title
stringlengths 1
7.43k
| text
stringlengths 111
32.3k
| event_type
stringlengths 4
57
| date
stringlengths 8
14
⌀ | metadata
stringlengths 2
205
⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Manitoba RCMP Look for Released Murder Suspect
|
WINNIPEG - Manitoba RCMP are asking for help with locating a man they consider violent who had been released from jail while facing manslaughter charges. Mounties say Robert Fleury is wanted on two arrest warrants after being charged in early March this year in connection with the homicide death of 40-year-old Matthew Swain in mid-August 2019. Officers responded to a report of an assault on Highway 16 in northwestern Manitoba. The victim was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries. Investigators say a Manitoba court placed Fleury under release conditions before he was discharged from custody, but has since breached those conditions and remains at large. Fleury is described as 5'9" tall and 280 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Police are warning anyone who sees Fleury not to approach him and to immediately call 911.
|
Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
| null | null |
Donald Trump said that he will begin the process of withdrawing from the TPP
|
President Obama with foreign leaders at a 2010 meeting about the TPP. (CNSNews.com) – President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that on his first day in office next January he will begin the process of withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a prospective trade deal which has been a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s “rebalance” to Asia, but which Trump while campaigning called “horrible.” Trump said in an online video message on priorities for his first 100 days that he has asked his transition team “to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one, to restore our laws and bring back our jobs. It’s about time.” “On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” he said. “Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores.” Trump characterized the move a part of a plan to advance the simple core principle of “putting American first.” “Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, on our great homeland, America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” he said. The TPP partners the U.S. with 11 countries on either side of the Pacific – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has said the agreement would usher in more than $130 billion a year in estimated GDP growth and more than $350 billion in additional exports. But Trump during the campaign described the TPP as “horrible” and “one of the worst trade deals,” adding that “I’d rather make individual deals with individual countries. We will do much better.” Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time negotiations for the deal were launched, also opposed it during her presidential campaign – despite having praised it in earlier years, saying in 2012 that it set “the gold standard in trade agreements.” ‘There is no free lunch’ During a series of meetings in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump on Sunday met with Wilbur Ross, a billionaire investor who is believed to be in the running to be commerce secretary in a Trump administration. “They engaged in a conversation regarding negotiating the best foreign deals, American manufacturing and job creation,” the transition team said in a statement afterwards. Ross is known to be critical of free trade deals. “Free trade is like free lunch,” he said in a Fox Business interview last August. “There is no free lunch. Somebody wins and somebody loses and unfortunately we’ve been losing with these stupid agreements that we’ve made.” DNC delegates protest against the TPP at the Democratic National Convention in July. Trump’s announcement Monday came three days after Obama met with the other TPP leaders in Peru and, in the words of a White House readout, “discussed the United States' continued strong support for trade, our commitment to strengthening ties to the Asia-Pacific, and the need to remain engaged in an increasingly interconnected world.” “President Obama discussed his support of high-standard trade agreements like TPP, which level the playing field for American workers and advance our interests and values in the economically dynamic and strategically-significant Asia-Pacific region,” it said. The readout said Obama had urged the other TPP partners’ leaders “to continue to work together to advance TPP.” During a press conference in Lima on Sunday, Obama said his meeting with the TPP partners had been “a chance to reaffirm our commitment to the TPP, with its high standards, strong protections for workers, the environment, intellectual property and human rights.” “Our partners made very clear during the meeting that they want to move forward with TPP; preferably, they’d like to move forward with the United States.” Obama said that not moving ahead with the TPP “would undermine our position across the region and our ability to shape the rules of global trade in a way that reflects our interests and our values.” In a speech last September, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Congress to pass the TPP during the lame duck session. “We can’t just stand up and say to the world, ‘Hey, we’re a Pacific power.’ We have to show it in our actions and in our choices,” he said at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “We can’t talk about the ‘rebalance’ to Asia one day and then sit on the sidelines the next, and expect to possibly send a credible message to partners and to potential partners around the world.” Trump's other priorities Other measures listed by Trump in Monday’s video included: --canceling “job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal” --formulating a rule saying that for every new regulation introduced, two old regulations must be eliminated --tasking the Pentagon and joint chiefs of staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect the nation’s vital infrastructure from cyber or other types of attack --directing the Department of Labor to investigate all visa program abuses “that undercut the American worker” --introducing a five-year ban on executive officials working as lobbyists after leaving the administration, and a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of foreign governments “These are just a few of the steps we will take to reform Washington and rebuild our middle class,” he concluded.
|
Withdraw from an Organization
| null | null |
In multiple countries, alarm over hunger crisis rings louder
|
A malnourished girl Rahmah Watheeq receives treatment at a feeding center at Al-Sabeen hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday. Nov. 3, 2020. Two-thirds of Yemen's population of about 28 million people are hungry, and nearly 1.5 million families currently rely entirely on food aid to survive, with another million people are set to fall into crisis levels of hunger before the year end, according to aid agencies working in Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed) ABS, Yemen (AP) — The twin baby boys lay on a bed of woven palm leaves in a remote camp for displaced people in Yemen’s north, their collar bones and ribs visible. They cried loudly, twisting as if in pain, not from disease but from the hunger gnawing away at them. Here, U.N. officials’ increasingly dire warnings that a hunger crisis is growing around the world are becoming reality. U.N. agencies have warned that some 250 million people in 20 countries are threatened with sharply spiking malnutrition or even famine in coming months. The United Nations humanitarian office this week released $100 million in emergency funding to seven countries most at risk of famine — Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, and Burkina Faso. But David Beasley, head of the World Food Program, says billions in new aid are needed. Without it, “we are going to have famines of biblical proportions in 2021,” he said in an Associated Press interview last week.
|
Famine
| null | null |
Car pursued by police smashes into East Perth traffic light pole causing multi-vehicle crash
|
A police pursuit has resulted in a chaotic crash scene in Perth at the intersection of East Parade and the Graham Farmer Freeway. Four cars were waiting at a red traffic light when a car being chased by police drove into the intersection, knocking a traffic light onto the stationary vehicles. The driver of the car being pursued was taken into custody and another man was transported to Royal Perth Hospital for assessment. A massive police and emergency services response was launched with about 30 police officers present, including traffic officers and several detectives. The dark-coloured hatchback had been involved in an incident in Guildford earlier in the morning and police were actively searching for the driver. It is alleged the man later drove past detectives in Guildford and when they tried to stop him, he took off before crashing into the traffic light and several cars. St John Ambulance officers and Main Roads staff also attended the scene. WA Police Inspector Mike Sparkman said it was "very fortunate" no one else was hurt. "And because of the time of the day, it's caused a bit of traffic chaos," he said. The director of Main Roads Metropolitan Operations, Peter Sewell, also attended the crash scene. He said Main Roads staff were helping to close surrounding roads before isolating the electricity supply to the overhead traffic light. "We expect to be here for three or four hours yet," he said. Mr Sewell said the traffic light would be replaced over the weekend at night to avoid being overly disruptive. He said it was a major intersection and that if Perth was not in the middle of a COVID-19 lockdown, the traffic would have become a "total mess" by 4:00pm. "Currently, we have 35 per cent less traffic on the road, so we're a bit lucky in that way," he said. Motorists have been asked to avoid the area.
|
Road Crash
| null | null |
Back to basicsSchool closures have caused damage that extra lessons cannot fix
|
A DECADE AGO Bowling Park Primary was one of England’s least successful schools. Its neighbourhood in south Bradford is one of England’s poorest. A fifth of pupils are Roma, who tend to do worse at school than any other group. But a turnaround that began in 2008 dragged test scores up to the national average. The progress pupils make from seven to 11 is greater than almost anywhere else. Covid-19 has hit hard, says Matthew Langley, the head teacher. Large families and small homes helped the virus spread. Some pupils spent a quarter of the past academic year isolating, on top of two months of remote learning early in the pandemic, when all classrooms in England were shut. “It’s like we’ve hit a brick wall,” says Mr Langley, “and now we have to reverse.”
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
Deadly Myanmar Landslide at Jade Mine May Have Killed More Than 50
|
A landslide at a northern Myanmar jade mine is believed to have killed at least 50 people. Myanmar lawmaker Tin Soe said three bodies have been recovered from the landslide that occurred Monday at a waste dump near the Kachin Mine, in the Hpakant area of Kachin state. Another 54 people remain missing, the Associated Press reports. "The rescue process will not be easy as they're under the mud, not just ordinary soil. It is really difficult to get the bodies back," he said. Mud that flowed from a nearby lake on Monday triggered the collapse of a mound of discarded earth that covered not only the workers, but also mining equipment. Tin Soe noted that the missing are buried under up to 100 feet of mud. "There is no machine to pump out the mud," he told the AP. "It could cost millions of dollars."
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
Former Vinita preacher charged in federal court on sexual abuse allegations
|
Clarification: This story has been edited to indicate Williams was a member and preacher at Bunker Hill Baptist Church during the period of the alleged abuse.
A former Vinita preacher was indicted in federal court this week on allegations that he sexually abused five children whose ages ranged from 7 to 16 years old over the course of 16 years, Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said Wednesday.
Roy Edward Williams, 63, was charged in the federal Northern District of Oklahoma with coercion and enticement of a minor in Indian Country, aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in Indian Country, abusive sexual contact of a minor between 12 and 16 years old in Indian Country and possession of child pornography, court documents show.
During the period of the alleged abuse, Williams was a member and preacher at Bunker Hill Baptist Church in Vinita from around November 2002 to December 2018, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Williams is also charged tribally, according to a news release. He was originally charged in Craig County District Court before those charges were dropped on jurisdictional grounds, since Williams is a Cherokee citizen and the crimes are alleged to have occurred within the Cherokee reservation.
According to the news release, Williams also is accused of taking sexually explicit photographs of several of the victims, attempting to bribe several victims immediately following the sexual abuse and threatening several victims in an effort to stop them from reporting the abuse.
Williams also is alleged to have possessed child pornography on June 24, 2019.
According to the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office website, Williams has been held in the Mayes County jail since July 2. He is in tribal custody awaiting trial.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI encourage any other victims of Williams to contact the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office at 405-290-7770.
|
Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
| null | null |
Rice pests multiply post-floods - The New Humanitarian
|
BANGKOK
Heavy flooding across parts of Thailand in 2011 has fuelled outbreaks of a rice pest that can decimate harvests, experts say.
The pest, known as brown planthopper (BPH), transmits two viruses that hit yields as well as eating away at rice plants.
"The floods have certainly made things worse," Kong Luen Heong, principal scientist for the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) told IRIN.
"Moreover, they will impact [on] upcoming harvests as well."
"BPH is attacking the rice bowl of the country for the eighth time in a row [over the past four years]," said Kukiat Soitong, from the Thai government's Rice Department, based in the Agriculture Ministry, adding that "150,000 hectares have already been seriously damaged in the central plains, in the basin of Chao Phraya river".
Affected provinces lost 30 percent of their rice production due to BPH in early 2010, amounting to around 1.3 million tons for the country, or more than 15 percent of the nationwide harvest, which takes place twice a year, reported the Rice Department.
According to the Thai Rice Exporters' Association, Thailand produces 4-5 percent of the world's rice, and is the largest exporter, with 10.8 million tons in 2011.
Last year's flooding , which affected more than two million people across 28 provinces and damaged more than two million hectares of farmland, worsened the longstanding pest problem by drowning natural enemies of BPH, including insect parasites and spiders.
"Because of the floods and the killing of BPH's natural enemies, farmers are more dependent on insecticides for several seasons. And the fact is that using insecticides makes BPH even stronger," added Kukiat.
Most insecticides kill BPH's natural enemies, rather than BPH itself. The brown planthopper has an "unmatched" capacity to become resistant to any molecule used against it, according to Keng Hong Tan, a retired entomology professor based in Malaysia.
He says the pest has even developed resistance to one of its own hormones when applied as a control measure.
And while IRRI and Thailand's Rice Department launched a campaign in July 2011 to ban the two insecticides most often used in rice cultivation, cypermethrin and abamectin - known to cause BPH's resurgence - the ban is unlikely to have a significant impact.
"This campaign will have limited immediate effects because of the floods," said Heong. "It will take some strong will to break the vicious circle that helps BPH."
Yet banning insecticides is the only way to control BPH outbreaks in the long term, said Ho Van Chien, director of the Vietnamese government's plant protection centre for southern Vietnam.
According to IRRI, BPH damaged hundreds of thousands of hectares across Asia, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production.
Since 2009, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have been severely affected at least once.
"BPH puts the whole rice ecosystem in jeopardy," said Erma Budiyanto, director of plant protection in Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture.
"There could be a humanitarian situation because of this pest in the future if insecticides remain as widely used as today," said Heong.
|
Insect Disaster
| null | null |
1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown crash
|
The 1991 Azerbaijan MI-8 helicopter shootdown occurred on November 20, 1991, when an Azerbaijani MI-8 military helicopter, carrying a peacekeeping mission team consisting of 13 Azerbaijani government officials, 2 Russian and 1 Kazakhstani Ministry of Internal Affairs officials, 3 Azerbaijani journalists and 3 helicopter crew was shot down amidst heavy fighting near the village of Berdashen, also known as Karakend, in Nagorno-Karabakh. [1][2] All 22 people (19 passengers and 3 crew) on board were killed in the crash. [3]
In accordance with the Zheleznovodsk communique initiated by Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and their subsequent shuttle diplomacy visit to the region in September 1991, officials from Russia and Kazakhstan were placed in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) for an observation mission. On the eve of the crash, the Armenian side ceased the peace talks with Azerbaijan until Azerbaijan re-opened the natural gas supply to Armenia, which it had cut off on November 4. [4] The team of observers along with representatives of Azerbaijani government were to fly from Agdam to Martuni due to rising tension in the district. [1]
The helicopter MI-8 with the observation team departed from Agdam with 22 people on board and was shot down en route with a group of ZSU-23-4 Shilka and SA-6 missiles, killing everyone on board. [5] The attack on the helicopter disrupted the ongoing peace talks. [6][7]
Various conspiracy theories about the incident have since been in circulation, and are promoted by various political figures in Azerbaijan, who claim that the shootdown was a political assassination. Despite an absence of official investigation evidence, such theories are considered credible by a significant part of the Azerbaijani population. Initial reports by central state agency TASS claimed the helicopter flew into fog and crashed into a hill. On November 21, the chairman of the crash investigation committee announced over TV that the helicopter was shot at by large caliber weapons and the weapons and video equipment were stolen from the site of the incident. [1] At 6:30 PM, the same day, the deputy Chief of Command of Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs of USSR, Vyacheslav Ponomarev left for Agdam. The Interior Ministry officials declared they would not withdraw the internal troop detachments from the district due to escalation of the conflict. The investigation committee was also to determine where the victims would be buried. [1] However, because the area of the crash was soon captured by Armenian militants, the investigation was suspended and no one was indicted. [11]
The investigation was initiated for clarifying the reasons for the crash. The first version was transferred by TASS referring to the commander's special area of NKAO: helicopter exploded, sprung upon a rock in the fog. [1] However, an investigation found holes in the fuselage consistent with the explosion of a rocket. [12] Investigation Commission Chairman Adil Agayev said that the helicopter was shot down from the ground by a large-caliber weapon, video equipment and weapons from the crash site were removed. [1] Armenians denied any involvement, although they were blamed immediately for the incident. [12] In response to Agayev the deputies of the USSR from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Zori Balayan, Victor Hambardzumyan, Henrik Igityan, Sos Sargsyan accused Central television of bias and hinted at the uninvolvement of Armenians in the crash. [1] According to American researcher Michael P. Croissant, it appeared to be an Armenian rocket attack. [5]
After the public burial of the Azerbaijani victims in Baku on November 22, demonstrations began. The protestors demanded the Supreme Soviet and the chairman of Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Mutalibov, to establish authority in Karabakh or resign from office. As a result, the Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet called a special session on November 26 requesting the imposition of martial law in the republic, withdrawing cadets and officers of Azerbaijani ethnicity from the Soviet Army and ceasing all negotiations with Armenia. [1]
On November 27, the Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet voted in favour of abolishing the autonomous status of NKAO and established direct rule over it. It also officially changed the name of Stepanakert to its pre-Soviet name, Khankendi, and re-arranged administrative division of the rayons in Nagorno-Karabakh area. [5][6]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Queronque rail accident
|
The Queronque rail accident was a head-on train collision that happened on February 17, 1986, on the line between Santiago and Valparaíso in Chile. It is the worst in Chilean history, killing at least 58 people. [1]
The accident happened in the Marga Marga Province of Valparaíso Region, between Peñablanca and Limache stations on a sharp curve. Both of the trains involved were three-carriage electric AES units and were carrying around a thousand people in total. The accident happened at 19:45 when the 17:30 from Los Andes to Valparaiso collided head on with a train travelling from Valparaiso to Mapocho Station in Santiago. [2] The front carriages embedded themselves in each other for a distance of five metres, killing those at the front of both trains. [3]
Repair work to a bridge damaged in a explosive attack by the FPMR[4] six months previously meant that a single line was used for trains travelling in both directions. [5] In addition, the signalling on the line dated from 1928 and had developed a fault a few days before the accident. [3] But the accident was primarily blamed on the stationmaster at Limache, who should have held the train from Los Andes until the train from Valparaiso had passed. [6] Theft of telephone cabling meant that the phone link between stations was not working,[7] and it was over an hour before rescue teams arrived at the scene of the accident. [4] The rescue efforts continued until 11:30 the following morning; an emergency hospital room was set up on the platform at Limache station; its speakers were used to ask for blood donors to come forward. [3]
The official figures state that 58 people were killed and 510 injured, 111 of them seriously. [6] However, some sources state the fatality figure to be much higher, 110[5] and a recent video documentary puts it at 200. [8]
Dictator Augusto Pinochet visited the injured in hospital shortly after the incident and pledged compensation to those affected similar to that in place for road accident victims. [3]
As a result of the tragedy, the train service between Santiago and Valparaiso was suspended, only resuming in 1992 with the installation of radio communications in the trains. [3] The line is now operated by MERVAL, the Valparaiso region metro system. Coordinates: 32°59′14″S 71°20′39″W / 32.98722°S 71.34417°W / -32.98722; -71.34417
|
Train collisions
| null | null |
Conflict, Covid driving 45 mn globally to edge of starvation
|
New Delhi, Nov 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday warned that the number of people teetering on the edge of famine 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 from 27 million in 2019. "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 that there are now more than 45 million people marching towards the brink of starvation," said WFP Executive Director David Beasley after a trip to Afghanistan, where WFP is ramping up its support to assist almost 23 million people. "Fuel costs are up, food prices are soaring, fertiliser is more expensive, and all of these feeds into new crises like the one unfolding in Afghanistan now, as well as long-standing emergencies like Yemen and Syria," he added. WFP and its humanitarian partners are ramping up efforts to assist millions of people facing starvation. However, the needs are vastly surpassing the available resources at a time when traditional funding streams are overstretched. The cost of averting famine globally now stands at $7 billion, up from $6.6 billion earlier in the year. Families facing acute food insecurity are also being forced to make devastating choices to cope with the rising hunger. WFP's vulnerability analysis across the 43 countries shows families being forced to eat less, or skip meals entirely, feeding children over adults, and in some extreme cases being forced to eat locusts, wild leaves or cactus to survive -- as in Madagascar. In other areas, families are forced to marry off children early or pull them out of school, sell off assets like livestock or what little else they have left. Meanwhile, media reports from Afghanistan point to families reportedly being forced to sell their children in a desperate attempt to survive. Food prices hit a 10-year high this month, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index. This not only pushes food out of reach for millions of the poorest around the globe, but also increases the cost of procuring food on global markets. Adding to this are the high prices of fuel which also increase transportation costs and place a further strain on the global supply chains. For example, shipping a container cost $1,000 a year ago, but now it costs $4,000 or more. Download logoThe United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that famine – already present in four countries – could become a reality for millions of people around the world, without urgent funding to stave off a catastrophe, and without access to families cut-off by conflict. “I am heartbroken at… In "Africa News" Download logoThe COVID-19 pandemic could almost double the number of people suffering acute hunger, pushing it to more than a quarter of a billion by the end of 2020, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today as it and other partners released a new report on food crises… In "Africa News" Nearly half of the population - 47 percent - suffers from high and surging acute food insecurity in the Central African Republic as the country reels from the impacts of ongoing conflict and COVID-19, and braces for another harsh May-August lean season, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United… In "Africa News" Rome, Jan 2 (IANS/AKI) Millions of people will require life-saving food assistance in sub-Saharan Africa in the first half of this year amid surging hunger levels that will stretch the United Nations World Food Programme and its partners to the limit, WFP said in a statement. Worst hit by food… In "Diplomacy" Significant funding shortfalls across East and Southern Africa as well as the Middle East have forced ration cuts upon some of the world’s most vulnerable people who rely on WFP food to survive. In East Africa alone, almost three-quarters of refugees have had their rations cut by up to 50…
|
Famine
| null | null |
80 People Missing, 4 Dead As Huge Mudslide Wrecks Japanese Resort Town
|
A man watches as rescuers continue a search operation Monday at the site of a mudslide at Izusan in Atami, Shizuoka prefecture, southwest of Tokyo. Kyodo News via AP hide caption A man watches as rescuers continue a search operation Monday at the site of a mudslide at Izusan in Atami, Shizuoka prefecture, southwest of Tokyo. ATAMI, Japan — Rescue workers dug through sludge and debris Monday looking for dozens of people who may be trapped after a a torrent of mud, trees and rocks ripped with a roar through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least four people. Eighty people were still unaccounted for two days after the landslide, according to Shizuoka prefectural disaster management official Takamichi Sugiyama. Officials planned to release their names, hoping that perhaps some were away when the disaster struck, since many of the apartments and houses in Atami are second homes or vacation rentals. Initially, 147 people were unreachable, but that number was revised downward after officials confirmed some had safely evacuated or were simply not at home. In addition to the four people found dead, officials said 25 people have been rescued, including three who were injured. The disaster is an added trial as authorities prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, due to start in less than three weeks, while Japan is still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, with cases steadily climbing in the capital and experts suggesting a need for another state of emergency. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters that rescue workers are doing their utmost "to rescue those who may be buried under the mud and waiting for help as soon as possible." Three coast guard ships, and six military drones were backing up hundreds of troops, firefighters and others toiling in the rain and fog. The landslide occurred Saturday mid-morning after days of heavy rain in Atami, which like many seaside Japanese towns is built into a steep hillside. It tore through the Izusan neighborhood, known for its hot springs, a shrine and shopping streets. The town has a registered population of 36,800 and is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Officials stand Monday near a mudslide area caused by heavy rains in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo. Eugene Hoshiko/AP hide caption Officials stand Monday near a mudslide area caused by heavy rains in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, west of Tokyo. Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu, who inspected the area Monday where the mudslide was believed to have started, said rain soaked into the mountainside apparently weakening the ground under a massive pile of soil at a construction site that then slid down the slope. The prefecture is investigating. Media reports said a planned housing development in the area was abandoned after its operator ran into financial problems. Witnesses described a giant roar as a small stream turned into a torrent, and bystanders were heard gasping in horror on cellphone videos taken as it happened. The Izusan area is one of 660,000 locations in Japan identified as prone to mudslides by the government, but those designations are not widely publicized and public awareness is low. Early July, near the end of Japan's rainy season, is often a time of deadly flooding and mudslides, and many experts say the rains are worsening due to climate change. Rescuers continue a search operation at the site of a mudslide at Izusan in Atami, Japan.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
5 Confirmed dead in Mexico mining accident
|
Mexico City, Jun 9 (EFE).- Another body has been found at the coal mine in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila where seven men were trapped last week by flooding, bringing the confirmed death toll to five, a miners’ rights group said Wednesday. “We regret greatly the death of Carlos Moreno, who has been recovered from the Muzquiz mine,” Familia Pasta de Conchos – comprising kin of some of the 65 men killed in 2006 in a gas explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila – said. “We send our solidarity and affection to his family, friends and co-workers.” Familia Pasta de Conchos identified the four miners found dead over the course of last weekend as Mauricio Cortes, Pedro Ramirez, Humberto Rodriguez and Gonzalo Alberto Cruz. The accident happened late Friday and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said via social media that National Guard and army troops were dispatched to the mine to aid the rescue effort. Authorities say that it appears a flood caused the roof and walls of the mine to collapse. Industrial pumps were brought in to remove the water from the mine and make it possible for search teams to enter. In the wake of the collapse, the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center said last Saturday that a formal complaint was presented to the relevant authorities last year about “terrible conditions” at the mine in Muzquiz. The Center said that in October 2020, it joined Familia Pasta de Conchos to write to the director of Mexico’s state-owned CFE electric utility requesting a meeting on mine safety. The missive to Manuel Bartlett included claims that two firms hired by the CFE to extract coal for power plants failed to meet health and safety standards. But the CFE said in response to the statement from the human rights organization that the Muzquiz mine was not one of its suppliers. The accident at Muzquiz has revived memories of the Feb. 19, 2006, disaster at Pasta de Conchos. The bodies of all but two of the 65 miners killed remain buried in the mine. EFE ia/dr
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
2002 European Badminton Championships
|
The European Badminton Championships is a tournament organized by the Badminton Europe (BE). The first of these competitions was held in 1968. The competition was held once every two years to determine the best badminton players in Europe. European Mixed Team Badminton Championships usually started prior to the individual championships until it was split in 2009. From 2017 on the European badminton championship is held annually except for the year with European Games. Since 2008, it is being graded as a Grand Prix Gold tournament by the Badminton World Federation. [1][2]
The table below gives an overview of all host cities and countries of the European Championships. On 15 January 2008, Manchester of England won the bid to stage the 2010 event which saw the separation the team event into different championships. [3] Starting from 2017, the championship will be an annual event except for the year with European Games. The 2020 edition in Kyiv, Ukraine, had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic and the hosting rights of the 2021 edition is reallocated to Ukraine again. [4]
* Russian medals included medals won by the USSR and the CIS
* German medals included medals won by West Germany
Below is the list of the most ever successful players in the European Badminton Championships:
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Japan Airlines Flight 350 crash
|
Japan Airlines Flight 350 (日本航空350便, Nihonkōkū 350 Bin) was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61, registered JA8061, on a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, to Tokyo in Japan. [2] The airplane crashed 9 February 1982 on approach to Haneda Airport in Tokyo Bay, resulting in 24 fatalities. [3] Flight 350 was the first crash for Japan Airlines in the 1980s. [4] The investigation traced the cause of the crash to the deliberate actions of the captain. The crew consisted of 35-year-old Captain Seiji Katagiri (片桐 清二 Katagiri Seiji), 33-year-old First Officer Yoshifumi Ishikawa, and 48-year-old flight engineer Yoshimi Ozaki. [5] The cause of the crash was traced to Katagiri's deliberate crashing of the plane. One report states that the captain engaged the inboard engines' thrust-reversers in flight. [1][5] Another report states that, during descent, Katagiri "cancelled autopilot, pushed his controls forward and retarded the throttles to idle. "[2] Ishikawa and Ozaki worked to restrain Katagiri and regain control. [6] Despite their efforts, the DC-8's descent could not be completely checked and it touched down in shallow water 510 meters short of the runway. During the crash, the cockpit section of the DC-8 separated from the rest of the fuselage and continued to travel for several meters before coming to a halt. [2]
Among the 166 passengers and eight crew, 24 died. Following the accident, Katagiri, one of the first people to take a rescue boat, told rescuers that he was an office worker to avoid being identified as the captain. [7] Katagiri was later found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia[8] prior to the incident, which resulted in him being ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. [9] Investigators for the Japanese government attributed the incident to a lack of proper medical examinations which allowed Katagiri to fly. [8][10]
Katagiri has since been released from psychiatric care and lives near Mount Fuji. [11]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Survivors of Guatemalan mudslide face death or emigration
|
NUEVO QUEJA, Guatemala (AP) — The day before he left for the United States was a busy one for Victor Cal. He went from relative to relative, collecting money to buy food during the journey north. His mother was disconsolate. “I begged him not to go, that we could live here,” she said, again and again, “but the decision had already been made”. He and his parents shared a small lunch -- a couple of chiles with sesame seeds -- in silence. His mother’s gloom weighed upon him; he announced he had to find somewhere to charge his phone. “to receive calls so the coyote can tell me where and when we will finally meet.” He set off on a bumpy, dirt road, looking to hitch a ride to any place with electricity. A motorbike pulled over and drove him to the nearest outlet, miles away. ___ This story is part of a series, After the Deluge, produced with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. ___ At age 26, Cal felt he had no choice but to leave. The makeshift town where he lived, born of disaster, offered only hunger and death. It seemed the U.S. was the only way out. Eleven men from his town have gone north in 2021. American authorities say they have stopped more than 150,000 Guatemalans at the border this year, four times the number in 2020. Many were like Victor Cal, famished and impoverished. He had served in the army, mustering out as a corporal. An indigenous Mayan who speaks Pocomchí, he failed to find work in Guatemala City. When the pandemic hit, he joined thousands who fled the capital to return to their agricultural hometowns in the mountains. His father’s land in Quejá, with its coffee, cardamon, corn and beans, sounded like a safe place. At least there will be food, he thought. He was wrong. In his worst nightmare, he could not imagine that a hurricane’s rains could bring a mountain down and destroy it all -- house, land, town. He and his parents were left destitute by a fierce hurricane Eta, displaced and dependent on relief from international organizations in a desperately shabby settlement called Nuevo Quejá. Now, he was hours away from leaving it behind. His phone charged, he returned home after sunset. A group of friends awaited him, but he was in no mood for goodbyes. He packed quickly. Not too many things fit in a small yellow backpack: a shirt, a sweater, jeans and a pair of extra shoes. He lost pretty much everything else when the landslide buried his house. ___ It had been raining for 25 days. The people of Quejá had been cooped up in their homes for 10 days; access roads had been cut off by flooding. Without electricity, all the telephones were dead. Nobody told the villagers that the rain that fell over the previous 24 hours had been five times the average monthly amount; no one told them they were at risk, and they should leave. It was lunchtime last Nov. 5 when the first trees fell and the hillside began to melt. The townspeople left their food on the fire and ran. “Those of us who had time to flee could only carry our children on our backs” says one of the survivors, Esma Cal, 28, an energetic, articulate woman who would assume a role as a community leader in the aftermath. (Many of the people of Quejá share the same last name, Cal, though it is not always clear how they might be related.) Fifty-eight people disappeared in seconds. Most of the bodies will never be recovered. Forty homes were buried under tons of mud and dozens of others were left inaccessible. Crossing torrents of water on ropes, the survivors walked to the nearest town. Residents shared with them their remaining food and put them up in schools and at the market. Due to the isolation, no trucks could arrive with supplies. When helicopters finally arrived, “some of us had been without food for almost two days,” said Esma Cal. Quejá was never an affluent place. But there had been hard-earned progress over the decades, and it was wiped out in minutes. Erwin Cal, 39, explained that Quejá was founded a hundred years ago, when a group of families got access to a coffee plantation. “My grandfather was a slave. They had to harvest without pay before they were allowed to build their shacks and use some plots of land for their own fields.” There were corn and beans to eat. Then, coffee and cardamom for the market. In time, they started earning some extra money so they could afford to buy the land. Full Coverage: Photography In the ’80s, some men started venturing out of their region and joined the Guatemalan army. At the turn of the century, riding the wave of violence that has plagued the country, they hired on as private guards. Shacks turned into colorful cement houses with tiles, big windows, refrigerators. “I had a laptop, a sound system and cable TV,” said Erwin Cal. All gone. ___ By January, Esma Cal, Erwin Cal, childhood friend Gregorio Ti and others organized a local development council. By February, they had founded a temporary settlement on a third of their agricultural land, close to their buried homes. Perhaps it was not safe from another landslide, but it was accessible. Thus was born Nuevo Quejá, home to about 1,000 survivors. “We know how to work,” said Ti, 36. He lost his pregnant wife, his 2- and 6-year-old sons and his mother in the mudslide; his surviving daughters, 11 and 14 years old, cling to his side. The toil is constant, and back breaking. There are no animals to share the burden -- all day long, men, women and children cut and transport wood and clear land with their machetes. The shacks are constructed with zinc sheets donated by a priest and wooden planks made from pine trees the villagers cut down. Some have big stones on the floor. Holes in the roofs allow rainwater to pour inside; holes between the wall planks are patched with rags, including U.S. flags that turn up among donations of second-hand clothing. Esma Cal’s 37-year-old uncle, Germán Cal -- who returned to Quejá after 20 years in Guatemala City to breed chickens, only to lose all his savings in the mudslide -- is trying to bring electricity to Nuevo Quejá. It’s an almost impossible task -- because officially, the town does not exist. The government of Guatemala has never been much help to these people. And after the mudslide, it declared the new settlement uninhabitable. If officially, Nuevo Quejá does not exist, it is not eligible for electric poles or road repairs or improved water supply. “Apart from declaring the place uninhabitable,” said Esma Cal, “the government of Guatemala has been absent. Period.” The townspeople have received some help from non-governmental organizations that drew funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development -- some of it useful, some of it less so. One gave them wheelbarrows, picks and shovels and brought two psychologists to play with the kids, reminding them how to clean their teeth. A second visited to ensure that donations of water and sanitation kits were used correctly. A third spent two days in mid-July on a family needs assessment. Mirrors donated by USAID hang inside every ramshackle house. The purpose: to elevate self-esteem. UNICEF donated a new school to the community, but it has been closed for five months because no one could find the key to open it. It turns out that UNICEF gave the key to a teacher who resigned and left with it. A second copy was given to a community member who denied having it. So instead, school was held in the shack next door, in chairs donated by the European Union. But like every other shack, it leaks, and the floor is often flooded and muddy. The furniture rots. The school serves 250 children. Of the 12 teachers who worked there before the storms, four remain to teach despite a lack of a permit from the education ministry. Their materials are in Spanish; the students speak only Pomachi, said a teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of consequences. “None of them will go to high school. They already lost years. School failure is total,” the teacher said. ___ César Chiquin, 39, is the head nurse in charge of the area. At least once a month, he visits Nuevo Quejá; mothers bring their children and wait on a patio as the nurse lays out his scale and tape measure. Children cried in fear when they were placed on the scales. The mothers were silent, looking at Chiquin as if he was doing magic. The results are bad. “Malnutrition has doubled. One in three are stunted,” he said. He does not have many options. “The only thing I can do is to give them some vitamins and advice they are not ready to follow. Even if they want, most of them cannot do it because they lack the resources.” Before the hurricane, the children were healthier. “Today, it is rare for a child to have the correct weight and height. Virtually all are at risk. Their families are not in a suitable place to harvest. They have lost sustainability.” This is the central plight of the people of Nuevo Quejá. Struggle as they might, they can’t raise enough food to sustain themselves. Part of the problem is timing. Having lost last year’s crops to the hurricanes, “We arrived in Nuevo Quejá too late for planting properly,” Esma Cal says. They also have just a third as much land as they did before the storms. And a lot of the soil has been degraded -- torrential rains wash away the topsoil, black and fertile, and leave behind orange clay. “We harvested two times a year, now we have only one much smaller harvest, a very small portion of our needs. We are starting again below zero.” Esma Cal says. There are so many obstacles: Seeds and fertilizer are twice as expensive as before, roads are dangerous and easily collapse when it rains. But the lack of good land trumps them all. The local council has done the calculations. They need about 75 acres more. But they have no money to buy them. The government has a land trust. Someday they could be awarded the land they need but, according to Guatemalan law, it does not have to be in the same region -- and they cannot even contemplate such a move. Most do not speak Spanish, and a move would obliterate their culture.
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
A vessel carrying as many 200 Haitian migrants has capsized near the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the US Coast Guard.
|
A vessel carrying as many 200 Haitian migrants has capsized near the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the US Coast Guard. Coast Guard spokeswoman Sabrina Elgammal said the Coast Guard has been working with police to rescue people who were stranded on a reef. Rescuers found 113 survivors stranded on two reefs and recovered two bodies, said Lt Cmdr Matt Moorlag, a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami, revising an earlier statement that four bodies had been found.Up to 85 people are still missing.The boat had been at sea for three days when passengers saw a police vessel and steered the boat onto a reef as they tried to hide, survivor Alces Julien said at a hospital were some of the rescued were receiving treatment. Elgammal said information from survivors indicates that up to 200 people were on board when the vessel capsized near this island chain south-east of the Bahamas. She said the cause of the accident is under investigation. Haitians routinely take to the seas in rickety, overcrowded boats in hopes of escaping poverty in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. In May 2007, an overcrowded sloop carrying more than 160 migrants capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands. Some of the victims were eaten by sharks. The 78 people who survived accused a Turks and Caicos patrol boat of ramming their vessel as they approached shore and towing them into deeper water.
|
Shipwreck
| null | null |
Above Santa Cruz, residents fear devastating mudslides
|
The fire that rampaged through the San Lorenzo Valley in August and September burned hotter and destroyed more acreage than anyone in these rugged, rural and breathtaking mountains can remember. The CZU August Lightning Complex fire killed Tad Jones, a 73-year-old man who lived in the mountains above Santa Cruz. It also destroyed hundreds of homes, displacing residents, and left scores without potable water. Now the region is bracing for more devastation, in the form of potentially deadly debris flows caused by winter storms. Taking advantage of an unusually dry November and early December, local first responders and government agencies are frantically cleaning the debris left behind by the fires, and securing the search and rescue equipment they will need for the mudslides almost sure to come. Yet even with the looming threat, public officials and residents are confident that most residents will return and rebuild. “If there’s one thing you need to know about the people who live in the Santa Cruz Mountains,” said Mark Stone, the area’s state assemblyman, “they are resilient.” Federal, state and local scientists, along with other experts, all say that widespread and potentially devastating debris flows are likely to hit the region this winter. That’s because the Santa Cruz Mountains, with their steep terrain and history of drenching storms coming off the Pacific, were burned so badly and extensively that the lattice of roots and foliage that typically holds the ground in place is gone. “The worry is that in some places, the sides of these mountains could turn into jelly” and slough off, said Brian Collins, a civil engineer with the United States Geological Survey. But people who’ve chosen to live in these normally damp redwood forests, not far from the Bay Area but isolated because of the rugged topography, are accustomed to the risks of mudslides, earthquakes, floods and drought. “They’re undaunted,” said Stone, a former tech industry attorney and professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. Several years ago, a large tree fell across California Highway 17, the mountainous and treacherous high-speed corridor connecting Santa Cruz and San Jose. “Traffic was stopped. The lanes were completely blocked,” Stone said. But before Caltrans could arrive, locals had chain-sawed the tree to bits and removed it from the road. “They all just got out of their cars, grabbed a chain saw out of their back seat, trunk or flatbed, and got to work,” he said. “That’s just the way they do things.” Mark Bingham, chief of Boulder Creek’s fire department, laughed when he heard the story. “It’s true,” he said. “When I commuted over to Santa Clara, I always carried a chain saw. You never knew what would happen. But you also knew to always be prepared. Because stuff happens. It just does.” It’s why he’s now working overtime — training local and regional firefighters and rescue workers — to prepare for a winter that he and other public officials are eyeing with trepidation. Collins, the USGS engineer, is assisting Santa Cruz County officials and the state’s geological survey to research debris flows and measure soil saturation throughout the area. He said that although fire-triggered debris flows are common in Southern California — like the ones that struck Montecito in 2018 — they are relatively rare in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where fires rarely burn so widely or with such intensity. Which isn’t to say the area hasn’t experienced debris flows. “We probably get two or three a year that close roads or cause some kind of nuisance,” Bingham said. In 1982, a lethal debris flow struck at Love Creek, just east of Boulder Creek’s downtown. The slide was not in a burn area, but instead resulted from prolonged, torrential rains that saturated the soils and turned them to liquid. It killed 10 people, including two children, and destroyed 30 homes. Twelve others died across Santa Cruz County. The toll of that disaster is haunting for many, including Bingham, who was little more than a toddler at the time — but whose uncle was a first responder. It stuck in his mind this summer as he watched the fires burn along the ridges and through the neighborhoods of his town. “I thought, ‘Winter is coming,’” he said, and he began preparing. Bingham became chief of the fire protection district in November 2019 after a two-month transition. During his brief tenure, he has overseen the town’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, dealt with an active shooter who killed a police officer and responded to several George Floyd demonstrations and the area’s largest recent conflagration. With no illusion that the next few months will be any easier, he’s leaning on the lessons he’s learned in the last 13. He’s also preparing his town, county responders and others for a winter of potential disaster. Two weeks ago, his department hosted a debris flow search and rescue training seminar, with help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and local and regional fire, search and rescue instructors. Debris flow veterans, such as Eric Gray, a Santa Barbara fire captain who was at the scene at Montecito, and Thom Jaquysh and Tim Houweling, with California’s Task Force 3, walked attendees through their experiences and best practices. He’s also charted new maps for the area, with designated evacuation zones developed with help from the sheriff’s department and neighboring fire departments. Out-of-town first responders will have these maps, with QR codes on them, should they need to come in for search and rescue operations this winter. “I want to make sure they know where all the access roads are, which roads are gated, how to get in, where there are bridges,” Bingham said. “I don’t want anybody getting stuck or turned around or delayed because they don’t have the information they need.” And, with the very little money he has to work with — he’s in an unincorporated district that relies on property taxes for funding, where hundreds of houses burned this summer — he’s also trying to secure equipment. These include mud lances and dry suits that will allow his volunteers to get where they need to go, without risking their lives or ruining their firefighting equipment. The fight to save one Northern California town from a fiery monster In the meantime, the county and state are working on a very aggressive timeline to get debris from the fires cleaned up, said Jason Hoppin, spokesman for Santa Cruz County. Phase I, hazardous material removal, was completed on Dec. 1. And applications for Phase 2 — debris removal — are due on Dec. 15. Bradley Brown, the owner of Big Basin Vineyards, said fire crews saved his winery from burning, although they couldn’t save his house. An architectural marvel and local music venue, the stone-and-beam home was designed, in part, as a solar calendar — capturing the sun’s rays for full effect at the solstice and equinox. It is now mostly rubble and ash. During a November visit, a reporter could see a few scorched books still sitting in the stone shelves. The roof’s terra cotta tiles, held together by wire, dangled from the few stone walls that remained, and chimed in the breeze. He’s unsure if he’s going to rebuild the house, or if he even can. It was unique. But he’s not giving up on the winery. “We’ve got work to do. But that’s what we do. We roll up our sleeves and get moving,” he said, adding that he spent years working the land with his own hands — chopping down trees, digging up roots, planting the vines. Pointing toward a slump in a nearby hill — the unmistakable fingerprint of a past debris flow — he said he’s not too concerned about his grapes and the potential for landslides. He’s high up on a hill, and most of the vines and grass are still rooted, providing a structure for the soil. But if another natural disaster should fall, he said, it’ll just be one more in a long line of them. “You don’t live here or move here if you’re risk averse or unwilling to work hard,” he said. “You wouldn’t survive.”
|
Mudslides
| null | null |
Luck is not a strategy: The world needs to start preparing now for the next pandemic
|
As countries grapple with the worst global pandemic in a century, it’s hard to think about preparing for the next one. But if we don’t, it could be worse than Covid-19. Over the last 30 years, infectious disease outbreaks have emerged with alarming regularity. The World Health Organization lists an influenza pandemic and other high-threat viral diseases such as Ebola and dengue among the top 10 biggest threats to public health. The rate of animal-to-human transmission of viruses has been increasing, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that 75% of new infectious diseases in humans come from animals. These zoonotic infections can have profound effects on human life. The overall infection fatality rate is around 10% for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), between 40% and 75% for Nipah virus, and as high as 88% for Ebola. While the infection fatality rate for Covid-19 is lower — likely less than 1% — the overall burden of death has been significantly higher since it has affected so many people, more than 160 million people as I write this. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has been a human and health care disaster, by scientific measures the world was lucky this time. Covid-19 was far less lethal than its predecessors, less contagious than previous pandemic viruses, and we were able to quickly develop a cadre of effective vaccines. advertisement But luck is not a strategy. The same way the U.S. invests in and prepares for national defense, it must also prepare for another pandemic. Though the next viral outbreak cannot be prevented, the next pandemic can — but only with better preparation. There is no doubt that the global pharmaceutical industry, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and health care systems should have been better prepared for Covid-19 in part because the coronavirus that causes it, known as SARS-CoV-2, is closely related to other coronaviruses, particularly the one that caused the outbreak of SARS in 2003. In fact, coronavirus core proteins often share upward of 95% of their nucleic acid or protein sequences due to their close origins. In some cases, their active sites — the pockets to which antiviral therapies bind — are 100% identical. In short, coronaviruses are highly related, and where it counts they share complete or near complete identity. Had the drug discovery efforts initiated during the 2003 SARS epidemic been continued and come to fruition, antiviral medications to treat Covid-19 would have been on the shelf to help contain the pandemic, or at least better treat Covid-19 patients. Unfortunately, those efforts were abandoned once SARS seemed under control because there was no apparent market and no infrastructure to support ongoing research. The response to Covid-19 — if it can be sustained — suggests hope for the future and a springboard for preparedness, especially immediate and ongoing collaborations across the biopharmaceutical industry, academia, and government. Walls came down. Collaboration flourished. A tremendous amount of good science was conducted in diagnostics and clinical management, and the world witnessed spectacular efforts in vaccine development. The urgency of the crisis and the speed of drug development led the biopharmaceutical industry and governmental bodies to work in concert, streamlining regulatory processes in ways that must continue moving forward once the coronavirus crisis ends. Rethinking traditional practices is essential to pandemic preparedness, which must be approached with the same mindset as countries approach defense, with the goal of establishing a unified global bulwark against future disease outbreaks. Global health crises require organized structures and leadership. Governments and the biopharma industry need to create and coordinate a joint pandemic preparedness ecosystem. Such a structure would help governments, industry, academia, and others focus on their respective strengths for greater efficiency, partnerships, and preemptive research. In March 2020, two dozen R&D leaders from the world’s leading biopharma companies, including my company, Takeda, came together to form the Covid R&D Alliance. It is showing that this type of industry collaboration is possible by rapidly assembling and coordinating therapeutic responses to the pandemic. At the national and international levels, this alliance and others are beginning to undertake early work to get ahead of drug development in advance of the next pandemic. But this effort must quickly be solidified before momentum and motivation are lost. The massive human suffering and economic impact of Covid-19 underscore the significant investment that must be made for future preparedness. Dedicated public and private funding of such an effort would demonstrate a commitment to global health care and create a defense against future pandemics that is founded on science and independent from political rhetoric. The perpetrators of the next pandemic will likely come from the coronavirus or influenza families. Other possible culprits include flaviviruses such as the West Nile virus, filoviruses such as the Ebola virus, and alphaviruses known to associate with a number of human encephalitis diseases. Using a list like this to guide its work, the biopharmaceutical industry needs to begin creating an arsenal of antiviral molecules. Given the impossibility of predicting the future, it will be important to focus on broadly active compounds where possible, and virus-specific compounds to fill in gaps. In the coronavirus family, for example, SARS-CoV-2 is similar in structure to the 2003 SARS virus, and the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome is only slightly different. It should be possible to develop a single antiviral molecule to be effective against all three. If a three-fer isn’t possible, then specific therapies should be developed for each potential pathogen. All therapeutic candidates should be evaluated against diverse viral strains as markers of future potential efficacy in future epidemics. There is no business model for preparing for a future pandemic. Without specific catalysts, interest in preparing for this unknown is likely to wane as Covid-19 comes under control. Whether it’s because businesses are thinking of investors, media, academia, or other audiences, the tendency is to go where the spotlight is shining — which would be a disaster for pandemic preparedness. What’s needed is a competitive environment to stimulate innovation. But without an established or obvious market, the necessary investment and entrepreneurism won’t materialize. Enabling future pandemic therapeutic preparedness will require establishing a novel, collaborative ecosystem in which biopharma companies, nongovernmental organizations, governments, academia, and other stakeholders are able to share information and coordinate areas of focus to maximize the collective efforts. The success of the whole will depend on the willingness and success of each individual piece. A weekly digest of our opinion column, with insight from industry experts. To prepare for the next viral pandemic, governments and nongovernmental organizations need to focus on preparing health care infrastructure and viral surveillance to predict the next outbreak. At the same time, academia and the pharmaceutical industry must focus on drug discovery, particularly antiviral therapies. These efforts must seamlessly interface. To enable future preparedness, the biopharmaceutical industry should leverage the ways of working that emerged during Covid-19 that included sharing assays, models, and data while concurrently focusing on competitive innovation. With the right level of coordination, and without massive resources, an arsenal of antiviral molecules can be created and tested on healthy human volunteers so the world has them at the ready for Phase 2 trials when threats emerge. Pandemic readiness will also require agility and an ability to adapt rapidly to the unknown. Estimates suggest the existence of 500,000 animal viruses with spillover potential to humans, with a small fraction of these (250 or so) having already made the jump. We must be ready for the perpetrators from poorly studied or poorly understood viral families, as well as the entirely new threats that evolution will create. Focusing on known pathogens is a critical first step in therapeutic preparedness, but the industry must also be ready to start entirely new programs with minimal notice. The biopharmaceutical industry has a moral obligation to step up where it has expertise and capability, and governments must embrace more flexible regulatory processes to prepare and protect its citizens. Working together, they can help ensure that the next viral outbreak the world faces does not reach the level of a global pandemic. Andy Plump is the president for research and development at Takeda Pharmaceuticals and a cofounder of the Covid R&D Alliance.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
Coronavirus recession ends for the rich but is far from over for lower-income communities
|
The economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic may be over for some groups of Americans — primarily the wealthy and White — even as it lingers in other corners of the country. No group was spared from the recession’s initial shock, which pushed unemployment to heights unseen since the Great Depression. But the wealthy, White and higher-educated were the least likely to lose their jobs. And those among them who did have largely recovered. Meanwhile, the stock market and real estate — assets disproportionately held by these cohorts — have boomed, further boosting their wealth. Financial stimulus also helped them boost savings more readily than others. That remarkable recovery masks deep and continuing financial pain for other groups, like people of color, lower earners, women and workers with less education. Such groups are more likely to report hardship like food insecurity and trouble paying rent. While they, too, have bounced back a bit since the depths of the crisis in April, the pace of that progress is stalling, at the same time that financial-aid measures have ended, said John Friedman, an economics professor at Brown University. “The story of the recession for low- and high-income individuals is very different,” he said. “From an economic perspective, high-income families are by and large doing fine.” The dynamic has led some economists to dub this a “K-shaped” recovery due to its divergent nature. Sectors like leisure and hospitality that took the biggest beating during the downturn disproportionately hire women and people of color and tend to pay lower wages, according to Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project, an economic policy arm of the Brookings Institution, a think tank. The unemployment rate, a traditional measure of financial hardship, among Asian and Black Americans peaked at nearly 15% and 17%, respectively, in April. Latino unemployment ballooned to almost 19% — meaning about 1 in 5 adults who wanted a job couldn’t find work. The rate was lower for Whites, at just over 14% — which is still high by historical standards. But they are the only racial or ethnic group to see it dip back below 10% since then. (It was about 7% in August.) Similar job trends have played out by education and income level, too. Unemployment peaked at 21% in April for those without a high-school diploma, roughly three times the rate of the college-educated, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The former are still unemployed at a rate more than double that of those with a bachelor’s degree. More from Personal Finance:These people won’t get Trump’s $300 unemployment benefitHidden fees are eroding your retirement savingsAs lawmakers point fingers, Americans need more aid now Further, the top third of earners (those making at least $60,000 a year) fully recovered their jobs by mid-June, according to an Opportunity Insights analysis of Labor Department data. By comparison, employment among the lowest earners — who saw more than 35% of their jobs evaporate by mid-April — is still down more than 16% from the beginning of the year, the analysis found. Inequality is a marker of all U.S. recessions, Edelberg said. But this recession is unique in that financial assets were either quick to rebound or remained unscathed, keeping the wealth of the rich intact, she said. White, college-educated and wealthy Americans overwhelmingly own stocks and real estate, according to Federal Reserve data. The richest 10% of Americans, for example, held 87% of the $22 trillion of corporate equities and mutual-fund shares at the end of the first quarter, according to the Fed. The share was even higher for Whites, when looking across racial groups. ″[The stock market] is one of the clearest reasons people are taking about a K-shaped recovery,” Edelberg said. “For a lot of well-off people who didn’t experience a job loss, they are utterly blind to the financial hardship that millions and millions of people are feeling.” The S&P 500 stock index plunged 34% from its high in mid-February to its bottom on March 23, the quickest decline in its history. Five months later, those losses were fully erased. Stocks were up about 3% this year through Friday’s market close, buoyed by investor optimism that the country will find a vaccine or some treatment for Covid-19, said Howard Silverblatt, a senior analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. By comparison, stocks took more than four years to recover after hitting their lows during the last two recessions, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The typical home owner also saw an 8.5% increase in housing prices in July versus the same time last year, to $304,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. Prices rose in every region of the country, the group said. It was the first time that the national median home price surpassed $300,000. Meanwhile, the same group that reaped the benefits of financial-asset ownership was most likely to save stimulus checks (up to $1,200 for individuals) enacted by the CARES Act coronavirus relief law in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other groups were more likely to use the aid for everyday expenses or to pay off debt. “What you’re seeing across the country is an individual’s income and the color of their skin have a large role to play in terms of how someone is faring during this pandemic and economic crisis,” said Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Just over a third of White and Asian-American households reported experiencing serious financial problems since the start of the pandemic, compared with 55% of Native American, 60% of Black and 72% of Latino households, according to a joint survey published Wednesday by the Foundation, NPR and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. A federal $600-a-week supplement to unemployment benefits that had propped up household income and spending in the early months of the pandemic lapsed at the end of July. The Trump administration is providing up to six weeks of $300 payments through a new program to supplement jobless benefits, but it’s been slow to reach people and isn’t available to hundreds of thousands of workers.
|
Financial Crisis
| null | null |
Harrow Court fire
|
The Harrow Court fire occurred in a tower block on 2 February 2005 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. Three people were killed, two of them firefighters, when a fire developed and spread from the 14th floor. [1] An investigation of the fire found that there was an Abnormal Rapid Fire Development, caused by a candle melting the surface of a television, which then spread rapidly up the outside of the building to subsequent floors. [2]
In honour of the two firefighters who lost their lives, Jeff Wornham (aged 28) and Michael Miller (aged 26), Stevenage Borough Council named two adjoining roads in a new nearby development 'Miller Way' and 'Wornham Avenue', in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The fire at Harrow Court featured in the BBC 2 documentary broadcast 30 October 2018 The Fires that Foretold Grenfell,[3] as one of five significant fires in the UK which occurred prior to the Grenfell Tower fire, which called for changes to regulations and policies. [4]
Harrow Court is a 17-storey concrete tower block located in the Bedwell area of Stevenage, close to the town centre. The building dates from the mid-1960s. It consists of six flats on each floor - four with two bedrooms and two with one. In the early hours of 2 February 2005, a lit tealight candle melted through the television on which it was sitting. One of the two occupants, who were asleep at the time, woke up and attempted to put the fire out. The other occupant of the flat, Natalie Close,[5] remained asleep and died in the bed. Two of the firefighters who attended from the nearby fire station were killed. [6]
A resident on the 15th floor, the floor above the origin of the fire told reporters that firefighters had told them to 'stay put' but then chose to escape:"A fireman told us to stay in the flat. We went back inside but no one came to us. We got out after an hour. It was sheer panic. It was smoky, we could not see anything, and the stairs were slippery. We are lucky to be alive. "[6] Seven people were treated in hospital with burns and smoke inhalation; one was in a critical condition. Both firefighters died after going in to tackle the blaze without water because the dry riser had been padlocked shut against vandals, and the smoke alarms were not working. [7]
An investigation into the fire found that there was no dry riser outlet on the 14th floor of the building as they were only located on alternate floors. The firefighters connected to the dry riser on the 13th floor, but then to fight the location of the fire, the hose had to pass through firedoors, which were then kept open. This led to the fire to have more oxygen due to the fact that compartmentation was not achieved. The two firefighters died when they got tangled in cable trays which were attached to the ceiling with plastic hooks which melted. [8]
The melting of plastic hooks was also listed as the cause for the death of two other firefighters in the Shirley Towers fire in Southampton five years later. [9] It was after these subsequent deaths that changes to Building Regulations was imposed, namely to BS 7671, which covers electrical installations in the UK, and apply to the use of fire resistant cables in escape routes fixed to walls and ceilings, which came into force in July 2015. The regulation was not a retrospective one, meaning that it will only be enforceable on all new builds and not refurbishments. [9]
Although not a legal requirement, on the 21 September 2018, Stevenage Borough Council announced plans to retrofit sprinklers in all seven high-rise tower blocks in the town. Jeanette Thomas, the council's executive member for housing, stated: "We decided we want to put some sprinklers in because the wellbeing of our tenants is fundemental [sic?] especially after the fire at Harrow Court. "[10]
On the morning of 1 October 2018, another fatal tower block fire also took place in Stevenage. 'The Towers' is a 12-storey concrete tower block owned by Stevenage Borough Council primarily for social housing and is located in the town centre. On 16 October 2018, a male resident who lived in the fifth floor flat where the fire started was confirmed to have died. [11]
|
Fire
| null | null |
A Brief History Of Gasoline: Better Things For Deader Living … Through Chemistry
|
As we will see throughout this series, the business of adding known deadly toxins like lead to an already dangerous product like gasoline would take a special kind of amorality and disregard for human life and the environment. America’s new corporate form proved uniquely suited to such reckless commercial endeavors. Like Standard Oil, with its long years of ruthless acquisition and gross pollution, an even longer history of antipathy to human life prepared DuPont, which would come to control General Motors for more than half a century, for its next assault on the world’s living things – the manufacture and marketing of leaded gasoline. Today, we look at the chemical giant’s past and the essential prologue for great misdeed it provided. People had been blowing things up happily enough for more than a thousand years before greatly expanded use of gunpowder during the 18th and 19th centuries arrived to catapult the explosive arts forward in dramatic fashion. Central to their development and expansion were the efforts of Eleuthére Irénée du Pont de Nemours, a French émigré to America. The organization he founded was to the low explosive which came to be known as black powder (a blend of charcoal, sulfur and nitrate, or saltpeter) and its many incendiary successor — up to and including atomic bombs — what John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was to petroleum. Today we think of the enterprise Eleuthére founded as the progenitor of toxic “forever” chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, colloquially known as C8 and not to be confused with the 8th generation Corvette,) carcinogens pervasively used in Teflon, water repellant clothing and firefighting foam, and the subject lately of numerous lawsuits. But centuries before the slow, agonizing deaths their forever chemicals inflicted, famille du Pont were busy helping people kill people as quickly as possible. Following a brief prison stay in France for his reactionary views after the French Revolution, du Pont decamped to the United States in 1799, with his politician father, Pierre Samuel, and family, where they had friends in Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, among other founding fathers who’d made their acquaintance on missions to France. Observing that the newly independent nation’s explosives industry was backward compared to that of Europe, the du Ponts, who’d learned how to make gunpowder from Antoine Lavoisier — the so-called “father of chemistry” — before his beheading during the revolution, erected three years later America’s first black powder mill. Five miles north of Wilmington, Delaware, along the shores of the Brandywine River, it was an area (and state) they’d dominate for centuries. With blossoming American demand for gunpowder –vital to guns, cannons, road and field clearing, canal excavation and mining — the du Ponts prospered mightily, supplying explosives without hesitation not just to the government of their new homeland but to anyone who was buying, including America’s opponents, the British, in the War of 1812. Above all, their fealty was to profit at any price, a regrettable trait that has characterized the company, which supplied explosives to both sides of many wars — ever since. Growing volume meant accidental explosions were rising precipitously, not just on the world’s battlefields and in its mineshafts, but at the du Pont mill. Here, sudden disasters had grown so commonplace that the mill’s main structure was redesigned to accommodate them, with the new drawings calling for three sturdy stone walls and a single, relatively frail one, made of wood. In the event of an explosion, the wooden wall would instantly blow out, allowing the release of enough tension so as to permit the three stone walls to remain standing. The fourth, after its inevitable splintering, could be more easily and cheaply replaced. This and a related but grimmer certitude – a steady death toll among du Pont (later renamed DuPont) workmen when the wall blew out, along with frequent fatalities of the many unlucky (and often careless) users of its products — were prices the family willingly became inured to paying. For the du Pont clan was in the unseemly business of blowing things up and fatal incidents were necessarily going to be a part of their world. It is tempting to say that this ready acceptance of death and dying — not to overlook governmental and public acceptance of the firm’s general lack of remorse — is central to understanding DuPont’s history and corporate character. It surely helps to answer the nagging question of what was on their minds as they transitioned from powder into dangerous chemicals, or the compound tetraethyl lead they’d help place in gasoline, or later the scourge of petrochemical-derived plastics and PFOA and PFAS, all of whose health risks were recognized early on and known to them. It also bears mentioning that the du Ponts succeeded repeatedly in having their way with the world’s environment not just because they were insensitive, selfish creeps with very thick skins, which they were, but also on account of the fact that they were tops at their game, maintaining an uncanny edge through successive generations and hundreds of years, in imagination, technique, financial results and sheer chutzpah. Building upon the family’s early American success, Eleuthére’s university-trained grandson, Lammot, advanced the family fortune by revolutionizing black powder manufacture when he learned to substitute sodium nitrate for potassium nitrate. DuPont would go on to supply almost 40 percent of all the powder the Union used in the powder-fueled and legendarily deadly Civil War. Later, Lammot crucially defied company president General Henry duPont by setting off to manufacture (as the Repauno Chemical Company) a new, still more powerful explosive invented in 1866 by the Swedish industrialist, Albert Nobel. It was called dynamite and its manufacture called for mixing hugely volatile nitroglycerin — discovered by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846, — with silica, to make a more malleable and easily employed paste. The entire process, from start to finish, was fraught with danger as nitroglycerin suffered the impurities that frequently attended its manufacture badly, often causing it to explode at the wrong time. While the elder du Pont didn’t care for dynamite, the market did. Paradoxically, the mind-boggling power and gruesome deadliness of its explosive force was part of the appeal. A nitroglycerin explosion instantly achieves a temperature of 3,500 degrees centigrade, making it capable of melting diamonds or causing men and other, weightier matter to disappear instantly. Such enormous strength captured the imagination of a nation busy moving mountains, building railroad tunnels and dams and drilling for oil and other mineral riches deep beneath the earth’s huge and often unyielding surface. Which is not to mention the world’s armed forces which hastened to advantage themselves with stronger explosives. Numerous firms sprung up to supply burgeoning American demand, each claiming a patent-beating formula and a name like Hercules, Ajax, Vulcan, Samson or Neptune to uniformly convey the product’s explosive force by reference to mythology. Through the years, dynamite became a generic name, even as Nobel steadily improved his own original product’s strength and safety. He achieved a major breakthrough when he discovered that nitroglycerine could be transported with improved safety if frozen. The debugging of the explosive and the temptingly huge market for it led Repauno (since incorporated into the Eastern Dynamite Co.) and a vindicated Lammot to return to the du Pont fold, bearing nitro. Black-powder’s old champion had a new product, and DuPont was prosperous and well situated enough to enter the high explosive fray in the first tier. Ironically, it was a nitro explosion that would claim Lammot du Pont’s life along with five others when an 1884 experiment to accelerate production went horribly wrong. That nitroglycerin would inevitably lead to death and human suffering was not lost on any of the players. Like an early Robert Oppenheimer renouncing the atomic bomb he’d help develop during World War II, Sobrero was horrified by his own invention and repulsed by Nobel’s refinement of it, speaking out strongly against dynamite. With three-quarters of a century of powder-making behind it, DuPont, on the other hand, was emotionally prepared for the next step in explosive force. Dynamite was immensely useful in a world gone mechanical, dependent as it was on ever-greater quantities of raw materials and energy. Railroad builders loved dynamite, and among other reasons for its growing popularity was the fact that it could be readily formed into cylindrical shapes, which were ideal for stuffing down drill holes, such as the ones used in mining and petroleum production. Demand would never slacken. The construction of the Panama Canal (which didn’t open until 1914,) to give but one example, called for over 61 million pounds of high explosives alone. Recognizing that some degree of cooperation was useful in the cut-throat international world of high explosives manufacture, DuPont arranged to ally itself contractually with the powerful Nobel-Dynamite Trust Company, Limited in 1897, as David A. Hounshell and John Kenly Smith recount in Science and Corporate Strategy: DuPont R&D, 1902- 1980. In so doing, it not only afforded itself access to superior expertise, it established a pattern of “enlightened” cooperation and orderly market sharing which would extend to the rest of the international, largely German, chemical cartel, a jovial association that an ensuing two world wars failed to extinguish. As explosives technology matured, the duPont business became less of a milling operation and more of a chemical enterprise, leading to the establishment in 1902 of the firm’s first formal research and development facility. The corporate research era had dawned and in coming years DuPont would branch out of explosives, developing expertise in dyes, paints, textiles and industrial chemicals. Lest there be any question, it was hardly giving up on explosives, actively growing and maintaining these interests into the 1990s. But it was moving on. Also in 1902, control of the hundred-year-old firm passed to three thirty-something cousins, T. Coleman, Alfred I., and Pierre S. du Pont. Purchasing it from elder relations who apparently possessed little idea of what the company earned or what it might be worth, a new generation of duPonts had arrived to, once again, drag it into a changed and arguably nastier world. Despite a lack of management experience, they short-circuited their elders’ plan to sell out to a leading powder competitor, as Ernest Dale and Charles Meloy wrote in their 1962 article Hamilton MacFarland Barksdale and the DuPont Contributions to Systematic Management, paying only $2,400 in cash, or $800 apiece for their shares, backed by $12 million in bonds. Coming with more than 4,000 acres of prime river real estate in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as the New York Times reported, it was a pretty good deal. A new corporation was formed and within three years, the cousins, following a vigorous campaign of horizontal and vertical merger, had cornered 75 percent of the U.S. explosives market and taken what historians Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., and Stephen Salsbury called “a cartel of many family firms” and transformed it into a “modern, centrally administered corporation, with its own operating, sales, and auxiliary departments.” As historian Alfred Chandler wrote, “When Pierre joined the Du Pont Company in 1890 it was a loosely-run family gunpowder establishment with assets of $13,276,213 and an annual business of 4 percent of this amount. Through his astuteness and initiative in the areas of finance and management, the next 29 years saw Du Pont grow into a giant, vertically integrated corporation with assets of $308,846,397 and an annual business of $329,121,607.” Also central to DuPont’s growth was T. Coleman’s acquisitive nature and Hamilton Barksdale, an old Repauno retainer and self-styled management expert who while rising to DuPont’s presidency would integrate the many businesses acquired in a crash program of horizontal and vertical merger by establishing the central controls which distinguished DuPont, making it the envy of other corporatists. Among other things, Barksdale is credited with the first use of the modern corporation’s general executive committee. DuPont’s product lines when the cousins arrived were still few in number: black powder (a dying business); dynamite (a growing endeavor and quite profitable) and smokeless powder (just getting going, though shortly to prove very profitable.) But the company quickly became the archetypical 20th Century American corporation — not just because it was centrally administered and tightly run by expansionist owners. Classic status was guaranteed because DuPont was almost exclusively engaged in noxious and deadly businesses. Incorporated in Delaware, the state that took the mantle from New Jersey and reset the bar —first and always lowest — in governance of soulless corporate conduct, DuPont in large measure wrote the book (as well as the laws and codes) on the use of the newly empowered corporate form to pollute, that is, to avoid personal responsibility for actions that might otherwise create liability, sometimes criminal. It has shined for more than a century as one of the seminal American corporate polluters, thanks, in large measure, to the work of this generation of duPonts and their minions. For his part, T. Coleman, the eldest cousin, served as the new corporate entity’s first president, overseeing the acquisition of more than 100 companies, including several of its powder competitors. Pierre, born in 1870, was the youngest cousin. Graduated from MIT, he came back to Brandywine to run the firm’s expanded powder operation. A strong advocate of the diversification, he’d spend much of his early career “chained to a desk,” but would assume responsibility for the new corporation’s “Experimental Station” in 1908, having by this time also become DuPont’s treasurer, as Hounshell and Smith recount in their history of DuPont’s R&D. Alfred, who is credited with dreaming up the cousins’ purchase, started as a vice president, only to fall out with his relations, whom, he felt, were venturing too incautiously into new businesses. Ironically, Alfred’s own immoderate streak — evidenced in a marriage to a divorced cousin, (one of three trips to the altar,) and his notorious and vocal attraction to lunatical right-wing political campaigns — did not smooth matters with his partners. Though they held similarly strident views, they were not as readily prepared to be causing public scenes. In 1911 Alfred duPont was relieved of any responsibility for black powder manufacture at the Brandywine yards, and by 1915 he’d leave the company entirely, unsuccessfully suing Pierre and his now seasoned younger brother, Irénée, who’d quickly sailed up the ranks. When Coleman departed in the same year to pursue political aspirations, Pierre and Irénée would together take the reins from Barksdale, who’d assumed the presidency in 1913. Alfred, angered by perceived slights from other family members, exiled himself to Florida, where he publicly allied himself with the Ku Klux Klan. Not that he was alone in his extreme views. By way of example, in a speech before the American Chemical Society in 1926, company chairman Irenée duPont advocated the creation of a race of “supermen” controlled by mind-stimulating drugs. With great excitement he related a truly scary capitalist sci-fi fantasy for the assembled. “[B]y injecting proper compounds into an individual, we can make his character to order,” he proclaimed, for the purpose of heightening worker productivity and consumption. “Such a discovery could add some 50 percent to both our hours of production and our hours of pleasure, and by its complete accomplishment would greatly decrease the cost of housing and the capital per unit of production of all those factories which today do not operate on a twenty-four hour schedule.” Of course, that was well after the du Ponts helped sabotage a League of Nations disarmament conference during WWI, but before they supported an effort to overthrow the Franklin Roosevelt government or helped fund clandestine and violent, KKK-like, racist anti-union vigilante groups like the Sentinels of the Republic or the Black Legion, which killed labor organizers at duPont-controlled GM’s Ohio and Michigan factories. One of those murdered: the Rev. Earl Little, Malcolm X’s father, whose house was burned down earlier. In the years preceding the First World War, those in Washington decrying trusts had naturally turned on the “powder trust” DuPont now constituted. Huge income from powder (as many different varieties of explosives were then generically known) afforded DuPont numerous paths to diversification, however, in the period 1911-1921, an impulse tweaked when a federal prosecution begun four years earlier ended in DuPont’s 1913 conviction for restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The verdict forced it to break its black powder and dynamite business into three separate explosives entities, DuPont, Hercules and Atlas. As Pierre’s younger brother Lammot would later remark, dissolution “was a very powerful influence for branching out into other fields. “ Which they did, as Ernest and Meloy recount, under Barksdale’s watchful eye, the three explosives firms — separate on paper — continued to be enormously profitable for primary shareholders, who overwhelmingly remained the members of a family named… duPont. The following year, however, Pierre S. acquired his cousin T. Coleman’s many shares in DuPont, the elder cousin going on to become a United States Senator from Delaware and a leading light in the Republican National Committee. Serendipitously for Pierre and Irénée, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand meant World I would follow closely on the heels of this investment. Meaning there were suddenly even huger profits to be realized in smokeless powder, while at the same time there appeared to be a markedly diminished government interest in harassing monopolists with whom it now wished to conduct big business, like this maker of smokeless powder. DuPont, which had begun to diversify and even briefly planned on putting all its powder work into one plant, suddenly found itself expanding its facilities, from which it would go on to supply forty percent of all Allied munitions used in the Great War. Like Standard Oil, Dupont found military contracting in time of war worked well to first call off, then quarantine the dogs of government intrusion. It cannot be gainsaid, DuPont’s military custom increased at a furious rate, multiplying 276 times during the War. Sales and profits skyrocketed from $25.2 million and $5.6 million in 1914, to $131.1 million and $57.4 in net earnings in 1915, to $318 million in sales, with profits of over $82 million in 1916 – more than $2 billion today and more than the combined totals for all the years since the younger generation took the business over, fourteen years earlier. Between 1915 and 1918, employment at DuPont rose from 5,300 to 85,000, per Pap Ndiaye’s Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America, while its profit through World War I totaled $250 million or activity equivalent to more than 126 years of its previous peacetime business. Before the War, the American firm had been on better than cordial terms with the German chemical industry, its longstanding alliance with the Nobel alliance pointing the way. But with the Royal Navy’s blockade of Germany, DuPont was presented with a rare opportunity to grow its chemical business by stepping into fields suddenly vacated by German firms. It could not resist. Sidelining the earlier idea of diversifying through homespun expertise in nitrocellulose as used in explosives, DuPont chose instead to forge headfirst into the vast unknown world of dyestuffs and related organic chemicals, for which major demand existed. DuPont had depended on Germany for diphenylamine – a component in smokeless powder but also an important dye intermediate. Now they’d be forced to learn to make diphenylamine themselves. Understandably, they wondered, why not make the dyes, too? DuPont’s dye factory, the Chambers Works — named after A.D. Chambers, who wrote the first internal report arguing for entry into the dyestuff market in 1915 — was erected in 1917. Over the course of the next several years it proceeded to answer the question why they shouldn’t have made dyes themselves. Built at DuPont’s new, 1,440-acre facility at Deepwater, N.J., along the Delaware River, in Carney’s Point, not far from Penn’s Grove, (the river town actor Bruce Willis once planned to save,) the Delaware Memorial Bridge and Wilmington, DE, Deepwater consistently lost money, making the location aptly named, historian David Hounshell and John Kenly Smith have observed, at least in its early years. Before long, the emergence and commercialization of two new products, tetra-ethyl lead and the refrigerant Freon, both of which were manufactured at Deepwater, would reverse the site’s financial fortunes, sending it reliably into the black while forever immortalizing it in the annals of corporate shame. Building a dye business from the ground up didn’t prove near so easy as the DuPonts had hoped, taxing their organization mightily. Still, when WWI ended, the company was enormously flush, and delighted that under the terms of Germany’s surrender, American industry was permitted to rifle through the files of the vanquished country’s leading industrial firms, free to pluck their chemical and manufacturing patents and secrets as victor’s spoils. The DuPont organization’s allegiance to its German competitors had not wavered during the war, however. The expectation and the reality were that close and coordinated relations could and would be resumed at the War’s end. At that time, a fair division of the world market could be concluded, with trade secrets freely exchanged in the purest warm and fuzzy spirit of mutual admiration and advantage. In the meantime, the reigning duPonts had decided the way to grow was to acquire more going concerns and inject into them their organization’s increasingly celebrated managerial and R&D magic. The advanced familiarity with organic chemistry acquired in the dye business led to the formation of an Organic Chemicals Department, as Hounshell and Smith recount, which would later help make leaded gasoline and Freon possible. In later years, DuPont would make billions and become one of the world’s largest chemical companies with discoveries in the new petroleum-based chemistry that would displace coal-based research, bringing to market synthetic fibers like nylon and rayon. But that would be many years after the riches of war allowed duPont interests to buy into in Billy Durant’s General Motors. The goal of Barksdale’s executive committee concept had been to prevent control of the corporation in one duPont’s hands, but ultimately power at the corporation rested in two sets of hands, those of Pierre and Irénée. Not only could they overrule the executive committee on relatively small matters, such as the firm’s uneconomic move some years later from Wilmington to the Empire State Building, a premium money-losing enterprise in which both Pierre and his one-time deputy John Jakob Raskob had invested. Often, the brothers would make really big decisions on their own, too, like moving the company into the automobile business, on their own, though Raskob, who’d begun as Pierre’s personal secretary in 1901 and ascended to become DuPont’s treasurer, then vice president of finance, was never far away. The company’s first entry into the new field of automobiles, still viewed as a dubious enterprise by many in the financial community, occurred in 1909, when it purchased the Fabrikoid Company of Newburgh, New York, the country’s largest maker of artificial leather, a material used in automotive seating. The purchase nominally sought to take advantage of DuPont’s surplus nitrocellulose capacity, but it brought the company closer to an industry that was to become the 20th Century’s largest.
|
Organization Merge
| null | null |
Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health announced on June 17 a plan to merge into one company and create the largest health care organization in the state
|
Beaumont Health, based in Southfield, Michigan, and Spectrum Health, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan announced on June 17 a plan to merge into one company and create the largest health care organization in the state. In an 8-page letter of intent dated June 16 and entitled “For Michigan, By Michigan,” the leaderships of the two nonprofit corporations elaborate on their “shared goal” of establishing the new firm to “transform health care and coverage in Michigan.” Signed by the Board Chair, CEO and President of both hospital groups, the letter goes on at length about how the merger will “improve health, health access and health equity,” “enhance customer experience,” “improve the quality, value, and outcomes of health care,” “make health care more affordable for the communities we serve” and “ensure the voices of team members and physicians are heard.” As health care workers employed by Beaumont and Spectrum—along with the public that uses their facilities—are fully aware, these phrases are being used purely for the purpose of winning regulatory approval for the merger. The one thing that is missing from the hailing by the hospital executives of how great this merger will be for Michigan is any discussion of the financial arrangements that lie behind the agreement and, most significantly, how much they will be paid to oversee it. Beaumont Health is currently Michigan’s fourth largest health care system with eight hospitals, 3,375 beds and 155 outpatient sites in the Detroit Metropolitan area. The organization has 5,000 doctors and 33,000 employees and annual revenue of $4.7 billion. Beaumont’s current resources are the product of two previous mergers with Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills and Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn. Beaumont Health has a history of giving massive payouts to executives while cutting the compensation of health care staff and destroying long-established work practices. Last November, it was revealed that the hospital system paid CEO and President John Fox—a signer of the merger agreement—a $2.6 million bonus as part of his 2019 total compensation of $6.75 million. The bonus was prepared just as the deadly coronavirus pandemic was hitting Detroit and paid out as the hospital was laying off employees even as it received $866 million in federal CARES Act funds. Spectrum Health is Michigan’s largest health care system with 15 hospitals, 12 urgent care facilities and 43 labs and physician practices in the western Michigan region. The corporation also includes the insurance provider Priority Health. With an annual revenue of $7.2 billion, Spectrum is the largest employer in the area with 4,200 physicians and 31,000 employees. According to a 2018 government filing, Spectrum paid its top 21 executives more than $27 million in compensation ranging from $4.8 million to Director Richard Breon to $451,461 to SVP of Human Resources Brian Krupiczewicz. CEO and President Christina Freese Decker, who has signed the merger letter of intent, was paid more than $3.5 million in salary and benefits during 2018. Becker’s Hospital Review says that the tentative name of the new company will be BHSH System and the leadership arrangement will be Freese Decker as the new CEO and Fox staying on board throughout the transition with plans to leave the organization once the merger is complete. The plan also calls for the headquarters of the new organization to remain in both Southfield and Grand Rapids. There will be a 16-member board with seven each from the former company boards plus Freese Decker and Fox. The corporate media, Michigan political elite and industry experts have been quick to praise the merger announcement. The Detroit Free Press published an article on June 18 that cited Professor Erik Gordon of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan who gushed, “Folks should be relieved—patients and employees. This is a happy combination.” The Free Press added, “Spectrum comes to the negotiations with a reputation for being well run and without major financial troubles. And because there is no market overlap between the health systems, there shouldn't be much concern about hospitals closing, major job losses or antitrust issues to snarl the deal.” Meanwhile, Representative Andy Levin, Democrat from Bloomfield Township, whose 9th Congressional District includes Beaumont’s flagship Royal Oak Hospital, said, “I am committed to preventing spikes in health care costs and worse patient outcomes, as evidence indicates can happen following mergers. I will not accept inferior care for my constituents in the name of consolidation of competition or growth of revenue.” The only published opposition to the deal came from the former CFO of Spectrum, Michael Freed, who said, “I only see the potential for massive financial loss” and added that the merger, which spans a distance of 150 miles from Grand Rapids to Detroit, will lead to a loss of “local control.” Staff opposition to previous merger plans between Beaumont Health and Advocate-Aurora in Chicago, Illinois last summer disrupted the deal and caused Fox and others on the board to pull their proposal off the table. At the time, the World Socialist Web Site warned that, with the collapse of the deal with Advocate-Aurora, Beaumont management was biding its time and another merger deal was likely in the works. The financial manipulation of the nonprofit health care industry by executives who collectively take tens of millions of dollars in compensation each year will again face opposition from doctors, nurses and the health care staff at both the Beaumont and Spectrum facilities. The workforce that has been responsible for the functioning of the hospitals and clinics throughout the pandemic—working under conditions which threaten their lives each day—must take forward this fight by organizing its own independent workplace committees fighting for a socialist program which guarantees free universal health care for all. Only on this basis can the health care industry be truly transformed to serve the medical needs of the public and not the wealth-generating interests of a handful of executives and top administrators. Stifled by the MNA, and isolated from other health care workers’ struggles, the Saint Vincent nurses strike is headed for what one academic commentator called a “natural death,” with enough nurses being forced to cross or abandon the picket for jobs elsewhere. Cases across the Midwest, the Mountain West and the Northeast are surging despite high rates of fully vaccinated people. The Delta variant’s virulent nature and waning immunity are combining to provide a preview of the surge expected this winter. The danger of disability residents or staff contracting COVID-19 has increased dramatically following the removal of basic safety measures by Australian governments. The southwestern state has reported some of the highest rates of increase of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in the US in recent days.
|
Organization Merge
| null | null |
1990–1991 Togo protests
|
The 1990–1991 Togo protests was a protest movement against then-president Gnassingbe Eyadema and his reforms. Strikes and demonstrations began by students on 5 October and soon became a daily movement which saw deaths and beatings while shootings and clashes between pro-government and anti-government demonstrators took place. Mass protests ended violently with clashes in November 1991. Gnassingbé Eyadéma helped lead two military coups, one in 1963 and another in 1967, in which he became the President of Togo. Opposition to Eyadéma's regime grew in the late 1980s as many people believed he was only working to benefit cronies from the army, his tribesmen, and his political allies. [1] Inspired by anti-communist revolutions throughout Europe starting from 1989, and sparked by the trial of students for distributing anti-government material, Togolese students held demonstrations and strikes on 5 October 1990. [1][2] This protest marked the start of a protest movement against Eyadéma's military regime. [3]
During a wave of protests against Eyadéma, the government established a curfew, and announced it on 10 April 1991, one hour after it went into force. The next day, inhabitants of Lomé found 28 bodies on the lagoon of Bé. The National Human Rights Commission determined that thd Togolese Armed Forces had carried out the massacre. [4]
The Togolese government held a constitutional referendum in 1992 which included a two-term presidential limit, and Togo started holding multi-party elections in 1993. In December 2002, Eyadéma removed the presidential term limits, allowing him to run indefinitely. [5]
Protests re-erupted in 1992 demanding a new constitution which led to a constitutional referendum. The crisis in 1990 saw closures of schools and ghost towns nationwide. Rallies in support of the government was held in December 1991. As a result of the movement, the government made a ban on demonstrations and made restrictions thus tightening normal life with restrictions. Security forces and the military stepped up their force against protestors as a result of the protests of 1990–1991.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Archaeologists find stunning 3,000-year-old gold mask in China - and the internet turns it into a meme
|
The huge cache of relics were discovered in six ‘sacrificial pits’ along with other treasures made from gold, bronze, ivory, jade and bone. But only the mask has since found online stardom Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile The gold mask has been found along with 500 relics dating back about 3,000 years, unearthed at the renowned Sanxingdui Ruins site An extraordinary archaeological discovery in China has captured the imagination of the country’s netizens, with a 3,000-year-old ceremonial gold mask finding a new lease of life as a meme online. The culturally significant artefact was among a huge cache of 500 Bronze-Age relics unearthed , at the site of the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins. Along with fragments of gold masks, the archaeologists discovered bird-shaped gold ornaments, gold foil, bronze head portraits foils and artefacts made from ivory, jade and bone. But it was the mysterious half-face gold mask that stole the spotlight on Chinese microblogging site Weibo and inspired an array of memes and videos. A hashtag that translates as “Sanxingdui gold mask photo editing competition” has been viewed about 4 million times on Weibo, according to BBC News. Read more: Several users superimposed the facemask with other popular icons while they praised it as “stunning” and “beautiful”. The face mask was morphed with Japanese action figure Ultraman, popular Japanese cartoon Hello Kitty, a panda and even an alien. Officials at the museum for Sanxingdui also joined in the fun and shared their own version of the meme - a picture of the mask completing the outline of a teddy bear’s face - as well as a promotional animated music video, showcasing the mask and other artefacts. “Good morning, we've just woken up, apparently everyone's been busy doing some Photoshopping?” the museum said as it shared its own meme. Researchers believe the discovery of the artefacts could shed more light on the ancient Shu civilisation, which ruled the area before 316 BC but left scant written records. All the items were found in six “sacrificial pits”, where Shu people are believed to have offered sacrifices to their ancestors and the earth. The rectangular-shaped pits were discovered between November 2019 and May 2020, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA). The gold mask weighs 280 grams (0.6 pounds) and is estimated to be made of 84 per cent gold, according to NCHA. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies The gold mask has been found along with 500 relics dating back about 3,000 years, unearthed at the renowned Sanxingdui Ruins site Shutterstock
|
New archeological discoveries
| null | null |
Girl, 13, critical, second teen injured after shooting inside North Philly home, police say
|
A 13-year-old girl is in critical condition, while a second teen is recovering after a North Philadelphia shooting. PHILADELPHIA - A 13-year-old girl is in critical condition, while a 17-year-old male is recovering after a shooting inside a home in North Philadelphia. The shooting happened at approximately 11:30 a.m. when police responded to reports of a shooting on the 900 block of North 11th Street. Police say a 13-year-old girl sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and is in critical condition. It appeared her injury went through her front and out of her back. A 17-year-old male was shot at least once in the arm and is in stable condition. Both were rushed to Temple University Hospital. The mother of the 13-year-old victim, Charda Brown, says she sent her daughter to school Wednesday morning, as she would any other day. She has no idea how her daughter ended up shot in a home in North Philadelphia. "It’s definitely a wake-up call for me. It’s definitely a wake-up call for the whole family and I’m pretty sure it’s a wake-up call for my baby girl and I’m pretty sure her decisions will be different after this," said Brown. Detectives said there was the possibility of video, but they hadn't recovered video of the shooting. They were also interviewing witnesses. There were no adults on the scene, according to officials. "At this time, we're really not sure who we're looking for and how many people that may be," an official told FOX 29.
|
Famous Person - Recovered
| null | null |
Senegal might be first to terminate its double-taxation agreement with Mauritius, but will not be the last
|
Double taxation treaties or agreements between two countries prevent taxing the same income twice. For example, individuals or corporations that are resident in one country sometimes make a taxable gain by earning income in another.
This calls for taxation in the country where such taxable income is generated but could end up leading to double taxation of the same income when the persons concerned declare that income back in their home country. To avoid this tax injustice to the taxpayer, countries commonly conclude double taxation treaties.
While double taxation treaties work for individuals or corporations that find themselves earning an income in a foreign country, there are those who use the same tactics - with the help of professional services firms and investment professionals.
They simply register their companies in countries with the lowest tax rates, called tax havens. Nothing wrong with minimising one’s tax liability, but everything must have limits.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), corporations in Mauritius are “liable to income tax on their net income, currently at a flat rate of 15% and those engaged in the export of goods are liable to be taxed at the rate of 3% on the chargeable income attributable to exports, based on a prescribed formula”.
Compare the corporate income tax rate of 28% in South Africa and 30% in Senegal. Many companies - not owned by people of Mauritius - are keen to register their businesses there because PwC’s tax summaries remind us that this Indian Ocean island “has a credit system of taxation whereby foreign tax credit is given on any foreign-source income declared in Mauritius on which foreign tax of a similar character to Mauritian tax has been imposed”.
This is what probably led to Dakar tearing up its double taxation treaty with Mauritius so abruptly. Since it was declared in 2004, the government of Senegal reportedly lost about $257 million (R4.5bn) in tax revenue.
Magueye Boye, a Senegalese tax official, said to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that “the problem with this tax treaty is that it was unbalanced”. All is about balance.
In 2015, the EU ranked Mauritius in its top 30 tax blacklist nations, while Oxfam labelled it among the world’s tax havens.
Mauritius has a population of under 2 million and its land mass of 2000 square kilometres goes nine times into Gauteng. It is a tourism, technology and services economy that cleverly worked hard to become the easiest place to do business in Africa. That is commendable, but not when it hobbles other countries’ efforts to collect due taxes to build social and other infrastructure.
Senegal might be the first to sever ties with Mauritius, but will not be the last.
Unless an equitable solution is found to rein in tax avoidance by corporations, over-indebtedness due to Covid-19 could intensify the pressure on others to act similarly.
* Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business, media commentator and public speaker on African business affairs.
|
Tear Up Agreement
| null | null |
The deadly ebola virus is now thought to have killed more than 200 people in West Africa, making it one of the worst ever outbreaks of the disease.
|
The deadly ebola virus is now thought to have killed more than 200 people in West Africa, making it one of the worst ever outbreaks of the disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.
WHO says 208 people have died in Guinea from the virus, with with 21 deaths registered between May 29 and June 1 alone.
The United Nations health agency says it has recorded 328 suspected and confirmed cases of ebola in Guinea, which puts the fatality rate in this latest outbreak close to 65 per cent.
WHO's comments undermine the government's claims that the number of ebola deaths was slowing.
On April 24, Guinea's health ministry said in a statement that the situation was "more and more under control thanks to measures taken by the government and its partners".
A Guinean presidential spokesman was not immediately available for comment and a health department spokesman declined to comment on the outbreak's resurgence.
More than half of the new deaths in Guinea were in the southern region of Gueckedou, the epicentre of the outbreak, which began in February near the Sierra Leone and Liberian borders.
In neighbouring Sierra Leone, there are almost 80 suspected cases and the death toll has risen to six in the last week alone.
Liberia was also increasingly affected. Earlier this year the country had seen 12 suspected and confirmed cases of ebola, including nine deaths, but had not seen any new cases for nearly two months.
A person believed to have been infected in Kailahun in Sierra Leone came across the border and died in the Liberian town of Foya, WHO said, pointing out that the dead body was taken back to Kailahun to be buried.
WHO has described West Africa's first-ever outbreak of the deadly haemorrhagic fever as one of the most challenging since the virus was first identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In that outbreak, 280 people died, making it the deadliest outbreak on record.
The ebola virus can cause irreversible haemorrhaging and the complete shutdown of some organs. It is considered one of the most deadly diseases in the world and is highly contagious.
There is no vaccine or cure for ebola, with a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent.
Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) says the outbreak is difficult to contain because a lot of sick people are reluctant to seek help and they are tended by relatives.
MSF says authorities in West Africa are struggling to impress how important it is for mourners to not touch bodies during traditional funeral rituals.
WHO says it has deployed an extra five experts to the area to help stop the disease spreading and that it is observing about 600 people in Guinea identified as having possible contact with ebola.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
Space weather storm Due To Impact Earth Tomorrow; Geomagnetic Storm Watch Continues
|
A significant solar flare erupted from the sun on October 9, producing an Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that is due to deliver impacts to Earth sometime late October 11 / early October 12. Due to the impacts of this unfolding M1.6-class solar flare event on Earth, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has issued a G2 Geomagnetic Storm Watch which begins tomorrow, October 11. Geomagnetic storms are rated on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being the weakest and 5 having the most potential for damage. Even a G1 geomagnetic storm could create issues: there could be weak power grid fluctuations and minor impacts on satellite operations. Aurora, also known as the “Northern Lights”, could be visible at high latitudes from northern Michigan and Maine to points north. Impacts and aurora change as the geomagnetic storm scale increase. The Space Weather Prediction Center says the area of impact will focus primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude. In a statement released this afternoon, the SWPC says, “Induced currents / power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms. Spacecraft – satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible.” The SWPC also adds, “high frequency radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes.” While there are fears that a future blast from the sun will disrupt electricity, communication, and internet lines for weeks, this event does not seem to have that type of potential with it. However, some impacts, including an electrified display of the Northern Lights at northern latitudes, are expected. The event forecast for October 11 could generate aurora as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington State. The K-index, and by extension the Planetary K-index, are used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. The SWPCS says that Kp is an excellent indicator of disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field and is used by SWPC to decide whether geomagnetic alerts and warnings need to be issued for users who are affected by these disturbances. Beyond signifying how bad a geomagnetic storm’s impact can be felt, the Kp index can also help indicate how low the aurora will be. In this case, the October 11 storm is forecast to have a Kp value of at least 6. The Sun is the primary cause of space weather. At times, the Sun can be thought of as going through a “stormy” period where its surface is more active than normal. When this happens, the Sun can send streams of energized particles out in all directions. When these energized particles interact with the outer reaches of our atmosphere, the aurora borealis (the Northern Lights) and the aurora australis (the Southern Lights) can result. Dark regions on the Sun known as coronal holes are one of the main drivers of space weather now. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, coronal holes appear as dark regions on the Sun because they are cooler than the surrounding plasma and are open magnetic field lines. The Sun’s outermost part of its atmosphere, which is known as the corona, is where these dark regions appear. The solar corona was also one of the main features of the Sun scientists were most excited to study during the past solar eclipse. You are able to notice these features in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray solar images. Solar wind is always flowing from the Sun and towards Earth but coronal holes are known for releasing enhanced solar wind. Coronal holes can develop anywhere on the sun and are more common during solar minimum. One solar rotation of the Sun occurs every 27 days and coronal holes are sometimes able to last several of these. It is common to see persistent coronal holes at the north and south pole of the Sun but sometimes they can expand towards the equator of the Sun resulting in a larger region. Normally, coronal holes located near the Sun’s equator, result in faster solar wind arriving at Earth. It is common to see coronal holes produce G1-G2 geomagnetic storming levels and sometimes on rare occasions, upwards to G3 levels have been met. NOAA forecasters analyze these features and have to take them into account during each forecast. If Earth is experiencing the effects of a coronal hole and a coronal mass ejection is forecasted to impact Earth, the combined effects could result in a more significant impact and more intense geomagnetic storming. Analyzing data from the DSCOVER and ACE satellite is one way forecasters can tell when the enhanced solar wind from a coronal hole is about to arrive at Earth. A few things they look for in the data to determine when the enhanced solar wind is arriving at Earth: • Solar wind speed increases • Temperature increases • Particle density decreases • Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength increases While these solar events can help illuminate the sky with stunning aurora, they can also do considerable harm to electronics, electrical grids, and satellite and radio communications. That isn’t expected this week, but such an event could happen in the future. On September 1-2 in 1859, a powerful geomagnetic storm struck Earth during Solar Cycle 10. A CME hit the Earth and induced the largest geomagnetic storm on record. The storm was so intense it created extremely bright, vivid aurora throughout the planet: people in California thought the sun rose early, people in the northeastern U.S. could read a newspaper at night from the aurora’s bright light, and people as far south as Hawaii and south-central Mexico could see the aurora in the sky. The event severely damaged the limited electrical and communication lines that existed at that time; telegraph systems around the world failed, with some telegraph operators reporting they received electric shocks. A June 2013 study by Lloyd’s of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) in the U.S. showed that if the Carrington event happened in modern times, damages in the U.S. could exceed $2.6 trillion, roughly 15% of the nation’s annual GDP. While typically known for their weather forecasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service (NWS) is also responsible for “space weather.” While there are private companies and other agencies that monitor and forecast space weather, the official source for alerts and warnings of the space environment is the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The SWPC is located in Boulder, Colorado and is a service center of the NWS, which is part of NOAA. The Space Weather Prediction Center is also one of nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) as they monitor current space weather activity 24/7, 365 days a year.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
2007 Tocopilla earthquake
|
The 2007 Tocopilla earthquake occurred on November 14 at 12:40:50 local time. Its epicenter was located between Quillagua and Tocopilla, affecting the Tarapacá and the Antofagasta regions in northern Chile. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 7.7 and lasted about 3 minutes and 35 seconds. [4] Seventeen aftershocks of magnitude greater than 5.3, including one of magnitude 7.1 and two others of magnitude 6.3 or higher, were recorded. [5] The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning, stating a tsunami had been generated; after one hour, this warning was cancelled. [6][7] The earthquake was felt from Santiago, 1,245 km south from the epicenter, to La Paz, about 700 km north-northeast. [8]
The USGS reported that the earthquake resulted from the release of stresses generated by the subduction of the oceanic Nazca plate beneath the South American Plate. In this region, known as the Peru-Chile subduction zone, the Nazca Plate thrusts beneath South America at a rate of approximately 79 mm/year in an east-north-east direction. This earthquake indicates subduction-related thrusting, likely on the interface between these two plates. This earthquake occurred near (and within) the southern end of the rupture area of the great magnitude 9.1 earthquake of 1877, which produced a destructive tsunami and whose source region has since the late 1970s been recognized as a potentially dangerous seismic gap. In 1995, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred in the same subduction zone approximately 200 km further south of the November 14th event. [9]
At least two deaths have been attributed to this earthquake: an 88-year-old woman crushed under a collapsing wall at Tocopilla,[8] and a 54-year-old woman whose exact cause of death remains unknown. There were also reports of widespread power outages in the region, including the cities of Antofagasta, Calama and Arica. The earthquake disrupted copper mining in the region; because Chile is the world's top supplier of copper, the earthquake caused prices of the metal to jump by more than six percent. Tin prices also rose four percent to reach a record high. [10] There were reports of several dozen road workers trapped inside a collapsed highway tunnel. [11] Two hundred homes were destroyed by the shaking and up to 15,000 people were displaced. In Tocopilla alone, 1,000 homes were demolished, representing 30 percent of all standing structures. [12]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Winnipeg general strike
|
The Winnipeg general strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the time was Canada's third largest city. In the short term, the strike ended in arrests, bloodshed and defeat, but in the long run it contributed to the development of a stronger labour movement and the tradition of social democratic politics in Canada. There were many background causes for the strike, most of them related to the prevailing social inequalities and the impoverished condition of the city's working class. Wages were low, prices were rising, employment was unstable, immigrants faced discrimination, housing and health conditions were poor. In addition, there was resentment of the enormous profits enjoyed by employers during the war. Soldiers returning from the war were determined to see improved social conditions and opportunities after their harrowing experiences overseas. Most workers did not have union representation, but many were influenced by the hope of achieving greater economic security through unions. [1]
Many workers were also influenced by socialist ideas voiced by local reformers, radicals and revolutionaries. These attracted greater interest, especially among the large population of immigrants from Eastern Europe, after the Russian Revolution of 1917. A meeting of western labour delegates in Calgary in March 1919 adopted numerous radical resolutions, including support for a five-day week and a six-hour day. They also called for the establishment of a new union centre, the One Big Union, to promote class solidarity by uniting workers from all trades and industries in one organization. The idea that the OBU instigated the general strike is misleading, as the OBU was not formed until June 1919. However, the "one big union" idea contributed to the atmosphere of unrest. [2] Similar volatile conditions existed elsewhere in Canada, and in other countries around the world, at the end of World War I, but the combination of circumstances in Winnipeg proved to be explosive. [3]
The most immediate cause of the strike involved support for collective bargaining in the metal trades and building trades, where workers were attempting to negotiate contracts through their trades councils. When the Metal Trades Council and the Building Trades Council had both failed to secure contracts with employers by the end of April, they went on strike, the building trades on May 1 and the metal trades on May 2. Shortly afterwards, the situation was discussed at meetings of the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council, the umbrella body for the city's unions. The Labour Council decided to call on their 12,000 affiliated members to vote on a proposal for a general strike . [4] On a smaller scale, this tactic had achieved success for striking city workers a year earlier in 1918. [5] Preliminary results of the vote among the Labour Council's member unions were announced on May 13. The outcome showed overwhelming support for a general strike, 8,667 to 645. [6] Ernest Robinson, secretary of the Labour Council, issued a statement that "every organization but one has voted in favour of the general strike" and that "all public utilities will be tied-up in order to enforce the principle of collective bargaining". [7] A Strike Committee was established, with delegates elected by the city's unions. The leadership included both moderate trade unionists, such as James Winning, a bricklayer who was president of the Trades and Labour Council, and socialists such as R.B. Russell, a machinist who favoured the OBU. At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday May 15, 1919, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg went on strike. Somewhere around 30,000 workers in the public and private sectors walked off their jobs, and the city experienced a sudden cessation of many normal activities. The Strike Committee requested the police force, who had voted in favour of the strike, to remain on duty. Workers at the city waterworks also remained on the job to provide service at reduced pressure. Union membership had increased substantially during the spring of 1919, but most of the people who came out in support of the general strike were not union members. For instance, the first to leave work, at 7:00 a.m., were the telephone operators, the so-called "hello girls" at the city telephone exchanges, who were not at this time union members. Also on the first day of the strike, the major organizations of returned soldiers announced their support and were active throughout the six weeks of the strike. [8]
In the early days of the strike, one historian has written, "The atmosphere was almost festive, the belief in ultimate victory strong. "[9] Participants assembled in city parks to listen to speakers report on the progress of the strike and discuss the many related social reform issues of the time. To ensure that strikers were kept informed of developments, the Strike Committee also published a daily Strike Bulletin. This newspaper urged the strikers to remain peaceable as well as idle: “The only thing the workers have to do to win this strike is to do nothing. Just eat, sleep, play, love, laugh, and look at the sun. . . . Our fight consists of doing no fighting.”. [10]
Women leaders played an important part in building solidarity among the strikers. Experienced organizers such as Helen "Ma" Armstrong, one of two women on the Strike Committee, encouraged young working women to join the strike and often spoke on street corners and at public meetings. The Women's Labour League raised money to help women workers pay rent. They also set up a kitchen where hundreds of meals were served every day. [11] On June 12 a "ladies day" was held at Victoria Park, where women occupied seats of honour to cheer a speech by J.S. Woodsworth promoting the emancipation of women and the equality of the sexes. [12] An emerging working-class activist named Edith Hancox, who became a notable defender of the city’s dispossessed during the 1920s, is the only woman reported as a speaker at the huge outdoor gatherings at Victoria Park. [13]
Negotiations between members of the Strike Committee, city council and local businesses produced an arrangement to continue milk and bread deliveries.
|
Strike
| null | null |
Trump administration submits notice of withdrawal from World Health Organization
|
The Trump administration submitted a notice of withdrawal from the World Health Organization to the United Nations secretary-general, a senior administration official told Fox News on Tuesday, after President Trump for weeks had blasted the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and what he called its pro-China bias. The White House also notified congressional lawmakers Tuesday of the official removal, effective July 2021. "Congress received notification that POTUS officially withdrew the U.S. from the @WHO in the midst of a pandemic," Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., tweeted. Menendez argued, "To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice. This won't protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone." A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed Tuesday that the organization received U.S. notice to withdraw. WHO CONTINUES TO LAVISH CHINA WITH PRAISE FOR HANDLING OF CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R- Tenn., broke with Trump to condemn his unilateral decision, saying holding the WHO accountable should be done after the pandemic. "I disagree with the president's decision. Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it," the Republican senator said in a statement. Alexander added that withdrawing U.S. membership could interfere with vaccine trials and make it harder to work with other countries to stop viruses before they get to the U.S. "If the administration has specific recommendations for reforms of the WHO, it should submit those recommendations to Congress, and we can work together to make those happen," he said. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats' presumptive 2020 presidential nominee, said he would rejoin the WHO on his first day in the White House if elected. "Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health," the former vice president tweeted. "On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage." Trump first announced that the U.S. would back away from the organization in late-May. "Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs," Trump told reporters at a Rose Garden event. "The world is now suffering as a result of the misfeasance of the Chinese government," Trump added. In the course of the same statement, Trump announced a number of measures aimed primarily at China in response to its conduct on a number of fronts including trade, the coronavirus and its recent crackdown on Hong Kong. WHO QUIETLY ALTERS TIMELINE TO INDICATE IT FIRST LEARNED OF CORONAVIRUS FROM THE INTERNET, NOT CHINESE OFFICIALS Beijing further increased its grip on Hong Kong last week by passing a security law that critics say undermines the semi-autonomous territory’s judicial independence. The law gives police greater power to crack down on any activity there that authorities deem subversive with secessionist aims. Trump added that the State Department's travel advisory for Hong Kong would be revised to reflect the increased danger of surveillance and punishment by the Chinese. Additionally, the U.S. is revoking Hong Kong's preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory, and taking steps to sanction officials involved in eroding Hong Kong's autonomy. Trump announced in April the U.S. would freeze funding to the WHO, and threatened to make the freeze permanent if the organization did not enact "major substantive reforms." The U.S. had been the top contributor to the agency to the tune of approximately $450 million a year. China meanwhile pays approximately $50 million a year -- although Beijing had recently announced a $2 billion injection of funds. The U.S. repeatedly raised concerns about WHO officials’ praise of Chinese "transparency," its ignoring of warnings about the virus from Taiwan, and its repetition of Chinese claims that COVID-19 could not be spread from person-to-person. Trump has also pointed to opposition from WHO officials to his decision to place a travel ban on China in the initial days of the crisis. The UN-backed global health body faced renewed scrutiny when it quietly changed its public coronavirus timeline to say it had initially heard of the virus from the internet, not from Beijing officials as it had long insisted. According to multiple reports, the revisions were made on the WHO website on June 29, adding fuel to the fire that the Chinese leadership long purported to cover up COVID-19 and the WHO assisted them in doing so.
|
Withdraw from an Organization
| null | null |
Federal Express Flight 705 crash
|
On April 7, 1994, Federal Express Flight 705, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet carrying electronics equipment across the United States from Memphis, Tennessee to San Jose, California, was involved in a hijack attempt by Auburn R. Calloway, who the prosecution argued was trying to commit suicide. Calloway, a Federal Express employee, was facing possible dismissal for lying about his flight hours. He boarded the scheduled flight as a deadhead passenger carrying a guitar case concealing several hammers and a speargun. He intended to switch off the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder before takeoff and, once airborne, kill the crew with hammers so their injuries would appear consistent with an accident rather than a hijacking. However, the CVR was switched back on by the flight engineer, believing that he had neglected to turn it on. [3]
Calloway intended to use the speargun as a last resort. He planned to crash the aircraft hoping that he would appear to be an employee killed in an accident. He sought to let his family collect on a $2.5 million life insurance policy provided by Federal Express. [3] Calloway's efforts to kill the crew were unsuccessful. Despite severe injuries, the crew fought back, subdued Calloway, and landed the aircraft safely. During his trial, Calloway attempted to invoke an insanity defense, but was convicted of multiple charges, including attempted murder, attempted air piracy, and interference with flight crew operations. He received two consecutive life sentences. Calloway successfully appealed the conviction for interference, which was ruled to be a lesser offense of attempted air piracy. [4]
Three flight crew members were in the cockpit on this flight: 49-year-old Captain David G. Sanders, who worked for FedEx for 20 years and previously served with the U.S. Navy for 9 years during the Vietnam War; 42-year-old first officer James M. Tucker Jr., who worked for FedEx for 10 years and previously served with the U.S. Navy for 12 years during the Vietnam War and People Express Airlines for 3 years; and 39-year-old flight engineer Andrew H. Peterson, who worked for FedEx for 5 years. [5]
Also in the airplane was 42-year-old FedEx flight engineer Auburn Calloway, an alumnus of Stanford University and a former Navy pilot and martial arts expert, who was facing possible dismissal over falsifying of flight hours. [4] To disguise the hijacking as an accident, so his family would benefit from his US$2.5 million (equivalent to $4.4 million in 2020) life insurance policy, Calloway intended to murder the flight crew using blunt force. To accomplish this, he brought on board two claw hammers, two club hammers, a speargun, and a knife (which was not used) concealed inside a guitar case. [4][6] He also carried with him a note written to his ex-wife and "describing the author's apparent despair". [4] Just before the flight, Calloway had transferred over US$54,000 (equivalent to $94,300 in 2020) in securities and cashier's checks to his ex-wife. [4]
Before takeoff, as part of his plan to disguise the intended attack as an accident, Calloway attempted to disable the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) by pulling its circuit breaker to interrupt CVR power. During the standard preflight checks, flight engineer Peterson noticed the pulled breaker and reset it before takeoff, reactivating the CVR. However, if Calloway had killed the crew members with the CVR still on, he would simply have had to fly for 30 minutes to erase any trace of a struggle from the CVR's 30-minute loop. [7]
About 20 minutes after takeoff, as the flight crew carried on a casual conversation, Calloway went into the back to get his weapons, entered the flight deck, and commenced his attack. All three members of the crew received multiple hammer blows. Both Peterson and first officer Tucker suffered fractured skulls, and Peterson's temporal artery was severed. [4] The blow to Tucker's head initially rendered him unable to move or react, but he was still conscious. Captain Sanders reported that during the beginning of the attack, he could not discern any emotion from Calloway, just "simply a face in his eyes". [3]
When Calloway ceased his hammer attack, Peterson and Sanders began to get out of their seats to counterattack. Calloway left the cockpit and retrieved his spear gun. He came back into the cockpit and threatened everyone to sit back down in their seats. Despite a loud ringing in his ear and being dazed, Peterson grabbed the gun by the spear between the barbs and the barrel. A lengthy struggle ensued, while Tucker, also an ex-Navy pilot, performed extreme aerial maneuvers with the aircraft. [8] He pulled the plane into a sudden 15° climb, throwing Sanders, Peterson, and Calloway out of the cockpit and into the galley. To try to throw Calloway off balance, Tucker then turned the plane into a left roll, almost on its side. This rolled the combatants along the smoke curtain onto the left side of the galley. [3]
Eventually, Tucker had rolled the plane almost upside down at 140°, while attempting to maintain a visual reference of the environment around him through the windows. Peterson, Sanders, and Calloway were then pinned to the ceiling of the plane. Calloway managed to wrench his hammer hand free and hit Sanders in the head again. Just then, Tucker put the plane into a steep dive. [3][8] This pushed the combatants back to the smoke curtain, but the wings and elevators started to flutter. At this point, Tucker could hear the wind rushing against the cockpit windows. At a speed of 460 knots (850 km/h; 530 mph), the plane's elevators fluttered so much that the control surfaces became unresponsive due to the disrupted airflow. This lack of control tested the aircraft’s safety limits. Tucker also began to sense a mach tuck effect as the plane approached the speed of sound. Tucker realized the throttles were at full power, increasing the speed of the aircraft. Releasing his only usable hand to pull back the throttles to idle, he managed to pull the plane out of the dive as it slowed down. [3][8]
Calloway managed to hit Sanders again while the struggle continued. Sanders was losing strength and Peterson was heavily bleeding from his ruptured temporal artery, and was starting to go into shock. In spite of his diminishing strength, Sanders managed to grab the hammer out of Calloway's hand and attacked him with it. When the plane was completely level, Tucker reported to Memphis Center, informed them about the attack and requested a vector back to Memphis.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Africa’s Covid-19 passport lays the groundwork for controlling future disease outbreaks
|
Despite being created to manage travel during the Covid-19 pandemic, the African Union’s Covid-19 passport can set in place a mechanism for controlling future pandemics and disease outbreaks in the continent. Launched in October 2020 by the African Union Secretariat and the Africa CDC, the passport program, dubbed Trusted Travel, supports member states in verification of Covid-19 test certificates and harmonization of entry and exit screening. It provides travel requirement information at exit and entry ports plus a list of government-approved laboratories for Covid-19 testing. In addition, it enables travelers to upload their Covid-19 test results online for verification by health and travel officials. “It works to remove gaps that can be exploited by unscrupulous elements in society to evade sensible public health measures with fake health documents,” Nicaise Ndembi, chief science officer at the Africa CDC, the AU’s health agency, told Quartz in an email. So far, Trust Travel has digitized lab registries in 35 of the 55 AU member states and about 16 countries have adopted it. Beyond Covid-19, such infrastructure could be useful in setting up a system to manage future pandemics and disease outbreaks in Africa. As an example, as Covid-19 was slowly spreading throughout the continent in March 2020, Nigeria was battling a Lassa fever outbreak that was deadlier than Covid-19. There’s high risk of cross-border infection in Africa due to porous borders. With Ebola, there have been reports of cross-border spread of the disease through movement between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Fake medical documentations are another threat, with the reported thriving black market for fake immunization certificates and fake yellow fever vaccination certificates in different countries. Countries in the continent have individual measures to prevent the spread of diseases into their borders, but this can be strengthened with intergovernmental coordination. A few countries on the continent already have ongoing efforts to establish and operationalize emergency operations centers (EOCs) that became especially valuable after the 2014-2016 west Africa Ebola crisis. The AU and Africa CDC’s efforts are a much needed collaborative effort especially as we move to an Africa with fewer travel restrictions under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Trusted Travel is part of a larger plan dubbed 4D by the AU, the private sector, and civil society to control future pandemics and the spread of future disease outbreaks in the continent, says Mohammed Abdulaziz, the Africa CDC’s head of disease surveillance. One component is “bringing multiple sources of data together to help African policymakers predict dangerous trends in disease transmission before outbreaks occur,” he says.
|
Disease Outbreaks
| null | null |
United Airlines Flight 696 crash
|
United Airlines Flight 696 was a flight from San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, to Seattle, Washington, with 75 people in board. After takeoff from San Francisco, Clay Thomas, claiming to have a bomb, hijacked the Boeing 727-222, demanding the plane land in Oakland, California, and fuel up for a flight to Cuba. The crew negotiated the release of all the passengers and cabin crew while on the ground in Oakland waiting for fuel. Panicked by the sight of police vehicles, Thomas cut the fueling short and demanded an immediate departure to Cuba. Once the plane was airborne, the pilot explained that the aircraft still did not have enough fuel to reach Cuba, and Thomas agreed to land in Denver, Colorado, for more fuel. About 90 minutes after landing, the three members of the cockpit crew all jumped to safety from the open cockpit windows, all suffering injuries in the 18-foot (5.5-meter) jump. Within five minutes of the escape and without hostages, Thomas meekly surrendered to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. [1]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
2010 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
|
The 29th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 21 to 25 April 2010 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The senior and junior events are different. During the senior's qualification the top eight teams progress to the team final, and the top eight gymnasts (two per nation maximum) on each apparatus qualify for the individual finals. After the qualification for the juniors the team medals and places are awarded. Unlike the seniors in this event the top 24 gymnasts (two per nation maximum) compete in the all around final. Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
Oldest and youngest competitors
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Woman arrested after hit-and-run crash at Goodwood in Adelaide's inner south
|
A woman has been arrested following a hit-and-run crash at Goodwood, in Adelaide's south, last night that left a 70-year-old man fighting for life. A 29-year-old Cumberland Park woman was arrested following investigations into the crash that occurred just before 10:00pm on Wednesday near the Capri Theatre. Police alleged a car hit a pedestrian and then drove off. The pedestrian, from Goodwood, was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Goodwood Road was closed to northbound traffic between Gilbert and Victoria streets for several hours last night while Major Crash investigators examined the scene. The woman was charged with cause harm by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of a collision after causing harm, and was bailed to appear in court in September. Her white Kia SUV was seized. Police have also appealed for information about a hit-and-run in Payneham last week. A 15-year-old boy suffered a broken arm after colliding with a car on Portrush Road around 8:15am on Monday, June 21. The boy was cycling north in the bike lane when he hit the front of a blue VE Holden Commodore turning right into Victoria Street from the southbound lane. The driver sped away from the scene and the boy was taken to hospital for treatment. Police have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperssa.com.au
|
Road Crash
| null | null |
Pueblo police searching for bank robbery suspect and primary driver of getaway car
|
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Pueblo police are searching for a man involved in a bank robbery and the primary driver of the vehicle the suspect used to leave the scene. On Tuesday at 11:56 a.m. officers were dispatched to a bank robbery at Sunflower Bank in Pueblo. Police describe the suspect as a man, between 5'7" and 5'9", light complexion, and facial hair. He was wearing glasses, a black puffy jacket, black gloves, a white ball cap, a multi-colored gator, and black shoes. The suspect left the scene in a 2006 Suzuki Forenza. That suspect was later located by Pueblo police. Detectives say additional video footage shows the suspect after he changed clothing. He was last seen wearing a black baseball hat with a white logo, glasses, a blue long sleeve shirt, long black shorts, black shoes, with a backpack with black straps. Detectives now say they want to speak to the primary driver of the vehicle, identified as MacKenzie Weber, 22.
|
Bank Robbery
| null | null |
Air Algérie Flight 2208 crash
|
Air Algérie Flight 2208 was a cargo flight between Algiers-Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria, and Frankfurt Airport, Germany. On 13 August 2006, the Lockheed L-100 operating the flight crashed in Northern Italy as a result of an autopilot malfunction. The aircraft struck the ground in a sparsely populated area after a very steep and rapid descent, narrowly avoiding crashing into a highly populated area. The crew of three on board were killed in the accident; there were no passengers, nor were there injuries or property damage on the ground. The 25-year-old aircraft,[2] a Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules, registration 7T-VHG, was operating a cargo service between Algiers-Houari Boumediene Airport and Frankfurt Airport as Flight 2208;[3] it was flying over Italian soil at 24,000 feet (7,300 m) when it began descending for unknown reasons. [4] The pilot had informed that there was an engine loss of power prior to losing contact with the Milan air traffic control while the aircraft was flying at 13,500 feet (4,100 m). [4][5]
The pilot was able to direct the aircraft's descent towards a sparsely populated area. [6] It struck the ground between Milan and Parma in a village named Besurica, located in the outskirts of Piacenza. [7] Upon impacting, the airframe broke in two. [4] According to the Corriere della Sera, the impact was so devastating that the wreckage of the aircraft was strewn over several kilometres, while the loud noise of the crash was heard in the city proper. [8] The impact created a crater 50 metres (160 ft) long and 15 metres (49 ft) wide. The upper portion of the rudder and parts of the elevator were found 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) ahead of the impact point, respectively. [9]
The aircraft narrowly avoided crashing into highly populated areas, to the extent that the mayor of Piacenza referred to the occurrence as a miracle. [10] There were neither injuries nor property damage on the ground,[8] but the crew of three on board lost their lives in the accident. [11]
The Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) started an inquiry,[12] following the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder a week after the crash. [5] The flight data recorder was also recovered, and results from its decoded ribbon showed that the aircraft was flying at cruising altitude with the autopilot engaged, that it got disengaged twelve seconds after the autopilot failure light lit, and that both directional and longitudinal control was lost moments later, with the aircraft crashing 73 seconds after the light came on. The angle and the speed of the impact were estimated to be between 45° and 50° and in the range of 460 to 485 knots (852 to 898 km/h; 529 to 558 mph), respectively. [9]
Given that the aircraft flight data recorder (FDR) was a first generation one manufactured in the 1960s, it was not in compliance with ICAO regulations. [nb 1] The ANSV urged the Algerian Civil Aviation Authority to replace older FDRs with newest ones. [14]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Solar eclipse June 2021 - time, date and everything you need to know
|
of 2021 will happen on Thursday, June 10 following the lunar eclipse of 2021 that happened on May 26. 2021 will see two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses totaling the number of eclipses for the year to four. Astronomy describes the phenomenon behind the upcoming June 10 solar eclipse as a ‘Ring of Fire’, which will be a spectacular event. An eclipse happens when a celestial body passing in between two other celestial bodies hides one from the view. Solar eclipse and lunar eclipse are the two popular kinds of eclipses that can be seen from the Earth. The 2021 calendar lists four eclipses – two lunar and two solar. The first lunar eclipse of 2021 happened on May 26. The first solar eclipse of this year will happen on Thursday, June 10. As per leading astronomers, this will be a partial and annular solar eclipse that will present a spectacular sight known as ‘Ring of Fire’. Date and time of the first solar eclipse of 2021 What is known as an annular solar eclipse will happen on Thursday, 10 June 2021. Notably, this will be the first solar eclipse of 2021 among the two lined up for this year. According to Timeanddate.com, this solar eclipse on June 10, 2021 will start at 01:42 p.m and will last till 06:41 p.m.. in India. Who all can see the solar eclipse? US’ space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) says the annular solar eclipse on June 10, 2021 can be seen from some parts of Canada, Greenland, and Russia. Those living in northern Ontario and on the north side of Lake Superior can get a glimpse of this event. From Canada, the upcoming eclipse can be seen only for about three minutes. When the eclipse is at its peak, the people living in Greenland will see a spectacular ring of fire. This event can also be spotted from Siberia and the North Pole. This solar eclipse cannot be seen from the US and India. Advertisement What causes different types of eclipses? Eclipses happen in different fashions depending on how the three celestial objects namely the Earth, Moon and the Sun are lined up during the event. Some eclipses are total, while some are partial. These terms describe the extent to which the Sun or Moon are hidden from view. What causes an annular solar eclipse? Advertisement An annular solar eclipse is a partial eclipse since the Sun is hidden from view only partially. An annular solar eclipse happens if the Moon is positioned farthest from the Earth during the eclipse. Since the Moon is farthest in its orbit from the Earth, its size will be small, which is not good enough to hide the total view of the Sun. When such an eclipse is at its peak, the Moon will hide the centre of the Sun leaving a ring of fire around its periphery. This will be a spectacular event for the sky gazers. Hence, people eagerly await to see how the upcoming solar eclipse will appear. People living in regions where the eclipse will not be visible can get to enjoy this online in real time on some websites like timeanddate.com.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
Air New England Flight 248 crash
|
Air New England Flight 248 was a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter that crashed on approach to Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, on 17 June 1979. All of those on the aircraft survived with the exception of the pilot, who was killed instantly. At 10:48 p.m. EDT on 17 June 1979, Flight 248, with eight passengers and a crew of two, crashed in a heavily wooded area in the Yarmouth Port section of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Barnstable Municipal Airport while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach. [2] The crash occurred on the end of a flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York. The aircraft, piloted by Air New England co-founder George Parmenter, was several miles short of the runway. The aircraft crashed in the middle of Camp Greenough, a heavily wooded Boy Scouts of America camp. Parmenter was killed in the crash. The co-pilot and several passengers were injured. An uninjured passenger managed to make her way through thick brush to the Mid Cape Highway (Route 6), and flagged down a passing car. The motorist drove her to the airport, where she alerted authorities to the crash. Rescuers, with the aid of a brush-clearing truck, were able to cut a swath through the brush to the crash site and aid the survivors. [3]
In June 2009, author Robert Sabbag, one of the passengers on board Air New England Flight 248, released a book called Down Around Midnight (Viking Adult, ISBN 978-0-670-02102-4), a first-hand account of the crash from survivors and rescuers. [4]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
1965 Carmel mid-air collision crash
|
The 1965 Carmel mid-air collision occurred on December 4, 1965, when Eastern Air Lines Flight 853 (N6218C), a Lockheed Super Constellation en route from Boston Logan International Airport to Newark International Airport, collided in mid-air with Trans World Airlines Flight 42 (N748TW), a Boeing 707-131B en route from San Francisco International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport, over Carmel, New York, United States. [1][2]
TWA Flight 42 made an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport, while Eastern Air Lines Flight 853 was forced to make a crash landing on Hunt Mountain in North Salem, New York. Three passengers died, plus the Constellation's pilot, Captain Charles J. White, who had returned to the aircraft's cabin to help the last passenger. [3]
The TWA Boeing 707 and the Eastern Air Lines Constellation approached the Carmel VORTAC at the same time. As the Constellation emerged from a cloud puff, First Officer Roger I. Holt Jr. saw the Boeing in his right side window at the 2 o'clock position. The aircraft appeared to be converging rapidly at the same altitude. Holt shouted, "Look out," placed his hands on the control wheel, and made a rapid application of up elevator simultaneously with Captain White, causing crew members and passengers to be forced down into their seats. [3]
Aboard the Boeing, the crew was preparing for arrival at JFK International, flying in clear air above an overcast sky with good visibility as they approached Carmel. The aircraft was being flown on autopilot with altitude-hold engaged, and the pilot, Capt. Thomas H. Carroll, had his left hand on the control yoke. On seeing an aircraft at his 10 o'clock position on what appeared to be a collision course, he immediately disengaged the autopilot, put the wheel hard over to the right, and pulled back on the yoke. His copilot, First Officer Leo M. Smith, also grabbed the controls and acted together with him. The aircraft rolled to the right and it became apparent that this maneuver would not allow the two aircraft to pass clear of each other, so Carroll and Smith attempted to reverse the wheel to the left and pushed on the yoke. Before the aircraft could react to the control reversal, two shocks were felt and the Boeing entered a steep dive; the Boeing's left wing had struck the tail of the Constellation and both aircraft were out of control. [4]
The Boeing crew recovered from the dive, declared an emergency with New York Center, and received the first of many vectors to JFK International. They performed a damage assessment and asked that crash and fire equipment stand by. The Boeing was vectored south of JFK International where it made a wide 360 degree turn to check that the landing gear was fully down and to determine how the airplane would fly at approach speeds, and made a safe landing on Runway 31L at 1640. [4]
Following the collision, the Eastern Air Lines Constellation continued to climb. The crew felt the aircraft shudder and begin a left-turning dive back into the clouds. There was no response from the controls or trim tabs, but the crew discovered that a degree of control was available by adjusting the throttles. The aircraft descended through solid clouds and a recovery was made below the clouds using throttles only. Several zooms were then made back into the clouds as the pilots attempted to gain control of their aircraft. [4]
The pilots discovered a throttle setting that would maintain a descent in level attitude, with airspeed maintained between 125 and 140 knots; the nose rose when power was increased and fell when power was decreased. Their rate of descent could be maintained at approximately 500 feet per minute. [4]
It was obvious to the pilots that the Constellation was badly damaged and that they needed to make an emergency landing. However, they were over mainly wooded terrain on the Connecticut-New York border, and the few fields were surrounded by stone walls, sited on sloping terrain, and not large enough. Captain White advised the passengers that there had been a collision, that the aircraft was out of control, and that a crash landing would be made. [4]
The aircraft descended on a southwest heading over Danbury Municipal Airport, Connecticut at an altitude of 2,000 feet. Around two miles ahead, White spotted a pasture halfway up Hunt Mountain, a 900 ft ridge running perpendicular to the Constellation's flightpath. He aligned the aircraft using asymmetric thrust, told passengers to brace themselves, and descended into the upward-sloping hillside with wheels and flaps retracted. At the last moment he jammed the throttles forward to pitch up the aircraft's nose, letting the Constellation pancake into the 15-percent slope. [4]
The crash-landing site was 4.2 miles north of an area where numerous parts from both aircraft were later found by investigators. The first impact was on a tree that was found broken 46 feet above the ground. 250 feet farther on, the left wing contacted another tree, and was separated from the aircraft. The fuselage contacted the ground at the same point, and the aircraft came to rest on the slope. The fuselage had been broken into three pieces, and all the engines had been separated from their nacelles. [4]
The cockpit and cabin crews survived the crash landing and worked both inside and outside the broken fuselage parts to evacuate the survivors from the wreckage, which was on fire. Volunteer firemen from North Salem, Ridgefield, Connecticut, and nearby communities extinguished the fire and transported the survivors to hospitals at Danbury, Connecticut; Mount Kisco, New York; and Carmel, New York, where two passengers later died of their injuries. Firefighters later discovered two bodies in the fuselage - that of a passenger in the forward section, and that of Captain White, who had returned to the cabin to help the passenger. Both had died from smoke inhalation. [3]
Misjudgment of altitude separation by the crew of EA 853 because of an optical illusion created by the up-slope effect of cloud tops resulted in an evasive maneuver and a reactive evasive maneuver by the TWA 42 crew. [1][4]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
1984 Morgan Hill earthquake
|
The 1984 Morgan Hill earthquake (also Halls Valley earthquake)[6] occurred on April 24 at 1:15 p.m. local time in the Santa Clara Valley of Northern California. The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter was located near Mount Hamilton in the Diablo Range of the California Coast Ranges. Nearby communities (including Morgan Hill) sustained serious damage with financial losses of at least US$7.5 million. The earthquake occurred along the Calaveras Fault, with the epicenter 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) northeast of San Jose, and at a depth of 8 km (5.0 mi). The shock was felt in Sacramento in California's central valley. [7]
The earthquake was reported to be felt over an area of 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 sq mi). Morgan Hill was the worst affected, with a number of mobile homes sliding off foundations, and moderate damage to several masonry buildings in the city. The communities of San Jose, San Martin and Coyote were some areas that experienced minor damage. [6] In Santa Clara County, over 550 buildings were reported to have received at least minor damage. The outline of aftershocks show that the rupture propagated southeast over a 25 km (16 mi) section of the fault, as far as San Martin, to the location of the 1979 Coyote Lake earthquake's mainshock. That event's aftershock zone also stretched to the southeast. [7]
|
Earthquakes
| null | null |
Russia responsible for Navalny poisoning, rights experts say
|
Russia is responsible for the poisoning and attempted killing of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny, two independent UN rights experts said on Monday, issuing an “open call” for an international investigation into the incident.
Special Rapporteurs Agnès Callamard and Irene Khan believe the politician was poisoned to send a “clear, sinister warning” to anyone wanting to criticize the Government.
Mr. Navalny fell violently ill on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow last August. He was later flown to Germany where toxicology reports determined he had been poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On returning to Moscow last month, he was imprisoned for violating a sentence for alleged embezzlement.
“It is our conclusion that Russia is responsible for the attempted arbitrary killing of Mr. Navalny”, said Ms. Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, speaking during a press conference in Geneva.
The independent experts were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and are not UN staff nor are they paid by the Orgnaization.
They conducted a four-month investigation into the Navalny case and wrote to the Russian authorities last December but never received a response. Their letter was made public on Monday, in line with Council provisions.
They said only Russia is known to have developed, stored and used Novichok. A novel version was used against Mr. Navalny, suggesting further development of the toxin. It was also “very unlikely” that non-State actors would have the capacity to develop or use the nerve agent, or that private buyers would have the expertise to properly handle it.
“It is also the findings of our work that the poisoning and attempted killing of Mr. Navalny, along with the lack of investigation and the denying narratives, are part of a larger trend, ongoing over several decades, of arbitrary killings and attempted killings, including through poisoning, by the Russian authorities of journalists, critics and dissidents and are therefore consistent with an overall pattern of modus operandi”, Ms. Callamard added.
Mr. Navalny has long been a staunch critic of the Kremlin who repeatedly denounced corruption, said Ms. Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
He had suffered two previous chemical attacks prior to the Novichok poisoning, as well as physical attacks, threats, harassment, surveillance and criminal sanctions.
“The motive of the poisoning, preceded by a long history of attacks, harassment and trumped up charges, was both to violate the human rights of an individual but also to knock out a political opponent”, she said.
“And we believe that there might be a broader purpose to the poisoning. Novichok was chosen precisely to cause fear. And we believe that the poisoning of Mr. Navalny might have been carried out deliberately to send a clear, sinister warning that this would be the fate of anyone else who might criticize and oppose the Government.”
The independent experts also welcomed a United States report on the October 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi, which was issued on Friday.
The report found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman complicit in the murder of Mr. Kashoggi, a US permanent resident, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Biden administration said it will impose visa bans against some 76 Saudi individuals in response.
“The fact that the report named the quasi head of a State, Mohammed bin Salman, as being responsible for the operation that killed Mr. Jamal Kashoggi is an important demonstration as well on the part of the United States to be transparent”, said Ms. Callamard, who has long called for an investigation.
However, she was disappointed that the report contains “nothing new” factually, as it only provides an analysis of circumstantial evidence, and that the US authorities have not so far announced any action regarding liability and responsibility on the part of the Crown Prince.
“It is extremely, in my view, problematic if not dangerous to acknowledge someone’s capability and then to tell that someone ‘But we won’t do anything. Please proceed as if we had said nothing'”, she said, referring to President Joseph Biden’s campaign promise to protect press freedom.
Elaborating further, Ms. Khan reported that only 12 per cent of journalist killings are investigated and prosecuted.
“I am pleased that the report has been published but very disappointed, very disappointed indeed, that on the issue of accountability, the US has not seen fit to take stronger action at this stage,” she said.
|
Mass Poisoning
| null | null |
Deadly Columbia City building explosion caused by ‘unintentional natural gas leak,’ probe finds
|
/ Updated:
Jun 22, 2021 / 10:42 AM EDT
COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WANE) — An investigation into a fatal explosion at a Columbia City building last month has found no foul play.
It was May 22 when a building at 515 N. Line St. on Columbia City’s north side exploded around 9 a.m. A man inside – 34-year-old Zachery Sparkman of LaOtto – was killed in the blast.
Since, multiple agencies including the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, Indiana State Police and the Whitley County Coroner’s Office have probed the explosion to determine the cause.
On Tuesday, the findings were released: “the explosion was caused by an unintentional natural gas leak ignited by an independent ignition source.”
Agencies probe deadly Columbia City warehouse explosion
The state fire marshal’s office said tests of the natural gas lines in the building found “several” connections had minor leaks that were “probably” from the explosion and fire, but the “most significant leak” in the building was found in a gas valve on the back wall of the building – where Sparkman was.
|
Gas explosion
| null | null |
Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas
|
Dillian Whyte vs. Óscar Rivas was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between Dillian Whyte and Óscar Rivas for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title. The event took place on 20 July 2019 at The O2 Arena in London. After the fight, it was reported that Dillian Whyte tested positive for a substance banned by UK-Anti Doping (UKAD) during training for the fight. [1] However, UKAD released a statement in December 2019, fully exonerating Whyte of any wrong-doing. [2]
Following his eleventh-round knockout victory over Derek Chisora, Whyte called out unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Joshua, who was unusually booed by many of those present at The O2 Arena, said: “If Deontay Wilder is serious and he is going to fight Tyson Fury and doesn’t want to become undisputed champion, Dillian, you will get a title shot." On 12 January 2019, Whyte revealed that he had turned down a "severe lowball" offer from Joshua to fight him in a rematch. Whyte did not reveal the figure, however, he claimed it was lower than what he received against Chisora in December 2018. Whyte claimed the Joshua fight "was dead" and he was to look at other options, including a potential fight with Dominic Breazeale for the interim WBC belt but Breazeale challenged Deontay Wilder for the world title. [3]
NABF, IBF International, and WBO-NABO champion Rivas, had enhanced his reputation as a danger man following his brutal knockout of the former world title challenger Bryant Jennings in January. Whyte survived a ninth-round knockdown to take a unanimous decision victory, with two of the judge's scorecards showing 115-112, and the third 116-111. [4]
Three days after the bout it was revealed that Whyte tested positive for a substance that is banned by UK-Anti Doping (UKAD) during the pre-fight training, but also gave negative results on all tests administered by the Voluntary Anti Doping Association. His promoter Eddie Hearn urged fans to "wait for the facts" before judging the fighter. [5] In the same month, upon hearing the news of the adverse findings, the WBC provisionally suspended Whyte's interim champion status and removed him from their rankings pending an investigation. [6] On 6 December 2019, UKAD released a statement fully exonerating Whyte of any wrong-doing, stating; "UK Anti-Doping and the professional boxer, Dillian Whyte, can today jointly confirm that Mr Whyte was charged with an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) earlier this year, but that this charge has now been withdrawn. The charge was brought after a sample provided by Mr Whyte on 20 June 2019 indicated the presence of two metabolites of a steroid. UKAD initiated an investigation with which Mr Whyte cooperated fully. UKAD has accepted the explanation provided by Mr Whyte and, in accordance with the UK Anti-Doping Rules, the charge against Mr Whyte has been withdrawn. "[7]
^Note 1 For WBC interim heavyweight title
^Note 2 For vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title
^Note 3 For WBA Continental cruiserweight title
This boxing-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Concert commemorating Tulsa race massacre canceled
|
People wave and a woman stops to photograph the longest living known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre at the 2021 Black Wall Street Legacy Festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., May 28, 2021. TULSA, Okla., May 28 (Reuters) - Tulsa Massacre centennial organizers have canceled a Monday event, citing a sudden hike in financial gifts requested for three survivors of the slaughter that decimated the city's affluent African-American district of Greenwood. Kevin Matthews, chair of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, told reporters on Friday organizers had included the centenarian victims in plans for an afternoon of speeches and performances, with gifts of $100,000 per survivor and $2 million in seed money for a reparations coalition fund. But on Sunday, a lawyer for the victims increased the request to $1 million per survivor and $50 million for the fund, said Matthews, an Oklahoma state senator from Tulsa. "We could not respond to those demands." A lawyer for the victims did not respond to repeated requests for comment. "Due to unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers the Centennial Commission is unable to fulfill our high expectations for Monday afternoon's commemoration event," Phil Armstrong, project director of the commission, said in a statement on Friday. Monday's "Remember + Rise" event had been slated to include a performance by award-winning musician John Legend and a speech by politician and activist Stacey Abrams. Armstrong said organizers hoped to reschedule the event later in the year. A candlelight vigil is still scheduled to take place as Tulsa commemorates the massacre with events in May and June. After the arrest of an African-American man accused of assaulting a white woman, an allegation that was never proven, white rioters, some of whom were deputized by local authorities, gunned down Black residents and torched homes and businesses. An estimated 300 people were killed and thousands were made homeless by the destruction. After the massacre, insurance companies refused to pay damages to the victims, citing riot clauses. No one was ever prosecuted or punished for the mob's violent acts. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox. Fresh from signing his signature bipartisan infrastructure bill, U.S. President Joe Biden will trek to New Hampshire, a key state in the 2022 midterms, on Tuesday to tout the bill's benefits and revive the party's slumping poll numbers.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
Bogart Fire
|
The Bogart Fire was a wildfire in the Bogart Park area of Cherry Valley in Riverside County, California. [1] The fire broke out near Winesap Avenue and International Park Road just southwest of Bogart Park on August 30, 2016. By August 31, the fire was estimated at 1,300 acres. [2][3]
The fire was first reported at 12:25 pm on August 30 at Bogart Park near Winesap Avenue and International Park Road. The fire soon forced the evacuation of 700 residents within the Highland Spring Village mobile home park and of residents in the Banning Bench area near Banning. [4] 4 firefighters sustained minor injuries and one outbuilding was destroyed by the wildfire. [5] In addition, more than 500 firefighters battled the fire. [6]
By September 2, the fire was 100% contained at 1,470 acres in size. [1]
According to CALFIRE, the fire is believed to be caused by “juvenile activity” near Bogart Park in Beaumont. [7]
|
Fire
| null | null |
2012 Mount Salak Sukhoi Superjet crash
|
On 9 May 2012, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 airliner on a demonstration tour in Indonesia crashed into Mount Salak, in the province of West Java. All 37 passengers and 8 crew on board were killed. The plane had taken off minutes before from Jakarta's Halim Airport on a promotional flight for the recently launched jet, and was carrying Sukhoi personnel and representatives of various local airlines. [1][2]
The subsequent investigation concluded that the flight crew was unaware of the presence of high ground in the area and ignored warnings from the terrain warning system, incorrectly attributing them to a system malfunction while their view was obstructed because of thick cloud cover. [3] It was also established that in the minutes leading to the accident, the crew, including the captain, were engaged in conversation with prospective customers present in the cockpit. [4] The crash is both the first hull loss and first fatal accident involving a Sukhoi Superjet 100, and as of 2021, the deadliest. [5]
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Sukhoi Superjet 100, registration RA-97004,[6] msn 95004. The aircraft was manufactured in 2009 and had accumulated over 800 flight hours at the time of the accident. [7] The Superjet 100 is the first production airliner model produced in Russia since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. [citation needed]
The jet was flying as part of a "Welcome Asia!" demonstration tour. With a different jet, a demo flight had been flown successfully in Kazakhstan, but when the tour moved to Pakistan, potential buyers could see the aircraft only on the runway as no flight took place, reportedly due to a technical glitch. A leak in a 'nozzle in the engine' was found in this plane on the way to Myanmar, according to Alexander Tulyakov, vice-president of the United Aircraft Corporation, and it returned to Moscow. The jet involved in the accident was then flown in as a replacement to continue the tour. [8] It had been scheduled to visit Laos and Vietnam. [9] At the time of the crash, Sukhoi had 42 orders of the type from Indonesia, 170 in total, and was hoping to produce up to 1,000 aircraft. [10]
In the decade between 2002 and 2012, there were seven aviation crashes in the area of Mount Salak. Three people were killed in a crash of a training aircraft not long before the SSJ-100 accident; 18 people were killed in a crash of an Indonesian Air Force military aircraft in 2008; five people were killed in a crash in June 2004, two in April 2004, seven in October 2003, and one in October 2002. [11][12]
The Jakarta Post has dubbed Mount Salak "an airplane graveyard". [12] High turbulence and fast-changing weather conditions of the mountainous terrain are cited as contributing factors to multiple aviation crashes in the area. [12]
At 14:00 local time (07:00 UTC),[13] the SSJ-100 departed from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport for a local demonstration flight, and was due to return to the departure point. [7] This was the second demonstration flight the aircraft was operating that day. [14] There were six crew, two representatives from Sukhoi and 37 passengers on board. [7] Amongst the passengers were representatives from Aviastar Mandiri, Batavia Air, Pelita Air Service and Sriwijaya Air. [5] At 14:26 (07:26 UTC), the crew requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) to 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and this was granted. Two minutes later, the crew requested and were approved to "orbit to the right. "[15] This was the last contact that Air Traffic Control had with the aircraft,[7] which was then about 75 nautical miles (139 km) south of Jakarta,[5] in the vicinity of 7,254-foot (2,211 m) high Mount Salak, a mountain higher than the requested flight level. Four minutes after beginning the orbit, the aircraft's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System sent out a single "Terrain Ahead, Pull Up" audio alert, warning the crew that their predicted flight path would require a climb to avoid terrain. Immediately after, the warning changed to an "Avoid Terrain" message, which is triggered when the aircraft would also need to be turned to avoid oncoming terrain. While the latter message sounded repeatedly, the pilots briefly discussed the warning and disabled it, believing it to be a problem with the system's terrain database. Less than 30 seconds later, the airplane's aural warning system sounded a "Gear Not Down" alert, which is independent of the EGPWS and signifies the aircraft being too close to the ground without its landing gear lowered. The captain then disengaged the autopilot and put the airplane into a slight nose-up attitude; this was not consistent with an evasive maneuver, and the reason for this input was not conclusively determined. The captain tells the first officer that the autopilot is off, and impact with terrain occurs two seconds later, at 14:33 local time (07:33 UTC). [15]
Simon Hradecky, of The Aviation Herald, later reported:
Indonesia's Air Traffic Control, Jakarta Branch, reported that communication between ATC and aircraft was done in English, there was no language problem hampering communication. The aircraft had been in the area of Bogor, approximate coordinates 6°33′S 106°54′E / 6.55°S 106.9°E / -6.55; 106.9, about 13 nautical miles (24 km) northeast of the peak of Mount Salak and 7 nautical miles (13 km) clear of mountainous terrain in safe flat area, when the crew requested to descend and to perform a right orbit. As there was no reason to decline such a clearance the flight was cleared down and for the right orbit. This was the last transmission from the aircraft, the aircraft could not be reached afterwards. The plane having finished right orbit flew a course about 210°. It is unclear how the aircraft got into the area of Mount Salak and crashed afterwards, ATC services hope the black boxes will explain how the aircraft got there. All data including flight plan, radar data and ATC recordings as well as transcripts of interviews with the air traffic controller have been handed to Indonesia's NTSC. [7]
A ground-and-air search for the aircraft was initiated, but was called off as night fell. On 10 May, at 09:00 (02:00 UTC), the wreckage of the Sukhoi Superjet was found on Mount Salak. [citation needed] It is only known that the aircraft had been flying on a clockwise flightpath around the mountain, towards Jakarta, before the crash. [7][16] Preliminary reports indicated that the aircraft had hit the edge of a cliff at an elevation of 6,270 feet (1,910 m), slid down a slope and came to rest at an elevation of 5,200 feet (1,600 m). The site of the accident was not accessible by air and no rescuers had reached the site by nightfall on 10 May. Multiple groups of rescue personnel attempted to reach the wreckage on foot. [7]
Most of the passengers were journalists and prospective clients. [20] The 45 people on board included 14 people from the Indonesian airline Sky Aviation, Captain Aan Husdiana (Director of Operations for Kartika Airlines) and five reporters, Dody Aviantara (journalist) and Didik Nur Yusuf (photographer) from Angkasa aviation magazine, Ismiati Soenarto and Aditya Sukardi of Trans TV and Femi Adi of the American Bloomberg News. [17] An accomplished and experienced pilot, Peter Adler held a US passport, acting as a consultant and a passenger on the flight;[18] according to Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, the head of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, two Italians and one French citizen of Vietnamese descent were also on board. [19] The captain of the jet was Alexander Yablontsev (57), a former Russian combat pilot, test pilot, and cosmonaut.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Drought In Minnesota: Extreme Drought Expanded 8% In The Last Week
|
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Though many parts of the state have seen some raindrops in recent days, the drought that’s already one of the worst in Minnesota’s history isn’t letting up. The latest figures show that 88% of the state is still listed under severe drought conditions, and all but 3% of the state is under at least a moderate drought. “Statewide drought conditions have worsened, though not as quickly as they have worsened in past weeks,” WCCO director of meteorology Mike Augustyniak said. The latest update Thursday from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that about 58% of the state is under extreme drought, up from 50% a week ago. Under these conditions, crops are harvested early, wildfires are common and surface waters are near record lows. Much of central and northern Minnesota are under these conditions. The area of the state experiencing exceptional drought, a swath of northwestern Minnesota, is also holding in place at 8%. This is the first year that exceptional drought has been recorded in Minnesota since figures began being tracked in 1999. Augustyniak says that some of the rain that the state saw Tuesday morning did not make it into the latest analysis. Roughly an inch of rain that fell in the Twin Cities metro area will end up going into next week’s analysis. NEW: @DroughtCenter update shows overall #drought conditions in #MNwx worsened in the last week; mostly, an expansion of the EXTREME drought area in the #BWCA . 2nd map shows where conditions improved in the last week (green) or worsened (yellow) #GreenwoodFire pic.twitter.com/Khj0bbP8kO — Mike Augustyniak (@MikeAugustyniak) August 26, 2021 The National Drought Mitigation Center says that recent rains did allow for some improvements in Iowa and Minnesota, but shared this caveat: “Longer-term deficits and impacts to the hydrologic system remain across the greater part of the two states. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota closed recently due to a nearby wildfire. The ongoing drought has also adversely affected bee populations and honey production. Low streamflow in rivers in Minnesota remained a problem this week. In some areas of northeast and southwest Minnesota that didn’t see much or any rain this week, extreme drought widened its footprint.”
|
Droughts
| null | null |
New kind of royals: On third anniversary, Harry and Meghan embrace revolutionized royal roles
|
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex celebrate their third wedding anniversary Wednesday as royals in the process of reinventing themselves, devising new hybrid roles no other senior British royals have ever inhabited . Can they achieve all they desire? "I personally feel Harry and Meghan are going to be just fine; what we don't know is the ramifications for the British royal family," says Nicoletta Gullace, associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, who specializes in modern British history. Still, it's a question no one could have imagined asking on May 19, 2018, when Harry married the former Meghan Markle in a joyful ceremony at Windsor Castle that blended American grace with British pageantry. On Wednesday, to mark their anniversary, the couple announced that their Archewell Foundation and one of their charity partners, World Central Kitchen , would build a new community relief center in Mumbai, India, now dealing with a devastating second wave of COVID-19. "During future crises, these centers can be quickly activated as emergency response kitchens – or vaccination sites – and through calmer times they can serve as food distribution hubs, schools, clinics or community gathering spaces for families," according to a statement on the Archewell website. After their wedding, the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex were instant superstars. The empathetic ginger prince and the ambitious biracial actress were the face of the modern monarchy, a couple who could help connect a 1,000-year-old institution with millions of young British citizens of color and billions more in the Commonwealth around the globe. They were going places, all agreed. No one thought they would just go . But within two years of the wedding , they had thrown over their roles as working royals and fled to America in search of financial independence and freedom from the royal hierarchy. They're not going back . Even Madame Tussauds London has moved their wax figures out of the British royals exhibit , which includes Queen Elizabeth II and brother Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, to a glitzy new "Awards Party" zone, unveiled Monday . There they are center stage, surrounded by fellow Hollywood A-listers such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. Having swapped Frogmore Cottage for a Santa Barbara County mansion , they're living in Montecito as members of the celebrity elite. Their first child, Archie, is 2 and thriving , they're awaiting a baby girl this summer and rolling out various charitable and entertainment deals . Meghan, 39, is publishing a children's book , while Harry, 36, is taking on new jobs , and both are making money as fast as they can. "My take is they're picking up the torch of (Princess) Diana, creating a 'celebrity royal' role," says Gullace. "What they're doing is very original in some ways – it's a modern blending of corporate deals, woke causes like mental health and women’s empowerment , and royal stardom, which is the secret sauce that makes everything they do so incredibly powerful." 'Feeding frenzy': Prince Harry criticized for calling First Amendment 'bonkers' What they're doing is actually unprecedented for any top British royal, says royal commentator Victoria Arbiter, daughter of a former press secretary to the queen who spent part of her childhood in Kensington Palace. "They're trying to create a role in the U.S. that has not existed until now – they're still members of the royal family but they're not 'celebrities,' so what are they and why should we care? It's an interesting question in terms of deciding how to judge their success," Arbiter says. At the moment, the world is gobbling up every morsel about the Sussexes, and the media is happy to feed them, whether it's the caterwauling criticism of the British tabloids or the gushy reports in celebrity magazines . But will the media focus diminish if the transatlantic feuding, or the perception of feuding, dies down? "They're keen to create a new niche for themselves but at the moment all anyone is interested in is their connection to the royal family," Arbiter says. "I don't doubt their tenacity and desire to effect change, but how long will people remain interested when they stop talking about their pain (in explaining their reasons for departing)? "I worry looking ahead. I hope they and the family are able to find peace because family at the end of the day is all we really have." Princess Charlotte turns 6: See Duchess Kate's new birthday photo of the little royal The temptation is to compare Harry to ex-King Edward VIII , who abdicated in 1936 to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson, and spent the next 36 years in exile as the Duke of Windsor. But Harry is not an ex-king – he's not even an ex-prince – and so far he's not been idle. What Harry and Meghan do have is royal charisma, which the royal family counted on to help promote the modern monarchy going forward, Gullace says. "Now they're in Southern California hanging out with Hollywood royalty, but for the royal family, this is very disconcerting because suddenly (the Sussexes) are the most attention-getting members of the family," Gullace says. "Not only are they popular, they are irresistible clickbait and anything they do or say garners enormous media attention, probably more than any other member including the queen." This tension echoes what happened when Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage fell apart in the 1990s and she emerged as a royal superstar , lobbing bombshell revelations and criticisms at her ex and the family before she died in a 1997 Paris car crash. Harry and Meghan: A timeline of the royal couple's relationship Here are the biggest moments from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship. Staff Video, USA TODAY Back in Britain, the family is trying to cope with Harry and Meghan's competing star power while also dealing with the personal rifts that have opened up between Harry and his father and his brother, after the couple's shattering interview with Oprah Winfrey in March. Among other claims, the Sussexes told Winfrey they left Britain because of alleged racism in the media and within the family. They said that a senior royal they would not identify expressed concern about the color of Archie's skin, and Meghan suggested racism may have prevented Archie from receiving the title of prince. "That can’t be unsaid and it's tremendously damaging to the British monarchy," Gullace says. A long-planned unveiling of a statue of Diana by her sons on what would have been her 60th birthday on July 1 may be in jeopardy, in part because of the brothers' falling out, the pandemic and the possibility that Harry and Meghan's baby will be born in June. A royal love story: Look back at Prince Philip's 73-year marriage to Queen Elizabeth II It didn't help when Harry, interviewed last week by Dax Shepard on his podcast , said he'd become fed up with his royal job in his 20s, suggested he suffered under his father's parenting style, and promised he wouldn't pass on "genetic pain" to his own children. On Monday, some Americans were up in arms over his comment on the podcast that, as a Brit, he doesn't really understand the First Amendment but thinks it's "bonkers" nonetheless. One reason why Britain is so desperate to see the royal family reconcile and move past all this, Gullace says, is that the monarchy is much weaker without Harry and Meghan just as it enters an era of increasing skepticism about crowned heads. Will young people be on board once the throne passes to King Charles III, now 72? "The nature of the attacks by (the Sussexes) at this particular moment in history when racial sensitivities are heightened is an issue of real concern, and Harry and Meghan called that genie up," Gullace says. Why did Prince Philip's Land Rover carry his casket? The story behind the strange hearse Because of his relative closeness to the throne (Harry is sixth in line), he and Meghan don't have the freedom of living like his cousins, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips Tindall, who also are grandchildren of the queen but have careers and less paparazzi attention. "You say 'the queen' anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly who you're talking about," Arbiter says. "The British royals are unlike any other in terms of reach and global popularity and the impact they have had on the world." Harry and Meghan's bombshell interview: Oprah Winfrey was 'surprised' at how much they divulged So back to the question: Can Harry and Meghan achieve what they desire in America? Possibly, Arbiter says, but probably only if they stop with the recriminations. "Since cutting the chains, they have a beautiful house in a beautiful area, they have amazing opportunities, people are knocking down their doors, but they have to start looking forward and not at all the ways they feel slighted and let down," Arbiter says. "Until they commit to moving ahead with the future, which promises to be phenomenal if they just embrace it instead of looking back, then everybody can find peace."
|
Famous Person - Marriage
| null | null |
Melinda Gates has no plans of changing her last name now that her and Bill are officially divorced
|
As of today, Bill and Melinda Gates are officially divorced. The couple first announced their filing in May of this year and now a judge in King County, Washington approved the decision as of Monday.
The couple was married for 27 years and decided a few months ago to end their marriage. In a joint statement the couple said, “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.” Melinda does not plan to change her name from Gates, according to court documents, as reported by CNN. Not too much has been publicly announced about the details of their split other than the news that neither person will pay spousal support, according to court documents as reported by CNN. It is also unknown what will happen to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is worth just under $50 billion in assets, according to The Verge.
10 of the most expensive celebrity homes in the world
The Biggest Celebrity Divorces of 2021
Bill Gates still wears his wedding ring since divorce announcement
Reportedly, the foundation will have the divorced on a two-year trial period to see if the two can work together civilly as co-chairs. If it does not work out, Melinda will step down from the foundation, according to The Verge. “In such a case, Melinda would receive personal resources from Bill for her philanthropic work,” said the foundation’s CEO Mark Suzman last month. “These resources would be completely separate from the foundation’s endowment, which would not be affected.”
The couple first met at Microsoft in 1987 and dated for seven years before they eventually married in 1994. The former couple raised two daughters and a son. Each of the Gates‘ kids will inherit about $10 million of their parents’ fortune, the rest will go to charitable causes, according to Business Insider.
Bill Gates’ daughter Jennifer shares lovely message on dad’s birthday
Jennifer Gates wears two custom Vera Wang dresses for extravagant wedding
Bill and Melinda Gates share photos from daughter Jennifer Gates’ wedding
Melinda and Bill Gates reunite in New York for their daughter’s wedding
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant might be venturing into the wine business
Penélope Cruz is set to be honored at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2021 Film Benefit
Paulina Porizkova says she is ‘between JLo and Betty White’ as she continues to defy ageism
|
Famous Person - Divorce
| null | null |
Climate change increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of droughts in many regions across the globe
|
Droughts have deep, widespread and underestimated impacts on societies, ecosystems, and economies. They incur costs that are borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable people. The extensive impacts of drought are consistently underreported even though they span large areas, cascade through systems and scales, and linger through time, affecting millions of people and contributing to food insecurity, poverty, and inequality. Climate change is increasing temperatures and disrupting rainfall patterns, increasing the frequency, severity, and duration of droughts in many regions across the globe. As we move towards a 2˚C warmer world, urgent action is required to better understand and more effectively manage drought risk to reduce the devastating toll on human lives and livelihoods, and ecosystems. The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 explores the systemic nature of drought and its impacts on achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the SDGs and human and ecosystems health and wellbeing.
|
Droughts
| null | null |
Kannapolis cancels National Night Out event due to COVID spike
|
Residents can drop off coat donations at Kannapolis City Hall at 401 Laureate Way. The drive will also still run through Oct. 5. The city of Kannapolis has canceled its National Night Out event due to the spike in COVID cases and low vaccination rates. In an email Wednesday morning, the city announced the cancellation. It read: “Due to the spike in COVID cases and the low vaccination rates in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, this event is canceled.” The event was to run from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, at Veterans Park. There were plans for free food, live music, children’s games and other group festivities. Atrium Health staff members also planned to be present with a mobile vaccine clinic. The city of Kannapolis fire and police departments are holding a new winter coat drive for children in grades K-12 in the Kannapolis community that ends the day of the event. Residents had been encouraged to bring coats to the National Night Out event. City officials said the drive is still happening. Residents can drop off coat donations at Kannapolis City Hall at 401 Laureate Way. The drive will still run through Oct. 5. This isn’t the first event canceled in Cabarrus County due to the spike in COVID cases. Earlier in the the month, the county announced that the 2021 Cabarrus County Fair was canceled due to community spread of COVID-19 and low vaccination rates. It was scheduled for Sept. 10-18. The fair is the largest annual event held at the county’s Arena and Events Center. Each year, up to 80,000 people make their way to the arena over a nine-day span. Cabarrus County has not only seen a surge in cases, but also an increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. According to the Cabarrus Health Alliance, there are 131 COVID patients hospitalized in the county as of Sept. 15. That number has dropped slightly from the 154 patients who were hospitalized going into September. Atrium Health is also feeling the surge in cases across its system, with a 61% increase in COVID patients on life support in the past two weeks. There are about 246 COVID patients currently on ventilators, which is up 93 patients from Aug. 24. Of the 246 patients, 96% are unvaccinated. Cabarrus County’s vaccine rates haven’t seen a major increase since the start of the spike. For the eligible population, only 52.9% are fully vaccinated, with 57.5% partially vaccinated. Of the county’s total population, only 48% are at least partially vaccinated. That leaves 52% without or ineligible for a vaccine. CHA recently issued a Public Health Advisory requesting all residents and visitors to wear face coverings or masks when indoors or in crowded outdoor areas. The percent positive for testing has made a slight decline this past week. It’s now at 12.6%. At the beginning of the month, it had surpassed 15%. Local health leaders have cautioned that the current COVID-19 numbers the county is seeing are reaching those from the holidays between the end of 2020 into 2021. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Charges were brought against two teenagers involved in the fatal shooting that occurred occured two weeks ago near G. W. Carver Elementary School. Three men charged in attempted robbery and shooting at the Mt. Pleasant Sporting Goods & Pawn. Concord Fire responded to a residential fire on Barley St. SW Thursday. There were no injuries. The City of Kannapolis Police Department is now recruiting Public Safety Cadets. Nov. 17—On Tuesday, Nov. 16, Chief Superior Court Judge Peter Knight sentenced Damian Lewis Furtch, 36, of Atlanta, to 177-225 months (14 years, nine months to 18 years, nine months) in prison for trafficking in methamphetamine. According to court records and Tuesday's sentencing hearing, on Feb. 19, 2019 at around midnight, Henderson County deputies stopped Furtch for following a vehicle too ... A traffic stop in Rowan County led to a man being arrested on seven charges including drug possession and possession of a stolen fire arm. A man is in custody and another still is on the run after a theft and vehicle chase Sunday afternoon in Morganton. Nearly $7,000 in fragrances was stolen.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
Aeronor Flight 304 crash
|
Aeronor Flight 304 was a Chilean domestic flight between the cities of Santiago and Antofagasta with two intermediate stops. On December 9, 1982, the Fairchild F-27 operating the flight crashed near La Florida Airport, in the Chilean city of La Serena. All 46 passengers and crew on board died. [1]
The Fairchild F-27 of Aeronor Chile was flying from Santiago to Antofagasta, with stops in La Serena and Copiapó. The aircraft took off from Santiago at 09:40 (UTC−4), reaching the city of La Serena at 10:25. A few minutes before it was scheduled to land at La Florida Airport, the aircraft suffered a malfunction in one of its engines. After this, at 10:29, it crashed into a stone wall located in an area called "Parcela Seis" (Lot Six) at Alfalfares, located approximately 800 meters northeast of the airport terminal. After the aircraft crashed, it caught fire and was almost completely burnt. It is estimated that the aircraft crashed at a speed of 180 km/h. All forty-two passengers and four crew members were killed by the crash or subsequent fire. Initially, the accident was mistaken for an emergency drill at the airport in La Serena which had commenced a few hours before the tragedy. A television crew from Canal 8 UCV TV, who were shooting scenes of the drill, managed to capture the Aeronor aircraft on fire shortly after the crash. [2]
Coordinates: 29°54′17″S 71°12′55″W / 29.90472°S 71.21528°W / -29.90472; -71.21528
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Alamo Fire (2017)
|
The Alamo Fire was a wildfire in San Luis Obispo County, in California in the United States. The fire started on July 6, 2017 and destroyed 28,687 acres (11,609 ha), including one home. It was fully contained on July 19, 2017. [1]
The fire was located off California State Route 166 near Twitchell Reservoir in San Luis Obispo County in California. The fire started on July 6, 2017. It quickly grew in size thanks to favorable weather conditions, with record-breaking temperatures, very low humidity, and high winds driving the fire's expansion. [2] By July 9, 2017, it had become the largest active fire in California. It burned a total of 28,687 acres (11,609 ha). The fire was finally contained on July 19, 2017. it caused the evacuation of approximately 200 homes. [3] 1664[4] firefighters fought the fire. One home was destroyed and one additional building was damaged. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. [1]
|
Fire
| null | null |
One dead, two injured as gas explosion rocks Ogun
|
One person was confirmed dead, while two others were seriously injured in Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu Ode local government area of Ogun State a gas explosion that rocked the town on Monday.
Vanguard gathered that the incident happened along Folagbade road in Ijebu-Ode, and it involved a tricycle, three motorcycles and a Honda SUV.
An eyewitness account said the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder belonging to one of the passengers of the tricycle.
The eyewitness explained that, the rider of the tricycle that was conveying three occupants parked by the roadside, when the owner of the cylinder discovered that the gas was leaking from the cylinder.
He said the tricycle was parked near a faulty car with a radiator problem.
He explained further that, the occupant, in an attempt to fix the leaking cylinder, alighted from the tricycle and the explosion was triggered by the heat which emanated from the car whose bonnet was opened.
The source disclosed that the accident involved three people, stressing that one of the victims was badly injured.
“The owner of the cylinder had just refilled it with gas and unknown to her, the cylinder was leaking.
“The rider of the tricycle parked by the roadside for the woman to fix the leaking cylinder, but unfortunately, there was a car with radiator problem parked nearby.
“The heat generated by the car triggered explosion”, he said.
He added that the victims who suffered third-degree burns were rushed to Ijebu-Ode general hospital, but the hospital refused to treat them and they were taken to an unknown hospital.
The Public Relations Officer of the State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi confirmed the accident, saying that the tricycle, three motorcycles and one Honda SUV were burnt.
He added that the occupants of the tricycle also suffered a severe burn injury and have been taken to the hospital for treatment.
|
Gas explosion
| null | null |
Weightlifting-China’s Shi breaks world record to win gold in 73kg
|
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Weightlifting – Men’s 73kg – Group A – Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan – July 28, 2021. Shi Zhiyong of China celebrates after a lift. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) – China’s Shi Zhiyong broke his own world record to win the men’s 73kg weightlifting event at the Olympics on Wednesday and claim a gold medal for the second Games in a row.
The 27-year-old lifted a combined 364 kg to better his own world record of 363 kg he set at the 2019 world championships.
Shi remained strong throughout the competition, breaking the Olympic record in the snatch with his second lift and again with his third.
Shi, gold medallist at the 2016 Olympics in the 69 kg category, also broke the Olympic record for the clean and jerk on his first attempt.
Venezuela’s Julio Ruben Mayora Pernia won the silver medal and Indonesia’s Rahmat Erwin Abdullah the bronze.
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
Axios And The Athletic May Merge Their Digital Media Brands
|
Axios and The Athletic have held serious discussions in recent days about a merger of their digital operations, the Wall Street Journal reported. No financial terms were revealed in the account of the talks, but part of the talks is said to include a scenario in which the companies would anchor a portfolio of digital brands. That entity would then seek to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, a popular investment vehicle also known as a “blank-check” company. Both organizations have gained prominence a few short years after their founding, but via distinctly different routes. Axios, whose main focus is politics but also includes business and other categories, was launched in 2016 by former Politico staffers Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz. The company relied on free newsletters and online news to establish its brand, making money on events and, eventually, a TV deal with HBO. It has recently invested in local news sites. Discovery Streaming And International CEO JB Perrette On Sports Missteps, Bundling Strategies And European Dynamics The company had more than $60 million in revenue last year and was profitable, the Journal said. The Athletic, by contrast, has emphasized subscriptions. The sports news organization has attracted more than 1 million subscribers to its $8-a-month service. As newspapers, magazines and now many digital outlets have hit rocky times and laid off staff, The Athletic has hired much of that talent, mounting a digital version of the once-fat sports sections of local papers. The bet that sports readers will be willing to pay to keep reading their favorites and get the latest scoop on their teams appears to have paid off in terms of valuation. A recent fundraising round valued the company at $475 million and it has raised $139.5 million in start-up funds to date, per the Journal. If combined, the two entities see potential for selling subscription products at higher rates to business clients, the report said. That could enable a larger entity to be less vulnerable to volatility in the advertising market. The strain of battling tech titans like Facebook and Google for a share of ad revenue has hit several former rising digital stars, resulting in a wave of consolidation in the past couple of years.
|
Organization Merge
| null | null |
One Dead, 50 ill Due to Suspected Food Poisoning in Assam Village
|
The attendees soon started complaining of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhea-like symptoms, following which they were taken to Bokajan Civil Hospital.
Representational image. Credit: Reuters
Listen to this article:
Diphu: An 8-year-old girl died and over 50 others were taken ill due to suspected food poisoning in Arlangpira village in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, an official said on Friday.
All of them had attended a religious function at the house of a villager, where they were served tea and biscuits, he said.
The attendees soon started complaining of stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhea-like symptoms, following which they were taken to Bokajan Civil Hospital, where the minor girl died, the official said.
|
Mass Poisoning
| null | null |
Southern California supermarket strike of 2003–04
|
The Southern California supermarket strike of 2003–2004 was a labor strike by the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) against four supermarket chains in Southern California. Management and the unions arrived at a contract after twenty weeks, with both sides claiming victory. On the labor side, the primary party was the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), although deli workers were represented by UNITE HERE and also struck. On the management side, it involved the supermarket chain companies Albertsons (then an independent company), Ralphs (owned by Kroger) and Vons (owned by Safeway). Vons was the negotiating employer. The strike was instigated when management tried to lower labor costs by reducing healthcare and other benefits, to compete with non-unionized Walmart superstores. [1]
For over four months, 70,000 union workers throughout Southern California stood outside of stores, and along streets to picket and protest the corporations. Workers of Vons struck, and as a mutual consequence, Ralphs and Albertsons workers were locked out. Many workers camped out in front of stores. As the UFCW appealed for community support, many customers began to support the cause by honoring a boycott of the 900 stores on strike. But the wildfires of 2003 effectively broke the boycott. As the situation deteriorated over the week people stocked up on every available provision. The stores were stripped bare. The boycott never gained traction again after. Despite the heavy economic losses in the region, the grocers saw the dispute as an investment to bring their costs in line with non-union competitors. Grocery chains used to be largely regional, but with consolidation had turned national and could afford losses in one area. Indeed, during the course of the dispute, UFCW members remained working under contract with the same employers in other areas of the country. Kroger Co. owned Ralphs Grocery Co. supermarkets grocery chain, pleaded guilty to hiring replacement workers during the 2003-2004 Southern California grocery strike. Federal District Court assessed Ralphs a $70 Million penalty: $20 Million as a fine, and $50 Million as restitution to reimburse striked workers and their union. [2] It was discovered and subsequently investigated that Ralphs encouraged and used fake social security numbers and fake workers' names in hiring these strike replacement workers, some of whom were striking workers then relocated to remote Ralphs locations. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Several months prior, on January 29th, 2006, Ralphs had first pleaded not guilty to charges of hiring violations. [8]
On February 26, 2004 union members voted 86% to ratify an agreement with a two-tier system. Both sides claimed victory:
The trade unions won the following conditions for current employees:
The employers won the following conditions for future employees they hire:
|
Strike
| null | null |
AFC Congress approves NMIFA’s membership
|
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
AFC Congress approves NMIFA’s membership
Kuala Lumpur: Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President, congratulated the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) on becoming the 47th full Member Association of the AFC at the 30th AFC Congress today.
The online Congress, which observed a minutes’ silence of respect for Diego Armando Maradona and the legends of Asian football who have passed in the last year, approved the application of the NMIFA, which has been an Associate Member of the AFC since July 2009.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
AFC Champions League (East) – Quarter-finals: Ones to Watch
Doha: The clock is ticking down towards the 2020 AFC Champions League (East) quarter-finals with Beijing FC to face Ulsan Hyundai and Vissel Kobe up against Suwon Samsung Bluewings in a pair of exciting match-ups on Thursday.
A number of players have shone for the four sides so far in Qatar, with performances that have helped their respective teams reach the quarter-finals and keep the dream of being crowned 2020 Continental champions alive.
With Thursday's encounters fast approaching, the-AFC.com has selected four players who could be the difference between making the semi-finals or heading home.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Ulsan Hyundai FC, Beijing FC set for heavyweight AFC Champions League quarter-final clash
Doha: One of the AFC Champions League’s two remaining unbeaten records must come to an end when Ulsan Hyundai FC and Beijing FC face off in Thursday's quarter-final at the Al Janoub Stadium.
It looms a blockbuster battle worthy of a continental decider, but the clash between two of the East zone’s two most impressive outfits comes at the quarter-final stage, with one of the pair set to be abruptly eliminated.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the way as Vissel Kobe seek to extend dream AFC Champions League run
Doha: Japan’s Vissel Kobe will be aiming to keep their dream AFC Champions League debut going when they take on Korea Republic’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the quarter-finals at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
The two sides had met twice in the group stage with Kyogo Furuhashi’s added time strike winning the first leg for Vissel Kobe back in February and Suwon Samsung Bluewings responding with a 2-0 win on the final matchday that sealed their place in the knock-out stage at the expense of Guangzhou Evergrande.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
AFC Champions League (East) – Quarter-finals: Forwards in Form
Doha: The 2020 AFC Champions League (East) has reached the business end of the campaign with just four teams remaining in the quest to join the Islamic Republic of Iran's Persepolis in the final on December 19.
Tuesday's quarter-final draw pitted Vissel Kobe against Suwon Samsung Bluewings while Beijing FC are to face Ulsan Hyundai in what promises to be a thrilling pair of match-ups on Thursday.
Ahead of the games, the-AFC.com has selected a forward from each side who could be the difference when it comes to securing a place in the 2020 AFC Champions League semi-finals.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Vote for your AFC International Player of the Week
Kuala Lumpur: In a season where many of Asia’s leading lights have shone bright, no seven-day period has featured as many outstanding performances as the one just completed.
In a week of hat-tricks and history, the continent’s international stars were in unstoppable form. This week’s 10 contenders produced a combined total of 15 goals, four assists and countless other highlights, with several other worthy candidates unlucky not to be nominated.
So just who was Asia’s best player outside the continent? Here are our perfect 10 from December 3 to 9.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Shaikh Salman: AFC Congress is the perfect stage to show our unity in these exceptional circumstances
Manama: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, will chair the 30th AFC Congress, which will be held online for the first time, on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
Shaikh Salman explained that the AFC Congress is the perfect stage to show Asian Football family unity, which has allowed the AFC to continue its development and work even during the most uncertain times and allowed the building of partnerships.
|
Join in an Organization
| null | null |
Sunday's "Supermoon" Total Lunar Eclipse: When and Where to See It
|
The evening of September 27 will be the fourth time in the last 17 months that the moon becomes immersed in the Earth's shadow On the evening of Sept. 27, the moon will once again become immersed in the Earth's shadow, resulting in a total lunar eclipsethe fourth such event in the last 17 months, As with all lunar eclipses, the region of visibility for Sunday's blood-moon lunar eclipse will encompass more than half of our planet. Nearly 1 billion people in the Western Hemisphere, nearly 1.5 billion throughout much of Europe and Africa and perhaps another 500 million in western Asia will be able to watch as the Harvest Full Moon becomes a shadow of its former self and morphs into a glowing coppery ball. The lunar eclipse will also feature the "biggest" full moon (in apparent size) of 2015, since the moon will also be at perigee on the very same dayits closest point to the Earth221,753 miles (356,877 km) away. [Visibility Maps for the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse (Gallery)] The Sept. 27 event is therefore being called a "supermoon eclipse." The last such eclipse happened in 1982, and the next won't occur until 2033. Visibility zone Almost everyone in the Americas and Western Europe will have a beautiful view of this eclipse. The moon will be high in a dark evening sky as viewed from most of the United States and Canada while most people are still awake. The only problematic area will be in the Western United States and West-Central Canada, where the first partial stage of the eclipse will already be underway when the moonrises and the sun sets on that final Sunday in September. But if you have an open view low to the east, even this situation will only add to the drama, for as twilight fades, these far-Westerners will see the shadow-bitten moon coming into stark view low above the landscape. And by late twilight, observers will have a fine view of the totally eclipsed lunar disk glowing red and dim low in the eastern sky. The reason the moon can be seen at all when totally eclipsed is that sunlight is scattered and refracted around the edge of the Earth by the planet's atmosphere. To an astronaut standing on the moon during totality, the sun would be hidden behind a dark Earth outlined by a brilliant red ring of all of the world's sunrises and sunsets. [How Lunar Eclipses Work (Infographic)] Alaskans will also see the moon rise during the eclipse; much of eastern Alaska will see the moon rise while immersed in the Earth's shadow. For Hawaiians, moonrise unfortunately comes after the end of totality, with the moon gradually ascending in the sky and its gradual emergence from the shadow readily visible. Western Europe and Africa also will get a good view of the eclipse, but at a less convenient time: before dawn on Monday morning (Sept. 28). Eclipse schedule The eclipse will actually begin when the moon enters the faint outer portion, or penumbra, of the Earth's shadow. The penumbra, however, is all but invisible to the eye until the moon becomes deeply immersed in it. Sharp-eyed viewers may get their first glimpse of the penumbra as a delicate shading on the left part of the moon's disk about 15 minutes before the start of the partial eclipse (when the round edge of the central shadow, or umbra, first touches the moon's left edge). During the partial eclipse, the penumbra should be readily visible as a dusky border to the dark umbral shadow. The moon will enter Earth’s much darker umbral shadow at 1:07 a.m. on Sept. 28 by Greenwich, or Universal time, which is 9:07 p.m. on Sept. 27 in the Eastern time zone, 8:07 p.m. Central time, 7:07 p.m. Mountain time and 6:07 p.m. Pacific time (before moonrise). Sixty-four minutes later, the moon is entirely within the shadow, and sails on within it for 72 minutes until it begins to find its way out at the lower left (southeastern) edge. The moon will be free of the umbra by 9:27 p.m. Pacific time or 12:27 a.m. (Sept. 28) Eastern time. The vaguer shading of the inner penumbra can continue to be readily detected for perhaps another 15 minutes or so after the end of umbral eclipse. Thus, the whole experience ends toward 1 a.m. for the East (with the re-brightened moon now sloping down along the arc it describes across the sky) or during the mid-evening hours for the West. Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters. For Europe and Africa, the midpoint of this eclipse occurs roughly between midnight and dawn on Sept. 28, and the moon will therefore still be well placed in the western sky. At the moment of mid-totality (2:48 a.m. GMT), the moon will be directly overhead from a point in the Atlantic Ocean a couple of hundred miles to the north of Belém, Brazil. Below we present a timetable of the key phases of the eclipse. Times in p.m. are for the calendar date of Sept. 27; those in a.m. are for Sept. 28. In Europe, most countries currently observe "summer time," in which clocks are either one hour ahead of Greenwich time (London, Lisbon) or two hours ahead (Paris, Rome). For the Canadian Maritime provinces, clocks run one hour ahead of Eastern time, except in Newfoundland, where it's one and a half hours ahead. Notable cities in the Eastern time zone include New York, Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta; in the Central time zone, Chicago, Memphis, Tennessee, and Houston; for Mountain time, Salt Lake City, Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in the Pacific Time Zone, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In the United States, Daylight Saving Time is not observed in Arizona. Clocks there read similar to Pacific time. For most of Alaska, clocks run one hour behind Pacific time; in Hawaii two hours.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
Optus fined $504,000 by the ACMA for spam emails and texts
|
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
Telecommunications giant Optus has been fined more than half a million dollars for sending its own customers spam texts and emails against their wishes.
This article contains content that is no longer available.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that Optus continued to send marketing messages to customers after they had opted out or "unsubscribed", thereby breaching anti-spam laws 2 million times.
The regulator says Australians find spam "infuriating" and it is actively cracking down on its use.
ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said the regulator launched its investigation after receiving complaints from Optus customers.
"We know that Australians hate receiving spam, it interferes with their privacy and their choices about what messages they receive over their networks," she told the ABC's AM program.
ACMA said three-quarters of a million Optus customers unsubscribed from the company's marketing texts and emails but continued to receive the messages.
The Spam Act (2003) makes it illegal to send unsolicited electronic commercial messages.
The error was not just a one-off, according to Ms O'Loughlin.
"What we found during those investigations was that this was a systemic problem with Optus's systems and processes and governance."
Optus has now paid a fine of $504,000.
In a statement to the ABC, Optus's vice-president of regulatory and public affairs, Andrew Sheridan, said the company apologises to customers who were affected.
"We have committed to putting in place enhanced practices and systems to tighten the management of our marketing communications and will continue to work constructively with the ACMA on this matter," he said.
Teresa Corbin, chief executive officer of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said it was frustrating a company had to be fined before it listened to the wishes of its customers.
"'How long did they let it drag on for?' is my question and it's interesting because they said they're going to appoint an independent consultant to review their systems, policies and procedures to make sure that they do have compliance," she said.
"That's good but you would have hoped that they would already do that."
She did say it was encouraging to see the regulator respond to customer complaints.
"The Spam Act and the Do Not Call Register are two things that do actually work in favour of consumers.
"I mean sure there are ways to get around it and things that are not perfect, but if we report it to ACMA through their complaint handling section on their website and their 1-800 number, you can see that investigations do happen and that's very pleasing to know."
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 |
The families of the victims of the explosion remain without compensation
|
The relatives of the twelve victims and several injured of the explosion that occurred in Licey al Medio on October 3, 2020, are in judicial litigation to get the gas plant owners to compensate them, without having received any payment so far.
The pain is still felt in the locality since only four months have passed since that fateful October 3, when the propane gas station exploded and killed six people in a single house.
The fuel station owners have approached some families to seek out-of-court settlements, but they allege that they have been offered pyrrhic sums, which they have refused.
Yesterday Rafael Valentin Cabrera was busily looking for three thousand pesos to buy a prescription needed by his son Ronny, 14 years old, one of the few survivors of the tragedy, and undergoing a strict treatment, costly and requiring implants in his skin.
Ronny spent one month and three weeks in the Arturo Grullon Children’s Hospital burn unit in Santiago.
|
Gas explosion
| null | null |
Peekskill riots
|
The Peekskill riots took place at Cortlandt Manor, Westchester County, New York, in 1949.The catalyst for the rioting was an announced concert by black singer Paul Robeson, who was well known for his strong pro-trade union stance, civil rights activism, communist affiliations, and anti-colonialism. The concert, organized as a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress, was scheduled to take place on August 27 in Lakeland Acres, just north of Peekskill.
Robeson had given three earlier concerts in Peekskill without incident, but in recent years Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the Ku Klux Klan and other forces of white supremacy, both domestically and internationally. Robeson specifically made a transformation from someone who was primarily a singer into a political persona with a vocal support for what were at the time considered "communist" causes, including the decolonization of Africa, anti-Jim Crow legislation, and peace with the USSR. ] Robeson had also appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to oppose a bill that would require communists to register as foreign agents and, just months before the concerts in 1949, he had appeared at the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Conference in Paris. Referring to the growing tensions between the USA and the USSR, he stated:
We in America do not forget that it was the backs of white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong...We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the People's Republics.
What came over the wires to news agencies via the AP in the United States was as follows,
We colonial peoples have contributed to the building of the United States and are determined to share its wealth. We denounce the policy of the United States government which is similar to Hitler and Goebbels.... It is unthinkable that American Negros would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has lifted our people to full human dignity. [6]
Research by historians would later show through time records that the AP dispatched this fabricated version on its wires as Robeson began speaking. The comment was not investigated by the American press for its veracity and there was nationwide condemnation of Robeson. In the early stages of the Cold War and its accompanying wide anti-communist sentiments in the West, this statement was seen by many as very anti-American. The local paper, the Peekskill Evening Star, condemned the concert and encouraged people to make their position on communism felt, but did not directly espouse violence. The riots were explicitly racist, with the rioters shouting racist terms for African Americans and Jews, burning crosses, and lynching effigies of Robeson both in Peekskill and in other areas of the United States.
The concert, organized as a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress, was scheduled to take place on August 27 in Lakeland Acres, just north of Peekskill. Before Robeson arrived, a mob of locals attacked concert-goers with baseball bats and rocks. The local police arrived hours later and did little to intervene. Thirteen people were seriously injured, Robeson was lynched in effigy and a cross seen burning on an adjacent hillside. The concert was then postponed until September 4. Following the concert, request for Klan memberships from the Peekskill area numbered 748 persons.
Robeson's longtime friend and Peekskill resident, Helen Rosen, who had agreed to collect Robeson at the train station, had heard on the radio that protesters were massing at the concert grounds. Robeson drove with Rosen and two others to the concert site and saw marauding groups of youngsters, a burning cross on a nearby hill and a jeering crowd throwing rocks and chanting "Dirty Commie" and "Dirty Kikes. "Robeson made more than one attempt to get out of the car and confront the mob but was restrained by his friends.
The media were flooded with reactions and charges. The Joint Veterans Council of Peekskill refused to admit any involvement, describing its activities as a "protest parade... held without disorder and... perfectly disbanded." Peekskill police officials said the picnic grounds had been outside their jurisdiction; a state police spokesman said there had never been a request for state troopers. The commander of Peekskill Post 274 of the American Legion stated: "Our objective was to prevent the Paul Robeson concert and I think our objective was reached. "
Following a meeting of local citizens, union members, and Robeson supporters who formed "The Westchester Committee for Law and Order", it was unanimously determined that Robeson should be invited back to perform at Peekskill. Representatives from various left wing unions - the Fur and Leather Workers, the Longshoremen and the United Electrical Workers - all agreed to converge and serve as a wall of defense around the concert grounds. Ten union men slept on the property of the Rosens, effectively guarding it. A call was then put out by the "Emergency Committee to Protest the Peekskill Riot." On Tuesday, August 30, an overflow crowd of three thousand people assembled peacefully and without incident at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem to hear Robeson speak,
I will be loyal to America of true traditions; to the America of the abolitionists, of Harriet Tubman, of Thaddeus Stevens, of those who fought for my people's freedom, not of those who tried to enslave them. And I will have no loyalty to the Forrestals, to the Harrimans, to the WallStreeters... the surest way to get police protection is to have it very clear that we'll protect ourselves, and good!... I'll be back with my friends in Peekskill....
The rescheduled September 4, 1949 concert itself was free from violence, though marred by the presence of a police helicopter overhead and the flushing out of at least one sniper's nest. The concert was located on the grounds of the old Hollow Brook Golf Course in Cortlandt Manor, near the site of the original concert. Twenty thousand people showed up. Security was organized by the Communist Party and Communist dominated labor unions. The men were directed by the Communist Party and some unions to form a line around the outer edge of the concert area and were sitting with Robeson on the stage. They were there to fight any protestors who objected to Robeson's presence. They effectively kept the local police from the concert area. The musicians performed without incident. Robeson's accompaniment was provided by Larry Brown.
The aftermath of the concert, however, was far from peaceful. After some violence to south-going buses near the intersection of Locust Avenue and Hillside Avenue,Hillside Avenue having since been renamed Oregon Road,concertgoers were diverted to head northward to Oregon Corners and forced to run a gauntlet miles long of veterans and their families, who threw rocks through windshields of the cars and buses. Much of the violence was also caused by anti-Communist members of local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion chapters. Standing off the angry mob of rioters chanting "go on back to Russia, you niggers" and "white niggers", some of the concertgoers and union members, along with writer Howard Fast and others assembled a non-violent line of resistance, locked arms, and sang the song "We Shall Not Be Moved."
|
Riot
| null | null |
Initial Report On Gulf Shipwreck Confirms A Squall Capsized The Seacor Boat
|
Federal investigators have released their initial report on the Seacor shipwreck last month, confirming that bad weather caused the accident just off the coast of Port Fourchon. There were 19 people aboard the 175-foot-long Seacor Power on April 13 when a storm hit. Six people were rescued by the Coast Guard and volunteers, six died in the accident and seven remain missing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) interviewed survivors, previous crew members, search-and-rescue responders and others. They found that a squall passed over the boat that afternoon and visibility dropped, at which point the crew decided to lower the legs and position the vessel until the storm passed. But as the boat was turned towards the wind, it capsized. Several crew members were able to escape onto the exposed port side of the boat. But high wind and 10- to 12-foot-tall waves made it hard to rescue them. Some crew members were washed into the Gulf and one man who survived was seriously injured. Investigators will return to the scene when the boat is salvaged. The investigation is ongoing and could take more than a year to complete. Support for the Coastal Desk comes from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and local listeners.
|
Shipwreck
| null | null |
Caeleb Dressel adds 100m butterfly gold, breaks world record
|
Caeleb Dressel broke his own men's 100m butterfly world record en route to winning his second individual gold medal — his third overall — at the Tokyo Olympics.
Dressel touched first in 49.45, lowering his mark set at the 2019 World Championships by .05.
The Northeast Florida native got off the blocks in .60, the quickest reaction time of the heat. He then took a .65 lead over Hungary's Kristof Milak at the turn and beat the world record line coming home to set the all-time mark.
Milak took silver as Switzerland's Noe Ponti took bronze.
The 100 fly final was the first of three events Dressel was scheduled to race in Saturday's finals session. In the span of just over 70 minutes, he will also race the semifinals of the 50m freestyle and participate in the mixed medley relay for the United States.
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
Death of Brian Wells
|
Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003) was an American pizza delivery man who was murdered during a complex plot involving a bank robbery, scavenger hunt, and homemade explosive device near his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Following an attempt to rob a PNC Bank, and while surrounded by police, Wells was murdered when an explosive collar locked to his neck detonated. It is known as the "collar bomb" or "pizza bomber" case. The incident was shown live on television. Wells' involvement in the plot is a matter of controversy. Investigators concluded and a federal prosecutor's indictment alleged Wells was a knowing participant in the bank robbery but was told the bomb was fake and did not know his co-conspirators intended for him to die. Wells' family said he was not a willing participant in the incident. The multiple aspects of the crime meant the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led an investigative task force in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). It is the only crime of its kind; CNN described it as "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI". [1] The incident has gained extensive coverage in mass media, including the 2018 Netflix series Evil Genius. A federal grand jury indicted Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes on charges of bank robbery, conspiracy, and weapons charges. Fellow co-conspirator William "Bill" Rothstein had died and his roommate Floyd Stockton was given immunity from prosecution so he could testify against Diehl-Armstrong. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin sentenced Barnes to 45 years in federal prison. Two years later, Diehl-Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brian Wells was born in Warren, Pennsylvania to Rose and Harold Wells, the latter of whom was a Korean War veteran. In 1973, when Wells was a 16-year-old sophomore, he dropped out of Erie's East High School and went to work as a mechanic. [2]
At Kenneth Barnes' home, he, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, and William Rothstein discussed ways they could make money. Diehl-Armstrong suggested Barnes kill her father, Harold Diehl, so she would receive an inheritance. Barnes told her he was willing to do this for US$200,000 (equivalent to $281,368 in 2020). [3] The collar bomb-bank robbery plot was hatched to obtain enough money to pay Barnes to kill Diehl-Armstrong's father. [a] In return for a reduced sentence, Barnes later told investigators Diehl-Armstrong was the mastermind of the crime and that she wanted the money to pay Barnes to kill her father, whom she believed was wasting her inheritance. [5]
Diehl-Armstrong, Barnes, and Rothstein seem to have had issues with compulsive hoarding. [6][7]
Marjorie Eleanor "Marge" Diehl-Armstrong (February 26, 1949 – April 4, 2017) had a history of suffering from multiple mental illnesses including bipolar disorder,[6][7] since her early teens, and seems to have been a serial killer. [8] Before her mental health deteriorated in her twenties, Diehl-Armstrong was an "exemplary student" in high school and earned a master's degree from Gannon College. [6][9] In 1984, she shot her boyfriend Robert Thomas six times as he lay on the couch but was acquitted on claims of self-defense. [6][10] Her husband and several other partners also died under suspicious circumstances. [11] Diehl-Armstrong died from breast cancer in prison on April 4, 2017, at the age of 68. [12][6]
Kenneth Barnes (1954 – June 20, 2019) was a retired television repairman, crack dealer, and Diehl-Armstrong's "fishing buddy". He suffered from diabetes and died in prison on June 20, 2019, at the age of 64–65. [13]
William Ansel "Bill" Rothstein (January 17, 1944 – July 30, 2004) dated Diehl-Armstrong in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was implicated in a 1977 murder after he gave a handgun to a friend who used it to murder a romantic rival; he later attempted to destroy the weapon but was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. [14] Rothstein was a handyman and part-time shop teacher, and was part of a group called the "fractured intellectuals"; intelligent people who were not well-adjusted. [15] Rothstein was admitted to the Millcreek Community Hospital on July 23, 2004, having previously been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showing diffuse, large-cell type myeloproliferative lymphoma, and died on July 30 that year at the age of 60. [16][5]
Floyd Arthur "Jay" Stockton Jr. (born 1947) is a convicted rapist of a disabled teenager. Stockton lived as a fugitive at Rothstein's house. He was granted immunity for his testimony against Diehl-Armstrong, but was never called to testify in court due to illness. [1]
Immediately after his death, investigators searched Wells' house and found a list of people he knew, including two prostitutes unknown to other members of his family. One of the prostitutes he frequented, Jessica Hoopsick, knew Kenneth Barnes, who dealt crack and whose house was used by sex workers. [17][18]
According to law enforcement reports, Wells participated in the planning of the bank robbery the day before and was aware of the complex plot, although he believed the bomb would be fake and would serve as an alibi if he was caught. [19][20] According to an FBI affidavit, two witnesses confirmed that Wells talked about the robbery about a month before it occurred. [1] Wells was seen leaving Rothstein's house the day before the incident, and investigators believe he participated in a rehearsal. It was believed Wells was killed to reduce the number of witnesses. [18]
Family and friends of Wells dispute his involvement in the bank robbery and his own death; according to them, Wells was accosted at gunpoint and forced to wear the bomb. [2][21]
The bomb used in the killing consisted of a hinged collar that worked like a large handcuff to go around the neck, four keyholes that went under the chin, and a rectangular section that contained two pipe bombs and two kitchen timers. One electronic timer hung down over the chest. The device had several decoys, such as unconnected wires, a toy cell phone, and stickers bearing deceptive warnings. [5]
Wells worked as a pizza delivery driver at the Mama Mia's Pizzeria in Erie for ten years before his death. [22][23] Just after 1:30 p.m. on August 28, 2003, the pizzeria received a call from a payphone at a nearby gas station. The owner could not understand the customer and passed the phone to Wells, who received a call to deliver two pizzas to 8631 Peach Street, an address a few miles from the pizzeria. The address was the location of the transmitting tower of WSEE-TV at the end of a dirt road.
|
Bank Robbery
| null | null |
Fears brumbies are contributing to blue-green algae in NSW Kosciuszko National park
|
There is concern wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park are contributing to blue-green algae in dams and streams in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.
Colin Sinclair has been fishing in the high country since the 1960s and said he has only seen blue-green algae the area in the last five to seven years.
He said it is not killing fish, but is visible.
"It can send all the rocks just a lime green and you can pick the trout out pretty easy going across it," he said.
Mr Sinclair attributes the blue-green algae to very high summer temperatures, especially over the 2018/19 summer, and questioned whether brumbies are enhancing the bacteria in the water.
"I'm no scientist, but brumby numbers have been pretty thick up there for the last five or seven years and now you're seeing the algae there," he said.
"I love seeing the brumbies, but I do not like seeing brumbies in plague proportions like we're seeing at the moment."
Rod Whiteway, secretary of the Monaro Acclimatisation Society, a recreational fishing and conservation group, said the Currango Creek used to be a pristine stream filled with healthy wildlife but its banks have been completely trampled in by brumbies, taking away fish habitat.
"The deep holes have been silted up, there's hardly any water weeds — I can't imagine a platypus living in any of those holes, I can't imagine a large trout living in any of those holes," Mr Whiteway.
Associate Professor in Water Science at the University of Canberra, Fiona Dyer believes the number of brumbies is a factor.
"A large number of horses accessing waterways within that catchment will contribute nutrients to the dam and they will be nutrients that are then available to support algal growth, but they won't be the only contributor," she said.
Dr Dyer said heat and low water flows were other major factors.
Mr Whiteway said he recently saw a distressed platypus in an algal bloom in the upper Murrumbidgee River near Tantangara Dam and wonders whether it was affected by the bacteria.
"I walked right up to it and it was trying to swim away and swim under water, but just spiralling away," he said.
"Over the next 10 minutes, it was washed by the current, still spiralling, about a hundred metres downstream.
"I do wonder if I'd been drinking the water, I might have suffered the same fate as the platypus."
Dr Dyer said it is difficult to say if the algae is causing this distress.
"I guess I'd be cautious about making inferences that the platypus have been affected by the blue-green algae in that system on the basis of a single observation, but it'd certainly be worth looking into to find what's affected the platypus," she said.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said the agency checked the location twice without sighting a platypus.
A spokesperson said reports of possible blue-green algae in Kosciuszko National Park are very rare but National Parks is concerned about any water quality issues that might impact on wildlife, including platypus.
Snowy Hydro has confirmed there is algae in the Murrumbidgee River near Tantangara Dam.
Dr Dyer is on the Snowy Advisory Committee which was established last year to advise on environmental flows in the Snowy and Montane Rivers affected by the Snowy Hydro system.
She said releases from Tantangara Dam into the Murrumbidgee River over the last five months have been at a very minimal level.
"The amount of water is a function of the inflows to the Murray Darling Basin system last year," Dr Dyer said.
"And so the amounts of water that are available in that system this year are very small, some of the smallest on record."
Water NSW, the government agency responsible for river water quality, said in a statement that blue-green algae occurred wherever conditions were favourable.
)
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
Plastic waste washing up on beaches increasing threat to turtle populations
|
Research scientist Jennifer Lavers has spent weeks sifting through the world's waste on two remote sets of islands — and what she has found could have alarming consequences for wildlife.
In 2017, many were shocked to learn the shores of uninhabited Henderson Island in the South Pacific Ocean were littered with plastic waste.
Not long after, scientists found about 414 million pieces of plastic washed up on the beaches of the Cocos Keeling Islands, off Australia's west coast.
Now, research is finding the accumulation of plastic debris is significantly increasing the temperature extremes of the sand.
"It creates almost like an insulation or a boundary layer that affects how much UV light, wind and moisture might get past it," Dr Lavers said.
"The plastic elevates the temperature of those beaches, of the sand, quite substantially — up to 2.45 degrees Celsius."
Dr Lavers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies said the findings, which were published in scientific journal Elsevier this month, were very concerning for the species that lived, bred and fed on the sand.
"Whether it will lead to an extinction, we've yet to demonstrate that … but likely what it will do in the interim is force species to move, shift and adjust," she said.
"Can they change at a rapid enough pace? All I can really say is stay tuned."
Dr Lavers said the islands were incredibly important for a diverse array of animals that nested in the dunes, including crab species and sea turtles.
Turtle hatchlings in particular are expected to be affected by the plastic waste because their gender is determined by the temperature of the sand where their eggs are incubated.
"So a higher temperature means more females," Dr Lavers said.
"[A sand temperature increase is] going to contribute to an increase in female turtle offspring and fewer male turtle offspring and that is obviously problematic considering that turtles are an endangered species."
Dr Lavers said the sand was also home to tiny invertebrates called meiofauna, which provided food for shorebirds that stopped over at the islands as they migrated.
"The sandy sediments under their feet have all of this meiofauna living in it — all these little worms and teeny little crabs and oysters and shells and things that they can eat and live on," she said.
"If we have plastic piling up, drastically changing the temperature of that sand, that temperature is no longer tolerable to the meiofauna."
Dr Lavers said if the meiofauna declined, there would not be enough food for the shorebirds that had relied on those islands for hundreds of generations.
The two sets of islands are largely uninhabited, making them ideal locations for researchers because there has been no interference with the plastics.
Dr Lavers said the islands acted like a sieve in the oceans.
"The beaches are basically collecting like a basket all the plastic that happens to be flowing past in ocean currents," she said.
"If it is an uninhabited remote beach where clean-ups don't take place, then that plastic basically accumulates there uninterrupted."
Dr Lavers said previous studies had investigated what would happen to animals in coastal environments as the temperature increased in relation to climate change.
She said the effects of beaches warming because of plastic debris were likely to be similar.
"What these other studies have found is that for a huge swathe of species — about 40 per cent — are likely to experience things like local extinctions when maximum temperatures increase more than about half a per cent," she said.
Dr Lavers said scientists had already found a number of species had shifted more than 30 kilometres per decade in response to sand temperatures warming by around 0.2C in that time.
"The amazing thing is that these changes that have been documented now for many years are in response to warming that is much, much less than what we recorded for plastics [research]," she said.
"So basically, what we're asking of these animals is to shift, to change, to move, to adjust, at a rate that likely just isn't possible for them.
"It's quite unlikely that many, if any, marine species could adjust to such a substantial change over such a short period," Dr Lavers said.
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
Elaine Thompson-Herah breaks Florence Griffith Joyner’s Olympic record in women’s 100 meters
|
Updated: Jul. 31, 2021, 11:27 a.m. |
Published: Jul. 31, 2021, 6:19 a.m.
Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, reacts as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 100-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)AP
408
shares
By Eddie Pells | AP National Writer
TOKYO — Streaking down the track, with only six steps to go until she reached the finish line, Elaine Thompson-Herah stuck out her left arm and started pointing at the clock.
She knew she had the win.
It was only a matter of what else would come with it.
With a time of 10.61 seconds, the latest in the long string of Jamaican speed stars defended her Olympic title in the 100 meters Saturday. She broke a 33-year-old Olympic record held by none other than Florence Griffith Joyner. And, as a more-than-fitting bonus, she revisited a debate first triggered by the fastest Jamaican of all — Usain Bolt.
Yes, the gold medal and Flo Jo’s venerable record were great. But the question could not be avoided: Just as people wondered what Bolt might have given up when he hotdogged his way to the finish line in his first Olympic victory in 2008, how much faster might Thompson-Herah have gone had she run hard for 100 meters, not just 90 or 95?
“I think I could have gone faster if I wasn’t pointing and celebrating, really,” she said. “But to show you that there’s more in store. Hopefully, one day I can unleash that time.”
As it was, she finished the night as the second-fastest woman in history. Flo Jo’s world record of 10.49 is only mark left to beat.
As it was, she beat a two-time Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and joined bronze medalist Shericka Jackson in the first Jamaican podium sweep at the Olympics since 2008.
“The legacy we have in Jamaica is incredible,” Fraser-Pryce said.
Yet, with all that swirling around, it felt more than fitting that Thompson-Herah was drawing comparisons to Bolt, who redefined the sprint game with his antics, to say nothing of his speed, and left a hole in track and field after he left the Olympic scene in 2016 with nine victories in nine sprints.
In the first win, the 6-foot-5 speedster was well clear of the field in Beijing when he brought his hands out to his sides and started his celebration before he reached the finish line. His time, 9.69, was a world record. But the world went crazy — even then-IOC President Jacques Rogge leveled a sharp critique of the move — wondering what might have been had Bolt busted it through the line.
He answered the question a year later when he lowered the mark to 9.58 at the world championships in Berlin.
Thompson-Herah thinks she’ll get another chance like that, too.
“I have more years,” she said. “I’m just 29. I’m not 30. I’m not 40. I’m still working.”
On a sultry night in the near-empty Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Thompson-Herah started pulling away from her top rival, Fraser-Pryce, early. By the 50-meter mark, it was a runaway. She won by 0.13 seconds, or about three body lengths, a veritable rout in a 100-meter final.
Jackson, a bronze medalist five years ago at 400 meters who moved to the shorter sprints for the Tokyo Olympics, took bronze in this one, as well, in 10.76.
Flo Jo’s old mark of 10.62 came at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, not long after she ran the 10.49 on a breezy day in Indianapolis. For decades, debate has raged about whether the marks are legit, and the longer they held up, the more amazing the records seem.
No Olympic champion had even broken 10.7 since Flo Jo back in the day. Thompson-Herah insisted she wasn’t sure she would either as she approached the finish. But, she said, “I knew that I won.”
“The pointing, I don’t know what it means. To show that I was clear,” she said.
Thompson-Herah is now firmly entrenched in a long list of Jamaican women track stars — a string some say is even more impressive than the men’s. The Caribbean island was putting greats such as Merlene Ottey and Veronica Campbell-Brown out there long before Fraser-Pryce moved to center stage as a brace-faced 21-year-old in Beijing.
She finished on top in that 2008 race, and this second-place finish completed her Olympic set in the 100, where she now has two golds (’08, ‘12), this silver and a bronze from 2016.
But she looked a bit stunned to finish that far behind her main rival on a track that has produced fast times over the first two days of competition.
After seeing Thompson-Herah hotdog it to the finish, the woman they call “Mommy Rocket” — she has a 3-year-old son, Zyon — stared, stone-faced, at the scoreboard and stood on the track with her hands on her hips.
She had been the favorite coming in, largely on the strength of a 10.63 she ran in June that showed she remained in top form some two years after winning the world championship title in 2019.
“Of course you’re disappointed,” said Fraser-Pryce, whose title in Doha was a comeback story, only two years removed from her pregnancy. “The only aim an athlete lines up for is to win.”
Not even the defending Olympic champion saw this coming. While Fraser-Pryce was at peak form, Thompson-Herah was something less, battling an Achilles injury that slowed her all the way through Jamaica’s national championships last month.
“Two months ago, probably a month and a half, I didn’t think I’d be here today,” Thompson-Herah said. “I held my composure. I believed in myself.”
The United States’ Teahna Daniels was seventh in 11.02. Former Oregon Ducks star Jenna Prandini finished fourth in her semifinal heat and didn’t make the final. Neither did Javianne Oliver of the United States.
Even without American Sha’Carri Richardson, at home because of a doping positive for smoking marijuana at the U.S. Olympic trials, the women’s 100 shaped up as potentially the best race of the Olympics, ahead of the Bolt-less men’s sprint.
As if to accentuate that point, the favorite in the men’s race, American sprinter Trayvon Bromell, finished fourth in his qualifying heat earlier in the evening and had to wait nearly an hour to see if he’d get one of three wild-card spots into Sunday’s semifinal round.
He did, and said, “Honestly, I have no words for it,” when asked to explain the lackluster run.
Patrick Grzegorzewicz of Poland celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 4 x 400-meter mixed relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)AP
Another surprise came in the Olympic debut of the mixed 4x400 relay, where Poland won the gold and Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic sprawled over the line to edge the Americans for second.
The evening’s other medal event was men’s discus, where Daniel Stahl and Simon Pettersson led a 1-2 Swedish finish. The Swedes draped flags over their shoulders and jogged on the grass down the backstretch during a celebration in front of the empty stands.
Not long after, the real running began, and Thompson-Herah found herself in a spot she was familiar with — first at the Olympics — but with a time no woman had ever seen on this stage: 10.61.
Next is the 200, where Thompson-Herah is also the defending champion. It’s not hard to imagine her walking out of the Olympics the same way Bolt always did — with three gold medals, a few unanswered questions and leaving track fans wanting more.
-- The Associated Press
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
|
Break historical records
| null | null |
Guangzhou Uprising
|
Communist Party of China
The Guangzhou Uprising, Canton Uprising[1] or Canton Riots of 1927 was a failed communist uprising in the city of Guangzhou (Canton) in southern China. The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s Guangdong Provincial Committee had been preparing for an uprising in Guangzhou since September 1927. It originally planned to use a large group of communist-leaning soldiers who were heading into Guangdong after taking part in the failed Nanchang uprising. According to these plans, local workers and peasants were supposed to act as auxiliaries, while the soldiers would bear the brunt of the fighting. The troops from Nanchang were defeated at Shantou in early October, however, precluding any attempt to utilise them in the Guangzhou Uprising. [4] CPC party head Qu Qiubai consequently decided that the communists had to persuade soldiers who were stationed in Guangdong to join their cause. Upon receiving orders from Joseph Stalin to launch the planned uprising in mid-December,[5] over the course of November, a final plan for rebellion was worked out by the central party leadership and Guangdong secretary Zhang Tailei in Shanghai. [6] Originally, the Chinese communist leadership opposed the plans, and made representations to the Soviet government to the effect that they had no chance at winning control of Guangzhou, but ultimately gave in to Soviet pressure. [5] The CPC thought that fighting between the Kuomintang-aligned warlords Zhang Fakui and Li Jishen was imminent in Guangdong, potentially providing them with an opportunity to exploit the ensuing chaos by launching multiple simultaneous rebellions to seize power in the province. [6]
Peasant insurgents were supposed to throw the countryside into chaos, while workers should take over the county seats, and a general strike would paralyze Guangzhou. A separate communist faction was to capture Hainan island, and an army from the Hailufeng Soviet attack Huizhou, and then advance against Guangzhou. In the end, however, the communists in Guangzhou did not follow this plan. [7] The conflict between Zhang Fakui and Li Jishen already broke out on 27 November, with the former capturing Guangzhou from the latter in surprise attack. Thereafter, however, Zhang moved most of his troops out of the city to resist Li's counter-attacks. When the Guangdong Provincial Committee thus converged on 27 November, it concluded that the time was ideal for an insurrection in Guangzhou itself. [8] It remains strongly disputed who exactly was responsible for the further course of events. [9] The communists in Guangdong later claimed that their insurrection was based on the plans discussed with the party leadership, though historian Hsiao Tso-Liang argued that the former still acted completely autonomous and without the knowledge of the latter. [8] Other historians consider this view too extreme, and have put forth evidence which suggests that the CPC's central leadership was informed about the ongoing events in Guangdong. Furthermore, it has been argued that Comintern agents who were present in the province might have decisively influenced the Guangdong Provincial Committee in its decisions about when and how to launch a rebellion. [9]
Regardless of who was responsible for the decision, the Guangdong Committee began to prepare its uprising in earnest from 27 November. A Revolutionary Military Council was appointed with Ye Ting as commander-in-chief and Zhang Tailei as chairman. [8] Sometime in early December, Comintern agent Heinz Neumann arrived in Guangdong, joining the local communists. According to CPC leader Zhang Guotao, Neumann came to wield great influence on the committee and took a leading role in the rebellion; others believe that he was just a messenger for Stalin. [9] The core fighting force of the rebellion consisted of an ad-hoc "Red Guard" formed by 2,000 armed workers, and a communist-infiltrated cadet regiment of 1,200 soldiers. [10]
On 11 December 1927, the political leadership of the CPC ordered about 20,000 communist-leaning soldiers and armed workers to organize a "Red Guard"[11] and take over Guangzhou. [1] The uprising occurred despite the strong objections of communist military commanders such as Ye Ting, Ye Jianying and Xu Xiangqian,[citation needed] as the communists were badly armed - just 2,000 of the insurgents had rifles. [11] Nevertheless, rebel forces captured most of the city within hours using the element of surprise, despite a huge numerical and technical advantage held by government troops. The communist leaders officially renamed the city's political structure the "Soviet of Workers, Soldiers and Peasant Deputies"[1] or "Guangzhou Soviet". [citation needed] After this initial success for the communists, however, the 15,000 National Revolutionary Army (NRA) troops in the area moved into the city and started to push back the insurgents. After five more NRA divisions arrived in Guangzhou, the uprising was quickly crushed. The insurgents suffered heavy casualties, while the survivors had to flee the city or go into hiding. [1] The Comintern, especially Neumann, were later blamed for insisting that the communists had to hold onto Guangzhou at all cost. [9] Zhang Tailei, the leading Red Guard organizer, was killed in an ambush as he returned from a meeting. The takeover dissolved by the early morning of December 13, 1927. In the resulting purges, many young communists were executed and the Guangzhou Soviet became known as the "Canton Commune",[11] "Guangzhou Commune" or "Paris Commune of the East"; it lasted only a short time at the cost of more than 5,700 communists dead and an equal number missing. Around 8 p.m. on 13 December, the Soviet consulate in Guangzhou was surrounded and all its personnel were arrested. In the accident the consulate diplomats Ukolov, Ivanov and others were killed. [3] Ye Ting, the military commander, was scapegoated, purged and blamed for the failure, despite the fact that the obvious disadvantages of the communist force was the main cause of the defeat, as Ye Ting and other military commanders had correctly pointed out. Enraged by his unjustified treatment, Ye Ting left China and went into exile in Europe, not returning until nearly a decade later. Despite being the third failed uprising of 1927, and reducing the morale of the communists,[11] it encouraged further uprisings across China. Communist Party / People's Republic of China ( Red Army → 8th Route Army, N4A, etc. → People's Liberation Army)
.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Flood damage to Great Barrier Reef minimal, water quality report finds
|
North Queensland's coastal and offshore ecosystems fared better than expected during last year's devastating Townsville floods, a study has found.
The 2018-19 report card released by the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters rated water quality in moderate (C) to very good (A) categories.
Independent chair of the partnership Diane Tarte said water on the offshore Great Barrier Reef scored an A for very good, with low concentrations of suspended sediment.
"Interestingly the flood didn't seem to hang around for a long time, as has been experienced in other floods on the Great Barrier Reef," she said.
"Data we've got for coral cover in the mid-shelf, outer-shelf areas off Townsville is showing good juvenile coral growing."
Many North Queensland region reefs were impacted by severe coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017, followed by crown-of-thorns starfish infestations.
The report found high levels of nutrients in waterways including the Bohle and Black rivers, resulting in low to moderate water quality scores for Halifax and Cleveland bays.
"We do have real concern about the level of nutrients, nitrogen and particular, in those waterways," Ms Tarte said.
Seagrass meadows in Cleveland Bay, a major food source for the endangered dugong, experienced a decline in biomass.
But the report found that seagrass coverage remained above the long-term average.
"In fact, monitoring shows the bulk of the immediate impact seemed to flush out of the system in five days," Ms Tarte said.
"Within about a month to two months that immediate impact had settled back to normal background conditions.
"All the seagrass meadows survived the flood — however, they have been knocked about, and overall condition is less than what we expected."
Adrenalin Dive owner Paul Crocombe said inshore reefs and wrecks could be affected by freshwater runoff.
"Certainly close to the coast, near Magnetic Island and at the wreck of the Yongala, visibility did drop," he said.
"That impacts the corals by reducing the light the corals get."
After decades of diving and snorkelling the reef, Mr Crocombe said he found the impact of cyclones was most devastating to coral.
"I think the main damage to the reefs was from cyclones, not freshwater runoff from the coast," he said.
"On the outside of the Great Barrier Reef there's a lot of rejuvenation — new corals, small coral clusters there.
"Those reefs seem to be recovering pretty well."
The Dry Tropics Partnership, made up of stakeholders from industry, scientific research groups, and government, is in its second year of reporting.
Ms Tarte said another two years of funding was locked in, but five continuous years of reporting was required to reveal water quality trends.
"It depends whether it's a wet year or a dry year, you've got to filter out the natural variability in the system when you're looking for trends," she said.
"We're looking to improve our inclusion of some citizen science data and extend our knowledge to do some more monitoring.
"Already Townsville City Council and the Port of Townsville are looking at putting in more gross pollutant traps in to capture litter from our catchments."
Search any location in Australia to find nearby active incidents
ster
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
1984 Indian Airlines Airbus A300 hijacking crash
|
On 5 July 1984, nine young hijackers forced the Indian Airlines Flight 405, an Airbus A300 on a domestic flight from Srinagar Airport to the Delhi-Palam Airport with 254 passengers and 10 crew on board, to be flown to Lahore Airport in Pakistan. [1]The Press Trust of India reported that the hijackers were Sikhs militants loyal to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. [2]
The Sikh hijackers armed with guns, daggers and a bomb (later found out to be fake) demanded release of prisoners (all Sikhs arrested during Operation Blue Star) along with money (US$25 million for damage done during the Operation) and withdrawel of Indian troops, security forces and police from the Indian state of Punjab. [2] They forced the plane to be flown to Lahore in Pakistan.The hijackers were reportedly asked for political asylum in Pakistan. The demands of the hijackers were not met and they ultimately surrendered to Pakistani authorities on July 6. [1][2]Three Indian officials who arrived at Lahore Airport, including Indian Ambassador K. D. Sharma, Captain Bhasin and a Senior RAW Officer were isolated from negotiations. They were kept in a separate room and were not allowed to go near aircraft. [3]
When Passengers were asked about the incident, the statements given by them were highly contradictory about the versions of the negotiations with Pakistani authorities, two of the passengers told that some kind of deal was made with hijackes. One of them, Swaraj Kaushal said that "the hijackers were received by a senior Pakistani police official who shook hands with them when they alighted from the aircraft", second passenger Parash Jain, told that "when they (the hijackers) got down from the plane, they were looking very pleased with themselves". [3] The Press Trust of India quoted the hijackers as saying "Long Live Khalistan" and "Long Live Bhindranwale". [2][4] It was related to the secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab, where Khalistani separatists were active. They demanded a separate country for Sikhs. [2] The Khalistan movement was a separatist movement in Indian Punjab and the United Kingdom where a small portion of the Sikh community openly asked for a different country for Sikh people (Khalistan). [5]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
President attends National Famine Commemoration
|
President Michael D Higgins has said Irish people "can understand so well" the events unfolding in the Middle East as they commemorate The Famine. Mr Higgins was speaking as he laid a wreath during the National Famine Commemoration at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin this afternoon. The ceremony included military honours and a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of all those who suffered or perished during the Famine. President Higgins spoke about the Famine as a defining moment in Irish history, that has shaped not only our history but also our relationship with land, migration and politics. He also linked Ireland's harrowing experience with the Famine to our contemporary fight against hunger, poverty and forced migration. He said Ireland has a moral obligaion to remember and to ask its friends not to surrender in our time to indifference. President Higgins said said "evictions are provoking conflicts in States that are entitled to their security but who are violating the basic laws that are the tools of internationally-recognised protection". Globally, 34 million people are at risk of famine, including in Yemen where 250,000 have died from violence, starvation and preventable illness over the past six years, he said. During Ireland's famine, he said the UK had effectively abdicated its responsibility instead of treating it as a humanitarian crisis it adopted a laissez-faire attitude and allowed the export of grain, stopped the soup kitchens and allowed 500,000 evictions. President Higgins said it was an "ideological tendency" that sanctioned "poverty amidst plenty, conspicuous consumption amidst mass starvation - an ideology that felt unchallenged in elevating the right of property to that of a natural law". "The Covid pandemic has surely shown us that there is not only need for a better paradigm of existence, but that it is achievable with a harmonious, sustainable connection of economy, ecology and ethical society" An estimated 22,000 famine victims are buried at Glasnevin Cemetary. The annual famine commemoration takes place in a different province each year and had to be moved from Donegal this year because of Covid-19. The ceremony was also addressed by Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D and His Excellency, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu and David Bunworth, the chairman of the Dublin Cemeteries Trust were also in attendance. Speaking before the event, Ms Martin said the "Famine was truly the darkest period of our history". "Irish people showed tremendous courage and fortitude in coming through that catastrophe to forge the modern nation, with ties to a far flung and successful diaspora throughout the world," she said. The event is also an opportunity to reflect on the resilience of our people today, Ms Martin added.
|
Famine
| null | null |
1968 Democratic National Convention protests
|
Protest activity against the Vietnam War took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1968, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups began planning protests and demonstrations in response to the convention, and the city promised to maintain law and order. The protesters were met by the Chicago Police Department in the streets and parks of Chicago before and during the convention, including indiscriminate police violence against protesters, reporters, photographers, and bystanders that was later described by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence as a "police riot". [1][2]
During the evening of August 28, 1968, with the police riot in full swing on Michigan Avenue in front of the Democratic party's convention headquarters, the Conrad Hilton hotel, television networks broadcast live as the anti-war protesters began the now-iconic chant "The whole world is watching". In the fall of 1967, members of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (often referred to as "MOBE"), which was directed by David Dellinger, proposed a massive anti-war demonstration to coincide with the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In early 1968, the National Mobilization Committee opened a Chicago office directed by Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden, who were leading political organizers at the time and former leaders of Students for a Democratic Society. [3]:1–2
MOBE was an umbrella organization that included groups who were opposed to American participation in the Vietnam War. MOBE was run by a small executive board that set up a general framework for mass demonstrations, sent out invitations to the over 500 groups on its mailing lists, and coordinated activities between the groups. [citation needed]
MOBE recognized and supported all tactics from marching to civil disobedience. [citation needed] MOBE's main aim was to get the largest turnouts at its functions. David Dellinger, MOBE chairman, believed that "The tendency to intensify militancy without organizing wide political support [was] self-defeating. But so [was] the tendency to draw way from militancy into milder and more conventional forms of protest. "[4]
For Chicago, MOBE originally planned for two large-scale marches and an end of convention rally at Soldier Field. The goal was originally a massive show of force outside the International Amphitheatre. MOBE also planned to have workshops and movement centers distributed in 10 parks throughout the city, many in predominantly black areas, to allow demonstrators and participating groups to follow their particular focuses. [citation needed][5]
The Youth International Party was one of the major groups in the organization of the protests. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and a few friends engaged in conversation at Hoffman's apartment on New Year's Eve, 1967. They discussed the events of the year, such as the Summer of Love and the Pentagon demonstration. The idea of having a free music festival in Chicago was suggested to defuse political tension.[who?] Over the next week, the Youth International Party took shape. Its members, known as "Yippies" politicized hippie ideology and used street theater and other tactics to critique the culture of the United States and induce change. [6]
In preparation for the Chicago convention, the Yippies held the "Yip-In", and the "Yip-Out" at Grand Central Station in New York City. Both events were planned simply as "be-ins", with live music. The event was used to promote peace, love and harmony, and as a trial run for Chicago. The black banner of an anarchist group was hung on the wall, bearing the words, "Up Against the Wall Mother Fucker" in red. Police stood by watching the crowds. As the "Yip-In" progressed, relations between the police and Yippies became strained. Two people climbed a large clock and removed the hands; the police responded by clearing the station. They formed a skirmish line, ordered the people to disperse, and then started forcing their way through the crowd. [citation needed]
The "Yip-Out" was similar in purpose but held in Central Park. To obtain the permits and aid from New York City officials necessary for the event, Yippies performed a sit-in at the mayor's office until the Mayor would negotiate on permits. In the end, an agreement was made on staging, electricity, police presence, bathrooms, and other necessities for running a music festival. Police milled in the crowd giving considerable leeway to the proceedings which led to a peaceable day. [7]
The Yippies took a radical approach to the Democratic National Convention. They wrote articles, published fliers, made speeches and held rallies and demonstrations, to announce that they were coming to Chicago. Threats were made that nails would be thrown from overpasses to block roads; cars would be used to block intersections, main streets, police stations and National Guard armories; LSD would be dumped in the city's water supply and the convention would be stormed. However, none of these threats came to fruition. Nonetheless, city officials in Chicago prepared for all possible threats. [8] A vilification campaign led by Chicago authorities worked in favor of the Yippies' plan. [citation needed]
One of the Yippies' main tactics was to use street theatre to create an experience that drew the attention of mainstream America. Yippie activities were used to put across the message that the average American didn't have control over the political process. They tried to show this by purposefully participating in non-traditional activities that would not conceivably affect the decision-making process in the convention hall, unlike a "straight" protest with picket lines, marches, and rallies which could conceivably convince delegates of mass support for a program. [citation needed] On a Wednesday night, networks moved their coverage away from the Amphitheater where the delegates were voting on the nomination, to a "pitched battle" in front of the Conrad Hilton hotel. [citation needed]
In the buildup to the Convention, Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley repeatedly announced "Law and order will be maintained". [9]
Chicago's security forces prepared for the protests during the convention. Besides the standard gun and billy club, Chicago Police Department officers had mace and riot helmets. For the convention, the CPD borrowed a new portable communications system from the military, thus increasing communication between field officers and command posts. All summer long, police officers had received refresher training on crowd control and riot techniques. During the convention itself, Police Academy instructors were with the reserve forces, giving last minute reminders. [10]
Mayor Daley, citing intelligence reports of potential violence, put the 12,000 members of the Chicago Police Department on twelve-hour shifts, while the U.S. Army placed 6,000 troops in position to protect the city during the convention[3]:2[11] and nearly 6,000 members of the National Guard were sent to the city,[12] with an additional 5,000 National Guard on alert, bolstered by up to 1,000 FBI and military intelligence officers,[13] and 1,000 Secret Service agents.
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
Singapore Airlines Flight 006 crash
|
Singapore Airlines Flight 006 (SQ006/SIA006)[a] was a scheduled Singapore Airlines passenger flight from Singapore Changi Airport to Los Angeles International Airport via Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) in Taipei, Taiwan. On 31 October 2000, at 23:17 Taipei local time (15:17 UTC), the Boeing 747-412 operating the flight attempted to take off from the wrong runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport during a typhoon. The aircraft crashed into construction equipment on the runway, killing 81 of the 179 occupants aboard. Ninety-eight initially survived the impact, but two passengers died later from injuries in a hospital. [1] As of 2021, the accident is the third-deadliest on Taiwanese soil. It was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 747-400 and the only fatal accident involving the passenger variant. It is also the first and only Singapore Airlines crash to result in fatalities. [1]
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 747-412, registered as 9V-SPK with manufacturer's serial number 28023, powered by four Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines. It was the 1099th Boeing 747 built and had been delivered to Singapore Airlines on 21 January 1997. It was one of two Singapore Airlines 747-412s that were painted in the special Tropical MegaTop paint scheme to promote new first and business class items. It had its last maintenance check on 16 September 2000 and had no defects during the inspection and at the time of the accident. [2]
The captain of the flight was Foong Chee Kong (age 41). He was an experienced pilot with a total of 11,235 flight hours, of which 2,017 of them were in Boeing 747-400 aircraft. The first officer, Latiff Cyrano (age 36), had 2,442 total flight hours, including 552 hours on the Boeing 747-400. The third member of the crew was relief pilot Ng Kheng Leng (age 38) with approximately 5,508 total flight hours, including 4,518 hours on the Boeing 747-400. [3]
At 15:00 UTC, 23:00 Taipei local time on 31 October 2000,[3] 9V-SPK left Bay B5[4] during heavy rain caused by Typhoon Xangsane. At 23:05:57, ground control cleared the aircraft to taxi to runway 05L via taxiway SS WC then NP. [4] At 23:15:22, the aircraft was cleared for takeoff on runway 05L. [4] Many carriers in Southeast and East Asia take off during inclement weather. [5]
After a 6-second hold, at 23:16:36, the crew attempted takeoff on runway 05R—which had been closed for repairs—instead of the assigned runway 05L (which ran parallel to 05R). The captain correctly acknowledged that he needed to take off at 05L, but he turned 215 metres (705 ft) too soon and lined up with 05R. [6] The airport was not equipped with ASDE, a ground radar that allows the air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft movements on the ground. [7]
Because visibility was poor in the heavy rain, the flight crew did not see that construction equipment, including two excavators, two vibrating rollers, one small bulldozer, and one air compressor,[3] had been parked on runway 05R. In addition, the runway contained concrete Jersey barriers and pits. [4] About 41 seconds later,[4] the aircraft collided with the machinery and broke into three major pieces. The fuselage was torn in two, and the engines and landing gear separated. [4] A crane tore the left wing from the aircraft, forcing the jet back onto the ground. [8] The nose struck a scoop loader,[9] with a following large fire, destroying the forward section of the fuselage and the wings. [4] 79 of 159 passengers and 4 of 20 crew members died in the accident. Many of the dead were seated in the middle section of the aircraft;[3] the fuel stored in the wings exploded and incinerated that section. [10] At 23:17:36, the emergency bell sounded and 41 firefighting vehicles, 58 ambulances, nine lighting units, and 436 personnel were dispatched to assist survivors and extinguish the fire. Chemical extinguishing agents rained on the aircraft at about three minutes after the impact. [4] At 23:35, roughly 10 minutes after the impact, the fire was brought under control. [4] At 23:40, non-airport ambulances and emergency vehicles from other agencies congregated at the north gate. At 00:00 Taipei time on 1 November, the fire was mostly extinguished and the front part of the aircraft was destroyed. Authorities established a temporary command centre. [4]
At the time of the crash, 179 passengers and crew,[11] including 3 children and 3 infants, were on the aircraft. Of the 179 occupants, 83 were killed, 39 suffered from serious injuries, and 32 had minor injuries, while 25 were uninjured. [4] Four crew members perished. Eighty-one passengers and crew died on impact immediately after the crash and two passengers died at a hospital. [10]
The passengers mostly consisted of Taiwanese and Americans. [12]
The captain, co-pilot, and relief pilot originated from Singapore on another SQ006 flight the day before the accident, rested at a hotel in Taipei, and boarded SQ006 on 31 October. [3] All three flight crew members survived the crash. The pilot and relief pilot sustained no injuries while the co-pilot received minor injuries. [3] Of the seventeen cabin crew members, four died, four received serious injuries, and nine received minor injuries. [3]
Of the passengers, 79 died, 35 received serious injuries, 22 received minor injuries, and 23 were uninjured. [3]
The aircraft had 5 first-class passengers, 28 business-class passengers (9 on lower deck and 19 on upper deck), and 126 economy-class passengers. [3][15] Of the first class passengers, one received a minor injury and four received no injuries. Of the business-class passengers, fourteen (two on lower deck, twelve on upper deck) died, two (one on lower deck, one on upper deck) received serious injuries, seven (two on lower deck, five on upper deck) received minor injuries, and eight (four on lower deck, four on upper deck) were uninjured. Of the economy class passengers, 65 died, 33 received serious injuries, 14 received minor injuries, and 11 were uninjured.
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Gospel riots
|
The Gospel riots (Greek: Ευαγγελικά, Evangelika), which took place on the streets of Athens in November 1901, were primarily a protest against the publication in the newspaper Akropolis of a translation into modern spoken Greek of the gospel of St Matthew, although other motives also played a part. The disorder reached a climax on 8 November, "Black Thursday", when eight demonstrators were killed. [a][1]
In the aftermath of the violence the Greek Orthodox Church reacted by banning any translation of the Bible into any form of modern demotic Greek, and by forbidding the employment of demoticist teachers, not just in Greece but anywhere in the Ottoman Empire. The Riots marked a turning-point in the history of the Greek language question, and the beginning of a long period of bitter antagonism between the Orthodox Church and the demoticist movement. [2]:244–52
By 1901, the long debate known as the Greek language question had been underway for 135 years. Initial hopes that Ancient Greek itself could be revived as the language of the newly liberated Greek nation had proved illusory; modern spoken or "demotic" Greek had evolved far from its ancient roots, and the two languages were now mutually incomprehensible. As a compromise, a grammatically simplified version of Ancient Greek known as katharevousa glossa ("language that tends towards purity") had been adopted as the written language of the new state in 1830. This meant that the spoken and written languages were now intentionally different. It was hoped that written katharevousa would provide a model for imitation, and that spoken Greek would naturally "purify" itself by becoming more like this written form, and therefore more like Ancient Greek, within a matter of decades. To provide additional motivation, the current spoken or demotic Greek was widely condemned as "base" and "vulgar", the damaged product of centuries of linguistic corruption by subjection to Ottoman "Oriental despotism". [2]:90, 111–25, 159–67
After 50 years, spoken demotic still showed no sign of becoming "purified" into something more like Ancient Greek. On the other hand, katharevousa was proving unsatisfactory in use as a general-purpose written language. Scholars could not agree on its grammatical rules; and as a purely written language with no native speakers, it could not evolve a natural grammar of its own. Its Ancient Greek vocabulary could not be used to write about the objects and events of ordinary life without sounding stilted and unnatural. [2]:183–6, 210–11, 232
The problem was compounded by the educational system. Until 1881 only Ancient Greek — not even katharevousa — was taught in Greek primary schools, continuing the tradition of the Greek Orthodox Church, which had exercised an effective monopoly over education for centuries (the Church had always taught the ancient koine Greek of the gospels and the Divine Liturgy). The children thus had to learn to read and write in a language they did not speak, or even hear outside church. This had been acceptable in previous centuries, when the schools had concentrated on training future priests; but it could not provide universal popular literacy. [2]:162–3, 187, 209
By 1880, many were beginning to feel that katharevousa had outlived its usefulness. [2]:199–201 Kostis Palamas led the New Athenian School in a renaissance of demotic poetry; Roïdis pinpointed the deficiencies of katharevousa, and coined the word diglossia to describe the unhealthy split between the spoken and written languages; and finally, in 1888, Ioannis Psycharis published My Journey, which transformed the language debate. [2]:203–9, 232, 27–31, 215
Psycharis proposed the immediate abandonment of katharevousa and the adoption of demotic for all written purposes. But he did not reject the relationship with Ancient Greek; on the contrary, as an evolutionary linguist, he argued that spoken demotic really was Ancient Greek, merely two thousand years further along in its evolutionary history. As a Neogrammarian, he believed that the essence of language was passed on by speech rather than writing, and he regarded katharevousa as an artificial construct rather than a true language. [2]:215–240
Many agreed with him up to this point. But Psycharis went further. If demotic were to be used as the written language of a modern state, it would need a larger technical vocabulary. Educated everyday speech in the 1880s simply borrowed such terms from written katharevousa (for example: the word ἐξέλιξις, "evolution", was altered to ἐξέλιξη to conform to the morphology of spoken demotic). [2]:261
Psycharis rejected all such borrowings. Instead, he coined the word ξετυλιξιά, which he claimed was the word spoken Greek would have evolved for the concept of evolution if it had been free of the corrupting influence of katharevousa. He created many such words on the same principle; his declared aim was to set up a revitalized, scientifically derived demotic as a new written standard based entirely on the spoken language, isolated from katharevousa and independent of it. Some found the new coinages ugly and unnatural: "Psycharis' versions sounded like mispronunciations of learned words by uneducated people, who would be unlikely to be familiar with many of these words in the first place. "[2]:277 Others were inspired by Psycharis' vision and became enthusiastic supporters of his version of demotic. Notable among these was Alexandros Pallis, whose translation was to play a leading part in the events surrounding the Gospel Riots. [2]:244–5
Psycharis is widely credited with turning demoticism from an idea into a movement, which steadily gained strength during the 1890s. Although he met some opposition, it was at first mainly good-humoured, constructive, and centred on linguistic and cultural issues. [2]:227–9, 233–9
By 1896, the situation might be summarized as follows: Ancient Greek was established firmly in the Church, in secondary schools, and also in primary schools (with some katharevousa there since 1881). Katharevousa was still used for every kind of administration and for non-fiction literature, but in prose fiction it was just beginning to give way to demotic. In poetry, demotic had taken the lead. The supporters of katharevousa were on the defensive, but the demoticist movement was split between the "extreme" demoticists spearheaded by Psycharis and Pallis, and the "moderate" demoticists who were less doctrinaire, and much more tolerant of borrowing from katharevousa (it was these moderates who would finally win the language debate 80 years later). The Eastern Orthodox Church had never had the septuagint in question as theological objections, in principle, to translation of the Ancient koine Greek gospels into a more modern form of Greek closer to the spoken language. "The first translation appeared in the 11th century and until the beginning of the 19th century as many as twenty-five had been published. Some of these translations were officially solicited by the Patriarchate at Constantinople, while others were the work of prominent theologians and monks. The main characteristic of these translations, solicited or not, was that those who undertook them were members of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Hence, they did not pose a direct threat to the authority of the church but merely a challenge, aiming at making it more open-minded and receptive to the changing times. "[b][1]:122
This situation, however, began to change in the years following 1790, with the expansion in number and reach of the Protestant missionary societies. These societies opened missions all over Greece, the Levant, and the Near East, bringing with them (especially after 1830) new translations into the local vernacular languages. The Eastern Orthodox Church regarded these Protestant-sponsored translations as attempts at proselytism, and therefore as a direct threat to its religious authority. Accordingly, in 1836 and 1839 two encyclicals were issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (and approved by the newly independent Autocephalous Church of Greece) commanding that all translations undertaken by "enemies of our faith" should be confiscated and destroyed. At the same time, all previous translations, even if undertaken by "our co-religionists", were condemned. [1]:122
These measures were successful in curbing the activities of the Protestant missions.
|
Riot
| null | null |
Workers dig by hand to free dozens in Indonesia mine rubble
|
BOLAANG MONGONDOW, Indonesia (AP) — A grueling search and rescue effort has saved 19 people from the debris of a collapsed illegal gold mine in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province but officials said Wednesday that several dozen remain trapped. The national disaster agency said four people are confirmed dead and an estimated 37 are still buried beneath soil and rocks in an area that is difficult to access because of its remoteness and steep terrain. “The land contour is worrying with an 80 degree slope, so it’s pretty steep, and we don’t want any unwanted things to happen,” said local police chief Gani Fernando Siahaan. “We will continue the rescue process until night as long as weather permits.” Emergency personnel used their bare hands and farm tools to search for the victims. Video showed rescuers struggling to bring out a body bag in nearly vertical terrain. Makeshift wooden structures in the mine in Bolaang Mongondow district collapsed on Tuesday evening due to shifting soil and the large number of mining holes, burying people in the mine pit. “Unstable soil conditions make us extra careful lifting rocks because it can lead to new landslides,” local disaster official Abdul Muin Paputungan said. Rescuers heard voices crying for help from beneath the debris, he said. The disaster agency said at least 140 people from different agencies are involved in the rescue effort. It said there is an urgent need for body bags. Informal mining operations are commonplace in Indonesia, providing a tenuous livelihood to thousands who labor in conditions with a high risk of serious injury or death. Small artisanal and often unauthorized mining is rising in many parts of Asia and Africa. A study by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development found the number of people engaged in such mining had risen to over 40 million, up from 30 million in 2014 and 6 million in 1993. Landslides, flooding and collapses of tunnels are just some of the hazards. Much of the processing of gold ore involves use of highly toxic mercury and cyanide by workers using little or no protection.
|
Mine Collapses
| null | null |
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1985 (Budapest)
|
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1985 Budapest were the joint fifth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by the Hungarian Sport Karate Union. The organization was under some strain at the time and had split into two separate factions due to politically differences, meaning there were two separate world championships being held on the same date - with an event in London also taking place. These political differences would, however, be resolved and the organization would come back together the following year. It was the first ever W.A.K.O. championships to be held in Eastern Europe. The event was open to amateur men, and for the first time ever, women were allowed to compete (this was the same for the London event). The men had two categories, Full-Contact and Semi-Contact, while the women competed in Semi-Contact only. Unlike London there was no Musical Forms although there was an additional Semi-Contact team event. Some countries was allowed more than one competitor in certain weight categories in the men's and women's events due to limited numbers and some competitors in the men's events competed in more than one category. By the end of the championships, the top nation in terms of medals won was France, Great Britain were in second with Italy in third. The event was held in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday, 2 November 1985 in front of an estimated 20,000 spectators. [1]
As with the London event there were ten weight classes in Full-Contact although some of the division were slightly different at the heavier end of the spectrum - ranging from 54 kg/118.8 lbs to over 87 kg/+191.4 lbs. All bouts were fought under Full-Contact rules with more detail on the rules being provided at the W.A.K.O. website - although be aware that the rules may have changed slightly since 1985. [2] One of the notable winners was Chiarrochi who had also won a gold at the 1983 world championships, while compatriot Olivier Gruner (who would later have a career as an actor in Hollywood) won silver in the 75 kg category. France was the top nation in Full-Contact by the end of the championships, winning three golds and four silvers. [3]
Balog
Semi-Contact differed from Full-Contact in that fights were won on points given due to technique, skill and speed, with physical force limited - more information on Semi-Contact can be found on the W.A.K.O. website, although the rules will have changed since 1985. [4] In the men's division there were seven weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 84 kg/+184.8 lbs. By the end of the championships the top nation in men's Semi-Contact was Great Britain with two golds and one silver medal. [5]
As with the London event, for the first time ever women were allowed to compete at a W.A.K.O. championships. The only category on offer was Semi-Contact with just two weight divisions; under 60 kg/132 lbs and over 60 kg/+132 lbs. The rules were similar to the men's - a full version can be found on the W.A.K.O. website although be aware that the rules will have changed somewhat since 1985. [6] Due to the somewhat smaller amount of nations competing some nations were allowed more than one competitor per weight division. By the end of the championships Hungary was the strongest nation in women's Semi-Contact, winning one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. [7] There was also an additional team event of which Great Britain came away with gold. [8]
|
Sports Competition
| null | null |
Archaeologists have unearthed relics dating from the Seleucid, Parthian, and Islamic eras as they were attempting to discover the ruins of the Seleucid Laodicea Temple
|
TEHRAN – Archaeologists have unearthed relics dating from the Seleucid, Parthian, and Islamic eras as they were attempting to discover the ruins of the Seleucid Laodicea Temple believed to be buried under the modern town of Nahavand in Hamedan province, west-central Iran. "The sixth archaeological season to discover Laodicea Temple has so far led to the discovery of artifacts from the Seleucid, Parthian, and Islamic (Ilkhanid) periods, while archaeologists continue to their search for the ancient temple," Mohsen Khanjan, who leads the excavation, said on Wednesday, ILNA reported. One of the walls of Dokhaharan’s sanctuary, where archaeologists believe might be built over the ruins of the ancient temple, was demolished at the beginning of the current survey to let researchers carve trenches, Khanjan explained. Due to the numerous and dense buildings constructed near Dokhaharan’s sanctuary, which is located in one of the lesser-developed neighborhoods of Nahavand, the excavation team faced many problems, including choosing a suitable place for carving archaeological trenches, he stated. According to Khanjan, in addition to a Greek inscription, other significant objects such as bronze statues of Greek gods, a stone altar, column head, column shaft, column base, and pottery pieces had been discovered in the Dokhaharan neighborhood. “Regarding those findings, we concluded that the history of the city of Nahavand goes far back in prehistoric times, on the contrary to what previously believed it only dates back to the Seleucid period.” “The outcome of previous excavations determined that a Seleucid city was established on remains of a prehistoric settlement… and the sixth season aims to discover the main structure of Laodicea Temple, he said. In the fifth season of excavation, 12 trenches were dug tightly based on speculations and discoveries made during the four previous seasons… the season, however, yielded some new clues on the ancient sanctuary. The archaeological project also aims at solving the problems of the residents of the districts near the site, who haven’t been allowed to construct buildings for over 50 years. In 1943, archaeologists discovered an 85x36 centimeter ancient inscription of 30 lines written in Greek calling on the people of Nahavand to obey the laws of the government. The inscription indicated the existence of the Laodicea Temple, which had been built by the Seleucid king who ruled Asia Minor, Antiochus III the Great (223-187 BC), for his wife Queen Laodicea. Two of the inscriptions as well as four bronze statuettes, unearthed at the site, are on display in the National Museum of Iran in downtown Tehran. And, column capitals and bases are currently being used as decorations in Nahavand’s Hajian Bazaar and several other parts of the city. Antiochus was the most distinguished of the Seleucids. Having made vassal states out of Parthia in present-day northeastern Iran and Bactria (an ancient country in Central Asia), he warred successfully against the Egyptian king Ptolemy V and in 198 BC obtained possession of all of Palestine and Lebanon. He later became involved in a conflict with the Romans, who defeated him at Thermopylae in 191 BC and Magnesia (now Manisa, Turkey) in 190 BC. As the price of peace, he was forced to surrender all his dominions west of the Taurus Mountains and to pay costly tribute. Antiochus, who early in his reign had restored the Seleucid Empire, finally forfeited its influence in the eastern Mediterranean by his failure to recognize the rising power of Rome. The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC; Seleucus I Nicator founded it following the division of the Macedonian Empire vastly expanded by Alexander the Great. Seleucus received Babylonia (321 BC) and from there expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander's near-eastern territories. At the height of its power, the Empire included central Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
|
New archeological discoveries
| null | null |
EU fines German car makers BMW, VW, Audi and Porsche $1.3 billion over emission collusion
|
The European Union (EU) has handed down $1.3 billion in fines to four major German car manufacturers, saying they colluded to limit the development and rollout of car emission control systems.
Daimler, BMW, VW, Audi and Porsche avoided competing on technology to restrict pollution from gasoline and diesel passenger cars, the European Commission said.
Daimler was not fined after it revealed the cartel to the European Commission.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said even though the companies had the technology to cut harmful emissions beyond legal limits, they avoided competing and denied consumers the chance to buy less polluting cars.
"Factories compete with one another also when it comes to reducing carbon emissions from the cars," Ms Vestager said.
"Manufacturers deliberately avoided to compete on cleaning better than what was required by EU emission standards. And they did so despite the relevant technology being available."
It made their practice illegal, Ms Vestager said.
"So today's decision is about how legitimate technical cooperation went wrong. And we do not tolerate it when companies collude."
Volkswagen said it was considering whether to take legal action against the fine, saying the penalty over technical talks about emissions technology with other carmakers set a questionable precedent.
"The commission is entering new judicial territory, because it is treating technical cooperation for the first time as an antitrust violation," the German carmaker said after being fined 502 million euros ($799 million).
"Furthermore, it is imposing fines, although the content of the talks was never implemented and no customers suffered any harm as a result," Volkswagen added in a statement.
BMW agreed to the settlement proposed by the European Commission, paying a 373 million euro fine, saying it had been cleared of suspicion of using illegal "defeat devices" to cheat emissions tests.
"This underlines that there has never been any allegation of unlawful manipulation of emission control systems by the BMW Group," the company said in a statement.
The case was not directly linked to the "dieselgate" scandal of the past decade, when Volkswagen admitted about 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide were fitted with deceptive software.
The software reduced nitrogen oxide emissions when the cars were placed on a test machine but allowed higher emissions and improved engine performance during normal driving.
The scandal cost Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen 30 billion euros ($47 billion) in fines and civil settlements and led to the recall of millions of vehicles.
It was the first time the European Commission imposed collusion fines on holding back the use of technical developments, not a more traditional practice like price fixing.
AP/Reuters
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 |
Zogg Fire
|
The Zogg Fire was a wildfire that burned in the towns of Igo and Ono in southwestern Shasta County, California and northwestern Tehama County in the United States. The fire burned 56,338 acres, with four deaths and 204 buildings destroyed. [1]
The fire was first reported at 2:51 PM PDT on September 27, 2020. The fire quickly spread from an initial estimate of 100 acres (40 ha) to 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) by the night of September 27. By the morning of September 28, the fire had more than doubled to 15,000 acres (6,100 ha). [2] The fire grew further on September 28 to over 31,000 acres (12,545 ha). [3] As of October 13, the Zogg fire had burned 56,338 acres (22,799 ha) and was fully contained. [4]
The fire, which started at Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane, has destroyed 204 buildings, including multiple historic buildings in the Ono, and killed four people as of October 13, 2020. [5]
Most of Shasta County west of Clear Creek between Whiskeytown Lake and Highway 36, including Igo, Ono, Platina, Happy Valley, and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, were evacuated. On October 8, 2020, equipment from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company was seized as part of an ongoing investigation into the company’s role in the fire. [6] On October 13, a judge asked the PG&E to explain their role in the fire. [7]
It was announced on November 23, that remains of a grey pine tree that was near the area that the fire began had been seized by state fire investigators as evidence whether the tree was a part of the start of the fire. The tree reportedly had been potentially identified for removal, but had not been removed after the Carr Fire in 2018. [8]
In March 2021, investigations concluded the fire began when a grey pine tree fell on power lines belonging to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). [9]
A mobile registration van was set up at the Igo Ono School in November 2020, to help victims register for FEMA disaster relief. The van also provided victims with information and Right of Entry forms to help begin the clean up process for their homes. [10]
Three orphaned mountain lions were released from care and moved to an exhibit at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in December 2020. The cubs had been discovered separately by firefighters, during the fire and at least one was mistaken for a household cat. [11]
|
Fire
| null | null |
Father, daughter, pets found dead from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in east Salem
|
A father, daughter and two pets were found dead Monday morning in their east Salem home from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
Marion County Fire District #1 crews were called at 10:46 a.m. to a fifth-wheel trailer at a property in the 5700 block of State Street.
The caller told fire officials they went to the property after not hearing from Richard Yaple, 50, of Salem, and his daughter, Hannah Yaple, 17, of Keizer since Saturday, according to a release from the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
When firefighters and sheriff's office deputies arrived, Richard, Hannah, and a dog and cat were found deceased.
Investigators said the deaths were a result of carbon monoxide poisoning from a propane heater being used inside the trailer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are at least 430 accidental deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning each year in the United States.
Officials offer the following tips to help prevent carbon monoxide-related deaths:
Marion County Fire District #1, Marion County Medical Examiner’s Office, Marion County District Attorney’s Office, Marion County Dog Control, and Marion County Public Works assisted the sheriff's office during the incident.
Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
|
Mass Poisoning
| null | null |
Dominicana DC-9 air disaster crash
|
The Dominicana DC-9 air disaster, also known as the Dominicana de Aviación Santo Domingo DC-9 air disaster, was an international flight (the flight number is unknown) that suffered a fatal accident on February 15, 1970. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 crashed shortly after takeoff from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The crash killed all 102 passengers and crew on board. [1]
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 registered HI-177 (with serial number 47500 and serial 546), was built by McDonnell Douglas the previous year. It had its maiden flight on September 30, 1969. The aircraft was registered HI-177 and transferred to Dominicana on December 16 the same year. [2] The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7 turbofan engines. [1] It had been in service with Dominicana for less than a month (with only 354 flying hours) when it crashed. [3][4]
The jetliner was on an international flight from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It took off at about 6:30 PM. Two minutes after departure one of its engines lost power. The crew declared an emergency, telling air traffic controllers that the right engine had flamed out, and they requested to immediately return to the airport. While the crew were preparing to turn back toward the airport, the left engine also flamed out. The aircraft then descended until it hit the sea about two miles south of the airport. There were no survivors among the 97 passengers and five crew members on board. [1][4][5]
Several famous passengers were among the dead, including:
There were initially concerns of a terrorist attack as the family of Antonio Imbert Barrera was onboard. However, the investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was the sequential failure of both engines caused by fuel pollution due to water ingress. [4] Both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were never found. [7]
This was not Dominicana's first fatal accident. Eight months before, on June 23, 1969 in Miami, Florida, Dominicana Flight 401 crashed after take-off also due to an engine failure. The Aviation Traders Carvair lost control and crashed into buildings, killing all four people on board as well as six people on the ground. [8][9]
Immediately after the Santo Domingo crash, Dominicana suspended all operations. Four of the airline's mechanics were reportedly arrested as well. [3] In addition, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned Dominicana aircraft from operating to the United States. The ban was lifted later in the year after Dominicana leased a replacement DC-9 aircraft, to be flown by crews from the Spanish airline Iberia. [3][10]
Dominicana eventually resumed full services, including to the United States. The airline flew until 1995 when it suspended services indefinitely, finally officially ceasing all operations during 1999. [citation needed]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Long-dormant Iceland volcano erupts for first time in 6,000 years
|
The eruption was the Reykjanes Peninsula’s first in 781 years, according to the Associated Press . But the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement that it was “considered small” and there was no need to evacuate residents of the closest town, about six miles away. “We ask people to keep away from the immediate area and stay safe.” tweeted Iceland’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir . Authorities additionally closed down roads in the vicinity and warned residents that “ gas pollution ” might affect the area. Icelandic authorities said air traffic could continue as normal and flights remained on schedule. After monitoring the volcano throughout the night, geophysicist Pall Einarsson told the Associated Press on Saturday that the eruption was continuing to die down. Hours after bursting through, lava had traveled about six-tenths of a mile down the mountain and covered an area around one-third of a mile wide, according to the meteorological department’s website. The department began recording a rise in daily earthquakes and other seismic activity on the peninsula on Feb. 24. By early March, it reported that a small-scale volcanic eruption was likely to occur. Still, there was no certainty around timing: The eruption itself took scientists by surprise, the AP reported, as seismic activity had decreased slightly right before it. Iceland experienced a far more disruptive volcanic eruption in an area called Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. That volcano spewed so much molten ash it grounded flights from Europe and impacted travel worldwide for weeks. This time around, there was more awe than shock at what nature could do. “YESSS !!, eruption !!" Icelandic singer Björk posted on Instagram , along with a photo from a 2015 music video shoot at the volcano site. “we in iceland are sooo excited !!! we still got it !!! sense of relief when nature expresses herself !!!”
|
Volcano Eruption
| null | null |
TWA Flight 742 crash
|
TWA Flight 742 was a multi-leg Trans World Airlines flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. On August 28, 1973, near the end of its pre-final leg from Honolulu to Los Angeles, during the descent over the Pacific Ocean, the Boeing 707 entered severe porpoising oscillations, resulting in injuries to 2 crewmembers and 3 passengers; one critically injured passenger died two days later. The captain of Flight 742 was John Wilber Harpster (53), with 26,171 hours of flying time. The first officer Robert Cooper Evans (39) had 6,128 hours of flight time, while flight engineer Don Wilbur Jackson (53) had 19,000 hours. The aircraft was a Boeing 707-331B, manufactured in December 1965 and delivered new to the airline in 1966. Until the time of the accident, the airframe accumulated 31,136 hours of flight time. [2]
N8705T took off from Honolulu at 17:09 (all times PDT); after an uneventful cruise at FL330 (33,000 ft) it established control with LAX Control Center at 21:12. At 21:29, the crew were cleared to descend to FL 110 (11,000 feet). The pilots disconnected the autopilot, reduced power and entered a descent. [2][3]
As the 707 descended through 22,000 feet at 350 knots indicated airspeed (KIAS), the nose abruptly pitched up. The crew tried to level the aircraft, but the nose then rapidly pitched down. As the pilots tried to regain control, they reduced the engine power to idle, disengaged rudder power, mach trim and yaw damper; the flight engineer also pulled the respective circuit breakers. Despite the crew's efforts, the 707 entered a violent porpoising motion, alternating abrupt pitch-up and pitch-down movement. After about two minutes, the oscillations gradually abated and the crew regained level flight at 19,500 feet. On checking the controls, the pilots found the 707 controllable, but noticed increased resistance of the control column to forward movement. [2]
While continuing descent to 11,000 feet, the crew notified the air traffic control of an emergency and contacted the TWA maintenance center. Flight 742 continued without further incident and landed at Los Angeles at 22:43. Two flight attendants strapped in their seats and three passengers, standing or moving in the aisles, were injured, requiring hospitalization. A number of passengers sustained minor injuries caused by items falling out of the overhead bins. One critically injured passenger died in hospital on August 30 due to intracranial bleeding. The NTSB, investigating the accident, found out that N8705T experienced 50 oscillations in about 2 minutes, with peak acceleration forces of 2.4 g.[2]
There were four possible causes for such violent pitching oscillations, three of them being quickly ruled out:
The only option left was a malfunction or out-of-tolerance condition within this particular 707's longitudinal control systems. On checking the N8705T's history, the investigators found that the aircraft experienced similar oscillating motion on July 18, 1972 while on departure from Windsor Locks, Connecticut; since the post-flight inspection did not reveal anything amiss with the aircraft, the upset was assumed to be an effect of turbulence. This confirmed to the investigators there was an issue with the N8705T's flight control system. [2]
A series of flight tests was conducted both at Kansas City (where the TWA maintenance base was located) and in Seattle (the manufacturer's site); another 707 with no flight control issues was used in tests for comparison. The test pilots quickly noticed that there was indeed a problem the flight controls: N8705T required significantly different forces on the control column to operate the elevators than the 707 used for comparison. On close examination of the gathered data, the investigators noticed that the left elevator deflected significantly further than the right with the same control column deflection. [2]
A ground test was performed to check the behavior of the airflow over the N8705T's elevators. It was noted that the upper skin of both elevators experienced waviness (due to compression), an effect that was known to occur; however, in case of this aircraft, the amplitude of this waviness was excessive - 0.42 inches for the left elevator and 0.32 for the right (on the aircraft used for comparison it was 0.12 and 0.28 inches, respectively). When the entire stabilizer-elevator assembly on N8705T was replaced with one taken from another 707 with no flight control and stability issues, the aircraft did not exhibit any stability difficulties and the elevator movement was correct. [2]
On closely examining the profile of the stabilizer-elevator assembly of the accident aircraft, a fault was noticed on the left side: the stabilizer and elevator should be aligned together (upper nose contour of an elevator with the contour extension of an upper stabilizer surface) within a certain limit of tolerance. On N8705T the left elevator, while within tolerance, was aligned below the contour extension line of the stabilizer, while the right elevator was aligned correctly. [2]
Combining the increased waviness of the left elevator with its slight misalignment, the boundary layer of air over the elevator in flight was thicker than in other 707s, which caused its hinge moment to be much lower; in simpler terms, on N8705T the layer of air flowing over the left stabilizer was thicker than on other aircraft due to two effects combining together - the increased waviness of the metal skin and the slight misalignment of the stabilizer-elevator assembly. Therefore, the amount of force needed to push or pull the left elevator to its full deflection limit was much lower than on the other 707 and much lower that the crew was accustomed to; it could be fully deflected with much less movement of the control column. [2][3]
In flight, the balance of the 707 is constantly changing due to fuel burn and thus decreasing weight; an automatic system is designed to keep the plane in trim. However, on N8705T, this system was causing the left elevator to deflect more than on other 707s, due to its unique combination of misalignment and increased waviness. With no one realizing it, when the accident 707 was expected to be properly trimmed, it was in fact flying slightly out of trim. On August 28, 1973, as the plane was descending towards Los Angeles, this out of trim situation caused an abrupt pitch-up of the aircraft. The crew tried to push the nose down - and unknowingly made the situation worse: they used the amount of force and forward deflection of the control column they were accustomed to on other 707s and assumed to be enough to bring the plane back to level flight. On this particular aircraft, however, this amount of force was too great and deflected the elevator much more than the crew intended; instead of leveling the plane, the crew pushed it into a violent pitch-down. Trying to rectify that, they pulled the yokes back; but once again, they unknowingly used too much force, over-corrected and caused yet another violent pitch-up instead of leveling off. This sequence is a classic case of a phenomenon known as a pilot-induced oscillation. The investigators noted that the majority of the injuries sustained on Flight 742 were caused by presence of sharp and misplaced objects in the cabin; they called for inspection and redesign of the interiors and galleys on a commercial aircraft (padding hard surfaces, elimination of sharp edges and corners, improved locks in overhead luggage racks) to avoid accidental injuries when encountering turbulences. [2]
A US Navy surgeon was present on board and helped in first aid to the injured; he later stated that the contents of onboard first aid kit were insufficient in an emergency, and called for improvement and expansion of the kits. [2]
N8705T was withdrawn from service on July 12, 1983. It was later scrapped at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. [4]
|
Air crash
| null | null |
China’s Quanzhou Port suffered a major incident at one of its petrochemical terminals on Sunday, resulting in nearly seven tons of aromatic hydrocarbon being leaked into the ocean.
|
China’s Quanzhou Port suffered a major incident at one of its petrochemical terminals on Sunday, resulting in nearly seven tons of aromatic hydrocarbon being leaked into the ocean.
According to a release from Quanzhou Port, the incident occurred in the early morning of Sunday when Fujian Donggang Petrochemical was loading the petrochemical cargo from its terminal into chemical tanker Tian Tong 1 and the transfer pipe broke.
The port executed the contingency plan immediately and deployed a team to clean the chemical spill using oil absorbents. It claims that the cleanup work has been basically completed by the same evening.
Local reports said the chemical leak has polluted the nearby aquaculture farms.
According to a commitment letter Donggang Petrochemical sent to the nearby fishermen, seen by Splash, the company will focus on the cleanup first, and then conduct full evaluation on the damages and take the responsibility of relevant compensation.
In the meantime, the port has informed environmental authorities to examine the water quality and investigations into the incident are ongoing.
However the response given by those responsible company and the government are not like what they promised! The government covered the facts and only absorb the surface of those affected river areas. They said the environmental quality was good only two days after the accident. And they constantly delete the relevant discussion on the internet such as Weibo.
|
Environment Pollution
| null | null |
2005 Yemeni uprising
|
The 2005 Yemeni uprising was a nationwide revolution and popular protest movement against president Ali Abdullah Saleh after fuel price hikes on 19 July. Mass protests first broke out in Aden on 20 July, but spread nationwide between 20 and 23 July. Growing mass street protests, massive civil disobedience and disturbances, and increasingly violent street demonstrations characterised by riots and Civil disorder hit and rocked Yemen, mainly Sanaa and Aden. The rioting and uprising consisted of lobbying, rallies, looting, arson attacks and battles between police and demonstrators. In Hudaydah, thousands demonstrated against fuel price hikes and soon, Stone-throwing took place and 8 were killed. 36 were killed in the bloody crackdowns, in which the military was deployed to disperse and quell the mass uprising by using live ammunition and rubber bullets to dispel the fuel price hike movement and anti-government revolt. [1][2][3]
|
Protest_Online Condemnation
| null | null |
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 crash
|
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Warsaw, Poland to New York City, U.S.. In the late morning hours of 9 May 1987, the Ilyushin Il-62M operating the flight crashed in the Kabaty Woods nature reserve on the outskirts of Warsaw around 56 minutes after departure. All 183 passengers and crew on board perished in the crash, making it the deadliest accident involving an Ilyushin Il-62, and the deadliest aviation disaster in Polish history. [1]
The accident was determined to have been caused by the disintegration of an engine shaft due to faulty bearings. This led to a catastrophic failure of the two left engines and then an onboard fire, both of which eventually destroyed all flight control systems. [2]
The aircraft was a 186-seat Ilyushin Il-62M built in the third quarter of 1983, registered SP-LBG and named Kościuszko, after the Polish military leader and national hero. [1][3] The Il62M has four tail-mounted engines, with two on the left side (No. 1 and 2) and two on the right side (No. 3 and 4). The proximity of the two pairs of engines would prove critical during the accident sequence. All of the crew members were Polish. The captain, Zygmunt Pawlaczyk [pl], was 59 years old, with 19,745 flight hours' experience (5,542 on Ilyushin Il-62s), and a captain of the type from 11 May 1978. The first officer, Leopold Karcher, was aged 44. The remaining flight crew were flight engineer, Wojciech Kłossek, aged 43, flight navigator, Lesław Łykowski, aged 47; a 43-year-old radio operator, Leszek Bogdan, and Ryszard Chmielewski, a 53-year-old trainer of flight engineers on a routine observation of his progress. There were five flight attendants on board; one was stationed in the technical cabin-bay, between the engines, and probably either lost consciousness and burned in the fire or was sucked out of the aircraft after decompression; her body was never found despite an extensive search. [4][5][6]
Of the 172 passengers on board, 155 were from Poland, while the other 17 were from the United States. The chartered aircraft to New York City took off from runway 33 at Okęcie Airport at 10:18 a.m. The flight was to continue on to San Francisco after refuelling in New York. The pilots were cleared to climb to 31,000 feet (9,400 m), on a course set to Grudziądz VHF omnidirectional range (VOR), which was reached at 26,500 feet (8,100 m). Soon after Flight 5055 took off from Warsaw, the crew was instructed by air traffic control (ATC) to climb to an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) as quickly as possible:
At that moment, the crew applied maximum thrust on the engines to climb to 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Had they not applied thrust, the turbine disc in the inner left (No. 2) engine would probably have survived the entire flight. [citation needed] However, nine minutes after the thrust was applied, as the aircraft had just passed Lipinki village, near Warlubie (near Grudziądz), at 8,200 metres (26,900 ft), at a speed of 810 kilometres per hour (500 mph)), the faulty bearings inside the No. 2 engine reached temperatures of about 1,000 °C or 1,800 °F and exploded, destroying the shaft. The turbine disc on the burning engine separated from the destroyed shaft; the freed disc spun to an enormous speed and, within seconds, exploded. Debris from the explosion violently spread around, puncturing the fuselage, severing flight controls and electrical cables, and causing severe damage to the adjoining engine No. 1 — the outer left one, which soon also started to burn. A piece of hot debris burst into cargo hold number 4 and caused a rapidly spreading fire; the inner left engine burned rapidly until impact. Immediately, the crew noticed that the elevator control systems had failed — only the pitch trim remained operative — and that two engines were disabled. The reasons for this were unknown to the crew; they initially suspected that the aircraft could have been hit by something, possibly another aircraft. The pilots started an emergency descent to 13,200 ft (4,000 m). The closest airport where the Il-62 might land was Gdańsk, but landing there was not possible because the crew could not dump enough fuel for the emergency landing attempt (the takeoff weight of the aircraft on that day was 167 tons, until 10:41 approximately 6 tons of fuel were consumed; the maximum landing weight of the Il-62M was 107 tons) so they turned their heading to Okęcie instead. Due to the damaged electrical system, the crew had problems with fuel dumping and they did not realize that the fire had spread to the cargo holds in the back of the aircraft (cargo holds 4 and 6), and in the final minutes probably spread into the passenger cabin. Initially, the crew intended to land at the military airport in Modlin, but at the final moment they decided to return to Okęcie, where there was better emergency equipment. It was initially unclear at the time why the crew decided to continue the flight to Warsaw, given the rapidly spreading fire and lost flight controls, rather than land as quickly as possible at Modlin. Modlin's emergency equipment was not as good as Okęcie's, but still good enough to deal with an emergency landing of an airliner with an in-flight fire. Many at the time believed officials had decided the airliner must not land at a military airport and (contrary to official reports) denied the crew's request to land at Modlin. While this is somewhat plausible, no conclusive evidence supporting this theory was ever presented. Instead, the cause was later determined to be the damage to the electrical systems preventing both the fire detectors in the cargo hold and inside the engine from working properly (on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), an engine fire warning was heard shortly after the explosion, but it later faded out; the signal reappeared less than four minutes before the crash and continued until impact) and so Cpt. Pawlaczyk did not know about the magnitude of the fire in the hold and how quickly it was spreading, nor about the burning engine when he decided to fly to Warsaw. At 10:53, fuel vapors that had drifted into the burning cargo from the damaged fuel tanks exploded. The passengers were fully aware of the emergency; 58-year-old passenger Halina Domeracka managed to write on the opening page of her New Testament: 9.05.1987 The aircraft's damaged... God, what will happen now... Halina Domeracka, R. Tagore St., Warsaw... [7][8][9][10]
CVR fragment — the moment of engine explosion
10.41.28 Intermittent acoustic signal of autopilot disengagement
10.41.30 Crew: Hey! Pressurization! 10.41.32 Acoustic ringing signal of cabin decompression
10.41.34 Crew: Is there a fire? What's going on? 10.41.35 Crew: Probably a fire. 10.41.37 Crew: Engine? Shut it down! 10.41.39 Crew: ...shut down. That first one is burning!
|
Air crash
| null | null |
Celebrity Exes Who Are Getting Divorce & Co-Parenting Right
|
Breakups and divorce is complicated enough, and when kids are involved , things get a lot messier. Experts say it’s super important for former couples to keep the lines of communication open for the sake of their children, so when we see examples of co-parenting bonds that are downright inspirational, we can’t help but shed praise, especially when those parents are under the media’s microscope.
Related story Ben Affleck Opened Up About Trying to Save His Marriage to Jennifer Garner for Their Three Kids
We know that divorce, for example, can have a negative impact on children, be it on their mental health, academic success, or behavior (although a study published in the journal World Psychiatry noted that most children of divorce are resilient). And according to the American Psychological Association , “Research has documented that positive coparenting relationships enhance parent-child relationships above and beyond other aspects of partner relationships.”
It’s also not uncommon for some kids to feel responsible for their parents’ split, however false the assumption, which is why couples in the process of splitting up should do their best to counter this mindset. And the work doesn’t stop once divorce is final and couples have moved on. Luckily, there are resources out there to help — we’ve got tips for talking to kids about divorce as well as an easy guide to child custody and support ).
Fortunately, there are plenty of ex-couples out there — including in Hollywood — who understand that the key to co-parenting is putting aside their own feelings to prioritize their child’s wellbeing. Here’s a look at former celebrity couples — from Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz to Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe — who have figured out how to co-parent in the best way possible.
|
Famous Person - Divorce
| null | null |
Millions of children still go to bed hungry
|
Read caption IDPs living in a site located in a church compound in Carnot, Mambere-Kadi prefecture, November 2014. Photo: NRC/ Vincent Tremeau Millions of children still go to bed hungry Published 16. Oct 2015 Children Livelihoods and food security On in nine people worldwide is chronically undernourished. “I am particularly worried about Yemen with more than 12 million affected by food insecurity of which 6 million are in dire need of assistance, in Syria where 9,8 million people are in need of food assistance and South Sudan where more than 3 million are starving,” says Thomas Ølholm, Food Security Advisor at the NRC. Although the level of hunger in developing countries has fallen by 27 percent since 2000, and 17 countries reduced their hunger scores by at least half since 2000, almost 800 million people still go to bed hungry - many of whom are children. Several countries suffer from a combination of both chronic and acute food insecurity. And despite the improvement seen in recent years, Thomas Ølholm fears that the factual situation actually can become worse. “The world has been on a good track, but I sense that it has kind of stalled in recent years - new development goals or not. We can over time risk seeing more regional instability, leading to further challenges for people already struggling to make a living.” Conflicts are strongly associated with hunger according to the recently published report "2015 Global Hunger Index - Armed Conflict and the Challenge of Hunger" . In the report by The International Food Policy Research Institute, Welthungerhilfe and Concern, the countries with the highest and worst Global Hunger Index-scores tend to be those engaged in or recently emerged from war. The two worst-scoring countries, Central African Republic and Chad, have both experienced violent conflict and political instability in recent years. The food security for Syrian’s is also of great concern “It is serious. Inside Syria almost 10 million Syrians are affected by the conflict and in need of food assistance, More than 6 million people are in critical need of food assistance. If their needs cannot be met and neither the basic needs of those residing in neighbouring countries, it can trigger massive migration and lead to new friction and conflict in other affected countries”, Thomas Ølholm says. In contrast, in Angola, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, hunger levels have fallen substantially since the end of the civil wars of the 1990s and 2000s. “Chronic food insecurity originates mainly due to inadequate political and economic investment and their systems often collapse due to natural phenomena, or due to conflict disrupting the food system. When this happens combined, the impact is much higher and it kicks in faster with severe impacts in terms of hunger if not prevented or responded to appropriately”, Thomas Ølholm says. Despite progress in reducing food insecurity worldwide, hunger levels in 52 of 117 countries remain “serious” (44 countries) or “alarming” (8 countries). The Central African Republic, Chad, and Zambia had the highest hunger levels, according to the report. However, some of the world’s poorest countries could not be included in the report due to unavailable data. South Sudan is an example of a country where lack of comprehensive data, prevents proper analysis of the food security situation. “Most often it is because sufficient reliable information and data from these countries, for example DR Congo and Somalia, is no longer accessible due to conflict that has lasted for decades. The humanitarian agencies do collect data on food security, but they are not necessarily comparable to the statistical date that can be provided by countries not affected by conflict”, Ølholm explains. The smallest children - those up to 24 months, are first affected by hunger. Worldwide nearly half of all child deaths under age five are due to malnutrition. Malnutrition claims the lives of about 3.1 million children per year. According to Thomas Ølholm the world reacts when there is a famine, but not as much when there is “only” severe or protracted hunger. “It is a common reaction and seems to be engulfed in human nature that we are only affected by a crisis when it starts affecting our personal feelings. We only get reactive when we see misery, starvation and dying.” The Global Hunger Index report states that between 1870 and 2014, 106 instances of famine and mass starvation each killed 100,000 people or more. Despite a decrease in wars over recent decades, the number of violent conflicts and conflict-related deaths has recently increased from an all-time low in 2006. “Calamitous famines,” those that kill more than one million people, seem to have vanished. “An improvement in Food Security is not only attributed to end of a conflict and people recover their livelihoods. It is equally influenced by political commitments and economical investments. For poor countries donors often play key role in both influencing and supporting such development”, Thomas Ølholm says. The NRC Food Security Advisor is also concerned about the impact of climate change on food security. “In the longer term it is important to keep in mind what role the weather can have on the food systems and people’s ability to adapt to change in weather patterns, especially in the Sahel region and the neighbouring countries where there are already precautious levels of food insecurity.”
|
Famine
| null | null |
1968 Chicago riots
|
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making the purpose of the convention to select a new presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. The keynote speaker was Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine were nominated for president and vice president, respectively. The most contentious issues of the convention were the continuing American military involvement in the Vietnam War and voting reform, particularly expanding the right to vote for draft-age soldiers (age 18) who were unable to vote as the voting age was 21. The convention also marked a turning point where previously idle groups such as youth and minorities became more involved in politics and voting. The convention of 1968 was held during a year of riots, political turbulence, and mass civil unrest. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April of that year inflamed racial tensions to an unprecedented level. King's assassination lead to riots in more than 100 cities and marked the end of the Civil Rights Era. The convention also followed the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5. Robert Kennedy's assassination derailed the convention, paving the way for Hubert Humphrey. Both Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota had been running for the Democratic nomination at the time. The Humphrey-Muskie ticket would be defeated in the general election by the Republican ticket of Nixon and Agnew. The Democratic Party, which controlled the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, was divided in 1968. Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the campaign in November 1967, challenging incumbent President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination. Senator Robert F. Kennedy entered the race in March 1968. Johnson, facing dissent within his party, and having only barely won the New Hampshire primary, announced that he would not seek re-election on March 31, 1968.The Wisconsin primary was scheduled for April 2, and public opinion polls showed Johnson as third in the race, behind McCarthy and Kennedy. For an incumbent president to come in third in a primary would be unprecedented humiliation, and for Johnson it was better to drop out of the race on March 31 rather than to come in third in the Wisconsin primary. In his television address announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race, Johnson also announced the United States would stop bombing North Vietnam north of the 19th parallel and was willing to open peace talks. On April 27 Vice President Hubert Humphrey entered into the race but did not compete in any primaries; instead he inherited the delegates previously pledged to Johnson and then collected delegates in caucus states, especially in caucuses controlled by local Democratic bosses. Peace talks had begun in Paris on May 13, 1968, but almost immediately became deadlocked as Xuan Thuy, the head of the North Vietnamese delegation, demanded that the U.S. give a promise to unconditionally stop bombing North Vietnam, a demand rejected by W. Averell Harriman of the American delegation.Like many other newly independent nations in Africa and Asia, the North Vietnamese were extremely sensitive about threats to their newly won sovereignty and independence. Under French colonial rule, the French had carried out their policy of mission civilisatrice, under which the Vietnamese were to be "civilized" by being assimilated into the French language and culture, which had caused an intense Vietnamese nationalist reaction. Ho Chi Minh and all of the other Vietnamese communist leaders had spent decades struggling against the French, and he, together with the rest of the Politburo, felt that the U.S. dropping bombs on North Vietnam was a violation of their country's sovereignty. In a way that many Americans had trouble understanding, Ho felt that to negotiate with the Americans reserving the right to bomb North Vietnam whenever they wanted to would diminish the country's independence.Right from the moment Operation Rolling Thunder started in 1965, the North Vietnamese had demanded the U.S. unconditionally halt the bombing as the first step towards peace. [10] Though the North Vietnamese had agreed to talk in 1968, it soon became apparent that no progress would be possible in Paris until the U.S. promised to unconditionally cease bombing, as the talks floundered on that issue all through the spring, summer and fall of 1968. [9]
After Kennedy's assassination on June 5, the Democratic Party's divisions grew. At the moment of Kennedy's death the delegate count stood at Humphrey 561.5, Kennedy 393.5, McCarthy 258. Kennedy's murder left his delegates uncommitted. Support within the Democratic Party was divided between McCarthy, who ran a decidedly anti-war campaign and was seen as the peace candidate; Humphrey, who was seen as the candidate representing the Johnson point of view;[13] and Senator George McGovern, who appealed to some of the Kennedy supporters. Before the start of the convention on August 26, several states had competing slates of delegates attempting to be seated at the convention. Some of these delegate credential fights went to the floor of the convention on August 26, where votes were held to determine which slates of delegates representing Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina would be seated at the convention. The more racially integrated challenging slate from Texas was defeated.
The convention was regarded[by whom?] as one of the most tense and confrontational political conventions ever in American history. The convention's host, Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, had refused permission for "anti-patriotic" groups to demonstrate at the convention, and had the International Amphitheatre, where the convention was being held, ringed with barbed wire while putting the 11,000 officers of the Chicago Police Department on twelve-hour shifts. In addition, there were 6,000 armed men from the Illinois National Guard called up to guard the International Amphitheatre, giving the feeling that Chicago was a city under siege.Todd Gitlin, one of the leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) protest group, was highly worried about the potential for violence, and at a speech paraphrased a lyric from a song, "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)", saying: "If you're going to Chicago, be sure to wear some armor in your hair".
Johnson had wanted the Democratic convention to be held in Houston, but Daley had successfully lobbied the president to have the convention held in Chicago, as he wanted the convention held in his city to showcase to the national media how successful he had been since he started serving as mayor in 1955. Daley, a man who ruled Chicago in an extremely authoritarian style, felt very strongly that the protesters were going to ruin what was supposed to be his moment of triumph and was determined to stop them. One of Daley's aides told the media that the anti-war demonstrators were "revolutionaries bent on the destruction of America". The mayor attempted to impose restrictions to keep protesters as far away as possible from the convention, on their numbers, and on their activities, making it very clear that he much preferred that no protesters come to his city. Two of the SDS leaders, Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis, had planned to keep their protests peaceful, but the lack of permits for protesting together with thinly veiled threats that the Chicago police would beat demonstrators made it clear that there would probably be violence. When the media reported that Daley had given orders to the police to restrict the activities of Democratic delegates loyal to McCarthy, Daley was enraged, giving a rambling press conference saying, "This is a vicious attack on this city and its mayor".
The leaders of the Yippies (an acronym for Youth International Party), Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, specialized in outlandish, bizarre rhetoric that attracted maximum media attention, and Daley took many of their more outrageous threats seriously. To sabotage the convention, Hoffman and Rubin announced that they were sending "super-hot" hippie girls to seduce the delegates and give them LSD; that they were going to put LSD into the water supply of the International Amphitheatre; and were sending well-endowed hippie "studs" to seduce the wives and daughters of the delegates. In a typical press release, Hoffman and Rubin stated about their plans in Chicago: "We are dirty, smelly, grimy and foul...we will piss and shit and fuck in public...we will be constantly stoned or tripping on every drug known to man".Daley took all of this seriously, and much of the excessive security was due to his belief that the Yippies were going to disrupt the convention in the manner that they had proclaimed they would.
|
Riot
| null | null |
Sennichi Department Store Building fire
|
Coordinates: 34°49′15.16″N 135°26′22.28″E / 34.8208778°N 135.4395222°E / 34.8208778; 135.4395222
The Sennichi Department Store Building fire occurred in Sennichimae, Minami-ku (now Chuo-ku), Osaka, Japan on May 13, 1972. The fire killed 118 people and injured another 78. It was the worst department store fire in terms of casualties in Japan. The building that housed the department store also contained various other businesses, including a cabaret. All the victims had been in the cabaret. The fire started at 22:27 in the third floor, where women's dresses were sold. The cause of the fire was said to be a cigarette butt or a smouldering match left behind by a construction worker. Immediate attempts to extinguish the fire failed. The fire department was informed of the fire at 22:40 and started firefighting at 22:43. By that time, the third and fourth floors were fuming black smoke. Women's dresses for sale caught fire and helped spread the fire. The four floors from the second to the fifth were ablaze. Poisonous gas resulting from burning construction materials filled the stairway and caused the majority of casualties. The loss was exacerbated by the locked exits in the cabaret. When elevators ceased to function, the situation turned into a mass panic. Twenty-four people attempted to escape by jumping out of windows, of whom 22 fell to their deaths. Ninety-six were found dead inside the cabaret. The fire was brought under control the next day and finally extinguished on the third day. Of the dead, 93 suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, three died from compression injuries in the chest and abdomen (meaning that they were probably trampled to death), and 22 died from jumping. Of the injured, 27 were firemen. It was Saturday night, and the cabaret was filled to capacity, as it was one of the most popular night spots in Osaka. There were partitions in the fire exits, but they did not work. Notification to the fire station was delayed by 13 minutes. The fire shutter, which was not automatic, did not work. Multiple factors were responsible for the loss of life, including the design of the building itself, which had previously been a Kabuki theater. There was no fire sprinkler system. The existence of various different types of enterprises within one building was also a problem. The regulations and laws at the time of the construction of buildings collectively allowed these faults to occur. At the time of the fire, there were shops directly run by the Sennichi Department Store in the first and second floors, supermarkets on the 3rd and 4th floors, stores of the same prices on the 5th floor, game corners on the 6th floor, a cabaret called "Playtown" which was run by an affiliated company, and a showroom "haunted house" and coffee house underground. It was a so-called "conglomerate building" with different administrators. The 6th floor was partly under construction to become a bowling alley and the 3rd floor was also under construction. Two people from the Sennichi Department Store and two people from the Playtown Cabaret were indicted for occupational negligence resulting in fire and casualties. One of the department store people died during the trial. On November 29, 1990, the remaining three persons were finally found guilty. A department administrator was sentenced to imprisonment for two years and six months with suspension of three years; two persons involved with the cabaret were sentenced to one year and six months with suspension of two years. The 1972 Sennichi Department Store Building fire and the 1973 Taiyo Department Store fire, both of which caused many casualties, finally led to amendments of the Construction Standard Law and the Fire Fighting Law. These amendments dictated that steps must be taken to prevent the possibility of smoke hindering people who are trying to escape from a fire.
|
Fire
| null | null |
Archaeologists Discover Trove of Artifacts at Site of 19th-Century Alabama Tavern
|
During the Civil War, both the Union and Confederate armies used the building as a hospital and command center Archaeologists in northwest Alabama have unearthed pottery, glass and nails at the site of an inn and tavern that played a pivotal role in the Civil War. Some of the artifacts predate construction of Pope’s Tavern in the 1830s; others are even older, predating Alabama’s admission as the nation’s 22nd state in 1819, reports Connor Todd for Alabama Public Radio (APR). The team, from the University of Alabama’s Office of Archaeological Research, conducted the excavation on the grounds of what’s now Pope’s Tavern Museum, a local history museum in the city of Florence. “They pulled out a bunch of artifacts that are being cleaned and processed right now,” museum curator Brian Murphy tells the Times Daily’s Bernie Delinski. “They will give us a really good image of the types of materials and type of utensils used, and really a glimpse into the daily life of the people who lived there and used that space.” As the museum notes on Facebook, the work was funded by a Historic Sites Grant from the Alabama Historical Commission. Among the artifacts found during the dig were a glazed ceramic vessel and window glass. According to APR, the tavern stood on a road that was constructed in 1816, at the order of future president Andrew Jackson, to connect Nashville and New Orleans. The building served as a stagecoach stop and inn. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces occupied Florence at different times. Both sides used Pope’s Tavern as a hospital and command center, notes Florence-Lauderdale Tourism on its website. Today, the museum houses a number of Civil War artifacts, including a rare Kennedy long rifle and a Confederate colonel’s uniform. Staff are currently preparing for an exhibition exploring slavery and cotton in the Florence area. Among the topics set to be covered is the role enslaved workers played in constructing some of the area’s significant buildings, including Wesleyan Hall at what’s now the University of North Alabama. Excavations at the site began with measurement of the yard in May. Then, technicians scanned the ground for anomalies and used the data to determine where to dig test pits. In addition to the pottery and other small items, archaeologists found the remains of a brick structure that may have been a hearth, privy or outbuilding, reports the Associated Press (AP). Murphy says they’re conducting a microscopic analysis of the building materials. “After they do that, they’re going to get back to us with the larger picture of what it all means and what might be under there still that could be the source of a future excavation,” he tells the Times Daily. The museum notes on Facebook that the research may be able to establish the earliest period of occupancy at the site.
|
New archeological discoveries
| null | null |
Naperville North High School closed for investigation of bomb threat
|
Classes were canceled Wednesday at Naperville North High School as police investigated a bomb threat emailed to the west suburban school earlier that morning, school officials said. Students and staff were evacuated to Naperville Central High School, where families were asked to pick up their students, School District 203 said in a statement. The threat was made before classes had begun, a Naperville police spokeswoman Kelley Munch said. “All students and staff members are now safe, and their security continues to be the district’s top priority,” the district said in its statement. After-school activities were also canceled as police continued their search of the building, the district said. A school district spokesman declined to comment further.
|
Organization Closed
| null | null |
1,000 days until next total solar eclipse in the Heartland
|
Astronomers are counting down the days until the next total solar eclipse. In 2017, thousands gathered to watch the last total solar eclipse in the Heartland. As of Tuesday, July 13, we are just 1,000 days away from the next total solar eclipse that is set to happen on April 8, 2024. “The first thing most people say after they see one is when’s the next one,” said Robert Baer, specialist in the Physics Department at SIU Carbondale. The next eclipse may not be for three years, but Baer said they are expecting to put on another big event. “We’re looking at doing a three-day festival again, similar to what we did last time, probably using a bit more of the campus this time around,” explained Baer. The festival won’t just be about the viewing of the moon getting between Earth and the sun. “There will be a lot of education activities for families, for kids and their parents to see, learn a little bit more about the eclipse, learn about some of the science including some of the art around the eclipse,” said Baer. Compared to the 2017 eclipse, the totality of the 2024 one will last a bit longer. “Here on campus, we are looking at about 4 minutes and 9 seconds of totality, which means it’s going to be dark for that long, so you can look up at the corona in the sky, and that’s similar for the Cape region. It’s going to be just a little bit shorter in Cape but about the same,” Baer said. According to Baer, the best viewing spot in the country is in southwest Texas, with 4 minutes and 30 seconds of totality. Baer also explained how this type of event needs to be planned way in advance. “So you have to start planning early for something like this because of the scale of it and for us here on campus, we look out, we look at the calendar pretty far in advance, do we want to have school that day, are we going to have students on campus, for instance, which we will in April, is happening towards the end of the school year,” said Baer. For you astronomers, you have a chance to catch another spectacle in the sky next year. “A total lunar eclipse coming up May of 2022, so we’re under a year away from that one and that’s what people often refer to as a blood moon,” stated Baer. Southern Illinois University again is partnering with the Adler Planetarium out of Chicago for the 2024 total solar eclipse. Both partners will be putting on the festivities again, similar to what they did in 2017.
|
New wonders in nature
| null | null |
Derrick Henry out of surgery, recovering
|
Titans running back Derrick Henry underwent foot surgery Tuesday morning as planned. Dianna Russini of ESPN reports that surgery “went well,” and Henry now is recovering. Henry injured his foot in Sunday’s victory over the Colts, but he still played through the end of the game. He played 74 percent of Tennessee’s offensive snaps. Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Monday there is a chance Henry can return this season, but it is roughly an eight-week recovery. Henry led the league in rushing each of the past two seasons, gaining 2,027 yards with 17 touchdowns last year. He currently leads the league with 219 carries, 937 yards rushing and 10 rushing touchdowns, which had him on pace for 465 touches, 1,948 yards and 21 touchdowns. Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor is second with 649 rushing yards.
|
Famous Person - Recovered
| null | null |
2013 Palmasola prison riot
|
On August 23, 2013, a prison riot broke out at Palmasola, a maximum-security prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The riot started when members of one cell block attacked a rival gang in another, using propane tanks as flame throwers. Thirty-one people were killed, including an 18-month-old child who was living at the prison. Thirty-seven others were seriously injured. The riot led to calls for reform in the Bolivian prison system, which is plagued by overcrowding and long delays in the trial system. Palmasola is Bolivia's largest prison and holds about 3,500 prisoners. Like many prisons in Latin America, guards exert minimal control over what happens within the prison, leading to it being described as a "prison town". Guards instead concentrate only on securing the perimeter of the facility. According to former inmates, almost anything can be obtained in the prison. Businesses operate inside the prison to supply weapons and drugs. Under Bolivian law, children under the age of six may live in a prison with one of their parents. Four out of five prisoners in Palmasola are awaiting trial.
Prisons in Latin America are among the most dangerous in the world, and the ones in Bolivia are the second most overcrowded at 233% overcapacity (just behind El Salvador, with 299%). The driving factors in overcrowding are pre-trial detentions and judicial backlogs. At least 85% of the inmates in the country have pending trials/convictions. Many are imprisoned for minor drug offenses under Law 1008, a controversial legislation created in 1988 that places heavy penalties on drug offenders. In addition, prisons in Latin America are often run by inmates affiliated with a criminal group. The gang leaders, known as "delegates", may charge fees to other inmates in exchange for certain benefits, such as occupying personal cells, enjoying family visits, or having televisions. Prisons in Bolivia may have so-called "life insurance" fees, mandatory extortion payments among inmates that range from $100 to $500. The fees are controlled by prison gangs, and those who fail to pay may face torture or death. Egregious as these abuses are, as of 2013, organized crime activities in Bolivia's penitentiary system are not at the levels of influence observed in most prisons of Central America, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela, where a significant proportion of outside organized crime is commanded from inside prisons.
At approximately 6am on August 23, 2013, a riot broke out at Palmasola when a gang living in cell block B broke a hole in the wall that separated it from cell block A, the home of a rival gang. They then used machetes, small knives, and sticks to attack their rivals. The inmates used a number of propane tanks, first to suffocate victims with the gas, then set the tanks on fire, using them as flame throwers or bombs. Shell casings were found at the scene, but it was unclear whether guns had been used in the conflict. Fire spread quickly as straw mattresses caught fire, trapping some prisoners and causing others to jump off the roof in an attempt to escape the fire. A hundred additional police were dispatched to regain control of the prison; even so, it took four hours to do so. According to local politician Maria Inez Galvez, there were not enough guards on duty to take all the wounded to the hospital.
Thirty-one people died in the riot, most of whom were burnt to death. Among the dead was an 18-month-old who was living at the prison. A further 37 inmates were seriously injured with burns over 60-90% of their bodies, and 256 were evacuated. It was the deadliest prison riot in Bolivian history.President Evo Morales ordered an investigation as relatives waited outside the prison to learn if loved ones were injured or killed.They angrily complained that guards had made no effort to save inmate lives, instead letting the injured die from their burns. The children living at the prison were evacuated after the fire. A list of the deceased had not been released as of August 24. More than 50 prisoners suspected as aggressors during the riot have been isolated pending questioning.
The riot reportedly started as a battle over leadership and control of the "Chonchocorito" sector of the prison. The gang in cell block A had allegedly been extracting payments from their rivals in cell block B who grew sick of the extortion attempts and started the riot. The suspected ringleaders were convicted murderers and rapists.
The archbishop of Santa Cruz, Sergio Gualberti, said the riot highlights "the overcrowding that exists within Palmasola and much of the country" due to "breach of duty" on the part of the judicial system causing long delays before trial. He said inmates are "practically forgotten" by the judicial system with no attempts at rehabilitation and criticized the prisons' failure to separate violent and non-violent offenders from each other. Worst of all, he said, was the subjection of children to prison conditions. He said the church was willing to provide financial support to put an end to the practice.The Ombudsman agreed, saying the incident "clearly shows the weakness in prison security, the crisis caused by overcrowding and delayed justice, insecurity within the facilities, and the inadequate prison infrastructure. " A representative for the National Convergence political party accused the government of negligence saying the presence of alcohol, weapons, and phones within the prison was strong evidence that authorities had no control of internal security within the prison.
|
Riot
| null | null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.