title
stringlengths 1
7.43k
| text
stringlengths 111
32.3k
| event_type
stringlengths 4
57
| date
stringlengths 8
14
⌀ | metadata
stringlengths 2
205
⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vorkuta uprising
|
The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of forced labor camp inmates at the Vorkuta Gulag in Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, USSR from 19 July (or 22 July) to 1 August 1953, shortly after the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria. The uprising was violently stopped by the camp administration after two weeks of bloodless standoff. [1]
Vorkuta Rechlag (River Camp) or Special Camp No. 6 consisted of 17 separate "departments" engaged in construction of coal mines, coal mining and forestry. In 1946 it housed 62,700 inmates, 56,000 in July 1953. A substantial portion of the camp guards were former convicts. According to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the uprising was provoked by two unconnected events of June 1953: the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria in Moscow and the arrival of Ukrainian prisoners who, unlike long-term Russian inmates, were still missing their freedom (similar dissent existed between Baltic - the second largest group - and Polish inmates). [2][3] Another major factor was the application of the March 1953 general amnesty, issued after the death of Joseph Stalin, to only convicts with criminal sentences and small prison terms, of which there were few in Vorkuta, as a large part of the inmates were political prisoners. The uprising—initially in the form of a passive walkout—began on or before July 19, 1953, at a single "department" and quickly spread to five others. Initial demands—to give inmates access to a state attorney and due justice—quickly changed to political demands. According to inmate Leonid Markizov, Voice of America and the BBC broadcast regular news about the events in Rechlag, with correct names, ranks and numbers. Even without foreign assistance, strikes at nearby sites were clearly visible as the wheels of the mine headframes stopped rotating, and word was spread by trains, which had slogans painted by prisoners on the sides, and whose crews spread news. The total number of inmates on strike reached 18,000. The inmates remained static within the barbed wire perimeters. For a week following the initial strike the camp administration apparently did nothing; they increased perimeter guards but took no forceful action against inmates. The mines were visited by State Attorney of the USSR, Roman Rudenko, Internal Troops Commander, Ivan Maslennikov, and other top brass from Moscow. The generals spoke to the inmates who sat idle in camp courtyards, so far peacefully. However, on July 26 the mob stormed the maximum security punitive compound, releasing 77 of its inmates. The commissars from Moscow remained in Vorkuta, planning their response. On July 31 camp chief Derevyanko started mass arrests of "saboteurs"; inmates responded with barricades. The next day, August 1, after further bloodless clashes between inmates and guards, Derevyanko ordered direct fire at the mob. According to Leonid Markizov, 42 were killed on the spot, 135 wounded (many of them, deprived of medical help, died later). According to Solzhenitsyn, there were 66 killed. Among those shot was the Latvian Catholic priest Jānis Mendriks. [4]
After submission of the mob, many "saboteurs" were arrested and placed in maximum security cells, but without further punitive executions. Conditions were marginally improved (especially for "political" inmates). A similar fictional uprising at Vorkuta, albeit ten years later, was depicted in the story mode of the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Reesor Siding Strike of 1963
|
The Reesor Siding strike of 1963 was one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history, resulting in the shooting of 11 union members, three of whom were killed. The violent confrontation occurred near the small Francophone hamlet of Reesor Siding (a ghost town today), that is located just west of Opasatika, approximately halfway between Kapuskasing and Hearst in Northern Ontario. Fifteen hundred members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2995 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, walked out on strike on January 14, 1963, effectively halting operations at the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company which relied on their logs for wood pulp. Among the complaints of the woodcutters were a proposed wage freeze and a proposal by the company that would have seen the woodcutters working seven days a week over the next two months to meet quota[citation needed]. Independent local farmer-settlers were also established suppliers of pulp wood to the mill, supplying approximately 25% of the company's annual needs. When they were asked to halt their own sales to put further pressure on the mill, however, the farmers refused. Combined with a separate strike at The New York Times, one of the chief consumers of the mill's pulp, this weakened the bargaining position of the woodcutters. Union members began sabotaging the farmers' stacked piles of lumber, making it unsaleable. The farmers' refusal to support the strike, and the tactics of the strikers soured relationships with the community. The situation deteriorated to the point that on January 23, the mayor of Kapuskasing, Norman Grant, was quoted in The Globe and Mail: "These settlers are getting so desperate they are going to go into the bush with guns and shoot anyone who tries to interfere with their cutting. "[1]
On February 10, a shipment of 600 cords (2200 m³) was scheduled to be loaded onto waiting railcars at midnight, and a mob of 400 unarmed union members had resolved to disrupt the shipment. Between 12 and 20 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers waited at the loading station where twenty farmers were on hand to protect the lumber. The police erected a simple line made from chains in an attempt to protect the shipment and keep the two groups apart. However, the union members breached the small police cordon. [2] As the union members continued toward the stockpiled pulp wood, a number of the farmers stepped out from the concealment of a hut by the tracks and began shooting before the union members reached the chain. Eleven union members were shot: Fernand Drouin, and brothers Irenée and Joseph Fortier were killed; eight others were wounded: Harry Bernard, Ovila Bernard, Joseph Boily, Alex Hachey, Albert Martel, Joseph Mercier, Léo Ouimette and Daniel Tremblay. Later, Donald MacDonald, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), would declare that affidavits indicated the police knew that the farmers had brought firearms with them that night, but had not taken any precautions to ensure that they were not used. Following the deadly confrontation, an additional 200 OPP officers were sent to the scene. The Provincial Ministry of Labour quickly intervened to settle the labour dispute. The striking workers voted to return to work under the terms of their old contract on February 17 while arbitration to fully resolve the issues behind the 33-day-long strike continued. All twenty farmers present the night of the shootings were charged, and 5 .22 rifles, 3 12 gauge shotguns, 2 .30-30 rifles, 2 Lee–Enfield rifles, a .30-06 rifle and a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver were confiscated. A total of 237 union members were charged with rioting and held temporarily in the former Monteith POW Camp, south of Iroquois Falls, until they were released on bail posted by the union. Eventually, 138 union members were found guilty of illegal assembly and the union paid $27,600 in fines. The case against the farmers was heard in October 1963 in Cochrane, before Supreme Court of Ontario Chief Justice McRuer. After three days of deliberations following a preliminary hearing the seven-man jury dismissed the charges of non-capital murder. Paul-Emile Coulombe, Léonce Tremblay, and Héribert Murray were charged with firearms violations arising from the incident, which resulted in fines of $150 to each of them. A memorial to the incident and the dead and injured workers was erected by the union, amid some public outcry, at a cost of $22,000. The Globe and Mail reported threats at the time to destroy the monument. The Province of Ontario in turn erected a historical plaque on the site, which is located at 49°34′21″N 83°04′42″W / 49.5725°N 83.078333°W / 49.5725; -83.078333. In 1969, Stompin Tom Connors released his album On Tragedy Trail, which chronicled various real and fictitious Canadian tragedies, including the Reesor shooting. He reported receiving death threats, ordering him not to play the song at upcoming venues. The incident has been the subject of a number of folks songs, plays, and a CBC radio documentary in Quebec. It also forms the basis for the 2003 historical novel Défenses legitimes by Doric Germain. In 2005, Brent St. Denis marked the 42nd anniversary of the confrontation in Parliament, and it has also been occasionally raised in the course of the business of the Ontario Legislature as an important milestone in labour history.
|
Strike
| null | null |
2014 Yutian earthquake
|
The 2014 Yutian earthquake struck Xinjiang on 12 February at 17:19 Beijing Time. The epicenter was located in Aqiang Township, Yutian County. The United States Geological Survey reported its magnitude to be 6.9. [1][4] News reports indicate that no people were killed, but the earthquake could be felt in the seat of Yutian County, Aqiang Township, and Aksu Prefecture far to the north. The earthquake was reported to be felt in Ngari, Zanda and Tholing, and as far away as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Kashmir, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, northern Pakistan, western Nepal, eastern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Almaty, in Kazakhstan. This Xinjiang location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article about an earthquake in Asia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article related to the history of China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Paul McCartney cosies up to wife Nancy Shevell as they celebrate milestone anniversary
|
Paul McCartney and his third wife Nancy Shevell celebrated ten years of marriage on Saturday, and the former Beatle marked the occasion by sharing a rare photo of the two of them together. MORE: Sir Paul McCartney moves fans with very rare family photo In the snap, Paul, 79, could be seen smiling at the camera while Nancy, 61, rests her head on his shoulder. Posting the photo to Instagram, he captioned it: "10 beautiful years together. Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife. - Paul" WATCH: Paul McCartney serenaded by daughters during birthday celebration The happy couple first met over 30 years ago when they shared neighbouring properties in the Hamptons on New York's Long Island. The pair recently returned to the States after spending most of the lockdown in the English countryside with Paul's daughter Mary and her children. MORE: John Lennon and Paul McCartney's sons just took a selfie together and they look exactly like their famous fathers MORE: Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell look loved-up as they enjoy date night Paul and Nancy began dating in 2007 and were together for four years before tying the knot at Marylebone Town Hall in London surrounded by family and friends, including fellow Beatle Ringo Starr and TV star Barbara Walters, who is Nancy's cousin-once-removed. Paul and Nancy celebrated ten years of marriage on 9 October 2021 Last year on their anniversary, Paul penned a heartfelt message to his wife. Alongside a picture of his other half looking glamorous wearing beautiful drop earrings and a pretty multi-coloured top, he wrote: "Congratulations Nancy on our 9th Wedding Anniversary. Thanks for 9 beautiful years of marriage. You are my rock and roll, you are my A side and B side, you are my verse and chorus. I love you. Paul." MORE: Paul McCartney remembers late wife Linda on special day Paul has been married twice before. He tied the knot with his first wife Linda back in 1968. They share four children, Mary, Stella, James and Heather, Linda's daughter from a previous relationship, who Paul legally adopted. The former couple remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer at age 56 in 1998. Her ashes were spread at the McCartney farm in Sussex. In 2002, Paul married for a second time to model Heather Mills and welcomed another child, Beatrice. They separated in 2006, and just a few months later, Paul's romance with Nancy began.
|
Famous Person - Marriage
| null | null |
SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit as part of Inspiration4
|
On Wednesday Elon Musk’s commercial space company SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit as part of Inspiration4, the first all-civilian spaceflight mission. They will return to Earth three days later, having made history. Yet apart from collecting data to add to a robust body of research on human health and performance in space, Inspiration4’s value as a research mission is questionable. While eyes will be on the crew and mission, the game changer to watch may instead be an ongoing SpaceX project in the background: Starship, which the company envisions will be a fully reusable transportation system. In May Starship SN15 became the first prototype of this system to launch 10,000 meters without anything going disastrously wrong. Starship’s inaugural successful orbital flight could come by the end of the year, and a flyby of the moon using the system is scheduled for 2023. If all goes according to plan, the Starship system would lower launch costs exponentially and usher in a new era of commercial space. Indeed, as the authors of a 2021 white paper for the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey write, “The SpaceX Starship system fundamentally changes the paradigm for NASA science, technology development and testing, and human exploration of space.” Starship’s promise has everything to do with its size and potential for reuse. SpaceX says the 120-meter tall spacecraft will be able to transport a payload of 100 metric tons, with the greatest volume of any existing launcher. And unlike any other orbital launch system, Starship would be fully reusable, and Musk has said that this could lower launch costs to about $2 million a pop. Launching a large telescope into space can cost more than $100 million, and reducing that price by two orders of magnitude would have an immense impact on remote sensing, says Waleed Abdalati, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Depositing payloads of telescopes and satellites into orbit would help climate science in two ways, he says: First, by restocking devices that typically have a three- to five-year life span, Starship could create a cheaper way to carry out sustained observations of our planet. Second, it could enable more ambitious scientific missions as part of the Earth System Explorer program, which capped each one’s cost at $350 million. “If your launch vehicle eats up $60 million of that [$350 million] or more, already you’re down to a pretty significant limit of resources for your actual mission,” Abdalati says. “If Starship can lower that launch cost, there’s more that can be directed toward the science mission itself.” Astronomers have similar hopes: at least one proposed next-generation NASA telescope has already been vetted by SpaceX for a potential future Starship launch. Indirectly, Starship could benefit the state of suborbital and orbital science by bringing space debris back down to Earth. Space junk presents hazards to launching vehicles and operational orbiters. And any solution to reduce crowding in the skies would be “tremendously important,” according to Abdalati. Such a cleanup mission could even see Starship recovering dead satellites in SpaceX’s Starlink system as they grow in number—although critics might note that, in this case, the company would be cleaning up its own orbital mess and that removing defunct Starlink satellites does not alleviate the headaches the mega constellation is causing for ground-based astronomers. Depositing payloads and reclaiming others in orbit is an added perk to Starship’s stated goal, which is ferrying cargo, and eventually crews, to the moon and Mars. According to the recent white paper, whose author list includes researchers affiliated with NASA and SpaceX, the company currently plans to launch multiple uncrewed Starship missions to Mars every two years—each time exploiting a planetary alignment particularly favorable for the voyage. Without a crew, the authors write, there is great potential to unload cargo on Mars as well as to bring back samples from the planet. And similar opportunities exist for transport to and from Earth’s moon. In this regard, especially, Starship’s sheer size is an asset. “Because Starship can return tens of tons of payload from the surface of the Moon, the return sample mass of lunar samples from a single mission would dwarf the combined total returned mass of all lunar samples from all sample return missions to date,” the authors write. But it is important to interrogate SpaceX’s central claim that Starship can meaningfully lower launch costs, says Pierre Lionnet, director of research at Eurospace, the trade association of the European space industry. A space economist by profession, Lionnet says that people often give outsize attention to launch cost when launching anything into space creates a number of expenses. For instance, the Rosetta space probe and Philae lander, which achieved the first ever soft landing on a comet in 2014, cost the European Space Agency nearly €1.4 billion (about $1.7 billion), but its launch cost comprised less than 10 percent of the total bill. The ratio of a launch cost to the total cost of creating and deploying satellites, telescopes and other devices determines which organizations will see Starship’s innovation as particularly valuable, Lionnet says. “For a business, reducing the cost of launch can change the economic equation dramatically,” he adds. “For a scientific program, not so much.” And while a $2-million launch cost is eye-catching, the figure does not tell the whole story, Lionnet says. SpaceX is not a publicly traded company, so it has not disclosed the costs of everything that has gone into the Starship, from building more than a dozen prototypes from scratch to employing an army of designers and engineers. Starship will have to recoup these expenses eventually, Lionnet says. This may, in part, explain the breadth of its proposed applications: SpaceX has promoted the system as not only an interplanetary ferry, space-junk remover and economical launcher for large satellites but also a point-to-point global transportation service capable of sending payloads or people to anywhere on Earth in an hour. Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters. “If tomorrow you open a burger joint, and you tell me, ‘I'm so smart; my burger will be 10 cents instead of $1.50,’ I’d want to know ‘Where are you going to buy your meat? Where are you going to buy bread? How are you going to pay the people who work for you?’ That is exactly what is happening with Elon Musk,” Lionnet says. Others, such as former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver, have a more optimistic outlook on Starship. In 2010 Garver helped engineer a federal budget deal that gave NASA funding to develop partnerships with commercial space companies. She says the tenacity of some billionaires’ starry-eyed dreams of space often outweighs their unpredictability. “Billionaires are a little riskier than a big aerospace company, but I don't think there's any question that, over the long run, they’ll all be in it,” Garver says. “No one’s going to give up.” She adds that it is in Musk’s best interest to win government contracts and use Starship to aid with research efforts in order to offset the start-up costs he has incurred. Winning those contracts means providing a cheaper service than an agency such as NASA could manage in-house, so there is a fixed upper limit to what SpaceX could charge a federal client. At the same time, Garver says, as Starship launches payloads more efficiently than ever before, Congress will seek to reallocate the funds previously earmarked for NASA’s launch costs. Whether that money will remain with NASA depends on the agency’s success at expanding into areas of public interest, such as climate solutions or human-crewed space exploration, she adds. “The more we can do that does connect to national interests, the more money we’ll get,” Garver says. “The reason we ramped up during the Apollo program wasn’t because ‘Oh jeez, we want to see what the moon’s made of.’ No, we went to beat the Russians. So what’s our quest today?” In her opinion, Starship’s stated mission could serve as that quest. Zero-G music performances aside, Musk believes in using the platform to establish a colony on Mars. If you agree with the premise’s value, then everything that goes into achieving this goal might then be considered a worthy scientific exploit, Garver says. And it is not a new goal. “When I worked at the National Space Society in the 1980s, our mission was to create a spacefaring civilization,” she says. “It just doesn’t take much lead to know we can’t survive on this planet forever.” Maddie Bender was a 2021 AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Scientific American. She recently received an MPH in microbial disease epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. Follow Maddie Bender on Twitter Credit: Nick Higgins. Lee Billings Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.
|
New achievements in aerospace
| null | null |
4 kids among 8 dead in LPG cylinder explosion in Gonda
|
Eight persons, including four children, were killed and seven others seriously injured after an LPG cylinder exploded at a house in Tikri village of Gonda district. Police said that the blast occurred at 10.30 pm on Tuesday, resulting in the collapse of the house and partial damage to the one standing adjacent to it.
Also among the eight dead were two women. Police said an investigation is underway to find out what caused the cylinder explosion and if there was any foul play involved.
Police said the three of the deceased were the children of Nurul Hasan (60), the owner of the house. They were identified as Nisar Ahmad (35), Rubina Bano (32), Shamshad Ahmad (28). The other victims were Nisar’s wife Sayeroon Nisha (35), daughter Noori Shaba (12) and son Shahbaz (14). The deceased minors were identified as Meraj (11) and Mohammad Shoaib (2).
“We were informed around 10.30 pm on Tuesday that an LPG cylinder had exploded at a house in Tikri village, which comes within the ambit of Wazirganj police station. We conducted a swift rescue operation and rushed the injured to a hospital in the district. A total of eight people died in the incident,” Gonda SP Santosh Kumar Mishra said.
He added that the owner of the house told them that he was sleeping when the cooking gas cylinder blew up. “We have deployed two teams at the spot to investigate the cause and the nature of the blast. Our forensic team and bomb disposal squad are collecting samples from the scene. While the house where the incident took place completely collapsed, the neighbouring one suffered partial damage. We will question the injured survivors once they are able to talk to us and also when the victims have been buried,” he added.
An officer said the majority of the deceased were related to the survivors and some of them were asleep when the explosion took place. “During the rescue, the dead bodies as well as the injured persons had to be pulled out with the help of three earthmovers as they were buried deep inside the rubble that their house had been reduced to,” the officer said.
Police said the seven injured are being treated separately at the Gonda district hospital and a private hospital in the district.
|
Gas explosion
| null | null |
Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead
|
The great fire of Gateshead and Newcastle was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which a substantial amount of property in the two North East of England towns was destroyed in a series of fires and an explosion which killed 53 and injured hundreds. There is only one building still extant on the Newcastle Quayside which predated the fire. [1]
The towns of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead sit opposite each other, on relatively steep slopes leading down to the River Tyne. On the north side is Newcastle, the quayside of which was one of the largest in the kingdom, with much shipping and the concentration of the town's business and commerce. Gateshead had similarly dense development opposite the quayside with manufactories, mills and warehouses built down to the water's edge, behind which and running up the hill were numberless densely occupied tenemented dwellings. The towns were linked by two bridges, built no more than 100 feet (30 m) apart. The older was a nine-arched stone bridge, built in 1771, the third to have been constructed on the site. Slightly upstream was Robert Stephenson's new High Level Bridge, completed five years previously in 1849, an ingenious double-decker design allowing railway traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. On the Gateshead riverbank, a few yards downstream of the old bridge, stood the splendid new mill premises of Messrs. J. Wilson & Sons, worsted manufacturers. This large gaslight-lit building had been erected after a fire which destroyed their previous premises, on the same site, three years before the events of this great fire. At half past midnight on Friday 6 October 1854, the mill was discovered to be on fire; the cry was raised and immediately the streets crowded with people hurrying to the scene of the growing conflagration. The fire being confined to the upper stories of the building, efforts were made to salvage stock on lower floors; but the great quantities of oil in the premises, used to treat wool, added fuel to the fire and quickly curtailed the attempts. Despite the prompt attendance of the North British and Newcastle fire engines, within an hour the building was one mass of flame and within two the roof fell in and the building was a total wreck. In the immediate neighbourhood of Wilson & Sons was a bond warehouse built twelve years previously by Charles Bertram, and generally known by his name. The building was extensive, reaching to seven storeys, and capable of holding an immense amount of goods. It was at the time used to store thousands of tons of sulphur, nitrate of soda, and other combustibles. It was in part "a double fire-proof structure", with massive metal pillars and every due precaution against fire for the time. Despite this, from its proximity to the worsted factory, the intense heat caused the sulphur to ignite, melt and stream in a burning blue flame liquidised state from the windows. The authorities, abandoning the mill, sought to save the warehouse, directing all their efforts on it, and were reinforced by the military with their fire engine. This effort was thwarted by the wide scattering of burning brands from the fallen factory roof, which gave additional stimulation to the burning sulphur. By 3 am, the entire warehouse was one body of flames "most awfully magnificent". The sulphurous blaze illuminated the river and its shipping, the High Level Bridge, the Castle, the steeples of All Saints', St. Nicholas' and St. Mary's churches, and every prominent object, with a lurid purple light. From the various floors of the warehouse the sulphur flowed in torrents like streams of lava, and the building resembled "a cataract on fire". Yet at this point the occurrence had borne no aspect other than that of a fearful blaze, a tremendous firestorm sufficiently serious of itself, and altogether unprecedented in the annals of the district. Such a large fire naturally attracted many spectators, who occupied every spot on the bridges, boats, quayside and surrounding buildings. The fire spread to a wooden staith or jetty used in former times for loading coal, which for a time shared with the warehouse the attention of the thronging multitude. A slight concussion warned the crowd that there was something more perilous than sulphur alone in the burning pile. A second slight explosion did not warn the firemen and surrounding crowds. A third passed unheeded even. After a few minutes, the final explosion occurred. The vaults of the warehouse were burst open with a tremendous and terrific explosion, heard 20 miles (32 km) away. Vessels on the river lifted as if lashed by a sudden storm. The old bridge shook, and the new quivered. Massive walls were crumbled into heaps, houses tumbled into ruins. The venerable parish church, on the hill, was shattered to a wreck. Gravestones were broken and uplifted. The hands on the dial of its clock stood at ten minutes past three. Thick black smoke rose as a "pillar of cloud"; temporarily all was silent; and then the scene was lit by falling burning debris from the warehouse, the noise of falling dwellings and then the cries of the injured. The force of the explosion was immense, and heavy debris was thrown as much as 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from the seat of the explosion. Huge granite blocks forming the tramway for carts outside the warehouse were flung over the church for two and three hundred yards into neighbouring streets and buildings. One is recorded as falling 400 yards (370 m) away through the roof of the Grey Horse pub. A stone of 20 stone (280 lb; 127 kg) weight damaged property in Oakwellgate. Large blocks of wood and stone were projected widely over Newcastle, reaching the west end of the quayside. The Courant newspaper office in Pilgrim Street was hit. A stone weighing 18.5 pounds (8.4 kg) fell through the roof of an opticians in Grey Street; when workmen discovered it in the morning it was still too hot to touch. A huge beam of timber, six feet long, was found on the roof of All Saint's Church. Another, ten feet in length and weighing 3 cwt (150 kg) landed on the Ridley Arms in Pilgrim Street; and others on the roof of a house in Moseley Street. The reverberation of the explosion was heard at North Shields, 10 miles (16 km) distant, where residents thought the shock was an earthquake. Gas lights in a Jarrow paper mill were blown out. Light debris from the fire was scattered across 6 miles (10 km) of Gateshead and environs.
|
Fire
| null | null |
Powerful Earthquake off Acapulco Triggers Tsunami Warning, Shakes Buildings in Mexico City
|
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck the southwest region of Mexico and triggered a tsunami warning along the shoreline. On Tuesday, the earthquake took place approximately 2.5 miles east-north-east of Los Órganos de San Agustín and 8 miles from the Pacific Coast beach resort city of Acapulco, according to The U.S. Geological Survey. The survey also stated that the earthquake's depth of 12 miles. The Civil Protection Authorities of Guerrero stated that the earthquake, which was initially measured at a magnitude of 7.4, caused rock falls and triggered landslides onto the roads. The earthquake also shook buildings as far away as Roman Sur, which is a neighborhood in Mexico City, 230 miles away from Acapulco. "It was terrible," said Yesmin Rizk, a 70-year-old Roma Sur resident, according to Reuters. "It really reminds me of the 1985 quake every time something like this happens." Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum stated that there was no major structural damage at the capital. Along with the earthquake, the U.S. tsunami warning system reported that there is a potential threat of a tsunami, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck about eight miles away from Acapulco, Mexico. This is a stock photo of a seismograph machine. iStock/Getty A number of earthquakes have impacted the country of Mexico over the past few years. In November 2018, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the Mexican state of California del Norte. The quake was 20 miles below the surface, while the strike was 36 miles southeast of Mexicali. There were no injuries or casualties during the earthquake. In September 2017, an 8.1 earthquake struck Mexico, killing nearly 60 people. The epicenter of the earthquake was off the coast of Mexico and Guatemala and it struck at a depth of 43.3 miles. Aftershocks from the quake ranged between magnitude 4.3 and 5.7, which made it the largest earthquake to hit the region in nearly 100 years. David Galloway, from the British Geological Survey, spoke to Newsweek in 2017 regarding that earthquake. "A magnitude of 8.1 is a major earthquake, and I'm not surprised there's lots of damage," said Galloway at the time. "I think there will be more reports of people having been killed and injured as time goes on, as we get more information." "Communications often go down with big earthquakes. So far we've got reports of 15 killed and many more injured, but I expect that figure to rise," Galloway said at the time.
|
Tsunamis
| null | null |
1999 Jiji earthquake
|
The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake) (Chinese: 集集地震; pinyin: Jíjí dìzhèn; Wade–Giles: Chi2-Chi2 Ti4-chên4), also known as the great earthquake of September 21 (九二一大地震; Jiǔ-èr-yī dàdìzhèn; '921 earthquake'), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 at 01:47:12 local time. [1] 2,415 people were killed, 11,305 injured, and NT$300 billion worth of damage was done. It was the second-deadliest quake in recorded history in Taiwan, after the 1935 Shinchiku-Taichū earthquake. Rescue groups from around the world joined local relief workers and the Taiwanese military in digging out survivors, clearing rubble, restoring essential services and distributing food and other aid to the more than 100,000 people made homeless by the quake. The disaster, dubbed the "Quake of the Century" by the local media, had a profound effect on the economy of the island and the consciousness of the people, and dissatisfaction with government's performance in reacting to it was said by some commentators to be a factor in the unseating of the ruling Kuomintang party in the 2000 presidential election. [citation needed]
The earthquake struck at 01:47:12.6 TST on Tuesday, 21 September 1999 (i.e., 1999-09-21, hence "921"). The epicenter was at 23.77° N latitude, 120.98° E longitude, 9.2 km (5.7 mi) southwest of Sun Moon Lake, near the town of Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County. The tremor measured 7.7 on the Moment magnitude scale and 7.3 on the Richter scale,[8] and the focal depth was 8.0 km (5.0 mi). The Central Weather Bureau recorded a total of 12,911 aftershocks in the month following the main tremor. [9] The total energy released is estimated to be 2.1 × 1017 J,[10] approximately the same as the yield of the Tsar Bomba. The earthquake was in an unusual location for Taiwan, which experiences the majority of its earthquakes off the eastern coast, with such quakes normally causing little damage. [11] One of the aftershocks, on 26 September, was a strong earthquake in its own right, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale and causing some already weakened buildings to collapse, killing another three people. [12]
At the time of the quake, Taiwan had the most extensive network of sensors and monitoring stations in the world, resulting in "probably the best data set ever collected for an earthquake". [13] At one station, a peak ground motion of 300 cm/s (3 m/s; 10 ft/s) was recorded, the highest ever measurement taken in an earthquake anywhere. [11] Soil liquefaction was observed at Yuanlin and caused settlement of building foundations and filling in of water wells from sand boils. [11] The earthquake occurred along the Chelungpu Fault in the western part of the island of Taiwan. The fault stretches along the foothills of the Central Mountains in Nantou County and Taichung County (now part of Taichung City). Some sections of land near the fault were raised as much as 7 m (23 ft). Near Dongshih, near the northern end of the fault, a nearly 7 m (23 ft) high waterfall was created by the earthquake as the surface rupture offset the channel of the Dajia River. [14] The total surface rupture was about 100 km in length. [15]
Damage caused by the earthquake included 2,415 deaths, 29 missing, 11,305 severely wounded, with 51,711 buildings completely destroyed, 53,768 buildings severely damaged, and a total of NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage. [16] Power was cut to a large proportion of the island, due to damage to power stations, transmission stations, and the automatic shutdown of Taiwan's three nuclear power plants, which were restarted two days later. [17] National electricity provider Taipower stated that a day after the quake power had been restored to 59% of the country. [18] 102 major bridges were badly damaged, with many having to be torn down. [19] The Central Cross-Island Highway, at the time the only major complete route across the mountains in central Taiwan, was badly damaged. Subsequent storm damage and the high cost of restoration means that the highway remains partially closed as of 2018. There were a total of 132 landslides during the main quake and the aftershocks, some causing loss of life as rockfalls crushed houses. [20] 870 schools suffered damage, with 125 severely damaged, closing many down for months or even permanently in a few cases. [21]
The effects of the earthquake were most severe in central Taiwan, particularly in Nantou County and Taichung County. Towns such as Puli suffered huge damage, and the majority of the casualties were concentrated in these regions. Due to the relatively remote location of many of the affected settlements, aid from the central government took some time to reach some survivors. The Port of Taichung, one of Taiwan's major commercial harbours, was badly damaged and had to be temporarily closed. [22]
In Taipei City, far from the epicenter of the quake, buildings were shaken, but just one, the 12-story Tunghsing Building [zh], collapsed as a result of the tremor. 87 people died in the rubble of the building, which was later found to be unsoundly built, with structural pillars and beams stuffed with plastic bottles and newspaper instead of brick and concrete. [23] Blame for the collapse was levelled by survivors at both the construction company which built the high-rise and local government for lax enforcement of building codes and safety standards. Five people were indicted in the wake of the disaster. [23]
The Taiwan Stock Exchange was closed for business for five days following the earthquake. [24] A significant proportion of the world supply of computer memory chips (RAM) was at the time made in Taiwan, and the six-day shutdown of Hsinchu Science Park and other factories resulting from the quake caused computer memory prices to triple on world markets. [25] With Taiwan struggling to recover from the after-effects of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the economic damage of the earthquake was a great cause for concern, with estimates that the total cost would be some 10% of the entire gross domestic product of the country in 1999. The immediate rescue efforts were still ongoing when public anger began to mount at shoddy construction that many felt was responsible for the high number of casualties. Legal building codes, enforcement of those codes, and the construction companies themselves all came in for criticism. Constructors and architects of modern buildings that collapsed were detained by the authorities, their assets frozen and travel documents seized. [26] One of the issues highlighted after the quake was "soft stories": high, open ground floors in high-rise buildings with little structural support. This led to the ground floor collapsing first in a quake, either toppling the other floors or starting a pancake collapse. [11] Buildings in Taiwan over 50 metres (160 ft) tall require a peer review process; no building that had undergone this process collapsed, contrasting with a number of dramatic failures of buildings just under 50 metres in height. [11]
Immediately following the earthquake an emergency cabinet meeting was convened to discuss how to tackle the aftermath. The same day the ROC military was mobilised, with large numbers of conscripted soldiers heading to stricken regions to assist in distributing emergency supplies, clearing roads, and rescuing people trapped in the rubble. Helicopters were used to evacuate injured people from mountainous regions to hospitals, and to supply food to communities inaccessible by road. [27] The military also assumed the leading role in recovering the dead from damaged structures. [11]
One of the last people to be rescued was a six-year-old boy pulled alive from the rubble of his collapsed home in Taichung County by a team of South Korean and Japanese search and rescue workers, some 88 hours after the quake.
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
2015 Iglesia ni Cristo protests
|
The 2015 INC protests[2] were a series of marches which occurred between August 27–31, 2015. Supporters of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious body led by executive minister Eduardo V. Manalo, protested against the Department of Justice for allegedly meddling in internal church affairs by taking action on an illegal detention case filed by expelled minister Isaias Samson, Jr. Samson alleged that he was illegally detained by the church and has accused the church of corruption. About 2,000 Iglesia Ni Cristo members led by its spokesperson, Edwil Zabala organized a vigil outside the office of the Department of Justice along Padre Faura Street in Manila. The demonstrators protested against the government agency, led by De Lima, for allegedly persecuting their church and called for upholding the separation of church and state. They also called for the agency to prioritize more important issues. [3] The start of the protests was inline with De Lima's 56th birthday and the justice secretary hinting of her intention to run as senator in the 2016 Philippine elections saying that she was 80 percent sure of pursuing a senatorial campaign. [4]
The protests continued near the Department of Justice office but the demonstrators later moved to Epifanio De los Santos Avenue or EDSA in the evening. At 6:00 pm the National Capital Region Police Office went full-alert. Task Force Manila Shield was activated. At 8:30pm protestors started to gather outside the SM Megamall Fashion Hall in Mandaluyong and the EDSA Shrine in Quezon City, a few hundred meters away, before marching to Shaw Boulevard. By 9:30pm, both the southbound and northbound lanes of EDSA in front of Robinsons Galleria were filled with protestors, leaving only the EDSA-Ortigas flyover passable and leaving motorists stranded for over four hours. Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, and Council of Philippine Affairs (Copa) head Pastor Boy Saycon were also reported to have joined the protests by 11:30pm. [5]
The protesters shouted in unison, "Hustisya" or Justice in Filipino but later switched and shouted “hostess siya, De Lima.” (She's a hostess, De Lima). "Hostess" in Philippine colloquialism means prostitute. When an ambulance passed by near the protest site, some protesters called for putting De Lima inside the passing vehicle. “Leila, Leila Labandera” was also chanted by the demonstrators to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic and they yelled “pabebe, De Lima!” when a Higantes-themed effigy of De Lima was brought to the protest site. [4]
One of the hosts of the protests alleged that De Lima's alleged giving priority to the illegal detention case by Samson was related to her plans for the 2016 elections. In response to De Lima's reaction that she was just doing her job, the host said that the job of the secretary "was not to listen to hearsays" and that De Lima must focus on more important issues such as the case of the SAF 44. [4]
About 5,000 was estimated to have taken part in the August 28 protest as estimated by the police. [5]
Former Tarlac Governor, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco spoke before the Iglesia Ni Cristo protesters at EDSA-Shaw corner at evening of August 29. She called for justice of the SAF 44 who were killed in the Mamasapano clash and called for the police officers which were asked to secure the site of the protests to join her on stage. INC spokesperson Zabala apologised for the heavy traffic caused by the protests, and reminded protesters that the media were not their enemy after an ABS-CBN cameraman was reported to have been attacked on August 28. The Mandaluyong government had given them a permit to protest until August 30 which could be extended. [6]
Protests continues in EDSA as parts of the avenue were rendered impassible. The number of protesters swelled to around 15,400 according to police reports. The Mandaluyong city government's permit to the protesters only allowed the protesters to gather at a designated 1,200-sq.m. area at EDSA-Shaw. It was reported that some protesters occupied the portion near the EDSA Shrine in Quezon City. [1][7] It was also reported that as early as August 29, Iglesia Ni Cristo members from other parts of Luzon were converging in Metro Manila for the protests. Similar protests in Cebu, Puerto Princesa, and Davao starting on evening of August 30 were also planned. [8]
Through the INC-ran television channel NET 25, General Evangelist Bienvenido Santiago announced the end of the protests after he said that the church and government officials held talks and made clarifications to their respective sides. [9] Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte, clarified that there was no deal struck between the government and the church. [10] Planned demonstrations in Cebu were cancelled. Some protesters were already gathered at the INC house of worship along Gen. Maxilom Avenue when the cancellation of protest were announced. It was planned that they would head toward Plaza Independencia to stage a vigil. [11]
Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, based in Manila, described the protests' goal as to pressure the government to back out from taking action on the filed illegal detention case. Casiple added that the government was unlikely to yield and stop the legal process. He added that "The one on trial here is the Iglesia ni Cristo. They have to show their unity... their strength," [1]
Samson's lawyer, Trixie Cruz-Angeles, speaking on his behalf said that “The Sanggunian, the people who we filed charges against are running scared, they are very, very afraid,”. Cruz-Angeles alleges that the church leadership are using the protesters as human shields. "First they thought Ka Jun (Samson) would not put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, that he was afraid. They thought they had neutralized him. But with his coming out and filing cases, these are only the first cases. There are more. And they know that,” she added referring to the Samson's camp opinion on the Sanggunian. [5]
Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement on August 29 that the Iglesia ni Cristo was only practicing its freedom to assembly and religious freedom. He also criticized the current administration. “We cannot fault the INC for resorting to mass action to protect the independence of their church from a clear act of harassment and interference from the administration,” Binay said. He called for the justice of SAF 44 which he believes that the DOJ must prioritize. [12]
Senator Grace Poe said that she respects the protesters.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
FBI and Knoxville police searching for suspect in a FSNB Bank robbery inside a Walmart
|
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Knoxville Police Department said they were searching for a suspect in a bank robbery of an FSNB Bank location inside of a Walmart in East Knoxville. Police said that the suspect walked into the bank and approached the tellers, handing them a note and demanding money at around 2:49 p.m. They complied with the suspect's demands and he drove away in a dark green Honda Accord, according to a release. The robbery suspect is a Black man with a medium-to-large build, officials said. He could be around 40 or 50 years old, and was between 5'10" and 6'2" tall. He was wearing a long-sleeve camouflage shirt and dark pants with a gray ballcap that had a "W" on the front, officials said, along with sunglasses and gray gardening gloves. He was wearing black boots and a royal blue face covering and kept a yellow ag under his arm during the robbery. Anyone with information about the suspect should call the FBI's Knoxville, Tennessee Field Office at (865) 544-0751. People can also submit a tip to the FBI online, or call KPD at (865) 215-7212.
|
Bank Robbery
| null | null |
2007 Noto earthquake
|
The 2007 Noto earthquake (Japanese: 能登半島地震) is an earthquake that occurred on March 25, 2007 in Japan. At 9:41:58 a.m. on March 25, 2007, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the Hokuriku region of Japan, near the Noto Peninsula. The earthquake shook the city of Wajima, the city of Nanao, and the town of Anamizu with a seismic intensity of 6+ on Japan's shindo scale. [5] One death, in the city of Wajima, and at least 356 injuries have been reported. [4]
This earthquake was the result of oblique-slip faulting. [6] According to the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, the fault was 21 km long, 14 km wide and shifted 1.4 m.[6] By using sound waves, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology also found a fault 18~ km long that is supposed to have caused this earthquake. [7]
This earthquake was an intraplate earthquake that occurred within the Eurasia Plate, near the boundary with the North American Plate. Noto Peninsula itself was created by pressure pushing up sediment from the south-east, and many folds and reverse faults are in the area. Some strike-slip faults are also found in the area. A 6.6 Mj earthquake also struck Ishikawa Prefecture on February 7, 1993. Since the 1990s, the number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0~ Mj are increasing. Some seismologists say that the seismic activity in West Japan is at its peak, and many earthquakes will occur, like the Great Hanshin earthquake. This earthquake is sometimes considered as one of those earthquakes. [citation needed]
Like the 2005 Fukuoka earthquake, it was announced that it "occurred in an area where seismic activity was relatively quiet", but earthquakes are possible anywhere in Japan and its surrounding areas. Also this earthquake's fault was out in sea, so it was not simulated in the seismic danger maps, since most of the faults simulated are inland faults. Some seismologists are trying to simulate these kind of earthquakes as well as inland earthquakes. [citation needed]
This type of earthquake was estimated to have occurred 1~2 times in the last 20,000 years. [7]
The Japan Meteorological Agency placed the earthquake at 37.3°N, 136.5°E, at a depth of 11 km. It estimated the magnitude at 7.1, but later revised its estimate to 6.9. The earthquake had a maximum three-component vector sum peak ground acceleration of 1,304 cm/s2 (1.33 g). [8] It occurred in a big seismic gap. Shaking in Wajima was very close to Shindo 7. It was the first time that Shindo 6- or more was observed in Ishikawa prefecture. It was also the 2nd time that Shindo 5- or more was observed in Toyama prefecture. The earthquake moved Shika 25 cm southwest, and Anamizu 15 cm northwest. [6] It also shifted an erosion terrace formed in the ice age and the sediment on top by 10 cm. Shaking was felt as far as Oshamanbe in the north, to Hiroshima in the west and Nahari in the south. [5]
According to the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, the pattern of the shaking was similar to the shaking in the Great Hanshin earthquake and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, called the "killer pulse": Pulse waves with a frequency of 1–2 seconds. This kind of shaking heavily damages buildings with around 2 floors. The shaking then got larger as it reached softer ground like alluvial plains, causing major damage. At least 1000 people in Wajima were evacuated to temporary shelters. [1]
The train lines that were stopped after the earthquake were:
Noto Airport temporarily closed due to the fact that 22 cracks were found in the runway. A part of the Noto Toll Road temporarily closed since many parts of it collapsed. It re-opened on April 27. A tsunami advisory was immediately made for the Kaga coast and Noto coast, and a 22 cm wave[10] hit shore about 30 minutes later. [11]
More than 500 perceptible aftershocks were observed. Largest aftershocks are blue, and 4.8~ Mj earthquakes are light blue. At 9:45, an emergency meeting for this earthquake was held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. Government damage inspecting teams under command of Kensei Mizote were sent to the epicenter area from the 25th to the 26th. At 10:45, an emergency disaster prevention meeting was held. 375 firefighters were summoned from Toyama Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Tokyo prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Shiga prefecture, and Hyogo Prefecture. [9] They were ordered to leave on 10:42 on the 26th, and left on 11:55. At 10:45, the Ministry of Defense held an emergency meeting. At 11:08, Masanori Tanimoto, the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture summoned 30 soldiers from the Ground forces from bases in Kanazawa, Sabae, Toyama, Kasugai, Nagoya, Hisai, and Takashima. [9] Helicopters from bases in Wajima and Komatsu were also used. Ground forces, maritime forces, and air forces all went to investigate damage.
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Brisbane Broncos, 10 players fined $140,000 by NRL for coronavirus protocol breach following pub visit
|
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
The Brisbane Broncos and 10 of their players have been fined a total of $140,000 by the NRL for failing to comply with the league's COVID-19 biosecurity protocols.
The fines relate to the players attending a hotel in the Brisbane suburb of Everton Park for lunch on August 1. The visit was not approved by the Broncos, nor were club officials aware it took place.
The NRL fined the Broncos club $75,000, while each of the club's full-time players were sanctioned 5 per cent of their salary, totalling $65,000 for the 10 players.
The players fined include regular first-graders David Fifita, Kotoni Staggs, Corey Oates, Corey Paix and Jake Turpin.
The club's three development players who attended the venue will have a portion of their fines suspended.
The Broncos released a statement on Tuesday confirming they would not challenge the penalties handed down.
"We accept the imposition of the $75,000 fine, as the club has ultimate accountability for the actions of our players," Broncos chief executive Paul White said in a statement.
"The players will also pay a price in terms of individual sanctions.
"It is an expensive lesson for us all, but it reinforces how important these protocols are to the survival of our competition and community health."
The NRL said while the Broncos players were permitted to dine at restaurants and cafes they were not allowed to sit in pubs and gaming areas at the time of the breaches.
"We have taken our time to thoroughly investigate this matter so we could gather as much evidence as possible to determine exactly what happened at the venue," acting NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said.
"It is our view that this breach involved a significant failure of the club to properly administer the league's biosecurity protocols."
The NRL's penalties come less than a week after Queensland police announced the Broncos players had not breached Queensland's coronavirus restrictions by attending the hotel.
It is the latest in a string of COVID-related breaches by the Broncos, including Tevita Pangai Junior's visit to a barbershop, which was subsequently attended by police amid suspected outlaw motorcycle gang links.
While Pangai Junior was not accused of any illegal activity, he has since been stood down indefinitely by the NRL and fined $30,000.
Former Brisbane player and current assistant coach Allan Langer was among three staff members fined and stood down after attending a private function at the Caxton Hotel.
ABC/AAP
See our full coverage of coronavirus
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)
|
Organization Fine
| null | null |
Eluru outbreak
|
In early December 2020, an idiopathic disease broke out in Eluru, a city located in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The first case was reported on 5 December, with hundreds more falling ill and one person dying over the next week. The cause was initially unknown, but on 20 December, AIIMS and NEERI Research Institute came to a conclusion that pesticides leaching into the water supply is the most likely reason. Reported symptoms include headache, vomiting, dizziness, convulsions, seizures, nausea, anxiety, loss of consciousness and other neurological symptoms, which have been described as being similar to epilepsy. The individuals who have been reported to have the disease, especially children, have reported a sudden onset of vomiting after complaining of burning eyes. [10][11]
The first case was recorded on the evening of 5 December. By the next day, a few hundred more people were admitted to hospital with similar symptoms. The only reported death was a 45-year-old man who had reported similar symptoms. [12] According to CNN, he died of an unrelated cardiac arrest on 5 December, but the Eluru hospital superintendent stated he died due to the symptoms and put him on the official death toll for the illness. [13][2][14] The disease was originally found in the One Town area before spreading to other parts of the city as well as the rural area and Denduluru village. Most patients were admitted in the Eluru government hospital, but some that needed better care were sent to institutions in Vijayawada and Guntur. [15]
By the night of 7 December, more than 400 people had been stricken by the disease. While the disease affects all age groups, over 300 of the infected are children. [16][17] The total reported number of infected had risen to 450 and the discharged to 200 by 7 December. [18][19] While the symptoms have been reported as being "the same across age groups and gender," a majority of patients are in the age group of 20-30 years old. [20][18] Hundreds of children were affected by the disease. [16]
The rate of new cases drastically decreased on 8 December, although six people who were previously discharged suffered a second seizure and were readmitted. [21] On 10 December, two other people who got the disease died, causing some media to speculate that their deaths were due to the disease. However, the district's health commissioner announced they had died from unrelated conditions - one from a stroke and one from COVID-19 - and that only the original death remained on the official count. [2][14] Only two people were admitted into the hospital the next day, with most patients having recovered and thirteen still requiring treatment as of 12 December. [22] On 12 December, no new cases were recorded, and state health minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas stated that "the city is heading towards a zero mystery illness situation. "[23]
Samples from patients and of the local water were collected the same day to determine the cause of the outbreak. [12] Specialists from several worldwide and Indian scientific and medical institutions, such as the National Centre for Disease Control,[24] All India Institutes of Medical Sciences,[19] the World Health Organization, the Indian Council of Medical Research, the National Institute of Nutrition, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology had been sent to assess the situation and analyze the samples. [20] However, the tests did not detect any water pollution or known virus infections (including COVID-19) upon analysis. [12][25][20]
Andhra Pradesh's Health Department reported that "initial blood test[s] did not find any evidence of viral infection. "[13] Blood samples have also been tested for antibodies and for bacterial infections such as meningitis. Viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya, hepatitis and rabies were ruled out as the cause. Since "people not linked to the municipal water supply [have also] fallen ill", water contamination was also initially discarded,[25] and so was air pollution. [20][11] Blood tests and CT scans were not able to establish the cause or origin of the disease and cerebrospinal fluid tests "turned out to be normal. "[26] As of 7 December 2020, the disease has been determined to be non-contagious. [18]
BJP Member of Parliament Narasimha Rao suspected that organochlorides might be the cause after talking to medical experts. Organochlorides are used as pesticides as well as in anti-mosquito fogging. [18][27] On 7 December 2020, Indian health authorities unofficially declared: "Mostly yes, but we are waiting for the laboratory report [for confirmation]" when asked about organochlorine being the disease-triggering agent. [18] This theory was later ruled out by authorities because there would have been a higher rate of respiratory issues and fatalities. [28]
Later preliminary results pointed to high lead and nickel content in drinking water and milk as possible agents via lead poisoning. [29] Blood tests also found high concentrations of the same materials in patients. [5] State authorities later ruled out air and water as the medium for heavy metals and started testing vegetable and fruit samples. [28] It has also been speculated that pesticides may have leached into the water supply after flash floods. [30] Other theories include improper disposal of batteries as well as excessive bleaching and chlorinating of the water supply to prevent COVID-19 transmission. [31]
On December 16, the Andhra Pradesh government concluded that pesticide residue in the water was the "main reason" for the illness, based on findings from studies conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI). AIIMS also reported on high heavy metal content in milk, while NEERI found mercury in surface water higher than the allowed concentration. [32]
Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, has faced criticism from the opposition for his perceived failure to prevent the outbreak by neglecting water sanitation in the area. [33]
Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the state's opposition Telugu Desam Party, blamed the ruling government for the outbreak, claiming that it had not taken action to decontaminate the local drinking water. [34] The Telugu Desam Party called for a full enquiry, claiming that the spread of the illness was caused by contamination. [11]
Srinivas initially reported [a]ll the patients are out of danger. Of the 300-odd affected, about 125 have been discharged by Sunday evening. "[35]
On 7 December, the government announced it had commenced "a door-to-door survey". [35] The same day, CM Reddy visited the patients in Eluru and gave instructions to his ministers on patient care and supervision, ordering that discharged patients be observed for a month afterwards. [36] The central government announced that a three-person team would be sent to Eluru on 8 December to probe the situation. [37] The state government later formed a 21-member council which included representatives from the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences and the World Health Organization to investigate the outbreak.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
S.Korea and U.S. to begin preliminary military exercises on Tuesday -Yonhap
|
The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. Courtesy Ken Scar/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS SEOUL, Aug 9 (Reuters) - South Korea and the United States will begin preliminary military drills on Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, despite North Korea's warning that the exercises would dent signs of an inter-Korean thaw. The drills, called Crisis Management Staff Training, were designed to examine the allies' readiness to respond to a potential contingency, and will be held until Friday before switching to full-scale exercises scheduled for Aug. 16-26, Yonhap said, citing unidentified military and government sources. South Korea's defence ministry said the timing, scale and formation of the drills were not yet finalised. The U.S. Forces Korea declined to comment, citing its policy. South Korea and the United States regularly stage military exercises, mainly in the spring and summer, but North Korea has for decades reacted angrily, calling them a rehearsal for war. Yonhap said the drills would consist mostly of computerised simulations with no live field training involving U.S.-based troops, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official of the ruling Workers' Party, warned the South last week that holding the drills would undercut efforts to rebuild relations. read more The two Koreas recently restored hotlines that Pyongyang severed a year ago, as Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are seeking to mend strained ties and resume summits. read more The North's warning had prompted some Seoul officials and members of Moon's ruling party to call for postponing the exercises to expedite inter-Korean reconciliation. read more But ruling party chief Song Young-gil said on Thursday that the drills cannot be delayed, as they are regularly conducted for defensive purposes and preparations were "almost complete." The exercises had been scaled back in recent years to facilitate talks aimed at dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes in return for U.S. sanctions relief. But the negotiations collapsed following a failed second summit in 2019 between Kim and then U.S. President Donald Trump. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox. Myanmar's ruling military threatened on Friday to arrest citizens who invest in bonds offered by a shadow government, warning of lengthy prison sentences for their involvement in what it called "terrorist" financing. The border port of Wanding in China's Yunnan province resumed trade with neighbouring Myanmar on Friday after being closed for 136 days due to the pandemic, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
|
Military Exercise
| null | null |
Organizations call for urgent action to address the dramatic acute food insecurity in northern Ethiopia
|
10 June 2021, Rome - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF call for urgent action to address the dramatic acute food insecurity in northern Ethiopia. The three agencies are particularly concerned about the situation in Tigray region where the risk of famine is imminent, unless food, livelihood assistance and other life-saving interventions continue to be scaled-up, unimpeded access is guaranteed, and hostilities cease. The call came in response to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, released today. The IPC is a global, multi-partner initiative - comprised of 15 UN agencies, regional organisations, and international non-governmental organisations - that facilitates improved decision-making through the provision of consensus-based food insecurity and malnutrition analysis. According to the report, over 350 000 people are already facing catastrophic conditions (IPC 5, Catastrophe) in Tigray region. This is the highest number of people classified in IPC 5 Catastrophe in a single country in the last decade. Over 60 percent of the population, more than 5.5 million people, grapple with high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC 3-5) in Tigray and the neighbouring zones of Amhara and Afar. Of these, 2 million people are in Emergency level of acute food insecurity (IPC 4) and without urgent action could quickly slide into starvation. The severity of acute food insecurity is expected to increase through September, particularly in Tigray, with over 400 000 people projected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC 5, Catastrophe) without urgent and unhindered aid. The UN agencies are particularly concerned by the risk of famine in Tigray if conflict escalates and humanitarian assistance is significantly hampered. The lack of reliable and comprehensive data on people's food security situation in western Tigray is also deeply worrying. "Rural communities in northern Ethiopia have been particularly affected by the conflict. Many farms have been destroyed and productive assets such as seeds and livestock lost," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. "It is imperative that we help these communities keep their families fed, and support local food production, paving the way for a faster recovery. But to help people on the brink of famine, we need resources and access - both of which remain a problem." "The brutal reality for our staff in Tigray is that for every family we reach with life-saving food, there are countless more, especially in rural areas, whom we cannot reach," said WFP Executive Director, David Beasley. "We have appealed for humanitarian access but are still being blocked by armed groups. The ability of people in Tigray to access vital services and for WFP to reach them with food assistance is essential to avoid a catastrophe. Access must be extended well beyond major cities to reach people in desperate need wherever they may be, with adequate assistance and without delay." "UNICEF is extremely concerned about the situation across Tigray as we see more and more young children and babies slide dangerously close to sickness and potential death from malnutrition," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "We are working with our partners to provide nutrition, health care and clean water support. However, without humanitarian access to scale up our response, an estimated 33,000 severely malnourished children in currently inaccessible areas in Tigray are at high risk of death. The world cannot permit that to happen." Causes of acute food insecurity According to the IPC report, the key cause of acute food insecurity in Tigray is conflict as it has led to massive population displacement, widespread destruction of livelihoods and critical infrastructure, and loss of employment. Conflict has also limited access to markets. An increase in conflict could push more people to flee their homes and prevent families from accessing food distribution points or other food and livelihood sources, noted the report. Conflict-hit Tigray is already the most at-risk region with 4 million people - 70 percent of the population - experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC 3 or above). Bordering areas in neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, which host a large number of internally displaced persons from Tigray, have 60 percent and 41 percent of their populations in high levels of acute food insecurity (over 450,000 and 1 million people respectively). UN agencies and partners scaling up their response Food assistance and nutritional support are expected to be scaled up and reach a large proportion of the population, but unhindered access and urgent funding are paramount for this. WFP's response: FAO's response: UNICEF's response: Note to editors: The term "high levels of acute food insecurity" refers to populations that are in IPC phase 3 or higher. Populations classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis), IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and IPC 5 (Catastrophe) need urgent support so lives are saved and widespread death prevented, food consumption gaps reduced and livelihoods protected. A risk of famine refers to the reasonable probability of an area going into Famine in the projected period. It is not a new classification, and it is not accompanied by population estimates.
|
Famine
| null | null |
Britain leaves the European Union
|
A Brexit supporter takes part in a rally during a rally at the Parliament square in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Brexit supporters gather during a rally in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Brexit supporters trample on a European Union flag during a rally in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) People draped in UK flags walks across Parliament Square during a rainfall in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage shakes hands with his supporters in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT Friday, the first nation in the bloc to do so. Brexit supporters react during a rally in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT Friday, the first nation in the bloc to do so. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Brexit supporters gather during a rally in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU at 23:00 GMT Friday, the first nation in the bloc to do so. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre, as he chairs a Cabinet meeting, convened in the National Glass Centre at University of Sunderland, in Sunderland, England, Friday Jan. 31, 2020. Sunderland was the first city to declare its support for Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum. On the stroke of 23:00 GMT on Friday Jan. 31, 2020, Britain will leave the European Union after 47-years of membership, and they have until the end of the year to forge a new relationship with the bloc. A Brexit supporter shouts during a rally in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) A countdown to Brexit timer and the colors of the British Union flag illuminate the exterior of 10 Downing street, the residence of the British Prime Minister, in London, England, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Brexit supporters gather during a rally at the Parliament square in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) A projection appears on a cliff in Ramsgate, southern England, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. The Union flag is lowered prior to being removed from outside of the European Parliament in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. As the United Kingdom prepared to bring to an end its 47-year EU membership, the bloc's top officials on Friday pledged to continue playing a prominent role despite the loss of a powerful affiliate. Anti-Brexit protesters gather outside Parliament buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Protesters from the campaign group Border Communities Against Brexit take part in a demonstration in Carrickcarnon on the Irish border, Ireland, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. A member of protocol removes the European Union flag from the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. As the United Kingdom prepared to bring to an end its 47-year EU membership, the bloc's top officials on Friday pledged to continue playing a prominent role despite the loss of a powerful affiliate. The U.K.s departure became official at 11 p.m., midnight in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered. Thousands of enthusiastic Brexit supporters gathered outside Britain’s Parliament cheered as the hour struck. They had been hoping for this moment since Britain’s 52%-48% vote in June 2016 to walk away from the club it had joined in 1973. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Britain’s departure “a moment of real national renewal and change.” But many Britons mourned the loss of their EU identity, and some marked the passing with tearful vigils. There was also sadness in Brussels as British flags were quietly removed from the bloc’s many buildings. Whether Brexit makes Britain a proud country that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world, will be debated for years to come. While Britain’s exit is a historic moment, it only marks the end of the first stage of the Brexit saga. When Britons wake up Saturday, they will notice very little change. The U.K. and the EU have given themselves an 11-month “transition period” -- in which the U.K. will continue to follow the bloc’s rules -- to strike new agreements on trade, security and a host of other areas. The now 27-member EU will have to bounce back from one of its biggest setbacks in its 62-year history to confront an ever more complicated world as its former member becomes a competitor, just across the English Channel. French President Emmanuel Macron called Brexit a “historic alarm signal” that should force the EU to improve itself. “It’s a sad day, let’s not hide it,” he said in a televised address. “But it is a day that must also lead us to do things differently.” He insisted that European citizens need a united Europe “more than ever,” to defend their interests in the face of China and the United States, to cope with climate change and migration and technological upheaval. In the many EU buildings of Brussels on Friday, British flags were quietly lowered, folded and taken away. This is the first time a country has left the EU, and many in the bloc rued the day. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lamented that “as the sun rises tomorrow a new chapter for our union of 27 will start." But she warned Brexit day would mark a major loss for the U.K. and said the island country was heading for a lonelier existence. “Strength does not lie in splendid isolation, but in our unique union," she said. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted post-Brexit Britain would be “simultaneously a great European power and truly global in our range and ambitions.” “We want this to be the beginning of a new era of friendly cooperation between the EU and an energetic Britain,” Johnson said in a pre-recorded address to the country broadcast an hour before Britain's exit. In a break with usual practice, independent media outlets were not allowed to film Johnson’s speech, which the government recorded Thursday at 10 Downing St. Johnson won an election victory in December with a dual promise to “get Brexit done” and deliver improved jobs, infrastructure and services for Britain’s most deprived areas, where support for leaving the EU is strongest. On Friday, he symbolically held a Cabinet meeting in the pro-Brexit town of Sunderland in northeast England, rather than in London. Johnson is a Brexit enthusiast, but he knows many Britons aren’t, and his Conservative government aimed to mark the moment with quiet dignity. Red, white and blue lights illuminated government buildings and a countdown clock projected onto the prime minister’s Downing Street residence. There was no such restraint in nearby Parliament Square, where arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage gathered a crowd of several thousand, who belted out the patriotic song “Land of Hope and Glory” as they awaited a moment that even Farage sometimes doubted would ever come. Londoner Donna Jones said she had come to "be part of history.” "It doesn't mean we're anti-Europe, it just means we want to be self-sufficient in a certain way,” she said. But Britons who cherished their membership in the bloc -- and the freedom it bought to live anywhere across of 28 countries -- were mourning. "Many of us want to just mark our sadness in public," said Ann Jones, who joined dozens of other remainers on a march to the EU's mission in London. "And we don't want trouble, we just want to say, well you know, we didn't want this.” Britain’s journey to Brexit has been long, rocky -- and far from over. The U.K. was never a wholehearted EU member, but actually leaving the bloc was long considered a fringe idea. It gradually gained strength within the Conservative Party, which has a wing of fierce “euroskeptics” -- opponents of EU membership. Former Prime Minister David Cameron eventually agreed to hold a referendum, saying he wanted to settle the issue once and for all. It hasn’t worked out that way. Since the 2016 vote, the U.K. has held fractious negotiations with the EU that finally, late last year, secured a deal on divorce terms. But Britain is leaving the bloc arguably as divided as it was on referendum day. By and large, Britain's big cities voted to stay in the EU, while small towns voted to leave. England and Wales backed Brexit, while Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain. Candlelit vigils were held in several Scottish cities, government buildings in Edinburgh were lit up in the EU’s blue and yellow colors and the bloc’s flag continued to fly outside the Scottish Parliament. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Brexit “will be a moment of profound sadness for many of us across the U.K.” “And here in Scotland, given that it is happening against the will of the vast majority of us, that sadness will be tinged with anger,” she said in a speech in Edinburgh. Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party government is demanding the right to hold a referendum on independence from the U.K., something Johnson refuses to grant. London, which is home to more than 1 million EU citizens, also voted by a wide margin to stay in the bloc. Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “heartbroken” about Brexit. But he insisted London would remain that welcomed all, regardless of “the color of your skin, the color of your flag, the color of your passport.” Negotiations between Britain and the EU on their new relationship are due to start in earnest in March, and the early signs are not encouraging. The EU says Britain can't have full access to the EU's single market unless it follows the bloc's rules, but Britain insists it will not agree to follow an EU rulebook in return for unfettered trade. With Johnson adamant he won’t extend the transition period beyond Dec. 31, months of uncertainty and acrimony lie ahead. In the English port of Dover, just 20 miles across the Channel from France, retiree Philip Barry said he was confident it would all be worth it. “My expectation is that there may be a little bump or two in the road but in the end it will even out,” he said. "Somebody once said -- short-term pain but long-term gain.”
|
Withdraw from an Organization
| null | null |
2015 Ecuadorian protests
|
Correa opponents
Government of Ecuador
Social Christian Party
Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores
Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador
Hundreds of thousands
The 2015 Ecuadorian protests were a series of protests against the inheritance tax laws introduced by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. The protests began during the first week of June; becoming more organized and growing to hundreds of people on 8 June 2015. [2] Since then, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorians protested throughout Ecuador against President Correa and the controversial inheritance tax laws he introduced. [1] The opposition and demonstrators protested stating that Correa wanted to follow "the same path as Venezuela’s government", creating a "criminal war of classes" while President Correa stated that the protests were aimed at destabilizing the government and such measures were for combatting inequality. [3]
Throughout his presidency, Correa has been a controversial figure. Correa describes himself as an advocate of "socialism of the 21st century", a term referring to a form of democratic socialism previously used by Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. [4] though he has also been described Correa as "a left-wing populist". [5] Political science scholars George Philip and Francisco Panizza also claimed that like his allies Morales and Chávez, Correa should be categorized as a populist,[6] because he appealed "directly to the people against their countries' political and economic order, divided the social field into antagonistic camps and promised redistribution and recognition in a newly founded political order. "[7]
The Washington Post characterized Correa's ideological approach as having contradictions however, and compared him to other pink tide presidents such as Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. [8] Though Correa, an economist, did not attack Ecuador's private sector like Chávez and Ecuador's socioeconomic environment flourished with decreased poverty, he did follow Chávez's example of filling the Supreme Court of Ecuador with his allies and attempted to silence critics. [8] Such actions have resulted in Correa being accused of authoritarianism, nepotism, attacking dissidents and curtailing freedom of speech. [9][10][11][12]
Though Correa had brought stability to the poor who supported him, he combatted with other social groups such as the media, the Catholic Church, bankers and indigenous groups, saying that those who protested against him were part of "a wealthy oligarchy", a similar approach to what his ally Nicolás Maduro did to those who opposed him. [13][14]
Following years of heavy revenues from high oil prices that Correa experienced during his eight years as president, Ecuador experienced a 50% reduction in oil revenues. [3] The government then cut its 2015 fiscal budget by 4% and initiated controversial economic measures that affected most Ecuadorians; both the middle class and the poor. [3] In March 2015 when constitutional changes were proposed to allow the re-election of the president and government officials indefinitely while other labor and land ownership rules were submitted, protests numbered in thousands occurred in Quito that were organized by indigenous communities, unions and students. [15] In June 2015, when the government proposed bills to tax inheritances up to 77.5% and a 75% tax on real estate capital gains to counter loss in oil revenue, protests in Ecuador became widespread, with protesters demanding Correa out and compared actions by the government to that of the Venezuelan government. [1][2][3] According to economists, the proposed policies would damage Ecuador's economy and population since 95% of businesses are family owned. [3]
Protests began on 8 June 2015 and continued after President Correa temporarily withdrew the proposed bills from legislation on 15 June. [16][17]
Near the headquarters of Correa's party, Alianza País, about 1,000 people, both opposition and pro-government demonstrated with 100 police on standby. [18]
Thousands of protesters wearing black in "mourning" demonstrated in the capital city of Quito for the second time in a week. [2][19] Government supporters confronted the opposition protesters leading their own chants under an Alianza País banner. [2] In other parts of the city, opposition and pro-government groups clashed. [2]
Guillermo Lasso led a march to the National Assembly of Ecuador to demand the permanent withdrawal of the proposed taxes instead of a temporary shelving of the legislations. [20] The Ecuadorian government stated that the leaders of the protests held the following day would be responsible for any "vandalism". [20]
Workers and trade unionists, mainly from the Frente Unitario de los Trabajadores (FUT), demonstrated in Quito denouncing Correa's policies, calling them "anti-popular" and were planning a national strike. [21] Mesías Tatamuez, leader of FUT stated that the protests were not related to those concerned about taxes and that the protests were not aimed at the "destabilization" of the Ecuadorian government as President Correa had stated. [21] The workers protests involved the sweeping of streets to represent the "cleansing" of corruption from the Ecuadorian and the burning of an Alianza País flag. [21]
In Guayaquil, Correa's birthplace, Mayor Jaime Nebot invited demonstrators of all ages to participate with about 400,000 people, or about 20% of the city's population participating. [1] The demonstrators gathered in light blue and white colors of Guayaquil's flag with Nebot stating that he was not protesting against Correa but the "totalitarian system" he said Correa wanted to "impose". [1] Public buildings near the march were decorated by the Ecuadorian government with the Central Bank office building having a banner denouncing the accumulation of wealth and while Nebot was speaking, the volume of the building's loudspeakers that was sending pro-government messages was turned higher. [1]
In Quito, demonstrated congregated on Shyris Avenue and Mayor Mauricio Rodas denounced the new taxes that were promoted by President Correa. [1]
In Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and other cities, thousands protested against Correa days before Pope Francis' visit to the country. [13] The Ecuadorian government held a countering rally at the president's palace. [13]
Hundreds protested outside of the Alianza País headquarters protesting against the taxes along with what they called autocratic and corrupt actions performed by the Ecuadorian government. [14] The protesters waited for Pope Francis to complete his visit to Ecuador before protesting again. [14]
According to Cedatos-Gallup International polls from six major cities in Ecuador between 10 and 11 June, 70% of Ecuadorians disapprove of the real estate tax and 72% disapprove of the inheritance tax. [3] Cedatos also observed President Correa's popularity drop from around 60% in recent years to 42% in 2015. [14]
While protesters were demonstrating in Quito and Guayaquil, some internet users were unable to connect to a network with explanations ranging from network over-saturation to the use of signal jammers by the Ecuadorian government. The use of peer-to-peer applications increased during the protests due to the network problems with Opposition Senator Andres Paez recommending the use of the FireChat app. The media also reported Denial-of-service attacks and the creation of fake media accounts to falsify reports. [17] It has also been reported that the Ecuadorian government uses "troll centers" to attack their opposition. [17][22]
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Pooh Shiesty faces life in prison: What we know about Memphis rapper's upcoming trial
|
Memphis rapper Pooh Shiesty started the year as one of hip-hop’s hottest new artists, but after a series of arrests he’s now facing the possibility of life in prison. Shiesty — real name Lontrell Williams — has been jailed in Florida since July on charges related to an October 2020 incident where he was allegedly involved in the robbery and shooting of two men outside a hotel in Miami-Dade County. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal indictment , which carry a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. His trial is set to begin Oct. 25. The Commercial Appeal reached out to Shiesty's attorneys and record label for comment, but did not receive a response. Here are five things to know about Shiesty’s career and his legal troubles. Rising rapper: 'Shiesty Season' is here Chosen by Spotify's "Rap Caviar" as one of the "10 Artists to Watch in 2021," the 21-year-old Pooh Shiesty became the latest young Memphis rap sensation, hitting the Billboard Hot 100 and Emerging Artist charts and making Rolling Stone's "Breakthrough 25" rankings. He was handpicked by rapper-mogul Gucci Mane to sign to his The New 1017 label and released his "Shiesty Season" mixtape earlier this year . Raised around South Memphis' Cane Creek Apartments, Shiesty is a second-generation Memphis rapper. His father founded the Bluff City label Mob Ties Records and rapped under the name Mob Boss, steeping him in the family business from a young age. Shiesty got his start with a group of friends known as Choppa Gang. After a couple years away from Memphis, living with his mother in Texas, Shiesty returned to the Mid-South and started focusing on his music. As part of the Choppa Gang collective — which also included Big30, Choppa T and K Shiesty — he first gained notice with the track "Breaking News," released in 2018. MEMPHIS RAP: Yo Gotti becomes co-owner of Major League Soccer's D.C. United On the heels of "Breaking News," Shiesty began to develop a major underground buzz with performances on tracks like "Hell Night" (featuring Big30), "Day One" and "Choppa Talk." Further fame followed in 2019 with "Shiesty Summer" released that August. The track would go viral, with the YouTube video for the song eventually getting close to 10 million views. His numbers would grow exponentially with the anthemic follow-up "7.62 God," which would further put Shiesty on the music biz map. In spring 2020, fate would intervene in the form of Grammy-nominated, platinum-certified rapper Gucci Mane. Gucci messaged Shiesty on Instagram, and in short order offered him a record deal, specifically a chance to be part of his The New 1017 label venture with Atlantic Records. The association with Gucci quickly helped up Shiesty's profile, as did a series of further hits and notable collaborations including "Monday to Sunday" (featuring Lil Baby and Big30), a remix of "Main Slime" (with fellow Memphians Moneybagg Yo and Tay Keith), and his "Back In Blood" (a team-up with Lil Durk that would eventually go platinum). Shiesty hit the upper reaches of Billboard this spring, placing at No. 4 on the albums chart with "Shiesty Season," while his video for the single "Back in Blood," hit the No. 1 spot on YouTube's U.S. video charts, and he made his national TV debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Personal loss: Pooh Shiesty's brother dies This past February, just as he was celebrating his growing success, Shiesty lost his brother , fellow hip-hop artist TeeDa P. Born Tarrance Henderson, TeeDa P died on Feb. 28. While the family did not confirm the cause of death, various outlets reported he had been battling brain cancer and Pooh Shiesty had canceled a series of concerts just before his passing. TeeDa P had been gaining notice himself as a rapper since releasing a series of singles in 2019. His new album, "Halftime," came out earlier this year. — Slime Lil Dude (@pooh_shiesty) March 3, 2021 Shiesty publicly mourned his brother and received messages of support from a number of fellow rappers, including Memphis-rooted superstar Drake. Legal troubles: Pooh Shiesty arrested in Florida Shiesty's legal issues began in October 2020, when federal authorities allege he was involved in the robbery and shooting of two men outside a hotel in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The FBI would eventually indict him and two others on charges of discharging a firearm during a violent crime, conspiracy and robbery under a law regulating commerce. Shiesty, along with Jayden Darosa and Bobby Brown, went to the Landon Hotel in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, in October to purchase "high-end athletic sneakers" and marijuana, according to the criminal complaint by Miami-Dade FBI Detective Elio Garcia. Shiesty arrived in a McLaren he rented from one of the victims and wanted to negotiate the car's rental as well, but during the transaction, he and Brown shot the men — one in the hip and the other in the butt, according to the court documents. The FBI said surveillance footage captured the shooting and after law enforcement spoke with the victims they identified one of the suspects as Shiesty. While leaving the scene, a Louis Vuitton bag — which had $40,912 in cash — fell out of the McLaren and, according to the complaint, Shiesty had posted guns and $100 bills on Instagram days before the robbery. Law enforcement utilized the rapper's social media account and found the same bills in the Louis Vuitton bag were also in his posts, the court document said. Shiesty was arrested but released from custody shortly after the incident. Strip club shooting: Pooh Shiesty arrested in Florida again Shiesty was again arrested in June 2021 in connection with a Memorial Day weekend shooting of a security guard at strip club in Northwest Miami called King of Diamonds. According to a review of the affidavits in the case by Rolling Stone, the incident began when Shiesty “allegedly pulled a black semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and waved it around the King of Diamonds club in Miami… after he dropped some cash on the ground and purportedly worried patrons might grab it. As security tried to remove him from the building, he allegedly fired a shot, striking a security guard in the ankle.” According to his attorneys, Shiesty is facing a “mandatory minimum of 20 years” if convicted of the shooting. On June 9, Shiesty was granted a $10,000 bond by a Florida judge on aggravated battery charges related to the King of Diamonds incident. But he was ordered to remain in jail until another judge ruled on his status in the Landon Hotel shooting. A few weeks later, on June 29, Shiesty was formally indicted in the Landon Hotel shooting. In early July, a federal judge ordered that he be held without bond. Shiesty has been held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami since then. MEMPHIS CONCERTS: 'Legendz of the Streetz' tour date in Memphis pushed to 2022 Court case: Pooh Shiesty trial set for Oct. 25 According to a recent report in Rolling Stone, Shiesty and his attorneys had petitioned the court to delay his trial to Dec. 6, in order to “properly build his defense against claims he was part of an armed drug-trafficking conspiracy dating back to 2019.” The outlet notes that, “Prosecutors said they were fine with a delay but that conflicts would push the trial out to February. The feds also told the court they were reviewing ‘new allegations’ and a ‘potential superseding indictment.’” But earlier this month, Shiesty and his lawyers did an about face in the strategy, and instead decided it was “in their best interest to proceed to trial” at the end of October. The first day of trial is set for Oct. 25 in the Southern District of Florida Court in Miami. In the meantime, Shiesty’s friends and fellow rappers, including his longtime Memphis partner Big30, have rallied around him. Big30 recently released a track called “Free Shiest Life” and has posted support for his friend on social media with the hashtag, #FreeShiesty.
|
Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
| null | null |
Six People Missing After Heavy Rains Cause Mudslides in Alaska
|
The landslides crushed at least four houses in Haines, Alaska, which is home to about 2,500 people about 90 miles north of Juneau, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. By Michael Levenson Six people were missing in Southeastern Alaska on Wednesday after heavy rains prompted landslides that buried homes under several feet of mud, according to state officials. The landslides crushed at least four houses in Haines, Alaska, which is about 90 miles north of the state capital, Juneau, and is home to about 2,500 people, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
Jacobs Creek flood
|
The Jacobs Creek flood, also referred to as the Kansas Turnpike flash flood, was a flash flood of the Jacobs Creek that occurred on the night of August 30, 2003, 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Emporia, Kansas, on the Kansas Turnpike (Interstate 35). The deadly flash flood occurred on Labor Day weekend and killed six people, five inside of vehicles swept away by the floodwaters and one person who was attempting to rescue those trapped. From 7:00 to 8:00 pm, a slow-moving, low-topped storm with very heavy rainfall rates developed over central Kansas, remaining over eastern Chase and western Lyon Counties for several hours. The rain rate over the headwaters of Jacobs Creek is estimated to be several inches per hour with almost 6 inches (15 cm) of estimated total rainfall by 8:00 pm. At 8:30 pm, the culvert carrying Jacobs Creek reached capacity and the flowing water began to accumulate behind the elevated embankment of the Kansas Turnpike near milepost 116. Water began flowing over the northbound lanes of the highway shortly after. At 9:00 pm, the accumulating water from Jacobs Creek began flowing over the northbound lanes of the highway, pooling against the concrete dividers that separated the north- and southbound lanes. Some vehicles in the northbound lanes began to stall in the pooled water. Within the next 30 minutes, the water level reached the top of the concrete dividers and began spilling over into the southbound lanes of the highway. Stranded motorists attempted to exit their vehicles and swim to safety. At 9:01 pm, KHP Trooper Marc McCune arrived as the "first on the scene". [1] By 9:21 pm, Chase County Sheriff's department 9-1-1 dispatcher instructed stalled drivers to "stay put". [2] A 'turnpike official' advised dispatch to ... shut down [the road] at 9:29. [2]
At 9:35 PM, the force of the accumulated water spilling over the median barriers caused 12 of them to collapse, and the backed-up water surged over the roadway, carrying seven vehicles downstream into Jacobs Creek. Total rainfall was estimated to be from 6 inches (15 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) and the peak flow of Jacobs Creek at the Kansas Turnpike was estimated to be 4,100 cubic feet per second (120 m3/s). [3]
Flash flooding of Jacobs Creek at the Kansas Turnpike killed four children and their mother, as well as another man who was killed after rescuing four people trapped in their vehicles. In addition, it caused about $250,000 worth of property damage along the creek. Water remained high in Jacobs Creek downstream of the turnpike for several days, impeding recovery efforts. Severely damaged vehicles and victims from the flood were found as far as 2 miles (3.2 km) away from the turnpike. The final victim was recovered on September 2 in a retention pond. [4]
In August, 2004, a memorial was constructed at the Matfield Green Rest Area on the Kansas Turnpike just southwest of Jacobs Creek. Of particular mention by the memorial is Al Larsen, the individual killed while trying to rescue other trapped motorists. At a ceremony unveiling the memorial, then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius recognized the actions of Larsen, as well as Ryan Lane, who helped with the rescue efforts and survived the flood. [5]
As of 2010, the event is used as a case study in a training module by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and is analyzed in detail by a paper published in the National Weather Association Digest (referenced in this article). In 2015, The Kansas Turnpike Authority installed high-water warning signs for the flash flood-prone stretch of Kansas Turnpike (I-35) where the fatalities occurred. [6]
In July, 2016, the Kansas Turnpike Authority upgraded the culverts at the locations of the flash flooding. At Jacobs Creek, the original 7-foot (2.1 m) by 7-ft culvert was replaced with two 14 feet (4.3 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m) culverts, designed to channel significantly more water, with a 1% probability of flooding during a given year. [7]
Heavy rainfall on July 10, 2015, caused flash flooding on a tributary of Jacobs Creek, which again overwhelmed the Kansas Turnpike and caused a fatality. This flooding occurred just 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of the site of the 2003 flood. A vehicle, driven by 21-year-old Zachary Clark, was swept off the turnpike after hitting the flood waters, and Clark was killed. [7][6][8]
Coordinates: 38°17′30″N 96°21′22″W / 38.2918°N 96.3561°W / 38.2918; -96.3561
|
Floods
| null | null |
Thousands of turtles, marine animals victims of plastic fishing nets polluting Gulf of Carpentaria
|
Plastic fishing nets, some the size of football fields, are washing up on Australia's northern coastline, slowly killing endangered turtles and creating a "global hotspot" for plastic pollution.
Ben Pearson from World Animal Protection told a national plastic pollution conference that the Gulf of Carpentaria was being afflicted by so-called ghost net pollution. "These nets can be absolutely massive," Mr Pearson said.
"They can weigh many tonnes and of course they're designed to catch marine animals, which is why they're so deadly.
"The turtles up there that are nesting and breeding are being caught in those nets and in some cases they're dying horrible deaths over many weeks."
The Gulf of Carpentaria is home to six of the world's seven sea turtle species, and is one of the largest nesting areas in the Indo-Pacific region.
In 2016 Australian authorities removed seven ghost nets weighing more than 29 tonnes from the Timor and Arafura seas.
A remote and uninhabited island wilderness in the South Pacific is literally a garbage dump and these photos prove it.
Discarded nets are being brought in to the region on currents from the Arafura and Timor Seas.
Mr Pearson praised the Indonesian Government for its efforts to combat the problem, which he said is also killing fish, affecting food security and reducing commercial fishing takes by 10 per cent a year.
"In some cases we hear stories that when they catch illegal boats they blow them up as a deterrent," he said. "That's a very good step but it doesn't eliminate the problem."
The CSIRO is working with Indigenous rangers from more than 30 communities to clean up the coast, and will conduct an audit in the Gulf of Carpentaria next year to determine the scale of the problem along 3,000 kilometres of remote beaches.
The last study, published in 2013, found at least 5,000 turtles were entangled in more than 8,000 nets.
"Clearly there are still a lot of nets up there in the Gulf and we're determined to go up there and try to solve the problem" Mr Pearson said, adding that plastic fishing debris can last for 600 years in the environment.
Ricki Hersburgh from Plastic Oceans Australasia said that marine animals are also ingesting vast amounts of plastic.
The foundation recently produced the documentary A Plastic Ocean and sent a submarine to the sea floor to gather footage of large-scale pollution.
"About eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean annually" Ms Hersburgh said.
"But those figures may be conservative. "Unless people actually realise it is an emergency, not much is going to change."
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)
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
Los Angeles flood of 1938
|
The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February-March 1938 and generated almost one year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. Between 113–115 people were killed by the flooding. [1] The Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers burst their banks, inundating much of the coastal plain, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and the Inland Empire. Flood control structures spared parts of Los Angeles County from destruction, while Orange and Riverside Counties experienced more damage. [1]
The flood of 1938 is considered a 50-year flood. [2] It caused $78 million of damage ($1.43 billion in 2020 dollars),[2] making it one of the costliest natural disasters in Los Angeles' history. [3] In response to the floods, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies began to channelize local streams in concrete, and built many new flood control dams and debris basins. These works have been instrumental in protecting Southern California from subsequent flooding events, such as in 1969 and 2005, which both had a larger volume than the 1938 flood. [3]
Due to its location between the Pacific Ocean and the high San Gabriel Mountains, the Los Angeles Basin is subject to flash floods caused by heavy orographic precipitation from Pacific storms hitting the mountains. Due to the arid climate, soils are too hard to absorb water quickly during storm events, resulting in large amounts of surface runoff. The steep, rocky terrain of the San Gabriel Mountains further contributes to the rapid runoff and resultant flooding hazard. [4]
Between February 27 and 28, 1938, a storm from the Pacific Ocean moved inland into the Los Angeles Basin, running eastward into the San Gabriel Mountains. The area received almost constant rain totaling 4.4 in (110 mm) from February 27-March 1. This caused minor flooding that affected only a few buildings in isolated canyons and some low-lying areas along rivers. [1] Fifteen hours later on March 1, at approximately 8:45 PM, a second storm hit the area, creating gale-force winds along the coast and pouring down even more rain. The storm brought rainfall totals to 10 in (250 mm) in the lowlands and upwards of 32 in (810 mm) in the mountains. [5] When the storm ended on March 3, the resulting damage was horrific. [1]
The 1938 flood destroyed 5,601 homes and businesses and damaged a further 1,500 properties. The flooding was accompanied by massive debris flows of mud, boulders, and downed trees, which surged out of the foothill canyons. Transport and communication were cut off for many days as roads and railroads were buried, and power, gas, and communication lines were cut. Dozens of bridges were destroyed by the sheer erosive force of floodwaters or by the collision of floating buildings and other wreckage. Some communities were buried as much as 6 feet (1.8 m) deep in sand and sediment, requiring a massive cleanup effort afterward. [4] It took from two days to a week to restore highway service to most impacted areas. The Pacific Electric rail system, serving Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, was out of service for three weeks. [4]
Although the 1938 flood caused the most damage of any flood in the history of Los Angeles, the rainfall and river peaks were not even close to the Great Flood of 1862, the largest known flood by total volume of water. However, during the 1862 flood, the region was much less populated than it was in 1938. [6]
About 108,000 acres (44,000 ha) were flooded in Los Angeles County, with the worst hit area being the San Fernando Valley, where many communities had been built during the economic boom of the 1920s in low-lying areas once used for agriculture. [5] In fact, many properties were located in old river beds that had not seen flooding in some years. [1] Swollen by its flooded tributaries, the Los Angeles River reached a maximum flood stage of about 99,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m3/s). [7] The water surged south, inundating Compton before reaching Long Beach, where a bridge at the mouth of the river collapsed killing ten people. [2] To the west, Venice and other coastal communities were flooded with the overflow of Ballona Creek. The Los Angeles Times chartered a United Air Lines Mainliner to provide them an aerial view of flooding damage. The reporter remarked: "Disaster, gutted farmlands, ruined roads, shattered communications, wrecked railroad lines—all leap into sharp-etched reality from that altitude. "[8]
Communities and mining operations in the San Gabriel Mountains such as Camp Baldy were destroyed, stranding hundreds of people for days. [3] As many as 25 buildings were destroyed in the Arroyo Seco canyon, although due to a successful evacuation, no one was killed. [9] Two Civilian Conservation Corps camps, three guard stations and a ranger station were destroyed, along with sixty campgrounds. Almost every road and trail leading into the Angeles National Forest was damaged or destroyed by erosion and landslides. [10] About 190 men had to be evacuated from one of the CCC camps, near Vogel Flats, using a cable strung across Big Tujunga Canyon. [1]
The Tujunga Wash reached its peak flow on March 3, with a water flow of an estimated 54,000 cubic feet per second (1,500 m3/s). [11] Upper Big Tujunga Canyon was "all but swept clean of structures that were not up above the flood line". [9] In the San Fernando Valley, the floodwaters swept through many areas after escaping the normal channels of Tujunga Creek and its tributaries. Waters reached deep into the valley, flooding Van Nuys; five people died when the Lankershim Boulevard bridge collapsed at Universal City, just below the confluence of Tujunga Wash and the LA River. [9][12] The flooding would have been much worse had a large debris flow not been halted at Big Tujunga Dam; Sam Browne, dam keeper during the 1938 flood, wrote that "Large oak trees several hundred years old rushed down the canyon like kindling... If this dam had never been built, there is no telling what would have happened to Sunland, and the city of Tujunga and the northern end of Glendale. "[13][14]
On the San Gabriel River, dams built prior to 1938 greatly reduced the magnitude of flooding. Along the West Fork the floodwaters first hit Cogswell Dam, which had been completed just four years earlier in 1934. Cogswell moderately reduced the flood crest on the West Fork, which further downstream joined with the undammed East Fork to peak at more than 100,000 cu ft/s (2,800 m3/s). The floodwaters poured into the reservoir of the still incomplete San Gabriel Dam, filling it over the night of March 2-3 and overtopping the emergency spillway. The maximum release from San Gabriel was held at 60,000 cu ft/s (1,700 m3/s), while the downstream Morris Dam further reduced the peak, to about 30,000 cu ft/s (850 m3/s).
|
Floods
| null | null |
The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano
|
Madrid, Sep 24 (IANS): Spain's King Felipe VI, his wife Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to La Palma to meet the people affected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island. Since the eruption began on Sunday afternoon, the lava has destroyed over 350 houses and covered over 165 hectares of land to a depth of up to 15 metres, reports Xinhua news agency. Over 6,000 people from the island's population of just over 80,000 had been evacuated, including the inhabitants of Todique, which lies on the path of the lava flow. The flow has been descending towards the sea at a speed of approximately four metres an hour. Firefighters are currently attempting to channel the flow away from as many homes as possible, while emergency services are working to clear volcanic ash off flat roofs to avoid the danger of collapse. Thursday's trip was the Prime Minister's second visit to La Palma in five days. The regional president of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, and Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska were also present during the visit. This military installation has been turned into temporary accommodation for those displaced by the eruption. Afterwards, King Felipe and Prime Minister Sanchez also spoke to representatives of the security forces and rescue services, who are overseeing operations. On Wednesday, the Vulcanology Institute of the Canary Islands (INVOLCAN) estimated the eruption could last for 24-84 days. The volcano currently emits between 6,140 and 11,500 tons of sulphur dioxide (SO2) every day. Although six roads on the island have been closed due to the eruption, La Palma airport remains open.
|
Volcano Eruption
| null | null |
I’ll Tell You the Secret of Cancer
|
Are you someone who enjoys the unsolicited opinions of strangers and acquaintances? If so, I can’t recommend cancer highly enough. You won’t even have the first pathology report in your hands before the advice comes pouring in. Laugh and the world laughs with you; get cancer and the world can’t shut its trap.
Stop eating sugar; keep up your weight with milkshakes. Listen to a recent story on NPR; do not read a recent story in Time magazine. Exercise—but not too vigorously; exercise—hard, like Lance Armstrong. Join a support group, make a collage, make a collage in a support group, collage the shit out of your cancer. Do you live near a freeway or drink tap water or eat food microwaved on plastic plates? That’s what caused it. Do you ever think about suing? Do you ever wonder whether, if you’d just let some time pass, the cancer would have gone away on its own?
Before I got cancer, I thought I understood how the world worked, or at least the parts that I needed to know about. But when I got cancer, my body broke down so catastrophically that I stopped trusting what I thought and believed. I felt that I had to listen when people told me what to do, because clearly I didn’t know anything.
Much of the advice was bewildering, and all of it was anxiety-producing. In the end, because so many people contradicted one another, I was able to ignore most of them. But there was one warning I heard from a huge number of people, almost every day, and sometimes two or three times a day: I had to stay positive. People who beat cancer have a great positive attitude. It’s what distinguishes the survivors from the dead.
There are books about how to develop the positive attitude that beats cancer, and meditation tapes to help you visualize your tumors melting away. Friends and acquaintances would send me these books and tapes—and they would send them to my husband, too. We were both anxious and willing to do anything in our control.
But after a terrible diagnosis, a failed surgery, a successful surgery, and the beginning of chemotherapy, I just wasn’t feeling very … up. At the end of another terrible day, my husband would gently ask me to sit in the living room so that I could meditate and think positive thoughts. I was nauseated from the drugs, tired, and terrified that I would leave my little boys without a mother. All I wanted to do was take my Ativan and sleep. But I couldn’t do that. If I didn’t change my attitude, I was going to die.
People get diagnosed with cancer in different ways. Some have a family history, and their doctors monitor them for years. Others have symptoms for so long that the eventual diagnosis is more of a terrible confirmation than a shock. And then there are people like me, people who are going about their busy lives when they push open the door of a familiar medical building for a routine appointment and step into an empty elevator shaft.
The afternoon in 2003 that I found out I had aggressive breast cancer, my boys were almost 5. The biggest thing on my mind was getting the mammogram over with early enough that I could pick up some groceries before the babysitter had to go home. I put on the short, pink paper gown and thought about dinner. And then everything started happening really fast. Suddenly there was the need for a second set of films, then a sonogram, then the sharp pinch of a needle. In my last fully conscious moment as the person I once was, I remember asking the doctor if I should have a biopsy. The reason I asked was so that he could look away from the screen, realize that he’d scared me, and reassure me. “No, no,” he would say; “it’s completely benign.” But he didn’t say that. He said, “That’s what we’re doing right now.”
Later I would wonder why the doctor hadn’t asked my permission for the needle biopsy. The answer was that I had already passed through the border station that separates the healthy from the ill. The medical community and I were on new terms.
Read: I thought Stage IV cancer was bad enough
The doctor could see that I was in shock, and he seemed pretty rattled himself. He kept saying that he should call my husband. “You need to prepare yourself,” he said, twice. And once: “It’s aggressive.” But I didn’t want him to call my husband. I wanted to tear off my paper gown and never see that doctor, his office, or even the street where the building was located ever again. I had a mute, animal need to get the hell out of there. The news was so bad, and it kept getting worse. I couldn’t think straight. My little boys were so small. They were my life, and they needed me.
Three weeks later, I was in the infusion center. Ask Google “What is the worst chemotherapy drug?” and the answer is doxorubicin. That’s what I got, as well as some other noxious pharmaceuticals. That oncologist filled me and my fellow patients up with so much poison that the sign on the bathrooms said we had to flush twice to make sure every trace was gone before a healthy person—a nurse, or a family member—could use the toilet. I was not allowed to hug my children for the first 24 hours after treatment, and in the midst of this absolute hell—in the midst of the poison and the crying and the sorrow and the terror—I was supposed to get a really great positive attitude.
The book we were given several copies of, which was first published in 1986 and has been reissued several times since, is titled Love, Medicine and Miracles and was written by a pediatric surgeon named Bernie Siegel. He seems less interested in exceptional scientific advances than in “exceptional patients.” To be exceptional, you have to tell your body that you want to live; you have to say “No way” to any doctor who says you have a fatal illness. You have to become a channel of perfect self-love, and remember that “the simple truth is, happy people generally don’t get sick.” Old angers or disappointments can congeal into cancer. You need to get rid of those emotions, or they will kill you.
In 1989 a Stanford psychiatrist named David Spiegel published a study of women with metastatic breast cancer. He created a support group for half the women, whom he taught self-hypnosis. The other women got no extra social support. The results were remarkable: Spiegel reported that the women in the group survived twice as long as the other women. This study was hugely influential in modern beliefs about meditation and cancer survival. It showed up in the books my husband read to me, which were filled with other stories of miraculous healings, of patients defying the odds though their own emotional work. But I was so far behind. From the beginning I couldn’t stop crying. I began to think I was hopeless and would never survive.
I needed help, and I remembered a woman my husband and I had talked to in the first week after my diagnosis. Both of us had found in those conversations our only experience of calm, our only reassurance that we were doing the right things. Anne Coscarelli is a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology, which helps patients and their families cope with the trauma of cancer. We had reached out to her when we were trying to understand my diagnosis. Now I needed her for much more.
For the first half hour in her office, we just talked about how sick I felt and how frightened I was. Then—nervously—I confessed: I wasn’t doing the work of healing myself. I wasn’t being positive.
“Why do you need to be positive?” she asked in a neutral voice.
I thought it should be obvious, but I explained: Because I didn’t want to die!
Coscarelli remained just as neutral and said, “There isn’t a single bit of evidence that having a positive attitude helps heal cancer.”
What? That couldn’t possibly be right. How did she know that?
“They study it all the time,” she said. “It’s not true.”
David Spiegel was never able to replicate his findings about metastatic breast cancer. The American Cancer Society and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health say there’s no evidence that meditation or support groups increase survival rates. They can do all sorts of wonderful things, like reducing stress and allowing you to live in the moment instead of worrying about the next scan. I’ve learned, whenever I start to get scared, to do some yoga-type breathing with my eyes closed until I get bored. If I’m bored, I’m not scared, so then I open my eyes again. But I’m not alive today because of deep breathing.
When I began to understand that attitude doesn’t have anything to do with survival, I felt myself coming up out of deep water. I didn’t cause my cancer by having a bad attitude, and I wasn’t going to cure it by having a good one.
And then Coscarelli told me the whole truth about cancer. If you’re ready, I will tell it to you.
Cancer occurs when a group of cells divide in rapid and abnormal ways. Treatments are successful if they interfere with that process.
That’s it, that’s the whole equation.
Everyone with cancer has a different experience, and different beliefs about what will help. I feel strongly that these beliefs should be respected—including the feelings of those who decide not to have any treatment at all. It’s sadism to learn that someone is dangerously ill and to impose upon her your own set of unproven assumptions, especially ones that blame the patient for getting sick in the first place.
That meeting with Anne Coscarelli took place 18 years ago, and never once since then have I worried that my attitude was going to kill me. I’ve had several recurrences, all of them significant, but I’m still here, typing and drinking a Coke and not feeling super upbeat.
Before I left that meeting, I asked her one last question: Maybe I couldn’t think my way out of cancer, but wasn’t it still important to be as good a person as I could be? Wouldn’t that karma improve my odds a little bit?
Coscarelli told me that, over the years, many wonderful and generous women had come to her clinic, and some of them had died very quickly. Yikes. I had to come clean: Not only was I un-wonderful. I was also kind of a bitch.
God love her, she came through with exactly what I needed to hear: “I’ve seen some of the biggest bitches come in, and they’re still alive.”
And that, my friends, was when I had my very first positive thought. I imagined all those bitches getting healthy, and I said to myself, I think I’m going to beat this thing.
|
Famous Person - Sick
| null | null |
Alanis Morissette concert at PNC Bank Arts Center canceled as Ida approaches
|
Alanis Morissette and the band Garbage performed at the BB&T Pavilion Camden NJ on 8-26-2021.Phil McAuliffe For The Times Of Trenton For those who had plans to attend Alanis Morissette’s Wednesday night concert at PNC Bank Arts Center, you oughta know that it’s been canceled. The singer’s concert scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Holdmel concert center was cancelled around 4:30 p.m. as the the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida threatened to dump heavy rain and whip up tornadoes across New Jersey. “Due to severe weather and flash flood + tornado warnings in the area, tonight’s show at PNC Bank Arts Center has been cancelled,” a Facebook post from the center said. “Refunds will automatically be processed at point of purchase. Everyone stay safe and thank you for understanding.” The center had announced about three hours earlier that the show would still be on, in a since-deleted post. The National Weather Service has said the northern region of New Jersey faces the biggest threat of torrential rain — possibly as much as 4 to 6 inches — that could trigger flash flooding on roads as well as widespread flooding from rivers and streams that overflow their banks.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
Burston Strike School
|
The Burston Strike School was founded as a consequence of a school strike and became the centre of the longest running strike in British history, that lasted from 1914 to 1939 in the village of Burston in Norfolk, England. Today, the building stands as a museum to the strike. Every year hundreds of people turn up for a rally to commemorate the 25-year strike over the jobs of Annie Higdon and her husband. The strike began when teachers at the village's Church of England school, Annie Higdon and her husband, Tom Higdon, were sacked after a dispute with the area's school management committee. The schoolchildren – led by Violet Potter – went on strike in their support. Encouraged by the community, the Higdons went on to set up an alternative school which was initially attended by 66 of their 72 former pupils. Beginning in a marquee on the village green, the school moved to a local carpenter's premises and later to a purpose-built school financed by donations from the labour movement. Burston Strike School carried on teaching local children until shortly after Tom's death in 1939. Annie Katherine Schollick (Kitty) married in 1896 Tom Higdon, the son of a farm labourer. They lived first in London before moving to Wood Dalling in Norfolk in 1902. [1] This coincided with publication of an Education Bill in Parliament which offered education to working class children. Kitty was appointed headmistress at Wood Dalling School with Tom an assistant teacher. [1] Identifying themselves with the local farm labourers, the Higdons ran up against almost immediate resentment from the school managers, who were mostly farmers. They objected to the cold, insanitary conditions of the school and especially protested at the farmers taking children away to work on the land whenever they were needed. Eventually, after a complete breakdown of relationships, the Norfolk Education Committee gave the Higdons a choice: accept dismissal or transfer to another school. They took up the latter offer and moved to the Burston School in 1911. [1]
Arriving at Burston, the Higdons found conditions were no different. The newly arrived rector, the Reverend Charles Tucker Eland, was appointed chairman of the School Managing Body. Eland intended to recover the powers the Church had lost to the parish councils. He demanded deference and recognition of his right to lead the community. His situation, with an annual salary of £581 and a large comfortable rectory, contrasted starkly with the farm labourers and their families, living on average wages of £35 a year in squalid cottages. Their employers, themselves mostly tenants of brewery-owned land, naturally allied with the rector. In 1913, after organising among the local agricultural labourers, Tom Higdon successfully stood for election to the parish council, topping the poll[1] with Eland failing to be elected, against his expectation. However, although the rector and the farm owners had been defeated in the parish council election, they still had control of the school's managing body and were determined to use this power to victimise the Higdons. Since their arrival in Burston, the Higdons had complained about conditions in the school, particularly the dampness, inadequate heating and lighting, lack of ventilation and general unhygienic conditions. Looking for a pretext for action, the managers accused Kitty of lighting a fire without their permission – to dry the clothes of children who had walked three miles to school in the rain. She was also accused of gross discourtesy when reprimanded for this act. In addition, Kitty was accused of beating two Barnardo's girls. Despite her pacifist principles, the school managers found there was "good ground for the complaints of the Barnardo foster mother" and they demanded the Higdons be transferred. Tom and Kitty demanded an inquiry be undertaken by the local Norfolk Education Authority Committee. Due to illness, Annie was unable to attend, and the National Union of Teachers-appointed legal representative failed to call any witnesses in her defence as they were being held back for a possible slander case. Despite that, the beating accusation was declared to be not proven. Only the final accusation of discourtesy to the managers was accepted and that was deemed sufficient to give the Higdon's three months' notice. The Higdons' dismissal took effect on 1 April 1914. As the authorities were taking over, the sound of children marching and singing could be heard. Of the school's 72 pupils, 66 had gone on strike, marching around the village waving flags. None of them returned to the school, but instead had lessons on the village green. This alternative "school" was well equipped, maintained a full timetable and observed registrations with the full support of parents. The authorities were in no mood to tolerate this defiance and 18 parents were summonsed to court and fined for failing to ensure their children's attendance at school. Collections outside the court paid the fines, and since the parents were sending their children to the school of their choice, the authorities were soon forced to back down. Word of the strike quickly spread and it became a central issue for trade unionists and school reformers throughout the country. There were regular visits of supporters and speakers. With the onset of winter, the school moved into empty workshops. The authorities kept up their intimidation with farmers sacking farm labourers (which also meant eviction from their tied cottages). This could not be maintained, because a shortage of labour during the First World War meant that they had to be re-employed. Striking families who rented land from the rector for growing food were evicted and their crops and property destroyed. The village's Methodist preacher, who held services on the village green on Sundays for families of the Strike School children, was censured by his church. At the end of the first year of the strike, with the lease on the old workshops due to expire, an appeal was made for funds to build a new school. By 1917, a National Appeal had reached £1,250 with donations from miners' and railway workers' unions, Trades councils, Independent Labour Party branches and Co-operative Societies. The new school was officially declared open on 13 May 1917, with the leader of the 1914 demonstration, Violet Potter, declaring, "With joy and thankfulness I declare this school open to be forever a School of Freedom."
|
Strike
| null | null |
1994 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
|
The European Women's Gymnastics Championships are an artistic gymnastics championships for female gymnasts from European countries organised by the European Union of Gymnastics. They are held annually, though rotate between two different formats. Originally held biannually in odd-numbered years, the championships moved to even-numbered years in 1990. In 2005 a second set of championships was introduced, titled the "individual championships". Although numbered as a separate event, winners in either event are considered European champions, and the championships as a result have in effect become an annual event, but in two formats: in even-numbered years, a stand-alone women's event incorporates the European Junior Artistic Gymnastics championships (an entirely separate men's competition is held in the same years, although occasionally at the same venue), while in odd-numbered years, the separately numbered 'individual championships' are held in conjunction with the men's competition of the same description, but without juniors, as a single event. As a result, there is no individual all-around title awarded in even-numbered years (except for juniors), and similarly no team all-around title awarded in odd-numbered years. Otherwise the apparatus and titles are identical. In effect, the juniors championships remain biannual. A further event, the European Games also holds a full set of championships for European artistic gymnasts in the year preceding the Summer Olympic Games, having begun in 2015. These, however, are organized by the European Olympic Committees and are not recognized as part of the continuity of the European Championships. [a]
2018 and 2022 part of the European Championships (Multi-Sport). Juniors from 1978 to 1992 was held in other country and from 1994 alongside with seniors. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
As of 2021. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Air France Flight 178 crash
|
On 1 September 1953, an Air France Lockheed L-749 Constellation, registered in France as F-BAZZ, flying Flight 178, a scheduled flight from Paris to Nice, crashed into the Pelat Massif in the French Alps near Barcelonnette on the first stage of the flight, between Orly Airport and Nice Airport. [1][2] All 42 on board were killed, nine crew and 33 passengers including the French violinist Jacques Thibaud and the French pianist René Herbin. [1]
The Constellation had left Orly at 22:00 and was due at Nice at 23:55. At 23:25 the aircraft requested permission to descend from 13,600 ft (4 145 m) to 11,500 ft (3 505 m) and reported violent local storms. [1] Around 23:30 villagers at Fours-St. Laurent saw the aircraft crash into the side of Mont Le Cimet, about ten miles (16 km) away. The aircraft struck the ground about 500 ft (150 m) below the summit and burst into flames. [1]
A rescue party from Fours left about 90 minutes after the accident but did not arrive at the scene until 5:25, they were joined by a doctor and nurse from Barcelonnette and two teams from the Chasseurs Alpins. [1] The Chasseurs Alpins were equipped with radio and reported at 6:45 that no survivors had been found. [1]
The accident investigation established "controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)" as the cause. [3]
The aircraft had 33 passengers, 30 bound for Saigon and three for Beirut. Three of the passengers were the 72-year-old French violinist Jacques Thibaud, his daughter-in-law and his accompanist. [1] Thibaud's 1720 Stradivarius violin, "Thibaud", was also destroyed in the crash. [4]
The aircraft was a four-engined Lockheed L-749 Constellation piston-engined airliner registered F-BAZZ, construction number 2674, that had first flown in 1951 in the United States and had been delivered to Air France on 18 July 1951. [2]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Joint U.S.-Britain military exercises integrate F-35B, F-35C fighter jets
|
Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Aircrafts from the U.S. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and Britain's U.K. Carrier Strike Group 21 have conducted joint military exercises for the first time, the U.S. Navy announced. The two strike groups completed the joint interoperability flights in the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet on Aug. 26. During the flights, the aircraft conducted missions intended to validate joint integration techniques and procedures, such as mid-air refueling. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group was embarked with aircrafts from the Carrier Air Wing Two that included four F-35C Lightning IIs, five F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, two EA-18G Growlers and one E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. The U.K. Carrier Strike Group 21 aircraft included a total of four F-35Bs from two different squadrons. "Integrating British and U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs into a flight with U.S. Navy F-35Cs continues to reinforce the tactical flexibility and interoperability of the F-35," Col. Simon Doran, U.S. senior national representative to the U.K. Carrier Strike Group, said Wednesday in a press release. "Additionally, the mission further demonstrates the F-35s ability to support distributed maritime operations," Doran said. Capt. Tommy Locke, commander of the Carrier Air Wing Two, said in a statement that the exercises combined the fight generation capabilities of a joint strike fighter aircraft from two services and a partner nation with the capabilities of the entire air wing. He said the exercise demonstrated the value of having agile fifth-generation maritime power in the Indo-Pacific region. The training was also the first time the U.K. Carrier Strike Group 21 engaged with the F-35 "C" model assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two. Previously, Britain's two F-35B squadrons had been deployed together with the HMS Queen Elizabeth.
|
Military Exercise
| null | null |
Maharashtra records 3,286 coronavirus infections, 51 fatalities
|
A health worker takes swab samples of a passenger for Covid testing at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus railway station in Mumbai (Photo: PTI) Maharashtra on Friday reported 3,286 new coronavirus cases and 51 deaths which took the state's infection tally to 65,37,843 and death toll to 1,38,776, a health department official said. With 3,933 patients discharged from hospitals, the number of recovered cases rose to 63,57,012. Maharashtra now has 39,491 active cases. There are 2,58,653 people in home quarantine and another 1,462 in institutional quarantine. Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.23 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent. The cumulative number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state climbed to 5,78,19,385 after 1,72,870 samples were examined since Thursday evening. As many as 10 districts -- Yavatmal, Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Hingoli, Washim, rural parts of Jalgaon, Nanded, Amarawati and Nagpur -- did not report new COVID-19 cases on Friday. Municipal corporations of Bhivandi-Nijampur, Malegaon, Parbhani, Nanded, Akola and Chandrapur also did not report any new cases. Ahmednagar district reported the highest 691 new infections followed by Mumbai city and suburbs at 446. Satara district reported the highest seven fatalities. Among eight regions of Maharashtra, the Pune region reported the highest 1,065 new COVID-19 cases followed by 933 in the Mumbai region. The Nashik region reported 817 new cases, Kolhapur 322, Latur 104, Aurangabad 23, Nagpur nine and the Akola region reported 13 infections. Of 51 new fatalities, the highest 15 each were reported in Pune and Kolhapur regions, followed by 11 in Mumbai, seven in Nashik region, two in Latur region and one from Aurangabad region. Nagpur and Akola regions did not report any new coronavirus-related deaths. Mumbai city and suburbs witnessed 446 new COVID-19 cases and six deaths, while Pune city reported 141 cases and six fatalities. Of 38,491 active patients in the state, Pune district has the highest 9,530 patients. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 65,37,843; New cases 3,286, Death toll 1,38,776; Total recoveries 63,57,012; Active cases-38,491; Total tests 5,78,19,385. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
1881 Chios earthquake
|
The 1881 Chios earthquake occurred at 13:40 local time (11:30 UTC) on 3 April. It caused severe damage on the island of Chios and also affected Çeşme and Alaçatı on the coast of Turkey. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.3 and there were an estimated 7,866 casualties. The devastation from the earthquake was the last of the three 'catastrophes' that affected the island of Chios in the 19th century. [3]
The Aegean Sea is an area of mainly extensional tectonics caused by the subduction of the African Plate beneath Aegean Sea Plate. [4]
The town of Chios was devastated, causing many casualties, partly due to the narrowness of the streets. [1] In the rest of the island, 25 out of the 64 villages were destroyed with another 17 badly damaged. [2] In both Çeşme and Alaçatı about 40% of the houses were destroyed. [1]
The number of casualties on the Turkish mainland was low, possibly due to most of the inhabitants leaving their houses to watch the passage of the passenger ship Aya Evangelistra from the shore. [1]
The epicenter of the earthquake was in the southeastern part of Chios where intensities reached IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Isoseismal maps show an elongation west to east with an area of intensity VIII (Severe) affecting the western end of the Karaburun Peninsula of the Turkish mainland. Vertical movements of up to 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) were observed. [1] Magnitudes ranging from Mw = 6.5 [1] to Ms = 7.3 [2] have been estimated for this event. A minor tsunami was reported, based on the presence of fresh sand in a garden in Chios, but there is no other information available. [1]
There were many strong aftershocks, the most damaging being on 5 April, 11 April (2), 12 April, 13 April, 18 April, 20 May, 9 June and 26 August. [2]
After the earthquake many of the inhabitants of Chios left the island. [5] This followed the trend set by the other two 'catastrophes' of the 19th century that devastated the island, the massacre of Chios in 1822 and the failure of the orange crop in 1833. Together these events left most of Chios in a state of poverty and severely underpopulated. [3]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Worker killed as shaft at Gregory Crinum Coal Mine collapses in Queensland
|
A 60-year-old worker has died and another has been seriously injured after a coal mine shaft collapsed in central Queensland. The man and another man were trapped when a section of wall and ceiling the shaft they were working in collapsed at the Gregory Crinum Coal Mine, north of Emerald, about 11pm on Tuesday. The 60-year-old suffered critical injuries with police confirming he died at the scene. A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson said the other man had initially been “encapsulated” with leg and pelvic injuries. He was eventually was then freed before being airlifted to Rockhampton Hospital in a serious condition. A third person suffered a “medical event” and was taken to Emerald Hospital for treatment. The Gregory Crinum Coal Mine is operated by Sojitz Blue, the Australian subsidiary of Japan’s Sojitz Corporation. The Queensland Mines Inspectorate is investigating the accident with Resources Minister Scott Stewart expected to make a statement to parliament later on Wednesday.
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
Boston and other parts of New England will usher in the first solar eclipse of the year early on Thursday
|
Monday: Hazy, hot, humid, sunny. Highs around 95, heat index 95-100. Monday night: Warm, humid. Lows around 70. Tuesday: Another day of heat, scattered showers/thunder. Highs in the 90s. Boston and other parts of New England will be treated to a view of the first solar eclipse of the year early on Thursday, and it is going to be a good one. Thursday morning’s “Ring of Fire” eclipse will be visible for almost an hour (though the ring of fire won't be visible south of Canada). The eclipse begins at 4:38 a.m., but we won't be able to see it until sunrise at 5:07 a.m. The phenomenon peaks at 5:33 a.m. and will be over by 6:32 a.m., so anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon will have to be up early. Bostonians looking for the best place to view this celestial show should head to an eastern-facing beach, according to Talia Sepersky of the Charles Hayden Planetarium. “Boston is on the ocean, fortunately,” Sepersky said. “Anywhere you can get to a beach that faces east is great.” If you can't rally for a pre-dawn beach trip, never fear -- anywhere high up with a good view of the eastern horizon should suffice, Sepersky said. “Up in a high building would work,” she said. “Anywhere where you don't have buildings and trees obscuring your eastern horizon.” In New England, only about 73% of the sun will be eclipsed at the peak. In fact, the moon will not be fully covering the sun anywhere the eclipse is visible. “There’s no point where the sun is going to be completely covered with this eclipse because it’s an annular eclipse,” Sepersky said. That’s what creates the ring of fire effect that will be more clear in northern Canada. Even though the sun will be only partially obscured, anyone who plans on viewing the eclipse should use solar eclipse glasses or filters to avoid eye damage.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
Best of 2020: Climate change favours locust swarms in India
|
The locust swarms that destroyed farmlands in western and northern India are linked to the warming of the Indian Ocean. Such proliferation is more likely as rainfall patterns change The chances of locust proliferation are increasing in South Asia due to global warming and climate change Even as India grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the country has been hit by a new pestilence in the form of large locust swarms. In the biggest attack in close to 30 years, millions of locusts are swarming across western and northern India, destroying farms and raising alarm ahead of the main summer cropping season. So far, 41 districts spread across five states — Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — have reported sightings of the insects, and many more districts could see swarm attacks in the next few weeks. Provincial governments in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Karnataka have sounded alerts. The central government has issued an unprecedented locust warning to 16 states and has readied a fleet of air force helicopters to spray pesticides to kill the insects. Despite the Covid-19 lockdown, locust control offices are working since April 11 with 50 spray machines in coordination with various district administration and state agriculture department, the federal farm ministry said in a statement. “Tractor mounted sprayers and fire-tender vehicles deployed at various locations are being used in locust control,” the ministry said. India has also ordered 60 new spraying machines from the United Kingdom that are scheduled to arrive soon, according to K.L. Gurjar, deputy director at India’s Locust Warning Organization (LWO), a unit that functions under the agriculture ministry. Warning of successive waves Compared with the locust attacks in the Horn of Africa, the swarms in India are still relatively small and they are most likely to remain so, according to Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. “Nevertheless, several successive waves of small swarms are likely to appear throughout the coming months in Rajasthan, some of which could continue to move eastwards ahead of the advancing monsoon,” he said. The locust sightings have been much earlier than usual in India, most likely because their population increased significantly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This could spell trouble for India since the swarms can double back to the Thar Desert that straddles India and Pakistan and spawn the next generation of locusts in much larger numbers that could destroy the main summer crop, experts said. “Much depends on the effectiveness of control operations and the rains and (summer) growing season this year,” Cressman said. The spread of locust swarms from eastern Africa, across middle east towards India (Map by FAO) Despite panic reactions in some areas, the situation is not yet beyond control. “The Locust Warning Organization of the Indian government is the oldest national locust program in the world. They are very well prepared with the necessary expertise and equipment for managing the desert locusts,” Cressman said. “In January, FAO first alerted officials and met with them to discuss anticipatory actions, which the government has been actively pursuing since then in preparing for the potential arrival of desert locust.” Swarms are forming in the spring breeding areas and migrating east to the India-Pakistan border ahead of the monsoon rains, the FAO said in its latest locust update on May 27. “Several successive waves of invasions can be expected until July in Rajasthan with eastward surges across northern India as far as Bihar and Orissa, followed by westward movements and a return to Rajasthan on the changing winds associated with the monsoon,” The FAO bulletin said. “These movements will cease as swarms begin to breed and become less mobile.” The current upsurge was initiated by two cyclones in the western Indian Ocean in 2018, according to Cressman. “We have noticed an increase in the number of cyclones in the past half dozen years. Cyclones are known to initiate desert locust plagues in the past,” Cressman said. Piranhas of the skies Locusts, a species of short-horned grasshoppers, have often been called piranhas of the skies. A single locust can eat its own body weight in food, which is about 2-2.5 grams. Since they fly in swarms, millions of individual insects operate as a gigantic eating machine that can decimate large areas in a matter of days. A swarm measuring 1 sq. km can eat as much food as 35,000 people in one day, according to FAO’s Locust Information Service. Locusts lay eggs in sacks of 50 to 100 each. Locusts eggs are extremely resilient and have been known to lay dormant for a few weeks before hatching in favourable conditions. Once they hatch, the wingless larvae mature into adolescent hoppers in about two weeks, a time period that can be significantly shorter if there’s moisture in the air. Once they grow wings, locusts form swarms that can cover 150 km in a single day. Typically, they reach sexual maturity in three months, which means there can be up to four generations every year. Since they can multiply by a factor of 20 to 100 every generations, swarms can number into billions in a matter of months. A desert locust swarm measuring 1 sq. km can eat as much food as 35,000 people in one day (Photo by Chandan Singh) There was unprecedented rainfall in eastern African and the Middle East in the summer of 2018. . Locust eggs that were dormant in the deserts of these regions suddenly came to life. Initially, this hatching went undetected because it happened deep in the deserts. Soon the hatcheries in the deserts of Oman and the usually dry jungles of Kenya clustered together to form a super swarm. This swarm decimated vast areas in the Horn of Africa, triggering serious concerns of food security in the countries of the region. Soon, some of these locusts moved eastward on favourable winds to eventually arrive in northwest Pakistan and the Thar Desert. The swarming in Pakistan has led to the government in that country to declare a national emergency. Locusts thrive in humid conditions, and outbreaks often follow floods and cyclones, according to a report by FAO and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Heavy rain leads to the growth of vegetation in arid areas, providing locusts with the conditions needed to develop and reproduce, the WMO said in the latest report. Climate connection The proliferation of desert locusts is linked with weather dynamics of the Indian Ocean, the warmest of the five oceans in the world, according to Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. The weather system in the Indian Ocean largely depends on a simple but unpredictable natural phenomenon called the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Warmer water temperatures in the Indian Ocean means warmer air, which tends to rise, much like hot air balloons. The warm water that rises from the ocean is full of moisture, some of which condenses as clouds and returns as rain. The Indian subcontinent is a dividing point between the eastern and western portions of the Indian Ocean. The IOD is calculated as the difference of temperatures between the two parts. When the western part is warmer than the east, it is called a positive dipole. The IOD has been warmer than usual, Koll said, leading to a large number of storms. The stronger the dipole, the stronger the rainfall and cyclones in the western half of the Indian Ocean. Historically, this dipole has stayed within safe limits. However, the difference crossed 2 degrees Celsius in 2018. It is expected to get worse and more frequent due to climate change. There was torrential rainfall in 2018 over eastern Africa and the Middle East. The rains were so heavy that lakes formed in the middle of deserts. Such heavy and unusually moist deserts provide the best breeding ground for desert locusts. A desert locust swarm in a forested area in eastern Africa (Photo by Sven Torfinn/FAO) “If this trend of increasing frequency of cyclones continues, whether attributed to climate change or just a temporary anomaly in weather patterns, then desert locust outbreaks similar to what is occurring this year in eastern Africa will likely increase,” Cressman said. “This can affect India because any swarms that form in north Somalia in May and June can be carried by the winds across the Indian Ocean to Rajasthan for summer monsoon breeding.” “Low-pressure systems and several rainfall events in eastern Africa is likely to have triggered the locust outbreak,” Koll said. He said that there is growing evidence that there is increased precipitation in dry regions due to climate change. This greening of arid areas could lead to increased pestilence. A recent scientific report published in the Nature journal has shown that there is increased rainfall in northwest India that has led to an increase in soil moisture and vegetation in the Thar Desert. “Climate change might exert more substantial impacts on the ecosystem in arid and semi-arid regions than in the humid regions, owing to the high sensitivities and vulnerabilities to rainfall variations of the former,” the researchers said. What the future holds It is fortunate that the locust swarming in India happened after the spring harvest was gathered, according to a locust official in Rajasthan. Had this taken place at the usual time of July onwards, it could have spelt disaster for farmers who are already distressed due to disruptions resulting from the coronavirus crisis. “We must prevent the further breeding of locusts so that they are unable to affect the kharif (summer) season,” the official said. Given that the chances of locust proliferation are increasing in South Asia due to global warming and climate change, India must design appropriate strategies to combat the menace in the interest of food security, experts said. “Preparedness is key to the fight against desert locust swarms, followed by rapid action,” Cressman said. “Regular and complete monitoring, timely information and reporting, and effective control operations are key elements in this strategy.” This was first published on Mongabay India. The locust swarms that destroyed farmlands in western and northern India are linked to the warming of the Indian Ocean. Such proliferation is more likely as rainfall patterns change In "Articles" Large-scale use of pesticides to kill locust swarms in India, which saw the worst outbreak in three decades this year, is hazardous to human health and can harm local ecosystems In "Articles" Various Indian provinces are stepping up on climate initiatives to deal with extreme weather events that are occurring more frequently across the country
|
Insect Disaster
| null | null |
More Childhood Lead Poisoning Is a Side Effect of Covid Lockdowns
|
Lead screenings for children plummeted last spring, and stay-at-home orders may have increased household exposure to the toxic metal.
Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.
By Emily Anthes
Over the past half-century, public health officials have made enormous progress in protecting American children from lead poisoning and the irreversible neurological damage it can cause. Since the 1970s, the percentage of children with high levels of lead in their blood has plummeted.
But in 2020, a new health threat, the coronavirus, endangered these hard-earned gains.
When Covid-19 cases spiked last spring, lockdowns and day care closures confined young children to their homes, where lead exposure can be particularly high. The growing national emergency also delayed lead-removal efforts and disrupted routine childhood lead screenings, leaving health officials unable to identify and treat many children living in lead-laden homes.
|
Mass Poisoning
| null | null |
Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 crash
|
Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 was a Russian domestic passenger flight from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Khabarovsk, that crashed on 7 December 1995 local time (6 December UTC), killing all ninety-eight people aboard (including six children). [1] The crash occurred after the aircraft had entered into a steep downward spiral during automated flight at an altitude of 10,600 metres (34,800 ft). The aircraft operator, Khabarovsk United Air Group, was later rebranded to Dalavia and became defunct in 2008. The aircraft Tupolev Tu-154B, involved in the accident, was manufactured on 30 July 1976 under a serial number 76А164. [1] Prior to the accident it accumulated 30,001 flight hours and underwent four repairs, the last one on 23 September 1991. [1] Like other former Soviet aircraft, its registration letters in the Soviet period were SSSR (СССР); later the letters were changed to RA (РА). At the time of the accident the crew consisted of captain Viktor Sumarokov, first officer Stanislav Revidovich, navigating officer Alexander Martynov, flight engineer Grigory Moroz and four flight attendants. The takeoff weight was within acceptable limits, at 82,600 kg, and the fuel weight was 15,100 kg. [1]
The aircraft was cruising at 10,600 metres (34,800 ft) (according to the investigation report;[1] alternatively, at 9,600 metres (31,500 ft)[2][3]) and disappeared from radar shortly after making a routine ATC report. The last contact with ATC was made on 03:00 a.m. local time (17:00 UTC). Eight minutes later the aircraft crashed into Bo-Dzhausa Mountain with a vertical speed of about 300 m/s and a pitch angle of about 70 degrees. [1] The aircraft disintegrated into numerous fragments. The investigation listed five possible causes, whose combination might have led to the crash. [1] It is believed that in order to counteract the left-wing low flying tendency fuel-feed was selected from left wing fuel tanks only. [2] The fuel imbalance likely caused the aircraft to bank to the right and the autopilot was able to counteract it for 35 minutes after take-off. [2]
The crash site was found on 18 December 1995 by the crew of a Mil Mi-8 helicopter.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
New report says part of South Sudan is in 'likely famine'
|
A new report by international food security experts says a single county in South Sudan is likely in famine and tens of thousands of people in five other counties are near starvation On Location: November 17, 2021 JUBA, South Sudan -- One county in South Sudan is likely in famine and tens of thousands of people in five other counties are on the brink of starvation, according to a new report by international food security experts. Nowhere in the world has been in famine since one was declared nearly four years ago in South Sudan’s Unity state as civil war raged. Now western Pibor county is feared to have reached that crisis level, the result of massive flooding and deadly violence that has prevented access to aid. The new report stops short of declaring famine, which would kick aid efforts into higher gear, because of insufficient data. But based on available information, famine is thought to be occurring, according to the Famine Review Committee report released by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. That means at least 20% of households are facing extreme food gaps and at least 30% of children are acutely malnourished. “Considering all the evidence available, famine is most likely ongoing, and we expect a high rate of death in that area,” said Chris Newton, a former U.N. World Food Program staffer with years of experience in South Sudan. “The condition is catastrophic, and the humanitarian community and the government will have to scale up our assistance,” said Meshack Malo, country representative for the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization. The report says catastrophe conditions are also occurring in five counties across South Sudan in Jonglei, Warrap and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states, where 5% to 10% of the population is facing starvation. South Sudan's government did not endorse the report. In a statement earlier this week, it urged caution in claiming famine conditions and said any famine occurring on the government and aid community’s watch is a “testament of failure by both parties." Aid workers worry that already challenging humanitarian access will become more difficult in these hungry areas. The report says there is less than a 50% chance that planned food assistance will be delivered to the affected areas in the months ahead. South Sudan has been struggling to recover from five years of war that killed almost 400,000 people, according to a past study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A coalition government formed this year between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar is implementing a peace deal behind schedule, while deadly violence continues in parts of the country. The violence is the worst in Jonglei state and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, where hunger is the most severe. “This famine is a result of the broader impact of violence on human lives,” said Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a civil society group. He blamed "politicians who tend to use violence as an option for controlling power.” Between January and May there was a 220% increase in incidents of intercommunal violence compared with the same period two years ago, the U.N. has said, with the government and opposition often providing arms. A U.N. panel of experts has said the fighting prevented people from cultivating, blocked supply routes and burned down markets while humanitarian warehouses were looted and several humanitarian workers were killed. Acting army spokesman Santo Domic Chol said the army has never denied civilians access to aid. The problems have been compounded by the worst local flooding in decades, which has displaced more than 1 million people since July. Most of them are in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, according to the U.N. On a visit to the community of Old Fangak in Jonglei last month, displaced residents said the floods had wiped out their crops and cattle. “It is difficult to get food unless we get it from the humanitarian organizations,” said a dispirited Regina Nyakul. Since her home was destroyed by the floods, the mother of nine shelters in a school with her children. Sometimes they fall ill due to a lack of food, she said. At the market, trader Gatluak Billiew said the floods had spoiled food commodities and made it difficult to restock. “We are very worried about the upcoming dry season that will lead to more violence” bringing yet another crisis, said Jose Mas Campos, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan. But the hunger is a countrywide problem. A recent World Bank phone survey of more than 1,200 people in South Sudan found that nearly 73% reported going without eating for a whole day due to a lack of money. A drop in oil prices, the country’s main source of revenue, along with inflation and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened an economic crisis. At the Al-Sabah Children’s hospital in the capital, Juba, doctors say they have seen an increase in children dying from malnutrition. Eighty-five died between January and December, compared with 62 over the same period last year, even though the hospital has received less patients, said James Mawien Tong, head doctor at the hospital’s feeding center. Many children die within 24 hours of arrival because their parents wait too long to bring them, he said. The families are largely from Juba and the surrounding area. Seated on the floor, Angelina Ater soothed her sobbing 2-year-old daughter as she was fed through a tube in her nose. The 20-year-old said that since August, the economic crisis has forced her family to eat just once a day because they can’t afford food.
|
Famine
| null | null |
2019 Pakistan floods and storms
|
From February to April 2019, widespread flash flooding affected large parts of Pakistan, most severely in Balochistan, KPK, Punjab, and other provinces. Pakistan has been hit by three major waves of rain and flooding over the course of more than one month. The first wave of rain began on 20 February, leading to flooding in to Khyber and Balochistan, therefore many villages and several cities have been evacuated, and more than 1,500 families has been rescued alone in Balochistan and many in other states. [1] The 20 February rain and thunderstorms caused flash floods in the Lasbela area. The main areas affected were Turbat, Tump, Nasirabad and Dasht where 300 people were displaced due to the flood. These people were then moved to camps established by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). Casualties have came mostly due to roof collapsing amid heavy rains and flash flooding. Khyber Pakhtunwkha has witnessed the most deaths till now, 40, alongside Balochsitan has faced 26 casualties with more than 9 in Punjab and other places. Due to rain, flood and storm casualties are increasing.
|
Floods
| null | null |
Union County woman accused of poisoning husband has preliminary hearing Monday
|
Lewisburg, Pa. – A preliminary hearing is set for Monday for a woman accused of poisoning her husband in Union County and fraudulently taking thousands of dollars from his bank accounts and life insurance policies.
Myrle E. Miller, 76, of Winfield, is accused by state police of administering a lethal dose of Verapamil from her own prescription to her husband of seven years, John W. Nichols.
The medication caused Nichols’ heart to fail, and he died on April 14, 2018, at the home the couple shared on Lamey Road in Millmont. He was 77 at the time, according to court documents.
Verapamil, which is used to treat high blood pressure, had a negative effect on Nichols’ heart disease. A forensic pathologist testified that any amount would have been lethal for Nichols’ health condition, according to a 49-page state grand jury report.
The grand jury report was sealed until May 21 when first-degree murder, felony insurance fraud theft, and perjury charges were filed by Pennsylvania State Police at Milton. Although Miller testified in front of the state grand jury, they deemed her testimony to be “not credible or worthy of belief” and recommended charges be filed.
Related Reading: Wife charged with murder of husband, three years after body discovered
Miller was arraigned on May 27 by District Judge Jeffrey Mensch and has been held without bail at Union County Jail.
The grand jury concluded that Nichols’ death “came on the heels of years of fraud and theft perpetuated by Miller who systematically drained his bank accounts and had others impersonate him for the purpose of obtaining loans in his name.
“The tipping point came on April 5, 2018. On that day, the lead investigator from the Union-Snyder Agency on Aging visited Mr. Nichols at his home, and he agreed to permit an investigation into his finances. At that point, Miller realized that her deception was finally going to be exposed,” according to the grand jury report.
Investigators determined that Miller had conducted Google searches on April 11, 2018, that included the terms “marriage laws in PA,” “divorce lawyers in PA,” and “dividing assets in divorce.” In the following days, Miller, who is a certified nursing assistant, also conducted online queries for the medications Flexeril, Donopezil, Ativan, and Verapamil.
Pharmacy records show Miller picked up a 90-day supply for Verapamil on Feb.1, 2018, and signed for another bottle of the medication on April 12, 2018, just 71 days into her supply, according to the grand jury report.
Miller seemed surprisingly calm on April 14, 2018, when Nichols’ family came to the home after learning of his death, the report stated. She seemed overly concerned about finding Nichols’ will and power of attorney documents, and told her son she “didn’t want anybody else or his (Mr. Nichols’) kids getting their hands on them,” according to the report. Miller was made sole benefactor on Nichols’ will in 2015.
Hours before Nichols’ death, Miller corresponded with another man via Facebook Messenger and wrote to him, “Alex I am in love with you,” according to the report. She had been engaging in online exchanges with other men for months prior to Nichols’ death, professing her love to them and sending them money.
Investigators found that Miller had retained complete control of Nichols’ finances during their marriage and fraudulently made herself sole benefactor on two of his three life insurance policies, according to the report. She also had taken out a $19,000 loan in Nichols’ name and depleted $170,000 from a bank account and $87,000 from another.
Since Nichols’ death, Miller has married her fourth husband. Miller’s past marriages have been troubled – her first husband, Ronald Rovenolt Sr., was hospitalized in 1986 for acute arsenic poisoning.
Two years later, Miller was charged for allegedly attempting to kill Rovenolt with two ant-killer laced drinks. The jury acquitted Miller of the charges after she told the court that Rovenolt had poisoned himself by being careless with spraying chemicals that he had in the garage. Miller had testified in court that she wanted a divorce form Rovenolt in 1986, but he refused to sign papers. Rovenolt filed for divorce shortly after the poisoning. The divorce was finalized in 1990.
Not long after her first divorce, Miller married Jack Plotts of Milton whom she described as the “love of my life” during her testimony to the state grand jury. The couple bought a home in Millmont but when he died of cancer in 2011, she was left destitute and couldn’t pay the mortgage. Miller married Nichols, who was her neighbor at the time, in 2012 just months after Plotts died.
Miller’s past also includes a criminal record for writing bad checks, according to the report. Between 1977 and 1988, Miller had 10 summary bad check convictions. Court records show that Miller (Myrle Plotts at the time) was placed on five years’ probation in 2001 for a misdemeanor bad check charge.
Coincidentally, Miller also is linked to the case of the disappearance of 3-year-old Cory Edkin in New Columbia. She is Edkin’s grandmother.
Miller’s daughter told police her son was asleep when she left the home at 12:10 a.m. Oct. 12, 1986, to pick up pizza at a convenience store in Milton.
When Edkin’s mother returned, her son was gone. Alberta Sones, who also lived at the home, claimed she was awake while the mother was gone and did not hear anything.
Miller is not implicated in Edkin’s disappearance.
Miller's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 16 in front of Mensch. She is being represented by Union County Public Defender Brian W. Ulmer.
|
Mass Poisoning
| null | null |
Arctic birds, seals and reindeer killed by marine plastics; pollution expected to rise
|
Think of the Arctic and you are likely to picture a vast white expanse of pristine snow and ice alongside crystal blue seas, with polar bears, seals and other wildlife in prime condition.
But increasingly this remote wilderness is becoming the last stop for vast amounts of plastic junk littering the ocean. A new report illustrates the scale of contamination in the Norwegian and Barents Seas north of Scandinavia, and shows that no corner of the Earth is immune from the scourge of plastic pollution.
Virtually everywhere researchers look they find plastic, according to the report by the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Even in remote areas with relatively low human impact, it says the concentration of plastic waste in the European Arctic is now comparable or even higher than in more urban and populated areas. And there are signs the amount of plastic is increasing, with global plastic production reaching 322 million tonnes in 2015 and predicted to grow by around 4 per cent a year.
The report warns ocean debris poses a threat to marine organisms via entanglement, ingestion or as a vector for alien species. And nowhere is the impact of plastic waste more heart-wrenching than on Arctic wildlife — from fish and small invertebrates, to seabirds, seals and even reindeer.
In Svalbard for example — an archipelago halfway between Norway and the North Pole — 87.5 per cent of fulmar birds (ocean birds in the petrel family) were found to have plastic in their stomachs, a quarter of which were at levels of 0.1 grams or more, contrary to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, which has set a target of less than 10 per cent of the fulmar population with such an amount.
Fulmars are particularly vulnerable to plastic ingestion because unlike gulls and many other birds they do not regurgitate and retain more plastic in their gastrointestinal tract.
Previous studies have shown surface-feeding birds, including fulmars, ingest far more plastic than pursuit feeders, which dive to obtain food, because these are less likely to ingest floating debris.
Diving birds, however, are more likely to be susceptible to entanglement in abandoned nets and fishing gear or larger marine plastic debris.
The proliferation of discarded fishing gear affects more than just seabirds.
Seals and reindeer have been found strangled or caught in ghost nets and rope, both on land and in the sea. In one case a reindeer, with its antlers caught in derelict fishing nets, had to be put down. Geir Wing Gabrielsen, one of the report's authors says abandoned fishing gear from boats and trawlers accounts for the vast majority of marine plastics found in Svalbard, although further south most plastics come from household goods.
Environmentalists are particularly alarmed at the growth of microplastics, which range in size from 5 millimetres down to 1 micrometre, and include both fibres from fishing equipment or textiles, and fragments of larger plastics that have broken down.
Microplastics are now found everywhere in Arctic waters, and of the same order of magnitude as those found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. In some places researchers have found concentrations of up to 234 particles of plastic in one litre of melted sea ice, far higher even than in some of the most polluted currents in the open ocean. The Norwegian Polar Institute estimates microplastics make up about 1 million of the 8-12 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean annually. Of those, about 1 per cent are floating, 5 per cent are found on beaches, and the remaining 94 per cent sink to the ocean floor. It says the high levels of micro and small plastics found in sea ice highlight the importance of management action to reduce marine litter globally. Bo Eide, an environmental consultant at Norway's Tromso Council, spends much of his time working to clean up the country's Arctic fjords. "Just last year I think we took 30 tonnes [of marine plastic and debris] — household litter, food wrapping, bottles," Mr Eide said.
"But the main part weight-wise is equipment from fisheries. Lots and lots and lots of pieces of rope. Some are cut. Some are obviously torn.
"The international fishing fleet is operating offshore. And we clearly find signs that they contribute to this. But still we find litter from all over Europe, and even some from across the Atlantic. "I mean you can throw a thing into the ocean in Florida, and think, 'Hey, I've thrown it away'. And then it might end up on our shores. They rather quickly break down into smaller pieces and even tiny little fibres," he told the BBC.
"I think the coastline as a whole, I think you can characterise it as a microplastics factory. It's so obvious that what we're doing here is the tip of the tip of the iceberg. But it is the visible tip really. This is what is readily available."
The report predicts global plastics production will double again within 20 years and quadruple by 2050. By then it is predicted there will be more plastic by weight than fish in the world's oceans, according to a prediction made in 2016 at the United Nations World Economic Forum. Asia is the largest producer of plastic, with 45 per cent of total world production, followed by Europe and the US at 40 per cent. Yet, on average barely 14 per cent of plastics are recycled. Around 40 per cent end up in landfill and 32 per cent in ecosystems such as the world's oceans.
The UN says leakage to the oceans is largest in Asia — at 82 per cent, against just 2 per cent from the US and Europe and 16 per cent from the rest of the world. Climate change also threatens to increase the contamination of Arctic waters. The colder waters of the Arctic have traditionally acted as a barrier to alien organisms attached to microplastics washed in on warmer currents. But that barrier has been weakened as the seas have warmed and sea ice has melted. The report also warns plastic litter will damage the travel and tourism industries, by diminishing the environmental and wildlife values of the Arctic circle.
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)
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
Campus murder in Zibo, China
|
Alarm bells are ringing yet again in China after another attack on school children. The attack in the eastern province of Shandong happened despite a government vow to beef up security for schools and kindergartens across the country. Police in the city of Zibo have detained 26-year-old Fang Jiantang, who reportedly confessed to the killings of three children and one teacher on Tuesday. Many others were injured, two seriously.
The state news agency, Xinhua, only released a brief English version of the story. Almost all online reports of the latest tragedy have now been deleted, perhaps for fear of more copycat attacks.
A spate of similar attacks from March to May had shocked the country. In April, a farmer in Shandong province injured five pre-school children and a teacher before burning himself to death. The top leaders spoke of social tension as part of the cause and asked officials to do more to provide for school security. The Ministry for Public Security and the Education Ministry scrambled for emergency measures to tackle the violent attacks. More police officers have been assigned to patrol around school areas. Schools and kindergartens are supposed to have reviewed their security arrangements. Some local police authorities have distributed instruments like steel pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards in schools.
But with schools on summer holiday, people have lowered their guard. And in some places, no adequate funds have been provided to implement the security measures.
China used to take pride in its low rate of violent crime but now it has to deal with it almost every day, leading many to ask what has caused the sudden surge of apparently random attacks. The wave of violence has been portrayed as cases of "social revenge" in China. Ji Jianlin, a professor of clinical psychology at Shanghai's Fudan University, says the incidents share some common features. "The attackers all have grudges against society. They all try to take revenge by attacking the young and vulnerable," he says. In part, the attacks reflect the social tension caused by rampant corruption and inequality. Some point to the lack of normal channels for ordinary people to air their grievances or to defend what little personal interests they may have.
But Prof Ji argues that there is a lack of social and psychological support in the rapidly changing society. "In the past, China's workers used to have social support from the unions or women's associations. They used to provide quite adequate support. It's now quite weak." This is especially true in smaller cities and towns. In a country where people used to be looked after from cradle to grave, the social change has not only left many Chinese without their traditional support mechanism but also pushed a large number of people into relative poverty. And the income gap is widening further between the rich and poor. This, coupled with a changed attitude towards life, has driven many to extremes in their desperate attempt to come to terms with the fast pace of change and the prevalent law of the jungle. On top of that, there is still a stigma in Chinese culture about people needing psychological counselling. Family members and society as a whole tend to conceal or shun those with mental health problems. This may partly lead to attackers failing to get help before they commit crimes. Whatever the causes may be, the parents of the victims are paying a high price.
|
Armed Conflict
| null | null |
Virgin Orbit Successfully Launches a Rocket Into Space Using Its Boeing 747
|
For a long time, Virgin has been working on its Virgin Orbit project, which for the first time has managed to get into orbit from an airplane. Virgin Orbit has fulfilled its mission and achieved the most anticipated launch after months of testing, which managed to put its nine satellites into orbit from its Boeing 747 . Richard Branson's company performed such a feat on Sunday morning, when Cosmic Girl took off from a base from California . LauncherOne is the spacecraft, which was mounted on one of the wings of the Boeing 747, which would take nine nanosatellites from NASA's educational program into space. Cosmic Girl took her flight over the Pacific Ocean at more than 10,500 km altitude before starting the countdown for the launch of the aerospace spacecraft. Four hours after it was launched, Virgin claimed through its Twitter account that the satellites were successfully deployed in orbit, fulfilling their mission. @Virgin_Orbit via Twitter “Today's sequence of events for LaunchDemo2 went exactly as planned, from the safe execution of our ground operations to the successful full-duration burns on both engines. To say we're excited would be an understatement, but 240 characters couldn't do it justice anyway, ” Virgin Orbit said. @Virgin_Orbit via Twitter That said, of the nine satellites placed in orbit, one of these will be the one studying how tiny particles collide in space, another will serve as an experimental radiation-sensing satellite, and another will monitor temperature. All of these were developed by three US universities. It should be noted that Virgin Orbit is already part of the select group of companies dedicated to the development and launch of rockets, such as the two famous aerospace companies, SpaceX and Rocket Lab. However, Virgin's difference was that it threw its rocket from the air and not from a platform on the ground. @Virgin_Orbit via Twitter The Boeing 747-400, Cosmic Girl , a transformed aircraft that serves to load the spacecraft under one of its wings, was used for testing in mid-2019, since then it had been the first test that gave successful results. as for the airdrop, over the Mojave Desert , California , whose LauncherOne managed to separate completely and loaded from the wing, but it plummeted. After months of tweaking, fixing and modifying, Virgin Orbit was set for a real launch in May last year, although not everything turned out as expected. Unfortunately, the mission ended very quickly due to a failure in the spacecraft at the start of the flight. Virgin Orbit is expected to prepare more satellites from other customers for future launches. Richard Branson said that he, along with other investors, provided approximately $ 1 billion in order to get Virgin Orbit to place satellites in orbit and the goal could be met.
|
New achievements in aerospace
| null | null |
Remembering explosion in Redstone’s Coal Basin Mine 40 years later
|
News News | April 18, 2021 It was 40 years ago, but feels like yesterday. Thwap, thwap, thwap and echoes of helicopters woke Redstone at dawn. Then Tom Brokaw’s voice came through: “and this morning, in Redstone, Colorado.…” National news, but a locally intense and tragic story. There was a massive explosion deep in Mid-Continent’s Dutch Creek Number One mine in Coal Basin six miles west of Redstone. Twenty-one miners were still down there. The gas blew, early in the swing shift, April 15, and frantic rescue efforts continued for two days. Some miners were able to call out and rescue team members Tim Cole and Lee McBride went in within a couple of hours. They helped six injured miners out, but the devastation held them back 800 feet from the explosion. Fifteen men were still missing. Heavy gloom came down on our town. We knew these men. Redstone, built by John Osgood as a mining and coking town, was still a mining town in 1981. True, that Osgood’s widow sold off most of the original houses, but Mid-Continent owned the Redstone Inn, and miners lived here, families in houses, and single men in motels and apartments. They patronized and socialized in the Inn and Townhouse (now Propaganda Pie). The end of every day shift brought a line of pick-ups to the General Store, buying six-packs for the drive home. At Mid-Continent’s zenith, several hundred miners produced up to a million tons of metallurgical coal a year. Two shifts of 30 ton trucks, one every 4 minutes, hauled coal to the unit train at Carbondale. Access to the explosion site was difficult. The portal was 10,000 feet up in Coal Basin. And then the tunnel went 6,000 feet into the mountain, following the coal seam down the 10 degree dip, and ending an extraordinary 3,000 feet under Huntsman’s Ridge. That was the site of the explosion. Gas had to cleared and safety insured, before rescuers reached the site on the second day, and confirmed that all 15 men had been killed in the explosion. How did this happen? The Coal Basin mines were known to be “gassy.” An explosion in 1965 killed nine men. Methane oozes from every face of newly cut coal and when it reaches 5% to 15%, a tiny spark will set it off. Great efforts were made to ventilate the mines and hold the methane down below 1%. Powerful 8 foot fans, were at the portals, forcing gales into the mines. Heavy brattice curtains directed fresh air to the gassiest locations. When gas exceeded 1%, operations were shut down. But something went terribly wrong that day. Federal investigation followed, but questions remain. Why did gas build up? What was the ignition source? Mid-Continent mined coal for another 10 years, but as American steel production declined, so did the market for metallurgical coal. By the early 1990s the mines shut down. The names of the 15 men who died on April 15, 1981, are inscribed on the plaque at the base of Coal Road, along with the names of the 40 other men who died in Coal Basin, from 1901 to 1990. The plaque is inscribed: COAL MINING HAS
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
1949 Khait earthquake
|
The 1949 Khait (Hoit) earthquake occurred at 09:45 local time (03:53 UTC) on 10 July in the Gharm Oblast region of the Tajik SSR of the Soviet Union (within the modern boundary of Tajikistan). It had a magnitude of 7.5 and triggered a series of landslides that together led to 7,200 deaths. The earthquake occurred in a tectonically complex region at the southern edge of the Tien Shan. The southern margin of the Tien Shan is characterised by combination of dextral strike-slip faulting and southward thrusting over the Tajik Basin to the south along the Gissar-Kokshaal fault zone. [2] At the same time the Tajik Basin is being shortened in response to oblique collision with the Pamirs, forming a series of north-south to SW-NE trending thrust faults, the earthquake is thought to have been caused by movement on the Vakhsh thrust, one of these faults. [3]
In the area of maximum felt intensity (>IX) most kishlaks were completely destroyed. Most of the fatalities were caused by numerous landslides triggered by the earthquake. The town of Khait (modern spelling Hoit (Tajik: Ҳоит)) and the village of Khisorak were almost completely destroyed by the Khait landslide. Numerous kishlaks in the Yasman River valley were overwhelmed by the loess flowslide the swept down the whole length of the valley. Other kishlaks were destroyed by loess flowslides in the lower Obi-Kabud River valley and on the north side of the Surkhob River valley. [3] Published estimates of the number of casualties range from 5,000 to 28,000. A more recent study, based on the size of affected settlements and the likely population density, gave an estimate of 7,200 of which about 800 were caused by the Khait landslide and 4,000 by the Yasman valley flowslide. [3]
The main shock was preceded by two foreshocks (M5.1 and M5.6) on 8 July, just 12 minutes apart. The main shock had a magnitude of 7.4 calculated as the 'unified magnitude' using the 'Soviet Method'. [3] The magnitude was recalculated as 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale in the ISC-GEM catalogue published in 2013. [1]
Most of the landslides triggered by the earthquake were loess flowslides, involving failure and flow of unconsolidated loess material. In the Yasman River valley, which lies almost entirely within the area of greatest felt intensity, a large number of such flowslides coalesced in tributary valleys before combining into one massive flowslide that travelled the length of the valley. The area covered by the Yasman valley slide is about 24.4 km2, with a total estimated volume of 245 MCM (million cubic metres). The Khait landslide began as a rockslide but progressively entrained loess material. The rockslide was initiated by failure of part of the western flank of Chokrak Mountain. The landslide became more mobile once it began to entrain loess material and reached the Obi-Kabud River where it traversed the floodplain and surmounted a 25 m high river terrace on the river's west bank. The estimated volume for this landslide is about 75 MCM. It travelled with an estimated velocity of about 40 m/s. [3]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
2020–2021 Nepalese protests
|
The 2020–2021 Nepalese protests was a national uprising and massive protest movement which has been cracked down on since December 2 in Nepal, after a decision by prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli to discuss and take away the government, dissolve parliament and never restore a monarchy since its overthrow in the 2006 Nepalese revolution. The mass protests led by tens of thousands of protesters have been taking place in Kathmandu and two other major towns. Growing anti-government discontent has been silenced but police brutality has been stepping up during strikes as well, fearing another massacre like the Tiakpur massacre. On 29 December, after 6 protests, thousands took to the streets demanding the resignation of K. P. Sharma Oli and the restoration of the National monarchy. Nepalese civilians protested peacefully throughout Nepal, not just Kathmandu. On 8–10 January 2021, a two-day strike was held nationwide in protest at the government. A mass rally was held on 20–21 January 2021, when thousands took to the streets to protest the dissolution of parliament. Clashes took place between police and protesters. [1][2][3]
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
A New Space Force Satellite Just Took Off for Space—From a Plane
|
On June 13, the U.S. Space Force launched a new intelligence-gathering satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, located along the coast of southern California. But the secretive satellite, itself, is just one small piece of the story. This mission, designated the "Tactically Responsive Launch 2," or TacRL-2, relied on Northrop Grumman's Pegasus XL—a winged rocket that is carried aloft by an airliner—to launch the satellite into space. In this case, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar commercial airliner, dubbed "Stargazer," did the carrying. ✈︎ Don't miss our best-in-class military stories. Join our squadron. It's all a part of the Space Force's efforts to decentralize space launches, generating missions on shorter notice, all without the need for a traditional launch pad. The U.S. has only a handful of dedicated space launch facilities, located in California and Florida. Those facilities would be high-priority targets in a major war, open to sabotage or missile attack. So, a series of successful attacks could delay U.S. space launches for weeks or even months, hindering the deployment of new military satellites. TacRL-2 aims to reduce the Space Force's reliance on such large, vulnerable bases. A typical Pegasus XL launch involves a Stargazer lifting off from a conventional runway. From there, it ascends to an altitude of 40,000 feet and launches the Pegasus rocket. The high-altitude launch allows the Pegasus rocket to do away with the initial launch stage, making for a smaller and more compact system. All told, Pegasus XL can boost a 1,000-pound payload into low-Earth orbit. This use of aircraft as a space launch system would allow the Space Force to conduct launches from almost any serviceable airport. According to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond, a secondary goal of TacRL-2 was to expedite the planning and execution of launches. The payload took just 11 months to build, as compared to the 24 to 60 months it typically takes to build a satellite. And, the launch took place just four months after the Space Force signed a contract with Pegasus XL operator Northrop Grumman. Usually, that process can take years. #NGIS #Pegasus #TacRL-2 launch first and second stages seen over the lights and @Marine_layer of Santa Maria California for the US Space Force. The rocket was dropped just after 1:00 AM local from a Lockheed L-1011 flying over the Pacific @northropgrumman @NASASpaceflight The mission payload was, according to NASA Spaceflight, a small satellite built as a technology demonstration. Little is publicly known about the satellite, other than that the Space Force procured it with off-the-shelf materials with "space domain awareness" in mind. Space domain awareness typically involves detecting, cataloging, and monitoring man-made objects in space, from orbiting space junk to the satellites of potential adversaries. So, TacRL-2's payload likely has the ability to observe other satellites.
|
New achievements in aerospace
| null | null |
USS Oriskany fire
|
The 1966 USS Oriskany Fire was a major fire that broke out aboard the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Oriskany on the morning of 26 October 1966. The fire broke out after a lit flare was locked in a flare locker. The fire killed 44 people, mostly air crew, and injured 156 more. It was the first of three major fires to befall American carriers during the Vietnam War. Oriskany departed San Diego for her second Vietnam deployment, and third wartime deployment, on 26 May 1966. The carrier arrived on station off the coast of Vietnam a few weeks later, and commenced operations in support of operations in Vietnam. At approximately 0728 hours, as Oriskany was preparing to begin flight operations and stowing ordnance from night operations, an alarm was sounded for a fire in compartment A-107-M, a flare locker, containing over 250 MK-24 magnesium flares, located just off the forward hangar deck, adjacent to the Starboard sponson. A flare had accidentally been actuated, and the sailor handling the flare had thrown it into the locker and dogged the door shut. [2]Hundreds of these 24 lb. flares were stored here and were about to be ignited, burning at 3000 degrees. General quarters was sounded, and firefighting teams began to attempt to cool the area near the burning locker; because the high pressure within the locker made it impossible to open the locker door, fighting the fire directly was impossible. About 10 minutes into the fire, the pressure became so great that the doors blew out, igniting a helicopter located on the port side forward of the hangar deck. With the ship headed into the wind, getting ready to launch aircraft, the heat and smoke were drawn forward into the berthing quarters located forward of the hangar bay. Other sailors in the area worked to move aircraft, many of which were bomb and fuel laden, from the hangar to the flight deck to prevent them from catching fire. On deck six, in a pump room servicing the forward elevator, the sailor on duty attempted to close the large air vents servicing the compartment, which were starting to blow smoke in; unable to do so, he used wet rags to protect himself. [2] Closer to the fire, sailors began attempting to evacuate "officers' country", a series of staterooms occupied largely by pilots assigned to Oriskany's air wing. Within five minutes, an explosion occurred in the flare locker, the result of multiple flares igniting at once. [2] Aircraft in the hangar bay caught fire, and nearby sailors attempting to cool the area were burned. Down in officers' country, several men were killed when a fireball shot down the passageway, burning their lungs. Other personnel suffocated to death in the passageways. On the flight deck, firefighting crews worked feverishly to cool the steel deck, while other flight deck personnel began pushing ordnance off the flight deck. Down in the hangar, the aircraft that caught fire were pushed over the side, along with ordnance that was staged in the hangar from an earlier replenishment. A pilot trapped in his stateroom was able to find a wrench to open the porthole. With items in his room catching fire, the pilot continually wrapped himself in wet sheets or blankets, and kept his head out the porthole; as the sheets or blankets began to smolder, the pilot would wet the items down again, wrap himself up, and return to the porthole. [2] Unable to escape due to the fire outside his room, the pilot kept this up for some time. Finally, an enlisted sailor discovered his plight and was able to supply him with a firehose, a battle lantern, and an Oxygen Breathing Apparatus; for the duration of the fire, the pilot used the hose to fight the fire and cool his stateroom, and keep the fire from spreading again into the room. [2] Nearby, the executive officer of the air wing's Crusader squadron, finding himself in a similar situation, stripped naked and forced his way through his porthole. He was able to obtain a firefighting suit, and later helped the ship's fire marshal in organizing firefighting parties. In the elevator pumproom, the fireman on duty attempted to request assistance from his supervisor. Frustrated over the lack of progress, the sailor tried to find out if there was something keeping help from reaching him, and discovered that a large amount of water from the firefighting efforts had settled over the hatch. He opened the hatch in an attempt to save himself, partially flooding the compartment in the process. Trapped by water and smoke, the fireman continued to try to keep himself safe until his supervisor and the ship's ordnance officer, a qualified Navy diver who happened to find scuba gear, entered the compartment and rescued him. [2] Coincidentally, the scuba gear belonged to the trapped sailor. [3]
Near the pump room, several officers and enlisted men took refuge in a void extending from below the hangar to a deck below the pumproom. One officer had been badly burned, and a second was knocked unconscious after nearly falling off a ladder inside the void. After breaking the padlocks off of storage spaces inside the void to release the usable air inside those spaces, the officers and men began to wait the fire out in the void. Eventually, though, they decided to try to make their way to safety. One of the enlisted men left the void to seek out an OBA, and was able to find a pair of stretcher bearers to help carry out the injured officers. Working through some initial difficulties, the officers and men eventually made their way to safety. [2]
At approximately 1030 hours, the ship's fire marshal, who had been leading firefighting operations on the hangar deck, informed Damage Control Central that the fire was under control. The last of the smaller fires was extinguished around five hours later. Unable to remain on station, Oriskany set course for the Naval station at Subic Bay in the Philippines. During the fire, some of the injured were flown from Oriskany to USS Constellation (CV-64). [3]
Forty-three men died in the fire; one died shortly afterwards. On 28 October, a memorial service was held aboard Oriskany for those killed in the fire. After offloading her fallen and undergoing repair in Subic Bay, the ship returned to San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for more extensive repairs. [3] The ship returned to service the following year, undergoing training before returning to Yankee Station. Several sailors, including the Chief Ordnance Officer were court-martialed, charged with 44 counts of manslaughter[4] for their actions immediately prior to the fire; however, all were acquitted. A Navy investigation determined that magnesium flares, such as those involved in the fire, could ignite when jarred in certain cases; this is believed to be what caused the flare to initially ignite. The fire aboard Oriskany would be the first of three major fires aboard American carriers in the latter half of the 1960s.
|
Fire
| null | null |
‘The Whole Car Went Black:’ What It Was Like Being Trapped In The I-70 Glenwood Canyon Mudslide
|
Some stayed in their cars. Others sought refuge in a highway tunnel. A few maneuvered around the debris to safety. Autumn Bair left her car and took off running. The 37-year-old Colorado native was one of more than 100 people caught in a torrential downpour in Glenwood Canyon on July 29, bringing a deluge of rocks, logs and mud onto Interstate 70. The stretch of interstate will remain closed for days, possibly weeks, as crews continue to remove debris from the roadway, state officials said Monday. No one was reported injured or missing in the mudslides last week, officials said. Speaking from her family ranch just off the interstate, Bair recounted her fateful trip and split-second decision to get back home. “My instincts just told me to get out,” she said. Bair was finishing up her Thursday shift as a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital in Glenwood Springs. The hospital was short-staffed, she said, so she worked a little later than usual. It was dark and rainy by the time she got on the interstate and began her trip back home. “As I progressed through the canyon, the rain just got harder and harder,” she said. “Once I popped out on the east side of the [Hanging Lake] tunnel, the rain was just wild. My windshield wipers weren’t keeping up, and that was kind of at the point where I knew I was going to be in trouble.” There was nowhere to go but forward, Bair thought to herself. She and the other drivers around her navigated carefully around the mud. She made it a mile out of the tunnel when her car got stuck on the road. As she fumbled with her gears, a wave of mud hit her from the driver’s side. “The whole car went black,” she said. Rather than stay trapped in her car, Bair grabbed her keys and cellphone, opened the door and ran home. She used the lightning strikes above her to light the way, at times wading barefoot through waist-high pools of mud. Bair eventually called her husband and told him she needed help. He drove up from the ranch in an all-terrain vehicle and rescued her near their highway exit, she said. She was covered in mud, her feet and legs sore from her trek through the interstate. Her Volkswagen sedan was totaled. Things, she said, could’ve ended much worse for her and the other drivers around her. “I really was fortunate that I got caught in just a lot of mud and not boulders and stuff like that,” she said. About four inches of rain have fallen in the area in the last five days, nearly twice as much as what usually falls in July, Gov. Jared Polis said Monday. Bair said her family has dealt with “little disasters” since the Grizzly Creek Fire forced them to evacuate last year. The fire and rain have not damaged their ranch, but she worried about how the closures would affect their tourism-dependent business and the surrounding towns. “We’re kind of on an island here, so we're not really going in or out or doing any of that right now,” she said. An eastbound lane could open soon, she said, allowing her to drive into town, run errands and pick up supplies. She does not know when she will return to the hospital. The Grizzly Creek Fire burn scar is under a flash flood watch Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
Saint Silvester Road Race
|
The Saint Silvester Road Race (Portuguese: Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre) is a long-distance running event, the oldest and most prestigious street race in Brazil. Regarded as the main international event in Latin American athletics, the Brazilian competition is held yearly in the city of São Paulo on December 31. This day is Saint Silvester's Day, as it is the day in which the Catholic saint, who was a Pope, died in the 4th century of the Christian Era. São Paulo's race was originally known as a "marathon", although the course of the race, whose length has varied considerably over the years, was never that of a full marathon. Because of that, the organization eventually dropped the term "marathon", starting to refer to the event as a "race", "international race" or "road race". There was never an official effort on the part of the organization to address the change in the nomenclature, which causes many, including some media outlets,[1] to continue using the term "Saint Silvester Marathon" when referring to the event. Its course is only 15 km (9.3 mi) long, less than half the length of a marathon but the race is made more difficult by the intense heat of the Brazilian summer and the geographical obstacles that have to be surmounted by the athletes. Several other places like Amadora, Porto and Volta à cidade do Funchal in Portugal (Corrida de São Silvestre[2]), Calderara di Reno (Maratona di San Silvestro[3]) and Bolzano (BOclassic) in Italy, and Madrid in Spain (San Silvestre Vallecana), organize yearly Saint Silvester road races or marathons every late December. Cásper Líbero, a "media millionaire" of the early 20th century Brazil, is credited with originally coming up with the idea for the race. He used it as a means of promoting his newspaper. In 1928, the year of the race's 4th edition, he founded one of the first sports newspapers of the country, the Gazeta Esportiva (the Sportive Gazette), which then became the race's official organizer and sponsor. The race would be the main advertising element of this sports newspaper. The race was held for the first time on 31 December 1925 and hadn't been interrupted or suspended even once during its history, not even for the duration of World War II. Until 2021. Originally, it was intended for men only, and participation was restricted to citizens of the city of São Paulo. In the following years, runners from other parts of the country joined the race, but it was not until 1941 that a runner not from the city of São Paulo won the race: José Tibúrcio dos Santos, of Minas Gerais, another Brazilian state. At that time, the event was not yet open to foreign participation. That meant that athletes from other countries could not come in to participate, but foreigners residing in the city of São Paulo (immigrants) were free to enroll. Because of this, Italian Heitor Blasi was the only foreigner to have won the race before 1947. In 1945 the field was opened so that foreign runners could participate. The first international race was restricted to invited runners from South America, but the success of the first two "international events" led race organizers to open the event to the rest of the world in 1947. That year marked the beginning of a 34-year-long period during which no Brazilian man won the event, until José João da Silva, from Pernambuco, won in 1980 (he would repeat the feat in 1985). The event would remain a men-only affair until 1975, when the United Nations declared that year as the International Year of Women. In commemoration of this, the race organizers held the women's race for the first time. The women's race started as an open event, and the first Brazilian victory would come only in its 20th edition (in 1995), when Carmem Oliveira won. Starting December 31, 1982, Rede Globo began to telecast the road race via satellite to the whole of Brazil, in partnership with TV Gazeta. Since 1993, a shorter race for children is held a few days before the main event (dubbed "São Silvestrinha", or "Little Saint Silvester" – a unisex event). Until 1988, the race took place at the late night hour starting at 23:00, approaching the New Year's, but the year of 1989 - the year the race began to be recognized as an international running event - saw substantial changes in the race's format, in order to comply with the rules of the IAAF. The time of the race was altered for first afternoon (to 3:00 p.m. for women and 5:00 p.m. for men), the course direction was reversed, and men and women, who used to run together, had their races separated. In 1991, the length of the race was extended to 15,000 meters (the distance for the event used to vary almost yearly, usually between 6.5 km and 8.8 km). This variance needed to be corrected in order to meet IAAF marathon and road race regulations and requirements. The 2020 race was postponed to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil; it marked the first time that the race will be held on a date other than New Year's Eve. For the first race, in 1925, 60 people filled applications to participate, but only 48 actually showed up on the day of the race. Of these, only 37 were officially qualified, since the rules then required that all runners had to finish within 3 minutes of the winner in order to qualify in the final board. In 2004, 13,000 men and 2,000 women participated in their respective events. Although the event had been open since 1945, it would become a noteworthy affair in the international calendar only in 1953, when the most famous runner of the time (and arguably of all time), Emil Zátopek, participated and won the race. In recent times, the foremost long distance runners of the last two decades (almost all of them, with the exception of Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia) have participated at least once in the event. The principal winner of all times is now Paul Tergat, of Kenya, who has won the race 5 times (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000). The record time for the present distance of 15 km is for his compatriot Kibiwott Kandie with a time of 42 minutes and 59 seconds in the 2019 edition. [4]
Course record (for 15 km distance)
1 Brazilians won 18 times in the national era, and 11 times in the international era. 2 Italy only won in the national era, with the Italo-Brazilian, Heitor Blasi.
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Poverty fell overall in 2020 as result of massive stimulus checks and unemployment aid, Census Bureau says
|
Politicians in Congress are currently in a staredown over the debt ceiling. Lawmakers must reach an agreement soon to allow the government to meet its payment obligations for Social Security, tax credits and military salaries, among other items. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the Treasury will likely run out of ways to pay its bills at some point in October. Democrats want to suspend or increase the debt limit through legislation. However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said that Democrats need to find a way to pass it without any support from the GOP. Democrats argue that raising the ceiling will simply allow the U.S. Treasury to pay for spending and tax cuts that were greenlit during the Trump administration, while Republicans say they won’t help lift the debt limit because of the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending plan. Suspending or increasing the limit does not authorize any new spending. The Republican opposition may force Democrats to lift the ceiling on their own as part of the spending package, which they plan to pass without the GOP through budget reconciliation. The process requires only a simple majority in the Senate split 50-50 by party. So what does all this mean for you? Here’s what the debt ceiling is and how a failure to raise it could have far-reaching effects in the economy. Put simply, the debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money that the U.S. Treasury can borrow in the form of bond sales. This money is used to pay for a wide-ranging number of financial obligations each month, including Social Security payments, Medicare reimbursements and other programs like tax refunds. Without congressional permission to continue taking out debt — which is necessary because the government spends more money than it takes in via taxes — the Treasury can’t continue to fund its obligations. The debt limit has been regularly increasing since it was first introduced in 1917, and since 1960 the debt ceiling has been in some way raised or suspended 78 times under presidents from both parties, according to the Treasury’s website. It is currently suspended, and the Congressional Budget Office estimated in July that it needs to be raised from $22 trillion to $28.5 trillion. The Treasury also says that to fail to raise the ceiling, and as a result allow the government to default on its debts, “would have catastrophic economic consequences.” ″[The debt ceiling] is a century-old attempt to restrain federal spending,” Bankrate analyst Mark Hamrick tells CNBC Make It. ”[Raising the ceiling] is a necessary step to allow the Treasury to effectively engage in the expenditures which have already been approved by two branches of government.” If the government fails to suspend or raise the debt limit, the Treasury will be unable to raise the cash to pay its obligations. The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt before. Yellen said she was “confident” that the issue would be addressed in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece. However, Yellen wrote that failing to do so would likely create “a historic financial crisis” that would result in “billions of dollars of growth and millions of jobs lost.” Other experts agree that defaulting would have wide-ranging effects throughout the economy. “It would be very disruptive for the banking system, for the financial system,” says Andrew Mies, founder and chief investment officer at wealth management firm 6 Meridian. That’s partly because banks are large owners of Treasury securities, he adds. In a fact sheet released earlier this month, the White House warned that a failure to raise the debt ceiling would cause unemployment to rise “and the labor market could lose millions of jobs.” When the country came close to a default on its debt in 2011, the S&P 500 sank more than 18%. But it’s not just the markets — other operations that rely on government funding would also slow down or be closed entirely. Child tax credit payments could stop being sent, along with other services like food stamps and Social Security. “Any venues that people use for public performances and concerts would get shut down,” Mies says. “If you’re waiting to get a passport, that would get slowed down. Any processing of any federal documents would get slowed down.” Beyond government operations being impacted, businesses that provide services for the government would suddenly see that cash flow dry up, Hamrick says. “The federal government is essentially a huge customer in the broader economy,” he says. “If the federal government stops paying on things, that means there will be all kinds of businesses that are all of the sudden facing a liquidity crunch of their own and the risk of business failure.” This business failure, in turn, can result in lost income for American workers. And depending how long the government’s spending is cut off for, it might spell trouble for millions of jobs.
|
Financial Crisis
| null | null |
ACE Air Cargo Flight 51 crash
|
ACE Air Cargo Flight 51 was an Alaska Central Express flight from Anchorage to King Salmon and Dillingham, Alaska. On 8 March 2013, the Beechcraft 1900C-1 serving the flight crashed into a mountain on approach to Dillingham Airport, killing both crew members on board. The flight had originally taken off from Anchorage International Airport at approximately 5:44 Alaska Standard Time, making a scheduled stop at King Salmon and continuing to Dillingham. En route to Dillingham, the crew requested a RNAV GPS 19 instrument approach, which was granted by the on-duty controller who directed the crew to maintain an altitude at or above 2,000 ft (610 m). Roughly six minutes later, the crew requested permission to enter into a holding pattern to contact the flight service station for a report on the condition of the runway, which was subsequently granted. The controllers later attempted to contact the aircraft, but were unsuccessful and soon lost radar track of the aircraft, which had crashed at Muklung Hills. [1][2]
The aircraft, a Beechcraft 1900C-1, serial number UC-17 registered N116AX, was manufactured in 1992, and ACE Air Cargo was its only operator, accumulating a total of 29,824 hours before the accident. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B engines and was equipped for flight into icy conditions, but did not carry a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder. [3][1][2]
The crew on this flight consisted of only the cockpit crew, 38-year-old Captain Jeff Day and 21-year-old First Officer Neil Jensen with 5,770 flight hours and 470 flight hours, respectively. [1][4]
The aircraft hit the ground in the Muklung Hills, the same mountainous area where an aircraft carrying nine people crashed in 2010, causing the death of former US Senator Ted Stevens, who was one of the passengers. [5] The rescue operation to reach Flight 51 was carried out by the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska State Troopers, and United States Coast Guard. The first rescue unit to reach the crash site was an Alaska Air National Guard helicopter, which was unable to land or lower rescuers due to poor weather conditions. [4][5]
The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) who concluded that the plane crashed due to the flight crew's failure to maintain terrain clearance, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain in instrument meteorological conditions. [6]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 crash
|
Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133 (MH2133/MAS2133) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau which crashed due to pilot error on 15 September 1995, taking the lives of 32 of the 49 passengers and 2 of the 4 crew on board. The plane crashed during approach after a failed go-around. This was the first hull loss of a Fokker 50. [1]
The aircraft involved was a Fokker 50 manufactured in 1990 with the tail number 9M-MGH. There were 49 passengers, two pilots, and two cabin crew aboard the aircraft. The scheduled flight time was one hour. [2]
At 12:22 (GMT+8), while the aircraft was approaching runway 17 at Tawau Airport, it landed 500 metres outside the runway and crashed into a shantytown on the fringes of the airport. [3] There were 34 fatalities and 19 survivors. [2]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
UN Report: 350,000 Ethiopians Are Living In Famine Conditions
|
Yeshialem Gebreegziabher, 27, holds her 6-month-old daughter, Kalkidan Yeman, who is suffering from malnutrition, at Aby Adi Health Center in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on June 7, 2021. Alarming new data shows a growing hunger emergency in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where violent conflict has raged since November 2020, creating a humanitarian crisis affecting millions of children and families. Hundreds of thousands of people who remain inside Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region are living in famine conditions, according to new data from the UN. Violent conflict erupted in Tigray in November 2020, displacing millions of Ethiopians and sending hundreds of thousands of refugees across the border into eastern Sudan. UNICEF has been working with partners since fighting began to address the humanitarian crisis, which has only deepened in the months since. "Alarming new data has today confirmed the magnitude of the hunger emergency gripping Tigray," David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN's World Food Program, said in a statement upon release of the data. An estimated 5.5 million in Tigray and neighboring zones Afar and Amhara are food insecure to some degree and in need of food aid, according to the UN's latest analysis. Of those, at least 4 million people face severe hunger, and 350,000 — 40 percent of them children — are in what the UN classifies as a phase 5 catastrophe, the highest level, which triggered the famine alert. Tsega-brhan Mebrahtu, 27, and her three children — Milen, 3, holding up a high-energy biscuit; Abel, 6, far left, and Arsema, 10, far right — were displaced from Tigray's western zone and are staying in the town of Mekelle. The report, released by IPC — short for Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed initiative to gather evidence to determine the scope and severity of food crises around the world — attributes the crisis to the cascading effects of conflict, including population displacements, movement restrictions, limited humanitarian access, loss of harvest and livelihood assets and dysfunctional or nonexistent markets. "If the conflict further escalates or, for any other reason, humanitarian assistance is hampered, most areas of Tigray will be at risk of famine," the report reads. Famine is declared when at least 20 percent of the population is affected by extreme food shortages; acute malnutrition is affecting at least one-third of all children; and 2 in 10,000 people are dying every day from starvation or a combination of malnutrition and disease. While the situation in Tigray has yet to cross those thresholds, it is being described as the worst food crisis since famine was declared in Somalia in 2011 — and UNICEF and partners are bracing for the situation to get worse before it gets better. "We are seeing more young children and babies slide dangerously close to sickness and potential death from malnutrition," said UNICEF spokesman James Elder, speaking at a press briefing on June 11. "UNICEF is working with our partners to provide nutrition, health care and clean water support. However, without humanitarian access to scale up our response, an estimated 33,000 severely malnourished children in currently inaccessible areas in Tigray are at high risk of death. The world cannot permit that to happen. "While this figure of 353,000 does not meet the threshold needed to trigger a formal famine declaration... let’s not play with terminology when people are dying." Beasley said that the WFP, a key UNICEF partner in ongoing emergency response efforts, has been able to reach 1.4 million people with food relief, "yet that is barely half of the number we should be reaching." UNICEF, together with WFP and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, has called for urgent action to address the dramatic acute food insecurity in northern Ethiopia and especially the Tigray region "where the risk of famine is imminent, unless food, livelihood assistance and other lifesaving interventions continue to be scaled-up, unimpeded access is guaranteed and hostilities cease." UNICEF's response in the region continues to focus on screening and treating children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, a nutrient-rich peanut paste. UNICEF-supported mobile health and nutrition teams are also providing emergency medical care and immunizations. UNICEF trucks carrying essential health, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene supplies arrive to support the needs of 102,000 people in Shire town, Tigray, Ethiopia. Since February, 250,000 children under age 5 have been screened and over 7,000 of them have been admitted for treatment. UNICEF projects that 56,000 children will need treatment — 33,000 of whom will be missed "if unfettered access is not guaranteed," Elder said. UNICEF estimates it will need more than $10 million to meet the needs for therapeutic food in Tigray, Amhara and Afar. UNICEF also needs additional funding to provide medicine and other health services to children and families where access to routine care has sharply declined and other support to mothers and caregivers of infants and young children. UNICEF’s Tigray Emergency Response Plan remains significantly underfunded. Support UNICEF's efforts to deliver urgently needed nutrition to vulnerable children in Tigray and across Ethiopia. Your contribution can make a difference.
|
Famine
| null | null |
DPP appeal bid rejected on bank robbers
|
A prosecution bid to increase the jail sentences of two young Adelaide bank robbers has been rejected. The offenders' families clapped in the Court of Criminal Appeal as the decision was announced. Andrew Davi, 21, and James Randall-Smith, 22, held up seven Adelaide banks over eight months, starting in December 2005, dressed in what became trademark blue overalls. They smashed into the buildings armed with guns and stole a total of $100,000. Each was sentenced to 16 years' prison with non-parole terms of eight years. South Australia's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Pallaras appealed, arguing that the penalties were too light and the trauma suffered by scores of bank staff had been given too little weight in the sentencing. But two of three judges today refused the DPP permission to launch an appeal. Chief Justice John Doyle wanted to boost their jail sentences by two years but the other appeal judges Robyn Layton and Tom Gray found the penalties were long enough considering the men's ages.
|
Bank Robbery
| null | null |
1909 Provence earthquake
|
The 1909 Provence earthquake occurred on June 11 in Provence. Measuring 6.2 on the surface wave magnitude scale, it is the largest ever recorded earthquake in metropolitan France. [4]
A total of 46 people died, another 250 were injured, and approximately 2,000 buildings were damaged. The most damaged communes were Salon-de-Provence, Vernègues, Lambesc, Saint-Cannat and Rognes. Fourteen people died in Rognes,[5] which was half destroyed, especially the houses on the flanks of the hill Le Foussa. People were relocated under tents on another hill (Le Devin) and near the primary school. The main shock occurred at 9:15pm. If the earthquake had happened an hour later, more people would have been in bed, and more casualties would have been recorded. [6]
The Vernègues castle and most of the houses in Vernègues were destroyed. Two people died in the village, which was later rebuilt at a lower altitude.
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Miryang hospital fire
|
On 26 January 2018, a fire at the Sejong Hospital in the South Korean city of Miryang killed 41 people[3][6] and injured 153. [5][7][8][1][9] It was South Korea's deadliest fire in nearly a decade. [1] The fire occurred one month after 29 people died in a gym fire in the city of Jecheon. The cause of the fire is under investigation. [10][11]
The Sejong Hospital and adjacent Sejong Nursing Hospital were established in 2008 by the Hyoseong Medical Foundation. The Sejong Hospital is a large general hospital; the hospital and the Sejong Nursing Hospital have 95 beds and 98 beds respectively with 27 medical staff each. [12]
The Sejong Hospital was not required to install fire sprinklers based on its aggregate area, whereas in the Sejong Nursing Hospital, sprinklers were required to be installed after the relevant law was revised and were planned to be installed by 30 June. [12]
The fire began on the first floor of the Sejong Hospital at 7:35 a.m. (KST). At the time, there were over 100 patients in the main hospital and 94 in the adjacent nursing home complex. [13] Two nurses stated that they had seen fire suddenly erupting in the emergency room, immediately triggering an evacuation process throughout the hospital and nursing home. As the fire began to spread through the first level of the main hospital, large volumes of smoke spread into the upper floors. By the time firefighters arrived, 25 people were already dead. [14] Firefighters worked through thick smoke to save patients, including 15 patients from the third floor intensive care unit under the supervision of hospital staff. [15]
Shortly after the fire began, local Miryang resident Jeong Dong Hwa mounted a rescue effort that saved the lives of ten people who were trapped on the hospital's fifth floor. [16] Jeong's brother-in-law and sister-in-law also participated in rescue efforts to help save the lives of people trapped on the third floor. [17]
The fire was brought under control after 9:30 a.m. (KST). The fire killed 41 people and injured 153. [3][5] Among the 41 deaths were one doctor, one nurse and one assistant nurse. Thirty people were over 70 years old. [18][19] Jeong's 88-year-old mother-in-law was found alive on the third floor but died the following day. [17]
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency meeting, ordering emergency officials in and around the area to continue focusing life-saving support on the evacuated patients. [20] Senior officials from both ruling and opposition parties traveled to the area to offer their condolences to victims and families. Ruling Democratic Party spokeswoman Kim Hyun urged authorities "to mobilize all available personnel and equipment to handle the aftermath" while Liberty Korea Party spokesman Choung Tae-ok demanded no negligence in rescue operations. Referencing the Jecheon fire disaster from the previous December, People's Party spokeswoman Lee Heang-Ja stated members felt "deeply saddened that a fire occurred again when the citizens' sorrow of the Jecheon fire still lingers. "[21]
For his heroic rescue efforts, Jeong was honored with the President's Award by President Moon. [22]
|
Fire
| null | null |
One person killed in crash involving off-road vehicle in Banning
|
Cal Fire confirms that one person was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Banning Friday afternoon. The crash was reported at approximately 5:18 p.m. on Nicole Street and 22nd Street. Details remain limited on the crash. Cal Fire confirmed there was an off-road side by side vehicle involved in the collision. Fatality Traffic Collision - 5:18 pm Nicolet St X 22ND St, in Banning. Firefighters responded to a 2 vehicle traffic collision involving an off road side by side. 1 confirmed fatality.
|
Road Crash
| null | null |
Climate crisis: recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years'
|
Study of tree rings dating back to Roman empire concludes weather since 2014 has been extraordinary Last modified on Wed 25 Aug 2021 14.43 BST The series of severe droughts and heatwaves in Europe since 2014 is the most extreme for more than 2,000 years, research suggests. The study analysed tree rings dating as far back as the Roman empire to create the longest such record to date. The scientists said global heating was the most probable cause of the recent rise in extreme heat. The heatwaves have had devastating consequences, the researchers said, causing thousands of early deaths, destroying crops and igniting forest fires. Low river levels halted some shipping traffic and affected the cooling of nuclear power stations. Climate scientists predict more extreme and more frequent heatwaves and droughts in future. The study also found a gradual drying of the summer climate in central Europe over the last two millennia, before the recent surge. The scientists ruled out volcanic activity and solar cycles as causes of this long-term trend and think subtle changes in Earth’s orbit are the cause. “We’re all aware of the cluster of exceptionally hot and dry summers we’ve had over the past few years,” said Prof Ulf Büntgen, of Cambridge University, who led the study. “Our results show what we have experienced is extraordinary. The series is unprecedented for the last 2,000 years.” The available data ends in 2018, but 2019 and 2020 also had very hot European summers. The scientists said changes in the position of the jet stream and the circulation of air over the continent caused the droughts, and that climate change was probably the underlying driver. “Climate change [means] extreme conditions will become more frequent, which could be devastating for agriculture, ecosystems and societies as a whole,” said Büntgen. Prof Mrislav Trnka, of the CzechGlobe research centre in Brno, who was part of the study team, said the sharp increase in droughts was particularly alarming for agriculture and forestry. “Unprecedented forest dieback across much of central Europe corroborates our results,” he said. Dr Friederike Otto, of Oxford University, said a lack of historic data often hindered the clear identification of the drivers of observed events, making the new work important and useful. “It corroborates from a long-term perspective that the huge increase in heat extremes observed over Europe in the summer, which has clearly been attributed to human-induced climate change, does indeed change the nature of summer in Europe,” she said. The study, which was published in the journal Nature Geoscience, analysed 27,000 growth rings from 147 oak trees. Living oaks were used for the last century, then timber from old buildings such as churches. For the middle ages, the researchers used oak that had been preserved in river deposits or gravel beds, and for the Roman period they used remains such as wood used to construct wells. Previous climate reconstructions from tree rings used width and wood density to determine temperature. The Büntgen-led study used measurements of carbon and oxygen isotopes to show how much water was available to the trees, giving a record of droughts. This showed that the high frequency of recent European droughts was unprecedented, even compared with severe historical droughts such as the Renaissance drought in the early 16th century. The wood samples come from the Czech Republic and Bavaria in Germany, and represent climate conditions across central Europe. High temperatures were the main cause of recent droughts, and these have been seen across Europe. The climate crisis is also linked to extreme wet weather in winter. The rainfall in the UK on 3 October 2020 was the highest in records dating back to 1891, and a study published last Wednesday said this had been made three times more likely by global heating. The research by the UK Met Office also found that such downpours will be 10 times more likely by 2100 without major cuts to carbon emissions.
|
Droughts
| null | null |
Camp Fire (2018)
|
The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history,[11] and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018 in terms of insured losses. [12][13][3]
Named after Camp Creek Road, its place of origin,[14] the fire started on Thursday, November 8, 2018, in Northern California's Butte County. Ignited by a faulty electric transmission line, the fire originated above several communities and an east wind drove the fire downhill through developed areas. After exhibiting extreme fire spread, fireline intensity, and spotting behaviors through the rural community of Concow, an urban firestorm formed in the foothill town of Paradise. [15][16][17][18] Drought was a factor: Paradise, which typically sees five inches of autumn rain by November 12, had only received one-seventh of an inch by that date in 2018. With the arrival of the first winter rainstorm of the season, the fire reached 100 percent containment after seventeen days on November 25. [19][20][21]
The fire caused at least 85 civilian fatalities, with one person still missing as of August 2, 2019,[8] and injured 12 civilians and five firefighters. It covered an area of 153,336 acres (620.5 km2; 239.6 sq mi), and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, with most of the destruction occurring within the first four hours. [6] The towns of Paradise and Concow were almost completely destroyed, each losing about 95% of their structures. The towns of Magalia and Butte Creek Canyon were also largely destroyed. [22] By January 2019, the total damage was estimated at $16.5 billion; one-quarter of the damage, $4 billion, was not insured. [a][3][23] The Camp Fire also cost over $150 million in fire suppression costs,[5] bringing the total cost of the fire to $16.65 billion. The same month, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the utility company responsible for the faulty power line, filed for bankruptcy, citing expected wildfire liabilities of $30 billion. [2] On December 6, 2019, the utility made a settlement offer of $13.5 billion for the wildfire victims; the offer covered several devastating fires caused by the utility, including the Camp Fire. [24][25] On June 16, 2020, the utility pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter. [26]
The Camp Fire is the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the Cloquet fire in 1918, and ranks number 13 on the list of the world's deadliest wildfires; it is the sixth-deadliest U.S. wildfire overall. [27]
In 2005, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) released a fire management plan for the region, which warned that the town of Paradise was at risk for an ember-driven conflagration similar to the Oakland firestorm of 1991. [28] The report stated, "the greatest risk to the ridge communities is from an east wind driven fire that originates above the communities and blows downhill through developed areas. "[28]
The Camp Fire started in an area that had experienced 13 large wildfires since 1999. [29] The area was most recently burned in 2008 following the Humboldt Fire[30] and the larger Butte Lightning Complex fires. [31] In June 2009, a Butte County civil grand jury report concluded that roads leading from Paradise and Upper Ridge communities had "significant constraints" and "capacity limitations" on their use as evacuation routes. [32] The report noted a combination of road conditions "which increases the fire danger and the possibility of being closed due to fire and or smoke", namely sharp curves, inadequate shoulders, and fire hazards adjacent to shoulders, such as "fire fuel and steep slopes". [32] The report also recommended a moratorium on new home construction in fire-prone areas. [29] In September 2009, the Butte County Board of Supervisors called the grand jury report "not reasonable", citing improved building codes and fire prevention requirements as arguments against a moratorium. [29]
Based on these reports, there had been warnings to Paradise city planners that they were not including study results in new plans. For example, in 2009, the town of Paradise proposed a reduced number of travel lanes on the roadways and received state funding from the California Department of Transportation to implement a road diet along Skyway, Pearson Road, and Clark Road, three of the town's main thoroughfares and evacuation routes. [28][33]
In March 2015, an updated plan codified changes made after the 2008 fires that would convert Skyway into a one-way route during emergencies, effectively doubling its capacity. [28]
Residential development in wildland–urban interface areas such as Paradise and its vicinity are often located in state responsibility areas, where the State of California provides fire prevention and suppression. [34] Due to a need for increased state resources to safeguard these communities, a special fee was imposed on property owners starting in 2011 to provide for fire prevention. [35] However, the fee was unpopular with rural, predominantly conservative, lawmakers, landowners, and taxpayer groups. After collecting and spending $470 million, a measure to suspend and repeal the fee was approved by the California State Legislature in July 2017. [35] Assemblyman Devon Mathis (Republican) claimed, "not one cent has gone to putting more boots on the ground. "[35]
Initially, much of the revenue funded existing fire programs; the process of building out new prevention programs was slow. However, the revenue did fund projects such as secondary evacuation routes and fuel reduction zones. [35][36] In August 2018, three months before the fire, fire safe councils in the Paradise region were awarded $5 million in grants from the fire prevention fee program to pay for fuel reduction and education projects. [37]
Despite years of fuel reduction funded by special fees, numerous wildfires ravaged wildland–urban communities. Investigations found that PG&E power line failures during high winds had caused many of the fires. Utilities have the ability to disable dangerous power lines; however, the nearly 100-year-old transmission lines required intentional manual effort. PG&E shut off residential power to some customers, particularly in Paradise, in the days leading up to the fire. Following the 2017 North Bay fires,[38] PG&E adopted a policy that precluded shutting off lines carrying more than 115 kV due to the number of customers who would be adversely affected by such a shutdown. [38]
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is responsible for inspecting PG&E's electrical infrastructure. The scope of the CPUC in relation to the scope of electrical infrastructure is unbalanced, however, and the CPUC has had difficulty fulfilling their oversight mandate. [39]
A CPUC inspection of the section of electrical infrastructure at the origin of the Camp Fire was omitted for six years. Many of the electrical towers are original to the Upper North Fork Feather River Project, which was constructed in the early 1900s. [39] This section is the 115 kV Caribou-Palermo line. A 2009 inspection noted three-bolt connectors, used to join two conductors, were in need of replacement, which PG&E said had been done by 2016. [40] In a 2011 audit, the CPUC found several thousand deficiencies, some of which PG&E disputed;[39] it was not clear if the number of deficiencies on the Caribou-Palermo line was unusually high. A 2012 windstorm brought down five towers. [39]
After the Camp Fire, the CPUC's Safety and Enforcement Table Mountain Division audited three years of the missing ten years of PG&E's records. A worn C-hook on a transmission tower was blamed for touching off the fire.
|
Fire
| null | null |
PECO establishes $250,000 recovery fund for those affected by Tropical Storm Ida
|
A kayaker poses for a photo under a highway sign when paddling down a portion of Interstate 676 after flooding from heavy rains from hurricane Ida in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 2, 2021. Photo: Branden Eastwood/AFP via Getty Images. The recovery fund is part of a growing effort to further support organizations helping individuals, families and communities impacted by the storm. PECO has announced that it is establishing a $250,000 recovery fund to provide further relief efforts to communities affected by Tropical Storm Ida. As part of the effort, PECO, and Exelon — its parent company — will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania and Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia for essential supplies, overnight shelter stays and first aid needs; an additional $100,000 will go directly to organizations across Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties providing temporary housing, food and supplies, and financial assistance to individuals and families; and the remaining funds with be allocated to other counties and community partners on an as needed basic. The organizations that will receive the funding are as follows: “Supporting our customers and the communities we serve is one of PECO’s most important responsibilities,” said Mike Innocenzo, PECO president and CEO, in a press release. “With the $250,000 provided by PECO’s Recovery Fund, the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Salvation Army, and counties can assist more individuals and families throughout the Greater Philadelphia region with the essentials needed to not only persevere but recover.” Since the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ida, the Red Cross has provided more than 250 overnight shelter stays, distributed nearly 2,100 relief supplies and served more than 3,500 meals and snacks to various Pennsylvania counties. Red Cross disaster workers have also provided care and comfort to over 850 impacted individuals. “Tropical Storm Ida devastated communities in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and we’ve helped thousands of hard-hit residents in their darkest hours,” said Guy Triano, Regional CEO for the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. “Powered by the generosity of PECO, dedicated Red Cross volunteers and employees are still working around the clock to deliver relief to survivors of Tropical Storm Ida. The Salvation Army has also taken part in the ongoing relief efforts, deploying 12 mobile feeding units from Philadelphia to State College, Pennsylvania. It serves meals in four shelters across the Delaware Valley, providing 150-200 meals per seating, along with cleaning supplies to some of the hardest-hit areas. “This generous donation from PECO will allow us to serve more of our neighbors in need,” said Luke Rodgers, Divisional Emergency Disaster Service Director at the Salvation Army. In addition to the financial contributions, PECO employees are also helping to clean up the region’s public green spaces that were severely damaged. On Saturday, Sept. 18, PECO employee volunteers assisted with a campus cleanup at Brandywine Conservancy in Chadds Ford, and on Friday, Sept. 24, PECO’s Electric Ops team members will provide volunteers for the Schuylkill River Development Corporation’s post-Tropical Storm Ida cleanup efforts.
|
Financial Aid
| null | null |
Self-Governing First Nations in Yukon
|
Signing up enhances your TCE experience with the ability to save items to your personal reading list, and access the interactive map. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. There are 14 First Nations in Yukon. Eleven of these nations are self-governing,
while the remaining three are governed under the Indian Act. The 11 self-governing First Nations have legislative and executive powers much like a province or
territory. In 1993, they signed the Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA) with the governments of Canada and Yukon. The UFA served as the foundation for individual self-governing
agreements made between each First Nation and the territorial and
federal governments. These individual agreements were signed between 1993 and 2006. (See also Comprehensive Land Claims.) While the focus of this article is the 11 self-governing First Nations, the remaining three First Nations in Yukon are White River, Liard and Ross River. This map depicts the traditional territories of the 11 self-governing First Nations in Yukon. This map depicts the traditional territories of the 11 self-governing First Nations in Yukon. The 11 self-governing First Nations in Yukon are:
First Nations in Yukon speak eight Indigenous languages. Seven of these languages are part of the Athapaskan language family, namely Gwich’in, Hän, Upper Tanana,
Northern Tutchone, Southern Tutchone, Tagish and Kaska. The eighth language, Tlingit, is distantly related to the Athapaskan language family. There is considerable language crossover between First Nations. Many Kwäday Dän (“Long Ago People” in Southern Tutchone) spoke multiple languages and within each language there are multiple dialects. For example, many Southern Tutchone traded
with coastal Alaska Tlingit nations. They formalized trade through acknowledged partnerships and marriage, therefore, the majority of Southern Tutchone could speak both languages. Today, all Yukon First Nations are committed to the preservation and enhancement
of their language. Traditionally, families were large and, in many regions, men and women had more than one marriage. Most cultures followed a matrilineal clan system, where children belonged to the same
clan as their mother and married outside of their own clan. Clans were responsible for land, played a role in trade organization and cared for land and animals. Children were raised by many. When very small, grandparents, who moved at the same speed,
were caretakers and teachers. Once older and nearing puberty, aunts and uncles on the mother’s side (same clan) took on education, ensuring young women were proficient sewers and young men were strong hunters. Every individual was raised to be resourceful and mindful. The culture demanded that people were physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually strong. If a person was imbalanced, if they neglected their spirit and prioritized their body, there would
be consequences, such as an unsuccessful hunt. In a culture so closely connected to the land, there was no luxury for haphazard behaviour. People were constantly busy; everyone knew their role and purpose. The culture provided the education, experience
and knowledge to ensure people were always whole and always prepared — they never got stuck. They were resourceful and self-reliant within the social groupings of First Nation, community and family. The yearly cycle was closely linked to the seasons and animal migrations. Small family units continuously travelled from river and lake breakup in the spring until freeze-up in the late fall. They harvested food, such as salmon,
caribou and cranberries, along with medicine,
such as balsam, lungwort and yarrow. Food was stored in high or ground caches across the homeland for winter. The cold months could be harsh. There are many stories of no animals
and starvation. Over winter, families trapped, hunted, netted fish under ice and continued to be busy as they awaited the returning birds. In the 1700s, Tlingit Nations on the coast of Alaska traded with the Russians, bringing goods inland. The Russians introduced the concept of ownership and trade for property,
where one gun cost the gun’s height in stacked fur pelts. Seasonal patterns shifted as families from across the Yukon travelled to trade centres with their winter’s fur harvest to exchange for imported Russian goods. The first known non-Indigenous peoples to enter Yukon were Hudson’s Bay Company fur traders in the 1800s. They established trade posts from the south (Kaska Dene territory) to the north (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation territory). Traders brought tea, flour and tools, which First Nations used as they continued their way of life. The fur trade was the primary economic and relationship driver between Yukon First Nations and non-Indigenous outsiders until 1896, when gold was discovered in the Klondike. The Klondike Gold Rush brought about 40,000 people to Yukon between 1896 and 1899. The prospectors
employed First Nations people as packers and guides. Despite the help of these First Nation guides, many cheechakos, or newcomers, perished. By 1905, the majority of the gold seekers had left the territory. Studio portrait of a First Nations packer during the Klondike Gold Rush, c. 1898. Studio portrait of a First Nations packer during the Klondike Gold Rush, c. 1898. The impact of the gold rush was profound. In 1902, Jim Boss, chief of the Ta'an Kwäch'än, wrote to Ottawa calling on the federal government to protect Indigenous peoples’ land and resources. The government responded half-heartedly, saying the police would protect his people and their land. By this time, treaties between First Nations and the federal government
covered much of Canada. For example, by 1905, nine of Canada’s 11 Numbered Treaties had been signed, including Treaty 8,
which covers much of the land to the southeast of Yukon. The government wanted to promote this area as an “all-Canadian” access route to the goldfields. The government’s policy, however, was to offer treaties only in areas where they expected long-term
economic development and white settlement. Believing that the gold rush was a one-time event, the government did not offer a treaty to Yukon First Nations. Following the gold rush, significant and rapid change came to Yukon. Two catalysts for this change were residential schools and the Alaska Highway. Four residential schools operated in the Yukon between 1903 and 1985. As with residential schools elsewhere in the country, these institutions wreaked
havoc on the lives of First Nation people. During the Second World War, the Alaska Highway was built from Dawson Creek, British Columbia,
to Big Delta, Alaska, cutting through southwestern Yukon along the way. First Nation citizens moved to places along the highway to find work. In addition, the federal government forced First Nation people to relocate to administrative centres to “benefit” from education and social services. These forced relocations immearsurably
affected the migratory way of life of most First Nations. Everything about the economic, social, cultural and spiritual way of Indigenous people was disrupted
during this time. In 1973, Elijah Smith (first on the right in the front row) led a group of Yukon First Nation leaders to Ottawa. The delegation, pictured here on the steps of the Parliament Buildings, convinced the federal government to begin land claim negotiations. In 1973, Elijah Smith (first on the right in the front row) led a group of Yukon First Nation leaders to Ottawa. The delegation, pictured here on the steps of the Parliament Buildings, convinced the federal government to begin land claim negotiations. In 1973, an organization called the Yukon Native Brotherhood (YNB), led by Chief Elijah Smith and a delegation of Yukon chiefs, presented a statement of grievances and an approach to just settlement to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Their historic document was titled Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow. At the time, there were 12 First Nations in Yukon, and the YNB represented all of them. Their main messages were: we must break the back of dependency created by government
programs such as welfare, we want help to succeed, and we are not looking for a handout. “The objective of the Yukon Indian people,” they wrote, “is to obtain a Settlement in place of a treaty that will help us and our children learn to live in a changing
world.”
Trudeau agreed to work with the YNB, marking the first time in Canada a comprehensive land claim was accepted for negotiation. There were many hurdles during the 20-year period between 1973 and 1993, when the Umbrella Final Agreement was signed. Some were between First Nations and Canada and Yukon, such as settlement land selection and decision-making authority. Others were internal
to First Nations, such as whether to include individuals without Indian Status, or the balance between monetary compensation and self-determination. In 1984, negotiations completely broke down. The Yukon First Nations people voted to reject a settlement offer that provided significant compensation, but not self-government or co-management of Yukon land and resources. Of this decision the Vuntut Gwichin
Chief Joe Linklater said, “One of the toughest decisions of my life was to walk away from an agreement for over $600 million.” In 1985, all parties returned to the table. Over the following eight years, they worked together to create a vision for all
Yukon children of tomorrow. On 29 May 1993, 11 Yukon First Nations, and the governments of Canada and Yukon signed the Umbrella Final Agreement (UFA). The UFA is not a legal document, but rather a political agreement between the First Nations signatories, Yukon and Canada. It provides
the foundation for all 11 of the Yukon First Nation Final Agreements. Unlike the UFA, these agreements are legal, constitutionally protected documents. From left to right John Ostashek, government leader of Yukon; Judy Gingell, chair of the Council of Yukon Indians; and Tom Siddon, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Gingell celebrates after signing the Umbrella Final Agreement on 29 May 1993. From left to right John Ostashek, government leader of Yukon; Judy Gingell, chair of the Council of Yukon Indians; and Tom Siddon, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Gingell celebrates after signing the Umbrella Final Agreement
on 29 May 1993. Between 1993 and 2006, the 11 First Nations, using the UFA as the foundation, negotiated First Nation-specific agreements with the territorial and federal governments. These agreements selected areas of land and added unique features important to specific
First Nations. For example, the Kluane First Nation negotiated a wild sheep harvest tag in the agreement as an economic development measure. These hunts sell at auction for significant value to the First Nation. Some agreements took more time due to
their complexity. Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, for example, both based in the Whitehorse area, needed to address their relationship with the City of
Whitehorse in addition to the other levels of government. In 1993, four First Nations finalized agreements: Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Teslin Tlingit Council and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. In 1997, Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation and the Selkirk First Nation finalized their agreements, followed by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in 1998. The remaining four First Nations signed agreements in the early 2000s: Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
in 2002, Kluane First Nation in 2003, Kwanlin Dün First Nation in 2005 and Carcross/Tagish First Nation in 2006. I believe the future, or the children of tomorrow, is the “intent” of the final agreements. Working together in pursuit of prosperous, harmonious possibility is the “spirit.” The Yukon remains young. It is still coming into its own as a unique place of
governance and aspiration. Yukon First Nations are actively reconnecting to and revitalizing their culture, language and way of life. Now the struggle is to find the balance between the ancestor’s way and the modern way, both in terms of daily life,
but also in terms of governance. Fortunately, the healing path towards independence is held in our stories, our land and our languages. The ancestors provided the tools. It is up to us to wield them. - Author Jocelyn Joe-Strack, Wolf Clan, Champagne and Aishihik First Nation
Both the UFA and the nation-specific final agreements express a vision for the co-management of governance. Academics and Indigenous signatories often describe this vision as part of the “spirit and intent” of modern treaties. There are many interpretations
of modern treaties’ spirit and intent. With respect to the Yukon, a notable example came in a decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2017. Several parties,
including the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, brought a case concerning the Peel Watershed in northeastern Yukon. In creating a
land use plan for the area, the First Nations argued that the territorial government had not followed the consultation process laid out in their final agreements. The Supreme Court supported the First Nations’ argument. “The UFA is a model for reconciliation,”
the judges wrote.
|
Sign Agreement
| null | null |
'When I was diagnosed with MS I was so depressed I didn't go out for 2 years but now I'm embracing my disability through fashion'
|
'When I was diagnosed with MS I was so depressed I didn't go out for 2 years but now I'm embracing my disability through fashion'
Roxy Murray shares her stunning outfits on Instagram which often features mobility aids like her canes and walking bike
'No one can say I'm invisible anymore, because I'm really bright and colourful' (Image: Roxy Murray)
Get FREE email updates for West London
Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
I'M IN!
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Thank you for subscribingWe have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice
Open the pages of any glossy fashion magazine, click on the Instagram page of any famous fashion influencer, browse the racks in any high street store and, generally, all you'll see are clothes designed for able-bodied models, not a wheelchair or walking cane in sight.
But, since almost 20 per cent of adults in the UK have some form of disability , this doesn't paint an accurate picture of the people who actually wear the clothes.
Therefore, people can often be made to feel invisible and like they don't deserve to look good, thanks to conventional beauty standards peddled across the fashion industry.
One Londoner who's bucking this trend is 33-year-old Roxy Murray, a fashion influencer, podcaster and activist who has multiple sclerosis (MS) - a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, and can cause a wide range of symptoms.
READ MORE: Londoner's stunning fashion line wheelchair users can get in and out of easily
Roxy says that she felt like she lost herself when she got MS, but fashion is 'the one thing that makes me feel like me' (Image: Roxy Murray)
Roxy was studying a fashion degree when she first presented with MS symptoms, and was heartbroken when she had to drop out of her course halfway through.
"I couldn't give up fashion, I love it, it feels like something that's connected to me, as a human - it's how I express myself, it's my art form," said Roxy, who lives in Harrow, West London.
"When I got MS, I feel like I lost a lot of myself. I couldn't go outside for two years at one point, I was so depressed and emotional that I literally could not go outside.
"My body wouldn't relax, I was losing continence - it was a really intense situation and I was so young."
Roxy's MS manifests through a wide range of symptoms, including impaired vision, chronic fatigue, tremors, and electric shock sensations that make her limbs spasm.
The left side of her body feels weaker than her right, leading to heaviness and hypersensitivity, and her left foot drags behind her when she walks.
Despite this, Roxy says that fashion is "the one thing that makes me feel like me: no matter what my mobility is or how I feel, it can really brighten my day and give me self-worth".
When Roxy had to start using mobility aids, she said she had to find a way of 'making this more fun, more me' (Image: Kimber Chloe)
'We don't have to be dull. We can be bright and beautiful'
On her Instagram page, @multiplesclerosisfashionista , Roxy shares her stunning, striking outfits - often featuring mobility aids like her canes and walking bike - with her 2,700 followers.
Empowered by the platform, she uses the hashtag #WeAreNotInvisible to tell the world that disabilities don't have to be limiting, and you can still look incredible while building a mobility aid into your outfit.
"As my mobility got worse, I had to start using mobility aids. It felt intense, you felt like people were staring at you on the street if you're using [mobility aids]," Roxy said.
"It's an invisible illness, there's nothing really that obvious to someone that says 'I've got a disability, an illness'. I didn't enjoy the drab, grey NHS crutches - I thought there has to be a way of making this more fun, more me."
Roxy made it her mission to find brands that made "cool" mobility aids, making them part of her personality rather than something that restrained her.
She pairs her mobility aids with her outfits, coordinating her canes and crutches with her looks so they create a cohesive style, rather than imposing a limitation on her fashion creativity.
Roxy with her Alinker walking bike, just one of her fashion-conscious, practical mobility aids which enable her to live life to the fullest (Image: Roxy Murray)
The Alinker walking bike, a vibrant yellow "bundle of joy", is one of Roxy's favourites because it's a bold, striking conversation-starter, much more true to her as a person than a plain walking aid.
Importantly, it allows her to stand, sit and move at eye level to others, while enabling her to walk longer distances comfortably.
"I love bright yellow, I love leopard print, I love the wildest fashion, and I just get my mobility aids and fashion sense and pair them together," she said.
"It's a celebratory thing - I'm celebrating myself, celebrating my mobility, and I'm not having to lose myself or compromise on how I look.
"It's also changed the questions people ask me when I'm out. Instead of people just asking if I've sprained my foot because I'm using a grey NHS device, and them not really caring or giving me space, or understanding that there's a lot more going on, I'm having different conversations.
"No one can say I'm invisible anymore, because I'm really bright and colourful.
"Fashion has allowed me to show people: Yes, we've got to make adaptations, but we don't have to lose who we are and how we want to express ourselves. We don't have to be dull. We can be bright and beautiful."
Get London's biggest stories straight in your inbox
Do you want to stay up to date with the latest news, views, features and opinion from across the city?
MyLondon's brilliant newsletter The 12 is absolutely jam packed with all the latest to keep you keep you entertained, informed and uplifted.
You'll get 12 stories straight to your inbox at around 12pm. It’s the perfect lunchtime read.
And what's more - it's FREE!
The MyLondon team tells London stories for Londoners. Our journalists cover all the news you need - from City Hall to your local streets, so you'll never miss a moment.
|
Famous Person - Sick
| null | null |
1982 Ice Hockey World Championships
|
The 1982 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Finland from the 15 April to the 29 April. The games were played in Helsinki and Tampere. Eight teams took part, and each played each other once. The four best teams then played each other once more. This was the 48th World Championships, and also the 59th European Championships of ice hockey. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 18th time, and also won their 21st European Championship. The tournament is notable since Canada, reinforced by Wayne Gretzky after the Edmonton Oilers were shockingly knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by Los Angeles, would have won the silver if the Soviet team had won against Czechoslovakia in the final game. However, the teams tied the game 0–0. [1][2] Gretzky did score more points than any other player in the tournament (14), in his only appearance at the World Championships, but the Soviet Union's Viktor Shalimov was selected as the "Best Forward" of the tournament. [1]
Other notable events include: The Czechoslovaks lost to West Germany for the first time in forty-five years. [1] The Italians, by beating the Americans, became the first promoted team since the tournament expanded to eight, to survive relegation. [1] And they did so using seventeen Italian Canadians. [1]
The United States was relegated to Group B. Played in Klagenfurt March 18–27. Like the finals of Group A, Group B ended with controversy. After the Chinese had defeated the Dutch (relegating them), only a tie between Romania and Switzerland would offer China relegation. The "scandalous parody game" ended in a three all tie, with Romania having three head-to-head points, Switzerland two, and China one. [1]
East Germany was promoted to Group A, and both China and the Netherlands were relegated. Played in Jaca March 19–28. Both Japan and Yugoslavia were promoted to Group B. The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
TWA Flight 400 crash
|
On April 1, 1956, a Martin 4-0-4, registration #N40403, operating as TWA Flight 400, crashed on takeoff from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Twenty-two of the 36 people aboard the aircraft, including one crewmember, perished in the crash. [1]
Flight 400 was to be an IFR flight to Newark International Airport (EWR) in Newark, NJ. On this particular flight, the first officer was in the left seat, as he was being line-checked by the captain. As the aircraft became airborne, a sharp yaw was experienced while the first officer reduced power at an altitude of approximately 100 feet (30 m). Almost immediately, the fire warning light for the number one engine illuminated; however, the fire warning bell never sounded. At this point, the first officer is thought to have throttled down the number one engine. The captain had only noted the loss of power shown by the BMEP gauge, but never saw the fire warning light. He pulled the mixture to idle cutoff. As the first officer reached for the manual feathering button, the captain stopped him. The captain indicated that the autofeather device would feather the no. 1 prop. This never occurred, due to the throttle lever being retarded to a position aft of the switches that arm the auto-feathering system. The no. 1 prop created sufficient drag, causing the aircraft to continue to yaw to the left. At only 1,690 feet (515 m) past the runway's end, at 7:20 PM, the aircraft crashed. The fire warning appears to have been caused by an exhaust connector clamp failure. Hot exhaust gases were blown directly onto an overheat detector. Probable cause of the crash has been determined as: "Uncoordinated emergency action in the very short time available to the crew, which produced an aircraft configuration with insurmountable drag".
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Ex-principal who spent 33 years in prison for wife's murder fights to clear his name
|
Joe Bryan, a former Texas high school principal, spent more than three decades behind bars for the 1985 murder of his wife, Mickey Bryan. Out on parole, Bryan recently celebrated his 81st birthday, and he hopes to be exonerated for his wife’s death. “I'm not a killer. I didn't kill Mickey. I loved Mickey, she was my other self,” Bryan said. “I hope to be found actually innocent so it's really truly over with. Then for the first time in 34 years I can have a sigh of relief, and I can go visit Mickey's grave and tell her, ‘We know who did it.’” Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. ET on ABC Bryan said he and Mickey built “a wonderful life” together in Clifton, a small city in central Texas. He was the principal at Clifton High School and she was a fourth grade teacher at the local elementary school. “Mickey was the salt of the earth... very practical, very dependable,” Bryan said. “When you have your soulmate… and you love each other and you respect each other, it makes life wonderful.” The last time he spoke to Mickey, he said, was on the phone the night of Oct. 14, 1985. Bryan said he was at a principal’s conference in Austin, Texas, about 120 miles away at the time. “I said, ‘I love you and I'll see you tomorrow.’ She said, ‘I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow,’" and it didn't happen,” Bryan said. The following morning, Mickey Bryan didn’t show up for work. Eventually, her boss, the elementary school principal, decided to go over to her house, accompanied by her parents. They discovered her body in the bedroom. Mickey Bryan had been shot four times with a .357 caliber revolver loaded with snake shot rounds -- a round with a plastic cap filled with tiny lead pellets. The Bryans used a similar gun to kill rattlesnakes in their yard. At first police thought it was a possible burglary gone wrong. The Bryans had left their garage doors open and there were no signs of forced entry, but investigators discovered some jewelry and about $1,000 in cash missing. Bryan said he was in shock when a colleague pulled him out of the conference to tell him the news. “You don't want to admit that your life [has] totally changed, and that someone would have the audacity to go [into] our home and kill the most precious person in your life,” Bryan said. The town was rocked by Mickey Bryan’s killing. It was the second time in four months a gruesome murder had been committed in the tight-knit community. Judy Whitley, a 17-year-old sophomore at Clifton High School, was found raped and murdered in June 1985. Her body was left in a wooded area near a local grocery store. “She played in the band at the high school,” her sister Patricia Whitley told ABC News. “She liked to read… she was a good kid.” As the investigation of her death unfolded, the police got a tip from her friends that Judy allegedly kept a diary, which was rumored to be at her grandmother’s house. In the early morning on the day they planned to search her grandmother’s house, it mysteriously exploded before burning down while the grandmother was out of town. The Whitley case remained unsolved for years, but many wondered if the two murders were linked. When Mickey Bryan’s brother flew in from Florida for her funeral, he borrowed Joe Bryan’s car. He also asked a friend who was a former FBI agent and a private investigator to come to town to advise him on her murder investigation. While they were driving around discussing the case, they found a flashlight in the trunk with what authorities said appeared to be specks of blood and pieces of blue plastic on the lens that resembled bits of plastic found scattered around the crime scene. This was a time before DNA forensics, but the Texas Rangers crime lab determined that a speck of blood on the flashlight matched Mickey Bryan’s blood type and the plastic pieces matched the plastic from the snake shot found at the crime scene. The last time Joe Bryan had seen that flashlight, he said, was on the dresser in their bedroom. Two days later, Joe Bryan reported to police that he had found the missing cash in his car, saying that he forgot he and Mickey had taken the money with them for a shopping trip a few weeks earlier. But when the flashlight was discovered, investigators searched his car and didn’t find the money. On Oct. 23, 1985, just eight days after Mickey Bryan was killed, police arrested Joe Bryan and charged him with murder. At trial, prosecutors argued Bryan left his conference, drove home, killed his wife and returned to Austin. One motive, suggested by the lead investigator, was that Joe Bryan killed Mickey for a life insurance payout. Prosecutors leaned heavily on the flashlight evidence and the testimony of Robert Thorman, a police detective called in by the Texas Rangers who had received bloodstain pattern analysis training -- a relatively new forensic discipline at the time. Thorman testified that in his opinion, the killer held the revolver and the flashlight at the same time when he committed the murder. The revolver has never been recovered. “Thorman also testified that the killer would have to have changed his clothes and his shoes in order not to leave a bloody trail,” said Matt Murphy, a former prosecutor and ABC News consultant. “So the implication was that if it was your bedroom, your clothes and your shoes, it would be easy to change and that implicated Joe Bryan.” Bryan and his defense attorneys argued it was impossible for Bryan to do a roundtrip from Austin to Clifton, commit the murder and get back in time for the conference. He has always maintained he was asleep in his hotel room when his wife was killed. But Bryan was convicted of first-degree murder in April 1986 and sentenced to the maximum penalty of 99 years in prison. Man convicted of wife’s 1985 murder, his family recalls impact of life in prison “Everything you've worked for has been taken from you,” Bryan said, reflecting on the verdict. “Everything you love has been taken from you. Everything materially that you had been taken from you. All you have is just yourself.” He appealed his conviction and it was overturned because the judge had erred by not allowing additional testimony about Mickey Bryan's life insurance policy, which was worth half the amount that had been stated in court. Prosecutors decided to try him again. The trial was moved to another town, but was overseen by the same judge, and again, prosecutors leaned heavily on the flashlight evidence and Thorman’s testimony. Bryan was convicted a second time and spent the next three decades behind bars. As Bryan served his sentence, the late Leon Smith, a publisher and editor at the local newspaper, The Clifton Record, reached out to him in the 1990s for an interview. Smith was looking into the Whitley cold case and wondered if it was linked to the Bryan case. Former Clifton police officer Dennis Dunlap had been with the force for a few months in 1985 when Whitley was killed. He was considered a suspect in her murder, but there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him, according to Kenneth Fields, another former Clifton police officer who worked with him.In 1991, Smith began corresponding with Dunlap through letters, asking him about the murder. “On my last letter to him, I mentioned points in which he was considered a suspect to Judy Whitley's murder,” Smith told ABC News in his last interview before he died last year. Dunlap flatly denied having any involvement. In April 1996, he killed himself. After his death, police interviewed one of Dunlap’s ex-wives, who said he worried he was going to be contacted by investigators for a crime that occurred when he was working in Clifton, and that he told a friend he had killed Whitley. She said Dunlap also told her he had dated “the lady” that “the principal murdered.” “All he told me was that he dated her. He was dating that lady… he was going, I want to say, I'm not for sure, he dropped her off that night or that evening” she was killed, she said to police. Texas residents remember 'pure evil' they encountered with 1985 murder case suspect Authorities tried to pursue a posthumous indictment of Dunlap for Whitley’s murder but were unsuccessful. The Clifton Police Department announced in 1999 that Dunlap was responsible for Whitley’s death and they considered the case cleared. Although authorities never tied Dunlap to Mickey Bryan’s murder, Joe Bryan and his family are convinced Dunlap is the one who killed his wife. “I believe that if the Clifton Police Department and the Texas Rangers, along with the justice system, would have arrested Dennis Dunlap for the murder of Judy Whitley, Mickey would still be alive today, and my uncle obviously would not be in jail,” said Bryan’s niece Cindy Bryan. To this day, prosecutors maintain Bryan killed his wife and they put the right man behind bars. Mickey Bryan's sister Penny Blue told ABC News she still believes he committed the crime. Over the years, Bryan and his defense team made more attempts to have his conviction overturned, but have been unsuccessful. As DNA technology became available, the specks of blood on the flashlight were retested in 2012 and 2018 but the results were inconclusive. In 2016, Bryan’s defense team filed a complaint with the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which reviewed Thorman’s analysis and testimony from 1985 and ruled that his testimony was unreliable. Blood spatter expert Celestina Rossi testified that Throman’s testimony in the original trials was “false, it’s unscientific, and... the most horrifying thing I’ve ever read in my life.” During a 2018 evidentiary hearing, Bryan’s legal team presented new evidence, including the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s rulings, in an attempt to secure a new trial. Thorman submitted a written affidavit saying, “some of my techniques and methodology were incorrect. Therefore, some of my testimony was not correct.” But in his affidavit, he continued, “in no way did I lie in my report or testimony, as I was doing what I thought was correct as a result of my training at the time.” Bryan’s defense also pointed to Dunlap as the possible killer of Mickey Bryan, and introduced the statements made by Dunlap’s ex-wife in her interview with police as evidence. Prosecutors rejected that Dunlap was an alternate suspect and argued that the ex-wife’s recollection years later was “spotty, uncertain and inaccurate.” They pointed to other evidence that they said tied Joe Bryan to Mickey’s murder. Ultimately, the court sided with the prosecution, deciding not to grant a new trial and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Bryan’s conviction. The wild twists in Bryan’s story were the inspiration for John Grisham’s 2019 book, “The Guardians.” The famous crime thriller novelist said he believes Bryan is innocent and “was struck by... the really incredibly sloppy science that was given to the jury,” referring to Thorman’s testimony. “I think a just ending to Joe's story is to tell the story of who killed... his beloved wife Mickey, the woman he loved, that would be a great ending,” Grisham said. Over the years, Joe was denied parole seven times. His eighth parole attempt, however, was successful and Bryan was released on March 31, 2020. Although his murder conviction remains in place, Bryan is grateful to be outside of prison walls and is still fighting for full exoneration. He plays the piano when he can and attends church regularly. He has faith that one day he and his wife will be reunited. ”Mickey loved life,” Bryan said. “She and I were a real good match... I've got a big picture of her in my bedroom, of the two of us together, and sometimes I catch myself talking to the picture [and I say] ‘I'm ready to see you. I can't wait to see you again.’”
|
Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
| null | null |
3rd Lovelady Bank robbery suspect arrested in Houston
|
HOUSTON, TX (KTRE) - A suspect in the December Lovelady Bank robbery has been arrested in Houston on unrelated charges, according to Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers. Demetrius Wheeler, 25, is being held at the Harris County Jail for possession with intent to deliver and motion to provoke parole. Wheeler has a Trinity County charge for evading arrest with a motor vehicle and a Houston County charge for first-degree aggravated robbery. Two Lovelady State Bank employees were pistol-whipped during the robbery, according to a bank official. Three men robbed the bank on December, 17, 2015 before heading south on State Highway 19. A deputy with the Trinity County Sheriff's Office caught up to them and they bailed out of the car, holding handguns. The deputy fired his, gun at them and one of the robbers collapsed and was arrested. Two of the four suspects related to the robbery, Allus Bernard Hubbard Jr.,27, and Alonso Donell Irving, 27, of Houston, have already been arrested. The fourth suspect, Ryan Glenn Scott, 26, is still at large, according to Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers. A robbery warrant has been issued for Scott, who is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 190 pounds. According to Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers, Scott has ties to the Kemah area of Galveston County. Anyone with any information about Scott's current whereabouts is urged to call Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers at (936) 639-TIPS. People can also visit the Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers Website to leave a tip. "Calls and tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward if the information leads to an arrest," stated a post on the Crime Stoppers Wesbite.
|
Bank Robbery
| null | null |
North Complex fire
|
The North Complex Fire was a massive wildfire complex that burned in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California in the counties of Plumas and Butte. [2] 21 fires were started by lightning on August 17, 2020; by September 5, all the individual fires had been put out with the exception of the Claremont and Bear Fires, which merged on that date, and the Sheep Fire, which was then designated a separate incident. On September 8, strong winds caused the Bear/Claremont Fire to explode in size, rapidly spreading to the southwest. On September 8, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls were immediately evacuated at 3:15 PM PDT with no prior warning, By September 9, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls had been leveled, with few homes left standing. The fire threatened the city of Oroville, before its westward spread was stopped. The fire killed 16 people and injured more than 100. Among the 16 fatalities was a 16-year-old boy. [3] The complex burned an estimated 318,935 acres (129,068 ha), and was 100% contained on December 3rd. [1] The fire was managed by the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with Cal Fire, with the primary incident base in Quincy. The North Complex Fire was the sixth-largest in California's modern history,[4] and the deadliest fire in the 2020 California wildfire season. [5]
On August 17, 2020, dry thunderstorms sparked 21 wildfires in the Plumas National Forest and Lassen National Forest, the largest of which were the Claremont and Bear Fires along the canyon of the Middle Fork Feather River. The storms came from a large plume of moisture from Tropical Storm Fausto that were carried into California, which started hundreds of wildfires simultaneously across Northern and Central California. By August 22, 16 of the original 21 fires had been contained. [6] The Sheep Fire near Susanville was originally included as part of the North Complex,[7] but on September 5, it was assigned to a separate incident. [8] The Sheep Fire burned about 29,570 acres (11,970 ha), before it was fully contained on September 9. [9]
The Claremont Fire was spotted around 9:00 AM PDT on August 17. [10] The fire originated along Claremont Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork just south of Quincy, and quickly jumped the ridge northwards towards American Valley. On August 20 an evacuation advisory was issued for East Quincy[11] which was quickly changed to a mandatory evacuation for East Quincy and residents along Quincy-La Porte Road. On August 22 the fire jumped California State Route 70 at the Massack Rest Area southeast of Quincy. [6] On August 23, aided by high winds, the fire began advancing rapidly east forcing Spring Garden and Greenhorn to be evacuated. [12] The fire threatened State Route 70 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, shutting both down intermittently for several days. On August 27, the Claremont Fire was at 20,697 acres (8,376 ha) and 47 percent contained. [13] Mandatory evacuations were lifted in East Quincy, but with continued strong west winds, Greenhorn and Sloat to the east were evacuated on August 28. [14] On August 30 crews conducted backfire operations on the eastern side of the fire and prevented it from spreading towards Spring Garden and Cromberg. [15] On September 1 mandatory evacuations were lifted for Quincy-La Porte Road. [16] On September 5, with fire activity much lower on the eastern sides, evacuation orders were lifted for Spring Garden, Greenhorn, Sloat and Cromberg. [17] On the morning of August 31, the North Complex Fire was at 22,780 acres (9,220 ha), and 59 percent contained. [18] On the morning of September 4 it had grown to 24,330 acres (9,850 ha), and containment had dropped to 49 percent. [19]
The Bear Fire was also spotted around 9:00 AM on August 17,[20] in the Middle Fork canyon west of the Claremont Fire near the Pacific Crest Trail. The fire started in rough, roadless country along the Wild and Scenic section of the Middle Fork. An effort was made to staff the fire on August 18, but an increase in fire activity forced fire crews to withdraw. After that point, because of limited firefighting resources, the Bear Fire was left unstaffed because it wasn’t immediately a threat to people or property, it was in steep, rugged terrain, and resources were scarce due to the fires burning across the state. Efforts were concentrated on the Claremont Fire. [21] By August 23, it was at 1,661 acres (672 ha). [22] On August 26, some areas around Bucks Lake were placed under evacuation advisory due to increased fire activity on the Bear Fire. [23] Crews also were working on containment line to the northeast as the fire expanded slightly towards Quincy. [24] By August 31 it had grown to 9,570 acres (3,870 ha), and was still 0 percent contained. [18] On the morning of September 4 it was at 12,154 acres (4,919 ha), and was 29 percent contained. [19]
While crews concentrated on structure protection and building containment line around the perimeter of the fires, the unpopulated area between the Claremont and Bear fires was allowed to burn naturally with the help of backfiring operations,[25] and the two fires merged on September 5,[26] at a combined 39,779 acres (16,098 ha). A total of 1,386 personnel were assigned to the fire. [27] The southern boundary of the fire was mostly held along the Middle Fork, and crews worked to build secondary containment lines south of the river. [28] Flames crossed the river in a few areas but were quickly contained. On the morning of September 8 a dry cold front moved in, bringing strong northeast winds and threatening the incomplete containment line along the river. [29] At about 10:00 AM, the fire jumped the river near Horshoe Bend and began heading rapidly southwest. With winds gusting to 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), the spot fire had grown to 1,000 acres (400 ha) within an hour, and by 3 PM it had grown to more than 20,000 acres (8,100 ha). At 11:50 AM, mandatory evacuations were issued for La Porte and Little Grass Valley Reservoir. [30] As winds picked up throughout the day, evacuation orders were issued by 3:25 PM for several communities in Butte County including Feather Falls, Clipper Mills, Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Woodleaf and Forbestown, and around Miners Ranch Road and California State Route 162. [31] Evacuation orders were also effective in Yuba County for residents along La Porte Road, New York Flat Road, and around Brownsville and New Bullards Bar Reservoir. [32][33] By the afternoon of September 8 the fire had burned more than 58,000 acres (23,000 ha). At 11:00 PM PDT, Kelly Ridge and Copley Hills, near Lake Oroville, were evacuated, as officials predicted strong winds would lead to continuing extreme fire behavior.
|
Fire
| null | null |
1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash
|
The 1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash occurred on 17 February 1959, near London Gatwick Airport to a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount Type 793 (registration TC-SEV) on an international charter flight from Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, to London Heathrow Airport United Kingdom, carrying the Turkish prime minister and a party of government officials. The Viscount crashed in a wood 3 miles (4.8 km) from the threshold of Gatwick runway during its final approach to land in extensive fog. Five of the eight crew and nine of the 16 passengers died in the crash. The prime minister was among the ten survivors. Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, accompanied by a Turkish delegation, was on his way to the British capital to sign the London Agreement on the Cyprus issue with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Greek Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis, which gave the three sides the right to intervene in Cyprus in case peace was broken by any of the parties. [1]
The special flight departed from Ankara Esenboğa International Airport bound for London Heathrow Airport via Istanbul Atatürk International Airport (IATA: IST, ICAO: LTBA) and Rome Ciampino Airport (IATA: CIA, ICAO: LIRA). The aircraft left its last stopover, Rome, at 13:02 hrs and called London Airways[clarification needed] at 15:56 hrs over Abbeville, just before leaving French airspace. TC-SEV was cleared by air traffic control to the Epsom Radio Range station, the holding fix for London Airport. Over Epsom range at 16:21 hrs, the Turkish Airlines captain was instructed by the London Airport Commandant to divert to Gatwick due to poor visibility at Heathrow. TC-SEV, cruising at 6,000 feet (1,800 m), left Epsom at 16:27 hrs for Mayfield, East Sussex, the holding point for Gatwick. The airport's approach control informed the pilot that it would be positioned by radar for an ILS approach to the easterly Runway 09. The latest actual weather conditions observed at Gatwick Airport were surface wind calm, visibility 1,800 yards (1,600 m), mist, no low cloud, and shallow ground fog patches of only 1 foot (0.30 m) to 5 feet (1.5 m) in depth. The weather reported to the aircraft was "surface wind calm, visibility one decimal one nautical miles, mist, three oktas at eight hundred feet, the QFE one zero three six", which was acknowledged by the pilot. At 16:34 hrs, the pilot was instructed to descend to a holding pattern at 4,000 feet (1,200 m) on reaching Mayfield NDB and to steer a course of 280 degrees and then to continue to descend to 2,000 feet (610 m). Turned on to the ILS approach path, TC-SEV overshot the centre line slightly. At 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) from touchdown, the aircraft affirmed that it could continue on the ILS. At 16:38 hrs, the captain was requested a change to tower frequency and this was acknowledged. It was the last communication with the aircraft. The aircraft was visible along the approach path centre line on the radar screen towards the runway until it disappeared about 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) from the threshold. It was assumed that the aircraft had crashed since no reply was received to radio calls to the aircraft. The aircraft had flown into the top of trees 390 feet (120 m) AMSL at the edge of Jordan's Wood east of the Newdigate-Rusper road[2] on a heading parallel to the approach path to Runway 09 at Gatwick. The aircraft lost its wings and had its engines torn off as it descended at an angle of about 6 degrees from the horizontal 300 yards (270 m) through the woods, and touched the ground with its wheels. After rising again slightly the main part of the wreckage landed upside down with trees embedded in the mangled fuselage about 100 yards (91 m) further on, after which it caught fire. The rear part of the fuselage came to rest upside down and remained untouched by fire. Shortly after, an explosion occurred in the main fuselage. The accident site was located 2.8 nautical miles (5.2 km) from the runway threshold and 550 feet (170 m) to the north of the approach path centre line. This was the first air disaster in which Turkish Airlines was involved. Gatwick Airport alerted the local fire and rescue services, and soon it was confirmed that the aircraft had crashed in the area in which it had disappeared from the radar screen. Peter Weller, a gardener at the Newdigate Chaffold farm, and his two colleagues noticed the crash. He asked one of his friends to ride on a bike to the next police station to report the accident. He and his other friend rushed to the scene and tried to rescue the victims. Shortly after 17:00 hrs another local resident, Margaret Bailey, who was a trained nurse, and her husband Tony were at the crash site. The resulting fire was put out by three divisions of Surrey Fire Brigade, despite thick fog. The survivors were screaming as they tried to leave the wreckage. Turkish Premier Adnan Menderes, who was seated at a left window seat in the rear passenger cabin, survived the crash with only light scratches to his face, hanging in an upside-down position with his foot stuck in the floor. He was helped by Rıfat Kadıoğlu, who freed his foot and unbuckled his safety belt. He was then taken out of the wreckage by Kadıoğlu and Şefik Fenmen. Another survivor, Melih Esenbel, joined the group outside. Menderes sat in shock witnessing his company burn. [3]
While Tony Bailey was engaged in helping the other victims, his wife took Menderes and two other survivors by car to her farmhouse 200 yards (180 m) away and gave first aid. [4] Menderes was transferred to The London Clinic 90 minutes later. He signed the London Agreement on 19 February 1959, in the hospital. He returned home on 26 February 1959, and was welcomed by his archrival İsmet İnönü and a huge crowd. Other casualties were treated at hospitals in East Grinstead, Redhill and Dorking. The bodies of the victims were transferred to Turkey and buried on 22 February 1959. A memorial to the victims is located in the Turkish Airforce plot at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. The following facts were ascertained:
The investigation concluded that:
the evidence was insufficient to establish the cause of the accident. There was no indication however that this can be associated either with a technical failure of the aircraft or with a failure of the ground services. [5]
An aftercast of the probable weather conditions on the approach to Gatwick from 10 miles (16 km) west to the threshold of Runway 09 was surface wind calm or light westerly and the ground almost entirely covered with fog from the western limit of the area under consideration to about 2.5 miles (4.0 km)-3 miles (4.8 km) from the threshold of runway. The top of the fog was about 650 feet (200 m) to 700 feet (210 m) and the visibility within it varied from about 30 yards (27 m) to 200 yards (180 m) possible with few transient isolated breaks.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Ebola Vaccine Effective in African Clinical Trial
|
TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental Ebola vaccine appeared effective in children and adults in a clinical trial. Two doses of Johnson & Johnson's Ebola vaccine appear safe, well tolerated and produce a strong immune response in people over the age of 1, according to two just-published papers. The trial was conducted in the West African nation of Sierra Leone. "Working in tandem with Sierra Leone colleagues and the local communities, this is the first published study to evaluate this two-dose vaccine regime in a randomized controlled trial in children," said study leader Dr. Muhammed Afolabi, an assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). "The results show that this vaccine regimen has the potential to save many young lives," he said in a school news release. The EBOVAC-Salone study provides evidence for the potential of the two-dose regimen as a way to prevent Ebola in children and adults. Researchers found that it was well tolerated and induced antibody responses 21 days after the second dose in 98% of participants. The immune responses persisted in adults for at least two years. During a 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, West Africa had nearly 29,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. About 20% of cases were in children under age 15, and those under 5 had a higher risk of dying than adults, researchers noted. The disease causes fever, aches, pains and unexplained hemorrhaging, bleeding or bruising. "This study represents important progress in the development of an Ebola virus disease vaccine regimen for children, and contributes to the public health preparedness and response for Ebola outbreaks," Afolabi said. For the study, 43 adults received the Ad26.ZEBOV vaccine followed by the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine after 56 days. In the next stage, 400 adults and 576 children and teens were vaccinated with either that regimen or a single dose of a meningococcal vaccine followed by placebo on day 57. Adults participating in the first stage of the study were offered a booster dose of Ad26.ZEBOV two years after the first dose. Researchers reported it induced a strong immune response within a week. "To protect people from Ebola, we will need a range of effective interventions," said co-author Dr. Daniela Manno of LSHTM. "These findings support the additional strategy of providing an Ad26.ZEBOV booster to previously immunized individuals at the start of an Ebola virus disease outbreak." The findings contributed to the approval and marketing of the two-dose Ebola vaccine regimen in July 2020 by the European Medicines Agency, for both children and adults. It also contributed to prequalification in April 2021 by the World Health Organization (WHO). "The threat of future Ebola virus disease outbreaks is real and it's important to remember that this disease has definitely not gone away," said co-author Deborah Watson-Jones, a professor at LSHTM. "Despite the additional global challenges around COVID-19, we must not slow down efforts to find effective ways of preventing Ebola virus epidemics and, should outbreaks occur, of containing them rapidly." Vaccines have a key role in meeting both objectives, she added. In May, Johnson & Johnson said it would donate thousands of Ebola vaccine regimens in support of a WHO early access program. The program was launched in response to an outbreak in Guinea and aimed at preventing Ebola in West Africa. The findings were published Sept. 13 in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
In joint statement, Quad leaders denounce use of 'terrorist proxies' in South Asia
|
Meanwhile, PM Modi will address the General Debate of the 76th Session of the UNGA today. The theme for this year’s General Debate is ‘Building Resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations.
New Delhi Updated on: September 25, 2021 9:28 IST
URL copied
Image Source : PTI
Washington: President Joe Biden speaks during the Quad summit in the East Room of the White House
Leaders of the Quad countries -- the US, India, Australia and Japan -- have denounced the use of "terrorist proxies" in South Asia, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, as they emphasised the importance of denying any support to terrorist groups which could be used to launch or plan terror attacks, including cross-border attacks.
In a joint statement issued after their first in-person Quad summit at the White House on Friday, US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison said they will closely coordinate their diplomatic, economic and human-rights policies towards Afghanistan and will deepen their counter-terrorism and humanitarian cooperation in South Asia.
“We denounce the use of terrorist proxies and emphasised the importance of denying any logistical, financial or military support to terrorist groups which could be used to launch or plan terror attacks, including cross-border attacks,” the joint statement said.
The Quad leaders reaffirm that the Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts. They also reiterate the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.
“We stand together in support of Afghan nationals, and call on the Taliban to provide safe passage to any person wishing to leave Afghanistan, and to ensure that the human rights of all Afghans, including women, children, and minorities are respected,” the joint statement said.
Pakistan's neighbours, including Afghanistan, and the US have long accused Islamabad of providing safe haven and support to militants, a charge denied by it.
Prime Minister Morrison later told reporters that their discussions around security began with Afghanistan, and particularly focusing on how they can continue to help people who wish to leave Afghanistan, and become part of their humanitarian programmes and holding the Taliban to account to ensure that they can leave safely.
Modi was the first leader invited by host President Biden to address the first in-person Quad gathering in the East Room of the White House.
In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.
|
Diplomatic Visit
| null | null |
A Western Massachusetts school canceled classes due to confirmed cases of COVID-19
|
Less than a week into the school year, a Western Massachusetts school canceled classes due to confirmed cases of COVID-19. Farmington River Elementary School, a Berkshire County school with just over 100 children enrolled, closed Friday while awaiting testing results of students and staff. The elementary school began the 2021-2022 school year on Monday. The school year began with COVID protocols set in place last month by state education officials. A mask mandate for all Massachusetts public school students and staff went into effect last Wednesday. “Effective immediately, public school students (age 5 and above) and staff in all grades are required to wear masks indoors in schools,” the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said in a statement. “Masks are not required when outdoors. All visitors are also expected to wear a mask in school buildings.” The mandate will remain in effect until at least Oct. 1, at which point “the Commissioner will revisit the requirement in the near future to revise it as warranted by public health data,” the department said. “The mask requirement is an important additional measure to keep students safe in school at this time,” Following this decision, a similar measure was enacted for day care centers and after school programs. The Board of Early Education and Care voted unanimously this week to align its masking policies with the COVID regulations set in place for public K-12 schools. Starting Sept. 7, all staff and children age 5 and older enrolled in state-licensed day care, after-school and out-of-school programs are required to wear a mask indoors. Children between the ages of 2 and 5 are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings as well. The early education decision was placed in effect without an end date while K-12 schools may see a shift in policies come Oct. 1. Staff and students in Massachusetts middle and high schools can forgo masks starting in October if they have a vaccination rate of at least 80%. The mask mandate would remain in effect for unvaccinated employees and students. The Food and Drug Administration granted authorization for the Pfizer COVID vaccine for children as young as 12 years old in May. In the months since, 65% of children ages 12 to 15 in Massachusetts have received at least one dose, as have 68% of individuals ages 16 to 19, according to data from the state Department of Public Health as of Aug. 17.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
‘Ring of fire’ to be first solar eclipse of 2021
|
This NASA file photo shows a view of a solar eclipse as it would have ben seen from Europe on the morning of March 20, 2015, as captured by ESA’s Sun-watching Proba-2 minisatellite. The 'ring of fire' solar eclipse on June 10, 2021, could look similar to some parts of the world.ESA/Proba-2 3,725 By Justine Lofton | jlofton@mlive.com The first solar eclipse of 2021 will appear as a “ring of fire” shining from behind a dark circle from some parts of Earth, EarthSky reports . On the morning of Thursday, June 10, the new moon will pass between the Earth and Sun, causing a solar eclipse, the report said. However, the moon is too far from Earth to fully cover the Sun so its outer rim will not be hidden from view. Parts of Canada, Greenland, Siberia and the Arctic Ocean will see the annular eclipse, often described as a “ring of fire” eclipse, the report said. For Michiganders, it will be a partial eclipse with 80% of the sun’s left side covered by the Moon. The eclipse will begin at 5:58 a.m. and end at 6:37 a.m. on June 10. Those with an unobstructed view toward the east will see a fiery crescent at sunrise. Find exact times and eclipse magnitude for your location here . It is unsafe to look directly at the sun unless you have special eclipse glasses for eye protection.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
TWA Flight 840 hijacking crash
|
International incidents
TWA Flight 840 was a Trans World Airlines flight from Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome, Italy to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, that was hijacked on 29 August 1969. There were no fatalities although at least two passengers were lightly wounded and the aircraft was significantly damaged. Two hostages were held for two months. [3]
In August 1969, leaders in the Palestinian left-wing organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) learned that Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli Ambassador to the United States, was scheduled to be aboard a Trans World Airlines (TWA) Rome-Athens-Tel Aviv flight. Late that month (on the 29th), two operatives, Leila Khaled and Salim Issawi, hijacked the aircraft. Rabin was not aboard, but American diplomat Thomas D. Boyatt was. The hijackers made the pilots land the aircraft at Damascus International Airport in Syria. They evacuated the aircraft, a Boeing 707, and blew up the nose section of the aircraft. The Syrian authorities arrested the hijackers and immediately released the 12 crew members and 95 passengers, retaining at first six Israeli passengers. Of those, four were released on the 30th. The remaining two Israeli passengers were released in December in return for 71 Syrian and Egyptian soldiers released by Israel. The two Palestinian hijackers had been released without charges in mid-October. [4]
The aircraft sustained $4 million in damage. [5] Boeing repaired the aircraft, fitting the nose section diverted from the production line at Renton and outfitted to the aircraft's specifications. [6][7] The aircraft was re-registered N28714 and returned to service. [1] In March 1980, the aircraft was withdrawn from service and flown to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for use as spares for the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet of the United States Air Force. The aircraft's registration was canceled in March 1984. [1]
Thomas Boyatt has received many medals and awards for his bravery and heroism during the hijacking, including a Meritorious Honor Award. [8]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Oklahoma man sentenced to a four-year federal prison sentence in the death of children, ages 4 and 3
|
by: Sheila Stogsdill TULSA – An Oklahoma man was sentenced Monday to four years after his two children died from extreme heat exposure. U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Dustin Lee Dennis, 33, of Tulsa. The four-year federal sentence is followed by five years of supervised release. Dennis fell asleep in his pick-up truck on June 13, 2020. He woke up and discovered the children, ages 3 and 4, deceased in the vehicle’s back seat. The two children were left unsupervised for more than four hours, at which time they gained access to Dennis’ parked vehicle, said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson in a prepared statement. Dennis pleaded guilty on July 13 to two counts of child neglect in Indian Country. The victims were citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and the crime occurred within the boundaries of the Muscogee Nation Reservation. In his plea agreement, Dennis admitted that while caring for his children on June 12 and 13, 2020, he got high on cocaine and stayed up playing video games. Surveillance footage showed the two children trying to get into Dennis’ truck at 1:22 pm when the vehicle’s alarm went off. They attempted a second time at 1:29 pm and successfully gained access to the truck. The video later captured Dennis exiting his apartment and searching for his children approximately four hours later, at 5:32 pm. Within minutes he discovered the children deceased in the truck. Dennis and his brother, Michael Dennis, discussed purchasing and using cocaine days before the death of the children. Michael Dennis pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance on July 29 and was sentenced Monday to 18 months of probation.
|
Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
| null | null |
Offside
|
Updated 10:58 pm
Very cloudy
Canadian Damian Warner has officially made history, winning a gold medal in the decathlon event, picking up an Olympic record along the way.
Culminating with a performance in the 1500m that was more ceremonial than anything, Warner became Olympic champion with an awe-inspiring display of all-around strength, speed, endurance, and athleticism in what’s considered one of the world’s hardest competitions.
WELCOME TO THE 9,000 CLUB, DAMIAN WARNER ??
Canada’s Damian Warner has won GOLD in the decathlon ?
He has surpassed the elusive 9,000 points mark and set a new Olympic record pic.twitter.com/JGEly8b93U
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 5, 2021
Here are Warner’s scores in each of his ten decathlon events in Tokyo en route to the record:
Former Canadian Olympian kayaker Adam van Koeverden noted last night on his Instagram feed that Warner’s 100m time alone could’ve qualified him for the final, while his long jump could have won him the bronze. It’s hard to call Warner anything other than one of the world’s greatest athletes with a skillset like that.
Performance of a lifetime, @DamianWarner ???#TeamCanada pic.twitter.com/uzaGftzmKy
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) August 5, 2021
Warner finished with 9018 points, as he was just the fourth decathlete in history to top 9,000 points.
Damian Warner picked up a pencil and put his name in the history books ??✏️
The moment Damian Warner learned he was the fourth decathlete in history to ever score more than 9,000 points pic.twitter.com/pT1xhb6xVG
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
UNWFP warns 3 million more now 'teetering on the edge of famine'
|
ANI Last Updated at November 8, 2021 10:01 IST The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday that the number of people teetering on the edge of in 43 countries, has risen to 45 million as acute hunger spikes around the world. This number has risen from 42 million earlier in the year, and 27 million in 2019, the agency said, in a news release. The increase is based on those who desperately living within the official hunger classification of IPC4 and above, in Afghanistan, alongside other increases 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," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. He was speaking following a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, where WFP is ramping up its support to assist almost 23 million people in need 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 said that together with humanitarian partners in hunger hotspots across the world, they are doing everything possible to increase aid for millions who risk starvation. However, available resources are unable to keep pace with demand, at a time when traditional funding streams are under huge strain. WFP estimates that the cost of averting globally now stands at $ 7 billion, up from some 6.6 billion, earlier in the year. "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 agency said families facing acute food insecurity, are being forced to make "devastating choices to cope with the rising hunger." A vulnerability analysis across the 43 countries surveyed, shows families being forced to eat less, or skip meals entirely. Sometimes children are being fed, while parents sacrifice meals, and are forced to go hungry. In Madagascar, where pockets of are already a reality, some are being forced to eat locusts, wild leaves, or cactus to survive. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
Famine
| null | null |
COVID cases dip as city sees only 35 infections
|
The city reported no new COVID-19 death in 24 hours for the third consecutive day and the total number of deaths stood at 25,082, as per a bulletin released by the Delhi government on Friday. Also, 35 new cases were reported, taking the total cases to 14,37,874. A total of 63,812 tests were done in a day and the test positivity rate (TPR) was 0.05%. Of the total cases, 14,12,430 people have recovered and there are only 362 active cases. As many as 83 people are under home isolation. The number of containment zones in the city fell to 131 from 141 on Thursday, the bulletin added. The COVID-19 vaccine stock of the city on Friday morning would last for two days, as per another bulletin. Delhi had a balance stock of 5,16,720 vaccine doses, of which 3,73,370 are Covishield and 1,43,350 are Covaxin, according to the bulletin. A total of 1,53,745 vaccine doses were administered on Thursday of which 1,06,672 were first doses and 47,073 second doses, it said. The cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the Capital so far is 1,37,85,457, including 39,41,416 second jabs.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
Damian Warner wins Olympic gold in decathlon: Canadian finishes with Games record of 9,018 points
|
Canada’s Damian Warner isn’t just leaving Tokyo with a gold medal. He’s leaving his name all over the Olympic history books, too TOKYO — Canada’s Damian Warner had just made history in the hardest event on the Olympic itinerary, and at the hottest Summer Games on record.
Of course he was thinking about ice cream.
After his wire-to-wire win, after his record-setting scores, after becoming just the fourth decathlete to ever bust the 9,000-point barrier and the first to achieve that feat in this spotlight, the gold medallist deserved as many scoops as he could stomach.
“It’s weird because I think a lot of people now write stuff like, ‘Oh, if Damian runs this or scores this, he could score that,’ ” Warner grinned after completing this two-day drain — 10 different track and field disciplines — with 9,018 points, a new Olympic standard. “But those aren’t always the conversations that we’re having. Sometimes, we’re just walking through like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to the village and have some cake or ice cream.’ ”
As the 31-year-old prepared for this historic performance, there were days that ice cream was the last thing he wanted.
After the pandemic hit and as the weather started to turn, Warner had no indoor training option. Then, someone heard about an unused rink in his hometown of London, Ont., the dressing rooms so small that the place would remain shuttered because it simply wouldn’t be possible for hockey teams to follow the distancing guidelines.
“The oldest one in the city,” clarified Warner’s longtime coach, Gar Leyshon. “The coldest, draftiest one in the city.”
This would, believe it or not, be transformed into a golden training ground. They laid down sheet-metal and rubber flooring. They built a long jump pit and managed to find a raised runway for pole vault. They dangled netting from the rafters for the throwing events, and Canada’s best decathlete learned that after sprinting about 40 metres, he’d better slam on the brakes and try to ease into the padding. Same deal for hurdles. For several months over the winter, this would have to suffice.
Warner oozes positivity, and the nicest thing he could come up with in his golden moment was that the makeshift facility was “serviceable.” As he put it, “It almost felt like your dreams were walking away from you, and you couldn’t do anything about it.”
“At one point, in the darkest of days, we were trying to pole vault and his feet were too cold. He could barely feel his toes,” Leyshon recalled. “And his hands, he couldn’t even hold the pole. And he was like, ‘What are we doing here?’ He said that. He said, ‘This isn’t training for a gold medal.’ I said, ‘Damian, this is all we have.’ ”
Now, he has a gold medal and several Olympic records. He bettered the previous decathlon benchmark in three of the 10 events — with a 10.12-second sprint in the 100-metre dash, with a leap of 8.24 metres in long jump and with a clocking of 13.46 seconds in the 110-metre hurdles.
Kevin Mayer of France ultimately scored silver with 8,726 points, while Australia’s Ashley Moloney earned bronze with 8,649. There had been hopes of a decathlon double for Team Canada but Pierce LePage wound up fifth, still mighty impressive for an Olympic rookie with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
Warner, it’s worth noting, was fifth at London 2012, his first trip to the Summer Games. He earned bronze in Rio in 2016.
“When I was younger, my mom told me, ‘You can do anything you set your mind to,’ ” said Warner, who welcomed his first child in March. “And it’s true. I’ve showed myself that today.”
In an interview that lasted nearly 20 minutes, the class-act decathlete didn’t mention himself all that often. He instead gushed about his family, about the support of Leyshon and physiotherapist Dave Zelibka in the stands, about Dennis Nielsen and his other coaches back home, about his rivals even.
“This is the hottest Olympics of all-time, and these last two days were crazy to manage,” Warner said. “I mean, when we were out there in pole vault, every single time I would pick up the pole, it was burning. I’d have to go on the ground to move my mark and I’d burn my knee. It was like, ‘What are we doing?’ And then we’d go in the shade and the shade is hot … What are you supposed to do when the shade is hot?
“But it’s Gar and Dave, the staff at Athletics Canada for bringing the ice vest and getting us the water and the electrolytes and lugging the luggage around and sticking to the bus schedules and all that. I’m out there competing for 10 different events, but those guys are working really hard behind the scenes. Gar had his little pedometer and I think he walked 25,000 or 30,000 steps today, and I imagine Dave walked 60,000 steps. It’s crazy to me to think that I’m just one individual and I’ve had so many people throughout my whole life, my whole career, do whatever they can to make my dreams come true.
“I don’t know why I’m so privileged and so lucky to have so many people support me, but I promise I won’t take it for granted.”
Warner didn’t leave a lot of drama for Day 2 of the decathlon competition in Tokyo. During Thursday’s evening session, the end of this gruelling grind, he chucked a javelin a season-high 63.44 metres and sealed his victory with a 4:31.08 cruise in the 1,500m.
He probably could have run that race with an ice-cream cone in hand, except that he was determined to become just the fourth man to soar past 9,000 points. The previous Olympic record was 8,893, set by Ashton Eaton in Rio.
“This is like scoring 200 points in a season,” Leyshon said, serving up an appropriate comparison for a guy who spent the winter months training inside an arena. “This is Wayne Gretzky-level stuff.”
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/WesGilbertson
Your go-to source for all the best Black Friday deals: tech, toys, fashion, mattresses, beauty, wellness, travel and more The holiday, which is a big deal elsewhere, is becoming a thing here, too. The latest iteration of the L’Oréal Professionnel Steampod hair-straightening device sees the beauty brand team up with Barbie. If you're in the market for a new option this cold-weather season, we've rounded up four fashionable finds that will be sure to up your cool factor, while keeping out the cold. "Our community is incredibly unique and full of talented artisans across the globe, which we collaborate with and support on their endeavours and charitable causes." — Natasha Peck Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2021 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We have sent you an email with instructions to reset your password. Your existing password has not been changed.
We didn't recognize that password reset code. Please enter your email below, and we'll send you a new code to reset your password.
We've sent you an email with instructions to create a new password. Your existing password has not been changed.
Close
Minimum 10 characters
A combination of letters and numbers (a-z, A-Z, 0-9)
And special characters ($ @ # % ^ & * !)
Both passwords match
Your Password has been successfully updated!
By registering, I agree to Postmedia's Terms and Service and have read and understood Postmedia's Privacy Policy.
Minimum 10 characters
A combination of letters and numbers (a-z, A-Z, 0-9)
And special characters ($ @ # % ^ & * !)
Both passwords match
By registering, I agree to Postmedia's
Terms and Service and
have read and understood Postmedia's
Privacy Policy.
We have sent you a confirmation email to {* emailAddressData *}. Please check your inbox to verify your email address.
Your account has been deactivated.
Sorry, we could not verify that email address.
Your account has been reactivated.
Thanks for registering. Please click the “activate” button in the email sent to the address listed below to begin enjoying National Post access.
Switch Account
Sorry, we could not verify your email address. Please enter your email below, and we'll resend the instructions for email verification.
Please check your email for a link to verify your address.
We have updated our password requirements. If you recently have reset your password,
or you are signing in with your Facebook or Google account, simply sign in to continue.
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
Chatsbury bushfires
|
The Chatsbury/Bungonia bushfires of 1965 was a series of bushfires that burned from 5 to 14 March 1965 in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. The fires destroyed the villages of Tallong, Wingello, and most of the surrounding orchards. [2]
The fire is thought to be ignited by a spark from a Chatsbury Station angle grinder. It quickly spread and covered 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres) and destroyed the areas' livestock. It is thought to be the greatest disaster in the area. [1]
Three people were killed. 28 homes were destroyed in Tallong, 31 in Wingello. The fire was eventually stopped (or burnt out) near Nowra on the NSW South Coast. [3]
|
Fire
| null | null |
CFL fines five players from Week 6, including Andrew Harris for role in Banjo Bowl brawl
|
The Canadian Football League has issued five fines from Week 6, three of which came in the Banjo Bowl between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Saskatchewan Roughriders’ safety Mike Edem was fined for a tourist hit on Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ receiver Nic Demski.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ running back Andrew Harris was fined for grabbing Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back Christian Campbell’s facemask “in a reckless and unsafe manner.”
Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais was fined for his involvement in instigating the altercation between the two teams.
As per league policy, the amounts of the player fines were not disclosed. No players will be suspended for their roles in the brawl.
Two other players were fined for other infractions, both of which came in the battle of Alberta.
Calgary Stampeders’ offensive lineman Justin Lawrence was fined for a chop-block on Edmonton Elks’ defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, while Edmonton Elks’ linebacker Nyles Morgan was fined for kicking Calgary Stampeders’ offensive lineman Bryce Bell.
The CFL also issued a fine to Toronto Argonauts’ defensive back Shaquille Richardson for unsportsmanlike conduct in Week 5’s Labour Day Classic.
|
Organization Fine
| null | null |
Shell Beach residents say they 'dodged a bullet' from mudslides caused by recent storm
|
Buckets are getting filled up with mud and hauled off Shell Beach properties after the recent rainstorm. Crews scooped up and filled three dump trucks worth of mud, rocks, and other debris that slid down the hill behind the properties in the Spyglass neighborhood. "We are exactly backed up to the hillside. As of darkness Thursday, there was no sign of anything coming down," said resident Chris Finch. Recent Stories from ksby.com He says he saw firefighters canvassing his neighborhood around midnight Friday. Hours later, daylight revealed the mudslide. It's estimated more than 75 tons of material spilled onto the roadways of Costa Brava and Calle Corea down to Barcelona Rd. “Workers are emptying it out from the ditch so if we get any more rain, the ditch won't have mud flowing into people's backyards,” Finch said. This Spyglass neighborhood has had two close calls with Mother Nature. First, the Avila Fire that scorched nearly 400 acres of vegetation in June and then a significant storm that caused minor mudslides in January. “One of the scariest times of my life was when we were exiting and we looked out the back window and saw the fire in our backyard,” said Maxie Canant, an Avila Fire evacuee. Canant’s home insurance includes fire coverage, but she and her husband say it’s been getting more difficult to buy it. Arroyo Grande insurance agent David Tennant says in most cases, fire is covered in homeowner's insurance policies, but the frequency of wildfires is driving up prices. "With the fires that have been going on, we've been seeing some pricing increases and we are also seeing some tightening on some of the areas that are willing to write it,” Tennant said. Flood insurance, which covers mudslides, requires separate policies. For homes in high-risk flood zones, it can cost up to $5,000 annually and much less for homes in lower-risk areas. “We try to make our insurers aware of it. Even though a lot of our policy holders are not in a high-risk flood zone, up to 30% of all losses on floods are out of high-risk flood zones,” Tennant said. Gary Cannet, who is also a board member for one of the Shell Beach homeowners' associations, says they charged a special assessment of $1,000 for mudslide mitigation and cleanup. Jorge Garcia, Management Services Director for the City of Pismo Beach, says city public works crews initially responded to the mudslide to provide support, but now it's the HOA's responsibility. There are still some drains and culverts clogged with mud that are expected to be cleaned up in the coming days. “The city had said that they were going to put some [jersey barriers] up [on the hillside] there, but they haven’t done anything yet. They were dragging their feet,” Cannet said. If there is an area with no HOA, the city says its crews would step in, but if disaster strikes on private property, then the owner is responsible.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
Solar eclipse 2021: Prepare for a "ring of fire" on June 10
|
Bailey’s beads, caused by light filtering through the Moon’s rugged topography, are evident during the annular eclipse on Dec. 26, 2019. Neelam & Ajay Talwar Drama, in the form of sublime celestial geometry, is once again coming to our planet. On June 10, 2021, the Sun, the Moon, and Earth will form a straight line in space. While this scenario often produces a total eclipse, this time, the Moon will be too far from us to completely cover the solar disk. The result? People along a narrow path that stretches through Canada, Greenland, and Russia will experience an annular eclipse. This event derives its name from the Latin annulus, meaning “ring.” That’s because, at mid-eclipse, a ring of the Sun’s disk is still visible around the Moon. And that means one important thing for anyone watching: You must use approved solar glasses or solar filters for binoculars or telescopes when observing. During an annular eclipse, the dark inner shadow of the Moon (the umbra) never reaches Earth. Astronomers, however, call the virtual extension of that shadow the antumbra. If you’re beneath the antumbra, you will see annularity. The Moon also has a lighter, outer shadow called the penumbra. Anyone under the penumbra will witness a partial eclipse. Annular eclipses may not be as stunning as total solar eclipses, but with the right preparation and cooperative weather, they are quite unlikely to disappoint. Amanjot Singh and Sanchita Abrol The nitty-gritty The Moon’s penumbra first touches Earth at 4:12:16 a.m. EDT. The shadow remains in contact with our planet for nearly five hours, finally leaving at 9:11:16 a.m. EDT. The antumbra first touches Earth’s surface at 5:49:43 a.m. EDT and its final contact with our planet is at 7:33:45 a.m. EDT. This stretch marks the annular part of the eclipse. The total path length is 4,831 miles (7,775 kilometers). Greatest eclipse occurs at 6:41:51 a.m. EDT at longitude 66°48' West and latitude 80°49' North, 150 miles (241 km) south of Alert, Nunavut, Canada, the northernmost permanently inhabited place on Earth. The magnitude of this eclipse is 0.9152. This means the Moon’s apparent diameter, 29'33.6", will be 91.5 percent that of the Sun’s, which will be 31'30.4". At the midpoint of the eclipse, annularity lasts 3 minutes 51 seconds. This stunning, fiery ring occurs in the constellation Taurus the Bull, at right ascension 5h15m31s and declination 23°02'37". But it won’t be the only sight in the sky: During the eclipse, Venus will lie 20° east of the Sun, shining at magnitude –3.9. The nearby world may be visible a few minutes before maximum annularity, but spotting it will be a difficult task, as it will be low on the horizon. The Sun’s maximum altitude during the eclipse will be 23°. If you search for Venus through binoculars, be sure not to sweep the Sun into your field of view. On June 10, the Moon will be directly aligned, or in syzygy, with the Sun and Earth. But because the Moon will be slightly farther from Earth than usual, it won’t appear wide enough in the sky to entirely block the Sun’s disk, leading to an annular eclipse. Astronomy: Roen Kelly Canada and Greenland This eclipse begins some 130 miles (210 km) north of Thunder Bay, Ontario (see the map on page 49). Eclipse chasers selecting that region as their observing site might head to Polar Bear Provincial Park, which lies on Hudson Bay. From there, you’ll enjoy an unobstructed view (over water) to the north-northeast with the Sun 6° above the horizon. The duration of annularity along the center line will be 3 minutes 33 seconds. Another vantage point is the northern coast of Akimiski Island in James Bay, Canada. While there, you could visit the Migratory Bird Sanctuary, which occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island. Tourists would sacrifice 10 to 12 seconds of annularity compared to Polar Bear Provincial Park, but they also might spot ringed seals, polar bears, and beluga whales. As the center line crosses the Belcher Islands, the duration of annularity increases a few seconds and the Sun’s mid-eclipse altitude climbs to 9°. The antumbra next touches the mainland 30 miles (50 km) east of the village of Inukjuak, with 1,800 inhabitants, located at the mouth of Hudson Bay. It continues northward and reaches the Hudson Strait near the northernmost point of Quebec. At water’s edge, the Sun stands 15° high at mid-eclipse and annularity lasts 3 minutes 38 seconds. The shadow then crosses more than 800 miles (1,300 km) of Nunavut province. At the coastline of Baffin Bay, annularity begins around 6:19 a.m. EDT. It lasts 3 minutes 43 seconds, with the Sun nearly 21° high in the east and a perfect watery horizon below it. Unfortunately, weather prospects here are not good. In Canada’s boreal forest in June, cloud cover generally ranges from 50 to 60 percent at the beginning of the eclipse track to about 85 percent farther north. These maps shows the path of the annular eclipse on June 10, 2021, which sees the Moon’s shadow trek through both Canada and Greenland, briefly hop off Earth’s surface, and then return again to visit Russia. Michael Zeiler The center line next touches land 20 miles (32 km) west of Savissivik, Greenland. This tiny community of fewer than 100 people is located on the southwestern end of Meteorite Island — a destination that could prove interesting to astronomy buffs. This is where the famous Cape York meteorite fell to Earth more than 10,000 years ago. Its main fragment is the third-largest iron meteorite, weighing nearly 31 tons. This piece, named the Ahnighito fragment, has been on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City since 1904. The Moon’s antumbra then treks across the entire northwestern side of Greenland, but it only encounters a half-dozen small villages. The closest to the center line is Qeqertat, which, at around 6:33 a.m. EDT, will experience 3 minutes 43 seconds of annularity with the Sun 23° high in the east. This region boasts the best weather prospects. The cold air there contains much less moisture than elsewhere along the path. One other destination could be Qaanaaq, where annularity lasts 3 minutes 33 seconds and where the mean cloud cover in June is just 39 percent. This is a popular tourist destination for cruise ships and Air Greenland flies into Qaanaaq Airport. The duration of annularity for this eclipse reaches its maximum in Nares Strait, midway between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, Canada. The antumbra then reenters Canada, where the center line will track for another 220 miles (350 km). For hardy eclipse watchers who want to observe annularity from Canada’s northernmost point, head to Cape Columbia for a duration of 3 minutes 42 seconds. From that location, the Sun will stand 23° above the eastern horizon at mid-eclipse. Then, after continuing some 220 miles (350 km) north through the Arctic Ocean, the antumbra leaves Earth’s surface — but only for a few minutes. The June 21, 2020, annular eclipse is seen here from the Pacific Ocean side of the Chenggong Fishing Port in Taiwan. Luke (Wei Chung) Lu Russia Because of the geometry of this eclipse — mainly the extremely curved path of the antumbra — after briefly leaving Earth, the shadow will once again touch our planet 1,370 miles (2,200 km) north of the New Siberian Islands in the Laptev Sea. From the northern point of Novaya Sibir, annularity lasts 3 minutes 36 seconds, but the Sun’s altitude has dropped to 12° at this location. The center line encounters the mainland of Russia 93 miles (150 km) north of Russkoye Ustye, a village of fewer than 200 people. They will experience 3 minutes 34 seconds of annularity with the Sun 8° high in the northwest. Then, after tracking another 870 miles (1,400 km), the eclipse finally ends its contact with Earth at a point some 155 miles (250 km) north of the Sea of Okhotsk. Unfortunately, weather prospects throughout Russia are poor, especially when you consider the Sun’s low altitude in the sky. Average cloud cover in June ranges from 65 percent to nearly 90 percent. The most favorable locations lie near the end of the eclipse path.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
Katy Perry sparks marriage rumors to Orlando Bloom
|
Katy Perry sparked rumors that she and Orlando Bloom have tied the knot after being spotted wearing what appears to be a wedding ring. The “Firework” singer was photographed sporting a gold band on her left ring finger as she stepped out with Bloom in Hawaii on Tuesday. Both Perry, 36, and Bloom, 44, went under the radar wearing baseball hats. Perry also covered up with a face mask while Bloom wore a bandana around his neck. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was also seen carrying their 6-month-old daughter Daisy on his back, though they covered their child’s head with a draping presumably for privacy purposes. Their reps did not immediately respond to our request for comment. The couple have been in Hawaii for the better half of a month on vacation. Perry was spotted going for a stroll with baby Daisy in February and Bloom was seen with their daughter less than a week later. They’ve also been spotted lounging and doing yoga on the beach and Bloom’s 10-year-old son Flynn — whom he shares with ex, Miranda Kerr — also joined in on the family fun. Bloom and Perry — who recently bought a $14.2 million mansion in Montecito, Calif. — welcomed their daughter in August 2020 nearly a year after getting engaged in February 2019. The pair first began dating in 2016 but broke up around March 2017. They rekindled their romance in early 2018 with a trip to the Maldives, and there have been many other adventures since then. Perry was previously married to Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012. Bloom was previously married to Kerr from 2010 to 2013.
|
Famous Person - Marriage
| null | null |
August 6 Tokyo 2020 Olympics news and results
|
Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw competes in the women's sport climbing speed final on August 6. Tsuyoshi Ueda/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw smashed the women's speed climbing world record on Friday as the sport continues to excite at Tokyo 2020.
The 27-year-old raced to the top of the 15 meter wall in 6.84 seconds, bettering the previous record of 6.96 set last year by the Russian Olympic Committee's Iuliia Kaplina.
The record came in the first leg of the women's combined sports climbing final, with athletes still to compete in the other two disciplines: bouldering and lead.
Miroslaw's climb shot her to the top of the standings but with climbers currently tackling the bouldering leg, Slovenia's Janja Garnbret has begun dominating as many expected she would.
View from Tokyo: Dark clouds have now gathered behind the climbing wall, which had been bathed in light, as night descends at Tokyo's Aomi Urban Sports Park.
It's providing a dramatic backdrop to the women's combined final -- the first time this event has ever been staged at the Olympics.
Like the men's combined final on Thursday, plenty of volunteers and members of staff have assembled in the stands, while several members of the public have also gathered outside the venue to try and get a glimpse of the action.
share with Facebook
6:24 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Germany’s cycling director suspended by UCI over racist remarks made at Tokyo 2020 Games
From CNN's Gawon Bae in Seoul
Patrick Moster is pictured at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, in October 2017. Maurizio Gambarini/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Germany’s cycling director Patrick Moster has been suspended until the end of the year over reported racist remarks he made during the men’s individual time trial at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, according to world governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
On July 28, Moster was heard shouting at his rider Nikias Arndt: "Get the camel drivers, get the camel drivers, come on,” Reuters reported.
The following day, the UCI had decided to provisionally suspend Moster as his remarks were “discriminatory and contrary to basic rules of decency.”
The UCI released another statement Friday, saying Moster has acknowledged his remarks and agreed with the suspension, during which he is banned from participating in any competition authorized by the UCI, a Continental Confederation or a member National Federation, until December 31.
Germany's cycling federation has removed him from international competitions for an indefinite period.
"The UCI condemns all forms of racist and discriminatory behaviour and strives to ensure integrity, diversity and equality in cycling," the UCI's statement read Friday.
share with Facebook
6:10 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Belarus National Olympic Committee says coaches stripped of IOC accreditation will return to Minsk
From CNN's Hannah Ritchie and Anna Chernova
Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya addresses a press conference on August 5, in Warsaw, Poland. Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images
Two members of the Belarusian athletics team who tried to forcibly send sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya home on Monday will return to Minsk, the Belarus National Olympic Committee said Friday.
Timanovskaya was due to compete in the women's 200 meters on Monday but defected to Poland after alleging that representatives of the Belarus national team tried to send her back home against her will.
Athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak had their Tokyo 2020 accreditations removed on Friday and were asked to leave the Olympic Village, following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) disciplinary hearing on the incident.
“In the interest of the wellbeing of the athletes from Belarus who are still in Tokyo and as a provisional measure, the IOC canceled and removed last night the accreditations of the two coaches,” the IOC said in a tweet on Friday.
Responding to the IOC decision, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus said the two coaches would soon return home to Minsk, where they “reserve the right to appeal this decision.”
“At the moment, the investigation is still in process ... in the near future the coaches will return to Minsk. However, they reserve the right to appeal this decision,” the NOC statement said.
“We are ... in close cooperation with the IOC to clarify all the circumstances of this decision. The NOC of Belarus fully defends and will continue to defend the interests of all Belarusian athletes and coaches from any forms of discrimination,” it continued.
share with Facebook
5:32 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Crashes galore in women's Madison race as Team Great Britain wins impressive gold
From CNN's Ben Morse
Italy's Elisa Balsamo, right, reacts after a crash in the women's track cycling Madison final on August 6. Odd Andersen/AFP /Getty Images
Keeping up with the action in the women's Madison cycling race in the Izu Velodrome was a tough task for viewers. The handovers and the sheer number of cyclists on the track over the 120 laps made for gripping viewing.
With huge groups of riders converging at points, it inevitably led to some big crashes between riders.
Ireland's Emily Kay and Shannon McCurley were a victim of one of the races' crashes, failing to finish after a coming together with a rider from Italy.
An even bigger crash took place just a few laps later, taking down a rider from Belgium, Poland, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The Netherlands received a warning for an ill-adjudged handover.
But there was still one more crash to come -- a changeover between the Belgians went wrong and it ended up with an Australian rider sent sprawling.
Amid all the chaos, Team Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald were able to dominate and claim an impressive gold.
The pair finished on 78 points, while Denmark finished in the silver medal position on 35 points. It was a bronze for the Russian Olympic Committee with 26 points.
As a result, Kenny became the first British woman to win five Olympic gold medals.
share with Facebook
5:32 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
12-year-old Olympian Kokona Hiraki wants more people to try skateboarding
From CNN's Amanda Sealy and Selina Wang
Kokona Hiraki of Team Japan competes during the first run of the women's skateboarding park finals on August 4. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
As one of the youngest medalists in Olympic history, 12-year-old Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki took the silver medal in a sport she started when she was just five.
Competing at the Games, Hiraki said she didn’t feel the pressure during competition.
“I wasn't nervous at all and enjoyed the Olympics,” she told CNN’s Selina Wang. “It’s fun just to ride on a skateboard.”
Standing side-by-side on the podium with bronze medalist Sky Brown and gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi, Hiraki said she just wanted that moment to encourage people to try the sport she loves.
“Skateboarding is something difficult but enjoyable. I want people to try it,” she said.
As for what she wants to do next, she says she first wants to see her grandparents, but then she’s got bigger ambitions.
“I want to be the coolest skater in the world. Also, I want to participate in the Paris Olympics.”
share with Facebook
4:23 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Julio La Cruz continues Cuba's boxing dominance at Tokyo 2020
From CNN's Matias Grez
Cuba's Julio La Cruz reacts after beating Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the men's heavyweight final on Friday. Themba Hadebe/AP
Julio La Cruz defeated the Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Muslim Gadzhimagomedov in the men's heavyweight final on Friday to cement Cuba's boxing dominance at Tokyo 2020.
La Cruz put in a commanding performance to beat the reigning world champion on a unanimous 5-0 decision to earn Cuba's third boxing gold medal -- and fourth overall -- of these Games.
Cuba now leads the Tokyo boxing medal table ahead of the ROC, which has six medals overall but just one gold.
“There was a lot of attention on the fight as [Gadzhimagomedov] is the current world champion, but my team and trainers gave me a lot of confidence that I could win the fight, and they were right," La Cruz told reporters.
They said that I had to believe in myself.”
“I’ve got two (Olympic) Games gold medals now, but Paris (2024) is only three years away. I’ll go the next Olympics and try to win a third gold medal for my country,” he added.
Cuba has one more chance to add another gold medal to its tally when Andy Cruz takes on American boxer Keyshawn Davis in the men's light category final on Sunday.
share with Facebook
4:17 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Tokyo reports another 4,500 Covid-19 cases
From Arthur Syin in Tokyo
People cross a street in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Friday. Kantaro Komiya/AP
Tokyo reported 4,515 Covid-19 cases on Friday, following a record day of more than 5,000 cases on Thursday, which was its highest-ever daily increase since the pandemic began.
Japan reported 15,249 cases nationwide on Thursday.
Nearly 41.5 million people have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, roughly 32% of Japan's population, according to the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, at least 387 cases have been linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games, and in a press conference on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he did not believe the Olympics was the cause of the rise in infections.
“The flow of people in Tokyo’s downtown has not increased compared to the time before the opening of the Olympics," Suga said. "I don’t think Olympics has led to the increase of infection."
Tokyo metropolitan area is currently under a state of emergency, in effect until August 31.
share with Facebook
3:54 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
Germany’s Lea Friedrich sets new Olympic record in women’s sprint
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London
Germany's Lea Sophie Friedrich reacts after setting a new Olympic Record in the women's track cycling sprint qualifying event on August 6. Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
Germany’s Lea Friedrich was the top qualifier in the women’s sprint cycling competition on Friday -- setting a new Olympic record in the process.
The 21-year-old, who has already won silver at the Games as part of the women’s team sprint, set a blistering time of 10.310 seconds.
Kelsey Mitchell of Canada and Friedrich’s compatriot Emma Hinze completed the top three qualifiers.
The top 24 riders secured places in the round of 32.
share with Facebook
3:04 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
USA’s Nelly Korda leads after 3 rounds of women's golf tournament
From CNN's Jill Martin and Ben Morse
American golfer Nelly Korda plays her shot on August 6. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
American Nelly Korda, ranked No. 1 in the world in women’s golf, will enter the final round of the women's golf tournament at the Olympics with a three-shot lead at 15-under par.
Korda, after shooting a 9-under-par 62 in Thursday’s second round, shot a 2-under 69 on Friday.
The 23-year-old won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title back in June.
India’s Aditi Ashok is in second at 12-under after shooting a 3-under 68 in round three. There’s a four-way tie for third place at 10-under par with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Australia’s Hannah Green, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen and Mone Inami of Japan.
Korda, who says she is proud of the "fight" she's displayed over the first 54-holes at Tokyo's Kasumigaseki Country Club, admitted she has found herself at times dreaming of winning that gold medal.
"Oh yeah, yeah. I feel like everyone does it, for sure," she told reporters after her third round.
"That is when you take a step back and (tell yourself): 'You know, there's still 18 holes, there's still a lot that can happen.' I mean, today, I wasn't hitting it well, and just because I was making these par putts (she maintained a lead), but tomorrow could be different."
She added:
"I try to remind myself, even though I think about it, I quickly shake my head and I'm like, 'no, no, we are not there yet, we still have a long way to go'."
The final round has been moved up to start at 6:30 a.m. local time on Saturday due to inclement weather -- an hour earlier than it was previously scheduled.
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
1942 Ecuador earthquake
|
The 1942 Ecuador earthquake or the 1942 Guayaquil earthquake occurred on 13 May at 9:06 or 9:13 am ECT with a moment magnitude of 7.8. The temblor struck the coastal regions of Ecuador, causing damage mainly to cities like Guayaquil, Portoviejo and Guaranda, particularly towards reinforced concrete buildings. [1] More than 300 people lost their lives and the total damage cost about US$2.5 million (1942 rate) as a result of the quake. Ecuador's largest city Guayaquil was the most affected despite the significant distantce from the epicenter. Many reinforced concrete structures in the city were completely destroyed. [4]
The Nazca Plate dives beneath the South American Plate along a convergent plate boundary stretching from Colombia to Chile in a process known as subduction. This plate boundary occasionally produces large megathrust earthquakes along the west coast of South America. The Ecuador–Colombia subduction zone occupies part of this plate boundary, where the convergence rate is between 5 and 8 cm/yr. [5] As the plates converge, elastic energy is stored at the subduction zone where friction between the plates locks them in place. Once the strain at the subduction is too great, the plates slip and the subduction zone ruptures in an earthquake. The earthquake struck with a hypocenter depth of 20 km, and an epicenter about 15 km west of Pedernales at 02:13 a.m. local time. The capital Quito was located some 165 km from the epicenter of the quake. The earthquake of 1942, which was one of the largest in the country, partially ruptured a section of the subduction zone that was involved in the 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake. The 1906 event broke the subduction zone for approximately 500 km. The approximate epicentral location of the 1942 quake calculated to be along the northern flanks of the Carnegie Ridge. In a period of 22 seconds, the seismic moment of the rupture was released in one simple event. Based on relocation of the aftershocks, and examining the distribution, the earthquake had ruptured a 200 km by 90 km section of the subduction zone. [6]
It is the first event in a sequence of large earthquakes that would re-rupture the subduction zone. Subsequent events would follow-up in 1958, 1979 and 1998. The recent 2016 event was a repeat of the 1942 earthquake. [7][8][9] This was similar to what was observed in Sumatra, Indonesia in the beginning of the 21st century with multiple earthquakes rupturing the Sunda subduction zone rather than in one large event. [10]
The earthquakes of 1942 and 2016 are part of a cycle of repeated events with an average recurrence interval period of 74 years, indicating the next event may occur in 2090. [11]
Ecuador's largest city Guayaquil suffered the worst during the earthquake, with more than 100 lives lost, and numerous high-rise collapses. Damage was also observed in Manabí, Guayas, Los Ríos, Esmeraldas, Bolívar and Imbabura. [12]
Moderate to high damage was reported in the Guayaquil; at least 250 km from the earthquake. In the commercial center, the earthquake had a maximum intensity of IX (Violent) to VIII (Severe) on the Mercalli intensity scale, while the rest of the city and surrounding towns were exposed to intensity VII (Very strong) to VI (Strong). [13] Countless buldings inclusing cinemas and theaters were destroyed or damaged. In this zone of high intensity, one reinforced concrete building completely collapsed while another was almost completely destroyed. Three tall reinforced concrete structures and a number of buildings single or double storey-tall suffered complete collapse. One building that housed a clinic on the first floor crmumbled to the ground, killing 29 individuals. [14] Three additional structures had beams on their first floors so badly rendered that supports had to be installed immediately before they could be repaired or demolished. [13] The location where the strongest intensity was felt in Guayaquil is just west of the Guayas River, and south of Cerro Del Carmen. The reason for the sudden violent shaking in this part of the city was attributed to its location—the city is built on water-saturated clay and alluvium deposited by the Guayas River. [13] This local geological setting amplified the seismic waves which worsened the strength of ground motion in the city. [13]
Further heavy damage was reported in the cities of Chone, Portoviejo, Manta, Junín, Calcetan and Pedernales. In the Naranjal Canton, large fissures formed in the ground which allowed a "foamy liquid" to erupt. Many homes and buildings situated along the coast were seriously damaged or destroyed. [12]
Shaking was felt as far as the Oriente region in the east, and the border towns of Colombia in the north. [12]
After the mainshock, two strong aftershocks rocked the coast of Ecuador, causing more panic. [15] Many surviving residents decided to live in the streets during the night for fear of more damage in their homes. [14]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Olympic Airways Flight 411 crash
|
Olympic Airways Flight 411, from Ellinikon International Airport bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport operated using a Boeing 747-200 on August 9, 1978 came close to crashing in downtown Athens following an engine explosion while taking off. Despite maneuvers near the edge of the flight envelope, none of the 418 passengers or crew suffered serious injury. The Boeing 747 was the first "jumbo jet". It was a prestige aircraft in the 1970's and purchased by many airlines as a fleet flagship. [1] Olympic Airways was the flag carrier for Greece and had purchased 747's for some of its prime routes, including a non-stop between Athens and New York. [2] It received its first 747, registered as SX-OAA in June, 1973. [3] The large passenger capacity meant lower per-seat costs to the airlines that operated it. [1] For Olympic, this meant that large numbers of American tourists could be accommodated. [2] Ellinikon in the Athens suburb of Elliniko was the international airport for the capital city and the primary entry and departure point for Americans visiting Greece. The Captain of the incident flight, Sifis Migadis, had 32 years of experience with Olympic[4] The First Officer Kostas Fikardos was also considered experienced and was a close friend of Migadis. [5]
SX-OAA, named "Olympic Zeus" was the first -200 series 747 that Olympic purchased and fitted in a two-class configuration with executive class seating on the upper deck and nose section of the lower deck and economy class for the remainder of the lower deck. [6]
Just before 14:00, the fully loaded airplane including 138-150 tons of jet fuel, began its take-off run on the Hellenikon runway with either 374 or 418 or 431 passengers (conflicting sources) on board (mostly American tourists returning home after their summer vacations in Greece) including 20 crew. The moment the aircraft reached VR (rotation speed, i.e., the speed that allows the captain to raise the plane's nose, following V1, i.e., the speed after which the take-off cannot be aborted) the crew heard a loud blast. [2] Engine #3 had exploded but at the time the captain had doubts if that was an engine explosion or a tire blow-up. [7] Strapped in her seat at the front of the passengers' cabin, air-hostess Lucia Siachou received an intercom call from a colleague at the back who had a better view on the blown-up engine saying "we are screwed"[8] to which she replied "I know". The explosion was also witnessed by the control-tower personnel that gathered to watch in horror as the crippled plane was trying to gain altitude. Debris and mechanical components from the disintegrating engine were spreading across the runway and on the nearby rooftops. In the meantime, two elements jeopardised further flight 411: a) due to a recent overhaul, engine #2 could not deliver more than 96% of its maximum thrust instead of the expected 110% and b) when the captain ordered the flight engineer to switch-on the alcohol enrichment valve (in the 1970s, alcohol fuel-enrichment systems were installed on airliners to enhance performance), he accidentally switched it off thus depriving the remaining three engines of the necessary extra power needed to lift the fully-loaded behemoth. Both elements were crucial in the events that unfolded. The moment he became airborne, immediately after the blast, Captain Migadis - a veteran combat pilot and three-decades aviator - issued the order "gear, up" to his first officer and life-long friend, veteran aviator Fikardos; the latter complied, against recommendations on Boeing manuals and checklists. The plane's constructor argued that, in case of a power loss, the retraction of the undercarriage - a 15-second procedure that included the opening and closing of the gear bay doors - would provide extra drag and therefore further compromising the plane's fragile air-speed. Captain Migadis, on the other hand, overrode the official procedure arguing that he had to preserve as much air speed as possible on the long term, because he had to clear a 200ft (~65m) hill 1.5km (~0.9miles) ahead. It was a gamble, as he immediately jeopardised the ability of the already struggling airliner to climb. Indeed, astonished tower-control personnel and bystanders were watching in horror the heavy aircraft that could not gain altitude, flying just above the runway and barely clearing the perimeter's 4-meter-high (12ft) fence, at the airport's west end. When the landing gear retracted fully and the bay doors closed, the plane managed to gain some air-speed and height; the pilot's gamble had paid off. However, the 200ft (~65m) Pani/Panós hill (in English: Pan's hill) less than a mile a head, in Alimos[2] district, forced Migadis to pitch-up the nose and steeply climb; therefore further reducing his already low air-speed. The flight data recorder showed that he barely cleared the hill by a 9ft (~3m) margin at a 209ft altitude. This mandatory maneuver drained away more power and air speed, and so the airplane almost stalled. People on the control tower breathed a sigh of relief when the aircraft disappeared behind the far side of Pan's hill without being replaced by a huge fireball. But they knew the airliner could not have gone far. A young pilot rushed to the office of Olympic Airways' Aviation Safety Director, capt. Tsolakes, urging him: "Sir, come and see an airliner that is going to fall into the sea!"[9]. Migadis, after clearing Pan's hill, saw his air-speed dropping below the nominal stalling point[10] of that day's configuration (172 knots) and way below the minimum speed of safe level flight (180 knots). The captain tried, at that point, intentionally to trade altitude for speed pitching down; his goal was to sacrifice about 50 ft (15m) of the distance between him and the ground, for 5 to 6 knots of air speed. But after descending to just above the buildings below him, at a sea-level height of (according to the flight data recorder) 157ft (~55m), he was forced to level the damaged aircraft, leaving himself practically without any altitude and options. The plane's belly was barely clearing the television antennas on the rooftops beneath,[5] at the districts of Kallithea and New Smyrna. The captain saw his tachymeter registering speeds of 164 knots, much below the calculated stalling point (the flight data recorder later showed even lower speeds; 160 and 158 knots for that segment of the flight). People on the ground looked up in disbelief to see the gigantic airplane flying so close to them. [4] Air-hostess Siachou could clearly see the clotheslines stretched on the roofs of 6 or 8-storey buildings and shocked housewives drying their laundry as they were watching in terror the plane passing just a few meters overhead. Moments later, the aircraft flew next to the highest floor of the 14-storey-tall Interamerican Tower and the air-stewardess could distinguish the facial expressions of the stunned staff and employees that were staring at the flying behemoth passing them. The plane was flying so low that when it crossed Syggrou Avenue, a 10-lane highway under contraction at that time, it raised a thick cloud of dust. [11]
At this point, Migadis considered everyone on board dead; he was trying to find a clear spot to crash-land his crippled aircraft without substantial loss of life on the ground. The Aegaleo mountain ridge (400-500m high at some points/~1200-1600ft) far ahead and the Panionios' Football Stadium (New Smyrna district's A-league football club) where the two most viable proposals. Air-hostess Siachou was thinking about her two children (a 6-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter) and their fate as motherless orphans. She consoled herself thinking that at least they would get a large amount of money from the company and the Greek government in case she died; after those thoughts run through her head, she reached a calm emotional state beyond fear. Second-officer Tribos, in the cockpit, realized that his body was stiff from the adrenaline rush and told himself "Relax and die like a man!". [12]
Nevertheless, the entire crew maintained their resolve and superficial calmness to such an extent that most of the passengers believed this was an intended farewell site-seeing tour and some of them also took some photos. Athens is a 3.5-million densely populated metropolis, built on flat terrain. The capital of Greece has a triangular shape; its base is formed by the seafront while its vertex is pointing north-east. The city is completely surrounded by mountains 900-1100m high (3000-3500ft) except its western side.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
1989 Newcastle earthquake
|
The 1989 Newcastle earthquake occurred in Newcastle, New South Wales on Thursday, 28 December. [2] The shock measured 5.6 on the Richter magnitude scale and was one of Australia's most serious natural disasters, killing 13 people and injuring more than 160. The damage bill has been estimated at A$4 billion (or $8.3 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation), including an insured loss of about $1 billion (or $2 billion in 2019, adjusted for inflation). [2]
The effects were felt over an area of around 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) in the state of New South Wales, with isolated reports of movement in areas up to 800 kilometres (500 mi) from Newcastle. [2] Damage to buildings and facilities was reported over an area of 9,000 km2 (3,500 sq mi). The highest death toll and damage occurred at the Newcastle Workers Club, where the floor collapsed. Nine people were killed and many more were trapped beneath the rubble. [2] Another three people were crushed to death when masonry from building façades collapsed onto awnings on Beaumont Street, Hamilton, an inner-city suburb of Newcastle. Following the death of a woman in Broadmeadow from earthquake-related shock, the final death toll was raised to 13. [2]
The earthquake caused damage to over 35,000 homes, 147 schools, and 3,000 commercial and/or other buildings, with significant damage caused to 10,000 homes (damage worth over $1,000) and 42 schools (structural damage), within the immediate Newcastle area. The number of people in the city on the day of the earthquake was lower than usual, due to a strike by local bus drivers. The earthquake struck in the middle of an interview by a local television station NBN with a union representative. The names of all 13 victims were published later in Newspapers such as the Maitland Mercury[3]
In early 2007, a United States academic claimed that coal mining in the region triggered the earthquake, although earthquake activity has been present in the area at least since European settlement first occurred. [4][5] That is in addition to the statement by the former head of the earthquake monitoring group at Geoscience Australia, Dr David Denham, that the Newcastle earthquake occurred some distance from mining activity:
"The depths of the focus of the earthquake was about 13, 14 kilometres, whereas the ones associated with mining, they're actually right close to the mine, because that's where the stress release takes place. "[6]
Despite records of previous earthquakes in the area, even the most recent construction codes in Newcastle at the time of the earthquake (issued in 1979) required neither the adoption of earthquake-resistant design nor the strengthening of old buildings, although they did encourage owners to provide more than the minimum strength. [7]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Africa CDC raises alarm over continent’s infectious diseases outbreaks
|
“The African continent as a whole faces what we call a syndemics; a combination of emerging infectious diseases. We are dealing with this pandemic, but there will be another pandemic." July 29, 2021 The Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) says the African continent was faced with syndemics, a combination of emerging infectious diseases, which are increasing the disease burden across the continent, according to John Nkengasong, Director, Africa CDC. Me Nkengasong stated this in Abuja on Wednesday, day two of the Nigerian Conference of Applied and Field Epidemiology, (NiCAFE), 2021, themed “Building Back Better: COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks”. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference, organised by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) , is aimed at strengthening the country’s preparedness for emergencies in infection outbreaks. “The African continent as a whole faces what we call a syndemics; a combination of emerging infectious diseases. We are dealing with this pandemic, but there will be another pandemic. “Syndemics are exacerbating the disease burden across Africa. Emerging diseases, non-communicable disease/ injuries/ maternal and neonatal conditions; and endemic diseases, ex HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria,” he explained. Speaking on the role of regional health institutions in the prevention, detection and response to infectious diseases outbreaks, Mr Nkengasong disclosed that if the continent had been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, there wouldn’t have been a single country with the reagents to test for the virus. “A continent of 1.3 billion cannot be that exposed. All countries in Africa now have diagnostics capacity,” he added. He stated that from the COVID-19 pandemic lessons learnt and response in the continent, coordination and collaboration is key for a whole of Africa approach, with a critical role for National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) in pandemic preparedness and response. In addition, he added, development of continent specific guidelines and continental political leadership to guide the pandemic response were necessary. Similarly, local diagnostic manufacturing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), therapeutics and medical equipment was a health security challenge; vaccines-related innovation was critical for Africa’s health security, while there was an urgent need for the development of Africa’s public health work force, he explained. The director further noted Africa’s limited health facilities, budget and workers, citing the need to have a new public health order for the continent to tackle infectious diseases’ threats, based on specific guidelines. “Public health is local. You may think globally, but implementation is local,” he added. Me Nkengasong stressed the importance of continent-wide coordinated efforts at the national level, recognising that global health security starts with national health security that fits into regional health security. “Public health is about the pathogen, the population, the politics and the policy. Regional collaboration and cooperation is, therefore, crucial as this is the backbone of health security in Africa,” he said. Also speaking, President, International Epidemiological Association, (IEA), Akindele Adebiyi, highlighted enforcement as a key consideration in curtailing infectious disease outbreaks. On disease exposure control and socio-economic factors in outbreaks, Mr Adebiyi described disease exposure as the process by which the spread of disease was minimised by limiting contact between uninfected individuals and other individuals who were potential spreaders of a contagious disease. He stressed that preparedness must involve true community participation: citizens’ involvement in planning, implementation and evaluation of public health interventions. Richard Hatchett, CEO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, (CEPI), stated that in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEPI established 13 partnerships and deployed $1.5 billion to develop COVID-19 vaccines, representing the largest vaccine portfolio globally. Speaking on the rapid vaccine development and equitable access to vaccines for COVID-19 and other priority pathogens, Mr Hatchett said the vision of CEPI was to create a world where epidemics and pandemics were no longer a threat to humanity. “This is not the first pandemic of the 21st century and it won’t be the last,” he said, adding: “We have made major investments in the development of vaccines, together with the NCDC and other partners.” Me Hatchett also said that CEPI would develop vaccines against COVID-19, as soon as possible, and make two billion doses available through COVAX by the end of 2021. He disclosed that the coalition had in 2020 also set up the largest ever Lassa fever epidemiological study, starting in Nigeria. Meanwhile, Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director, Dangote Foundation, has said the private sector had a huge role to play in the health sector. “We need to strategise and think about translating science to speak a language that the private sector can understand,” Youssoufou added. NAN recalled that the NiCAFE conference brought together public health professionals, laboratory scientists, field epidemiologists, researchers, health care professionals and members of the public. The participants reflected on the response to infectious disease outbreaks, reviewed gaps in epidemic preparedness and response and brainstormed on innovative solutions to strengthen health security. ( NAN )
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
COVID-19 Cases Close Erie Day School For Two Weeks
|
A cluster of COVID-19 cases at Erie Day School has closed the private school for a total of two weeks. The Head of School, Dr. Karen Tyler, confirms to Erie News Now that the building closed on Wednesday after several student cases. Remote learning is underway until the school re-opens on October 1. Tyler says there were six positive COVID-19 cases when the school closed this week. As of Thursday, there are a total of 17 positive cases. One staff member is among those testing positive for the virus. The closure comes soon after the start of the new year at Erie Day School, located along 6th Street in Erie. The new school year started on September 7. Tyler says the school has been abiding to the Pennsylvania school mask mandate, and has put other virus mitigation efforts in place. The COVID-prompted closure was made by schools leaders and through the recommendation of the Erie County Health Department.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
Kate Bosworth Announces Her Divorce With A Very Poetic Instagram Caption
|
While some of Hollywood is finding love again (or participating in an elaborate public relations stunt ), other stars are consciously uncoupling their long-term relationships. After almost eight years, actress Kate Bosworth revealed that her marriage to Michael Polish had come to a very poetic end.
On Thursday, August 5, Bosworth penned a long note to her Instagram followers sharing the important update in her personal life. In the statement, which included a black and white photo of the former couple smiling at each other, she explained in very flowery terms that she and Polish had decided to go their separate ways.
Advertisement
A post shared by Kate Bosworth (@katebosworth)
"The beginning is often the best part of love,” read Bosworth’s caption. “Fireworks, magnets, rebellion — the attraction. The onset signals a wide open expanse of possibility.”
“Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate,” the statement continued. “Together, over the last ten years, Michael and I have chosen love, every time. We hold hands as tightly today as we entangled fingers on our wedding day. Our eyes look more deeply into one another, with more courage now. In the process of letting go, we have come to acknowledge that our love will never end. The connection does not simply disappear. The love deepens, the heart expands.”
The breakup comes almost ten years after their relationship first began on the set of Big Sur , a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s novel of the same name that Polish directed. Their relationship progressed very quickly, and the Hollywood couple went on to exchange vows in 2013 at a Montana ranch . Since then, they've channeled their energy into balancing raising Polish's daughter Jasper (a child from his previous relationship with makeup artist Jo Strettell) with working as professional partners — their collaborations include the the self-financed human trafficking film Nona — something that they plan to continue doing even in the next phase of their relationship as exes.
"We laugh as we plan for our next movie together and are excited to share our latest collaboration," Bosworth's statement concluded. "Our greatest honor has been to experience love like this, and to continue to marvel at the beauty of love’s evolution. What happens when we reach the end of something and realize…we are just at the beginning."
|
Famous Person - Divorce
| null | null |
1961 riot at the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station
|
The Freedom Rides Museum is located at 210 South Court Street in Montgomery, Alabama, in the building which was until 1995 the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station. It was the site of a violent attack on participants in the 1961 Freedom Ride during the Civil Rights Movement. The May 1961 assaults, carried out by a mob of white protesters who confronted the civil rights activists, "shocked the nation and led the Kennedy Administration to side with civil rights protesters for the first time. "[2]
The property is no longer used as a bus station, but the building was saved from demolition and its façade has been restored. The site was leased by the Alabama Historical Commission and a historical marker was located in front of the building. [2] In 2011, a museum was opened inside the building, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum won a national preservation award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2012. In 1950, Greyhound Lines retained architect W.S. Arrasmith to build a new bus station in Montgomery, Alabama, to replace an earlier station on North Court Street. Incorporating a streamlined style and vertical "Greyhound" name in neon, it is an unassuming example of Greyhound bus stations in that time, derived from a standard plan and built for $300,000. [3] The station opened in August, 1951. [4]
The bus station is significant only in its relationship to the events of the single day of May 20, 1961. The building had a door labelled "Colored Entrance"; African Americans entered through it directly into the bus bay, accessing interior of the segregated terminal from the rear. [3] The site at 210 Court Street placed the station directly behind Montgomery's U.S. District Courthouse on Lee Street. [5]
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States, in 1961 and subsequent years, to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions which had ruled segregated public buses to be unconstitutional. [2]
As organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) for May 1961, the rides would have mixed pairs of riders sit side by side on Greyhound and Trailways buses crossing the American South from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, between May 4 and May 17. Alabama stops were planned for Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery, during the final leg that ran from Atlanta, Georgia to New Orleans. [6][7]
In Anniston, a mob of angry whites violently attacked the Greyhound bus and set it on fire; the riders were severely beaten. The Trailways bus arrived an hour later and was boarded in Anniston by Ku Klux Klan members who beat up the Freedom Riders. It was also attacked in Birmingham, and several riders (including James Peck) were beaten in front of the press. Reports of the violence reached U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who urged restraint on the part of Freedom Riders and sent an assistant, John Seigenthaler, to Birmingham. CORE agreed to halt the Freedom Ride in Birmingham on May 14, with the remaining riders flying to New Orleans. [8]
Diane Nash, of the Nashville Student Movement (and a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and others were undeterred, and 21 young students,[9] including John Lewis, took the place of the original riders for a leg of the Freedom Ride to Montgomery (the ultimate destination was Jackson, Mississippi). All but one (Ruby Doris Smith, from Atlanta) were from Nashville, Tennessee,[10] and many were from Fisk University. Greyhound had initially refused to allow any of their drivers to drive the bus; after an angry intervention by Robert F. Kennedy, and with an escort of state troopers provided by Floyd Mann, the Alabama Director of Public Safety, the bus left Birmingham for Montgomery on May 20. [8]
The riders, who had been left unescorted by the highway police as they reached Montgomery city limits, arrived at the bus station at 10:23 AM and were met by a crowd of violent white protesters, including women and children. Several were injured in the attack, including Robert Kennedy's assistant John Seigenthaler, who had followed the bus in his car: attempting to rescue two white female riders, he was hit over the head with a metal pipe and "lay unconscious on the ground for half an hour. "[8] Floyd Mann, a "committed segregationist, tough on law and order," stepped in to protect William Barbee, who was to remain paralyzed and died an early death as a result of his beating. Floyd fired his gun in the air, yelling, "'There'll be no killing here today.' A white attacker raised his bat for a final blow. Mann put his gun to the man's head. 'One more swing,' he said, 'and you're dead. '"[11]
On Sunday, May 21, Martin Luther King, Jr., C.K. Steele, and SCLC officers[10] came to support the Freedom Riders. That evening, they and the riders joined the evening service in Ralph Abernathy's First Baptist Church on North Ripley Street[12] while some 3000 angry protesters yelled outside, burning a car and threatening to burn the church. [8] From inside the church, King telephoned Robert Kennedy, who urged the activists to "cool down," a proposal refused first by Diane Nash, and then by James Farmer (on behalf of CORE) and King. [10] Kennedy had sent 500 U.S. Marshals, headed by United States Deputy Attorney General Byron White. Airborne troops were on standby at Fort Benning,[8] just across the Georgia state line. The Kennedy Administration's decision that it would send US troops to restore order was protested by city and state officials. [13] The marshals, with the help of Floyd Mann and his state troopers, managed to keep the mob at bay;[8] it was finally dispersed with the help of the National Guard at midnight. [14]
On the morning of Wednesday, May 24, the Freedom Ride resumed, with riders boarding buses from Montgomery bound for Jackson, Mississippi. A first group of riders left from the Trailways station, and a second boarded a mid-day Greyhound departure. [15] In Jackson, the students, which by now included Nashville Student Movement activists Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, and others, were arrested as they attempted to desegregate the "Black" and "White" waiting rooms in the bus terminal. [16][17]
As a result of the unrest and the nationwide publicity generated by the Freedom Rides, in late May Robert Kennedy was able to successfully petition the Interstate Commerce Commission to adopt stronger regulations and desegregate interstate transportation. [18]
The bus station attack had also resulted in a court order against the Ku Klux Klan by Judge Frank M. Johnson,[19] who served in the courthouse directly behind the Greyhound station. [20] The courthouse was named for Johnson in 1992. The Greyhound station was closed in 1995, and its history is indicated by a historic marker placed there in 1996. [21] The station fell into disrepair, and plans to open a museum were delayed repeatedly, leading to accusations of racial prejudice against the Alabama Historical Commission. The internationally renowned architectural firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates produced a design plan for the building.
|
Riot
| null | null |
Cowan rail accident
|
The Cowan rail accident occurred at 7:20pm on 6 May 1990 when the 3801 Limited special steam passenger train returning from the Morpeth Jazz Festival was struck in the rear by the following CityRail inter-urban passenger service. The steam train had stalled while attempting to climb the steep gradient from the Hawkesbury River to Cowan, New South Wales, and it was found that sand applied to the rails to regain traction had interfered with the signals and given the following train a false clear indication. The crash occurred approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Brooklyn, New South Wales, near the Boronia No. 3 tunnel. The railway line at this point, known as the Cowan Bank, is 2.5% (1 in 40) grade and, as the special hauled by steam locomotive 3801 passed southwards through the No. 3 tunnel, the wheels of the locomotive started to slip. The driver of 3801 applied sand to the rails to improve traction, but the train came to a complete stop approximately 50 metres clear of the tunnel. Passengers on the steam train reported seeing a signal fluctuating aspects between green and yellow. The following CityRail V set inter-urban train, which had been halted at the northern entrance to Boronia No. 4 tunnel for 10 minutes by a red stop signal, received a green indication and proceeded, colliding with the steam train shortly after. The impact killed the driver of the inter-urban train, Gordon Hill, and a passenger who was riding in its cab, as well as four passengers in the rear carriage of 3801's train. The passengers killed were the recently retired Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney, John Manning Ward, his wife and daughter, and the wife of the University's Registrar. [1] 99 passengers were injured, 11 of those seriously. The force of the crash completely destroyed the last carriage of the steam train, and was enough to break the locomotive coupling and push the engine 12 metres forward. A subsequent coronial inquiry, headed by NSW State Coroner Derrick Hand, found in December 1990 that the sand that had been applied to the track by 3801 to aid traction had insulated the train from the rails, meaning that the track circuits failed to detect the presence of the first train, allowing the following inter-urban train to be given a false green (clear) aspect (known as a wrong-side failure). Mr Hand also considered it likely that a passenger on 3801 had applied a handbrake on the third carriage, and that this, combined with the heavy load, the steep grade and the curvature of the line, had prevented the steam train from restarting. No fault was found with the signalling system, although the coroner recommended that it be upgraded as soon as possible. Contributing factors include:
|
Train collisions
| null | null |
Joy T Barnum has spent the last 21 months fighting for her health
|
Joy T Barnum singing outside Long Story Short on Water Street at the St Georges Christmas Shop N Stroll on Sunday afternoon (Photograph by Jessie Moniz Hardy) People came out of the woodwork when Joy T Barnum started singing at the St Georges Christmas Shop N Stroll on Sunday afternoon. Passers-by stopped in their tracks to listen to her medley of Christmas songs. Even Santa Claus showed up. But halfway through her set she got a little teary-eyed and had to pause. “Two months ago I couldn’t do this,” the singer told the crowd. “I’m back …” She has spent the last 21 months fighting for her health. The first sign of trouble happened in March 2020 when she awoke to find blood in her bed. “I was like what the deuce is happening,” she said. Because the blood was near her head she thought maybe she was having a brain haemorrhage. Then her mother decided she had bed bugs. Ms Barnum had her bed steam cleaned. “For two days everything was fine,” she said. “Then there was blood again.” It was a full month before she put all the pieces together and realised her left breast was leaking bloody fluid. By then the island was in full lockdown because of Covid-19. A quick bit of googling revealed that bloody discharge from your breasts can be a sign of cancer, but her doctor’s office was closed because of the pandemic. The minute it was open again she scheduled an appointment. Joy T Barnum singing outside Long Story Short on Water Street at the St Georges Christmas Shop N Stroll on Sunday afternoon (Photograph by Jessie Moniz Hardy) Her general practitioner took her symptoms seriously and ordered a mammogram. It came back clear. An ultrasound also found nothing. “The people at the scan said you’re fine. There is nothing wrong with you,” Ms Barnum said. “I went back to the doctor and said, I’m not fine. I’m bleeding. The doctor said I’m going to order another test for you.” Her doctor called for a biopsy, but because Ms Barnum’s previous scans had come up clean, she could not have one. “I understand now, if they don’t see where a mass is, they don’t know where to guide the needle,” she said. “So I get it. But also, now I understand that we have the iPhone 4 of machines here. And we paid a lot of money for them. We are trying to get enough insurance money to pay that off, but just like a car that you take off the lot, the next year there will be a new version that is better.” The doctor’s next move was to send her to her gynaecologist. He seemed dismissive of her symptoms, saying all women had a little bloody discharge from their breasts, from time to time. “I said no, that is not normal,” Ms Barnum said. “Then he said I am going to take samples of it. I said at that point I could fill up a shot glass. I was just squeezing blood out of my chest too fast for him to suck it up with his equipment.” Again the tests came up clear of cancer. A friend put her in touch with a doctor at a clinic in Texas. That doctor recommended she see another doctor in Bermuda and arrange a breast MRI. She took her advice, and had a breast MRI and a biopsy. This time there was something, an adenoma and a papilloma, small non-cancerous tumours. Her gynaecologist said he would take out the papilloma, but not the adenoma. He told her it was too small and he did not have time to look for it. He told her that these things usually had a “little cancer”, but it was nothing to worry about. Feeling this medical professional was being too cavalier with her health she found another gynaecologist. But then she had to put thoughts of surgery and testing on hold, when she lost the job she kept solely to maintain health insurance. With numbers down due to the pandemic they did not need her. She took out her own full coverage insurance with a new insurance company, but soon learnt that they would not cover the surgery to remove the small masses until she had been with them for a full year, because they considered it a pre-existing condition. So after two months with the new company, she cancelled her insurance with them and went onto HIP, paying for supplemental coverage. Because she was unemployed, her mother helped her pay for it. With this insurance, she only had to wait three months before her health insurance would pay for surgery. She grew depressed during this time. “I did not have a job or anywhere to go and I could not wash my dishes,” she said. “I felt there was something wrong with me and I was dying and no one would tell me what was wrong with me. It was pretty awful.” Santa Claus, right, pays Joy T Barnum a visit at the St Georges Christmas Shop N Stroll on Sunday afternoon (Photograph by Jessie Moniz Hardy) She took solace in her twin eight-year-old nieces, Elizabeth and Grace. Her love for them made her fight for a diagnosis. One day, through Facebook she told her friends what she was going through. Many people reached out offering suggestions or encouragement. Then, she got a call offering her a new job doing deliveries for a pharmacy. The job came with full health insurance through a group policy. It was with the same company she had used before the pandemic. They offered her the same coverage she had had before the job loss. Now she reached out to Dana Farber Cancer Hospital in Boston for further testing. “I just called Dana Farber and said is there a way to get in?” she said. There was. She could be tested at Dana Farber’s sister hospital, Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. With a referral from her gynaecologist insurance would cover it all. Dana Farber would handle her care if she was officially diagnosed with cancer. “My mother and I went to the appointment and the doctor said we have looked at your things,” she said. “He said it is great that you sent us everything that you needed from October, but we can not read the MRI. I had the MRI done at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. That is when I found out that our equipment is not up to date.” At Brigham & Women’s she had various scans done of her chest, including an ultrasound. When the radiologist spotted something on the screen, she started to cry. “I said they told me in Bermuda that there was nothing wrong with me and to handle it from home,” she said. “He went ‘how in the world are you supposed to handle this from …’ ” A year after she first noticed blood in her bed she finally had an answer. Her left breast was riddled with stage one cancer. The good news was, there was no sign of it in her right breast, and it had not spread to the rest of her body. “They said they could try to save my nipple but there was a mass behind my nipple that was a precancerous tumour the size of a golf ball,” she said. She believes it was initially missed because the equipment in Bermuda, while not old, is already outdated. “It should not be this way,” she said. “But I don’t know what it is going to take besides private donors to get it where it needs to be and be able to up keep it continually.” “Healthcare should not be a rich person’s thing,” she said. “Life should not be for someone who has money. During the pandemic, the government gave me a $100 a week for 14 to 16 weeks and I was grateful. If they can find that then there is a way we can find money so that everyone is insured.” And she said the policy of saying you can not get a biopsy unless the scans show something, is inherently flawed. “Talking to doctors in Bermuda I felt difficult because I wanted care so that I could live,” she said. She persisted in her fight to get diagnosis and treatment, but she worried that other women would give up. “There is no such thing as no,” she said. “There is always going to be a different avenue.” After doctors discovered the problem, her treatment was transferred to Dana Farber. She would need surgery to remove her left breast and reconstruct it. She would not need chemotherapy or radiation. She went home for several weeks to await her first surgery. She spent the summer singing, then had her left breast removed on August 16. Her breast reconstruction, using her own stomach fat, was done on November 6. “In between surgeries I heard about Flora Duffy,” she said. “I decided to write her a song.” Recording it in the studio was challenging, because she was still recovering from her first operation. She got breathless and light headed and had to sit down after making the recording. On Flora Duffy Day on October 18, she was very proud to sing the song for the Olympic athlete. She told doctors at Brigham & Women’s that she always wanted to have a baby. Staff at the Brigham & Women’s fertility clinic helped her make a plan to reach this goal. She went through two rounds of IVF, thanks to some financial backing from a friend, and harvested four eggs which were put on ice. Because her cancer is Oestregen driven, she will be on a drug that causes menopause for the next five years. After that, she can try for a baby. In the meantime, her focus is on her singing. She is now selling a collection of her Christmas music including a new song written by Bim Bademosi called the Gift, on a USB drive for $20. It is available at Pull My Hair on Front Street, at Long Story Short on Water Street in St George, through www.Iamplantbased.store or directly from her.
|
Famous Person - Recovered
| null | null |
Fire of Moscow (1812)
|
The 1812 Fire of Moscow persisted from 14 to 18 September 1812 and all but destroyed the city. The Russian troops and most of the remaining residents had abandoned the city of Moscow on 14 September 1812 just ahead of French Emperor Napoleon's troops entering the city after the Battle of Borodino. [1]
Search had been made for the fire engines since the previous day, but some of them had been taken away and the rest put out of action...The Poles reported that they had already caught some incendiaries and shot them, ...they had extracted the information that orders had been given by the governor of the city and the police that the whole city should be burnt during the night. [2]
Before leaving Moscow, Count Rostopchin is supposed to have given orders to the head of police (and released convicts) to have the Kremlin and major public buildings (including churches and monasteries) set on fire. During the following days the fires spread. According to Germaine de Staël, who left the city a few weeks before Napoleon arrived, it was Rostopchin who ordered his own mansions to be set on fire, so no Frenchmen should lodge in it. [3] Today, the majority of historians blame the initial fires on the Russian strategy of scorched earth. Furthermore, a Moscow police officer was captured trying to set the Kremlin on fire where Napoleon was staying at the time; brought before Napoleon, the officer admitted he and others had been ordered to set the city on fire, after which he was bayonetted by guardsmen on the spot on the orders of a furious Napoleon. [4]
The catastrophe started as many small fires, which promptly grew out of control and formed a massive blaze. The fires spread quickly since most buildings in Moscow were made of wood. Although Moscow had had a fire brigade, their equipment had previously either been removed or destroyed on Rostopchin's orders. The flames spread into the Kremlin's arsenal, but the fire was put out by French Guardsmen. The burning of Moscow is reported to have been visible up to 215 km away. [5]
Tolstoy, in his book War and Peace, suggests that the fire was not deliberately set, either by the Russians or the French, but was the natural result of placing a deserted and mostly wooden city in the hands of invading troops. Before the invasion, fires would have started nearly every day even with the owners present and a fully functioning police department, and the soldiers would start additional fires for their own needs, from smoking their pipes, cooking their food twice a day, and burning enemies' possessions in the streets. Some of those fires will inevitably get out of control, and without an efficient firefighting action, these individual building fires can spread to become neighborhood fires, and ultimately a citywide conflagration. Kutuzov's food supplies and reinforcements were mostly coming up through Kaluga from the fertile and populous southern provinces, his new deployment gave him every opportunity to feed his men and horses and rebuild their strength. He refused to attack; he was happy for Napoleon to stay in Moscow for as long as possible, avoiding complicated movements and manoeuvres. [29]
...In 1812, there had been approximately 4,000 stone structures and 8,000 wooden houses in Moscow. Of these, there remained after the fires only about 200 of the stone buildings and some 500 wooden houses along with about half of the 1,600 churches, although nearly every church was damaged to some extent...the large number of churches that escaped total destruction by the flames is probably explained by the fact that altar implements and other paraphernalia were made of precious metals, which immediately attracted the attention of the looters. Indeed, Napoleon had a systematic sweep made for the church silver, which ended up in his war chest, the mobile treasury. [1]
Still, the remaining buildings had enough space for the French army. As General Marcellin Marbot reasoned:
"It is often claimed that the fire of Moscow... was the principal cause of the failure of the 1812 campaign. This assertion seems to me to be contestable. To begin with, the destruction of Moscow was not so complete that there did not remain enough houses, palaces, churches and barracks to accommodate the entire army [for a whole month]. "[30]
The process of rebuilding after the fire under governor Dmitry Golitsyn was gradual, lasting well over a decade. [5]
Leo Tolstoy describes the fire in his novel War and Peace. The fire was adapted into 1965–67 Soviet film War and Peace; the film crew planned out the scenes for 10 months and shot the fires with six ground cameras while also filming from helicopters. [31]
Kutuzov, Russian movie (1943) with English subtitles, describes also the Fire of Moscow(1812).
|
Fire
| null | null |
2012–2014 Romanian protests against shale gas
|
Shale gas in Romania has been prospected, licenses were given to several companies, but no exploitation has yet started. The current government led by Victor Ponta supports extraction of shale gas through fracking, but there have been protests against it. Romgaz discovered non-conventional gas resources (including shale gas) in 1994-1995 in Transylvania; however, they were only accidentally exploited. [1]
When the Democratic-Liberal government began supporting shale gas extraction in 2012, the Social-Democratic Party voiced its opposition. In April 2012, a motion of no confidence written by the Social-Democrats led to the fall of the Ungureanu government. The motion of no confidence blamed the government for approving shale gas extraction without an appropriate legislative framework and without any geological studies. [2]
When the Social-Democratic Party took power, its May 2012 party programme proposed the "immediate establishment of a moratorium on shale gas until the studies that are ongoing at European level on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fractionation process". [3]
In June 2012, a proposal by several Vaslui County deputies to ban shale gas extraction through fracking was rejected by the Victor Ponta government, being also rejected by the Senate. [3] Soon after, Ponta announced that the government would re-analyze its position on shale gas. [2] In July 2012, PM Ponta announced that retired general Wesley Clark (who was working for shale gas company BNK Petroleum) would become an adviser of the Romanian government, fueling speculations of a change of policy regarding shale gas and fracking. [2]
Following negotiations with petroleum corporation Chevron in December 2012, Ponta announced in January 2013 a reversal of the policies, saying that shale gas extraction "should be considered as something positive". [2] The first permissions for the exploration of shale gas were given a few days later in January 2013. [2]
American corporation Chevron has the rights to extract shale gas from a combined area of 870,000 hectares[4] around Bârlad, as well as from several areas in Dobruja (Adamclisi, Vama Veche and Costinești), under 30-year contracts that can be extended for another 15 years. [5]
The gas extraction rights for the Bârlad area were sold by Frank Timiș's Regal Petroleum to Chevron in 2010 for $25 million. [6] Chevron was given in January 2013 the permission for exploration of shale gas in Bârlad and a few months later, in May 2013, it was also given permission for the exploration of the gas fields along the southern Romanian Black Sea coast. [2] The royalties given to the Romanian state are between 3.5% and 13%, depending on the sizes of the deposits. [5]
The exploratory drillings were supposed to start in October 2013 in Pungești, Vaslui County, however, following protests both in the village and in Bucharest, Chevron decided to suspend its activities. [7] The Pungești local council announced the organization of a non-binding local referendum on the issue. [7]
Protests against shale gas were held in several major cities including Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța,[8] as well as in the areas where the exploitations will be done, including in the city of Vaslui and the village of Pungești. A small village in Vaslui County became a center of resistance against exploitation of shale gas.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Demolition of gas explosion council houses in Mill View, Ashford, progresses
|
| Updated: 15:05, 07 September 2021
More news, no ads
LEARN MORE
Work to tear down the last remaining properties in a terrace devastated by a gas explosion has started this week.
Two people were left with life-changing injuries after the blast, sparked by a portable heater, ripped through homes in Mill View, Willesborough , back in May.
The final properties in Mill View, Willesborough, are set for demolition
In all, four properties - three of which are owned by Ashford Borough Council (ABC) - are being pulled down following the explosion and subsequent fire that left the block uninhabitable .
There is still hope that any personal items left behind by families forced out by the blast.
"The work is expected to take around two weeks to complete," an ABC spokesman said.
"Specialist contractors are due on site ahead of temporary scaffolding being erected around the properties.
"We have suggested that those affected by the tragedy might be able to come to the site gates and the demolition contractor can let them inspect any items that might have been able to be salvaged.
The scene of devastation following the explosion in May
The site of the Mill View explosion
The scene of the explosion in Willesborough
The last homes are being demolished
"The health and safety and wellbeing of residents, contractors and ABC staff is paramount and people will be unable to gain access to the site to sift through the rubble.
"The contractors will carry out the demolition work in the safest way possible while remaining vigilant to anything they see that might be able to be retrieved."
At the time of the incident, which happened just before 8am on May 4, Ethel Hanford, 99, and her son Donald, 75, were living in the home that housed the heater.
They were rescued by heroic builder Andy Hodges and his son Harry and were treated at the William Harvey Hospital along with three others.
The two people who suffered serious injuries lived next to the Hanfords and were airlifted to hospital in London.
Drone footage of Ashford explosion (video: Chris Thomson)
The borough council has confirmed it will rebuild the three council-owned properties once demolition work is complete.
|
Gas explosion
| null | null |
2007 Zell am See mid-air collision crash
|
The 2007 Zell am See mid-air collision was an aviation accident that occurred on 5 March 2007, at 10:53 a.m. CET (09:53 UTC), in which eight people died when an Aérospatiale SA 332 Super Puma helicopter, operated by Helog, collided with a private Diamond DV20 Katana light aircraft near Zell am See, Austria. At the time of the accident, both aircraft were operating under visual flight rules. The weather was good, with a few clouds and 50 km visibility. The collision occurred at an altitude of about 5,090 feet (1,550 m), approximately 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) north-west of Zell am See Airport, as the helicopter flew over the airport's traffic pattern travelling north-north-eastwards. At the same time, the light aircraft was climbing through the traffic pattern and was subsequently involved in a collision with the helicopter, destroying both aircraft. [2]
The Austrian Federal Department of Aviation's Air Accident Investigation Board launched an investigation into the accident, releasing the investigation report on 9 April 2008. The report stated that the main cause of the accident was the inability of both pilots to see the other aircraft in time to avoid the collision as a result of the reduced fields of vision allowed by the cockpit designs. Another factor in the collision was the subtle limitations on visual perception relating in part to the proximity of the mountain slope not far below both aircraft, requiring both pilots' attention to maintain suitable terrain clearance.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Improperly piled-up soil seen behind deadly central Japan mudslide
|
As search efforts continue for 21 missing people following a large mudslide that hit a spa resort town in central Japan last weekend, experts and local authorities suspect improper accumulation of soil led to the fatal calamity. Local authorities say an estimated 54,000 cubic meters of soil which had been brought to a mountainside by a real estate management firm exacerbated the massive mudslide on July 3 in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, resulting in the death of nine people. Some 56,000 cubic meters of soil in total, mostly the soil left by the company, collapsed into a nearby river, traveling a distance of about 2 kilometers. Around 130 houses and buildings were destroyed or damaged. The real estate management firm based in nearby Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, which acquired the mountainside lot in 2006, brought in soil exceeding the amount it reported to the local authority and also mixed industrial waste with it, according to the Shizuoka prefectural government. The now-liquidated company is also suspected of not installing drainage facilities at the site as required by a Shizuoka Prefecture ordinance, the prefectural government said. The real estate firm had said in a 2009 report to the prefectural government that it planned to install an underground pipe as drainage but such a device was not confirmed in photos or other materials taken after the mudslide, according to Deputy Shizuoka Gov. Takashi Namba. The firm was subject to multiple administrative directions by the prefectural and Atami city governments due to repeated inappropriate actions, the Shizuoka government said. For instance, the company had reported in 2009 its plan to pile up soil at the lot to a height of 15 meters, but the actual height of the soil reached some 50 meters shortly before the mudslide occurred, according to the prefectural government. The company also underreported the area of forests it cut down in the vicinity and was told by the prefectural government to restore it in 2007. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan said soil at the site is estimated to have increased by some 56,000 cubic meters between 2009 and 2019 and that 85 percent, or about 48,000 cubic meters of the soil, may have flowed out in the latest mudslide. The authority, which made the prediction using data from airborne laser surveys, said a site that used to be a valley in 2009 had been raised to a height of up to some 13 meters in 2019 due to the accumulation of soil. Following the mudslide, the central government has moved to take steps to secure the safety of accumulated soil located nationwide, including discussing the creation of universal regulations. At present, Japan lacks comprehensive legal regulations covering soil accumulated for such purposes as residential land development or disposal of surplus soil. Local governments which have dealt with piled-up soil by ordinances have been calling on the central government to establish uniformed rules. "We need to establish firm rules and make sure they are followed by operators," land minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said, noting that accumulated soil not regulated by law poses a "high risk." Akaba said his ministry will discuss the matter with related government bodies including the forestry and environment ministries. The entities will also explore ways to inspect and reinforce land with accumulated soil in danger of collapse across the country. Masato Koyama, professor at Shizuoka University Center for Integrated Research and Education of Natural Hazards, meanwhile, warned of a recurrence of mudslides as there still remains around 20,000 cubic meters of fragile soil accumulated at the site. Koyama, who conducted an on-site investigation on Monday, said in his report that the soil which triggered the mudslide did not include volcanic rocks naturally seen in the area but consisted mainly of small stones mixed with sand, indicating it had been brought in from outside. He also concluded that as there were no large volcanic rocks found in the disaster-hit areas, the mudslide derived solely from the accumulated soil. Koyama estimated that some 55,000 cubic meters of the accumulated soil collapsed and caused the mudslide. "I suspect that the accumulated soil collapsed due to an increase in underground water caused by heavy rain," the professor said.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
Victim of a fatal Knox County mine collapse identified
|
by: Gregory Raucoules Posted: Jul 19, 2021 / 04:56 PM EDT Updated: Jul 19, 2021 / 04:56 PM EDT by: Gregory Raucoules Posted: Jul 19, 2021 / 04:56 PM EDT Updated: Jul 19, 2021 / 04:56 PM EDT KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Federal officials have identified the man killed in a fatal Knox County mine collapse that also injured two others. A preliminary report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety & Health Administration identifies the victim as 68-year-old Gerald Turbyville, who had worked more than a decade at the mine. Two other miners were also injured in the collapse at the Nyrstar Immel mine in Knox County on Tuesday, July 13. Those workers were brought to the surface by mine rescue personnel and transported to a local hospital. One worker has since been released. The report says Turbyville, a scaling operator, was killed when he was struck by falling rock while performing scaling operations at the mine. Scaling is defined as the removal of loose rock from the roofs and walls of a mine by manual or mechanized means. The report is based on preliminary data and does not represent the final determination of the nature of the incident or conclusions regarding the cause of the accident, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. According to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control, a systematic review of recent MSHA accident and fatality reports for underground metal/nonmetal mines revealed that nearly a quarter of all fatalities were related to rock falls and approximately one-third of all accidents involved scaling. Nyrstar operates a processing plant and three underground zinc mines in East Tennessee: Young, Coy and Immel. The three mines are located in and around Knox and Jefferson Counties. The fatal collapse marked the second fatal incident at the Nyrstar Immel Mine this year. Cody Maggard, a 26-year-old underground chute puller, died on Feb. 22. Brandon Roski, 35, was killed May 18 at the Young Mine in Jefferson County. The Nyrstar Immel Mine was issued three citations for violating federal regulations in the week leading up to the July 13 collapse. Nyrstar issued a statement of sympathy to the miner’s family and friends on Tuesday. The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration is conducting an investigation into the incident.
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.