max and Emme. How they’ve moved on: Their divorce wasn’t finalized until 2014 , which gave both stars ample time to begin other significant relationships. Anthony married model Shannon de Lima in 2014 and divorced her in 2017. The “Hustlers” star dated former backup dancer Casper Smart on and off and is now engaged to baseball legend Alex Rodriguez. Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian (2011) Kardashian’s marriage to NBA player Humphries, her second partnership, came and went in 2011, lasting only 2 days . Humphries accused Kardashian of fraud and wanted an annulment but ultimately agreed to a divorce. Finalized in 2013, the split took eight times as long as the union. How they’ve moved on: Well before her divorce was final, Kardashian announced she was pregnant with Kanye West’s child. They married in 2014 and have four kids. Humphries auctioned off Kardashian’s engagement ring in 2013 and announced his retirement from the NBA this year. 7 Russell Brand and Katy Perry (2011) Advertisement Perry and Brand hit it off in September 2009 while rehearsing for the MTV Video Music Awards. They started dating and he popped the question that New Year’s Eve during a trip to India. A traditional Hindu wedding, also in India , came in October 2010, followed relatively swiftly by the couple’s reported realization that they had different priorities in life. So yeah, they clashed, and she was out on her California Dreams tour for almost all of 2011. Two years to the day after getting engaged, Brand texted Perry to say he was filing for divorce . How they’ve moved on: Brand declined to take any of the $44 million Perry had earned during their marriage, despite being entitled to half. In 2017, Brand married Laura Gallacher, whom he had dated on and off since 2007, and they have two daughters. Perry dated John Mayer and Diplo before meeting Orlando Bloom in 2016. They got engaged in February and said they would marry in December. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise (2012) Cruise and Holmes got engaged after dating for a whirlwind seven weeks in 2005, then welcomed daughter Suri and had a Scientologist wedding ceremony in Italy the next year. Five and a half years later, Holmes surprised him by filing for divorce . The couple, who had a prenup, had a signed settlement 11 days later . How they’ve moved on: Holmes, who has returned to the Catholic Church, has primary custody of Suri and was romantically linked to Jamie Foxx on and off for six years; since his third divorce, Cruise has released eight movies, with a “Top Gun” sequel set for 2020 . Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner (2013) After more than two decades of marriage, the “momager” and the 1976 Olympic gold medalist known as Bruce Jenner announced in late 2013 that they had been living apart for a year. Their union was over. The next year the terms of their split were set , and in early 2015 they were officially unmarried. How they moved on: Caitlyn Jenner announced her transition in April 2015, did two seasons of the docuseries “I Am Cait” and stayed part of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” into 2017. Kris Jenner has been dating Corey Gamble , 25 years her junior, since meeting him at a 2014 party in Ibiza, Spain. Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom (2013) Advertisement The two dated for a month and were married for four years, then Kardashian filed to end her marriage to Odom after the former NBA star’s struggles with drugs and women got to be too much. But two years later, after he almost died at a Nevada brothel and was looking at a long rehabilitation, they retracted the divorce papers , which had been stuck awaiting a judge’s signature . The divorce was eventually finalized at the end of 2016. How they moved on: Kardashian had a daughter with basketball player Tristan Thompson in 2018 then broke up with him this year amid a cheating scandal involving half-sister Kylie Jenner’s former best friend. Odom, who had had a couple of relapses after his 2016 trip to rehab, got engaged in November to health and life coach Sabrina Parr after three months of dating. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (2014) (Colin Young-Wolff / Invision / Associated Press) Paltrow and Martin’s split introduced the widely panned term “ conscious uncoupling ” to millions. The Oscar winner and Coldplay frontman announced their unorthodox split after more than 10 years of marriage on Paltrow’s website Goop in a very Goopy way: “We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.” How they’ve moved on: The two remain publicly amicable, even sibling-like , as they co-parent daughter Apple and son Moses. He’s since dated a bevy of stars, including actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Dakota Johnson, and she married “Glee” and “The Politician” showrunner Brad Falchuk in 2018. Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey (2014) They of the repeated, over-the-top vow-renewal spectaculars went their separate ways in 2014. The Grammy-winning songstress and the former “America’s Got Talent” host wed in the Bahamas on April 30, 2008, weeks after they started dating. Exactly three years later, they welcomed “dem babies” — twins Moroccan and Monroe. How they’ve moved on: The Queen of Christmas is busy setting all kinds of Guinness World Records . She was also briefly engaged to billionaire James Packer. He seemingly hasn’t moved on too much, publicly professing his love for his ex-fiancee this year by saying that he’d only ever remarry his “dream girl” Carey. Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (2015) The picture-perfect “Daredevil” costars announced their split nearly 10 years after tying the knot. The actors, who are parents to daughters Violet and Seraphina and son Sam, had been separated long before a nanny scandal erupted and questions about Affleck’s sobriety surfaced. Garner has continued to help the “Justice League” actor through a few stints in rehab . They’ve remained amicable even when she infamously shaded him in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview, saying, “When his sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it’s cold. He can cast quite a shadow.” Advertisement How they’ve moved on: Garner keeps endearing the at-home cooks with her “Pretend Cooking Show” on Instagram and has been linked to businessman John Miller since 2018. Affleck has dated “Saturday Night Live” producer Lindsay Shookus on and off. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert (2015) It was the abrupt and unexpected divorce that shook the country-music community to its boots — and a Twitter-verse that had grown accustomed to the longtime couple, married for four years, playfully shutting down tabloid rumors about their relationship online. Many questioned if love was even real after this split and pointed fingers at a bevy of unsubstantiated cheating rumors. How they’ve moved on: Mama’s (and papa’s) broken heart didn’t last all that long. Shelton quickly began dating his “The Voice” costar Gwen Stefani, who was also going through a high-profile split, and is still dating her. Lambert secretly married NYPD Officer Brendan McLoughlin in early 2019. Michelle Rounds and Rosie O’Donnell (2015) O’Donnell began dating executive-search consultant Rounds in mid-2011, and that December the talk-show host announced to her studio audience that they were engaged. The couple married in New York the following June , right before Rounds got surgery to remove gastrointestinal tumors, but separated in November 2014. O’Donnell filed for divorce, and it was settled by October 2015. After a court battle , the comic had full custody of the child they’d adopted together. How they’ve moved on: In late 2019, after a one-year engagement, O’Donnell split from Elizabeth Rooney, the Army veteran 23 years her junior whom she’d been quietly dating since 2017. Rounds married Krista Monteleone in late 20 and had a child with her, then died by suicide in September 2017. 16 Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani (2015) (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) Not long after Shelton and Lambert called it quits, this ’90s music power couple announced their breakup after nearly 13 years of marriage. The No Doubt frontwoman and the Bush rocker came to the mutual decision that although they would “no longer be partners in marriage, we remain partners in parenthood and are committed to jointly raising our three sons in a happy and healthy environment.” How they’ve moved on: Stefani was quickly linked to her “The Voice” costar Shelton , who has stepped into the pseudo-stepdad role quite nicely. The two also released a few duets together, including “Nobody but You” earlier this month. Rossdale has been linked to model Natalie Golba. Advertisement Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (2016) (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Just as Pitt and Jolie’s A-list pairing began with a bang on the set of 2005’s “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” the union abruptly dissolved in the same manner. The longtime couple got engaged in 2012 and wed at their French chateau in 2014 — at the behest of their six children. But the union devolved , was dissected along with Jolie’s 2015 directorial effort “By the Sea” (that costarred the couple) and was capped by allegations of abuse in 2016. The decision to divorce was made “for the health of the family,” they said. How they’ve moved on: They really haven’t. Not completely anyway. When she filed for divorce in 2016, Jolie requested full physical and joint legal custody of their brood, which Pitt objected to. The mega celebrities have yet to finalize the complicated split despite saying they would do so privately. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (2016) (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) Depp and Heard were married for only 15 months when she filed for divorce in May 2016. Days later she got a temporary restraining order, alleging he’d physically abused her . The TRO expired and the couple reached an agreement in August , with Heard announcing she would donate her $7-million divorce settlement to two charities. Then she got upset when Depp sent it directly to the charities himself. Their divorce was official in January 2017. How they’ve moved on: Heard has dated several people since the split, including Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX founder. Depp, 55, was reportedly dating Polina Glen, a 24-year-old Russian dancer he met last year, but she dumped him in November. He has also sued his ex-wife for defamation, seeking $50 million in damages. Anna Faris and Chris Pratt (17) (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) This one hurt all the goofballs and fans of “Take Me Home Tonight” out there. The “Mom” star and “Parks and Recreation” alum announced their separation in August 2017 after about eight years of marriage and settled their divorce in late 2018. They share a son, Jack. How they’ve moved on: Faris was linked to cinematographer Michael Barrett shortly after announcing her split and has repeatedly shared her reluctance to remarry . Pratt has continued his ascent into superstardom, headlining major franchises such as “Jurassic World,” “The Lego Movie” and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. He officially joined the Kennedy dynasty last summer when he married Katherine Schwarzenegger, the daughter of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 20 Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux (2018) (Kevin Winter / Getty Images) Advertisement After 15 months of dating and a three-year engagement , Aniston and Theroux got hitched in August 2015 at a birthday party for him that turned out to be a surprise wedding . The marriage didn’t last as long as the engagement, but they said they were still “best friends” when they announced their split in December 2018. How they’ve moved on: They’ve remained good friends. The East Coast guy and the West Coast girl follow each other on Instagram. He was at her “Friendsgiving” party the day before Thanksgiving this year. And their individual dating lives, if they exist, haven’t been made public. It’s all good. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth (2019) Cyrus and Hemsworth started dating in 2008 when they costarred in the Nicholas Sparks movie “The Last Song,” then dated off and on until they got married in December 2018 , just a month after the Malibu wildfire destroyed their home. The next August they split , announcing that they “still remain dedicated parents to all of their animals they share.” How they’ve moved on: Hemsworth has moved back to the Australian town where older brother Chris lives and has been spotted with several women. Cyrus had a fling with Kaitlynn Carter , Brody Jenner’s ex-wife, and is now coupled with singer Cody Simpson, another Aussie.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Protests regarding the Russo-Georgian War
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During the Russo-Georgian War, demonstrations were held all over the world to protest the Russian invasion of Georgia. Manifestations were also held in support of Russia and the separatists of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Pro-Georgian demonstrations received the largest turnout in the Baltic States, where thousands marched in protest, whereas large pro-Russia camps were observed in Russia and Serbia. On 1 September 2008, tens of thousands formed a human chain in Tbilisi and also in other towns of Georgia to protest the Russian military presence in the country. Georgian officials said it was the biggest protest in the ex-Soviet republic's history. [17][18]
About 500 pro-Georgian demonstrators marched in Athens in early September 2008. [17]
On 14 August 2008, people gathered at the UN headquarters and the Russian Consulate in New York City to protest against the presence of Russian forces in Georgia. [44]
Similar protests were made by people in support of Georgia in other US cities, including Chicago,[45][46] Seattle,[47] and Los Angeles. [48]
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Stars Who Wore Vera Wang Wedding Gowns
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Vera Wang worked overtime for Kim Kardashian 's second wedding, to Kris Humphries, in 2011. She created three gowns: a strapless ballgown with a full skirt for the ceremony ( see it here ), plus a mermaid gown with organza petals at the train for the first dance and a bias-cut satin gown for the party ( sketches here ). Kim and Humphries parted ways later that year. Wang also created the strapless gown and coordinating bridesmaid dresses for Khloé's wedding to Lamar Odom in 2009. (See it here .) The couple divorced in 2016.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Germany reports most infectious diseases drop big during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Scientists from Robert Koch Institute report a significant decrease in case notifications for almost all notifiable diseases during the first months of COVID-19 pandemic and its associated non-pharmaceutical interventions in 2020 in Germany. These findings are based on a thorough analysis of different surveillance data: surveillance of nationally notifiable infectious diseases as well as the national virological sentinel surveillance system. Both studies have been published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe: One study, based on national disease notification data, is the first to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated non-pharmaceutical interventions on the full spectrum of infectious diseases under national surveillance. COVID-19 dominated infectious disease surveillance: more than half of the total reported cases were COVID-19. In parallel, a large decrease of -35% in case numbers for nearly all infectious diseases was recorded, especially among younger and older age groups. Case numbers were compared to previous years, taking seasonality and trends over time into account. The largest decrease was observed for cases of infections transmitted via the respiratory route, especially for measles (-86%), whooping cough (-64%), Haemophilus influenzae infection (-61%), seasonal influenza (-54%) and chickenpox (-52%), and imported vector-borne diseases dengue fever (-75%), and malaria (-73%). By contrast, cases of tick-borne encephalitis (endemic in some parts of Germany), increased by +58% compared to the expected case number. Gastro-intestinal infections also decreased to a large extent, especially cases of rotavirus disease (-83%), shigellosis (-83%), and norovirus disease (-79%). Less affected were bacterial healthcare associated pathogens, such as MRSA (-28%), reduced by about one third, and cases of sexually transmitted and blood-borne diseases (-28% for hepatitis B, -28% for hepatitis C, -22% for HIV, and -12% for syphilis). The other study, based on the national virological surveillance system, complements these findings with comprehensive laboratory analyses: The nationwide network of sentinel physicians contributing to the “Working group on influenza” (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Influenza) performing a surveillance of acute respiratory infections, sent over 3,000 patient samples to the National Influenza Center at the Robert Koch-Institute. Lab testing for multiple respiratory viruses revealed an unprecedented decline of seasonal influenza (A/B), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV A/B), metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus (types 1-4) and rhinovirus. This decline was sustained over months, with a single exception: Rhinovirus resurged to levels equaling and even exceeding those of previous years. This rebound could be due to lower levels of population immunity to this virus, its better environmental resistance and its high prevalence in young children. The reason for this changing dynamic is multifactorial, including a change in healthcare utilization, and reduced transmission due to the non-pharmaceutical interventions and reduction in mobility. These findings are reassuring in terms of effectivity of the measures to prevent infectious disease transmission, which reduces the burden of disease in the population, as well as the burden on the healthcare system.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Harmelen train disaster
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The Harmelen train disaster, on 8 January 1962, was the worst railway accident in the history of the Netherlands. Harmelen, in the central Netherlands, is the location of a railway junction where a branch to Amsterdam leaves the Rotterdam to Utrecht line. It is common at high-speed junctions to avoid the use of diamond crossings wherever possible – instead a ladder crossing is employed where trains destined for the branch line cross over to the track normally employed for trains travelling in the opposite direction for a short distance before taking the branch line. The accident happened 18 months after the Woerden train accident, the derailment of a British furlough train nearby. Previously the Weesp train disaster of 1918 had been the worst railway disaster in the Netherlands. Shortly before 9.20 a.m. on Monday, 8 January 1962, a foggy day, a Rotterdam to Amsterdam local-train consisting of electric multiple unit Mat '46 [nl] sets 700 and 297 was authorised to carry out this manoeuvre, protected by a red signal to stop trains approaching from Utrecht. The EMU was travelling at approximately 75 km/h (47 mph). Simultaneously, an express train from Leeuwarden to Rotterdam, hauled by electric locomotive 1131, was approaching at 107 km/h (67 mph). Perhaps because of the foggy weather, the driver of the train from Utrecht missed the warning yellow signal and applied the emergency brake when he saw the red signal protecting the junction, far too late to prevent a near head-on collision between the two trains. Six coaches of the Amsterdam train and three on the express train were destroyed. Both trains were heavily packed – 180 occupants in the six-carriage multiple units and circa 900 aboard the 11-carriage express train, made up of seven recent vehicles and five old Mat '24 trailers. [1] Of approximately 1080 people aboard the trains, 93 lost their lives, including the drivers of both trains. The accident spurred the installation on Dutch railways of the system of automatic train protection known as Automatische treinbeïnvloeding (ATB), which automatically overrides the driver in such a "signal passed at danger" situation. The junction was later rebuilt as a flying junction in the 1990s. On 8 January 2012 Pieter van Vollenhoven unveiled a memorial for the victims of the disaster, which on that day, had taken place exactly fifty years ago. The organization of the disclosure was owned by the local "Dorpsplatform" Harmelen. The monument was designed by Taeke Friso de Jong [nl], an artist from Kamerik. The mason was Maurice van Dam from Woerden. The design consists of two stone slabs that are tilted relative to each other and contain the names of the 93 victims. Looking through the two slabs discloses the actual spot where the accident happened. A red stone plinth, bearing a body that represents the victims, is placed in the middle in front of the two slabs. Three names on the slabs were spelled incorrectly; the names are copied from contemporary handwritten police reports. The mistakes have since been corrected. [2]
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Train collisions
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Brooklyn Theatre fire
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Coordinates: 40°41′41″N 73°59′23″W / 40.69472°N 73.98972°W / 40.69472; -73.98972
The Brooklyn Theatre fire was a catastrophic theatre fire that broke out on the evening of December 5, 1876 in the city of Brooklyn (now a borough of New York City). The fire took place at the Brooklyn Theatre, near the corner of Washington and Johnson streets, with over a thousand guests attending. The conflagration killed at least 278 individuals, with some accounts reporting more than 300 dead. One hundred and three unidentified victims were interred in a common grave at Green-Wood Cemetery, marked by an obelisk, while more than two dozen identified victims were interred individually in separate sections at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Theatre fire ranks third in fatalities among fires occurring in theatres and other public assembly buildings in the United States, falling behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire and the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire. [1]
Fatalities mainly arose in the family circle, the highest tier in the theatre offering the cheapest seats. This gallery sustained extreme temperatures and dense, suffocating smoke early in the conflagration. Only one stairway served it which became jammed with people and cut off escape for more than half the gallery's occupants.
The Brooklyn Theatre opened on October 2, 1871 and stood near the southeast corner of Washington and Johnson streets[4] one block north of Brooklyn's City Hall. [5] It was owned by The Brooklyn Building Association, a partnership of affluent Brooklyn residents including Abner C. Keeney, William Kingsley, and Judge Alexander McCue. [6] After its destruction, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle called it Brooklyn's "principal theatre. "[7] The theatre had been managed by Sara and Frederick B. Conway until the last 20 months of its existence; the Conways were long involved in New York and Brooklyn theatre, having managed Brooklyn's Park Theatre from 1864 to 1871. [8] Sara Conway died in April 1875,[9] about six months after her husband. Their children Minnie, Lillian, and Frederick Jr. then managed the theatre for a short time, but without success. [9] Albert Marshman Palmer[10] and Sheridan Shook were the manager and proprietor of New York's Union Square Theatre, and they assumed a new lease on the Brooklyn Theatre later in 1875, managing it until the catastrophe took place. [11]
The Brooklyn Theatre stood a block from Fulton Street, the main thoroughfare to the Manhattan ferries and readily accessible to both New York and Brooklyn residents. Its seating capacity was about 1,600. [4] Both Conway and Shook & Palmer sought upscale productions with well-known actors and actresses. The Brooklyn Theatre became a well-respected house in Brooklyn's nascent theatre district, which included the smaller and older Park, Olympic, and Globe theatres. [11]
Shook and Palmer were already enjoying success with their Union Square Theatre Company in New York and went on to transplant a number of their productions to the Brooklyn house. [12] Their specialty was the adaptation of French plays to the American stage. [13] The Two Orphans was a melodrama about two young homeless orphans separated by abduction; it featured Miss Kate Claxton[14] and was presented on the night of the fire. [15] It had been a particularly successful play, running for 180 performances in 1874 at the Union Square Theatre. [16] It was originally Les Deux Orphelines by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon,[13] and had been adapted to the American stage by N. Hart Jackson. Shook and Palmer brought it to the Brooklyn Theatre in March 1876 after an American tour, including one performance at the Brooklyn Theatre on April 12, 1875, two weeks before Sara Conway's death. [18]
The 1876 run at the Brooklyn Theatre was well received but was ending. [19] At the time of the fire, Palmer indicated that a number of Union Square Theatre productions had been scheduled for the Brooklyn Theatre and that all the scenes and properties for Ferrsol, Rose Michel, Conscience, and Colonel Sellers had been stored on the premises, along with the wardrobe for The Two Orphans and a suite of furniture for Rose Michel. [20]
The Brooklyn Theatre was designed by Thomas R. Jackson and constructed in 1871 according to Sara Conway's specifications. [21] Brooklyn Police Fire Marshall Patrick Keady gathered testimony and constructed a chronology of the disaster, and he said that the structure had better exits than many other public buildings in Brooklyn at that time. [22]
The theatre occupied an L-shaped lot, with the Proscenium theatre occupying the 127-by-70-foot (39 m × 21 m) wing fronting Johnson Street. The stage and scene doors opened onto Johnson Street from this wing. The scene doors were 20 ft wide (6.1 m), large enough to accommodate scenic flats and large props. [23] The stage doors were smaller but could accommodate people carrying heavy loads. These Johnson Street doors were utilitarian and little used by the public. [24] The shorter 27-by-40-foot (8.2 m × 12.2 m) wing on Washington Street housed the main entrance to the lower floors and a separate staircase to the third floor theatre gallery. They were for public use, and Jackson considered these main entry ways to be large enough to discharge a full house of 1,450 people in less than five minutes. [25]
There were three sets of doors which Jackson designated as special exits. They led onto Flood's Alley, a small street running along the east side of the building that bisected the block from Johnson to Myrtle Avenue. Each set was six feet (1.8 m) across. The southern door closest to Myrtle Avenue opened into the eastern end of the lobby, underneath the flight of stairs leading from the lobby to the dress circle. The middle set opened onto a hallway adjoining the parquet, and the northern set opened near the stage and orchestra pit. The middle set served a stairway ascending to the second floor dress circle. [28] These alley doors were normally locked to discourage gate-crashing. [27] The structure had no fire escapes in the modern sense: those that connect higher storey windows to the street. Sources from the period often called these alley doors "fire escapes," but designs of the era were untested and tended to be impractical. [29]
The Brooklyn Theatre had three levels of seating. Parquet and parquet circle seating occupied the theatre's ground floor and contained 600 seats. The dress circle[30] occupied a second floor balcony which seated 550. A third floor gallery, the family circle, extended to the south wall of the structure and seated 450. [31] The family circle had its own entrance[26] and ticket booth[31] and customers for this seating did not usually commingle with patrons purchasing seating for the lower floors.
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Fire
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Watch: Bessbrook gas explosion sees one home destroyed and two people taken to hospital
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Two people have been taken to hospital following a severe gas explosion in Bessbrook this afternoon (Sunday).
The explosion happened in the Camlough Park area around lunchtime, resulting in the complete destruction of one property.
Crews from Newry, Warrenpoint, Newtownhamilton and Portadown attended the incident, a NIFRS spokesperson described as “a challenging incident”.
The inferno occurred as a result of two oil tanks rupturing. Other hazards included several gas cylinders involved in the fire exploding.
The blaze was quickly brought under control following the arrival of fire crew’s but unfortunately one property was destroyed and three other properties were damaged by heat and smoke.
One resident was feeling unwell and taken to Daisy Hill Hospital for a check-up and one firefighter was also sent to hospital as a precaution.
Sein Féin Councillor Declan Murphy said the community are in a state of shock.
“The area is a close-knit community and we will do all we can to help those impacted by this terrible incident,” he said.
“We thank the fire and emergency services for their prompt actions and we hope that those admitted to hospital will make a full recovery.”
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Gas explosion
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Aeroflot Flight 1492 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 1492 was a scheduled passenger flight from Moscow–Sheremetyevo to Murmansk, Russia. On 5 May 2019, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft operating the flight was climbing out when it was struck by lightning. The aircraft suffered an electrical failure and returned to Sheremetyevo for an emergency landing. It bounced on landing and touched down hard, causing the landing gear to collapse, fuel to spill out of the wings, and a fire to erupt. [1] The fire engulfed the rear of the aircraft, killing 41 of the 78 occupants. The aircraft was a Russian-built Sukhoi Superjet 100, MSN (manufacturer's serial number) 95135, and was registered as RA-89098. [2] It was delivered new to Aeroflot on 27 September 2017 and had accumulated 2,710 flight hours and 1,658 cycles (a flight cycle consists of a take-off and a landing) before the accident. [3][4] Aeroflot Superjets are configured with 87 passenger seats, 12 in business and 75 in economy. [5]
Flight 1492 took off from runway 24C at Sheremetyevo International Airport, bound for Murmansk Airport, on 5 May 2019 at 18:03 local time (15:03 UTC). Towering cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds were observed in the vicinity of the airport with a base of 6,000 ft (1,800 m) and peaking at about 29,000 feet (8,800 m). The clouds were moving in a north-easterly direction at a speed of 40–45 kilometres per hour (22–24 kn). When the plane was approaching the thunderstorm zone, a 327-degree heading was selected manually at 18:07 local time (15:07 UTC), initiating a right turn earlier than it is prescribed by the КN 24Е standard instrument departure, but the crew did not request active thunderstorm area avoidance clearance. At 15:08 UTC, the aircraft was climbing through flight level 89 when it was struck by lightning. The primary radio and autopilot became inoperative and the flight control mode changed to DIRECT – a degraded, more challenging mode of operation. [6] The captain assumed manual control of the aircraft. The transponder code was changed to 7600 (to indicate radio failure) at 15:09 UTC and subsequently to 7700 (emergency) at 15:26 UTC while on final approach. The secondary radio (VHF2) remained operative and the crew were able to restore communication with air traffic control (ATC) and made a pan-pan call on the emergency frequency. [7]
The aircraft stopped its climb at flight level 106 and was guided towards Sheremetyevo by ATC. It performed a right orbit before lining up for approach to runway 24L; the crew tuned into the instrument landing system and the captain flew the approach manually. Upon capturing the glideslope, the aircraft's weight was 43.5 tonnes (96,000 lb), 1.6 tonnes (3,500 lb) over the maximum landing weight. At 15:18:53 UTC, the captain attempted to contact the controller to request a holding area, but his message was not recorded by the controller's recorder. The flaps were lowered to 25 degrees, which is the recommended setting for an overweight landing in DIRECT mode. The wind was blowing from 190 degrees at 30 knots (15 m/s) – a 50-degree crosswind – and the speed stabilised at 155 knots (287 km/h). Between 1,100 feet (340 m) and 900 feet (270 m) AGL, the predictive windshear warning sounded repeatedly: "GO-AROUND, WINDSHEAR AHEAD". The crew did not acknowledge this warning on tape. Descending through 260 feet (79 m), the aircraft began to deviate below the glideslope and the "GLIDESLOPE" aural alert sounded. The captain called "advisory" and increased engine thrust, and the speed rose through 164 knots (304 km/h) at 40 feet (12 m) to 170 knots (310 km/h) at 16 feet (4.9 m) AGL – 15 knots (28 km/h) above the required approach speed, although the airline's own Flight Operations Manual provides pilots with a margin of −5 to +20 kt as a criterion for stabilised approach. As he reduced the thrust to idle for the flare, the captain made several large, alternating sidestick inputs, causing the pitch to vary between +6 and −2 degrees. [7][2][3]
The aircraft made simultaneous ground contact with all three landing gear legs 900 metres (3,000 ft) beyond the runway threshold at a speed of 158 knots (293 km/h), resulting in a vertical acceleration of 2.55 g. Concurrently with the touchdown, in the span of 0.4 seconds, the sidestick was moved from full aft to full forward. Though the spoilers were armed, automatic spoiler deployment is inhibited in DIRECT mode and they were not extended manually. The aircraft bounced to a height of 6 feet (1.8 m). The captain attempted to apply maximum reverse thrust while he continued to hold the sidestick in the fully forward position. Reverse thrust and reverser door deployment is inhibited in the absence of weight on the aircraft's wheels (i.e. in flight) and the reverser doors only began to open upon the second touchdown. The aircraft lifted off the ground before the reverse door cycle was completed and reverse thrust did not activate. The second touchdown occurred two seconds after the first, nose-first, at a speed of 155 knots (287 km/h) and with a vertical load of 5.85 g. The main landing gear weak links sheared – the weak links are designed to shear under heavy load to minimise damage to the wing – allowing the gear legs to "move up and backwards" and the wing remained intact. The aircraft bounced to a height of 15–18 feet (4.6–5.5 m). The thrust levers were advanced to take-off power – the reverser doors began to close – and the sidestick was pulled full aft in a possible attempt to go around. Thrust was not allowed to increase until the reverser doors were closed and a third impact was recorded at a speed of 140 knots (260 km/h) and with a vertical load in excess of 5 g. The landing gear collapsed, penetrating the wing, and fuel spilled out of the wing tanks. A fire erupted, engulfing the wings, rear fuselage and empennage. Fire alarms sounded in the cockpit for the aft cargo hold and the auxiliary power unit. The aircraft slid down the runway, veered to the left and came to a standstill on the grass between two runway-adjoining taxiways with the nose facing upwind at 15:30 UTC. Power to the engines was cut at 15:31 UTC. Flight recorder data suggest that control over the engines had been lost after the final impact. [7][2][8][9]
An evacuation was carried out from the front passenger doors and their slides were deployed. The first officer used the escape rope to climb out of a cockpit window. Aeroflot claimed the evacuation took 55 seconds, though video evidence shows the slides still in use 70 seconds after their deployment. Passengers were seen carrying hand luggage out of the aircraft. [5] The rear half of the aircraft was destroyed by the fire, which was extinguished about 45 minutes after landing. [7][10][11]
Five crew and 73 passengers were onboard on the aircraft.
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Air crash
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Panic of 1792
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The Panic of 1792 was a financial credit crisis that occurred during the months of March and April 1792, precipitated by the expansion of credit by the newly formed Bank of the United States as well as by rampant speculation on the part of William Duer, Alexander Macomb, and other prominent bankers. Duer, Macomb, and their colleagues attempted to drive up prices of US debt securities and bank stocks, but when they defaulted on loans, prices fell, causing a bank run. Simultaneous tightening of credit by the Bank of the United States served to heighten the initial panic. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was able to deftly manage the crisis by providing banks across the Northeast with hundreds of thousands of dollars to make open-market purchases of securities, which allowed the market to stabilize by May 1792. [citation needed]
In December 1790, Hamilton called for the creation of the Bank of the United States, and in February 1791, President George Washington signed the charter allowing it to open. Investors paid $25 for a stock, called a scrip, and were required to make three additional payments in six-month intervals totaling $375. These payments were to be 25% in specie and 75% in US debt securities. [1] Demand for stock in the newly formed Bank of the United States was significant, and prices for scrips increased dramatically for the first several weeks, reaching $280 in New York and reportedly over $300[clarification needed] in Philadelphia by mid-August. [1] The market shifts were not sustainable, and within days prices began to fall rapidly. Hamilton stepped in by working with William Seton, the cashier of the Bank of New York, to authorize the purchase of $150,000 of public debt in New York to be covered by government revenues. [1] By September 12, prices had recovered, and Hamilton's intervention had not only stabilized the market but also laid the groundwork for his cooperation with the Bank of New York, which would later be crucial in ending the Panic of 1792. In late December 1791, the price of securities began to increase once again, and the eventual crash in March 1792 caused many investors to panic and withdraw their money from the Bank of the United States. [1] One of the primary causes of the sudden run on the bank was the failure of a scheme created by William Duer, Alexander Macomb and other bankers in the winter of 1791. Duer and Macomb's plan was to use large loans to gain control of the US debt securities market because other investors needed those securities to make payments on stocks in the Bank of the United States. [2] Additionally, Duer and Macomb were able to create their own credit by endorsing one another's notes, and did so in hopes of creating a new bank in New York to overtake the existing Bank of New York. [1] On March 9, 1792 Duer stopped making payments to his creditors and simultaneously faced a lawsuit for actions he had taken as Secretary of the Treasury Board in the 1780s. [2] As Duer and Macomb defaulted on their contracts and found themselves in prison, the price of securities fell more than 20%, all in a matter of weeks. [2]
The Panic of 1792 was further instigated by the sudden restriction of previously overextended credit by the Bank of the United States. When the Bank of the United States first began accepting deposits and making discounts in December 1791, it expanded credit extensively. By January 31, 1792, monetary liabilities exceeded $2.17 million, and discounts reached $2.68 million – a very large sum at the time. [3] Speculators took advantage of this new credit source, using it to make withdrawals from the Bank of New York, which placed undue stress on the bank's reserves. [3] From December 29 to March 9, cash reserves for the Bank of the United States decreased by 34%, prompting the bank to not renew nearly 25% of its outstanding 30-day loans. [3] This forced many Bank of the United States borrowers to sell other securities they owned to satisfy the un-renewed loans, which caused prices for these other investments to fall sharply, aggravating the financial panic of 1792. In mid-March 1792, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton began the political and economic maneuvering necessary to contain the credit crisis affecting markets across the country. The charter creating the Bank of the United States had also set up the Sinking Fund Commission composed of Vice President John Adams, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, Chief Justice John Jay, and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, charged with resolving financial crises. [1] On March 21, 1792, with Jay absent from voting, the commission split on the decision to allow open-market purchases. [3] Having received notice from William Seton that the Bank of New York was in trouble, Hamilton wished to have the government make purchases as it had in 1791, but was unable to do so while Jefferson and Randolph stood opposed. [3] While still waiting for Jay's formal and deciding vote, Randolph began to side with Hamilton on March 26, and with only Jefferson dissenting, the commission authorized $100,000 in open-market purchases of securities. [1]
In a series of letters to Seton at the Bank of New York, Hamilton introduced several measures to restore normalcy to the securities market. Hamilton encouraged the bank to continue offering loans collateralized by US debt securities, but at a slightly increased rate of interest – seven percent instead of six. [3] In order to persuade the Bank of New York to lend during the panic, Hamilton also promised that the US Treasury would buy from the bank up to $500,000 of securities should the Bank of New York be stuck with excessive collateral. [3] Similarly, Hamilton supported the Bank of Maryland's lending by offering to have the US Treasury cover loans made to merchants paying duties. [3] By April 16, after Hamilton authorized an additional $150,000 of open-market purchases by the Bank of New York, Seton reported that market demand was returning to normal. [3]
In just under a month, Hamilton was thus able to stabilize the securities market and prevent the panic from inducing a recession. By exerting his power as Secretary of Treasury and persuading a number of banks to continue offering credit throughout the crisis, Hamilton was able to limit the amount of Federal debt purchases by the Sinking Fund Commission to $243,000 – roughly $100,000 less than what was spent during the smaller panic in 1791. [3]
Economists and economic historians have noted that Hamilton's management of the Panic of 1792 appears to have anticipated Henry Thornton by ten years and "Bagehot's Dictum" by approximately 80 years. [3][4] This prescription, that in a crisis central banks should "lend freely, against good collateral, at a penalty rate" is still considered the gold standard for managing a financial panic as the "lender of last resort".
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Financial Crisis
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1985 Brixton riot
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The Brixton riot of 1985 started on 28 September in Lambeth in South London. It was the second major riot that the area had witnessed in the space of four years, the last in 1981. It was sparked by the shooting of Dorothy "Cherry" Groce by the Metropolitan Police, while they sought her 21-year-old son Michael Groce in relation to a robbery and suspected firearms offence; they believed Michael Groce was hiding in his mother's home.
After two days of riots, photo-journalist David Hodge had died, 43 civilians and 10 police officers were hurt. Amongst a number of fires, one building had been destroyed, 55 cars had been burnt out, and 58 burglaries had been committed including acts of looting.
In March 2014, the police eventually apologised for the wrongful shooting of Mrs Groce.In July of the same year, an inquest jury concluded that eight separate police failures had contributed to Mrs Groce's death, for which the then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe subsequently "apologised unreservedly for our failings" to the family.
The community of Lambeth, after the 1981 Brixton riot, did not trust the Metropolitan Police, with many of the mixed race but mainly Afro-Caribbean population upset about the institutional racism of the police department.
Twenty-one-year-old Michael Groce was one of six children born to Dorothy "Cherry" Groce, who had migrated to the area from Jamaica when she was in her early teens. From aged six much of his life was spent in residential care, brought up in Tinworth House, on a rough housing estate in Vauxhall. [5] Michael was involved with street gangs, and had been exposed to guns during his childhood. He spent time in and out of prison throughout his life, and by 1985 had accrued 50 convictions and 15 different spells in prison.
After being released from prison two months before, whilst out on licence[clarification needed] Michael became concerned with a turf-war between local street gangs. [5] Subsequently, given a gun for protection by a friend, a few days before the riots Michael was in an argument with his girlfriend at his mother's house, and in a fit of anger fired the gun into a wardrobe. Shortly afterwards, he heard a knock on the door and went down to answer it, finding a police officer enquiring if he was Michael Groce. He attempted to close the door, but after the police officer would not let him, Michael put the gun into the officer's mouth. After the officer left, Michael cleaned the gun and placed it in the house, then fled to his sister's home.
On the morning of Saturday 28 September 1985, a group of police officers raided Cherry Groce's house on Normandy Road, Brixton, including an armed CID officer, searching for suspected armed robber Michael Groce. Mrs Groce was in bed, whilst three of her six children were in residence when the police entered the house with force. During the raid, Mrs Groce was shot and seriously injured; after an extensive search, the police did not find Michael Groce. An ambulance was called, and by the time it had arrived a small crowd had gathered outside the house. Mrs Groce was taken to St Thomas' Hospital in central London.
As word of the shooting spread throughout the community, rumours persisted that Mrs. Groce had in fact been killed in the raid. The group that had gathered outside her house grew to over 60,and then moved to the local district police station, where they began chanting "murderers" and anti-police slogans,[8] demanding disciplinary action against the officers involved.
However, hostility between the largely black crowd and the largely white police force quickly escalated into a series of mild street battles. These then developed into elongated skirmishes in the areas of Brixton Road and Acre Lane, where the first two of a total of 55 cars over the following 48 hours were burnt out. In response the police deployed the first 50 officers in riot gear in the afternoon, who approached rioters whilst banging their truncheons on their riot shields.Through force which involved a number of reported unprovoked attacks on local passers-by and accredited members of the media,the police cordoned off the area around the police station on Brixton Road, and then cleared the surrounding shopping district. [2]
That evening, the police lost control of the area for approximately 48 hours. In the subsequent riot, severe injuries were sustained by both sides, with police injured as they were attacked by young black and white youths equipped with bricks and wooden stakes. After further skirmishes, the rioters built a defensive wall out of upturned cars across the Brixton Road, which were set alight at various times. From behind this wall, the rioters threw petrol bombs at the police, and looted local shops. As darkness fell on Coldharbour Lane, groups of men gathered and were stopping cars, opening doors and seizing the keys, expelling their occupants and then setting the cars on fire. One furniture shop, spanning the junction of Gresham Road, Barrington Road and Coldharbour Lane, was set on fire. The fire rapidly spread to the residential flats on the higher levels of the 4-storey building, and it was only by singular good fortune and heroic action of residents in rescuing one elderly gentleman that all escaped without loss of life or serious injury. Police later stated that they made 149 arrests that evening, mostly for violence, 20 for burglary and theft and two for petrol bombing.
In the aftermath, photo-journalist David Hodge died a few days later as a result of an aneurysm, after being attacked by gang of looters he was trying to photograph. In total over 50 people were injured, 200 arrests were made, one building and dozens of cars were destroyed, and several shops had been looted.
In a press conference on 30 September, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Wells described the shooting of Mrs Groce as tragic, and whilst recognising the resultant "genuine feelings, particularly those of the relatives and friends of Mrs Groce", blamed the riots on "an unruly criminal element. "
On 30 September in Peckham, south London, black youths began throwing petrol bombs and setting shops alight. A major fire at a carpet warehouse off Peckham High Street was reported.
On 1 October 1985, 10 people (including three police officers) were injured in a second riot in Toxteth on 1 October 1985, after crowds stormed the district's streets and stoned and burnt cars in response to the arrest of four local black men in connection with a stabbing. Merseyside Police Operational Support Division was deployed into the area to restore order and were later criticised by community leaders and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, Derek Worlock, for their "over zealous and provocative tactics", which included the drumming of batons on riot shields.
One week later, another serious conflict, sparked by similar circumstances, broke out between the Metropolitan Police and mainly black residents of North London's Tottenham district in what became known as the Broadwater Farm riot. On her arrival at hospital, surgeons found that the bullet had penetrated Mrs Groce's lung and exited through her spine, paralysing her from the waist downwards. [7] She was hospitalised for over a year, and in hospital-based rehabilitation for a further year; friends within the local community looked after her children. With Mrs Groce permanently paralysed and only able to get around in a wheelchair, and after further rehabilitation, she and her family were allocated a new bungalow in which to live.
The police officer who shot Mrs Groce, Detective Inspector Douglas Lovelock, was prosecuted but eventually acquitted of malicious wounding. Mrs Groce later received over £500,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police, but with no admission of liability.
In 2011, Mrs Groce contracted an infection which led to kidney failure.
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Riot
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Locusts Swarm East Africa: Following drought and floods, the ...
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Senior Communications Officer,
Action Against Hunger
For months last year, no rain fell - few crops were planted. Families across East Africa did what they could to survive, despite food and water shortages. Then, suddenly, the rains came all at once, in floods that swept away harvests and homes. Communities were displaced. They started to rebuild and replant as best as they could.
Now, these same communities face a third threat: desert locusts.
The oldest and most dangerous migratory pest in the world, desert locusts are insects about the size of an adult hand. Their appetite is voracious – a swarm the size of Los Angeles can eat as much food in a day as the entire population of Kenya. Locusts eat everything green: destroying the crops and pasture that families have been able to plant.
Extreme weather patterns in the Indian Ocean, caused by climate change, worsened drought and floods, and created the perfect conditions for locusts to breed and spread from Yemen to East Africa. According to the latest predictions, the locust infestation in East Africa could drive more than 13 million people deeper into a hunger crisis and increase the risk that more children will die from malnutrition. Even without the locust emergency, East Africa has the highest rate of undernutrition, which impacts 30.8% of the population.
Learao Loroshi, a pastoralist who lives in Ndonyilengala village in Isiolo County, Kenya, describes the desperate situation in his community:
“CONDITIONS WERE JUST IMPROVING AFTER THE PROLONGED DROUGHT THAT AFFECTED US LAST YEAR. THE RAINS THAT CAME BETWEEN OCTOBER AND JANUARY ENSURED THERE WAS ENOUGH PASTURE FOR OUR ANIMALS…ONLY FOR THE LOCUSTS TO SET IN. THEY CAME AND HAVE CLEARED ALL THE PASTURE.
THE GROUND IS NOW BARE, AND OUR ANIMALS ARE GOING TO DIE. WE WILL DIE TOO! THE EGGS THAT THE LOCUSTS LAID HAVE HATCHED THOUSANDS OF YOUNG ONES WHICH WILL EVEN AFFECT US MORE IF NOTHING IS DONE. THE DROPPINGS FROM THE LOCUSTS ARE ALSO A SCARE FOR US AS WE FEAR DISEASE OUTBREAKS.”
For Somalia and Ethiopia, this is the worst locust outbreak in 25 years — for Kenya, the worst outbreak in 75 years. Across these three countries, 10 million people already struggling with a severe food crisis now face the loss of crops and pasture. If the swarms continue to breed and spread, another 3.24 million already-hungry people in Uganda and South Sudan could be driven deeper into crisis.
“Before the locusts, aid agencies were already struggling to meet the needs of the people after drought and floods,” says Hajir Maalim, Action Against Hunger’s Regional Director for the Horn and East Africa. “Funding for the humanitarian response is inadequate. While other governments talk about the threat of climate change, countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan are already experiencing its devastating impact on a daily basis.”
To scare away the locusts, communities make loud noises, blowing whistles and banging pots. But the most effective way to get rid of the pests – and importantly, to prevent their eggs from hatching – is through ground and aerial pesticide spraying. In Kenya, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture are carrying out these measures. But in Somalia, conflict and insecurity make aerial spraying nearly impossible. On February 2, the government of Somalia declared a national emergency, which means the situation has overwhelmed its capacity to respond.
Even with spraying, the damage has already been done in many vulnerable communities: “[The locusts] cleared all the vegetation before they were sprayed. Now we have the young ones or hoppers that are eating the remaining vegetation, and they are very vicious,” says Henry Sangale, a community leader in Isiolo County, Kenya, one of the areas where Action Against Hunger works. “This [will] totally affect the grazing land and can easily lead to conflict and insecurity with communities around us, as each will start fighting for pasture for our animals.”
To address the crisis, Action Against Hunger is providing immediate relief for families suffering from hunger. Our teams are preventing malnutrition, expanding our cash assistance programs, pre-positioning supplies for the next rainy season, and working with governments to build capacity to handle an increase in cases of malnutrition.
“Again and again, these communities have been hit by multiple, simultaneous crises: drought, floods, epidemics, and now locusts,” says Ahmed Khalif, Action Against Hunger’s Country Director for Somalia. “But I do see reasons for hope. If you look back to 2011, 2012, most of these populations could not access aid – people used to have to travel 50 miles to reach assistance. Today, thanks to our mobile teams and the trust that communities have in us, we are able to quickly provide what people urgently need, even in hard-to-reach areas.”
Together with local authorities and organizations like FAO, Action Against Hunger is watching for signs that even greater hunger may be coming. Our teams in East Africa monitor access to markets, water availability for people and animals, increased cases of diarrhea and other signs of water-borne diseases, and admission rates into our community-based nutrition programs.
The effects of the locust infestation may not be truly felt for months, when the crops they have consumed would have been harvested and families face food shortages. Action Against Hunger, the governments of affected countries, and other partners need an injection of funds to address the immediate and long-term needs of communities – and soon:
“Early action saves lives and costs less,” says Maalim. “Action Against Hunger has worked in these communities for decades and we know what works. If rapid action is not taken now to deal with this locust infestation, we are likely to face an even more catastrophic situation in the coming months.”
Action Against Hunger is the world’s hunger specialist and leader in a global movement that aims to end life-threatening hunger for good within our lifetimes. For 40 years, the humanitarian and development organization has been on the front lines, treating and preventing hunger across nearly 50 countries. It served more than 21 million people in 2018 alone.
Primary country
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Insect Disaster
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UN welcomes South Sudan as 193rd member
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UN welcomes South Sudan as 193rd member
Published
South Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar (r) was warmly greeted in New York
The UN General Assembly has admitted South Sudan as its 193rd member.
South Sudan is the first country to join the UN body since Montenegro in 2006, and the day was described by assembly president Joseph Deiss as a "historic and joyous moment".
"Welcome, welcome South Sudan to the community of nations," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The vote was unanimous and was immediately followed by applause in the General Assembly.
In a meeting on Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to recommend South Sudan's membership of the world body.
South Sudan became independent on Saturday, after its people voted to secede from the north in January's referendum.
South Sudan says it is launching its own currency and the South Sudan pound note will be in circulation by next Monday.
However, Mr Ban warned the world's newest country that the hard work begins now.
Although it is oil-rich, it is one of the least developed areas of the world - only 16% of its women can read and write and there are very few paved roads in a country larger than Spain and Portugal combined.
Its independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died.
The two countries have still to decide on issues such as drawing up the new border and how to divide Sudan's debts and oil wealth.
Around the BBC
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Join in an Organization
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Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo riot
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A riot at the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo (Portuguese: Penitenciária Agrícola de Monte Cristo) occurred on 16 October 2016 in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil. Local media, citing police, said that at least 25 inmates died during the riot, with seven of them beheaded and six were burned to death. [1][2]
According to the Roraima state secretary of justice, the riot began on Sunday 16 October 2016, during visiting hours and an estimated 100 relatives of inmates were taken hostage for a brief time before being freed[1] by police. [2]
The riot was caused by a clash between two rival gangs. [1][2] The riot was one of several that occurred in Brazilian prisons during 2016. [3]
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Riot
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Whiskey Au Go Go fire
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The Whiskey Au Go Go fire was a fire that occurred at 2.08 am on Thursday 8 March 1973, in the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia that killed 15 people. [1][2]
The Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub occupied the first floor of a building which still exists on the corner of Amelia Street and St Paul's Terrace. The space was previously occupied by another club called the Celebrity Cabaret which closed due to financial pressures. [3] Seeing an opportunity, band manager John Hannay approached the Little brothers (Brian and Ken) and suggested they rent the vacant space for a new nightclub. They did so in March 1972 and named the new cabaret the Whiskey Au Go Go. [3]
John Andrew Stuart, a career criminal, was sent to jail in 1966 for the attempted murder of fellow criminal Robert Steele. [4] After his release from prison in New South Wales in July 1972, he returned to his hometown of Brisbane and immediately started vague rumors of criminals from Sydney wanting to extort nightclubs in Brisbane. He told this both to reporter Brian Bolton and Detective Basil Hicks. [5] At the end of 1972, he gave specific intelligence to Bolton stating an empty club would be firebombed first and then a second, Whiskey Au Go Go, would be firebombed when it was full of people. [6] Bolton wrote numerous newspaper articles and personally notified the police commissioner and police minister of the threat. [7]
Stuart's warning was verified when an empty club, Torinos, was destroyed by arson on 25 February 1973. [8] The Whiskey Au Go Go was firebombed in the early hours of 8 March 1973, resulting in the deaths of 15 patrons. [9] The people killed had died of carbon monoxide poisoning and were dead before the firefighters arrived. [10] Of the six person band Trinity, two musicians were killed. [11] Three staff members and ten patrons were also killed. [12]
The fire began with the ignition of two drums (four and five gallons) of petrol in the building's foyer. [13] When ignited the burning petrol sent carbon monoxide up to the club's main room on the first floor. The only escape route was the rear stairs which were poorly signposted and cluttered with crates of bottles. [14] The club has been described as a deathtrap. [15]
About 50 patrons, bar staff and entertainers had been in the club at the time of ignition. [16] Some escaped by jumping from broken windows onto an awning and dropping 4.5m to the ground. [17][18] Others escaped via the windows in the men's and women's changing rooms. [19]
Patrons had difficulty escaping due to the large quantities of grease that covered the escape path and 1.8m high fence which blocked the side alley. The persistent rumors that the escape was deliberately greased by the arsonist(s) are untrue. The practice at the club was to place used cooking oil containers against the wall of the escape route. These were upended in the stampede and the fats spread by foot as the patrons fled. [20]
On the Saturday after the fire the Queensland Government had offered a $50,000 reward for information on the bombing. Based on Stuart's foreknowledge of the fire, he was the number one suspect. As the police had insufficient evidence to arrest him, as he had an alibi at the time of the fire, the police fabricated evidence that he threatened someone with a knife. [21] He was duly arrested. James Richard Finch was subsequently arrested at the suburban Jindalee shopping centre. In 1966, Finch had been sentenced to 14 years prison after being found guilty of malicious wounding with a firearm and carrying an unlicensed pistol. Finch had fired two shots during an altercation near a petrol station in Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney, injuring two men. Finch gave Stuart the offending firearm post shooting and the two career criminals had known each other for at least seven years before. [22] At the trial, Finch was described by police as "an active young criminal and associate of the most violent criminals in Sydney. "[23] Finch had been paroled after serving seven years of that sentence. Immediately after their arrest, both loudly protested their innocence at their first court appearance. It was reported that there was commotion in the dock when the men were brought before the Brisbane Magistrates court after their arrest for arson and 15 counts of murder. Stuart was restrained by six detectives while Finch was relatively quiet and restrained by one detective. During this hearing Finch claimed he was innocent, that on his arrest police had presented him with a prepared written confession, and had beaten him. [24]
The committal hearing heard that Finch, previously resident of Australia, had been imported by Stuart from his native England for the extortion scheme and had returned to Australia 12 days prior to the bombing. Police claimed Finch had privately confessed to them and had implicated Stuart. The police reported that Finch had willfully set the fire while Stuart had plotted to establish a false lead that "southern criminals" were planning an extortion racket in Brisbane. [25]
During the supreme court trial Finch and Stuart loudly protested their innocence, claiming they had been "verballed" and convicted based on false confessions. They both pleaded not guilty. [26]
Similar to the committal hearing, the start of the full court trial had been delayed. On 20 August, Stuart told the Government Medical Officer that he had swallowed some pieces of metal. [27] He would repeat the exercise and be absent for most of the trial. Through his incarcerations Stuart underwent a total of five operations to remove foreign objects from his stomach. [28] During the committal trial, Finch had amputated one of his fingers.
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Fire
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NATO, US to stage large-scale military exercises around Serbia until summer
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The Balkan Security Network reported on Saturday that the exercise consisted of a series of small-scale tactical manoeuvres, and was part of a string of US military manoeuvres to strengthen capacity for the joint performance of military operations and partnerships by the US military and its European allies. A large-scale military exercise led by the US, NATO and its allies, dubbed Defender-Europe 21, began in mid-March and will last until the second half of June, while most of the activities will unfold in the Balkans and in Serbia’s immediate neighbourhood. The Balkan Security Network reported on Saturday that the exercise consisted of a series of small-scale tactical manoeuvres and was part of a string of US military manoeuvres to strengthen capacity for the joint performance of military operations and partnerships by the US military and its European allies. “Defender-Europe 21 brings together some 30,000 soldiers from 27 states who are performing manoeuvres over a large territory. Most of the troops are from the US,” according to the Balkan Security Network. “One of the goals of the exercise is to move squadron-sized units from stations in the US to a potential battlefield site in Europe. All of the countries in the region, except for Serbia, are taking part in the exercise, including the Kosovo Security Force,” it added. The Balkans are the main area where the exercise is taking place, while training centres in the Baltic states and Germany will also be used. Nearly all of the biggest military training centres in the region will be used such as Slunj in Croatia, Manjaca and Glamoc in Bosnia (Republika Srpska), Krivolak in North Macedonia and Bondsteel near Urosevac in Kosovo. A total of 30 military training centres across Europe will be utilised as well.
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Military Exercise
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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting a divorce: ‘She’s done’
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Multiple sources tell Page Six that “divorce is imminent” for the Hollywood couple, with Kardashian hiring divorce attorney to the stars Laura Wasser.
“They are keeping it low-key but they are done,” says a source. “Kim has hired Laura Wasser and they are in settlement talks.”
Kim, 40, hasn’t been seen wearing her wedding ring, and Kanye, 43, remained at his $14 million Wyoming ranch over the holidays instead of spending it with the Kardashian family, who drew criticism for their extravagant celebrations .
“Kim got Kanye to go up there [Wyoming] so they could live separate lives and quietly get things sorted out to separate and divorce. She’s done,” the source continued.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West at the 2015 Met Gala
Getty Images
The source added that while Kim has done much in the past to protect and help Kanye deal with his mental health struggles , “Now this divorce is happening because Kim has grown up a lot.
“She is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is serious about her prison reform campaign. Meanwhile Kanye is talking about running for president and saying other crazy s–t, and she’s just had enough of it.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in 2018
Mike Reed/ACE Pictures/Shutterst
Meanwhile, a separate source says Kanye, who became increasingly uncomfortable and irritated by the Kardashians’ over-the-top reality star lives, “Is completely over the entire family … He wants nothing to do with them,” adding he eventually found their reality show “unbearable.”
West tweeted in July, “I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf [sic] for ‘prison reform,’” seeming to refer to a criminal justice summit attended by Kim and rapper Meek Mill in November 2018.
He also called momager Kris Jenner “Kris Jong-Un” and claimed that the Kardashians were trying to force him into psychiatric treatment.
Then Kanye reluctantly showed up for Kim’s ridiculously extravagant $1 million-plus 40th birthday in Tahiti last October for just one day.
“He showed up late and left early, he wouldn’t appear in any of their Instagram shots. All he did was bring over the hologram of her father, Robert Kardashian , then got out of there as fast as he could,” the source added.
The source said the biggest sticking point in the Kimye divorce settlement talks could be over their Calabasas, California, family home, which underwent a total redesign masterminded by Kanye and was heralded by Architectural Digest as “an oasis of purity and light.”
The couple worked on the all-white, minimalist home with Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt. They reportedly paid $40 million for the house and spent $20 million on renovations.
NY Post
The source said, “Kim is trying to get Kanye to turn over the Calabasas house to her, because that’s where the kids are based and growing up. That is their home.”
Explaining, “She owns all the land and adjoining lots around the house but Kanye owns the actual house. They’ve both put a lot of money into renovating it.”
The source added of the advanced settlement talks, “This isn’t the first time they’ve been talking about a split, but this time it is way, way more serious.”
Another source confirmed to us that divorce settlement talks were underway, but they were not yet at the point of deciding how their properties would be divided.
Kardashian and West with North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm
Instagram
This would be Kim’s third divorce. She previously hired Wasser for her divorce from basketball player Kris Humphries. Wasser, who has also represented Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears and Johnny Depp, was not immediately available for comment.
But the power LA divorce lawyer is well known to advocate for her clients to negotiate and agree on a confidential settlement before any divorce papers are filed in court. Because LA divorces are more public than in New York, this ensures that more of the proceedings remain secret.
Kim and Kanye were married in 2014 in an over-the-top ceremony in Italy. They have four children: daughter North, 7, son Saint, 5, daughter Chicago, who turns 3 next week, and son Psalm, 19 months.
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Famous Person - Divorce
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2016 Oakland riots
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From November 9–12, 2016, protests occurred in Oakland, California, against the election of Donald Trump. While originally peaceful, these protests became violent, with protesters lighting trash cans and cars and a building on fire and smashing store windows and throwing bottles at police. Thirty protesters were arrested, and three officers were injured. Shocked and angered at the election results, students marched out of Berkeley and into Oakland in the early morning hours of November 9. As they marched into Oakland, more people joined the protest. The protesters blocked roads and lit several trash cans and newspaper boxes on fire in the middle of the streets. [7] Protesters vandalized cars and burned American flags for hours in Oakland. [8]
On the night of November 9, protesters returned to downtown Oakland to express anger over the election of Donald Trump. While the protest began peaceful, it descended into violence later that night. Protesters lit bonfires in the street, set dumpsters and garbage cans on fire and clashed with riot police throughout the night. [9][10] A police cruiser was also set ablaze by angry demonstrators in downtown. [11]
On November 11, several hundred protesters blocked a freeway in Oakland for an hour. [citation needed]
Overall, 30 people were arrested and eleven were issued citations. Three police officers were injured. [12]
Other than the Oakland Police Department, twelve law enforcement agencies were involved. [12] Authorities stated that there were 16 reports of vandalism against businesses in Oakland over two nights, and a vandalism incident in which the three Pleasanton Police Department SUVs had their windows smashed and were defaced by graffiti. [12]
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Riot
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Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 crash
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On October 30, 1959, Piedmont Airlines Flight 349, a Douglas DC-3, crashed on Bucks Elbow Mountain near Crozet, Virginia, killing the crew of three and all but one of its twenty-four passengers. The sole survivor was seriously injured and lay on the ground near the wreckage, still strapped in his seat. [1]
The aircraft was on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport inbound from Washington National Airport. While performing an inbound turn the aircraft crashed into Bucks Elbow Mountain at 2,600 feet (790 m). [2]
The subsequent investigation determined the cause of the accident to be:
A navigational omission which resulted in a lateral course error that was not detected and corrected through precision instrument flying procedures. A contributing factor to the accident may have been pre-occupation of the captain resulting from mental stress. [2]
The Air Line Pilots Association conducted its own investigation and came to a very different conclusion. Rather than missing the one turn on their flight, the pilot and co-pilot, according to ALPA, may have been led astray by faulty radio beacons. The ALPA report, citing numerous incidences of an intermittent signal at the beacon for the Charlottesville airport, found that the beacon for a private field in Hagerstown, Maryland, could have overridden and caused the collision with the mountain. [3]
The accident aircraft, named Buckeye Pacemaker, was registered as N55V and had construction number 20447. The aircraft had previously flown with Meteor Air Transport as N53593 and was sold to Piedmont Airlines in December 1956. List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents
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Air crash
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Moruga locust continue to spread | Local News - Trinidad ...
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The best time the eradicate the locusts will be in November after the mating period and its eggs have been laid, says Ministry of Agriculture Director of Regional Administration South Raffick Ali.
Ali who gave an update to the locust infestation said that the swarms were posing no threats to residents and was more a nuisance.
He said there was less reports from the public on locust and little spraying efforts at this stage of the insect’s lifecycle.
Some of areas mostly affected were Piparo, St Mary’s Tabaquite , Mayo, New Grant, Princes Town, Mantacool, Tableland, Penal Rock Road, Tortuga, Mammoral, Barrackpore, Moruga, Esmeralda, Carapo, Williamsville, Gran Couva, Cachipe, Indian Trail, Edward Trace and Watts Road.
Ali said that aerial spraying is one of the best strategies to combat the threat however, this is costly and is a problem for residents.
He added that burning nests was also not an option for control of the pests as the implication is more far reaching.
Ali said November is the mating period and eggs will be laid in the soil and many of the locust die at that location.
“We are confined by that lifecycle so they are really feeding now, getting all the nutrients to produce those eggs and get them to the point where they lay in the soil and viable so that they hatch,” he said.
In Trinidad, there are two types of locusts- one is the Cedros locust which is larger in size, has smaller swarms and is less destructive.
The other is the Moruga locust which is smaller in size, has larger swarms and is more destructive.
Ali said there is sufficient application (chemical) equipment for taking on the task and would continue to monitor the locusts.
Propoxur is the main insecticide used for the locust spraying exercises.
He said if the locusts threaten the crops of farmers spraying efforts will continue to be initiated.
Ali said it is during the ‘hopper’ stage the ideal time to exterminate the creatures, and given the current stage of its lifecycle, spraying efforts early in the morning will be used instead.
He said there has been an educational awareness campaign conducted throughout many communities.
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Insect Disaster
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GREEN AGRICULTURE TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED
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A Presidential Task Force on the Establishment of Green Agriculture in Sri Lanka has been established comprising of 14 members headed by Mr. Vijith Welikala. The relevant gazette notification has been issued with the signature of the Secretary to the President PB Jayasundara. The responsibilities of the task force thus appointed are to produce the required organic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides locally, to improve the production process and, if there is a situation where the requirements cannot be met through those local products, with the approval of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution. Limited import and supply etc. In addition, the Task Force will be tasked with communicating to the public about the health, social and economic benefits of organic food production and consumption, as well as the active participation of the public service in this green agriculture process, as well as the expansion of organic farming extension services at the field level. Are the responsibilities assigned. Former Sri Lankan Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayake has been added to the United States Army Command and General Staff... The offering to the Buddha Sasana was held this afternoon (18) under the patronage of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Prime... Arrangements are being made to re-use the Kandakadu Quarantine Center, which was used as a Kovid treatment center, as a... Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila says the entire nation was happy to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel to Sri Lanka...
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Organization Established
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OneWeb announces commercial aviation deal ahead of new satellite launch
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Satellite company OneWeb, which plans to begin commercial service in October, has announced a move into aviation networks. The company, backed by the UK government and Indian group Bharti Airtel, has signed up antenna specialist SatixFy to build an aircraft terminal that will work with OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) and with satellites in geostationary orbit. Ben Griffin, VP of mobility at OneWeb, said: “OneWeb is confident of its suitability for all aviation applications — commercial, regional, business and government aviation use-cases.” The announcement comes as French company Arianespace readies the next launch of 36 OneWeb satellites. This is due to take place in the early hours of the morning European time on Thursday 25 March, four months after the previous launch (pictured). The Soyuz rocket is set to lift from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the far east of Russia with the second payload of OneWeb satellites since the company was rescued from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. If successful, OneWeb will then have 146 satellites in operation — about a quarter of its planned total. Sunil Bharti Mittal, executive chairman of OneWeb, told Capacity earlier that the company plans a commercial launch covering everywhere between 50°N latitude and the North Pole in October 2021, expanding to cover the whole globe next year. SatisFy, which has offices in Israel, Bulgaria and the US as well as the UK, said it will develop a new in-flight connectivity terminal in a joint venture, called JetTalk, with Singapore Technology Engineering. The aim is to develop a product is based on SatixFy’s electronically steered multibeam antenna, that will work with LEO and geostationary satellites for the commercial aviation market. Griffin said: “This agreement with SatixFy represents a major milestone for OneWeb Aviation, as we plot our path to facilitating onboard connectivity, globally, on commercial airliners and corporate jets, large and small.” The European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency have helped the development. Catherine Mealing-Jones, director of growth at the UK Space Agency, said: “The new aviation terminal will make use of the Prime, Beat and Sx3099 ASIC chips developed with UK Space Agency backing, showing how supporting our most innovative companies leads to results that make a real difference for people all over the world.” Yoel Gat, SatixFy’s CEO, said: “Aggregating capacity from multiple satellites will give customers the grade of service they expect on flights. This great leap forward is made possible thanks to the continuous support by ESA and UK Space Agency.”
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New achievements in aerospace
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Iowa Department of
Public Safety
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Centerville, Iowa - DCI agents continue to investigate the circumstances that lead to the November 21 officer-involved shooting in rural Appanoose County.
The DCI has identified the person killed as 45 year old Kevin Arbogast of Centerville. An autopsy will be conducted by the Office of the State Medical Examiner to determine the exact cause and manner of death.
This is an on-going investigation. Additional information will be released in the coming days.
ABOUT THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) is the largest law enforcement agency in the state. It includes six divisions and several bureaus, all working together with local, state and federal government agencies and the private sector, to keep Iowa a safe place by following our core values: leadership, integrity, professionalism, courtesy, service and protection. Divisions within the Iowa DPS: Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa State Fire Marshal Division, Iowa Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center, and Administrative Services Division. The Department of Public Safety is led by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Governor.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Delta Air Lines Flight 30 crash
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Delta Air Lines Flight 30 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Atlanta, Georgia, to London, England. On April 18, 2018, the Airbus A330-323 operating the flight experienced an engine fire after takeoff from Atlanta. The aircraft immediately returned to Atlanta and made an emergency landing. All 288 people on board survived without any injuries. However, the aircraft was substantially damaged, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) classified the event as an accident. [1][2] This accident occurred one day after Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 also experienced an engine failure, albeit more severe which depressurized the cabin and killed a passenger. [3][4][5]
The aircraft involved was an Airbus A330-323 registered as N806NW that was originally delivered to Northwest Airlines in 2004. In 2009 the aircraft was transferred to Delta following its merger with Northwest. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4168A turbofan engines and was 14 years old at the time of the accident. [6][7]
Information on the flight crew has not yet been made public. Flight 30 departed Atlanta at 17:51 EST. [8] At 18:09 and at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m), the aircraft's no 2. (right) engine caught on fire, indicated by the fire alarm sounding and an engine no 2 fire message being displayed on the A330's electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM). [1] The crew of another aircraft also reported seeing thick smoke emitting from the engine. The flight crew declared an emergency to air traffic control and requested to land on 27L using a longer approach so that the necessary checklists could be performed. The flight crew also noted that there would be "hot brakes," likely indicating that maximum braking would be used on landing. The flight crew then activated both fire extinguishers and climbed to 7,000 feet (2,100 m). [1][9] Airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles were alerted of the situation. At 18:34, 25 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft landed on runway 27L and was met by the ARFF vehicles, which extinguished the no 2 engine. [10] The aircraft then returned to the gate where the passengers disembarked. [1][2]
Passengers on board the flight took videos of the engine failure. A news photographer on board said that the crew was able "to keep everyone calm" and that nobody panicked. [8]
The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) with assistance from the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA). [11] As of May 2021, the cause has not yet been determined. [9]
On October 2, 2018, the NTSB released a report calling for 25-hour cockpit voice recorders (CVR), noting several occurrences in which pertinent CVR data was lost (all of the occurrences involved two-hour recorders, which meet the current requirements). [12][13] Flight 30 was one of the occurrences listed. [12]
The passengers were later put on another Delta Air Lines flight to London. [9]
N806NW was repaired and returned to service with Delta Air Lines. [14] Delta continues to use the flight number 30 on the same route. [15]
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Air crash
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Anti-corruption will archive the investigation of the AVE commissioners to Mecca
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The Prosecutor’s Office will archive the investigation in case Spanish businessmen paid millionaire commissions to Saudi authorities in exchange for a consortium of companies from our country receiving the contract to extend the AVE to Mecca. Investigators have no hope that the Saudi financial entities from which they have requested information will respond to their request, making it impossible for them to prove a crime of international bribery or corruption in international commercial transactions, according to tax sources transfer to The Independent.
This is the investigation that is still open in the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office after, in 2018, the Carol piece of Villarejo case which concerned the revelations of the German businesswoman and former lover of the King Emeritus, Corinna Larsen, the commissioner investigated and then in preventive detention José Manuel Villarejo. She told the police (the recording of the conversation was published in Okdiario Y The Spanish in 2018) that Juan Carlos I had taken in 2008 a “commission” of 65 million euros from his friend, the Saudi king Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for mediating in the award of the contract to Spanish companies. Money that ended up being transferred, practically in its entirety, to a Larsen account in the Bahamas.
Since the events reported affected an activity of the emeritus that, although it could be irregular, was impossible to investigate due to the inviolability that protected him as head of State at that time, the judge of the National Court Diego de Egea shelved the procedure. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office did keep an investigation open in case Spanish businessmen – not protected by immunity – paid bribes to Saudi authorities to take the contract.
I pay a Saudi prince
At the same time, the Swiss prosecutor Yves Bertossa was investigating Corinna Larsen and the two prosecutor architects Arturo Fasana and Dante Canonica for an alleged crime of money laundering aggravated by how they managed the fortune that the woman received in the Bahamas, allegedly from a bribe. The Swiss investigator has filed the case for the impossibility of proving the illegality of the donation that the Saudi king made to Don Juan Carlos as a “gift from a brother.”
Precisely the information that Anticorruption delivered to Bertossa served him to advance his investigation. According to documents shared between the Swiss prosecutor and the Spanish prosecutor Luis Pastor unveiled by Okdiario, there are indications that some of the Spanish businessmen who benefited from the contract paid a bribe of 120 million euros to Abdulaziz bin Mishal, a member of the Saudi royal family and owner of Al-Shoula Group, the company that started the project from the AVE to Mecca with Spanish companies.
The closure of Switzerland has no influence
Despite the fact that the Anticorruption representatives have gathered abundant documentation throughout these years, they see increasingly clear that it will not be possible to file a complaint against any Spanish businessman for international bribery.
They find it almost impossible to prove that payments were made to Arab officials or members of the Saudi royal family because to do so they would need Saudi Arabian banks to hand over the information about the payments to these people, and they are practically convinced that they will not. “To think otherwise would be almost naive,” they acknowledge this newspaper. Therefore, without clarifying yet on what date, they advance that the end of said proceedings will be an archival decree.
This decision does not influence, they clarify, the decision of the Swiss prosecutor to archive his investigation, since “we were the ones who provided him with all the information, in fact we have more documentation than he,” they explain. However, they hit the same stone of the impossibility of proving the initial crime of bribery.
The prosecutors of the Supreme Court – until this Wednesday led by the late Juan Ignacio Campos – also address the file of the three lines of investigation that have developed around the concealment of money abroad by Juan Carlos I. Its inviolability, the prescription of crimes and having paid the Treasury what would have corresponded to him for the money he handled in Swiss accounts he did not declare in Spain will be the reasons for the filing decree that the State Attorney General, Dolores Delgado, will foreseeably sign.
Courts
The Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office keeps open its investigations around the Emeritus King for the concealment of millionaire funds abroad with two different lines of investigation by […]
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Light bulbs, gas bottles and plastic: Rubbish litters the cay at the Great Barrier Reef's heart
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Light bulbs, gas bottles and plastic: Rubbish litters the cay at the Great Barrier Reef's heart
Light bulbs, shoes, a giant rope and a soggy message in a bottle were just some of the bizarre items that have washed up on one of the Great Barrier Reef's most important nesting sites for seabirds.
Visitors to the sandy Michaelmas Cay are normally restricted to a small, roped-off area where the sand is golden, the water is crystal clear, and the cay is seemingly pristine.
But just a few steps away, over the crest of the sand dune among groups of nesting birds, lies thousands of pieces of dangerous debris.
It was a confronting contrast for about 30 volunteers, Indigenous rangers and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service representatives that descended on the tiny island off the coast of Cairns for a clean-up.
The crew of a popular Cairns tourist boat organised the litter drive after getting sick of seeing rubbish pile-up on the island, which is the size of two football fields.
They found more than 240 kilograms of rubbish in four hours.
Information about each piece of rubbish was gathered and added to the Australian Marine Debris Database to find out where it came from to assist in stopping it reaching the island again.
The popular tourist spot is one of the most important seabird nesting locations on the Great Barrier Reef.
How big is the problem and what can we do about it?
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Julie Dutoit was shocked at just how many small pieces of plastic were hidden beneath the sand where the birds nest.
"There's a big risk [of birds] ingesting the plastic and getting tangled up," she said.
"It's a terrible shame the rubbish is here in the first place."
Matt Wheldon from Tangaroa Blue said volunteers found plenty of large items on the island, but it was microplastics that were the most dangerous.
"We found dangerous items including aluminium phosphide — which is highly toxic and used to fumigate ships — we've found poison bottles and even medical waste," he said.
"But microplastics would make up [one quarter] of what we found. We counted 1676 pieces of plastic.
"For a small coral cay, that is pretty scary."
Indigenous ranger Tarquin Singleton admitted it was hard to see how much discarded garbage had made its way onto the cay.
"Not only is the debris a threat to bird life, it's a threat to fish and anything else that calls this cay home," he said.
"For Indigenous people the land is very important. We belong to the land more than we own it, so it's good we're doing something [to care for the environment]."
Mr Wheldon said there were two main reasons for the data collection aspect of the clean-up.
"The first is to prove what's in the ocean, to help people work out what they can do to reduce marine pollution," he said.
"We also have partnerships with Border Force, the Australian Maritime Safety Authorities and various government departments. So in the past we have helped prosecutions."
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Environment Pollution
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Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crash
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Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Alaska Airlines from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seattle, Washington, with several intermediate stops in southeast Alaska. The aircraft was a Boeing 727-100 with U.S. registry N2969G[1] manufactured in 1966. On September 4, 1971, the aircraft operating the flight crashed into a mountain in Haines Borough, about 18 miles west of Juneau, Alaska, while on approach for landing. All 111 people aboard were killed. [2] The subsequent investigation found that erroneous navigation readouts led the crew to descend prematurely. No definitive cause for the misleading data was found. It was the first fatal jet aircraft crash involving Alaska Airlines, and remained the deadliest single-aircraft accident in United States history until June 24, 1975, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 crashed. [3]
The captain of the flight was Richard C. Adams, age 41. Adams had 13,870 flight hours, including 2,688 hours on the Boeing 727. Piloting the aircraft at the time of the accident was First Officer Leonard D. Beach, age 32. Beach had 5,000 flight hours, with 2,100 of them on the Boeing 727. [4]:46 James J. Carson, age 30, was the Second Officer and had 2,850 flight hours, including about 2,600 hours on the Boeing 727. [4]:46 Beach and Carson were both hired by Alaska Airlines in 1966, and Adams had been with the airline since 1955. [4]:46 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later determined that all three flight crew members were current and qualified to operate the flight, and there was no evidence of any conditions which would have adversely affected the performance of their duties. The aircraft was a Boeing 727-100 with U.S. registry N2969G[1] manufactured in 1966 as c/n 19304 (Manufacturer's Serial Number 287). It was initially operated by Pacific Air Lines, which later became part of Hughes Airwest. On April 8, 1970, ownership of the aircraft was transferred to Hughes. Shortly thereafter, on September 25, 1970, Hughes leased it to Alaska Airlines. It had accumulated 11,344 flight hours at the time of the accident. [4]:48[5] The aircraft was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B turbofan engines. [3] The NTSB determined that the aircraft and engines were properly maintained and in good working order at the time of the accident. [4]
On September 4, 1971, Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 (Air Traffic Control call sign "Alaska 66") was scheduled to depart Anchorage, Alaska (ANC), with intermediate stops in Cordova (CDV), Yakutat (YAK), Juneau (JNU), and Sitka, Alaska (SIT) before continuing to Seattle, Washington (SEA). The flight departed ANC on time at 9:13 a.m. and the first stop at CDV was uneventful, apart from a minor issue with a cargo door which caused a short delay. The aircraft departed CDV at 10:34 and landed at YAK at 11:07. The next leg of the route to JNU, the accident flight, departed YAK at 11:35 a.m. with 104 passengers and 7 crew aboard. [4]:3
At 11:46 the crew contacted Anchorage air traffic control and reported they were at Flight Level 230 (FL230 or 23,000 feet), 65 miles (104 km) east of Yakutat. The controller issued a clearance to descend at pilots' discretion to cross the PLEASANT intersection at 10,000 feet, and gave them a clearance limit of HOWARD intersection. The controller then gave them the current altimeter setting at JNU and requested they report passing 11,000 feet in the descent. At 11:51 the crew informed the controller they were leaving FL230 descending to be level at 10,000 feet at PLEASANT intersection. [4]:3
At 11:54 the controller instructed the crew to stop their descent at 12,000 feet and changed the clearance limit to PLEASANT intersection where they could expect to hold. They reported level at 12,000 feet less than a minute later. The controller explained that he had to change the clearance due to another aircraft in the airspace near JNU. A Piper PA-23 Apache, N799Y, had departed JNU at 11:44 en route to Whitehorse and had reported in the vicinity of HOWARD intersection. The Piper's altitude was unknown and there was some confusion as to the route it was supposed to be flying. Flight 1866 acted as a communication relay between the controller and N799Y for several transmissions. [4]:3–4
At 11:58 the flight reported passing PLEASANT and entering the holding pattern there. The controller acknowledged the report and re-cleared them to HOWARD intersection. He then asked them to confirm they were still level at 12,000 feet and asked if they were "on top" of the clouds at that altitude. The crew replied they were level at 12,000, but in the clouds and "on instruments". At 12:00, the controller repeated the new clearance limit to hold at HOWARD, and told them they could expect to hold there until 12:10. At 12:01 the crew reported entering the holding pattern at HOWARD at 12,000 feet. At 12:07, the controller asked for their current location in the holding pattern, and direction from HOWARD. The crew reported they were turning on the inbound leg of the hold, joining the localizer course inbound towards HOWARD. The controller then cleared the flight for the straight-in LDA approach to Runway 8 and instructed them to cross HOWARD inbound at or below 9,000 feet. The crew acknowledged the clearance and reported leaving 12,000 feet. The LDA approach consisted of a localizer providing horizontal guidance to the crew. Vertical guidance was provided by instructions on the approach chart; the procedure involved descending to various published altitudes upon crossing specific intersections between the localizer and a nearby VOR station. The localizer was not equipped with distance measuring equipment at the time of the accident. At 12:08, the Anchorage controller asked them to report their current altitude and the crew responded, "...leaving five thousand five... four thousand five hundred." The crew was then instructed to contact Juneau Tower.
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Air crash
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Milwaukee police seek suspect in bank robbery
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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee police are requesting the public's assistance in identifying and locating a suspect wanted in a bank robbery that occurred on Friday, March 26. Officials say the suspect demanded and obtained money from a bank near Holt and Chase Avenue around 2:13 p.m before fleeing on foot. The suspect is described as a white male, 5'6" with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a black knit hat, a black hooded sweatshirt, a facemask, black gloves, gray sweatpants and gray shoes. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-TIPS or P3 Tips App for a cash reward.
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Bank Robbery
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Former Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputies Get Prison Sentences After Death Of Demetrius Shankling
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BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) – Two former Boulder County sheriff’s deputies who were convicted of causing the death of a 23-year-old intoxicated man by placing him on his stomach and squeezing him into a van to take him to a detox center have been sentenced to prison. James O’Brien and Adam Lunn were sentenced Thursday for the September 2018 death of Demetrius Shankling. Adam Lunn and Jim O’Brien O’Brien and Lunn were found guilty in August of manslaughter. An autopsy found that Shankling died of suffocation because of his positioning, with alcohol and amphetamine as contributing factors. Shankling was out celebrating what would become his final birthday on Sept. 18, 2018. Body camera video from Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies recorded what happened after they arrived. “What’s your first name? Demetrius. What’s that? Demetrius.” He was intoxicated with alcohol and drugs. As the deputies escorted him to a van he was told, “It’s not like you’re not in trouble you are not safe right now. You are highly intoxicated.” The young man wouldn’t step into the van so the deputies slid him in face down. Demetrius Shankling “Adios muchacho” could be heard said by one of the deputies. The 6 foot Shankling was placed in a 5 foot space handcuffed behind his back. They drove him 16 minutes to what’s called the Addiction Recovery Center, but he was unconscious upon arrival. Shankling died nearly a month later from asphyxiation and the drugs he had taken. His grandmother was among those testifying at Thursday’s sentencing. “I would spend every day with him in ICU holding his hand hoping he would wake up, holing his hand praying for his life.” Lunn apologized to the victim’s family as he spoke before the court. “My involvement that night is something that will impact them forever.” O’Brien was apologetic as well. “The mistakes that we made, I made, that day haunt me to this day. I didn’t look in the back of the van I should have known there was another container longer,” he said. The judge listened patiently as O’Brien continued. “Every day I see his face when I pull him out of the ambulance and I try to revive him.”
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
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2014 BWF World Championships
|
The 2014 BWF World Championships were held from 25 to 31 August 2014 at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. [1]
Copenhagen and Macau submitted bids for this of championships. [2] Both cities also bid for the 2013 edition, which was later won by Guangzhou. On 9 December 2011, Badminton World Federation decided to award the championships to Copenhagen during a meeting in Queenstown, New Zealand. [citation needed]
The draw was held on 11 August 2014 at the Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All five events started on the first day and concluded with the final on the last day. [3]
All times are local (UTC+2). * Host nation (Denmark)
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Sports Competition
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Detwiler Fire
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The Detwiler Fire was a wildfire that burned across Highway 49, east and south of Lake McClure, in Mariposa County, California. Ignited shortly before 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 16, 2017, the fire consumed up to 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) within its first day of burning. [2] By Thursday morning, on July 20, the fire was over 70,000 acres (28,000 ha) in size with only 7 percent containment. [1]
First reported at 3:56 p.m., the Detwiler fire was reported burning near Detwiler Road and Hunters Valley Road, 2 miles east of Lake McClure. [1] Within three hours, it had grown to over 1,000 acres as it spread primarily to the northeast. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for all homes along Detwiler Road, Hunters Valley Road, and Hunters Valley Access Road. [3] A Red Cross Evacuation Shelter was set up at McCay Hall, in Catheys Valley. [3] By nightfall, the fire was 2,500 acres in size with zero percent containment. On the morning of Monday, July 17, the fire reached a reported 7,100 acres (2,900 ha) with still zero percent containment, as intense heat, windy conditions, and limited resources hampered suppression efforts. [4] Severe fire actively further lead to the evacuation of the Bear Valley area, south of the fire. Highway 49 was also closed due to the fire. [4]
A state of emergency was declared on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 as the fire exploded to over 25,000 acres (100 km2) within the day. The entire community of Mariposa was put under a mandatory evacuation order as over 5,000 structures were threatened. [5] Yosemite National Park remained open, however some access roads were closed and the fire caused smoky conditions throughout the park. [6]
By the morning of Friday, July 21, the fire had been reported at 74,083 acres at 15% containment. 118 structures had been reported destroyed, with 58 of those being homes. [1] As of 11:00 AM that day, the evacuation of Mariposa was lifted. [7]
Over the weekend of July 22 and 23, further evacuation orders were lifted for the surrounding affected areas and by July 24th, the fire had burned 76,500 acres and was estimated at 50% containment. [1] Within the following days, fire crews had made significant headway, and by Wednesday, July 26, the fire was at 80,250 acres as containment had grown to 65% containment. [8]
By the evening of Friday, August 4, CAL FIRE reported the fire to be at 97% containment. [1] The cause of the fire was determined to be firearm-related, though specific details had not been released to the general public. [9]
On August 24, the fire was declared fully contained, after weeks of burning. [10]
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Fire
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2016 Aceh earthquake
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The 2016 Aceh earthquake (Indonesian: Gempa Aceh 2016) struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a Mw of 6.5 in Aceh province on 7 December 2016, at 05:03 WIB (22:03 UTC 6 December 2016). The shock was reported to be at a depth of 13 km, categorized as a strong, shallow earthquake. The epicentre was located near the village of Reuleut in Pidie Jaya Regency, 164 km (102 mi) southeast of the province's capital, Banda Aceh. [8] 104 people died in the quake, with at least 1,000 people injured. [9] It was the deadliest earthquake in Aceh since the 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake and the deadliest in Sumatra since the 2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami. The earthquake struck at 05:03 a.m while many people were still sleeping or preparing for morning prayer. [10] Hundreds of people panicked and ran through the streets as the earthquake struck, with eyewitnesses stating that most people were crying and screaming as their memories of the massive earthquake in 2004 were triggered. Many stated that the shaking was similar to the 2004 quake. Hundreds of people evacuated to higher ground, fearing that a tsunami would occur. [11]
Even though the earthquake was categorized as a shallow earthquake, the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics stated that there was no potential for a tsunami to occur. The shaking was strongly felt in Pidie and Pidie Jaya Regency and lasted for 10 – 15 seconds. The quake could be felt within the entire Aceh region.
The Deputy of Prevention and Alertness of the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management, Wisnu Widjaja, stated that the energy released by the quake was equivalent to that released in the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. [14] The Head of the Geology Office, Ego Syahrial, stated that Pidie Jaya Regency was included as one of the most earthquake-prone cities in Aceh and was in the red zone. [15]
In the initial hours after the earthquake, structures across Aceh were reported to have been severely damaged. The dome of the Samalanga Mosque, Pidie's central mosque, had collapsed. Massive power outages occurred throughout Pidie and Pidie Jaya as telephone poles and electrical poles tumbled. Several houses collapsed during the quake. Roads were also damaged. Preliminary data suggest that 14 structures had collapsed during the quake, including a minimarket in Pidie. Photos of destroyed houses and buildings were circulated on social media. [16][17] Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management later [stated that] "many structures" were damaged, of which 25 suffered heavy damage. [18][19] Detailed information revealed that 72 stores had collapsed, 15 houses had been destroyed, 1 mall had collapsed, 5 mosques appeared destroyed and an Islamic school also had collapsed. [20] It was reported that dozens of Islamic students were trapped under an Islamic School in Bireun Regency. [21] Later reports revealed that 249 structures had been damaged in the quake, including 14 mosques and a hospital. [22] The Indonesian National Disaster Management Board later confirmed that 686 structures were either destroyed or damaged. [5]
At least 108 aftershocks followed the main shock in Aceh, with the largest measuring 5.3 Mw occurring in the mid-morning hours of 11 December 2016 at a depth of 20 km. [2] The magnitude of the earthquake was also revised by the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics from 6.4 Mw to 6.5 Mw. [23]
The regent of Pidie Jaya, Aiyub Abbas, stated that approximately 30% of the area of Pidie Jaya was severely affected by the quake and also stated that he will travel back to Pidie Jaya after his duty visit to Istana Negara. [24]
Emergency services were overwhelmed in the aftermath of the quake. At least 30 people, including some children, were admitted to the nearest hospital for bone fractures. Search and rescue teams were immediately assembled and deployed to the scene, including the Disaster Victims Identification team (DVI). [25] Coordination centres were set up in the hardest-hit areas. The Indonesian Volcanology and Geologic Disaster Mitigation departments, and the Ministry of Energy and Human Resources were also sent to the disaster area. One person was reportedly killed due to falling debris. Further search and rescue operations discovered more deaths in Pidie Jaya. The Vice Regent of Pidie Jaya Regency, Said Mulyadi, stated that at least 18 people were killed in the quake, with dozens trapped under rubble. [26] The number reportedly injured was increased to 500, while treatment of the injured was initially limited to the streets as treating patients indoors was prohibited for fear of aftershocks. As local hospitals were overwhelmed, more survivors were transported to other main hospitals, including Pidie Jaya Hospital (outdoor, as the indoor section were heavily damaged) and Chik Di Tiro Hospital. [27] Severely injured people were transported by helicopters to Banda Aceh, the provincial capital. [28]
Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered the Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki to travel to Aceh in response to the quake. [29][30] He later added that other presidential officials were ordered to Aceh. [31] The Indonesian Government will set up tents, shelters, and camps for the survivors of the quake. The State Electricity Company (Perusahaan Listrik Negara) deployed 20 personnel to the disaster zone to check the electrical conditions in the area. [32][33] The National Search and Rescue Agency deployed special teams in response to the quake, consisting of 2 teams of 20 staff each. [34] The Indonesian Red Cross sent 500 family kits, 500 hygiene kits, 1,000 blankets, 1,000 mats, and 200 body bags, plus 2 ambulances. [35] A search and rescue team from Medan, North Sumatra, deployed 2 teams to Aceh to assist rescuers. [36]
The acting governor of Aceh Soedarmo ordered all agencies to work in the hardest hit areas and stated that deploying heavy equipment and distribution of aid supplies were the first priorities. [37] The Ministry of Public Works also sent several personnel to Aceh, including its General Director. [38] The Minister of Social Affairs, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, will travel to Aceh in order to help the survivors[39] The ministry had deployed Taruna Siaga Bencana in response to the quake.
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Earthquakes
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Restrained man bitten by police dog during Alpharetta arrest
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On July 25, Travis Moya, 36, sustained a concussion and dog bite wounds to his upper body after Alpharetta police officers handcuffed him. (contributed video)
By Shaddi Abusaid , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
July 29, 2021
Use-of-force investigation underway, department says
Alpharetta police have launched an internal investigation after a restrained man experiencing a “mental health crisis” was bitten by a police dog last weekend in the front yard of his home.
Travis Moya, 36, is recovering from a concussion and multiple bite wounds after his attorneys said officers used excessive force while arresting him Sunday evening in front of his family.
Police responded to Moya’s home about 6:15 p.m. after his wife called 911. The man’s attorneys described it as a non-violent mental health call, saying Moya was never physically combative or violent, and hadn’t committed a crime.
Caption
“Mr. Moya was having a mental health crisis,” his attorney, Chris Stewart, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This was non-violent, nothing crazy, but his wife felt that an ambulance needed to check him out. They called for help, and instead, a K-9 unit shows up.”
Explore Brookhaven police hire 2 mental health professionals to assist officers
Cellphone video released Thursday appears to show the police dog bite Moya while he was on the ground with three other officers on top of him.
The 55-second video appeared to show him being detained by the officers before they took him to the ground. While they were struggling in the yard, a fourth officer brought his dog up to Moya and could be heard telling the K-9 to attack. Moya was taken to the hospital for treatment before being booked into the Fulton County Jail on one count of felony obstruction.
“For whatever reason, they tried to handcuff him and detain him even though he was on his own property and hadn’t done anything,” Stewart said. “They slam him to the ground, which is excessive use of force. Then, out of nowhere, the K-9 officer brings the dog over and lets him loose on Mr. Moya while he’s cuffed on the ground.”
Explore Johns Creek approves mental health professional to help police answer calls
The man’s attorneys said police had been at the home less than 10 minutes before Moya was on the ground with the K-9 on top of him.
Photos released Thursday afternoon show deep puncture wounds on his upper arm, as well as blood-soaked hospital sheets.
Stewart said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety as soon as next week. He is also calling for criminal charges against the four officers involved.
Caption
Travis Moya suffered multiple bite wounds and a concussion during an arrest Sunday evening outside his Alpharetta home, his attorneys said.
Credit: Contributed
Caption
Travis Moya suffered multiple bite wounds and a concussion during an arrest Sunday evening outside his Alpharetta home, his attorneys said.
“There’s so many dog bites on his arm he can’t count them,” Stewart said.
The cellphone video only shows a portion of the exchange, but Moya appeared to resist as officers attempted to handcuff him outside his front door. At one point, a crying woman can be heard saying, “Baby, stop” and “Travis, calm down.”
As the dog bit him, Moya cried out in pain. He can be heard saying, “I didn’t do nothing to you” and pleading with the officers to “get this dog off of me.” His 5-year-old daughter was home at the time and witnessed the exchange, Moya’s attorneys said.
The dog remained on its leash during the incident.
An Alpharetta police spokesman confirmed Tuesday that a use-of-force investigation is underway.
“At this time, no complaint has been filed in relation to this matter, however per our policies, a use-of-force investigation is being conducted in this matter, as is performed for any instance of a use-of-force incident by one of our officers,” agency spokesman Officer Jeffrey Ross said in an emailed statement.
The department did not say whether any of the officers involved in Moya’s arrest have been placed on leave amid the internal investigation. Their names were not released.
Caption
Attorneys for an Alpharetta man said he was restrained when he was bitten repeatedly by a police K-9 outside his home.
Credit: Contributed
Caption
Attorneys for an Alpharetta man said he was restrained when he was bitten repeatedly by a police K-9 outside his home.
“They knew this was a mental health call,” Stewart said. “There was no reason for them to even touch him, let alone slam him on the ground.”
Explore Mental health clinicians will assist Lawrenceville police officers
Sunday’s incident comes amid national calls to reform policing in the U.S. by having trained mental health professionals respond to certain non-violent calls instead of armed officers. Over the past several months, several metro Atlanta departments have hired mental health professionals to accompany officers on certain calls and help deescalate tense situations.
“Obviously, when someone calls in about a mental health crisis, a K-9 unit should not be the one that responds to it,” said attorney Madeleine Simmons, who is also representing Moya. “There’s a breakdown there in the training and the processes and policies that they have in this police department.”
Alpharetta’s K-9 policy says the dogs’ handlers “may only use that degree of force reasonable and necessary to apprehend or secure a suspect.”
That policy also instructs the department’s handlers to “exhaust all reasonable means to effect an apprehension without incurring a canine bite.” In addition, department policy requires officers to intervene if they witness an “improper use of force,” records show.
The AJC has submitted an open records request for both the 911 call and the police report related to Sunday’s arrest. Moya’s attorneys are calling on the department to release the body camera footage of the officers involved. They also want Moya’s felony charge dropped.
Clarification: An initial version of this story said Moya was handcuffed when he was bitten by the police dog. Newly released body camera footage appears to show his left hand in cuffs, but his right arm remained free as he struggled with officers in the yard.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Brock Holt Hits 1st-Ever Postseason Cycle in Red Sox's Blowout Win vs. Yankees
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The game was essentially already over when the New York Yankees sent catcher Austin Romine to the mound in the ninth inning of Monday's blowout Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
While they were just playing out the string and preserving the bullpen, Brock Holt had history to make.
Holt launched a two-run homer into the right-field stands to cap off the scoring in the Boston Red Sox 's overwhelming 16-1 victory at Yankee Stadium. In doing so, he became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit for the cycle in a playoff game, per MLB Stat of the Day .
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
? FIRST CYCLE IN MLB POSTSEASON HISTORY ? (via @MLB) https://t.co/JrM7J1JyeN
David Schoenfield of ESPN noted this isn't the first time the Red Sox second baseman hit for the cycle, as he did so in 2015 against the Atlanta Braves as well.
He said it was the first time he attempted to go deep in his career, but his success suggests he should have tried it in the past:
Pete Abraham @PeteAbe
Holt said he went up in the ninth trying to homer. Moved up in the box and let it fly. Said it was the first time in his career he was trying to hit a homer.
It highlighted a record-breaking performance from the offense. According to David Adler of MLB.com, Boston set the all-time record for runs scored against the Bronx Bombers in a playoff contest (previously held by the Arizona Diamondbacks with 15 in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series) and its own franchise record for runs scored in a postseason game.
Much of Boston's damage came in a seven-run fourth inning, which Holt appropriately started off with a single. He added a two-run triple later in the frame to break open the game at 10-0.
His double was also of the RBI variety and came in the eighth inning.
The offensive explosion was notable for the Red Sox, but it was also a continuation of what they did throughout the season. They led the league in runs scored and feature MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez alongside impressive contributors such as Holt.
Perhaps more importantly in terms of their World Series fortunes, the Red Sox received a notable pitching performance from a starter other than Chris Sale. That remains an October concern since David Price sports a 5.28 playoff ERA and Rick Porcello's checks in at 5.33, but Nathan Eovaldi threw a gem with one earned run and five hits allowed in seven innings.
It is not difficult to envision the Red Sox winning the World Series if Eovaldi continues to pitch like that in support of Sale and Holt continues to hit like he did Monday in support of Betts and Martinez.
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Break historical records
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2007 Terengganu riot
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The 2007 Terengganu riot was an incident on 8 September 2007 in Terengganu, Malaysia where a peaceful rally became violent after intervention by the Malaysian police. The police fired water cannons, tear gas, and live ammunition at the rally participants, and two protestors were injured from the police's gunshots. Following the riot, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia announced that they would open inquiries probing into the events of that night. According to the Public Order Ordinance and the Police Act in the Constitution of Malaysia, a permit is required for any public assembly of five or more persons. [1] At the end of August 2007, a coalition of non-governmental organisations called Bersih applied for a permit from the police to organise a rally on 8 September at 9 pm in Batu Buruk, Terengganu. [2][3] They said that the purpose of their rally was a campaign for electoral reforms. [4] Their application was denied on 6 September by the police who said that the event organisers had failed to provide sufficient information about how they were going to handle traffic and security issues. [3] However, a large group of people still gathered on 8 September. Most of the people were supporters of the political party, the Malaysian Islamic Party. [2]
During the rally, police asked the demonstrators to disperse and end the rally over a span of five warnings, but they refused. [1][3] After the crowd ignored the police's final warning which included arrest threats, the police moved in to disperse the crowd. The crowd responded to the police's action by throwing stones and small rocks at them. These actions marked the beginning of the riot. [3] Consequently, riot police from the Federal Reserve Unit were deployed, and at about 10:30 pm, they began to spray the crowd with chemical-laced water cannons and tear gas. The police also began to arrest the rioters. [3][4][5]
At 11:45 pm, a police officer fired four live rounds from his pistol, and the bullets from his shots hit two members of the Malaysian Islamic Party. Suwandi Abdul Ghani was injured in the chest, and Muhamad Azman Aziz was injured in the neck. They survived the gunshots and were brought to the hospital, where Suwandi had to have a bullet removed from his right lung. [3][5][6][7][8] Meanwhile, the riot police continued to fire water cannons and tear gas at the crowd throwing objects at them until past midnight, and by 12:30 am on 9 September, the police had already arrested 13 people, including a journalist. [3][5] The riot ended not long after that, with the police beginning to leave at 1 am. [3]
By 9 September 24 people who were at the riot had been arrested. [5] In the days that followed the riot, there were pictures published of rioters burning the national flag. It was claimed that police officers had taken pictures of the flag being burnt, and subsequently, provided those pictures to a news agency. These claims were denied by the Terengganu police chief, Ayub Yaakob. There were also claims that news organisations were not allow to enter the riot location, and some people had their cameras confiscated by the police. The rally organisers said that there were undercover police in the crowd who were acting as inciting agents. [1] The Terengganu state government estimated that the damages caused during the riot amounted to a total of RM1 million. [3]
According to the police, the officer who had fired the gunshots had done so in self-defence. [1][5] They said that he had been surrounded by a group of rioters who were physically harming him. [3] However, the event organisers said that the police's action was unprovoked. [9] On 9 December, the two gunshot victims were arrested and charged with participating in an unlawful gathering, as well as intentionally causing injury to a police officer. When they appeared in court for the hearing of their charges, they were denied bail. [8]
On 13 September, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia announced that they would conduct a preliminary fact-finding mission on 19 September to find out what really happened on the night of the riot. [3] Their fact-finding mission reported that during the riot, there were police brutality and human rights violations. [9] However, on 9 October, the Human Rights Commission announced that they would not be holding a further public inquiry due to the ongoing court proceedings. [10] Supporters of the planned rally expressed their disappointment and questioned the Human Rights Commission's decision. [9] On 15 November, the Human Rights Commission announced that they would be holding the public inquiry on 11–15 December to further investigate the police's use of live ammunition since there were no ongoing court proceedings about it. [11]
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Riot
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DPH: Beware carbon monoxide poisoning
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A combination carbon monoxide and smoke alarm is seen on the ceiling at Star Community Homes, a project of Catholic Charities CYO on Thursday, November 29, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif.
Hazardous roads and freezing temperatures weren’t the only dangers posed by the snow storm that walloped the region on Monday. The state Department of Public Health put out a news release warning that the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning goes up when temperatures go down.
“Every winter in Connecticut, DPH officials note, hundreds of residents are taken to emergency departments and some are hospitalized due to carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from faulty furnaces, improperly placed portable generators and indoor use of charcoal grills, especially in the event of (a) power outage,” the release read.
Carbon monoxide is an invisible odorless gas that can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 430 people die in the United States every year from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning and about 50,000 people visit the emergency department annually because of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
The gas forms when fuels like gasoline, natural gas, propane, wood, charcoal and kerosene don’t burn completely. According to the DPH, breathing carbon monoxide can deprive the body of oxygen and may lead to illness, unconsciousness and death.
Carbon monoxide poisoning carries such symptoms as headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, confusion and loss of consciousness. Those who experience symptoms should leave the building they are in and seek medical help. Call 911 or the Connecticut Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222.
To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, the DPH recommends installing a carbon monoxide detector on each floor of the house and outside each bedroom. The DPH also cautions against portable generators, charcoal or gas grills, gas or propane powered pressure washers, saws or other fuel-powered equipment inside your home, garage, carport, basement or other enclosed spaces.
Also, place portable generators at least 20 feet from the house, and make sure no dryer vents or automobile tailpipes are plugged with snow.
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Mass Poisoning
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The Looming Crisis of Kids and COVID
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‘The next two weeks are going to be critical,’ one stakeholder says of the rising coronavirus cases recorded among children returning to schools. The Looming Crisis of Kids and COVID School staff survey a classroom in preparation for the upcoming start of school on September 2, 2021 in New York City.(Michael Loccisano/Getty Images) The number of school closures due to COVID-19 is increasing alongside pediatric infections as the country's public school system fully reopens – in many places with low vaccination rates and mask-optional policies. Read: More than 1,400 schools across 278 districts in 35 states that began the academic year in person have closed, according to Burbio, an organization that's tracking how schools respond to the ongoing pandemic. The figures are up from 698 schools across 158 districts in 25 states. While the spike in the school closure count is startling many education officials whose well-laid back-to-school plans have been foisted by the highly contagious delta variant and is creating major challenges for parents, they make up just a fraction of the 98,000 public schools across the country. In more than half of the closures, the schools pivoted to virtual instruction, but roughly 40% of schools that closed for a period of time did so without any remote learning plan in place, according to Burbio. A little less than 5% of schools delayed school start – some due to logistical issues like hiring enough bus drivers – and about 3% moved to a hybrid format, where students receive both in-person and virtual instruction. The delays, closures and pivots back to virtual learning reflect the recent spike in COVID-19 cases among children. While symptomatic and severe cases in kids remain less common than for other age groups, states and counties with mask-optional policies and where vaccination rates remain low are experiencing a harrowing increase in pediatric infections. More than 51,000 students in Texas have tested positive for COVID-19 since the first week of school in August. The same is true for 20,000 students in Mississippi. Meanwhile, in Florida, more than 26,000 children tested positive just last week, and children under the age of 12 became the age group with the highest new COVID-19 case count. In Georgia, cases in children 11 to 17 years old quadrupled over the last month since schools reopened. According to the state's public health officials, Georgia is experiencing the highest number of COVID-19 outbreaks since the pandemic began – more than half of which are connected to K-12 schools. "I'm not surprised," Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told MSNBC on Tuesday. "And the reason is the delta variant is very serious and it's very contagious. And a lot of school districts aren't doing the things that are necessary." he said. For all the criticism heaped upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government's top public health officials have been clear about how school leaders can return students to classrooms safely – by deploying a series of risk-mitigation strategies, one layered upon the other. The more coronavirus safety measures a school implements, the safer it is, with the gold standard being high vaccination rates among educators, staff and eligible students. And over the course of three relief packages, the federal government has directed $190 billion to K-12 schools so that, among other things, every child could return to a classroom this school year. Yet a recent analysis of 100 large and urban school districts, including the 30 biggest in the country, showed that 66% require masks for at least some and 68% have policies on contact tracing. But only 10% required vaccinations for school staff and just 18% required testing. "Kids should be getting tested once a week," Jha said. "It's a really important part of preventing outbreaks. It doesn't just identify people who are infected, but it prevents those from spreading it any further." "It's very possible to get kids back safely, but you have to follow the science," he said. Education officials are watching the next two weeks closely and say it will likely be a bellwether for what to expect from the country's public school system this year. "The next two weeks are going to be critical," says Chip Slaven, the interim executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association. "We're going to start to see how bad COVID really is with kids." One of the biggest tests will come next week, when New York City schools reopen Sept. 13 for more than 1 million children. With the exception of medically fragile children, all students will learn in person. "What I'm hearing in my discussions with health officials is that kids are being impacted more by the new variant than by the original COVID strain," he says. "We're going to have to see how school openings go and how many are able to keep the buildings open, how many have to return to virtual, whether it's going to be better or worse. We don't know that yet. We are in a national crisis due to a health emergency and people need to remember that." Tags: education, online education, elementary school, middle school, high school, coronavirus, pandemic
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Organization Closed
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University of Miami 2006 custodial workers' strike
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The University of Miami Justice for Janitors campaign was a nine-week strike lasting from February 28 to May 3, 2006. It featured striking custodial workers at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida challenging UNICCO (a company that provides maintenance, facility management, and cleaning and janitorial services for industrial, office, retail, and education facilities). The work action focused on achieving a living wage, affordable health insurance, and better working conditions for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) member employees. Prior to the strike at UM, a Boston-based company, UNICCO (now UGL Limited),[1] had already drawn negative attention for some of its business practices. From 1999-2001, four deaths and one serious injury of UNICCO employees were reported in separate incidents, and in 2003, two employees died in an incident at a workplace in Boston. [2] Investigations of these incidents indicated that UNICCO was in violation of numerous workplace standards and resulted in the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health placing UNICCO on its "Workplace Health and Safety Dirty Dozen Report. "[3] A salary survey for 1999-2000 conducted by the Chronicle for Higher Education found UM's custodial workers to be the second lowest in pay ($13,120/year) and UM to be one of only 12 universities among the 195 surveyed whose custodial workers' wages did not exceed the U.S. federal poverty line. [4]
David Liberman, the senior vice president for business and finance at UM at the time, stated, "we don't raise any questions about their business…[and] allow them to pay whatever they want to pay as long as they can recruit and retain workers, and still make a buck at the end of the day. "[5]
In response to this report, the UM Faculty Senate began addressing the issue in October 2001. In two separate resolutions, passed on October 24 and December 12 of that year, the faculty senate recommended to UM President Donna Shalala that the university needed to change its policies for companies which provided contracted labor. These recommendations went unheeded at the time. [6]
Formal organization of UM janitorial workers by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) began to take place in February 2005. The SEIU had been a primary organizer of the "Justice for Janitors" campaign. The SEIU sought the help of South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice (SFIWJ) early in its campaign in Florida, which signaled the start of an important partnership between the movement and religious organizations. During the fall of 2005, an ally was found in the group, Students Toward a New Democracy (STAND), which attempted to "create an activist culture in an historically apathetic student body. "[6] In order to improve STAND's capabilities, SEIU brought in students from Harvard (who had previously conducted a successful three-week living wage campaign), and students from Georgetown University to help teach organizational tactics to UM students. Following their majority approving an unfair labor practice strike against UNICCO on February 26, 2006, the janitors officially went on strike. In order to show solidarity with the striking workers, over one hundred UM professors and faculty held classes off campus in venues such as churches, houses, and even a park so as to not interfere with the campaign's picketing. [6] Out of the 200 UM janitors, SEIU reported that approximately half participated in the strike from the beginning. UNICCO, however, disputed these claims, asserting that SEIU was exaggerating the numbers, and that 148 out of the 206 workers had reported for work the previous day. At the same time the SEIU announced that a ten-day strike notice had been issued to the UM medical school, with the potential of adding 200 janitors to the work action. [7]
On March 28, members of the campaign launched a two-pronged action in an attempt to garner media attention. First, a group of seventeen people (consisting of union members, students, clergy, and community members) formed a human chain across US Route 1 outside of the UM campus, blocking traffic. Just as these seventeen people were arrested, another group (consisting of seventeen students and the campus chaplain) occupied the Ashe Building which housed the UM admissions office. After a thirteen-hour occupation, Shalala agreed to have a meeting with the students, workers, and the SEIU. [6]
Beginning April 5, the campaign featured hunger strikes and fasting (which took place in "Freedom Village"—the name given to the campaign's base of operations). The hunger strikes began with the workers, some of whom had previously participated in hunger strikes in their previous homeland of Cuba. [6] In addition to eight workers, seven students joined in the hunger strike. SEIU originally opposed this form of protest because of the obvious health implications involved, but as they began to support the idea of hunger strikes, they also provided nurses at Freedom Village to monitor the safety of those fasting. After more than two weeks, some people taking part in the strike were being hospitalized. Rather than ending the hunger strike altogether, leaders decided to recruit others to do the fasting (such as SEIU president Andy Stern and executive vice president Eliseo Medina). The UM custodial strike attracted national attention, including visits by several out-of-town political and labor leaders in support of the strike. Notable people such as Southern Christian Leadership Conference President John Edwards; Teamsters President James P. Hoffa; and civil rights leader Charles Steele, Jr. made visits to the campus to show support. [8]
On May 1, 2006, it was announced that UNICCO and the SEIU had reached an agreement that an independent third party (the American Arbitration Association—AAA) would determine whether or not a super-majority of UNICCO custodians at UM wished to unionize. UNICCO had finally agreed to the use of a card check vote (as opposed to the secret ballot system they had originally lobbied for). The agreement established a code of conduct governing how both the employer and the union would interact with the workers during the process. Both sides agreed not to interfere with the workers' decision on whether or not to form a union. SEIU secured a super-majority approval (more than 60%) from the 425 UNICCO workers at UM and UM's Jackson Memorial Hospital to unionize. [8] The UM janitors returned to work on May 3, 2006, signifying the end of their nine-week-long strike. Following the vote, UM janitor Maritza Perez (who had worked for UNICCO for eleven years) said, "I'm going to return [to work] with my head held high, protected by the name of the union, which is rare in the state of Florida. "[9]
On January 17, 2006, as the SEIU began ramping up efforts at UM, president Shalala issued a statement addressing the university's non-authorized solicitation regulations. Her letter emphasized the university's commitment to remain neutral regarding any labor issues between UNICCO and the SEIU. [10] When the movement started gaining significant momentum in late March, UM announced a new policy setting higher standards for companies contracted by the university. This resulted in setting a minimum wage of $8.00 per hour; the recognition of performance and length of service in pay scales; and the offering of affordable health insurance to university employees. [11][12] In an April 12 press release (following the storming of the administration building by protestors), Shalala condemned the actions of the protestors, and stated: "it was the student organization STAND that delivered the message that [the outside protestors] were not welcome on campus today. "[13]
The strike was the subject of several motions by university governmental bodies, including one passed on March 28 by the Faculty Senate, which urged UM to stipulate that its contractors provide a living wage, health insurance, and a fair workplace. The resolution further stated that should UNICCO's contract not be renewed by UM, that the successful bidder be required to hire those workers currently employed by UNICCO at UM. [14] Another resolution, this one by the UM Student Government, was an April 19 mandate "strongly" disapproving of recent campus disruptions by several of the pro-strike organizations (ACORN, JWJ, SEIU, and STAND), and which called on them to end the disruptions immediately. The actions by these groups mentioned in the resolution included the harassing of UM students, the disruption of a class taught by Shalala, trespassing on private property, and "vandalizing the back entrance of the Ashe Building with graffiti". [15]
In addition to the SEIU being elected as the union for UM workers, the original policy changes implemented by UM in late March 2006 were kept, along with some additional improvements.
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Strike
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Sisters Colleen and Charmaine were diagnosed with breast cancer within days of each other
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Even when Sue Thrush was sick with her own cancer, she was there for "every step" of her daughter Colleen's radiation treatment in Adelaide.
Colleen Rasmussen, now 46, was the first of Sue's daughters to receive a breast cancer diagnosis.
"That week was the hardest week ever, having to tell my family, my boys, that I have cancer," Colleen said.
"We didn't know at the time but Charmaine was waiting for her results as well."
Charmaine Moulton, her sister, was diagnosed in the same week of November 2019.
She had to share the news with her husband, 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.
"I was a bit naughty, I knew I had a lump for about a year," Charmaine, 43, said.
"I just didn't think that I would ever have breast cancer."
While her cancer wasn't as aggressive as her sister's, it had been there longer, despite having yearly mammograms.
One in seven women in Australia are diagnosed with breast cancer and in the space of a week so had two of the three Thrush sisters.
"It just scares me that my kids have got it [now]. Maybe my grandkids, who knows?" Sue said.
Sue was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2001. Now, at 66, she's battling terminal lung cancer.
She knows what's coming. In just 10 years she's lost her sister, mum and dad to a mix of pancreatic, breast, lung and brain cancer.
Growing up in Mount Burr, a town of just 360 residents on South Australia's Limestone Coast, the Thrush girls, who now live at Penola, had very little experience of cancer.
"We didn't really hear much about cancer growing up until Mum had her non-Hodgkin's," Colleen said.
Sue suggests the cause might be from the chemicals she was exposed to at work.
"I used to work in a vineyard along with my sister-in-law and heaps of other friends that have passed from cancer," Sue said.
"That's what I've put a lot of it down to."
As director of the Familial Cancer Service at Monash Health, oncologist Marion Harris sees families like this "all the time".
"Most people really want to understand, 'Why has this happened?', and are motivated to protect the next generation," Dr Harris said.
She said while environmental factors were always at play, chemicals probably were not enough to have caused Sue's cancers on their own.
"No one can say chemicals haven't played some part but, unlike smoking and lung cancer or sun exposure and melanoma, the exact risks are not well understood," she said.
"Sometimes we test families for hereditary predispositions — especially for cancers like breast and bowel cancer — but we don't find any, and we're stumped. Have we tested the wrong person? Have we missed it? Is there something else in this family?"
While breast cancer was often linked to mutated BRCA genes, or a handful of other genes, like PALB2, ATM and CHEK2, Dr Harris said changes in these genes were not always found.
"Not everyone with an inherited predisposition to cancer change gets cancer either," she said.
Despite one sister having been found to not carry a BRCA gene change in the past, Dr Harris said that the family should now be reassessed by a familial cancer service, as testing in 2021 tests more genes with updated techniques.
Dr Harris said that cases of breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancers could all sometimes be associated with a BRCA or other gene change that could be present in the family.
"If it's not a change in BRCA1 or 2 that's been missed, it may well be one of these other genes, or even a combination of multiple small risk genetic variants [called SNPS — single nucleotide variants] that all could be acting," Dr Harris said.
"Genetic testing is improving all the time."
While it's easy to feel overwhelmed about their situation, Colleen and Charmaine are thankful to have each other during their journey.
"Not that I don't want my baby sister to have cancer but it was good to have that support," Colleen said.
"Charmaine was very positive, I wasn't ... I hate the word positive, she always says to be positive but I just can't handle the word.
"I wanted to pull the pin after two chemos because I was so sick … but I did it."
Their mother, Sue, has been a major source of support too.
"When we were growing up Dad worked a lot so it was just Mum at home," Colleen said.
"She'd take us everywhere, did everything with us, what she could, [she] also worked," Charmaine said.
For Colleen, her mother continues to take her everywhere.
"I don't have a licence, never had a licence. So Mum's my taxi driver. I don't know what I'm going to do [when she's gone]," Colleen said.
"She's told me if I get my licence she'll leave me her car."
The family's focus now is on making the most of their time together.
"We're planning things so Mum's got something to look forward to," Colleen said.
"Because we know that she's not going to be with us forever and this cancer, unfortunately, is not going to go away."
Considering all Sue's been through, she wouldn't change the life she's had.
"I couldn't have asked for anything better," Sue said.
"People said [your marriage] wouldn't last six months and it's lasted 40-odd years and four beautiful kids and five beautiful grandkids."
As for Colleen and Charmaine, they're both currently in remission.
Worried about getting diagnosed herself, the eldest sister, Pat, has been seeing Charmaine's breast specialist in Adelaide for the past 18 months just to be safe.
Colleen's next mammogram is in November.
"Hopefully fingers crossed it's still the same," Colleen said.
"But it's always in the back of your head. Is this going to be the time?"
Their message to others is the same.
"Cancer doesn't just hit a certain age, there's no age limit on it," Colleen said.
"Just go and get checked, don't put it off."
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
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Famous Person - Sick
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Sun fires off powerful solar flare
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WASHINGTON — A "significant" solar flare was emitted by the sun on Thursday, which could lead to an impressive northern lights display this weekend for some parts of the country. The X1.0-class flare peaked at 11:35 a.m. Eastern Thursday. As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center issued a strong geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday, Oct. 30, and a moderate watch for Sunday, Oct. 31. Solar flares have a similar classification system as earthquakes. With X-class being the most intense and A-class being the least. The higher the number, the more intense the flare. While X1 is still considered a major flare, a solar flare in 2003 was so powerful it overloaded the sensors, which cut out at X28, according to NASA. NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison captured images of Thursday's event, which it joked was a "Pretty cool, er-hot" flare. The #GOES16 Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument captured a strong solar flare today, seen here in 2 wavelengths. Pretty cool, er -hot! "POW! The Sun just served up a powerful flare," NASA tweeted from its official Sun & Space account, along with an image captured by the agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory. POW! The Sun just served up a powerful flare! ☀️ ? At 11:35 a.m. EDT today, a powerful X1-class solar flare erupted from the Sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught it all on camera. ? More on our Solar Cycle 25 The Space Weather Prediction Center said some of the possible geomagnetic storm effects for Saturday include that auroras may be visible "as low as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon." That forecast could still change. Today's X-1 solar flare did launch a coronal mass ejection(CME) towards Earth. The main impact will be felt this weekend in the form of #Auroras & some communication issues. The aurora forecast is fluid and could change dramatically by the weekend. Solar flares are described as powerful burns of radiation. As NASA explains on its website, Earth's atmosphere blocks harmful radiation from flares from affecting humans on the ground. However, if intense enough, "they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel."
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New wonders in nature
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Officials Need Your Help Identifying Two Individuals Who Are Suspected of Attempting to Rob the Sooper Credit Union
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Email Email The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force and the Arvada Police Department need your help identifying two individuals who are suspected of attempting to rob the Sooper Credit Union located at 5151 West 60th Avenue in Arvada, Colorado, at approximately 5:55 p.m. on Friday, May 7, 2021. Suspect One is described as a Caucasian female, between 30 and 40 years old and 5’6” to 5’8” with a heavy build. She wore a black and red dress and a black and red wig. Suspect Two is described as a Caucasian individual and approximately 5’10” with a medium build. The suspect wore a black and white dress and a white wig. The suspects were seen driving away in a light green sedan. Please be on the lookout for anyone matching the description of the suspects. Be aware of anyone similar who might have recently changed their spending habits or discussed coming into money suddenly. Bank robbery is punishable up to a 20-year prison sentence for each offense and increases if a dangerous weapon is used in the commission of the crime. The FBI continues to provide financial institutions with the best practices for security to make them less vulnerable to robberies. If anyone has any information on the bank robbery above or any bank robbery, please call the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force at 303-629-7171; or, you may remain anonymous by calling CRIMESTOPPERS at 720-913-STOP (7867).
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Bank Robbery
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Desert Locust Bulletin 395 (August 2011) [EN/AR] - World
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General Situation during August 2011
Forecast until mid-October 2011
Low numbers of solitarious Desert Locust adults persisted in some of the summer breeding areas in the northern Sahel of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Sudan during August. Similar numbers are likely to be present in eastern Chad and western Eritrea. Small-scale breeding was reported in Mauritania and Niger. In Northwest Africa, ground teams in Morocco and Algeria treated residual populations of transiens hopper and adult groups from spring breeding. In Southwest Asia, low numbers of solitarious adults were present along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border. During the forecast period, small-scale breeding will occur in areas of recent rainfall in the northern Sahel between Mauritania and western Eritrea, along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border, and perhaps in the interior of Yemen, causing locust numbers to increase.
Western Region. Low numbers of solitarious adults were present in parts of the summer breeding areas in the northern Sahel of Mauritania, northern Mali, and western and northern Niger during August. Good rains fell in most of these areas, causing ecological conditions to remain favourable for breeding. Low numbers of locusts are also likely to be present in eastern Chad. Although small-scale breeding was only detected in southwest Mauritania and western Niger, it is almost certainly in progress in the other frontline countries and will continue during the forecast period, causing locust numbers to increase further. In Northwest Africa, ground teams treated residual infestations of hopper and adult groups south of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco (1,175 ha) and Algeria (40 ha). During the forecast period, low numbers of locusts are expected to appear in southern Algeria and in areas of recent heavy rainfall in the southeastern part of Western Sahara. Limited breeding could occur in both places.
Central Region. Average rains fell during August in the summer breeding areas in northern Sudan and low numbers of solitarious adults were present in North Kordofan, Khartoum and River Nile States. Small-scale breeding will cause locust numbers to increase during the forecast period. Although reports were not received from Eritrea, a similar situation and forecast are expected. Low numbers of locusts are likely to be present and breeding on a small scale in the interior of Yemen where good rains fell during August. Unfortunately, surveys could not be carried out to confi rm this. During the forecast period, locust numbers are expected to increase in areas of recent rainfall in Yemen No locusts were reported elsewhere in the Region.
Eastern Region. Low numbers of solitary adults were present along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border in Cholistan, Pakistan and Rajasthan, India. As ecological conditions remain favourable for breeding due to the seasonal monsoon rains, small-scale breeding will cause locust numbers to increase during the forecast period.
Primary country
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Insect Disaster
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Santika Club fire
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The Santika Club fire occurred on Thursday 1 January 2009, in the Santika Club nightclub in Ekkamai, Watthana, Bangkok, Thailand, where New Year celebrations were taking place. A total of 66 people were killed and another 222 injured when fire swept through the nightclub during the New Year's celebration as a band, coincidentally called "Burn", was playing. By another coincidence, the party was named "Santika's Last Night". The fire broke out[4] at 00:35. [5] and citizens of thirteen countries[6] were among the injured.
No official cause for the Santika fire has been announced by investigators. Suggested causes include outdoor fireworks that set the roof on fire, sparklers lighted inside the nightclub,[2] or an electrical explosion. [7] One witness stated there were no pyrotechnics in the club,[3] while another reported seeing flames on the roof after going outside to watch the midnight fireworks display. [citation needed]
Video recordings of the indoor stage event, including the countdown to midnight, show that only ordinary holiday sparklers were used. Moreover, the fire became visible indoors approximately 10 minutes after midnight. [citation needed] This strongly suggests the fire originated inside the ceiling space or on the roof, allowing it to grow in intensity while going unnoticed for some time. Due to the lax enforcement of building regulations, tar paper and plastic are often used as waterproofing materials. Around 1,000 guests and employees were in the club when it burned, and deaths occurred from smoke inhalation, burns and being crushed during a stampede for the exit. [3] Doctors stated that fumes from burning plastic could have caused people to faint after a few minutes. Santika only had one main exit, with an additional private staff exit. [8] A third exit was locked to prevent robberies. [9]
The injured were taken to 19 hospitals,[10] with most taken to Bangkok Hospital. [7][10] More than 100 other people were injured in this incident. [11] Only 29 of the 61 bodies were immediately identified, of these 28 were Thais and the other a Singaporean. [8] The bodies of those who died were wrapped in white cloth and placed in the club's car park pending removal. [2] It took up to a week to identify the others because of extensive burns to their bodies. [2] Pongsak Kasemsan, an official in Bangkok, ordered a preliminary investigation, with results by 4 January. [2]
After a preliminary inspection of the club's safety system, it was declared "substandard" by police Lieut. Gen. Jongrak Jutanont. [12] It was revealed the club only had one fire extinguisher, and that the nightclub was registered as a food vendor (restaurant), meaning it was required by law to close at midnight. [9]
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the site and said, "The question is why they let someone take fireworks inside the pub and light them up. "[2]
The owner of the Santika Club was charged, along with twelve other directors. The owner was also charged with allowing an underage customer into the club after a 17-year-old student's body was recovered. He faced a further charge of carelessness resulting in death. [13]
Two parallel investigations were launched, one by the police, and one by the Ministry of Justice. The police blamed the lead singer of "Burn" for setting off fireworks on stage, and the club owner for recklessness and for illegally admitting people under the age of 19. The Ministry of Justice investigation discovered the nightclub was officially registered as a private residence and therefore had never received a fire safety inspection. It was also in a zone where nightclubs are prohibited and the city architect's signature approving the club's design had been forged. Between 2004 and 2006, police had filed 47 charges against the club's owners for illegal operation. After that, however, no charges were filed. Suspicions of corruption were raised when one of the co-owners was identified as a senior police officer. When the Ministry of Justice investigation was turned over to the police, sources close to the minister reported he was furious. [1]
On 20 September 2011, the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court found two persons – Wisuk Setsawat, the pub owner, and Boonchu Laorinath, the responsible person for pyrotechnics – guilty of negligence. Wisuth and Boonchoo were given three-year jail terms. Boonchoo was also ordered to pay 8.5 million baht in compensation to five plaintiffs, relatives of the victims. [14]
On 22 October 2013, the Court of Appeals acquitted Setsawat of gross negligence. [15] On 25 April 2014, the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court found Setsawat guilty of excise tax violations and sentenced him to one year in prison. [16]
In November 2015, club owner Wisuk Setsawat was jailed for three years. [17]
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Fire
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20 Celeb Couples Who Got Married in Las Vegas
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The National Treasure actor tied the knot with girlfriend Riko Shibata in Las Vegas on Feb. 16, 2021, PEOPLE confirmed. It is his fifth marriage and second Vegas wedding. The event was a "very small and intimate wedding at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas," according to a rep for Cage. The ceremony was held on February 16 "to honor the birthday of the groom's late father." The "Smile" singer, 35, and Stranger Things actor, 45, tied the knot in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 2020, PEOPLE confirmed through court records. Both stars posted photos from the low-key ceremony, which was officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator and followed by a meal of In-N-Out burgers. "In a wedding officiated by the king himself, the people's princess wed her devoted, low born, but kind credit card holder in a beautiful ceremony lit by the ashen skies courtesy of a burning state miles away in the midst of a global pandemic," Harbour captioned his post. "Refreshments were served at a small reception following." The stars were first linked in January 2019, and Allen was first photographed wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring in November. The Bachelor Nation couple thought the first time they got married was nice, so they decided to do it twice! The two revealed on Instagram that they got married again, this time with their daughter Alessi Ren, at a Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas only eight months after their Maui ceremony. "We got married on Saturday (again) in the back of a pink caddy in Vegas," Luyendyk captioned his Sept. 10, 2019 Instagram post. "Our new friend and legend @mrjordan1911 officiated (Elvis sat this one out). Can't wait to show you guys more, we'll post on our YouTube tomorrow ?????" "@Ariejr's so nice I married him twice!?," Burnham captioned her post. "We always joked about ditching our plans for the first wedding and eloping in Vegas so we thought, what the heck, why not have both? Best decision we ever made as this day will be a hilarious memory we will cherish forever. Thank you @mrjordan1911for officiating this special moment for us. Stay tuned for the video dropping tomorrow on our YouTube.?" After the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 1, the stars surprised everyone by saying "I do" at Chapel L'Amour inside A Little White Wedding Chapel. The singer's brothers were in attendance, an Elvis impersonator officiated, Dan + Shay performed and Diplo shared the whole thing on Instagram Live. The couple followed the Vegas wedding with a larger ceremony at a chateau in France a month later. The actor filed for an annulment in March 2019, just four days after marrying makeup artist Koike in Vegas, claiming the two were too drunk and he had "reacted on impulse and without the ability to recognize or understand the full impact of his actions." After one year of dating, the two lovers eloped in the city of sin back in 1996 and have been together ever since (they celebrated their 24th anniversary on May 1!). The Fuller House star said "I do" in 2007 at a chapel in Vegas after dating film industry driver Herpin for only two months. Their daughter Zoie Laurel May Herpin was born one year later, but the marriage quickly crumbled due to financial problems. The music producer and singer quietly got married in Vegas in 2009, only to get divorced five months later - while Milian was still pregnant with their daughter Violet Madison Nash. The two met when Farrow was 19 and Sinatra was 48. Despite the age difference, the couple tied the knot at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1966, but the marriage ended two years later once Sinatra sent the actress divorce papers on the set of Rosemary's Baby, according to Vanity Fair. After an all-night bender, the couple got married in Vegas in 1999 but filed for divorce six months later. The former basketball player said he was "of unsound mind when he recited his vows," but the split was amicable. The actors said their vows at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas in 2003 and have been together ever since. The lavish wedding was filmed for a TV special that aired on VH1. Anderson married her longtime friend at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas in 2007. The actress filed for divorce two months later; the couple got remarried in 2014, only to split again one year later. Griffith and Johnson also got hitched twice. The first time was in 1976 during a small ceremony in Vegas, however, then got divorced six months later. The second time was in 1989. During that marriage, they had their daughter Dakota, but split for good in 1995. The pop star had a shotgun wedding with childhood friend Alexander in Vegas in 2004. They were married for all of 55 hours before getting the marriage annulled. In true Vegas style, Midler and Haselberg had their wedding officiated by an Elvis impersonator at the Starlight Chapel in 1984. The happy couple is still going strong today. In 1989, the singer broke many fans' hearts when he went off to Vegas to marry his high school sweetheart. The couple have now been married for more than 20 years and they have four children: Stephanie, Jesse, Jacob and Romeo. The actors dated for three months before tying the knot at the Golden Nugget in Vegas. The quicky wedding led to a 13-year marriage and three daughters before they called it quits in 2000. However, they remain friendly today. The two got married in Vegas in 1991 before splitting four years later. "We didn't spend enough time together," Crawford told PEOPLE. "And we're equally responsible for that. We thought it would be okay if we just flew in from Paris to L.A. to get together for a night to see each other. It wasn't." The two actors live-streamed their nuptials in Vegas in 2016. The taping was offered as part of Viva Las Vegas' King Tut wedding theme package. Although the couple originally planned to keep their ceremony private, LaBeouf revealed that the video was accidentally sent to TMZ and so, the world got to see all of the action. In 2018, the stars parted ways. One of hollywood's most infamous couples got hitched in Vegas in 2000 after only dating for a short while. The marriage lasted three years and in 2018, Thornton revealed why. "We just had different lifestyles. Hers is a global lifestyle and mine is an agoraphobic lifestyle," he said on the HFPA in Conversation podcast with a laugh. "So that's really, that's the only reason we're probably not still together, maybe. There was a different path in life we wanted to take." The National Treasure actor tied the knot with girlfriend Riko Shibata in Las Vegas on Feb. 16, 2021, PEOPLE confirmed. It is his fifth marriage and second Vegas wedding. The event was a "very small and intimate wedding at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas," according to a rep for Cage. The ceremony was held on February 16 "to honor the birthday of the groom's late father." The "Smile" singer, 35, and Stranger Things actor, 45, tied the knot in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 2020, PEOPLE confirmed through court records. Both stars posted photos from the low-key ceremony, which was officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator and followed by a meal of In-N-Out burgers. "In a wedding officiated by the king himself, the people's princess wed her devoted, low born, but kind credit card holder in a beautiful ceremony lit by the ashen skies courtesy of a burning state miles away in the midst of a global pandemic," Harbour captioned his post. "Refreshments were served at a small reception following." The stars were first linked in January 2019, and Allen was first photographed wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring in November. The Bachelor Nation couple thought the first time they got married was nice, so they decided to do it twice! The two revealed on Instagram that they got married again, this time with their daughter Alessi Ren, at a Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas only eight months after their Maui ceremony. "We got married on Saturday (again) in the back of a pink caddy in Vegas," Luyendyk captioned his Sept. 10, 2019 Instagram post. "Our new friend and legend @mrjordan1911 officiated (Elvis sat this one out). Can't wait to show you guys more, we'll post on our YouTube tomorrow ?????" "@Ariejr's so nice I married him twice!?," Burnham captioned her post. "We always joked about ditching our plans for the first wedding and eloping in Vegas so we thought, what the heck, why not have both? Best decision we ever made as this day will be a hilarious memory we will cherish forever. Thank you @mrjordan1911for officiating this special moment for us. Stay tuned for the video dropping tomorrow on our YouTube.?" After the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 1, the stars surprised everyone by saying "I do" at Chapel L'Amour inside A Little White Wedding Chapel. The singer's brothers were in attendance, an Elvis impersonator officiated, Dan + Shay performed and Diplo shared the whole thing on Instagram Live. The couple followed the Vegas wedding with a larger ceremony at a chateau in France a month later. The actor filed for an annulment in March 2019, just four days after marrying makeup artist Koike in Vegas, claiming the two were too drunk and he had "reacted on impulse and without the ability to recognize or understand the full impact of his actions." After one year of dating, the two lovers eloped in the city of sin back in 1996 and have been together ever since (they celebrated their 24th anniversary on May 1!). The Fuller House star said "I do" in 2007 at a chapel in Vegas after dating film industry driver Herpin for only two months. Their daughter Zoie Laurel May Herpin was born one year later, but the marriage quickly crumbled due to financial problems. The music producer and singer quietly got married in Vegas in 2009, only to get divorced five months later - while Milian was still pregnant with their daughter Violet Madison Nash. The two met when Farrow was 19 and Sinatra was 48. Despite the age difference, the couple tied the knot at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1966, but the marriage ended two years later once Sinatra sent the actress divorce papers on the set of Rosemary's Baby, according to Vanity Fair. After an all-night bender, the couple got married in Vegas in 1999 but filed for divorce six months later. The former basketball player said he was "of unsound mind when he recited his vows," but the split was amicable. The actors said their vows at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas in 2003 and have been together ever since. The lavish wedding was filmed for a TV special that aired on VH1. Anderson married her longtime friend at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas in 2007. The actress filed for divorce two months later; the couple got remarried in 2014, only to split again one year later. Griffith and Johnson also got hitched twice. The first time was in 1976 during a small ceremony in Vegas, however, then got divorced six months later. The second time was in 1989. During that marriage, they had their daughter Dakota, but split for good in 1995. The pop star had a shotgun wedding with childhood friend Alexander in Vegas in 2004. They were married for all of 55 hours before getting the marriage annulled. In true Vegas style, Midler and Haselberg had their wedding officiated by an Elvis impersonator at the Starlight Chapel in 1984. The happy couple is still going strong today. In 1989, the singer broke many fans' hearts when he went off to Vegas to marry his high school sweetheart. The couple have now been married for more than 20 years and they have four children: Stephanie, Jesse, Jacob and Romeo. The actors dated for three months before tying the knot at the Golden Nugget in Vegas. The quicky wedding led to a 13-year marriage and three daughters before they called it quits in 2000. However, they remain friendly today. The two got married in Vegas in 1991 before splitting four years later. "We didn't spend enough time together," Crawford told PEOPLE. "And we're equally responsible for that. We thought it would be okay if we just flew in from Paris to L.A. to get together for a night to see each other. It wasn't." The two actors live-streamed their nuptials in Vegas in 2016. The taping was offered as part of Viva Las Vegas' King Tut wedding theme package. Although the couple originally planned to keep their ceremony private, LaBeouf revealed that the video was accidentally sent to TMZ and so, the world got to see all of the action. In 2018, the stars parted ways. One of hollywood's most infamous couples got hitched in Vegas in 2000 after only dating for a short while. The marriage lasted three years and in 2018, Thornton revealed why. "We just had different lifestyles. Hers is a global lifestyle and mine is an agoraphobic lifestyle," he said on the HFPA in Conversation podcast with a laugh.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Explorers Survey World’s Deepest Known Shipwreck
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The American destroyer U.S.S. Johnston sank on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Sea Elizabeth Gamillo Daily Correspondent During the largest naval battle of World War II and possibly the largest naval battle in history, a United States Navy destroyer sank off the Philippine island of Samar on October 25, 1944. Now, in the deepest shipwreck dive—crewed or uncrewed—in history, explorers in a piloted submersible went 21,180 feet deep into the ocean to survey the sunken vessel, reports Yasemin Saplakoglu for Live Science. After 75 years, the U.S.S. Johnston was first located in 2019 using a remote operated vehicle. This year, the private ocean expedition company, Caladan Oceanic, reached the shipwreck on March 31, reports Lilit Marcus and Brad Lendon for CNN. Former U.S. Navy commander and Caladan Oceanic founder Victor Vescovo funded and piloted the submersible down to the wreck where they took high-definition photos and video of the vessel, reports Live Science. The submersible, Caladan Oceanic's DSV Limiting Factor, descends into the depths with a nine-centimeter-thick titanium pressure hull that can hold two people inside. The Limiting Factor has also explored the deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana Trench and the Titanic, reports Rebecca Morelle for BBC News. The U.S.S. Johnston was about 62 percent deeper than the Titanic's location in the North Atlantic Ocean, according to a statement. The team captured footage of the ship's bridge, midsection, and bow, which still had hull number "557" still visible on both sides, Live Science reports. The ship's gun turrets, twin torpedo racks, and gun mounts were still in place, reports Michael E. Ruane for the Washington Post. The U.S.S. Johnston measured 376 feet long and 39 feet wide at its widest. Before and after the expeditions, the explorers laid wreaths to honor the 327 crew members of the U.S.S. Johnston, including 141 survivors, reports BBC. There were 185 crew members lost in the wreck, including Ernest E. Evans, who was the first Native American Navy commander to receive the Medal of Honor, reports the Washington Post. "No human remains, or clothing were seen at any point during the dives, and nothing was taken from the wreck," according to a Caladan Oceanic statement. The data collected, including sonar, imagery, and field notes, were given to the U.S. Navy and were not made public, Live Science reports. The wreck was not disturbed, and Vescovo hopes that the footage will be used by naval historians and archivists, Live Science reports. "In some ways, we have come full circle," Vescovo said in a statement. "The Johnston and our own ship were built in the same shipyard, and both served in the U.S. Navy. As a U.S. Navy officer, I'm proud to have helped bring clarity and closure to the Johnston, its crew, and the families of those who fell there."
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Shipwreck
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Southwestern Japan volcano erupts, alert level raised
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A volcano on a southwestern Japan island erupted early Friday, sending large rocks almost 1 kilometer from the crater and prompting the weather agency to raise its alert by one level to restrict entry into the area surrounding the mountain. The eruption occurred at the crater of Mt. Otake on Suwanose Island of Kagoshima Prefecture at around 2:12 a.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries, according to local authorities. The Japan Meteorological Agency raised its alert level to 3 on a scale of 5, meaning that people should not approach the mountain. The agency also warned of the potential for big rocks to be hurled into the air within about a 2-km radius of the crater of the 799-meter mountain in Toshima village. According to the agency, multiple explosions occurred at the crater on Thursday. Following the eruption early Friday, the government also set up a liaison office at the prime minister's office to gather information. Suwanose, a volcanic island with a population of less than 100, is located to the south of Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu.
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Volcano Eruption
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Palestinian militants last night launched their most daring assault on an Israeli target in weeks, detonating explosives in a tunnel dug under a military outpost in the Gaza Strip in a blast that injured at least six soldiers
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Palestinian militants last night launched their most daring assault on a Israeli target in weeks, detonating explosives in a tunnel dug under a military outpost in the Gaza Strip in a blast that injured at least six soldiers.
The attack, orchestrated to avenge the recent killing of Palestinian militant leaders, was likely to inflame Israeli public opinion amid the debate over the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza. It also provided a blunt rejoinder to Egyptian efforts to get both sides to restore a truce.
The soldiers were in a post guarding the Kissufim road, the artery from Israel to the Gush Katif settlement block which Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has vowed to evacuate by the end of 2005.
It is believed the explosives were detonated at around 10pm local time. The outposts are protected with reinforced concrete and sit on mounds to give a clear view of the surroundings. The explosion collapsed the entire structure.
Ambulances and armed forces which came to rescue trapped and injured soldiers came under rifle fire from Palestinian areas bordering the road which cuts through Palestinian land to reach the settlement block.
Two Palestinians from nearby Khan Yunis were killed in shooting following the blast.
The attack will revive debate about Mr Sharon's plans to shut down the Gaza settlements, an evacuation that is resisted by a minority of Israelis composed of settlers and rightwingers.
The Kissufim road is a heavily guarded highway to the homes of around 5,000 settlers. Hundreds of Palestinian homes have been cleared to improve security and the area is dotted with observation towers and outposts.
During evacuation of the casualties, ambulances came under constant fire from militants, said Yeruham Mendola, a spokesman for the Israeli ambulance service.
In a call to the Associated Press, Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility. A spokesman for al-Aqsa, which is linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, said it had dug a 300 metre-long tunnel, and detonated 300lb of explosives underneath the outpost.
"This is a message to Sharon that ... our fighters will continue the holy struggle until we uproot them from our land," said the spokesman.
In Gaza City, about 2,000 people rushed into the streets to celebrate, among them about 100 armed men.
In two days of Palestinian attacks in May, militants killed 13 Israeli soldiers in Gaza City and Rafah. Israel launched immediate raids, partly to secure the bodies of the dead and partly as a reprisal.
More than 70 Palestinians were killed, including children, and more than 1,600 people were made homeless after houses were demolished.
The government is likely to feel compelled to carry out reprisals again to demonstrate that it is evacuating Gaza from a position of strength, not weakness. Early this morning, Israel launched an initial response, firing missiles at sites in Gaza City.
Palestinian militants appear to have switched their focus from attacking civilians in Israel to attacking military targets in Gaza.
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Armed Conflict
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Air Illinois Flight 710 crash
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Air Illinois Flight 710 was a scheduled passenger flight from Chicago to Carbondale, Illinois. On the night of October 11, 1983, the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 operating the flight crashed near Pinckneyville, Illinois due to the flightcrew's mismanagement of an electrical problem. All 10 passengers and crew were killed in the accident. The flight flew from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois uneventfully, but when it touched down at Springfield Airport, the flight had been delayed by 45 minutes. At 20:20 local time, the aircraft took off from Springfield. Roughly 1.5 minutes after takeoff, the crew reported a 'slight electrical problem' and would keep air traffic control 'advised'. The NTSB concluded that the first officer then mistakenly isolated the right generator instead of the left - as the right generator had a history of maintenance issues. Twelve minutes after takeoff, the first officer reported to the captain that the left generator was 'totally dead' and that the right generator was producing voltage but wouldn't stay online. Roughly 20 minutes after takeoff, the crew shut off excess lights in the cabin, but had failed to reduce overall electrical load on the aircraft's battery. Ultimately the battery was depleted, resulting in the failure of the aircraft's flight instruments, and communication and navigation radios. At 20:52, the captain decided to descend to 2,400 feet, from there the aircraft slowly descended into a hilly pasture area as the co-pilot used a flashlight to determine the location of the plane. [1] The crew may have attempted a forced landing before the aircraft crashed, or a disoriented pilot mistook strip lighting at a mine for approach lights at Carbondale Airport. All ten on board perished. [2]
The aircraft was heard by Mr. John Fisher and his wife circling over their property a couple of times. Mrs. Fisher said that it had been raining pretty hard at the time of impact. She also said 'The aircraft circled two times. It made a lot more noise the second time. I ran to the back porch. I saw one flash and heard a lot of noise. [John and I] could smell gas and fuel.' The 'flash' was reported to have been a brief flash fire from the spewing fuel and no explosion had taken place. The various victims were strewn across a quarter mile radius of the crash site. The largest recoverable section of the aircraft was the baggage compartment and the landing gear wheel section. [3][4]
CAP: Captain (Lester R. Smith, aged 32),[5] FO: First Officer (Frank S. Tudor, aged 28),[6] DEP: Springfield Departure control, KCC: Kansas City Control, ATT: Cabin Attendant
Accident investigators determined the probable cause to be "The captain's decision to continue the flight toward the more distant destination airport after the loss of d.c. electrical power from both aircraft generators instead of returning to the nearby departure airport. The captain's decision was adversely affected by self-imposed psychological factors which led him to assess inadequately the aircraft's battery endurance after the loss of generator power and the magnitude of the risks involved in continuing to the destination airport. Contributing to the accident was the airline management's failure to provide and the FAA's failure to assure an adequate company recurrent flight crew training programme which contributed to the captain's inability to assess properly the battery endurance of the aircraft before making the decision to continue, and led to the inability of the captain and the first officer to cope promptly and correctly with the aircraft's electrical malfunction." The investigation revealed the captain, considered an "average pilot," was a "one-man operation" and did not welcome input from the co-pilot and was in a hurry to return to Carbondale after being on duty all day. The report said the captain had a habit of violating safety regulations in order to arrive on time, even disabling safety devices in order to overspeed the aircraft. [7]
One investigator, Patricia A. Goldman, filed a concurring/dissenting statement. "While the accident report correctly identifies training and surveillance, I believe that inclusion of these items in the probable cause statement obscures and detracts from the basic reason the accident occurred and the attendant safety lesson. The pilot should never have continued the flight to the destination airport, but should have returned to the nearby airport on realizing that electrical d.c. power had been lost. "[8]
Coordinates: 38°15′01″N 89°19′00″W / 38.2502°N 89.3166°W / 38.2502; -89.3166
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Air crash
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ATI Physical Therapy and Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. II Announce Approval of All Proposals at Special Meeting of Stockholders
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NEW YORK & BOLINGBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ATI Physical Therapy, Inc. (“ATI” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of Advent International and one of the nation’s largest providers of outpatient physical therapy services, and Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. II ("FVAC II") (NYSE: FAII), a special purpose acquisition company, announced today that at the special meeting of stockholders of FVAC II held on June 15, 2021 at 8:00 a.m., Eastern Time, virtually (the “Special Meeting”), all proposals presented at the Special Meeting, including the business combination proposal, were approved. In connection with the previously announced business combination, holders of 8,987,746 shares of Company Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), reflecting approximately 26% of outstanding Class A Common Stock, exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of $10.00 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $89.9 million. ATI and FVAC II anticipate that the merger will close on or about June 16, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and for the ATI Class A common stock and warrants to begin publicly trading on NYSE under the new symbols “ATIP” and “ATIP WS”, respectively, on or about June 17, 2021. About ATI Physical Therapy At ATI Physical Therapy, we are passionate about potential. Every day, we restore it in our patients and activate it in our team members in close to 900 locations across the U.S. With proven results from more than 2.5 million unique patient cases tracked in its EMR database, ATI is leading the industry by setting best practice standards that deliver predictable outcomes for our patients with MSK issues. ATI's offerings span the healthcare spectrum for MSK-related issues. From preventative services in the workplace and athletic training support to home health, outpatient clinical services and online physical therapy via its CONNECT™ platform, a complete list of our service offerings can be found at ATIpt.com. About Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. II FVAC II is a $345 million Special Purpose Acquisition Company sponsored by Fortress Credit and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FAII. Fortress Credit is a business of Fortress Investment Group LLC (“Fortress”). Fortress Investment Group LLC is a leading, highly diversified global investment manager. Founded in 1998, Fortress manages $53.1 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021, on behalf of approximately 1,800 institutional clients and private investors worldwide across a range of credit and real estate, private equity and permanent capital investment strategies. About Advent International Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 375 private equity investments across 42 countries, and as of December 31, 2020, had $76 billion in assets under management. With 14 offices in 11 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 240 private equity investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; health care; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. After 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.
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Organization Merge
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The queue to quit QECentral banks face a daunting task: tapering without the tantrum
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Editor’s note (July 6th 2021): This article has been updated to reflect the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to taper its bond-buying in September. T over the effect on markets and the global economy of quantitative easing ( QE ), the purchase of bonds with newly created money, is almost akin to a culture war. To its critics unrestrained QE during the pandemic has covertly financed governments while inflating asset prices and boosting inequality. To its fans QE is an essential tool in which economists have justified and growing confidence. This high-stakes debate is about to enter a new phase. Rich-world central banks’ balance-sheets will have grown by $11.7trn during 2020-21, projects JPMorgan Chase, a bank (see chart 1). By the end of this year their combined size will be $28trn—about three-quarters of the market capitalisation of the S & P 500 index of stocks today. But central bankers are about to turn this mega-tanker of stimulus around. The justifications for QE have almost dissipated. At the start of the pandemic, central banks bought bonds to calm panicky markets amid a flight to safety and a dash for cash. Then it became clear that the pandemic would cause a huge economic slump that would send inflation plummeting; QE was needed to stimulate the economy. Today, however, markets are jubilant and inflation is resurgent . In America it looks increasingly weird that the Federal Reserve is the biggest buyer of Treasuries, as it was in the first quarter of 2021. The economy is powering ahead. In June it added a heady 850,000 jobs, according to figures released on July 2nd. On Wall Street cash is so abundant that over $750bn gets parked at the New York Fed’s reverse-repo facility most nights, mopping up some of the liquidity injected by QE. On June 30th it absorbed nearly $1trn. The Fed’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities, given America’s red-hot housing market, now look bizarre. Some central banks have already begun to scale back their purchases. The Bank of Canada began curtailing the pace of its bond-buying in April. The Reserve Bank of Australia said on July 6th that it would begin tapering its purchases in September. The Bank of England is approaching its £895bn ($1.2trn) asset-purchase target and looks likely to stop QE once that is reached; Andrew Bailey, its governor, has mused about offloading assets before raising interest rates, contrary to the normal sequencing. In May the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said it would not make all of the NZ $100bn ($70bn) asset purchases it had planned to. And the European Central Bank is debating how to wind down its pandemic-related scheme. By comparison the Fed has been reticent. Last month Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chair, said that the central bank is “talking about talking about” tapering its purchases of assets. Minutes of the meeting preceding his comments, released on July 7th, revealed that officials thought it “important to be well-positioned” to taper. Most economists expect an announcement by the end of the year. The Fed’s careful approach might reflect lingering memories of 2013, when it last warned of tapering to come. Bonds sold off sharply, the dollar soared and emerging markets suffered capital outflows in what is now known as the “taper tantrum”. Even Mr Powell’s announcement in June was accompanied by a mini-tantrum of sorts. Prompted by higher inflation, officials also indicated that they expected to raise interest rates twice by the end of 2023, sooner than they had previously signalled. The hawkish turn sent emerging-market currencies tumbling. QE is swathed in so much mystical uncertainty that working out the impact of unwinding it is no easy feat. But a careful examination of central banks’ past experience of asset purchases yields clues for what to expect. It also contains lessons for how central banks might be able to extricate themselves from their bond-buying gracefully this time, before the negative side-effects of their enormous balance-sheets start to be felt acutely. Begin with the effects of changing course. Everyone agrees that central banks’ asset purchases reduce long-term bond yields. But there is enormous uncertainty as to how much they underpin markets today. Last year Ben Bernanke, the Fed’s chairman at the time of the taper tantrum, suggested that in America in 2014 every $500bn of QE reduced ten-year Treasury yields by 0.2 percentage points. By that rule of thumb, adjusted for inflation, the Fed’s total securities holdings of $7.5trn today are lowering yields by nearly three percentage points (though Mr Bernanke suggested, somewhat arbitrarily, that the overall effect of QE might be capped at 1.2 percentage points). Alternatively, the median estimate of a survey of 24 studies conducted in 2016 by Joseph Gagnon of the Peterson Institute for International Economics suggests that asset purchases worth 10% of GDP reduced ten-year government bond yields by about half a percentage point. That suggests that QE today is suppressing long-term rates by just under two percentage points in America, Britain and the euro area—although Mr Gagnon argues that when yields approach zero, as they have in Europe and Japan, QE reaches its limits. A bigger bond market may also reduce the size of the effect. The Bank of Japan owns government debt worth a staggering 97% of GDP , but Mr Gagnon finds the effects of QE have historically been more muted, perhaps because Japan’s total public debt is more than two-and-a-half times that figure. These numbers, and the experience of the taper tantrum, make the reversal of QE seem like something that will upend financial markets. Sky-high asset prices today reflect the assumption that long-term interest rates will stay low for a long time. “We know we need to be very careful in communicating about asset purchases,” Mr Powell acknowledged earlier this year. Yet the lessons from the taper tantrum are subtler than they seem—and may even provide some cause for comfort. When the toys go out of the pram The tantrum of 2013 is associated with Mr Bernanke raising the subject of slowing the Fed’s pace of asset purchases. But asset prices fell because investors brought forward the date at which they expected the Fed to raise overnight interest rates, the traditional lever of monetary policy. The episode supports the “signalling” theory of QE , which says that central banks’ balance-sheets influence long-term bond yields not directly, as rules of thumb suggest, but by acting as a marker for future interest rates. The implication is that you can reverse QE without much fuss if you sever the perceived link between asset purchases and interest-rate decisions. Some past episodes of tapering seem to observe this rule. Indeed, the Fed has already achieved a big tapering during the covid-19 crisis. As the severity of the pandemic became clear and markets panicked in spring 2020, the Fed hoovered up almost $1.5trn of Treasuries in just two months before dramatically slowing its purchases, which eventually settled at around $80bn a month. But there was no expectation that interest rates would soon rise and bond yields seemed unaffected. In a speech Gertjan Vlieghe of the Bank of England, a proponent of the signalling theory, cited this experience, which was mirrored in Britain, as evidence that there is little mechanical link between bond yields and QE . The Fed also seemed to achieve such a separation the last time it shrank its balance-sheet significantly, in 2018 and 2019. It let assets mature without reinvesting the proceeds, rather than by selling anything—with no discernible effect on bond yields. “The point around signalling and intent is a very salient feature of how QE operates,” says a trader at a big Wall Street bank. Since the end of March ten-year Treasury yields have drifted down, even as tapering talk has become louder. Perhaps, then, central banks can pull off a graceful exit. The question is whether rising inflation and booming markets will make them impatient to reverse course more abruptly. Some, particularly in Britain, are also wary of three potential undesirable effects of central banks’ balance-sheets being too large for too long. The first concern, which has troubled Mr Bailey, is about preserving ammunition. A popular view is that QE is highly effective at calming markets during crises when it is deployed quickly and at scale, but has smaller effects in more normal times. The danger of prolonging an enormous market presence in good times is that you run out of room to act with force during emergencies. Central bankers usually scorn this logic when it is used to argue for higher interest rates, because harming the economy today to rescue it later is to put the cart before the horse. But if QE works best in a crisis then withdrawing it in normal times should not be so painful. Not doing so might mean a gradual ratcheting up, during each crisis, of the share of government debt that central banks own. The second worry is the unseemly tangle of monetary and fiscal policy that QE creates. During the pandemic central banks have routinely faced the accusation that QE is meant to fund governments; in January a survey by the Financial Times of the 18 biggest investors in Britain’s gilt market found that the “overwhelming majority” thought the purpose of the Bank of England’s bond-buying was to finance the government’s emergency spending, rather than to support the economy. But although lower bond yields help the government’s finances, QE does not extinguish the government’s financing costs. It just shifts them to central banks, whose profits and losses end up back with the taxpayer. The central-bank reserves created to buy bonds carry a floating rate of interest, making them analogous to short-term government borrowing. Over the past decade, issuing short-term liabilities to buy long-term debt has been a profitable strategy. Between 2011 and 2020 the Fed sent over $800bn in profits to the Treasury; the Bank of England’s asset-purchase facility transferred £109bn to British taxpayers. If interest rates rose, however, central banks’ enormous balance-sheets could become lossmaking. That could have sizeable consequences for the public finances: in November 2020 Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the country’s debt-service costs had become twice as sensitive to short-term interest rates as they were at the start of the year, as a result of the combination of QE and increased debt. Every one-percentage-point increase in short-term interest rates will raise the annual cost of servicing debt by 0.5% of GDP by 2025-26. In large rich countries 15–45% of public debt is “in effect overnight”, calculates the Bank for International Settlements. Some economists also worry that central banks could see their independence compromised were they to require cash injections from governments. The final factor is appearances. The prominence of central banks’ holdings of public debt has helped create a widespread impression that governments can spend with abandon. It has had weird effects, such as sending measures of the broad money supply through the roof, contributing to fears of inflation. Politicians eye central banks ever more greedily , wanting to use QE to further goals such as reducing inequality or fighting climate change. During times of economic crisis central bankers have to lead from the front. As normality returns, their focus should be on keeping a lower profile. ■
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Financial Crisis
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India reports 42,909 new Covid-19 cases, 380 deaths in last 24 hours
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NEW DELHI: India recorded a single-day rise of 42,909 new Covid-19 infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3.27 crore. While the death toll has climbed to 4,38,210 with 380 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The active cases registered an increase for the sixth consecutive day, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The number of active cases has increased to 3,76,324 and comprise 1.15 per cent of the total infections. The national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.51 per cent, the health ministry said. It said active cases in the country increased by 7,766 cases in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.02 per cent. It is above three per cent after 35 days, it said. The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 2.41 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 66 days, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 3,19,23,405, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated. The ministry said that 14,19,990 Covid-19 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far in the country to 52,01,46,525. Cumulatively, 63.43 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Monday morning, the ministry said. India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19 last year. India crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23. The 380 new fatalities include 131 from Maharashtra and 75 from Kerala. A total of 4,38,210 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,37,157 from Maharashtra, 37,278 from Karnataka, 34,878 from Tamil Nadu , 25,080 from Delhi, 22,818 from Uttar Pradesh, 20,541 from Kerala and 18,423 from West Bengal. The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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Disease Outbreaks
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IMA Establishes Sustainable Business Management Global Task Force
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Access the most comprehensive database of companies and officers in the Middle East and North Africa, covering all major sectors and industries, from Refinitiv. Screen, analyze and compare projects in the Middle East and North Africa across Infrastructure, Real Estate, Industrial and Energy sectors with Refinitiv’s Eikon. The task force will speak about sustainability for the global management accounting profession Hanadi Khalife, Senior Director Middle East and India operations at IMA Middle East – IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) announced today the establishment of a Sustainable Business Management Global Task Force (IMA.SBM.GTF) to speak on behalf of the management accounting profession, accountants, and finance professionals in business. This comes as governments, regulators, and standard setters debate the future of accounting and a range of new corporate reporting requirements. “Just about all of the emphasis today with respect to sustainable business is on external ESG reporting,” said Brigitte de Graaff, CMA, CSCA, Chair of the IMA.SBM.GTF. “While this is important, it is not the whole story. We want to lead by emphasizing the role of management accounting and finance in facilitating the building of resilient, sustainable businesses. We aim to be the voice of the profession to make sure management’s perspective in these significant changes to accounting are not overlooked but prominent.” Highlighting the role of the task force in the Middle East region, Hanadi Khalife, Senior Director, MEA & India Operations at IMA said, “Companies in the UAE are stepping up their efforts to put ESG frameworks and policies in place to establish the country as a global sustainability leader. The task force will be involved in multi-level engagement with the government, regulatory bodies, and relevant organizations to provide a purview of the global management accounting community. This initiative will definitely set a benchmark in populating the best and most sustainable practices across the business communities and is fully aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” “IMA is uniquely positioned to address the critical role of the profession in building sustainable businesses. We continue to aim at supporting this in a way that would build value for all stakeholders, promotes trust and facilitates meaningful action,” said Shari Littan, IMA Director of Corporate Reporting Research and Policy. As one of its primary objectives, the Task Force is defining a set of fundamental principles for building a successful and sustainable accounting ecosystem. In fully supporting the formation of the task force, Jeff Thomson, IMA President and CEO, said, “As the world continues to change, so too must business change to focus more holistically on sustainable business management for long term value creation. IMA is making the case that sustainable business is good business in a complex, uncertain, and multi-stakeholder environment. We’ve shown the world accountancy for the 21st century -- how the CMA certification is different because the body of knowledge emphasizes strategic thinking, analytics, decision making, and business leadership across an organization for both tangible and intangible value creation.” The Task Force will look to: -Ends- About IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) IMA® is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) and CSCA® (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) programs, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. Twice named Professional Body of the Year by The Accountant/International Accounting Bulletin, IMA has a global network of about 140,000 members in 150 countries and 350 professional and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Middle East/India. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org
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Organization Established
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Korean Celebrity Couples Who Wants To Get Married in 2021
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South Korea is a tiny nation put has a vast influence globally. It is famous for its drama, Kpop Music, and also its Celebrities. And among them, Dating News and Marriage News are a big thumbs up for the fans. Because fans also ship their celebrities together, not only Media. Fans get the news of their Celebrity dating or marriage faster than the Media. Generally, This is the case with Korean Fans But not with international fans; They rely on the news for their Knowledge. Here is an article to help those fans to know about the Korean Celebrity Couples who wish to get married in 2021. Well, there are a lot of controversies regarding idol dating or marriage. But let’s look at the sunny side. Of Course, there all a lot of celebrities’ marriages despite the controversies. For example, look at Song- song couple marriage and Div…(only the sunny side), Taeyang from Bigbang marrying Min Hyo-rin, Bi rain Marrying Actress Kim Tae Hee, Actor Lee Byung Hyun marriage with fellow Actress Kim Min Jung and Actor Jo Jung Suk marriage with Singer Gummy. And the list Goes on. In 2021, we are expecting these Korean Celebrities Marriages. Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin: Somang News The actress and the actor starred opposite each other as main leads in the Drama Crash Landing On Yoo. Among the Korean Celebrity Couples, ‘JinBin’ is popular. The actress played a rich woman from South Korea, and the actor played the role of a North Korean Soldier. They did give a pleasing and exhibited wonderful Chemistry in the drama. Also, the Fans shipped them in real life too. The drama Released in 2019, and after a year, On New Year Day 2020, they reported that They are dating in Real life. As we know, New Year Day is the day that all celebrity hot topics get revealed. and it has been almost a year since they had been dating. And they might get married soon. HyunA and E’Dawn: metro.uk Back in 2018, there was news about 4minute’ HyunA dating Pentagon’s E’Dawn. The news bought an uproar from the fans of South Korea. The stars Withdraw their Contract from Cube Agency which they were a part of. And HyunA admitted that she had been dating E’dawn since he was a trainee at Cube. It is reported that they had been dating since 2016. And it has been almost 4 years. Now the idols are a part of Psy’s Psy-nation. The Couple is strong when it comes to their relationship, and they might also consider getting married, but there is no news of them getting married as of now. But Koreaboo says that they might already be engaged. Kim woos bin and shin min ah. The Actro Kim Woo-bin is very famous for his drama Heirs. He reported that he is dating actress and model Shin Min-ah. They admitted dating since 2015. After his drama Uncontrolabbly Fond( 2016), the actor took 2 years to break from the industry as he was diagnosed with Nasopharyngeal Cancer. And he came back in 2020 fully recovered. The couple had never been out of love, and they gained a huge fan following for being an ideal couple that looks after each other in their tough times. Now the actor Kim Woo-Bin is back with a film called Alien, and Shin Min-Ah is also Starring in a Women Centric Film. The couple had been together for almost 5 years, and They might Also get Married by the end of the year. soo yound and jung kyung ho: allKpop The Hospital Playlist’s Jung Kyung Ho and, Actress and idol of SNSD, Soo Young, had been dating each other for 9 years. They are the couple to date the longest in the drama world. Fand is familiar with their display of affection in social media. In the recent episode of Knowing Brothers, when they ask him about her Longtime Boyfriend Jung Kyung Ho, she blushes. And been a long since they started dating. They are a hunch that The couple might get married by the end of the year.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Thousands of Prisoners Were Sent Home Because of Covid. They Don’t Want to Go Back.
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Criminal justice advocates say the pandemic offers a case study for a different type of punitive system in America, one that relies far less on incarceration. “This is not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” said Wendy Hechtman, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence but was released to home confinement during the pandemic, “but what it is is an opportunity card.”Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Maura Turcotte Published June 27, 2021Updated Aug. 30, 2021 NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ever since she was sent to a sober living facility six months ago, part of a mass release of nonviolent prisoners to help slow the spread of the coronavirus , Wendy Hechtman has tried to do all the right things. She is making up for lost time with her children, one of whom was only 6 when Ms. Hechtman was locked up roughly three years ago. She goes to weekly drug counseling sessions. She even got a part-time job helping former inmates reintegrate into society. But now, Ms. Hechtman is among some 4,000 federal offenders who could soon return to prison — not because they violated the terms of their home confinement, but because the United States appears to be moving past the worst of the pandemic. In the final days of the Trump administration, the Justice Department issued a memo saying inmates whose sentences lasted beyond the “pandemic emergency period” would have to go back to prison. But some lawmakers and criminal justice advocates are urging President Biden to revoke the rule, use his executive power to keep them on home confinement or commute their sentences entirely, arguing that the pandemic offers a glimpse into a different type of punitive system in America, one that relies far less on incarceration. “If I go to prison for all the time I have left, I won’t have boys anymore. They will be men,” said Ms. Hechtman, who is serving a 15-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute a form of fentanyl. “I have so much to lose. And to gain.” Mr. Biden has vowed to make overhauling the criminal justice system a crucial part of his presidency, saying his administration could cut the prison population by more than half and expand programs that offered alternatives to detention. While the White House has yet to announce a decision about those on home confinement, the administration appears to be following the direction of the Trump-era memo. Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Mr. Biden, said in a statement that the president was “committed to reducing incarceration and helping people re-enter society,” but he referred questions about the future of those in home confinement to the Justice Department. Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Justice Department, said the bureau would “have the discretion” to allow inmates who were close to the end of their sentences to remain on home confinement even after the national emergency declaration was lifted. “For the more difficult cases, where inmates still have years left to serve, this will be an issue only after the pandemic is over,” she said. “The president recently extended the national emergency and the Department of Health and Human Services has said the public health crisis is likely to last for the rest of the year.” The White House revisits the emergency declaration every three months, leaving the former prisoners in a constant state of limbo. The next deadline is in July. Stacie Demers, who has served nearly half of a 10-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana, said she felt as if she was “stuck between the beginning and the end, so to speak.” She is currently at her aunt’s home in Albany, N.Y. “The thing is constantly in the back of my mind: Do I have to go back? Will I not see my family again?” An Alternative to Crowded Prisons The United States is believed to be the world’s leader in incarceration , spending $80 billion a year to keep more than two million people behind bars. For nonviolent offenders in particular, home confinement can be a more humane — and cheaper — alternative to already crowded prisons, criminal justice advocates argue. The United States spent an average of $37,500 to keep a federal inmate like Ms. Hechtman locked up in the 2018 fiscal year. Home confinement, by contrast, costs around $13,000 a year, with expenses including monitoring equipment and paying private contractors to handle supervision, according to a 2017 Government Accountability Office report. Ms. Hechtman can take walks near her sober living facility in New Haven, Conn., with the approval of the Bureau of Prisons.Credit...Hilary Swift for The Image When she leaves her home, Ms. Hechtman wears a monitor on her right ankle and must activate an app on her phone that allows government officials to track her.Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times Those pushing for overhauling the prison system say the statistics are on their side. The vast majority of the 24,000 federal prisoners who were released to home confinement because of the coronavirus crisis followed the rules. Most of them had only weeks or months left on their sentences and completed them without incident. Three people committed new crimes, one of which was violent, Michael Carvajal, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, told lawmakers during a Senate judiciary hearing in April. Roughly 150 people were returned to prison for other violations, including about two dozen for leaving their designated homes without authorization. Kevin Ring, the president of the criminal justice advocacy group FAMM, formerly known as Families Against Mandatory Minimums, questioned the wisdom of cases in which people were sent back for technical violations such as online gambling, sending money to other inmates in prison or, in the case of a 76-year-old woman in Baltimore, attending a computer-training class . “That doesn’t make anyone safer,” he said. Changing the prison system is one of the few areas that has drawn bipartisanship agreement in Washington. Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, joined Democrats in criticizing the Justice Department memo, which was issued in January. “Obviously if they can stay where they are, it’s going to save the taxpayers a lot of money,” Mr. Grassley said at the hearing. “It will also help people who aren’t prone to reoffend and allows inmates to successfully re-enter society as productive citizens.” Inmates are typically allowed to serve the final six months, or 10 percent, of their sentence on home confinement. The legal memo issued by the Trump administration argued that the roughly 4,000 inmates whose sentences would almost certainly outlast the pandemic would need to return to prison because they do not fit the usual eligibility requirements for home confinement. Larry Cosme, the national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents probation officials, cautioned against changing those requirements without a proper review. “It’s good to have adequate prison reform and get with the times but you have to do it meaningfully, with an adequate amount of personnel,” Mr. Cosme said. “Make sure the system works and not setting someone up for failure.” He also said the releases put a strain on those responsible for monitoring the inmates. Mr. Carvajal, the Bureau of Prisons director, said that while the bureau supported the reintegration of inmates, other issues were at play. Image Michael Carvajal, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, said that while the Bureau of Prisons supported the reintegration of inmates, other issues were at play. “The whole point of this is that they’re going back to society at some point,” Mr. Carvajal said. “We also respect the fact, though, that these sentences were imposed by the criminal justice system in a court of law.” Inimai Chettiar, the federal director for the Justice Action Network, which consulted with the Biden campaign on criminal justice measures, said the prison system had needed to be overhauled for years. She said Mr. Biden should not only rescind the memo, but also use his executive power to issue clemency for the inmates. “I worry that their commitment to ensuring D.O.J.’s independence is getting in the way of their commitment to racial justice and criminal justice,” Ms. Chettiar said of the Biden administration. “This is a fairly easy thing to do. This is not passing bipartisan policing legislation. It’s not some massive new executive action. It’s simply someone typing something up on a one sheet piece of paper.” ‘They Won’t Take Care of Me’ For some inmates, being released to home confinement has meant gaining access to lifesaving resources and support systems that they say were scarce from within prison walls. Jorge Maldonado, 53, who has kidney disease, was released in October because his poor health made him especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. He has served five years of a seven-year sentence for fraud and theft, much of it in a federal prison in North Carolina that has been hard hit by the virus. Mr. Maldonado, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, now receives dialysis 10 hours a day using a catheter through his abdomen as he waits for a new kidney, which would be his third kidney transplant. Being at home in Oviedo, Fla., outside Orlando, he said, had allowed him to receive the medical care he needed through the Department of Veterans Affairs health system. But Mr. Maldonado has 18 months left on his sentence. “They won’t take care of me, health-wise, the way the V.A. does,” he said of the Bureau of Prisons, which has been frequently criticized for the quality of its medical care. Image Jorge Maldonado was released in October to home confinement because of poor health. He has 18 months left of his seven-year sentence for fraud and theft.Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York Times Image Mr. Maldonado is now receiving dialysis 10 hours a day using a catheter through his abdomen as he waits for a new kidney.Credit...Octavio Jones for The New York Times Mr. Maldonado also questioned why he might be forced to return to prison with only a year and a half left in his sentence. “If somebody is doing what they should be doing, and proven that they’re not really a menace to this community, to society, then what’s the problem?” he asked. Ms. Hechtman has nine years left on her sentence after she was caught producing a chemical analogue of fentanyl in 2017. “I get it,” she said as she expressed remorse for selling to others in Omaha, where she was arrested. “This is not a get-out-of-jail-free card but what it is is an opportunity card.” At the sober living home in New Haven, Ms. Hechtman said she did not need to worry about being exposed to the opioids she often saw peddled throughout prison. She starts her day by logging on to her computer in her 10-foot-by-12-foot room and working at her part-time job working with former prisoners. To go for a walk in the park or even travel 20 yards to take out the trash, she must submit a request to a contractor working for the government. When she leaves her home, she wears a black monitor on her right ankle and activates an app on her phone that allows government officials to track her. Ms. Hechtman said she had yet to miss one of her weekly counseling sessions. She recalled that when she was in the minimum-security facility in Danbury, Conn., she often had to wait for weeks before getting approved for counseling for addiction. “She has hope now and she didn’t have that,” said Kathryn Pérusse, Ms. Hechtman’s 22-year-old daughter, who lives in Montreal. “She needed a support system and that’s also another thing she couldn’t have inside.” Ms. Hechtman often notes that a release to home confinement does not equate to absolute freedom. She still has not seen Ms. Pérusse or her three other children, including the 9-year-old son with whom she video chats regularly. She is not authorized to visit them in Canada. She said her relatives had not yet visited her because of arduous quarantine requirements in place because of the pandemic. Ms. Hechtman said she hoped she would see them outside of a prison visitation room for the first time in more than three years before she was sent back. Image “I don’t want to be the reason that they keep anybody else behind the bars,” Ms. Hechtman said. “I don’t want to be the ammunition.” Credit...Hilary Swift for The New York Times Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported from New Haven, and Maura Turcotte from Chicago. Hailey Fuchs contributed reporting from Washington.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
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Surprising tsunami triggers may lurk off California's coast
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by Los Angeles Times | May 4, 2021 at 10:16 p.m. | Updated May 4, 2021 at 10:20 p.m. Although California's most dangerous tsunamis come from thousands of miles away, scientists say they've pinpointed a wave trigger that's much closer to home. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) LOS ANGELES - Although California's most dangerous tsunamis come from thousands of miles away, scientists say they've pinpointed a wave trigger that's much closer to home. Earthquakes along strike-slip faults can cause potentially dangerous waves in certain contexts, a new model shows - and such faults do exist right off parts of the Golden State's shores. If confirmed, the findings described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could affect future local tsunami risk assessments for coastlines along California and beyond. Tsunamis can be caused by a variety of events, including landslides, volcanic activity and most commonly, earthquakes. But not every earthquake can trigger a rogue wave. Quakes along underwater thrust faults, in which one side gets pushed up higher than the other, are thought to be the main culprit, because the vertical motion can induce a wave in the water above. Quakes along strike-slip faults like the San Andreas, in which two plates slide past one another, weren't thought to cause tsunamis on their own because they cause largely horizontal motion. That's why the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia raised geologists' eyebrows. On Sept. 28 of that year, a wave estimated to be 13 to 23 feet in height struck the provincial capital of Palu following a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that occurred along a strike-slip fault. Together, the two events killed thousands. Scientists surprised at the power of the wave suggested that perhaps it caused landslides with vertical motion that was able to trigger the wave. "We didn't think so," said Ares Rosakis, an engineer specializing in solid mechanics and the study's senior author. The blame, he suspected, lay with the fault alone. "The unzipping of the bottom of the ocean in the Palu area would be enough to explain the creation of this tsunami." As Rosakis and his team - which included experts in every aspect of the process, including seismology and fluid dynamics - began probing this potential solution to the Palu mystery, they started seeing evidence that the earthquake rupture wasn't your average unzipping of a fault. It fit the profile of a "supershear" event, in which the actual physical rupture moves faster than the seismic waves traveling through the material. That causes a triangle-shaped shock wave called a Mach Cone. (It's very much akin to the sonic boom caused when an extremely fast plane moves faster than the speed of sound.) They fed this information into a powerful computer model that took into account the seismic waves, the earthquake rupture, the shape of the bottom of Palu Bay and the fluid dynamics of the wave itself. The result: An earthquake on a strike-slip fault like the one that devastated Palu could indeed trigger a tsunami. "This is a fascinating study in terms of the physics," said Eric Geist, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey based in California's Moffett Field. "It's kind of a new way to look at tsunami generation." Complex models like this, which combine the dynamics of both earthquake and tsunami, require powerful computers but are likely to become the norm, he added. Part of the reason for the Sulawesi tsunami was the very narrow shape of Palu Bay. Rosakis compared it to the violent sloshing you might see after jostling a tall, skinny glass, compared with the gentler motion that would be seen in a wider vessel. Rosakis and his colleagues pointed to areas along the Northern California coast that fit the profile, including the San Francisco Bay and Tomales Bay in Marin County. The San Andreas fault sits just offshore of both those areas, and both are narrow enough to potentially see some very violent sloshing. Other bays around the world also fit the profile, including Izmit Bay in Turkey and the bay formed by the Gulf of Aqaba in Egypt. "This is the first time that this has been recognized," Rosakis said, "so really a lot more work has to be done in order to be put inside the hazard evaluation maps. At this point it's completely absent - these areas are declared safe." Diego Arcas, director of the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, called the authors' conclusion "interesting." The study helps explain how quakes along strike-slip faults might generate tsunamis, and why the risk they pose may have been underestimated, he said. But he added: "I don't think it is going to change how we do things in terms of tsunami forecasting or hazard assessment." That's because tsunami hazard maps are generally made by estimating the effects of the biggest and most potentially damaging tsunamis. For California, those would be great waves caused, say, by a magnitude 9 earthquake from thousands of miles away across the Pacific Ocean, or a similarly large quake off the Cascadia subduction zone north of Cape Mendocino, said Rick Wilson, a senior engineering geologist with the California Geological Survey, which has been updating the state's tsunami hazard maps. It's unlikely that any additional tsunami risk, if confirmed, would make a dent in those worst-case scenarios. "We'll continue to review papers like this to see if we really need to update anything, but based on our experience and all of the large sources that we've incorporated into the maps, we feel pretty comfortable that the existing maps are safe to use and good to use," Wilson said. The study results may have an effect on probabilistic hazard assessments, which consider not just the worst case but also the likelihood that earthquakes of various magnitudes will take place, Arcas said. Ultimately, it will take time for more scientists to independently test whether they can reproduce the results, said Lori Dengler, a geophysicist and professor emeritus at Humboldt State University. "My guess is that this paper will cause a number of tsunami modelers to look more closely" at the role of quakes along strike-slip faults, Dengler said. "There also needs to be a closer look at what conditions allow supershear to occur. If this idea holds up to more careful scrutiny, it will be included in the next generation of tsunami maps." While it's important to understand the potential tsunami risk from these local sources, it's unlikely to affect how tsunami forecasting is conducted because information about ground rupture is not available in real-time, Arcas said. Even if it was, he added, "many of the faults with this type of mechanism can be found in close proximity to the coast, and while they can be hazardous locally, there would be no time for a local warning due to the proximity of the source." Dengler said that in these situations, the earthquake itself is the warning. "As far as public safety is concerned - whenever you feel an earthquake near the coast, especially one where the shaking lasts a long time, assume that a tsunami could be generated and evacuate the coastal area," she said. "In Palu, a festival was occurring at the time of the earthquake that brought many people from inland areas to the bay. Many of these people might not have recognized that the shaking was their warning to get away from the coast."
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Tsunamis
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1988 British International Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N crash
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G-BEID was a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter of British International Helicopters which made a controlled ditching in the sea 29 nmi (54 km; 33 mi) northeast of Sumburgh on 13 July 1988 following an engine fire. There were no fatalities. The helicopter left the Safe Felicia semi-submersible oil rig in the Forties oilfield at 13:45 with 2 pilots and a full load of 19 passengers for the one hour flight to Sumburgh Airport on the Mainland of Shetland. At 14:28 the co-pilot (who was flying) reported hearing a muffled bang which was also heard by some of the passengers, from the area of the No. 2 engine transmission. Shortly after, the No. 2 engine's fire warning lights came on. The pilot immediately began a descent and transmitted a distress call. About 48 seconds after the noise, the No. 2 engine was shut down and the fire extinguisher triggered. The No. 1 engine fire warning then also illuminated, while passengers saw oil leaking from the cabin ceiling. The pilot advised the passengers to prepare for an emergency ditching and took control of the aircraft. The floats were deployed and a gentle ditching was made about 3 minutes after the initial noise had been heard, by which time the helicopter's cabin had filled with smoke. All 21 occupants evacuated on to liferafts and were then winched up into a Search and Rescue helicopter. After a strong fire consumed most of the floating helicopter, the remains broke up and sank. A recovery operation was mounted using the DSV (diving support vessel) Stena Marianos which arrived on site on 16 July 1988. The aft fuselage section was raised the following day and the forward section shortly after. The recovery operation had to be ended on 19 July before finding the engines or transmission components due to the Stena Marianos having other commitments. The recovery continued on 2 August using the DSV Norskald, and the engines, main rotor, and transmission were located and raised on 5 August. It was concluded that the fire had occurred in the helicopter's main gearbox, probably resulting from the effects of a bearing failure in the No. 2 engine. A further factor was the lack of fire detection or suppression capability within the gearbox bay. The cause of the bearing failure could not be definitely established. The AAIB made a list of 27 safety recommendations to the CAA. These addressed improvements in maintenance, early detection of problems, emergency escape equipment, documention and training provisions, and firewall integrity. Most of these were accepted by the CAA. [1]
Coordinates: 60°17′N 0°44′W / 60.283°N 0.733°W / 60.283; -0.733
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Air crash
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The Cake Shop will close on August 9
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A bakery told customers yesterday it was working hard to “regroup” and open its doors again after a tough year caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cake Shop, on Curving Avenue, Pembroke, posted a message on Facebook to explain why it had yet to reopen after what was intended to be a temporary closure in August for renovations. The post read: “The past year has been strenuous on all businesses. “We have experienced something none of us ever imagined. “Smaller and larger organisations were forced to make very difficult decisions.” The post said: “While some of us were able to keep our doors open, our client base was extremely limited due to the island-wide closures and our bottom lines took a serious hit. “Nevertheless, we persevered in an all-out attempt to keep our business afloat and our employees employed.” The post said Shawn Thomas, the owner, had used his personal resources to keep the business afloat and that it was "truly a struggle“. It added: “As we continue to push forward through an already strained economy, we ask your patience and understanding as we regroup and find the best way forward to serve you once again with excellence and provide the full range of products that you have come to know and love. “We are eager to reopen our doors.” The Cake Shop shut on August 9 for what was said to be cleaning and minor renovations and was scheduled to reopen on September 1. The store suffered a break-in the day before the Good Friday holiday on April 2 when armed robbers escaped with cash and baked goods.
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Organization Closed
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Kohler Strikes
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The Kohler strikes at the Kohler Company, just west of Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1934 and 1954 are landmarks in the history of both business and labor in the United States. Labor leaders have often cited the warfare at the giant plumbing supply company in their contention that workers need unions. Industrial leaders have pointed to the strikes as examples of union belligerence and indifference toward the true welfare of their employees. The Kohler Company was founded in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1873, when John Michael Kohler II (1844–1900) took over his father-in-law's steel and iron factory. During the late 19th century it prospered as the producer of plumbing products and enamelware. In 1912, land around a new factory just west of Sheboygan became the Village of Kohler, Wisconsin. From 1905 until his death, John Michael's son Walter J. Kohler Sr. (1875–1940) led the highly successful business. In the early 1920s, he built a family mansion, Riverbend, and was welcomed in high society in Chicago and elsewhere. In 1928, he became Governor of Wisconsin for a single term. With the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act by Congress in June 1933 that gave the employees the right to have a union, Kohler followed the lead of many industrialists and created a workers association that he could control to forestall the creation of an independent union. Although this association handled minor shop floor grievances they never negotiated contracts with the company instead they accepted the company’s offer. In August 1933 the workers at Kohler applied for and received a charter from the American Federation of Labor for a union. It was christened Federal Labor Union No. 18545. On October 4, 1933, November 21, 1933, and November 28, 1933 meetings were held between Local 18545 members and the Kohler executives, but nothing was accomplished. On June 22, 1934 the union presented Kohler management with a 14 point proposal with the first item being recognition of their union. Four days later the company announced the shutdown of the entire plant. It had been the Kohler custom to shut down the plant for a couple of days around the 4th of July holiday and sponsor a picnic for all employees, but this shutdown came without warning and was termed indefinite. Workers were told they would be called back as necessary. Once again when presented with the union asserting itself, the Kohler Company, now with Walter Kohler at its head, chose to demonstrate to the employees who owned the company and that he would not be bargained with. Violence quickly erupted and the entire Village was closed to traffic. Special deputies hired by the company clashed with pickets, and huge crowds began to assemble. On July 27, purportedly in response to vandalism against company property, the special deputies attacked with guns and tear gas. Two strikers named Lee Wakefield and Harry Englemann were killed, and 47 "men, women and boys were wounded, gassed, and injured". [1] On July 29, in response to appeals by Walter and the local sheriff, 250 members of the National Guard arrived on the scene. Walter, who had been trapped in the main office building for 12 days, blamed the violence on outsiders and people with "communistic affiliations." In September, the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the Kohler Company and demanded secret, supervised elections at the plant to determine who would represent the workers, which the company union won. The Kohler victory was short-lived, however, for in 1935 the US Supreme Court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional. Congress soon, however, passed the Wagner Act, giving organized labor the right to organize and bargain collectively without employer interference. A majority of workers could now determine who would represent them; this "union shop" was the chief goal of the AFL. Still, the company union and the principle of "open shop" remained in effect at the Kohler Company until 1952, when the United Auto Workers (UAW) won an election. During the Second World War, Herbert V. Kohler Sr. (1891–1968) gained control of the Kohler Company. He was a physically and mentally powerful man best known for his supreme self-confidence and iron will. He had played a key role in the strike of 1934 and was a staunch opponent of organized labor. The United Auto Workers Local 833 was determined to organize Kohler employees, and it won a certified election in 1952. Herbert V. Kohler refused to grant union demands during contract negotiations, and a strike began on April 5, 1954. Some 2,800 of the Company's 3,300 employees joined the picket lines. The plant essentially ceased operations for two months. Herbert then resumed production with non-union labor. Six years of sporadic violence ensued between strikers and strike breakers. In time, the company would charge opponents with more than a thousand acts of vandalism. At one point, more than 300 people were arrested. Calls for a national boycott of Kohler products were vociferous and sometimes effective, and UAW provided $12 million to strikes over the years. Herbert resisted all efforts to compromise, even sharply rejecting a public appeal from his nephew, Governor Walter J. Kohler Jr.. In 1960, the National Labor Relations Board decided against the Kohler Company, ruling that it had refused to bargain in good faith after the strike broke out. Herbert was ordered to reinstate 1,700 workers. It took lawsuits by both sides and two more years for management and labor to work out a contract. The bitter issue of compensation for strikers remained unresolved. In December 1965, the Kohler Company agreed to pay $3 million in back wages to some 1,400 former employees and hand over $1.5 million in pension-fund contributions. The union agreed to make no further charges stemming from the strike.
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Strike
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India and Pakistan brace for worst locust attack in 27 years
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NEW DELHI -- In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, India and Pakistan are battling another crisis -- their worst locust attack in nearly three decades. The flying insects have crossed over to India in a wave of desert swarms from neighboring Pakistan, sweeping several parts of the country and threatening to damage crops. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted in a Sunday radio address that many parts of the country have been affected by locust attacks, adding that efforts are on to help farmers and reduce crop losses by using modern techniques to tackle the crisis. "I am sure that together not only will we be able to battle out this crisis that is looming on our agricultural sector, but also manage to salvage our crops," Modi said. Among Indian states affected by the desert locusts, one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers, are northwestern Rajasthan, northern Punjab, western Gujarat and central Madhya Pradesh. Several other states as well as the territory that includes the national capital have also sounded the alarm over a potential attack in their regions. In Pakistan, the desert locusts have reportedly entered from Iran, and have already devoured considerable quantities of crops in over 60 districts in all provinces, including Balochistan in the southwest. Media also say the country is intensifying efforts to combat the plague with pest control systems including spray aircraft. The local government in the Indian capital region where New Delhi is located has directed authorities to take preventive measures to control and eradicate the locusts to avoid the "devastating effect on standing agricultural and horticultural crops, vegetation, plants, gardens, orchards" and other potential targets of the insects. It is considering measures including creating awareness among the public and farmers about the attack and spraying insecticide and pesticide on crops. In India's worst-hit areas, people have also resorted to tactics such as banging utensils and playing loud music to scare away the pests. India experienced its worst locust attack in 1993 when it witnessed 172 swarm incursions. According to a 2014 document issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "technical assistance and capacity building were provided to India and Pakistan [in 1993] that successfully prevented swarms from migrating to other regions." India treated 311,199 hectares (3,112 sq. kilometers) of area by air and ground operations and Pakistan treated a total of 316,979 hectares, it said. Locusts are an omnivorous and migratory insect that can fly hundreds of kilometers in swarms and easily cross national boundaries. Apart from Africa and Asia, it is also found in the Middle East, and inhabits some 60 countries. A swarm one sq. kilometer in size contains about 40 million locusts, which eat the same amount of food in one day as about 35,000 people, according to the FAO. The attack is a double blow for India as it comes amid the spread of the coronavirus. Confirmed cases as of Monday climbed to 190,535 with 5,394 deaths. Narendra Singh Tomar, India's minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, last week reviewed the country's locust control operations during a high-level meeting. In a statement, the government said it is set to procure 60 insecticide sprayers from Britain. It added, "drones will be used to spray pesticides on tall trees and inaccessible places for effective control of locusts, while plans are afoot to deploy helicopters for aerial spray." "This type of locust attack is usually seen in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular eastern African countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia," Sandip Das, an agriculture and food security expert, told the Nikkei Asian Review. Das said that this year's attack is "much more" intense than one last year. Das added, however, that most of the wheat harvest in India is complete, with fields now being prepared for rice planting once the monsoon rains start this month. "So, there won't be extensive damage to big crops, though fruits and vegetables" could be affected by the attack, he said. Usually the locust swarms enter India through Pakistan for summer breeding in June or July with the advent of the monsoon. But this year, Indian officials say, the pink swarms started much earlier in April because of presence of a residual population in Pakistan that couldn't be controlled last season. Pink immature adults fly high and cover long distances during daytime hours before settling on trees at night. They are very active and their mobility makes it difficult to control individual swarms.
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Insect Disaster
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Indigenous community sewage spills after Horizon Power disconnects electricity for 27 days
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An Indigenous community has been flooded with untreated sewage after a power company bungle left pumps without electricity for weeks.
Horizon Power has apologised to Karmulinunga community within the Kimberley town of Derby for repeatedly cutting electricity to pumps causing spills of hundreds of thousands of litres of waste.
Horizon Power's retail and community manager for the West Kimberley, Jodie Lynch, acknowledges cutting the power to the pumps operating the sewerage in the Karmulinunga community three times since September 2015.
The ABC understands that the electricity disconnections led to sewage overflows in the community with a major spill of hundreds of thousands of litres of waste on at least one occasion.
"The period there was 27 days, and again we don't have engagement from an account authority in this instance, so you would have to talk with the agencies involved or the community around why this hasn't been made known or reported," Ms Lynch said.
Horizon Power's general manager of microgrids, Craig Julian, said automated processes disconnected the meter because there was no account holder.
The account has not been paid since 2009 and has accumulated $10,500 of debts.
"This issue raises a much bigger problem and that is that no entity is taking accountability for paying the electricity bill for this specific supply," Mr Julian said.
The Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) declined to be interviewed about the sewage spills at Karmulinunga community, but did provide the following statement.
"It is unfortunate that Horizon Power turned off the power at the Derby Town Based Reserve, an action which has led to the failure of a sewer pump. Horizon Power has acknowledged that power was disconnected in error and its policy is not to disconnect power to essential services," the statement reads.
"The long-term arrangements of this and other Town Based Reserves is being considered by the Regional Services Reform Unit."
The ABC contacted the Department of Housing, and the Regional Services Reform Unit, recently launched by the Minister for Regional Development Terry Redman, but they declined to comment, directing the ABC back to the DAA.
The ABC can reveal the sewage spills, which flowed from the Indigenous community onto Derby's tidal marsh, are now being investigated by the Department of Environment Regulation (DER).
"The Department of Environment Regulation (DER) was advised of a waste water overflow from a pump station at Derby's town-based Karmulinunga community on Thursday, July 21," a statement provided to the ABC said. "DER is investigating the overflow under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. "DER will seek to confirm details about the overflow during its investigation.
"As the matter is under investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
Derby's Winun Ngari Aboriginal Corporation CEO, Susan Murphy, said the problems in the town-based community were similar to what she had seen in remote Indigenous communities.
"It's no different to any other communities in the remote areas that I've been to see, where you've got sewage flowing everywhere and no contractor can get out there for three of four days to fix it," she said.
Ms Murphy said her organisation had worked on resolving the problems that had led to the sewage spill.
"It's not through lack of trying to get the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the Water Corp and the Department of Housing to actually try and fix it," she said.
Family feuding and high rates of alcohol abuse in the Karmulinunga community contribute to difficulties resolving the provision of services according to Ms Murphy, but she said the bureaucratic deadlock had gone on too long.
"Government choose to actually turn a blind eye because it's too hard," she said.
"At the end of the day they're human beings just like the rest of us, and they want the same god-dammed services that you and I have every day."
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Environment Pollution
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2021 Palmas FR plane crash
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The 2021 Palmas FR plane crash took place on January 24, 2021, when a private Beechcraft Baron belonging to the Palmas Futebol e Regatas association football team crashed shortly after departing Palmas–Brigadeiro Lysias Rodrigues Airport in Brazil. The aircraft crashed on the way to Goiânia,[1] killing all six people on board: four members of the football team, the team's owner, and the pilot. [2] The flight was en route to a regional cup football game between Palmas and Vila Nova, for the Brazilian Copa Verde championship. [3][4]
In a statement released to various media outlets such as CNN Brazil, it was announced that six deaths had occurred. Among the victims of the crash were identified as football players Marcus Molinari, Guilherme Noé, and Ranule, team president Lucas Meira plus the pilot Wagner Machado. [3][5][6]
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Air crash
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After setback in comeback, David Bakhtiari now recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery; Packers hope for post-bye return
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After setback in comeback, David Bakhtiari now recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery; Packers hope for post-bye return Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari was a game-day inactive before the 17-0 win over the Seahawks and did not practice at all prior to being ruled out for last Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Vikings. GREEN BAY — Turns out, David Bakhtiari did have a setback in his comeback from his knee injury after all. Despite the Green Bay Packers repeatedly insisting the five-time All-Pro left tackle had not suffered a setback in his comeback from the torn ACL he suffered in his left knee last Dec. 31 and the reconstructive knee surgery he had last January, a source confirmed an NFL Network report that Bakhtiari recently underwent an arthroscopic surgery to “clean up” his knee. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers speaks to the media via Zoom after the Packers fell to the Minnesota Vikings 34-31 on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. What exactly happened with Bakhtiari’s knee to require the procedure is unclear, but coach Matt LaFleur already has ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lambeau Field and said the team is hoping Bakhtiari will return after he’s evaluated following the team’s Week 13 bye. After the bye, the Packers will have five regular-season games remaining, starting Dec. 12 against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. NFL Network reported the Packers are hoping Bakhtiari will return for the stretch run, but a source told the State Journal last week the Packers realize there are three possibilities for their franchise tackle: returning sometime after the bye; returning only for the playoffs; or not playing at all this season. “There’s certainly a plan, but not everything goes as planned all the time,” LaFleur said Monday. “He won’t be out there this week. We’ll just see where he’s at after the bye. We’re hopeful that he’ll be able to come back this year at some point. “It certainly isn’t for a lack of work ethic on his part. It’s not for a lack of toughness. It’s just one of those things where you never quite know how everybody’s going to respond to the recovery process, and I think that’s just where we’re at with him.” Bakhtiari seemed to be on course to return when he began practicing on Oct. 20, when the Packers opened the three-week practice window for players who are on the physically unable to perform list. The team activated him from the PUP list on Nov. 10, but LaFleur cautioned just because Bakhtiari had been added to the active roster didn’t necessarily mean he would return to game action immediately. Bakhtiari practiced the first two days leading up to the Nov. 14 game against the Seattle Seahawks, then sat out that Friday’s practice and was listed as doubtful for the game before being a game-day inactive before the Packers’ 17-0 win over the Seahawks. “Him being out there, from what I’ve seen of him in practice so far, there’s flashes where he looks great,” offensive line coach Adam Stenavich said on Nov. 17. “It’s just going to be a matter of can he sustain that for a game? That’s going to be the hardest thing because he didn’t have camp, he didn’t have anything built up. Practices are limited right now. So, that’s going to be his biggest challenge is getting to a place where he can sustain that performance for an entire game. That’s part of what we evaluate right now and that’s probably going to be probably the biggest question.” Bakhtiari then did not practice all of last week entering last Sunday’s 34-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and was officially ruled out of that game on Friday, when the final injury report of the week came out. Presumably, the scope on Bakhtiari’s knee happened sometime after that Friday before the Seattle game. Then came Monday, when LaFleur immediately ruled Bakhtiari out — even in the aftermath of losing left guard-turned-left tackle Elgton Jenkins, who tore the ACL in his left knee against the Vikings last Sunday — even though LaFleur normally withholds such proclamations about a player’s status in an effort to force the upcoming opponent to prepare for the possibility of that player suiting up on Sunday. “We’ve been wanting Dave to come back for awhile. And he’s just not quite ready,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on his usual Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio . “(And) obviously losing Elton doesn’t make us a better football team.” Without Bakhtiari and Jenkins, the Packers went to Yosh Nijman at left tackle against the Vikings, just as they did earlier in the year when Jenkins missed three games with an ankle injury. Nijman, who’d played just 14 regular-season snaps in his NFL career before this season, will start against the Rams. “We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got a lot of injuries,” Rodgers told McAfee. “(Jenkins) is so talented. He’s started at center for us, left guard, left tackle, played right tackle last year in the opener. I mean, he’s such a talented player. Kind of similar to Dave, (it was a) very freak injury. “I’m disappointed for him. He’s such a great kid, such a talented player. He means so much to us from an energy standpoint and just his play style. … To be so reliable at left tackle, it’s just so rare in this league to be able to do that.” Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur speaks to the media after the Packers fell to the Minnesota Vikings 34-31 on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, Rodgers discussed his own toe injury during his appearance, though in the back-and-forth with McAfee and ex-Packers inside linebacker A.J. Hawk it wasn’t completely clear what the injury is or how it happened. Toward the end of his appearance, McAfee and Hawk kept calling the injury “COVID Toe,” which actually is a real thing — a malady associated with COVID-19, which Rodgers tested positive for on Nov. 3. “COVID Toe” is similar to chilblains — painful red or purple lesions that typically emerge on fingers or toes in the winter. While Rodgers ultimately didn’t clarify what’s happening with his toe, he reiterated it is not a case of turf toe, which is a dislocation of the big toe and very painful, as wide receiver Davante Adams, who suffered the injury in 2019, can attest. Rodgers said after last Sunday’s game that what he’s dealing with now is more painful than turf toe, which he has also dealt with during his career. “This is something that’s not going to go away. It’s something I’ll deal with, I’m not sure what the bye week is going to look like,” Rodgers said.. “There’s a lot of options on the table. One option that’s not on the table is sitting out. I’m going to push through this and keep playing. … I’m going to be dealing it for at least the next few weeks.” Photos: Packers' 2021 season in pictures Check out photo galleries from every game of 2021 from the preseason through the end of the regular season and the playoffs.
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Following historic rainfall, Glenwood Canyon restoration work could soon see removal of debris from Colorado River
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State agencies could start removing material soon from the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado Department of Transportation spokesperson Elise Thatcher said. During a water infrastructure townhall Monday hosted by the Glenwood Canyon Restoration Alliance, Thatcher and members of several Colorado River and Glenwood Canyon stakeholder organizations provided an update on Glenwood Canyon rehabilitation and preventative maintenance measures following the mudslides in late July and early August. Thatcher said maintenance work on Interstate 70 continues at a steady pace, and CDOT is slated to have all lanes east- and westbound open before Thanksgiving. CDOT crews removed about 3,300 truckloads of debris from Glenwood Canyon as part of an effort to restore full functionality to I-70, which closed between exits 109 and 133 for several days after the mudslides. A section of the interstate in Blue Gulch, near mile marker 123.5, experienced the most damage, Thatcher said. Prior to the mudslides, CDOT invested in some preventative measures to reduce the impacts of debris flows from the Grizzly Creek fire impacting interstate traffic, such as laying out shredded wood-straw mulch, installing fencing to catch rockfall and upgrading formerly installed rockfall fencing to accommodate increased debris snowfall. Looking forward, Thatcher advised travelers to plan their trips using http://www.cotrip.org with the possibility of interstate closures in mind in the event of additional rain and debris-fall events. “If you do come across material flows in your travels, stay in your vehicle,” Thatcher advised. Drew Petersen, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management west region field manager, told attendees several federal and state agencies have collected river data since the mudslides with the goal of determining impacts to the waterway and how best to rehabilitate the river. “There’s a definite risk to the highway, railroad and bike path if things are left to sit as they are,” Petersen said. Colorado agencies made the decision to move forward with removing material from the river, though details about funding, when the work would occur and where are still being refined, Petersen said. “CDOT will most likely be in charge of contractors removing material,” he said. “There’s no problem anticipated with the removal for downriver users, but we’re working on a notification system for downriver users if the need should arise.” Petersen said crews could work on material removal during the winter with the goal of completing the removal project before spring. Union Pacific Senior Director of Public Affairs Nathan Anderson said the main tracks through the canyon are clear, but UP crews are still working to clear sidings, low-speed track sections distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line or spur. Daily traffic for the Glenwood Canyon tracks includes two Amtrak trains, 2-3 Burlington-Northern Santa Fe trains, 2-3 UP trains and the Rocky Mountaineer train about twice a week, Anderson said. “We put together a special train to move excavation equipment into the canyon for initial material removal efforts,” he said. “And, we’re conducting rail inspections multiple times weekly.” The U.S. Forest Service is acting in a support role for operations in the canyon, said Roger Poirier, White River National Forest recreation staff officer for the Forest Service. While some crews are researching cost-effective debris-fall mitigation strategies, Poirier said the recreation team is looking at options for reopening the Hanging Lake Trail. “I can tell you the lake is blue and 70-80 percent of the trail is perfect,” he said. “Unfortunately, the other 20 percent is gone completely, including some of the bridges.” Despite the closure, numerous hikers have expressed an interest in hiking to the picturesque location, regardless of the dangers, Poirier said. The Forest Service is looking into the possibility of creating a temporary trail to let experienced hikers make the climb, but efforts are also underway to completely rehabilitate and upgrade the main trail with the goal of creating a trail that can withstand high volume traffic and survive future weather events, he said.
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Mudslides
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Adani granted 20 per cent boost to annual coal exports through Abbot Point terminal
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Adani has been given the green light to increase its north Queensland coal exports by 20 per cent, meaning about 60 million tonnes of the resource could be transferred through its existing operations at the Abbot Point terminal each year.
The approval from the Queensland coordinator-general came a month after the State Government announced it would take the mining giant to court for the alleged illegal release of coal-laden water near the Great Barrier Reef.
The State Government launched a separate investigation into a series of groundwater bores drilled by Adani, which conservationists said were sunk without approval. Documents obtained by the ABC show the Government approved a 10 million tonne increase in annual coal export capacity through Adani's Abbot Point terminal, above the previously approved limit of 50 million tonnes. It is understood Adani was already allowed to export a total of 90 million tonnes per year between its existing port terminal, T1, and a yet-to-be-built T0 terminal, and that the Government has shifted the 10 million tonnes from T0 to T1. Adani's T1 terminal is currently operating at 28 million tonnes a year.
While the approval was not related to the court matter or investigation, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said it showed the Government was not taking a holistic approach in its dealings with Adani. Step through the key events in the planning of Australia's biggest mining project, the Carmichael coal mine in remote central Queensland.
"The Government really needs to be applying proper scrutiny to this project and not just simply approving more expansions for the Abbot Point coal terminal," ACF campaigner Christian Slattery said. The ACF said the latest approval also flew in the face of warnings from the scientific community this week about the consequences of coal on climate change. "It shows that the Queensland Government is failing in their duty to transition Queensland and Australia off fossil fuels and towards clean energy," Mr Slattery said. A spokesman for the coordinator-general said the applications were assessed in accordance with the law.
"The recently amended approval does not increase the capacity of proposed facilities at Abbot Point," he said.
"The coordinator-general has approved, subject to strict conditions, development applications in the Abbot Point state development area for port facilities."
The expansion application is on the condition that Adani ensures any construction works and operations cause no environmental damage.
The document also said the coordinator-general would need more information from Adani to demonstrate how any additional water use would not result in further water releases from the operation.
An spokeswoman for the mining company said the Adani Abbot Point terminal submitted the material change of use application as part of feasibility studies to enhance the terminal's capacity. "This is part of normal business practice in managing capacity requests from all existing and prospective users of the terminal facilities," she said.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
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Environment Pollution
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Don't Miss the Only Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021
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A total solar eclipse won't appear over North America until 2024 , but there are other eclipses to look forward to between now and then. The soonest one falls on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 . On that day, a total lunar eclipse will be easy to spot from the western half of the continent . Here's what you need to know to catch the celestial event. What Is a Total Lunar Eclipse? Unlike a solar eclipse , you won't need special glasses to view this spectacle at the end of May. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes perfectly between the moon and the sun and casts a shadow on the satellite. This results in the moon taking on a darker, almost reddish hue. The color is so striking that lunar eclipses are sometimes called " blood moons ." When to See the Lunar Eclipse in 2021 The total lunar eclipse on May 26 will be visible from Southern and Eastern Asia, South America, Australia, and the western half of North America. The eclipse is set to begin at 1:46 a.m. PDT, with the moon entering the darkest part of the Earth's shadow at 2:45 a.m. Part of it will remain in this section of the shadow—called the umbra—until 5:53 a.m. To catch totality —or the period when all of the moon's surface is blanketed by the Earth's umbra—look up between 4:11 a.m. and 4:26 a.m. PDT. If you miss this event, you'll have another chance to see a lunar eclipse in November. That one will be just a partial eclipse, however, which means the moon's change in color won't be as dramatic. The next total lunar eclipse won't appear over North America until May of 2022 .
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New wonders in nature
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1974 railway strike in India
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1974 railway strike in India was a major strike by the workers of Indian Railways in 1974. The strike lasted from 8 to 27 May 1974. [1] The 20 day strike by 1.7 million (17 lakh) workers is the largest recorded industrial action in the world. [2]
[3][4][5]
The strike was held to demand an eight-hour working day for locomotive staff by All India Railway Mens federation and a raise in pay scale, which had remained stagnant over many years, in spite of the fact that pay scales of other government owned entities had risen over the years. [6] Furthermore, since British times the Railways termed the work of the locomotive staff as "continuous", implying that workers would have to remain at work as long as the train ran on its trip, often for several days at a stretch. The independence of India did not change this. The eight hour work day had not been implemented in Indian railways by the Railway Board, a quasi government bureaucracy despite having become a free country in 1947, this had led to dissatisfaction among labour, especially locomotive Pilots. [7] Traditional railway union leaders too were starting to get distant from worker demands and closer instead to politicians, thus leading to further discord. [8]
The spread of diesel engines and the consequent intensification of work in the Indian Railways since the 1960s resulted in continuous working hours being extended by days, creating much resentment among the workers. [9] The Railways, although government-owned, remained an organization in which the accepted worldwide standard of an eight-hour working day was violated with impunity. [10] When the crafts unions raised the issue, they demanded a 12-hour working day for loco running staff. This led to railway strikes by rail workers across the country in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973, finally leading to the 1974 strike which was participated in by 70% of the permanent work force of railways. This was not the first railways strike in India, the earliest having occurred in British India in 1862 in Howrah, and a number of strikes having occurred in the private railway companies that operated in British India, most of them becoming part of the Indian freedom struggle. [4][5]
As President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation, George Fernandes led the strike. The strike commenced on 8 May 1974. The strike was brutally suppressed by Indira Gandhi government with thousands being sent to jail and losing their jobs. The strike was called off on 27 May 1974. [11]
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Strike
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2006 People's Liberation Army Air Force KJ-200 crash
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On June 3, 2006, a People's Liberation Army Air Force KJ-200 crashed in Guangde County, Anhui Province, China. All 40 people on board were killed. The aircraft involved was a PRC-produced Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) plane, one of four that were part of the country's efforts to expand its air defences. [2] The exact model of aircraft involved was never officially identified, although it is believed to have been a KJ-200. The aircraft had been developed in 2002, and have been undergoing extensive tests since then. [7]
The plane was carrying thirty-five electronics and avionics technicians, as well as five crewmembers. [2] It is believed by aviation experts that the large number of people on board the aircraft indicated that some form of test was being conducted. Carrying such a large number of people allowed the plane to avoid transmitting real time data back to the ground, which could be compromised by foreign intelligence services. [2]
The aircraft flew into a hillside, killing all on board. [2] It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the Chinese air force. [2]
The Central Military Commission announced of the investigation result on September 7, 2006. The official explanation was that the accident was due to heavy ice formation on the wings after the aircraft made repeated passes in and out of clouds in bad weather. The announcement also declared that nearly a dozen high-ranking military officers were punished, including:
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Air crash
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Savoy Hotel fire
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The Savoy Hotel on Darlinghurst Road in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, Australia burned down on 25 December 1975 with the loss of 15 lives. It was the deadliest hotel fire in Australia at that time. On 24 December 1975 the five story Savoy was packed with local workers and holiday makers. At about 5:00 a.m., Reginald John Little, a 25-year-old cook and a petty thief with aspirations of making it into the news, came back from an unhappy night out. He was a guest of the hotel and let himself in through the back door. He found a stack of newspapers inside the hotel, set them on fire near the rear door at about 5:30 a.m., and went up to his room. [1] The fire quickly spread up through the two staircases, trapping 60 people upstairs and blocking off the two fire escapes. The first call to emergency services was at 5:38 a.m. Guests fled upstairs where they had a choice between jumping multiple floors down or waiting it out in smoke filled rooms. One woman threw her baby from a five meter high window and then jumped out herself, to be caught by firefighters. Many people were trapped inside up to 30 minutes before firefighters could bring in a hydraulic platform to get them out. At the end of the day, out of the 60 guests in the hotel, 15 died and 25 were seriously injured. Many people were found badly burned in their rooms, some charred beyond recognition.
Prior to the fire in 1975, Reginald Little had been convicted in other arson cases, including setting a shop on fire in New South Wales and setting a billiard table on fire at a club after he had been let go from a job. [1]
On 25 November 1976, Little was sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment for the murder of four people plus 14 years for maliciously setting fire to the hotel, his sentence was later re-determined with a non-parole period of twenty-eight years. [5] Convicted for 5 more arson cases, Little was at the low-security St Heliers prison farm where he served as a captain of a New South Wales country bush fire brigade. When there were no fires he did fire reduction work, like burn-offs. The fire control officer in charge had heard rumors that he was an arsonist, but did nothing to confirm this. He was ordered back in full-time custody when Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham was informed in 1993.
He was released on parole from Silverwater jail on 12 May 2010, even though he refused to admit to the crime.
The Savoy Hotel was owned by alleged crime boss Abe "the boss of the Cross" Saffron. He also owned the building next to it, then housing the Pink Panther strip club with upstairs a brothel called the Kingsdore Motel. [10] In 1989 this building, then the Downunder Hostel, burned down with the loss of 6 lives. [11] Saffron has been linked to seven other fires. [12]
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Fire
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AIRES Flight 8250 crash
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AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that on 16 August 2010 crashed on landing at night in poor weather on the Colombian island of San Andrés, killing 2 of the 131 people on board. The aircraft, an AIRES-operated Boeing 737-700, was arriving from the Colombian capital Bogotá when it heavily touched down short of the runway, breaking up in three sections. The official investigation concluded that the crash was caused by the misjudgement by the crew of the aircraft's altitude during the last phase of the approach. [1]
Flight 8250 was operated by the local, privately owned Colombian airline AIRES. [2][3] The aircraft was on a flight from Bogotá to the Colombian island of San Andrés, in the Caribbean. [3] A popular tourist destination, San Andres Island is about 190 kilometres (120 mi; 100 nmi) east of the Nicaraguan coast. [3]
The flight took off from Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport at 00:07 en route to Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport with 125 passengers and six crew. Captain Wilson Gutierrez (age 43) was the pilot flying (PF) while First Officer Camilo Piñeyros Rodriguez (age 25) was the pilot monitoring (PM). [4]
The crash occurred as the aircraft landed at San Andrés at 1:49 am local Western Caribbean Time (UTC−05:00). [3][5] The Boeing 737 broke up into three main sections. [6] The impact occurred about 260 feet (80 m) before the start of the runway, with wreckage spread about another 328 feet (100 m). [5] The aircraft skidded along the runway; the landing gear collapsed and one engine was ripped off the wing. [7] The aircraft's nose and first eight rows of seating came to rest on the runway pointing in a different direction from the rest of the wreckage. [5] Airport fire crews quickly doused a small fire that had started on a wing. [7] As a result of the accident, the Comité Regional de Prevención y Atención de Desastres was mobilized. [8]
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-73V,[Notes 1] registration HK-4682, with serial number (MSN) 32416, construction number 1270. [9] The aircraft was built in 2003,[9] and was first delivered to EasyJet registered as G-EZJU. It was then sold to AIRES in March 2010. [9] Investigators said the day after the crash that the aircraft's maintenance log was up to date. [7]
There were contradictory reports as to how many people were aboard the aircraft. [5] Reports range from 121 passengers and 6 crew members,[2] 131 passengers and crew,[3] and at least 127 people aboard. [5] The report of 131 people was further broken down as 121 adult passengers and four minors. [5] Reports the day after the accident settled on 131 people aboard: 125 passengers and 6 crew. [7][10][11][12]
One early report stated that 114 people were injured in the crash, and that of 99 passengers taken to the Amor de Patria Hospital on San Andrés, only 4 had suffered major injuries. [3] Reports a day later settled on a figure of 119 people being taken to local hospitals, mostly with minor injuries. [7][12] Thirteen survivors, including four with serious injuries, were flown to Bogota for treatment. [7]
Initial reports indicated one fatality, an elderly lady dying of a heart attack. [13] The final fatality count was two. Autopsy revealed that a 68-year-old woman suffered a ruptured aorta and ruptured liver. [6] She died on the way to the hospital. [2][3] The second fatality was a 10-year-old girl;[14] she sustained substantial brain damage[citation needed] and died 16 days after the accident. [15]
One report stated that the passenger list included six Americans, five Mexicans, four Brazilians, four Ecuadorians and two Germans, the rest being Colombians. [5] Another report stated there were three Americans aboard. [16] A later report put the number of non-Colombians aboard as 'at least 16'. [11]
Colombia's civil aviation authority, Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics, and the Colombian Air Force opened an investigation into the accident. [8] The airport was closed as investigators examined the wreckage. [2] The closure was expected to last until 06:00 on 17 August. [8]
The aircraft reportedly crashed in bad weather, while a storm was reported in the area, but not at the airport. [5] The METAR (aviation routine weather observation message) report in force at the time of the accident indicated that the wind was from the east north east at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), visibility was good and that the runway was wet. [Notes 2][6] The aircraft "landed in the middle of an intense electrical storm" according to Colonel Barrero. [2]
Passenger accounts the day after the crash detailed how the approach appeared to have been going normally, with the flight attendants having made the passengers ready for landing, when the crash occurred suddenly and without warning. [7][10][11] The pilot did not report an emergency to the tower. [12] There were conflicting reports over what caused the crash, suggesting that the landing was disrupted after the aircraft was hit by a downdraft, or struck by lightning. [5] The pilot said that the aircraft was struck by lightning. Officials refused to comment on the reports of a lightning strike,[3][5][8] although subsequent research proved that[specify] was not true. No aircraft has had an accident caused by lightning since 1971. The airport was not fitted with equipment such as a Doppler radar, used to detect wind shear. [7]
Both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered from the wreckage. [7] Based on the pattern of wreckage, investigators concluded that the aircraft had broken up on impact and not while in the air. [7]
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to support the Colombian-led investigation as representatives of the manufacturer's state.
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Air crash
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Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai gets 14 months in prison for unauthorised assembly
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Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong, China February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu HONG KONG, April 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 14 months in prison while nine other activists received jail time or suspended sentences on Friday for taking part in unauthorised assemblies during mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Senior barrister Martin Lee, who helped launch the city's largest opposition Democratic Party in the 1990s and is often called the former British colony's "father of democracy," was given an 11-month suspended sentence. It was the first time that Lai, one of Hong Kong's most prominent democratic activists, who has been in jail since December after being denied bail in a separate national security trial, received a prison sentence. Lai was found guilty in two separate trials for unauthorised assemblies on Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 2019, respectively. He received a 15-month sentence for the first, reduced by three months in mitigation, and an eight-month sentence for the second, of which he will serve two. District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock said even though the Aug. 18 assembly was peaceful there was a "latent risk of possible violence" and that a deterrent sentence and "immediate imprisonment" was appropriate. Lai's repeated arrests have drawn criticism from Western governments and international rights groups, who raised concerns over waning freedoms in the global financial hub, including freedom of speech and assembly. "The wrongful prosecution, conviction and sentencing of these activists underlines the ... government’s intention to eliminate all political opposition," Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Yamini Mishra said. The other defendants in the Aug. 18 case, also found guilty, included prominent barrister Margaret Ng and veteran democrats Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, Leung Kwok-hung, Cyd Ho, Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung. They received sentences of up to 18 months. Ng, Leung Yiu-chung and Albert Ho were given suspended sentences. In her mitigation speech, Ng said the law must not only be defended in courts or the legislature, but also in the streets. "When the people, in the last resort, had to give collective expression to their anguish and urge the government to respond, protected only by their expectation that the government will respect their rights, I must be prepared to stand with them, stand by them and stand up for them," she said. In the second trial, Lai and Lee Cheuk-yan were found guilty together with Yeung Sum, who received a suspended sentence. All three had pleaded guilty. The 2019 pro-democracy protests were spurred by Beijing's tightening squeeze on wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong upon its return to Chinese rule in 1997, and plunged the semi-autonomous city into its biggest crisis since the handover. Beijing has since consolidated its authoritarian grip on Hong Kong by imposing a sweeping national security law, punishing anything it deems as secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. Supporters of the law say it has restored stability. Lai, founder of the Apple Daily tabloid, has been a frequent visitor to Washington, meeting officials such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to rally support for Hong Kong democracy, prompting Beijing to label him a "traitor". Lai attended two other court mentions on Friday, in the ongoing trial where he is charged with collusion with a foreign country and a fraud case related to the lease of the building which houses Apple Daily. Prosecutors said he will face two additional charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice. Earlier this week, the tabloid published a hand-written letter Lai sent to his colleagues from prison, saying: "It is our responsibility as journalists to seek justice. As long as we ... do not let evil get its way through us, we are fulfilling our responsibility." It is “time for us to stand tall,” he wrote.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
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1892 Thirsk rail crash
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The 1892 Thirsk rail crash happened at Manor House signal box on 2 November 1892, on the North Eastern Railway about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Thirsk railway station in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. James Holmes was the signalman at Manor House signal box. [1] The day before the crash, his infant daughter, Rose, was taken ill and later died. Holmes had been awake for over 36 hours and was extremely distressed, having ministered to the child, walked miles to try and find the local doctor (who was away from home attending to another patient) and comforted his distraught wife. [2][3] He reported to the stationmaster at Otterington, Thomas Kirby, that he would be unable to work the shift on the next night, but Kirby merely asked his superiors for a relief signalman, without stating that the reason was that Holmes had reported himself unfit to work. The Assistant District Signals Inspector at York, already harassed by other emergencies, replied that there was no relief signalman available, and his superior later concurred. [4]
Forced to complete his shift, Holmes called at the Otterington signal box before walking to Manor House, asking the signalman there, Henry Eden, to notify him when the passenger train from York arrived at 8:58pm, as he was expecting his mother to arrive by that service to tend to his wife; Holmes had expected his mother to arrive on either the 6:00pm or 7:37pm trains, and had walked to the station on both occasions hoping to meet her. [5] He also told the Otterington signalman that he was already exhausted. It was night with a thick mist which later thickened to fog. [6] About three hours into Holmes' shift, two express passenger trains were due from the north. [7] These constituted the up night Scotch Express, which was divided into two separate trains. The first had left Edinburgh on time at 10:30pm, but the second had been delayed by the late arrival of connecting trains and did not leave until 11:02pm. After the first portion of the express had passed Northallerton North the signalman there allowed a goods train from Middlesbrough to Starbeck up the main line after it. [8] Holmes let the goods train into his section but then was "overmastered by sleep". [9] The goods train came to a halt just outside his signal box. Thirteen minutes later, Holmes awoke, rather confused. The Otterington signalman warned him to be ready for the second part of the express, and Holmes saw that his instruments still indicated that there was a train on the line. He had forgotten about the goods train, and thought he had fallen asleep before clearing the instruments after the first express. He cleared the instruments and accepted the second express. He then had second thoughts and telegraphed the Otterington signal box (using the "speaking instrument", an old term for the single needle telegraph, not to be confused with a telephone), but too late for the Otterington signalman to halt the express. [8]
The express crashed at sixty miles per hour into the goods train, which had only just started to move off at walking pace. Nine passengers and the guard of the goods train were killed. 39 other passengers and 4 train crew injured. [2] Nearly an hour later, hot coals from the firebox of the engine of the express train set the wreckage on fire. The express train's Pintsch oil gas lighting system acted as an accelerant and added to the fire. Two of the bodies were incinerated and were not recovered. [6] Men employed to clear the crash site and repair the permanent way reported finding calcined bones and lumps of flesh. Some of the human remains had coins fused to them from the intense heat of the fire. The bodies that could be recovered were moved to Thirsk station and an inquest was opened immediately so that the bodies could be released to the families. [10]
Holmes was charged with manslaughter and found guilty, but was given an absolute discharge – a decision strongly supported by both the jury and by public opinion. [11] The railway company was criticised for its cavalier treatment of Holmes, and there had been contributory negligence; by the Otterington signalman who knew of Holmes' condition and took no action when there was silence from his signal box for nearly a quarter of an hour, and by the crew of the goods train who remained halted outside Holmes' signal box for several minutes without sending a crewman to the signal box in accordance with Rule 55 to ensure that their train was properly protected by the signals and block instruments. [12]
The accident would have been prevented if the line had been fitted with track circuits which would have prevented the block instruments and the signals from being cleared. However, at the time track circuits were relatively new. [12] Although Manor House was a heavily used part of what was to become known as the East Coast Main Line, the need for such aids to safety there would have been regarded as low; there were no junctions, sidings or crossovers to confuse movement, and the block was one of the shortest and straightest in the country. [7]
Board of Trade Inspecting Officer Francis Marindin also noted that the many casualties were as a result of the lighter carriages being marshalled between the engine and the heavier Pullman coach behind them. When the crash occurred, the Pullman carriage tore into the lighter carriages at the front of the train. [12]
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Train collisions
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1967 Koynanagar earthquake
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The 1967 Koynanagar earthquake occurred near Koynanagar town in Maharashtra, India on 11 December local time. The magnitude 6.6 shock hit with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It occurred near the site of Koyna dam, raising questions about induced seismicity, and claimed at least 177 lives and injured over 2,200. More than 80% of the houses were damaged in Koyana Nagar Township,[4] but it did not cause any major damage to the dam except some cracks which were quickly repaired. There have been several earthquakes of smaller magnitude there since 1967. The earthquake caused a 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) fissure in the ground which spread over a length of 25 kilometers (16 mi). Some geologists believe that the earthquake was due to reservoir-triggered seismic activity,[4] but senior project officials have repeatedly denied this conclusion. [5]
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Earthquakes
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Kristiania match workers' strike of 1889
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The Kristiania match workers strike was an industrial dispute involving female match workers at the factories Bryn and Grønvold in Kristiania in 1889. The strike started when the wages were suddenly reduced by 20% in October 1889, and involved 372 of the female workers. It ended 13 December the same year. The strike attracted considerable public sympathy, including from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Oscar Nissen. [1]
The conflict received country-wide publicity. The strike started spontaneously on 24 October, without any leadership or organizers. The editor of Social-Demokraten, Carl Jeppesen, and Oscar Nissen helped organize a meeting among the workers. The requirements from the workers were 12 hours work-days, a payment of 0.07 kr per gross matches, and lightening of a harsh fine system. The number of strikers were 266 packers from Grønvolds fyrstikkfabrikk and 102 from Bryn. Among the outside supporters were the feminist pioneers Fernanda Nissen and Ragna Nielsen. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson appeared as speaker at public mass meetings, along with Jeppesen and Oscar Nissen. The strike went on for weeks, while the workers received financial support from fund-raising campaigns. There was, however, little movement in the negotiations between the workers and the factory owners, and the strike was declared terminated 12 December 1889. The strike's only achievement was a somewhat lighter fine system,[2] but the conflict eventually had implications for the emerging labour movement. It was later treated in Olav Dalgard's film Gryr i Norden from 1939. [1]
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Strike
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Thousands of litres of sulphuric acid leaks from tanker as it travels through South Australia
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South Australia's Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says a manufacturing fault is likely to blame for the leakage of thousands of litres of sulphuric acid from a tanker truck.
The truck was loaded with sulphuric acid at the Nyrstar lead smelter in Port Pirie on July 22.
According to the EPA's director of regulation Andrew Pruszinski, two days later, the truck left for the Beverley uranium mine in the state's north-east, and was about 70 kilometres north of Yunta — or about 270 km from Port Pirie — when the driver was alerted to a problem.
"On the way to the mine site … [a] driver, who was in the truck behind the tanker, noticed something wasn't right with the truck in front," Mr Pruszinski said.
"The driver of the tanker got out and inspected the tanker, and he noticed one of the valves had sheared and come loose from the tank itself."
The valve failure had caused 4,500 litres of sulphuric acid to drain from one of the tanker's internal partitions during the journey.
Mr Pruszinski said the nuts that held the bolts in place, which secured the valve to the tanker, were missing a special adhesive and had rattled loose.
"The tanker was actually very new, so it was a fault with manufacture," Mr Pruszinski said.
As the transport company tracked all its vehicles with GPS technology, it was able to retrace the tanker's route exactly.
"The trucking company was able to … inspect all of the road — and places where the truck had stopped — for any damage that may have been caused from the sulphuric acid," Mr Pruszinski said.
"They were also able to collect samples of water puddles — there'd been quite a lot of rain at that time.
"There was no evidence of damage for the entire route."
He said that the rain had likely diluted the acid, reducing its potential to cause serious environmental damage.
The EPA said the driver was properly trained and the company had followed best practice for the transport of sulphuric acid.
"They've gone back to the manufacturer of the tanker, and they're doing an urgent review of all tankers that have been manufactured," Mr Pruszinski said.
"In addition, the trucking company is reviewing all of its tankers that they have in stock as well."
Sulphuric acid is a by-product of smelting, and is routinely transported by road across Australia.
The EPA declined to reveal the trucking company nor the trailer manufacturer involved in the incident.
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Environment Pollution
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2013 Uribana prison riot
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On 25 January 2013, a riot began at Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Initial reports gave at least 50 people killed and over 120 people injuredand by 27 January a death toll of 61 was reported. Officials on the first day of the riot faulted media for breaking news in advance that the prison would be searched by the military. As the riot continued into a second day, human rights groups faulted overcrowding and conditions in the gang-dominated prison.
The riot was reportedly triggered by an announcement that, in an anti-gang measure, Venezuelan National Guard troops would be searching for weapons. The inmates were reportedly waiting for the National Guard when they arrived. Most injuries were from gunshot wounds. Bodies have been described as unidentifiable due to their mutilation. Due to the mutilation, officials were charged for a violation of human rights.
In a press statement on the first day of the riot, minister of penitentiary services Iris Varela laid blame on the local media for reporting the prison search ahead of time, stating that many of the deaths were a "settling of scores" among rival prison gangs.Human rights groups blamed overcrowding and inhumane conditions, as well as poor execution and unnecessary force. Unnamed critics of the government noted that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights had called on president Hugo Chávez in 2007 to relieve conditions there that put visitors, inmates, and guards at risk. The inmates were temporarily removed as a result of two days of rioting.
WikiMiniAtlas10°10′51″N 69°20′39″W / 10.18083°N 69.34417°W / 10.18083; -69.34417
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Riot
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1948 Sabena DC-4 Crash crash
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The 1948 Sabena DC-4 Crash was the crash of a Douglas DC-4-1009 of the Belgian airline Sabena, 27 km south of Libenge, Belgian Congo, on 12 May 1948. It was the deadliest accident for Sabena at the time and the second of three deadly Sabena crashes in 1948. It was also the deadliest in Belgian Congo before the country's independence as the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960. Of the 32 people on board 31 were killed, leaving only one survivor. [1]
The DC-4-1009 involved was built in 1946 and bought new from Douglas with serial number 42932 and registration OO-CBE and was used by the Belgian airline company Sabena from 17 April 1946 until its destruction in 1948. [2] The aircraft was mostly used in Belgian Congo and carried Regent Prince Charles of Belgium back to Belgium on 13 August 1947 after his official visit to Congo. [3]
The Sabena flight departed from Léopoldville-N'Djili Airport en route to Libenge Airport with 25 passengers and seven crew members on board. [4]
While above the Congo rainforest, 27 km south of Libenge, at an altitude of 700 feet (210 m), the aircraft probably penetrated a very turbulent line of clouds or flew the aircraft into the active centre of a tornado at a low altitude. The aircraft was probably then forced to the ground by a downward gust. [5]
The aircraft hit the tree-tops and left a 200 m (660 ft) trail through the forest until it finally crashed, killing all seven crew members and 24 of the 25 passengers. [5] The sole survivor was an Egyptian man. The wreck was located the following day and the injured sole survivor was rescued. Rescuers searched for more survivors, but it quickly became clear that their efforts were in vain. This crash was the second deadly crash of three involving a Sabena aircraft in 1948, making 1948 the deadliest year in Sabena's history. [6]
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Air crash
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Couple In North Huntingdon Dies Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
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Filed Under: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning , Local TV , North Huntingdon Township , North Huntingdon Township Police , Pittsburgh News , Ross Guidotti , Westmoreland County
NORTH HUNTINGDON (KDKA) – An elderly couple died from carbon monoxide poisoning inside their home on Thursday.
According to North Huntingdon Police, a family member was unable to make contact with his parents, Joseph and Freda Polinski, so he drove to their home in the 700 block of Altman Street. When he arrived, he found them inside.
READ MORE: Pittsburgh Weather: Record Warmth Possible On Thursday
(Photo Credit: KDKA)
The carbon monoxide levels inside the home registered 100 times over a safe level. Investigators found a car running in the garage and believe it was the likely source of the carbon monoxide.
READ MORE: Prantl's Bakery Opens New North Side Location
Carbon monoxide symptoms can occur quickly and without warning.
“Nausea, dizziness fatigue will set in, and in serious situations death,” said Westmoreland City Fire Department Chief Mike Doshen.
There was a smoke detector in the home. However, it is not known if it was up to date. Experts say you should check the back of your detector to make sure it is current.
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Mass Poisoning
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Trump Was Planning to Withdraw US From NATO and Ditch South Korea Alliance, According to New Book
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That would be an absolutely massive present to both Russia and China, and severely damage US international relations. The USA withdrawing from NATO and its strategic alliances. The UK withdrawing from the EU. Two global superpowers consciously choosing to irreversibly accelerate their own demise. Jfc right wing populism is cancer and the stunted idiots that enable them and cheer them on shoulder the full blame. This sentence describes basically every action he took while in office Republicans are a massive gift to China and Russia. Putin has an obsession with dismantling NATO. It’s as if Donald was taking orders When it comes to all of the stupid shit every right wing idiot has been spewing the past few years about NATO my thought is always who in their right mind wants to leave the biggest most powerful military alliance in human history, especially when you are literally the de facto leader of that alliance. The US withdrawing from NATO would be massive and shows just how insane Trump was. The guy should never have been allowed within 1000 miles of DC. Good for at least a few million worth of “debt forgiveness”! Still worth it! We sent a strong message to the DNC not to use national polls as a guide for their campaign financing. /s Many people are saying that Donald is Xi and Putins fetish gimp. The extreme lack of consistency from one administration to another is going to be bad for our allies and economy. Really falls in line with "The Foundations of Geopolitics" Which is why Trump would have done it. He is an absolute Putin shill. Political elites on the right in the US do have a special relationship with Russia, so… a gift perhaps. A token of appreciation. Putin and Xi: damn it, we should try harder to get him reelected. That’s because the piece of shit has been an unregistered foreign agent since 80’s as far as I am concerned. I have felt from the beginning of Trump's presidency Putin made him president to pull US out of NATO - because Putin's ultimate goal is to invade and loot Europe. Why? Because Putin has shown ZERO interest in doing anything to improve the Russian economy. How do you accumulate wealth if you don't produce it? You STEAL IT. And invading countries for their wealth is as old as time. As it doesn't happens as much in the last 50+ years as in the past people forget this is actually a 'thing' that political leaders may aspire to. As for South Korea, all I can say is Trump's infatuation with Kim John-Un is truly bizarre. Putin absolutely owns Trump. The ghost of Goldwater v. Carter continues to haunt the country. his whole presidency was exactly that Less a gift to Russia, and more a blackmail payment. There is more and more evidence that Russia got some serious kompromat of the GOP when they hacked them years back. Massive gift to North Korea as well. Feels kinda obvious. He said he ‘fell in love’ with the most dangerous dictator in the world. And kissed Putin’s ass live on international television in Helsinki. I can’t remember another president coming close to attacking NATO as much as he did. He also accepted a soccer ball from him with a microchip in it on live television. Putin was basically trolling at that point. I feel like anybody who was paying attention would find this headline pretty obvious. He telegraphed constantly his disdain for NATO and it was clearly one of Putin's stretch goals. He probably wanted to form an alliance with Putin and attack NATO. Just like that German guy .... We can never allow another republican to become president. It will be even more catastrophic than the Trump and Bush administrations. They keep getting worse and worse. He's been rated the third worst president, behind the president who committed genocide against the Native Americans and the guy who drove us to the Civil War. Trump was just one or two decisions from outright taking the prize. Had he been more “successful” he could have topped both of them. I’d argue he’s the worst President with regard to intentions, he’s just too incredibly dense to get anything done. Andrew Jackson isn’t usually called the worst President in history. Which list did you get your info or did you mean a different genocidal President? Don't forget he also ranks lower than Harrison, who was only in office for 30 days. You may be right, however, having experienced this moronic shit head’s full on assault on this country first hand, he takes top prize in my book. He still can take the prize of worst president ever. The rankings change over time as the impact of the presidency is realized. Obama went up in the rankings recently for example. I’d put him worse then Jackson if you adjust for the times. Jackson did a lot of good stuff outside of the trail of tears, namely related to debt and banking. I’d give him the bronze and trump the silver. I think you’re confusing Andrew Jackson with Andrew Johnson. Johnson was the president sworn in while drunk after Lincoln was assassinated and credited with royally screwing up the aftermath of the civil war. Jackson, while also terrible, had some accomplishments and does not regularly rank near the bottom. Trump honestly should not be ranked higher than Bush. Bush's impact on the world has been a fucking catastrophe. Trump sucks and he definitely caused immense damage to the US itself, but even with his attempted coup and disgusting policies, he does not have the blood on his hands that Bush does. He's been rated the third worst presiden source? Yeah was pretty terrible when James Buchanan Started the civil war. What a terrible thing to do. I don’t see any reason for doing this other than pettiness. Even if you think he was favourable to Putin, it might explain withdrawing from NATO. But leaving S. Korea vulnerable to NK and China after he’d started a trade war with China makes no sense at all. It’s completely batshit. You might want to look at a map. Russia has a border with North Korea and has long coveted to get dominance in that area. Getting the US out of South Korea would help them too. Putin & Kim just had talks in 2019 in Russia. It is logical from his zero sum thinking style. He thought (or more likely, somebody planted the seed for that thought) that these countries were taking advantage from the USA. And if they take advantage, it must mean that the USA was losing. And if there is on thing that Trump can't stand.... In one of the books that came out during Trump's presidency, they told how he wanted to get out of South Korea to save a few bucks. Mattis told him that whatever the cost, staying there was worth it. But he still demanded they write him a letter saying we were withdrawing. So they did ... but they removed it from his desk as soon as they could so he couldn't sign it. And bozo forgot about it because of his ... uh... big...uh...brain. It's because Trump has a fundamentally flawed world view. Know what's more expensive than paying the lion's share of NATO? A fucking war. Trump is a fuckin idiot. War profiteering is what he and his friends want though… And yet millions of people want him in 2024 You mean in 2021 right? Cause those crazy fucks want him back now. Because they still think America is top dog and rest of the world can suck it. (Paraphrasing for our benefit) Leaving nato would have been bad. Putin would grab more territory. But leaving South Korea would have been so bad. That is so precarious that could easily turn into a large scale hot war. Republicans are going to get us all killed with their idiocy The idea/decision makes sense if we approach it from the Trump narcissism perspective. He loves dictators because he wanted to be one. This is why he loves Putin, Un, Bolsonaro. MBS, and others. He feels praise from them is more valuable than praise from leaders in free nations. There is no idiocy involved here. These are highly intelligent and educated people with carefully thought out treasonous plans. Now you can be scared. But leaving South Korea would have been so bad. That is so precarious that could easily turn into a large scale hot war. The retaliation from the ARMY would be catastrophic.. Bad? It would have untied Putin’s hands to take over the territories he wants in Eastern Europe. It would be a catastrophic situation. He is seriously either dumb and influenced by agents or straight up an agent himself, more likely former. Congress had stepped in to make sure that wouldn't happen. To enter into a treaty requires the advice and consent of the Senate, and a two-thirds majority vote, the Constitution says, but it is silent on what it takes for presidents to exit a treaty ― and it’s assumed they can unilaterally withdraw.
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Withdraw from an Organization
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1956 Santiago rail crash
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The 1956 Santiago rail crash occurred on February 14, 1956, at 4:00 a.m.[1] near the Chilean capital Santiago on the branch to Cartagena and killed 23 people. Two trains left the capital twelve minutes apart. Seven kilometres into their journeys, the second train ran into the back of the first; destroying a wooden, third-class carriage. 23 people were killed and 198 injured. President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo ordered an immediate enquiry; the driver of the rear train was found to be at fault. The accident happened just seven months after a very similar accident at San Bernardo twenty kilometers south of the city killed 38 people.
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Train collisions
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Pell changes could mean more eligible students, more money, more programs
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As the needs of the post-pandemic economy evolve and new Democratic leadership gets settled in Washington, several fabled ideas for revamping the Pell Grant program could have new life pumped into them. Three proposals now in play would transform the Pell grant as it approaches its 50th birthday. The proposals would expand eligibility to short-term certificate programs, increase grants by $400 and allow DACA students to apply for the first time. Students whose families earn less than certain thresholds can use Pell grant dollars at more than 5,000 schools across the country on programs that span at least 600 clock hours over 15 weeks. Congress sets the annual maximum a student can obtain based on cost estimates — $6,495 for the 2021-22 academic year — but the amount a student receives is based on the FAFSA-determined expected family contribution, the cost of the institution, their status as a full-time or part-time student and the length of time they intend to spend attending school. The program was initially designed to pay for associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, but many vocational programs are also eligible. A new bill proposed by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., known as the JOBS Act, would greatly expand which programs are eligible for these federal funds. It would allow students to use Pell grant dollars on programs that are at least 150 clock hours over eight weeks — a change he says would serve as a “launching pad into the workforce.” Although it has been introduced twice before without progressing, proponents say the coronavirus pandemic makes this legislation more important than ever because so many people have been left unemployed. At a hearing Tuesday in Washington, Kaine said that many of these unemployed workers need access to short term credential programs because of the obligations they have to their families. To be approved for Pell money, the short-term programs would have to meet the needs of the local or regional workforce; provide institutional credit articulation so students can pursue further education; and provide licenses, certifications or credentials that meet the hiring requirements of multiple employers in the given field. So far, 33 of his Senate colleagues, from both parties, have signed on as co-sponsors. Related: Nearly half of American parents don’t want their kids to go straight to a four-year college Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, said this idea, which he’s long supported, is finally gaining momentum. “This is a non-degree view of the world,” he recently told my colleague Jill Barshay. “It’s the training system American never had. But everyone recognizes that we need it now — we’ve needed it for a while… Having a training Pell Grant is a revolution.” “I think it’s important to say I’m not a ‘four-year or bust’ person. But the idea is being marketed as there is a very, very short-term shortcut to making a middle-class wage, and for the most part that’s not true.” But some advocates are wary. Amy Laitinen, director of higher education within the education policy program at the think tank New America, said she agrees the federal government should invest in job training programs, but that Pell isn’t the appropriate vehicle. “I think it’s important to say I’m not a ‘four-year or bust’ person,” Laitinen said. “But the idea is being marketed as there is a very, very short-term shortcut to making a middle-class wage, and for the most part that’s not true… There just aren’t a lot of shortcuts.” A recent New America data analysis showed that more than half of employed adults with a short-term certificate earned $30,000 or less per year and the median income ranged from $20,000 to $30,000. The analysis also found that women and people of color earned less than their counterparts with similar certificates. Kaine’s team says the program will give more people of all backgrounds access to postsecondary training, and lift up people who have historically been left out of higher education. Laitinen fears it will end up “tracking Black and brown folks into these programs that lead to low-paying jobs.” Laitinen said she worries that the proposal lacks meaningful guardrails. She suggested that adding outcome measures and a living wage threshold would improve it. Related: Urgency of getting people back to work gives new momentum to ‘microcredentials’ Wesley Whistle, New America’s senior advisor for policy and strategy, said he worries about the conflation of a higher education degree and a postsecondary certificate. “A wage improvement is good, but the point of higher education isn’t to just give you a $2 wage bump. It’s about a middle-class job,” Whistle said. “You leave higher education — you should — with a different kind of employability and earning potential.” Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has put two other proposals onto the table. In a discretionary budget proposal addressed to the Senate Appropriations Committee, he proposed boosting Pell grants by $400 — what he says is the first step toward his goal of eventually doubling the amount. If it gets through, this would represent the largest single increase to Pell in more than a decade. A new proposal would increase Pell grant awards by $400, which would move the current maximum students can obtain to nearly $7,000 per year. The current maximum students can obtain per year is $6,495, so the increase would push the ceiling closer to $7,000. If put toward credit hours, the extra money could pay for about one extra three-credit course at a public two-year community college; one credit or one-third of the price of a course at a public four-year university; or, at a private four-year university, less than one-third of a credit. The grant dollars can also be used for housing costs, textbooks and supplies. Still, Laitinen said, “for low-income students, $400 is $400. If your car breaks down, that matters.” Kim Cook, the executive director of the National College Attainment Network, said in a statement the increase is an encouraging step toward doubling the Pell grant — which she said would restore the purchasing power to half the cost of college for a bachelor’s degree at an in-state, public university. “For the current academic year, that would mean increasing from $6,345 to $12,690 and raising the purchasing power to 56%,” Cook said in a statement. “If Congress funds the President’s request, the $6,895 maximum Pell grant would raise the purchasing power from its current 28% to 31%.” Related: Billions in federal financial aid is going to students who aren’t graduating Biden’s proposal would also create a pathway to federal aid for undocumented students who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This expansion would represent the first time that undocumented immigrants are able to access federal student aid. Now, they rely on private scholarships and in some places, state aid and in-state tuition at public schools. Candy Marshall, president of scholarship and advocacy group TheDream.US, said the Biden plan would allow more students to earn degrees and then contribute to the national economy. It’s unclear exactly how many students this would make eligible for Pell funding because of DACA’s narrow eligibility requirements. Marshall urged lawmakers to consider making students with Temporary Protective Status, or TPS, eligible for Pell, too. People with this status are in the United States legally often after a natural disaster or unrest in their native country, and are allowed to work. This story about the Pell Grant was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter. The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient.
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Financial Aid
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World Record-Breaker Sydney McLaughlin Captains U.S. Track and Field's Youth Movement
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TOKYO — Their shared history portended more of the same, more Olympic history, more track and field history. This wasn’t certain when the women’s 400-meter hurdles final began on Wednesday morning, half an hour before high noon. But it was possible, even expected, when Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad lined up for their lap.
For two years now, the American hurdlers had lowered their times against each, passing elite marks back and forth like a bread basket at the dinner table. They made doing something that had literally never been done before looked easy. Most break bread. These two break world records, at most every major event they race.
Muhammad, 31, started the whole affair at nationals in 2019, running a full lap, while leaping over hurdles, in 52.20 seconds. Not even three months later, she shaved 0.04 seconds off that mark, building on the gold she snagged at the Rio Games. But every epic athlete needs an equally ambitious rival, someone to push them to heights unseen. If that athlete is younger, driven, friendly and from the same country, the drama between them only heightens.
Enter McLaughlin, the phenom from New Jersey who’s still only 21. She wasn’t born when a hurdler clocked the first world record in 1974, breaking 57 seconds. It took three years to break 56 seconds, four years to break 55, 10 years to break 54 and 12 years to break 53. But from 1986 to 2021, no 400-meter hurdler ran that race in under 52 seconds. Not until this June, when McLaughlin did, wrestling the record from her rival with a 51.90.
Dalilah Muhammad (USA) celebrates winning the silver medal, Sydney McLaughlin (USA) celebrates winning the gold medal and Femke Bol (NED) celebrates winning the bronze medal during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
James Lang/USA TODAY Sports
Both women flew to Tokyo to, well, set the record straight. Both believed they could not only win but win and make history, and both should have believed that. Their back-and-forth had become so compelling that it morphed into a centerpiece showdown for the entire Olympics. McLaughlin attempted to temper the hype on Monday, after winning her semifinal by the length of a semi-truck. She said she wanted to focus on her lane. She said nothing is guaranteed when a race starts. She noted, quite fairly, that the times she and Muhammad had run were harder to obtain than they made it look. Still, “anything’s possible,” she said.
The world of track knew better, expecting something special to unfold. So did Muhammad, who said the anticipation threatened to overwhelm her. David Neville won bronze in the 400 in 2008, in the same Games when his 4X400 relay team seized gold and set an Olympic record. He promised the 400-meter hurdles were “going to be epic,” adding that he hoped to see the world record drop once more.
Introductions began at 11:27 a.m. here. There were kisses blown, fists thrown, and so many hands waving not at a crowd in an empty stadium but at the television cameras beaming the face-off to the world. McLaughlin, though, did none of those things. Instead, she swayed back and forth, hands on hips, no smile, no kiss, her stare steeled and straight ahead. She almost looked mad, from the intensity and focus.
Back in Jersey, her father, Willie, settled in front of the flatscreen in his living room, along with his wife, Mary, his sister and his oldest daughter. Everyone took their assigned seats, with Willie in his lucky loveseat and his wife opposite him on the couch. But no one sat for long.
Each knew the path that Sydney blazed to Tokyo, the one that started pretty much at birth. Willie had competed as a sprinter himself, even reaching the semifinals of the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials. Asked when he knew that this kind of speed, the fastest-in-the-world kind was possible, and he didn’t pause to think. “From the very beginning,” he said, instantly.
His daughter made the team for Rio, at only 16, the youngest U.S. track and field Olympian in 44 years. She didn’t make the final but she gained valuable experience. The next year, she won an award from Gatorade, which named her its high school athlete of the year, again, making her the first person to win it two years straight. McLaughlin raced for one season for Kentucky, turned pro in 2018 and set her sights on both Tokyo—and her friendly rival, Muhammad.
Everything fell into place, at least until January, when Willie went to the hospital for a routine test. As detailed in a beautiful story in The (Newark) Star-Ledger, he had been born with a genetic heart defect. The medication given to him at that visit prompted an adverse reaction, and officials there added him to the transplant list immediately. In February, he received a new heart, alleviating the concerns of a family that was worried about him.
As the confrontation between 400-meter-hurdle titans approached, Willie declined invitations to watch parties and the NBC producers who asked if they could send a camera crew to his house. He still needed to be careful with his heart.
That did not, however, stop Willie from yelling at the television and jumping from that love seat when the race began. Muhammad had decided to push the pace early—and push, more like shove, she did. The rivals stayed close early, leaping hurdles, turning left. By the halfway point, it appeared that both had pulled ahead of the rest of the field, with Muhammad still in front.
The final surge, though, came from McLaughlin. As her family shouted from their living room across the world, she leaned forward at the finish, her expression pained, her face twisted into a grimace. The time clock on the scoreboard blinked good news. McLaughlin continued to steal glances that way, perhaps wondering if what she saw there was her real time. She breathed deeply, still exhausted, and squatted down to rest.
An hour later, she was still processing in a hallway at National Stadium. “Golly,” she said after spying the crowd reporters waiting for her. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”
Someone asked if she was shocked or relieved. “All of the above,” she answered.
Of his new heart’s performance, Willie told Sports Illustrated, “I can’t complain.” Of his daughter’s, he said, more or less, she ran fast and I’m used to it.
Sydney McLaughlin (USA) celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Olympic Stadium.
James Lang/USA TODAY Sports
He knew that his daughter had switched coaches, to Bob Kersee, in pursuit of a race, the perfect version, like the one she had just run. He knew she had conquered the rain in qualifying, joking after that she wished she had windshield wipers for her eyes and expressing gratitude for her waterproof mascara. She had bested her rival, too, again, on the grandest stage in their sport. And while Muhammad fought through both hamstring injuries and the coronavirus to defend her gold from Rio, she didn’t seem any worse off for what she had endured. In fact, Muhammad broke the world record Wednesday, running at a 51.58-second clip. She ran faster than any female 400-meter-hurdler ever had—except McLaughlin, on the same day, in the same event.
For years, track and field veterans will talk about these Olympics, both for the world records that fell like trees chopped down in a disappearing forest and, for those with a particular interest in the Americans, for the new era that dawned. Yes, the track was fast; it had been designed that way. But so were the competitors, many young, with no regard for the nerves that might be expected or the immensity of the stakes.
Athing Mu, 19, won the women’s 800 meters and promised to soon break a world record of her own. Gabby Thomas, 24, snagged a bronze in a 200-meter field crowded with elite competitors. Grant Holloway, 23, so thoroughly dominated his heats in the 110-meter hurdles that if he doesn’t win gold Thursday it will be an upset. Rai Benjamin, 24, broke the world record in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, only to win silver, because his chief rival had edged him the same way McLaughlin had topped Muhammad. Noah Lyles, 24, made the 200-meter men’s final, which he will attempt to win tonight—and against Erriyon Knighton, a 17-year-old who yawned before one heat Tuesday and spent the final 30 yards of another staring down his competitors to the right. To do that, he had to look backward, such was the gap he had opened on them. And that was just the sprinters/hurdlers. This is what a new wave looks like.
Said McLaughlin the hurdler, now a world record holder, at the front of it, “It’s cool to be part of this new generation of athletes pushing the boundaries on what’s possible.” Just ask Anna Cockrell, another 400-meter-hurdle contender from the U.S., the most recent NCAA champion. Asked Wednesday how it felt to run in this kind of race, a “special” one, she shrugged. Like, actually shrugged. “It’s like the third world record race I’ve been in,” she said, as if she had almost lost count. “It would be nice to be a little closer to the front.” (She had been disqualified.)
Neville, now retired and an assistant coach at Tennessee, watched all of this on television. Most everyone he competed with or against, even the young sprinters who trained near the end of his career, were gone. “We’re definitely in a new age,” he said.
McLaughlin, meanwhile, lingered at the track, posing next to the clock that displayed her record time. She held an American flag wide behind her back, arms extended, still processing, hoping soon to call her folks. After all, she had another milestone rapidly approaching, one that spoke to the future of U.S. track and field.
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Break historical records
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Hundreds missing after Brazil dam collapse
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An earth-filled dam has burst in southeastern Brazil, releasing a river of sludge that has destroyed and damaged homes in Minas Gerais state. At least 34 people are dead and some 300 are still missing. Rescue crews were working to find survivors on Saturday after a dam at the Corrego de Feijao mine in Brazil's southeast burst the day before, submerging nearby homes and roads in a sea of mud. Authorities confirmed at least 34 fatalities Saturday afternoon and said some 300 people were still missing. They added that 43 people had been found alive early on Saturday. However, hope of finding more survivors faded as the day went on, in part due to intermittent rains that complicated rescue efforts. "Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We're likely to just be recovering bodies," Romeu Zema, governor of the state of Minas Gerais, told local media. Among the missing are up to 200 residents of the rural area of Brumadinho, where the mine was located, as well as about 100 employees of mine operator Vale SA who were having lunch in the dam's administrative area when the structure burst. Television footage shared by news outlets after the disaster on Friday showed firefighters pulling survivors from the mud and homes inundated by the torrent of sludge. Read more: Mariana mining disaster: one year under the mud Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that he had deployed three of his Cabinet ministers to the site. "Our biggest concern at this moment is attending to any victims of this grave tragedy," he added. The earth-filled dam was built in 1976 in the state of Minas Gerais. According to Brazil's environmental protection agency, the barrier held 1 million cubic meters (35.3 million cubic feet) of tailings, the residue separated during mining processes. Following the Friday breach, Vale CEO Fabio Schvartsman said that the dam had been out of use for three years and was being decommissioned. He also described the collapse as an "enormous tragedy" and said most victims were mine employees. Read more: Defending lands, indigenous group fights dams in Brazil's Amazon A rescue helicopter searches for survivors in the river of mud State prosecutors in Minas Gerais said they had obtained a court order blocking $1.33 billion (€1.16 billion) in Vale's accounts to direct towards relief efforts. Brazil's environmental protection body also slapped the company with an initial $66.5 million fine over the dam rupture. The mine operator was already under fire over a separate dam collapse in 2015, which killed 19 people and released millions of tons of toxic waste in the same area. Vale and Australian mining company BHP had jointly managed the Mariana dam at the Samarco iron ore mine. Last year, the companies settled a multibillion civil lawsuit prompted by the incident.
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Mine Collapses
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Aeroflot Flight 244 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 244 was hijacked on 15 October 1970, making it the first known successful airline hijacking in the Soviet Union. [2][3]
Lithuanian Pranas Brazinskas and his 13-year-old son Algirdas seized an An-24 domestic passenger plane en route from Batumi, Adjar ASSR, Georgian SSR, to Sukhumi and Krasnodar to defect to the West. Pranas had been sentenced twice by the Soviet authorities in 1955 and 1965 for financial crimes related to state-run shops where he worked. [4] They selected seats closest to the cockpit in the cabin. Five minutes after takeoff while the aircraft was at an altitude of 800 meters, they called over the flight attendant Nadezhda Kurchenko and demanded control of the aircraft in a threatening note. Kurchenko tried to block the entrance to the cockpit but failed, yelling out that the two were armed shortly before the hijackers shot her twice at point blank range, killing her. [5]
Several members of the crew were wounded in the onboard shootout. Pranas Brazinskas claimed the shootout occurred because of resistance from two armed guards on board. [6] According to Russian media, the shootout was started by Brazinskas when the flight attendant ran to the cockpit to warn the pilots, and there were no guards on board. [2] The hijackers commandeered the plane to Trabzon, Turkey, and surrendered to the Turkish government. [citation needed]
The Brazinskas were tried and imprisoned,[clarification needed] but Turkey refused to extradite them to the Soviet authorities. [7] The plane with its passengers was soon returned to the USSR. After spending some time[clarification needed] in prison, the Brazinskas were granted amnesty[why?] in 1974 and made their way to Venezuela and finally[when?] to the United States. They were initially arrested but later allowed to apply for asylum.[when? ][8]
The Soviet Union condemned the United States for granting asylum to murderers and pressed for their extradition. Up until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet government continued to press for the extradition of the Brazinskas, and regularly assailed what they alleged was American hypocrisy in harboring terrorists who attack the aircraft of socialist countries, while pursuing very different actions against terrorists who attacked American nationals, such as in the Achille Lauro case. [9]
In 2002, Algirdas (now known as Albert Victor White) was convicted in Santa Monica of murdering his 77-year-old father Pranas (by then known as Frank White) during a family argument. [6][10]
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Air crash
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UNWFP warns 3 million extra now ‘teetering on the sting of famine’
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The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday that the variety of folks teetering on the sting of famine in 43 nations, has risen to 45 million as acute starvation spikes world wide. This quantity has risen from 42 million earlier within the yr, and 27 million in 2019, the company stated, in a news launch. The improve relies on those that desperately residing throughout the official starvation classification of IPC4 and above, in Afghanistan, alongside different will increase in Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia, Angola, Kenya, and Burundi. “Tens of millions of people are staring into an abyss. We’ve got conflict, climate change and COVID-19 driving up the numbers of the acutely hungry, and the latest data show there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation,” stated WFP Executive Director David Beasley. He was talking following a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, the place WFP is ramping up its help to help virtually 23 million folks in want there “Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertilizer is more expensive, and all of this feeds into new crises like the one unfolding now in Afghanistan, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and Syria,” he added. The WFP stated that along with humanitarian companions in starvation hotspots the world over, they’re doing every little thing attainable to extend help for thousands and thousands who danger hunger. However, obtainable assets are unable to maintain tempo with demand, at a time when conventional funding streams are underneath big pressure. WFP estimates that the price of averting famine globally now stands at $ 7 billion, up from some 6.6 billion, earlier within the yr. “As the cost of humanitarian assistance rises exponentially, we need more funds to reach families across the globe who have already exhausted their capacity to cope with extreme hunger,” added the WFP chief. The company stated households dealing with acute meals insecurity, are being compelled to make “devastating choices to cope with the rising hunger.” A vulnerability evaluation throughout the 43 nations surveyed, exhibits households being compelled to eat much less, or skip meals fully. Sometimes kids are being fed, whereas mother and father sacrifice meals, and are compelled to go hungry. In Madagascar, the place pockets of famine are already a actuality, some are being compelled to eat locusts, wild leaves, or cactus to outlive. (Only the headline and movie of this report might have been reworked by the Business Standard employees; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Famine
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1959 Air Charter Turkey crash
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G-AGRH Zephyr was an Avro Super Trader IV cargo aircraft which crashed on Mount Süphan in eastern Turkey on 23 April 1959. The Super Trader IV was a modified Avro Tudor IV, which had been fitted with an aft cargo door and was flown unpressurized. G-AGRH, owned by Air Charter Limited, departed Ankara for a flight to Bahrain, which was a leg of a long cargo flight from the United Kingdom to Woomera Airfield in Australia. The aircraft was carrying twelve men and top-secret equipment for Woomera rocket range. Between Ankara and Teheran it used an air corridor which would take it over the middle of Lake Van, Turkey's largest lake, almost surrounded by mountains and situated close to the Soviet-Armenian border. [1]
At 08:14, the aircraft passed over Gemerek at FL115 and at 08:59 it passed over Elazığ at FL135. The last position report was received at 09:26 over Muş. The aircraft had crashed, and was found six days later on Mount Süphan, a little north of Lake Van. A special Royal Air Force mountain rescue team of six men from Nicosia, Cyprus reached the crash site at the top of the mountain some days later and demolished the plane wreckage with several explosives after retrieving several important documents. [2]
There was unproven speculation that there were nuclear warheads in the cargo. An anonymous source alleged that, some years later, some local villagers who went to the wreck were diagnosed with cancer and died due to high exposure to the radioactive substances. [citation needed]
The official investigation into the accident concluded that the aircraft, which had been flying on instruments, drifted north of its normal track because of strong winds and crashed into the mountain. Stronger-than-forecast winds may have been a contributing factor – an accurate bearing could not be obtained at Muş, and the wind forecast at Van had not been checked. In addition to this, sub-normal temperatures would have resulted in a high indicated altimeter reading and calculations on the flight and contacts with beacons were not coordinated and controlled. [3][4]
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Air crash
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Damage to Crops due to Locust Attack - India | ReliefWeb
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Damage to Crops due to Locust Attack
Posted On: 18 SEP 2020 3:09PM by PIB Delhi
During 2019-20, locust attack was reported in some districts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rajasthan Government has reported that a total area of 1,79,584 hectares of 8 districts of the state was affected by locust attack during 2019-20. The State Government of Gujarat has reported that crop loss due to locust attack was observed in a total area of 19,313 hectares of 2 districts of the State during the year 2019-20.
During 2020-21, the locust incursions were reported in 10 States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand, where operations were undertaken in coordination with State Governments for locust control. State Governments of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Bihar have reported no crop losses in their States.
Initially during May-June 2020, Government of Rajasthan reported crop damage of 33% and more due to locust attack in 2235 hectare area in Bikaner, 140 hectare in Hanumangarh and 1027 hectare area in Sri Ganganagar; but now, as per revised report, it has been stated that earlier submitted data was related to initial stage of crop sown in Kharif season and this area of crop loss has been re-sown by farmers.
State Governments of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have reported crop damage of less than 33% in 6520 ha, 4400 ha, 806 ha, 488 ha and 267 ha respectively due to locust attack this year.
For 2019-20, State Government of Rajasthan has reported that a relief of Rs. 132.54 crores have been paid to 79,922 farmers due to locust attack from State Disaster Response Fund in the form of Agriculture input subsidy. State Government of Gujarat has reported that a total amount of approximately Rs. 18.74 crore has been paid to 9137 farmers during 2019-20 as agricultural input subsidy from the State Disaster Response Fund.\
For the financial year 2020-21, till now no State Government has reported distribution of relief to the farmers affected by locust attack for 2020-21. However, State Government of Rajasthan has informed that Girdawari/ survey work is underway for estimation of crop losses due to attack of locusts. The yield losses will be assessed through crop cutting experiments and compensation will be paid to all registered farmers as per provisions of Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY).
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Insect Disaster
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Police search for Santa Rosa bank robber
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Kyle Rittenhouse broke down in tears on the witness stand at his murder trial Wednesday as he described how he was being pursued by the first man he shot and killed during a night of turbulent protests in Wisconsin. Governments are considering calling for a global end to coal use, according to a draft released Wednesday of the final document expected at the U.N. climate talks. The park was closed after lightning on Sept. 9 ignited two fires that merged. More clinics are scheduled for this week in Santa Rosa, Occidental, Healdsburg, Petaluma and Windsor. The settlement is like nowhere else in California. A draft of the final document expected at the U.N. climate talks was released Wednesday. NASA is pushing back its deadline for returning American astronauts to the moon’s surface by as much as one year. The first man killed by Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha was shot at a range of just a few feet and had soot injuries that could indicate he had his hand over the barrel of Rittenhouse’s rifle, a pathologist testified Tuesday. The owner of a Benicia solar energy company was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Tuesday for a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1 billion. Santa Rosa police are looking for a man who robbed a bank Monday afternoon at Montgomery Village in east Santa Rosa. The man entered the Chase Bank at 2300 Sonoma Ave. around 12:43 p.m., police said in a press release Monday. He reportedly gave the teller a note stating that he was armed and demanding money. The teller gave an undisclosed amount of cash to the man, who left the building and drove away in a vehicle, police said. No description of the vehicle was available. No bank employees or customers were injured. Detectives asked anyone with information about the robbery to call the Santa Rosa Police Violent Crimes Team at 707-543-3590. A reward of up to $2,500 is being offered by the Sonoma County Alliance Community Engagement and Safety Rewards Fund for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects involved in the robbery. Police described the suspect as a husky white or light-skinned Hispanic man in his mid 20s to early 30s, 5’11” to 6’ tall. He was wearing a dark-colored baseball hat, a jacket marked “security,” dark-colored pants, black-and-white shoes, a blue surgical mask and blue gloves. You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay. Education, The Press Democrat Learning is a transformative experience. Beyond that, it’s a right, under the law, for every child in this country. But we also look to local schools to do much more than teach children; they are tasked with feeding them, socializing them and offering skills in leadership and civics. My job is to help you make sense of K-12 education in Sonoma County and beyond. Please don't publish my name I am over 16 years old I accept the Terms of Service The collision happened Nov. 3 near Old Gravenstein Highway. There’s no crosswalk in the area, officials said. Las Vegas real estate agent and developer Eddie Haddad, representing Nevada-based Resources Group, placed the highest bid, offering $15,050,000 for the nearly nearly 72-acre government property in northeast Santa Rosa. Despite two storms since the water year began Oct. 1, Sonoma County reservoirs remain low and water managers continue calling for 20% conservation. Clothing companies owned by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West have agreed to pay $950,000 to Sonoma County’s District Attorney’s Office and three others. Somerville told the Mercury News that “all indications” were that he will not be given the opportunity to return as an anchor after being suspended for a disagreement on coverage of the Gabby Petito case. Peace & Plenty Farm in Kelseyville is North America’s largest producer of saffron. Black community members expressed disappointment over the loss of two Black county department heads, which they said had the potential to impact hiring efforts around the county. The owner of a Benicia solar energy company was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Tuesday for a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1 billion. The collision happened Nov. 3 near Old Gravenstein Highway. There’s no crosswalk in the area, officials said. Las Vegas real estate agent and developer Eddie Haddad, representing Nevada-based Resources Group, placed the highest bid, offering $15,050,000 for the nearly nearly 72-acre government property in northeast Santa Rosa. Despite two storms since the water year began Oct. 1, Sonoma County reservoirs remain low and water managers continue calling for 20% conservation. Clothing companies owned by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West have agreed to pay $950,000 to Sonoma County’s District Attorney’s Office and three others. Somerville told the Mercury News that “all indications” were that he will not be given the opportunity to return as an anchor after being suspended for a disagreement on coverage of the Gabby Petito case.
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Bank Robbery
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US defense department creates taskforce to investigate UFOs
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Taskforce to detect and anlyze unidentified aerial phenomena that could ‘potentially pose a threat’ to national security, Pentagon said The US department of Defense has formed a new body to investigate what it calls “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs) to monitor reported sightings of what most people call UFOs. The move is likely to spark wide interest in alien hunters worldwide looking for signs that humanity is not alone in the universe, although the dry language of the Pentagon’s announcement of the new group belied its intent as watchers of the sky for potential first contact. The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) was created by the deputy defense secretary, David Norquist, on 4 August, strengthening an already existing effort that since 2018 has been under the purview of the Office of Naval Intelligence. “The Department of Defense established the UAPTF to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs. The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to US national security,” the Pentagon said in a statement. The move is only the latest from the Pentagon when it comes to UFOs. The Senate recently required the director of national intelligence and secretary of defense, working with other intelligence and law enforcement agencies, to prepare a public report of government findings on the UAP issue. In April the US also released three declassified videos that show US navy pilots encountering what appear to be unidentified flying objects. The Pentagon said it released the footage to to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real or whether or not there is more to the video.
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Organization Established
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Ninety nine Red Balloons and one big problem: Singer Nena’s concert cancelled after Covid-19 comments
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The singer is attracting criticism after opposition to Germany’s pandemic restrictions Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile German singer Nena German pop star Nena won’t be singing about 99 Red Balloons or anything else this week in Bavaria after her concert in the southern town of Tüssling scheduled for Thursday evening was abruptly cancelled by its organisers – because of her increasingly vocal opposition to the government’s COVID-19 policies and unabashed flirtation with anti-vaxxers. Explaining its decision to scrap the concert at the last minute, the organizer in Bavaria said: “It can’t be denied any longer that Nena is quite evidently a supporter of certain ideologies”, according to a report in the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper. The organiser said that there had been “more negative headlines in recent weeks” following her celebrated participation in a controversial open-air party “of the unvaccinated” with 4,000 coronavirus deniers on Saturday in a small southern town at Lake Katzenbach. “Hello sweethearts – it’s good to be here with you,” she told the anti-vaxxers. The organisers then pulled the plug for Nena’s concert in Bavaria and other cancellations may follow, according to German media reports. “Did Nena just destroy her career with the dubious appearances of the last few weeks?” asked the Abendzeitung newspaper in Munich. “We aim to spread joy and positive vibes with our concerts," the Tüssling concert organiser Oliver Forster said in a statement. "This would have become difficult after the latest developments, so this step is unavoidable. This shouldn’t be a political stage.” Nena, 61, has been Germany’s most successful singers and songwriters for decades following her global hit “99 Red Balloons” in 1983 that warned ominously of the nuclear annihilation that could accidently be triggered during the Cold War between the United States with its allies and the Soviet Union with its allies. She has sold more than 25 million records during her long career, making her Germany’s most successful recording artist. In a post on her Facebook page on Wednesday, Nena wrote: “I don’t follow any ideology and reject everything that brings hate, fear and division. I remain open to meeting people, without bias.” Nena, now a grandmother whose music still strikes a chord with multiple generations, has been rather incongruously sending public messages of support to groups protesting the government’s corona restrictions through since last October. She criticised the “inhumane conditions prevailing” due to lockdown measures and thanked demonstrators at a large rally in Kassel in March for standing up to the government. At an open-air concert in Berlin last month Nena implored the audience to disregard social-distancing boxes set up to keep the crowd spaced apart, urging them to gather closer together in front of her stage. She later told the crowd that the organisers was threatening to cancel the show if they didn’t spread back out but hinted they should stay put. “I’ll leave it to your sense of responsibility to decide if you want to do that or not. Everyone is free to make their own decision just as everyone can make a free decision whether to get vaccinated or not.” She later urged the crowd to “Take back your freedom!” The concert was ended without any encores.
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Organization Closed
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Napa River flood of 1986
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The Napa River flood of 1986 is considered by many to be the worst flood experienced by Napa, California during the 20th century. 7,000 people were evacuated, 250 homes were destroyed, 3 people died and damages totaled $100 million. [1][2][3]
[4]
Following the flood, residents expressed a renewed urgency to mitigate flooding caused by winter storms and man made created obstacles that slowed the flow of the river on its course to the San Francisco Bay. Since the flood, the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District has been working on controlling the floods by way of the Napa River Flood Project. [5] Another flood of lesser proportions occurred on December 31, 2005 after over a week of rain. [6] Other smaller floods occurred in 1995 and 1997.
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Floods
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Waukegan riot of 1966
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Waukegan riot of 1966 was a period of conflict between police and some residents of the town's predominantly African-American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods on the south side that occurred in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The march coincided with a push toward desegregation at Whittier Elementary School. Almost entirely African-American, Whittier's enrollment stood in contrast to Waukegan's four other elementary schools, two of which were all white and two of which were 99% white. As of early September, the Whittier community protested this segregation by boycotting, with less than a quarter of students showing up for class.
On Friday, August 26, an African-American police officer named Ernest Jones attempted to arrest Roosevelt Saunders, an African-American man.A fight ensued, and Saunders escaped into a crowd, and several days of rioting followed. The fact that the catalyzing encounter involved two African-Americans prompted some to suggest that the unrest was not about race, but the event highlighted a deep sense of disempowerment among the African-American community.
By August 28, 200 police were called to a 2 square mile area bounded by the streets of Genesee, 10th, McAllister, and South Avenue. As a mostly young crowd battled with police, a Puerto Rican family of six got caught in the crossfire, their car being hit by a Molotov cocktail while returning from church. The Waukegan branch of the NAACP later raised money for these victims.
By the night of 29 August, police with riot helmets and shotguns had established a curfew beginning at 7:30 pm for the region enclosed by Belvidere Street, McAlister Street, South Avenue, and Lake Michigan. Over 100 African-Americans were arrested over the course of the weekend.
Waukegan Mayor Robert Sabonjian had harsh words for those involved in the riots, calling them "local hopheads, narcotic addicts, drunkards, and just plain scum" and vowed that anyone involved in public housing would be evicted. He also reportedly issued an order to police of "shoot to kill. "
Subsequently, Sabonjian held talks with community leaders and the NAACP, which vowed to open dialogue about segregation, police brutality, and the lack of recreation facilities in African-American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods of the city. Talks fell apart, though, when Sabonjian reiterated charges at the meeting that the NAACP had orchestrated the August unrest. He refused to apologize for the remarks, prompting the NAACP to walk out of talks. The NAACP were also upset by Sabonjian's proposed measure in the city council, which required that all civil rights demonstrations consist of less than 100 people, and that all participants in these demonstrations were required to have their names submitted to the city police department four days beforehand. In response, the NAACP along with other community leaders organized a march of over 200 people on 10 September through downtown Waukegan. The crowd, mostly African-American, carried signs protesting segregated schools and racist housing policies.
In the wake of the march, Sabonjian backpedaled from the limit on crowds to less than 100 people, but he maintained the requirement that names of participants be submitted to the police department beforehand, ostensibly to prevent felons from involvement. Subsequent meetings between Sabonjian and the NAACP proved more productive. By late September, they had agreed to build a recreation center in the area of the August unrest as well as start initiatives aimed at providing jobs for minority groups. Sabonjian's rhetoric, however, did not moderate. In October 1966, he referred to those involved in the riot as "animals. "
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Riot
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April 2009 Afghanistan earthquake
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The 2009 Afghanistan earthquake was a dip-slip doublet earthquake occurred in eastern Afghanistan, with an initial shock of magnitude of 5.2 Mw at 01:57:51 April 17 local time, with a second shock of 5.1 Mw occurring several hours later. The maximum Mercalli intensity was VI (Strong). The quakes struck a remote area about 50 miles (90 km) east of Kabul near the Pakistan border. A government representative told AP News that the quakes destroyed 200 mud homes in four villages that had damage that was described as serious. [9]
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Earthquakes
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What the massive locust swarm in Africa and the Middle East means to the U.S.
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Amid worldwide concerns over the new coronavirus, an age-old but now "extremely alarming" problem is developing in several countries that represents "an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods" as the start of growing season approaches for these parts of the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. New swarms of locusts are forming in the Horn of Africa, with Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia specifically most at risk. Swarms are also forming in Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and India. The FAO has requested $138 million to help control the situation, to protect farmers' livelihoods and to help those affected. The weather initiated the crisis. In 2018, cyclones from the Indian Ocean hit the Arabian Peninsula near the borders of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman and warm weather at the end of 2019, combined with unusually heavy rains, created the ideal conditions for the locusts. "When you have rains associated with cyclones, they're much stronger than normal," Keith Cressman, the FAO's senior locust-forecasting officer told New York Magazine. "When those rains fall in desert areas with sandy soil, that will flood the soil. Once those floods recede, the soil retains so much moisture that it allows desert locust females to lay their eggs probably for a period of around six months." The locusts spread rapidly and national emergencies have been declared in Pakistan, Jordan and Somalia. More than 140,000 acres of crops have been damaged in Pakistan alone since last April. The United States cotton industry may benefit as a result of the tragedy because countries like Pakistan will need to rely on imports rather than their own production. The textile industry is Pakistan's biggest employer and generates 60 percent of its exports. Because of the locusts, the country is expected to fall 25 to 30 percent short of its targeted production goal for cotton. "This is the worst locust attack we have seen since 1993," Falak Naz, director general of crop production at Pakistan's Ministry of Food Security, told Bloomberg News. "Cotton is critical to Pakistan's economy," said AccuWeather consultant Jim Candor, a long-time meteorologist. "Last year, U.S. cotton exports to Pakistan were $618 million, or about 10 percent of total U.S. cotton exports. Pakistan imported 40 percent of the cotton it needed - 39 percent of which came from the U.S. If Pakistan has a bad year of cotton production, then they would obviously need to import that much more - there is a good chance the U.S. could be the source of much of the additional cotton." The FAO forecast for the locust swarm from March through June 2020 includes increases of up to 400 percent in some locations on the Horn of Africa during the time period (see map). This is particularly problematic for areas unaccustomed to handling locust infestations, such as Kenya, which has encountered locust swarms just twice in the last 70 years. The weather could also play a role in ending the locust swarms. Most immediately, insecticides are used to kill the locusts, but a failure of the seasonal rains could assist. "That's usually how mother nature helps to bring these things under control," Cressman told New York Magazine. "[Also] sometimes the winds will push locusts into areas they just don't want to be in, ... cold areas where they would die, or areas that are very tropical where they would pick up a lot of pathogens and die." For certain areas, locust infestations are not unusual. In 2013, a massive swarm hit Egypt and the Middle East and in 2004, locusts in Africa and the Middle East cost $400 million as well as harvest losses of $2.5 billion, according to the FAO. "It's a summer thing during the growing season," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls. Could a locust infestation occur in the U.S.? Not likely these days, although locusts decimated American farmers in the past. "The chances of this happening today are much smaller," Nicholls said. "There are modern means of controlling it - pesticides and so much technology." However, during the 1800s, Rocky Mountain locust swarms periodically destroyed U.S. crop fields. Within a short span of hours, locust swarms could blow in and devour everything a farmer had -- crops, fabric, clothing and more, according to a Farm Progress story. In fact, in 1875, the largest locust cloud in world history was recorded over the Midwest, according to Jeffrey Lockwood's book "Locust." It covered 198,000 square miles -- larger than all of California -- and was estimated to contain several trillion locusts and perhaps weighed several million tons.
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Insect Disaster
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The media freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders has noted a decrease in number of journalists killed across the world in the course of duty. But it says the toll is still high compared with previous years.
In its #link:http://http://en.rsf.org/71-journalists-were-killed-in-2013-18-12-2013,45634.html:annual report# on violations of press freedom, issued on Wednesday, Reporters without Borders (RSF) said 71 journalists had been killed in connection with their work this year across the world.
Although the number is down from last year, when 88 were killed in a particularly deadly year for reporters, this year's toll is still higher than in previous years.
The Paris-based group said Syria, Somalia and Pakistan remained the most dangerous countries for the media, but that India and the Philippines now replaced Mexico and Brazil among the top five.
Syrian abductions
Despite the fall in deaths compared with last year, RSF said the number of journalists abducted had increased from 38 in 2012 to 87 in 2013. It said more than half of the kidnappings occurred in Syria.
"Abductions gained pace in Syria in 2013 and became more and more systematic in nature, deterring many reporters from going into the field," the watchdog said.
"At least 18 foreign journalists and 22 Syrian [journalists] are currently abducted or missing," it said.
RSF said the violence in Syria had forced at least 31 professional and citizen-journalists to leave the country, often leaving them destitute in nearby countries such as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon or Egypt.
The group also said at least 178 journalists were currently in prison around the world, including in China, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Syria.
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Armed Conflict
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1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania
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The 1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania were riots between the antisemitic rioters and Jewish communities of Tripoli and its surroundings in June 1948, during the British Military Administration in Libya. The events resulted in 13-14 Jews and 4 Arabs dead and destruction of 280 Jewish homes. The events occurred during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Jews of Libya had already suffered under Italian rule during World War II and shortly after it ended, when the bloody pogrom in Tripoli claimed many Jewish lives three years earlier. The 1948 Arab–Israeli War had begun a month earlier following the proclamation of the State of Israel, although British-controlled Libya did not take part in the conflict. The proclamation of the State of Israel which began the war had "aroused among the Arabs less interest then was expected" in Tripoli according to the British authorities.However, according to the report of the British Chief Administrator, Tripoli became a transit point for both Tunisian and Algerian volunteers on their way to fight for Egypt, which had just announced no more volunteers would be accepted, as well as "ardent young Zionists" on their way to Israel.
The British Public Information Office also reported "a certain aggressive spirit noticeable lately among the local Jewish youth", noting two incidents the day prior to the riots in which two Arabs were hospitalised after beatings by Jews following street accidents. This combined with the transiting volunteers "possibly provided the fuel for the outbreak which followed".
The rioting began on 12 June in Tripoli, Libya. This time, unlike the previous Tripoli pogrom, the Jewish community of Tripoli had prepared to defend itself. Jewish self-defense units fought back against the Muslim rioters.
According to the British reports, the rioting broke out spontaneously. The Jewish defense measures had been prepared beforehand, with the British noting signs in Hebrew stating "It is good to die for one's country", and stated that during the riots the role of the Jewish organization "was not purely defence" since "determined parties of young Jews battled with the police in efforts to break out of The Old City in order to attack Arabs". [d] The rioting began with an argument between a Jew and an Arab in central Tripoli, in which other Jews and Arabs joined in. Within half an hour a crowd of Arabs had gathered and made their way towards the Jewish Quarter of Old City (also known as the "Jewish Hara"), armed themselves with sticks and stones, following which Jewish units threw bombs into the crowd. The rioting continued for the next hour, during which Jews on rooftops retaliated, and also attacked the police forces, throwing bombs, stones and small arms fire.
The riots resulted in the death of thirteen or fourteen Jews, four Muslims, with 38 Jews and 51 Muslims being injured, and causing extensive property damage, and leaving approximately 300 families destitute. Jews in the surrounding countryside and in Benghazi were subjected to additional attacks.
In November 1948, a few months after the riots, the American consul in Tripoli Orray Taft Jr. reported that: "There is reason to believe that the Jewish Community has become more aggressive as the result of the Jewish victories in Palestine. There is also reason to believe that the community here is receiving instructions and guidance from the State of Israel. Whether or not the change in attitude is the result of instructions or a progressive aggressiveness is hard to determine. Even with the aggressiveness or perhaps because of it, both Jewish and Arab leaders inform me that the inter-racial relations are better now than they have been for several years and that understanding, tolerance and cooperation are present at any top level meeting between the leaders of the two communities. "
The insecurity which arose from anti-Jewish attacks led many Jews to abandon Libya and emigrate. [citation needed] The emigration, which was prompted by the 1945 Tripoli pogrom, had become a refugee "flood" with the ending of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. [citation needed] From 1948 to 1951, and especially after immigration became legal in 1949, 30,972 Jews moved to Israel,which had gained independence.
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Riot
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