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1984 Bhiwandi riot
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The 1984 Bhiwandi riot was a Hindu-Muslim riot that occurred in May 1984 in and around Bhiwandi town in Indian state of Maharashtra. It left 146 people dead and over 600 injured. [1][2] On 17 May 1984, riots broke out in industrial belt from Bombay, Thane, and Bhiwandi. In all, 278 were killed and 1,118 were wounded. [3][4][5]
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Riot
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Bilecik train collision
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The Bilecik train collision happened on 3 January 2010, when two passenger trains collided in Bilecik, Turkey. One person was killed and seven people were injured. Two passenger trains were involved in a collision at Bilecik, Turkey when one train ran into the rear of another. One train driver was killed and seven passengers were injured. Both trains were travelling from Istanbul to Eskişehir. The second train passed a signal at danger and ran into the rear of the first train, which was stationary at the time. [1]
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Train collisions
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Aeroflot Flight 418 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 418 was an international passenger flight operated by a Tupolev Tu-154A, registered CCCP-85102, that was operating the second leg of an scheduled Luanda–Malabo–N'Djamena–Tripoli–Moscow passenger service. The plane crashed on into a mountain near Malabo Airport on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea on 1 June 1976. [1]
The aircraft was en route from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport to Malabo International Airport when it struck a mountain 750 metres (2,460 ft) high at Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. [1] All 42 passengers and 4 crew perished. [2][3]
The cause of the accident could not be determined, but the investigation commission suspected a possible failure of the MSRP-12 radar on the aircraft may have led the crew to be unaware of their position.
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Air crash
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Covid-19 Rescue Plan Has More Than Just Tax-Free Student Loan Forgiveness
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The $1.9 trillion Covid-19 legislation includes several provisions that benefit college students, not just tax-free status for student loan forgiveness. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) , which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, provides a lot of additional funding for current college students and recent college graduates. The American Rescue Plan Act provides emergency financial aid grants, recovery rebate checks and ... [+] other funding for college students, not just tax-free status for student loan forgiveness. Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). Colleges will receive almost $40 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, at least half of which must be used for emergency financial aid grants to students. This comes after $14 billion in HEERF funding from the CARES Act and $23 billion from the CRRSA Act. The allocation formula is similar to the previous allocation formulas, except that there will be a reduced allocation for colleges with endowments over $1 million and an increased allocation for colleges with endowments under $1 million, including colleges that do not have endowments. PROMOTED The emergency financial aid grants are no longer limited to students who are eligible for Title IV federal student aid, but it is unclear whether DACA students and international students are eligible. The emergency financial aid grants may be used by students to pay for college costs and emergency costs related to the pandemic. Colleges must give priority to students with exceptional financial need, but can otherwise decide how to award the grants to students. The colleges receiving HEERF funding are required to conduct outreach to students about the opportunity to appeal for more financial aid due to the recent unemployment of a family member or other special circumstances. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) bases income and tax information on the prior-prior year. For example, the 2021-2022 FAFSA is based on 2019 income, which is pre-pandemic. More than a third of American workers lost their jobs or experienced pay cuts in 2020, so 2019 income is not likely to be reflective of ability to pay for college for many families. Recovery Rebate. College students are eligible for the $1,400 stimulus checks. Parents will be able to claim $1,400 per dependent. The definition of dependent includes children under age 19 and full-time students under age 24. Previously, the definition was limited to children under age 17. Eligibility phases out for taxpayers with income of $75,000 to $80,000 (single filers) and $150,000 to $160,000 (married filing jointly). The stimulus checks go to the parents, not the student, but parents can choose to share the money with their children or keep it for themselves. Increased Child Tax Credits. The child tax credit is increased from $2,000 per child to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children age 6 to 17. Not only does this increase the child tax credit, but it extends it to include children age 17. Some college freshmen will be eligible, since 0.8% of dependent undergraduate students are age 17 and younger. Eligibility for the increased child tax credit phases out for taxpayers with income of $75,000 to $200,000 (single filers) and $150,000 to $400,000 (married filing jointly). Help Completing the FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education will be receiving $91 million for student aid administration to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus including direct outreach to students and borrowers about financial aid, economic impact payments, means-tested benefits, unemployment assistance, and tax benefits, for which the students and borrowers may be eligible.” The U.S. Department of Education will use this money to help students complete the FAFSA and for other purposes. The number of students filing the FAFSA has decreased significantly during the pandemic, especially among low-income students and other at-risk populations. Tax-Free Status for Student Loan Forgiveness. All types of student loan forgiveness will be tax-free through December 31, 2025. This includes the loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years in an income-driven repayment plan, since most other forms of student loan forgiveness were already tax-free. It will also apply to future student loan forgiveness programs, such as President Biden’s proposal for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness per borrower. Only borrowers who have been repaying their federal student loans in Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) will qualify for forgiveness before the December 31, 2025 expiration of the tax-free status. Borrowers in ICR with just undergraduate loans may switch into the Revised Pay-As-You-Earn (REPAYE) repayment plan to qualify for loan forgiveness after 20 years instead of 25 years. More than 100,000 borrowers should qualify. The tax-free status is likely to be extended or made permanent prior to expiration. Employers may be able to use the tax-free status to provide employees with more tax-free student loan repayment assistance. Before passage, LRAPs could provide up to $5,250 per year in tax-free educational assistance, including student loan payments. Since all student loan forgiveness is now tax-free, employers can bypass the $5,250 limitation, except for loans refinanced by educational institutions or private education lenders for their own employees. The tax savings per borrower is as much as $2,400 per $10,000 in loan forgiveness, assuming a 24% tax bracket. Changes in the 90/10 Rule. For profit colleges must get no more than 90% of their revenue from Title IV federal student aid. The American Rescue Plan Act changes this rule to cover all federal student aid, not just federal student aid provided by the Higher Education Act of 1965. In particular, the 90/10 rule limitation will also apply to military student aid. Proponents of this change argued that omitting military student aid encouraged for-profit colleges to recruit veterans who were eligible for G.I. Bill and other college funding. Changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Biden Administration has announced that the Paycheck Protection Program will be made available to small businesses that are owned by borrowers who are currently delinquent on their federal student loans or who defaulted within the last seven years.
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Financial Aid
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1947 Wisconsin earthquake
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The 1947 Wisconsin earthquake took place on May 6, immediately south of Milwaukee at 15:25 (CST). It was the largest tremor to be historically documented in Wisconsin, but was not recorded by seismographs. The area had been previously shaken by the 1909 Wabash River earthquake, causing damage assessed at VII (Very strong) on the Modified Mercalli scale across the Wisconsin-Illinois border. Two earthquakes were also reported in the state in 1912. Shocks in 1919 and 1925, the first from Missouri and the latter from Canada, occurred over enormous zones and affected the entire region, though not seriously. Earthquakes struck Wisconsin again in 1937 and 1939. [1]
The area hardest hit was a 7,770 square kilometers (3,000 sq mi) strip of land in southeastern Wisconsin, while the earthquake was felt over a much more extensive 99 miles (159 km) wide area stretching across the Wisconsin-Illinois border, and to Lake Michigan and Waukesha. Damage consisted of broken windows and fallen porcelain, pots and dishes. [2] The locals' initial impression was that an explosion had taken place. Many evacuated buildings into the streets. [2] Corporate office buildings were emptied of workers. [3] Numerous calls were made local fire departments, police stations and newspapers. Three reports were made to the Milwaukee Fire Department, all describing explosions. [3]
Often described as "sharp", this was the most powerful earthquake to date in Wisconsin's seismological history. The earthquake broke a seismograph at Marquette University. [3] Many hotels, such as the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, were rocked by the tremor. However, the earthquake caused no serious damage or casualties. [3]
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Earthquakes
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1969 Santa Rosa earthquakes
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At 04:56 and 06:19 UTC on October 2, 1969 (21:56 and 23:19 PDT October 1), a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 5.6 and 5.7, respectively, struck the city of Santa Rosa, California, killing one person and damaging buildings. The maximum felt intensity for the two events was VII (Very strong) and VIII (Severe) respectively on the Mercalli intensity scale. [2] The $8.35 million cost of the earthquakes[3] went mostly to replace buildings damaged beyond repair. There were at least 200 aftershocks after the initial pair of earthquakes. At the time they were the largest earthquakes to affect the northern San Francisco Bay Area since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. [4]
The current tectonics of northern California are mainly controlled by the San Andreas Fault system, the zone of dextral strike-slip faulting that accommodates displacement between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along this transform boundary. In addition to the San Andreas Fault itself there are numerous other sub-parallel dextral strike-slip faults that take up some of the plate boundary motion distributed through a zone more than 100 km wide. [5] The 1969 earthquakes and most of their aftershocks occurred along the Healdsburg Fault, which lies between the Maacama Fault and the Rodgers Creek Fault, linked to them by right step-overs. [4] These faults form a continuation of the Hayward Fault Zone north of San Francisco Bay. [5]
The two earthquakes occurred about a kilometer apart, a few kilometers north of Santa Rosa, close to the trace of the Healdsburg Fault. [6] The focal depths of the two mainshocks were 9.6 km and 10.4 km respectively. The first shock was described as "violent or explosive" by residents and the main shaking lasted for 15 seconds. [7]
The earthquake caused severe damage in some areas of Santa Rosa, affecting many buildings, bringing down chimneys, causing sidewalks to buckle and rupturing underground pipes. The lack of casualties and the low number of injuries is ascribed to the earthquakes being in the evening, when there were few pedestrians in the streets. [8] The degree of damage associated with the earthquakes was greater than expected for their magnitude, with many older building left beyond repair. Gravity data have been used to show the presence of two sedimentary basins, separated by the Trenton ridge, which is associated with the northeast-dipping Trenton thrust fault. Modeling of the ground motion for the 1906 and 1969 earthquakes shows increased shaking at the northeastern edge of the southern basin, where Santa Rosa is situated. [9]
Following the relatively high level of damage caused by the 1969 earthquakes, the city set about retrofitting buildings to improve their earthquake resistance by adding for instance cross-bracing to unreinforced masonry structures. The first buildings to be retrofitted were the St. Rose Church and Parish hall due to their high level of occupancy and lack of reinforcing. The safety standards adopted in Santa Rosa in 1970 provided a model for other cities in California when the state brought in requirements for retrofitting. [8]
An analysis of the effects on structures in Santa Rosa showed that it was necessary to design buildings using dynamic principles rather than just static, even in the case of a moderate intensity earthquake. [10]
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Earthquakes
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Records set for China's speed climbing with new rules introduced at National Games
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XI'AN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Wu Peng and Niu Di set national records of 5.62 and 6.98 seconds respectively for the men's and women's speed climbing in the qualification round at China's 14th National Games here on Friday.
The results, however, are not the fastest performance the Chinese speed climbers have ever had. Deng Lijuan from Hunan province also had broken the seven-second barrier earlier in May with 6.67 seconds, bettering the current women's world record of 6.84 seconds created by Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw at the Tokyo Olympics, and another Hunan climber Cao Long's personal best is only 0.09 seconds behind the current men's world record of 5.20 seconds.
All the records set before the 14th National Games are announced to be void, as a new set of certificating standards of speed climbing national records was released a week ago by the China Mountaineering Association (CMA), the governing body of sport climbing, and has been put into use for the first time in Xi'an.
"In the past, we don't have clear rules to certificate the climbing surface, holds, and timing systems that are used in domestic races, so that the records set before are unconvincing in a way," said Li Guowei, head of the sport climbing department of China's mountain sports management center.
"Chinese climbers have grown from amateurs to professionals in the past few years, and sport climbing has made it into the Olympics, so it's time for standardization in order to further promote the sport," Li added.
Deng Lijuan ranked second in the women's discipline with 1.01 second behind. The Hunan climber fell in her first attempt largely due to the heavy rain, from which the men's runner-up Long Jinbao, 0.07 behind the new record holder, also suffered in his failed second attempt.
"The rain created lots of trouble. There was water on several holds, and the wind just blew the raindrops into my eyes," said Niu, indicating that she could have been faster without the rain.
The final round, which was scheduled to be held in the evening, was delayed because of the formidable weather. Enditem
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Break historical records
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Aeroflot Flight 1661 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 1661 was a passenger flight operated by an Antonov An-24 that crashed during its initial climb, 25 minutes after take-off from Tolmachevo Airport on 1 April 1970. All 45 people on board perished. An investigation revealed that the Antonov collided with a radiosonde, causing a loss of control. Flight 1661 was a scheduled domestic flight from Novosibirsk to Bratsk, Russia, with an intermediate stop at Krasnoyarsk. At 03:42 local time the An-24 departed Tolmachevo Airport from runway 25 on a heading of 251°. Shortly after take-off, the aircraft made a turn to the left, and at 03:53 contacted air traffic control (ATC) and reported their altitude as 4,200 meters. They then received clearance to continue climbing to 6,000 meters. At 04:10 ATC attempted to contact flight 1661, but no further transmissions from the Antonov were received. At a distance of 131 km from Tolmachevo, while ascending through 5,400 meters, the aircraft's nose cone collided with a radiosonde, destroying the aircraft's weather radar and damaging the cockpit. Out of control, the Antonov nosed over and began to descend rapidly. At an altitude of 2,000 meters and a speed of 700 km/h, the wing and horizontal stabilizer separated from the aircraft due to aerodynamic forces well beyond the plane's design limits. The fuselage then continued 2.5 km before striking the ground at 300 km/h and a vertical speed of 60 m/sec. The flight lasted 25 minutes, 25 seconds; the crash site was in a field approximately 142 km from Tolmachevo Airport.
The Antonov An-24 involved was serial numbered 79901204 and registered as CCCP-47751 to Aeroflot. The airliner was built in 1967, and had compiled 3,975 flight hours with 3,832 take-off and landing cycles at the time of the crash.
Investigators examining the crash site discovered unusual damage to the aircraft's radome and nose structure, and noticed that a substantial portion of the windshield was missing. Also found among the wreckage were parts of two radiosondes of the type then being used by the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia for the monitoring of meteorological conditions. Investigators also discovered parts of the aircraft's nose cone six km away from the main crash site; these components displayed evidence of collision with a solid object. Officials concluded that the accident was caused by a collision in flight with a foreign object (the radiosonde/balloon assembly). [1]
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Air crash
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Increase in South China Sea Naval Activity Expected to Provoke Beijing
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An increase in world naval activity in the disputed South China Sea will prompt the strategic waterway’s largest claimant, Beijing, to send more of its own ships as a way of showing others it won’t retreat, experts say. Two Indian navy warships and a Vietnamese navy frigate held exercises last week that started at a port in Vietnam and extended into firing drills and helicopter moves further at sea, the Indian Defense Ministry said on its website. It said the exercises were “in continuation with ongoing deployment of Indian Navy ships in the South China Sea” and “would be another step towards strengthening India-Vietnam defense relations.” Among other exercises in or near the sea, a Royal Canadian Navy warship joined Australian, Japanese and U.S. naval vessels for a coordinated workout in January. Ships from Australia, India, Japan and the United States scheduled their annual Malabar exercises near Guam – the U.S. territory closest to Asia – for August 26-29. Since about the start of the year, warships from eight countries with no actual maritime claims have passed through or near the South China Sea. China claims about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, overlapping waters five other governments also claim. Chinese officials point to maritime documents dating back to dynastic times as support for their claim. The others cite a United Nations convention on sea usage. People’s Liberation Army Navy ships are expected to travel the sea more often and step up the frequency of exercises, scholars believe. China already held naval exercises near its southern coast this month, following a round in January and another in March. Officials in Beijing have indicated they hold exercises largely in response to U.S. movements. The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command "will always remain on high alert" and "resolutely safeguard" China's sovereignty, a senior colonel said in August last year after it had "warned off" a U.S. guided-missile destroyer. China fears the dispute is becoming more “internationalized” because of the spike in foreign navy operations and that it has lost its clout to discuss sovereignty disputes one-on-one with other Asian states, said Yun Sun, senior fellow and co-director of the East Asia program at the Stimson Center in Washington. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – all militarily weaker than China – lay claims in the sea. They value the sea for its fisheries, undersea fossil fuel reserves and marine shipping lanes. Vietnam and the Philippines have spoken out against China's ship movement and land reclamation at disputed islets. “The more foreign vessels, the more need that China will identify for military exercises to show it’s not scared [and] it’s vigorously using military capability to define and defend national interests,” Sun said. China will probably react to each foreign exercise with something comparable, though actual clashes are unlikely, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. “What happens after these [foreign] ships come into the South China Sea really depends on China’s reaction, because always China tends to overreact to every vessel passage in the South China Sea,” he said. Countries from outside the region often pair their exercises with statements opposing a single country’s control of the whole sea, another irritant to Beijing. The Southeast Asian maritime claimants now “have some leverage” and are “not taking on China alone,” Sun said. A country such as Vietnam might now feel “emboldened” to step up its drilling for undersea oil and gas, she said. “It is gradually offsetting China’s dominance in the region and also offsetting or attacking China’s hegemonic desire in that part of the world,” Sun said. China would bolster its own exercises along with diplomatic protests against the non-Asian naval exercises, said Shariman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia. The country is likely to “act professionally” to avoid any wider conflict, though, he said. “They will make a lot of noise,” Lockman said. “They will react. But I think they are also wary about prompting anything bigger.”
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Military Exercise
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Howard Street Tunnel fire
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The Howard Street Tunnel fire (also known as the Baltimore Freight Rail Crash) was a 60-car CSX Transportation freight train derailment that occurred in the Howard Street Tunnel, a freight through-route tunnel under Howard Street in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 18, 2001. The derailment sparked a chemical fire that raged for five or six days and virtually shut down the downtown area. In the evening of the first day, a water main ruptured causing significant flooding in the streets above. The accident disrupted Northeast Corridor rail service. It also slowed Internet service in the US for several hours due to the destruction of a cable passing through the tunnel. The train consisted of 60 cars. Car nos. 46 through 56 derailed in the Howard Street Tunnel at 3:08 PM, and became disconnected from the first 45 cars. The train experienced an automatic emergency brake application resulting from the separation of the train, but the crew didn't realise that a derailment had taken place. Around 3:26 they moved the locomotives out of the tunnel. Around 4 PM smoke was seen coming from a sewer near the intersection of Howard and Lombard Streets, and the fire department was notified. Later, smoke emerged from the ends of the tunnel and from several manholes. Eventually it was found that one of the derailed tank cars, carrying tripropylene, had ruptured and the escaping flammable liquid had caught fire. This fire also ignited paper and wood products in other cars. Another tank car ruptured releasing 2,554 US gallons (9,670 l) of hydrochloric acid. Around 6:15 a 40-inch cast iron water main above the tunnel burst due to deformation, eventually releasing about 14,000,000 US gallons (53,000,000 l) of water. The fire burned for about 5 days. A National Transportation Safety Board report took three years to be prepared. The investigation was not able to find the cause of the accident. A numerical simulation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that the peak calculated temperatures within the tunnel were approximately 1,800 °F (980 °C) within the flaming regions, and on average approximately 900 °F (482 °C) when averaged over a length of the tunnel equal to three to four rail car lengths. Due to the insulation of the tunnel's thick brick walls, the temperature was relatively uniform across all the cars, approaching temperatures normally found in an oven or furnace: The peak wall surface temperature reached about 1,500 °F (820 °C) where the flames were directly impinging, and on average 750 °F (399 °C) over the length of three to four rail cars. Thousands of Baltimore workers were forced to leave their jobs and unable to come back for several days until the city could assure that there was no further danger from either the fire or the water main flooding. The crash also impacted MARC passenger train service for several days; bus routes were set up by the city to ferry passengers to and from the BWI Amtrak/MARC station as an alternate route. MARC service was restored on July 23, 2001. Most of the roads around Howard Street, including I-395 spur into Baltimore, experienced extremely heavy congestion due to street closures around the intersection of Howard and Lombard Streets, where the actual water main break occurred. By July 24, 2001, all but the blocks immediately surrounding the water main break were reopened to automotive traffic. Three weeks later, manhole covers flew into the air as underground explosions along West Pratt Street occurred due to residual explosive chemicals from the fire in the sewers. Smoke from the incident and flooding from the broken water main caused three Baltimore Orioles baseball home games to be canceled that summer, as Oriole Park at Camden Yards was directly in the danger zone caused by the fire. The Howard Street Tunnel is on the only direct rail link on the CSX rail line from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. The only other direct rail link is the Amtrak Northeast Corridor, a passenger line with only limited freight operations performed by Norfolk Southern Railway. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) report on the incident, officials had long known that the possibility existed for a fire or other disaster to cause a significant problem in the Howard Street Tunnel. An article published in the Baltimore Sun on July 19, 2001, contains a 1985 quote from an unidentified federal transportation safety official who observed, "... the problem would be getting in there to fight the fire... If you had an explosion, fire would shoot out of both ends like a bazooka." However, freight traffic on the line had been increasing for years as CSX and Conrail diverted traffic away from Amtrak lines to avoid Amtrak/Conrail crashes like the one in Chase, Maryland in 1987. Estimates from railway publications put the freight traffic through the Howard Street Tunnel at 28 to 32 trains per day. According to a November 2005 report to Congress:
The tunnel closing caused major disruption to CSXT freight traffic, Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) commuter trains, and to Central Light Rail Line trains and bus lines that traversed Howard Street. To avoid the Howard Street Tunnel, CSXT had to send freight trains west to Cleveland, north to Albany, New York, and then south to Baltimore, incurring a three- to four-day delay. Some CSXT trains were rerouted via the busy NS line through Manassas, Virginia, Hagerstown, Maryland, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At one point during the fire, eight CSXT trains that would have used the tunnel were detouring through Cumberland, Maryland, and Youngstown Ohio; five through Hagerstown and Harrisburg; five through Cleveland and Albany, New York; and 12 trains were stopping in various yards. [2]
According to the DOT report on the incident, firefighting efforts could not begin until the exact location of the fire within the tunnel could be found, which finally occurred at 5:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 UTC) on July 19, 2001. Work on repairing the break in the water main enabled the firemen to find a manhole cover on Howard Street through which they could gain access to both the broken water main and the tunnel itself, and firefighting efforts began in earnest. Three rail cars (boxcars of paper and plywood) were removed from the tunnel and their flaming contents were extinguished the morning of July 22, 2001. Once the water main break was finally stopped on the same day, tunnel inspectors could enter the area. Amazingly, there were no significant structural damages, and the tunnel was officially reopened to traffic at 7:45 a.m. on July 23, 2001. Beyond the adverse effects on railroad traffic, there was a massive effect on life and activities in downtown Baltimore. The incident forced the closing of streets and business over much of downtown for several days. According to a November 2005 Report to Congress[2]
The severed optical fiber cable in the tunnel was a major east coast internet communication link belonging to WorldCom. The break slowed internet service around the US for several hours; water from the water main break caused further damage to the communication lines. According to the DoT report, WorldCom was able to install a fully redundant network bypass around the incident within 36 hours, allowing resumption of east coast and transatlantic internet communications. The aftermath of the fire affected some activities for longer periods.
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Fire
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US-China policy: Biden is bringing together Japan, Australia and India to stare down China
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Forget France, AUKUS and nuclear-powered submarines -- one of the most important moments for the future of US influence in Asia is due to take place on Friday in Washington.
US President Joe Biden is holding the first in-person meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as "the Quad," an informal strategic forum of the United States, Australia, Japan and India -- all democratic countries with a vested interest in countering China's rise in Asia.
Biden will be joined in Washington by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian leader Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss "promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific," according to the White House.
The meeting comes at a time of great change for US policy in Asia. As the Biden administration moves to strengthen its diplomatic partnerships in the region, Japan is taking an increasingly hawkish view of China's military buildup. At the same time, Australia's AUKUS defense pact with the US and the United Kingdom has solidified Washington's commitment to Asia while making some important Southeast Asian partners uneasy.
At this critical point, what the Quad chooses to do next is more important than ever. Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Malcolm Davis said compared to its early roots under the George W. Bush administration, the Quad had evolved from a "low key political and economic dialogue" to a very significant player in the Asia Pacific region.
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"The Quad is not an Asian NATO ... but at the same time it is clearly moving in the direction of a cooperative security approach," Davis said.
US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken participate in a virtual meeting with leaders of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue countries on March 12 in the White House.
Countering China
The Quad was initially proposed in 2007, but was put on hold for a decade until it was revived under former US President Donald Trump amid China's rise as an economic and military superpower.
The diplomatic environment in Asia has changed markedly since that 2017 revival -- and the Quad has taken on a greater significance.
In April 2020, relations between Australia and China took a major downturn after Australia's Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19 . Beijing retaliated by imposing punitive restrictions on Australian goods and the relationship is yet to recover.
Meanwhile, ties between Washington and Beijing that deteriorated under Trump have faltered further under Biden as the US solidifies its diplomatic partnerships in Asia with a view to containing China.
The new American outreach was enthusiastically welcomed in Australia and earlier this month the two governments joined the UK to announce AUKUS , an agreement by which the three nations would exchange military information and technology to form a closer defense partnership in Asia.
Japan has also welcomed greater US involvement in the region. After attempting to pursue a warmer China policy in the early years of Chinese President Xi Jinping's time as leader, Japan has grown increasingly wary of Beijing over the past year.
In an unusually blunt interview with CNN in September, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Japan would "resolutely defend" its territory in the East China Sea "against Chinese action."
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi during an interview with CNN in September.
Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said India was now the most cautious member of the Quad and how far the group is willing to push on defense cooperation and antagonizing China might depend on Delhi.
Following a border clash between India and China in mid-2020, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers, experts said Delhi has been reluctant to antagonize Beijing.
But writing in the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs in early 2021, Amrita Jash, a research fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi, said India was still moving closer to the US militarily, including new and enhanced military exercises, arms purchases and technology transfers.
An Indian army convoy, carrying reinforcements and supplies, travels toward Leh through Zoji La, a high mountain pass bordering China on June 13 in Ladakh, India.
Part of the cooperation involves improved tracking and targeting technology, Jash said. "(There is) an imperative need for India to keep close watch on Chinese (military) movements along the Himalayan border and in mapping China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean," she added.
Glaser said there was one other determinant in how far the Quad would be willing to go in opposing Beijing.
"Another factor is China's own behavior. The more willing China is to threaten other countries' interests, threaten economic coercion ... the more countries will be willing to push back," she said.
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Diplomatic Visit
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In divorce documents, Ben Zobrist says Julianna ‘coaxed’ him into returning to the Chicago Cubs, while she requests $4M of the $8M he forfeited while on leave
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Ben Zobrist’s estranged wife, Julianna Zobrist, says the former Chicago Cubs utility man was “guilty of failing to preserve marital assets” when he took a leave of absence from the team in May 2019, so she will ask a judge to award her an additional $4 million when those assets are divided during next month’s divorce trial, according to pretrial documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
“In 2019, he had a contract with the Chicago Cubs for ($12 million), but since he only played for 2 months, his salary was prorated and he only earned ($4.5 million) of the ($12 million) he could have earned,” according to the memorandum filed July 14 in Williamson County, Tenn., by Julianna Zobrist’s attorney, Marlene Eskind Moses of Nashville-based MTR Family Law.
The brief contends that Ben Zobrist “intentionally and voluntarily stopped working” and “essentially went from the top of his game to basically giving up, which caused a massive loss in income.”
RELATED: Retired Cub Ben Zobrist sells 6-bedroom North Center home for $2M
Julianna Zobrist is seeking an even split of the marital assets, plus an additional $4 million for the “amount of money he failed to preserve by abruptly and intentionally failing to satisfy his baseball contract.”
Ben Zobrist estimates the total marital estate to be worth $24 million, while Julianna Zobrist values it at just under $31 million.
Ben Zobrist’s attorney, Helen S. Rogers of Nashville-based Rogers, Shea and Spanos, calls the claim and its reasoning “utterly absurd” in a filing to Judge Michael W. Binkley and shifts blame to the extramarital affair Julianna admitted to having with the couple’s former pastor and marriage counselor, Byron Yawn.
Zobrist is suing Yawn for $6 million in a separate case in Davidson County for intentional infliction of emotional distress and defrauding his charity.
Julianna and Ben Zobrist
Photos of Julianna and Ben Zobrist.
“Rather than accepting blame for having torn her husband’s heart out by having an affair with their pastor, she expected him to be able to totally focus in an elite athletic job that required (100%) of his physical and mental energy,” Rogers writes in the memorandum. “It is Mrs. Zobrist, by having the extramarital affair and confessing same to her husband, and not disclosing the true extent of her affair, that caused him such extreme mental distress and difficulty that resulted in an inability to finish his long and very successful career in the way that he had hoped for and planned for.”
Ben Zobrist alleges that Julianna overspent from the marital estate by “at least $691,602.86” and is seeking 60% of the couple’s assets.
Both parties laid out their full battery of accusations in the briefs as well as their proposals for dividing assets and sharing custody of their three young children. Here are just some of the facts and allegations revealed in documents before the weeklong divorce trial is set to begin Aug. 9 in Franklin, Tenn.
The Zobrists once were something akin to a celebrity couple in the Christian community and even to mainstream audiences to an extent. They were featured in Parade magazine in 2017, and Julianna was a guest on “Megyn Kelly Today” in September 2018.
Each the child of a minister, Ben and Julianna Zobrist were introduced because one of Ben’s teammates at Olivet Nazarene University was married to Julianna’s older sister. The Zobrists married on Dec. 17, 2005, in Iowa City, Iowa.
Ben Zobrist worked his way up from the minor leagues to play for the Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals and Cubs. He won back-to-back World Series championships with the Royals (2015) and Cubs (2016), and he was named the 2016 World Series MVP.
Julianna Zobrist carved out a career as a self-help author, motivational speaker and singer. She sang the national anthem at some Cubs games, and Ben used a couple of her songs as walk-up music at Wrigley Field, including her cover of Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” and her single “Alive,” which hit No. 48 on Billboard’s Christian digital songs chart in November 2015, according to Billboard.com.
The Zobrists famously kept a “six-day rule” with which they made sure no more than six days passed without spending time together as a family. That sometimes meant shadowing Ben’s travel schedule with baseball. They bought a house in Chicago so the family would have a home base during the Cubs season.
However, Julianna Zobrist maintains that “as the marriage progressed, (she) began to experience (Ben)’s perfectionist tendencies which would often feel overbearing and controlling.”
Both parties agree things began to change substantially in 2018.
Ben Zobrist says in his brief that Julianna told him she had “new thoughts and opinions that differed from some of their religious background and family beliefs.” Julianna says her in own memorandum that she “began questioning some of her religious beliefs.”
“Wife reached out to her pastor, Byron Yawn, and found solace in his support,” she continued. “The parties had a friendship with Mr. Yawn and his family. Wife’s friendship and connection with Mr. Yawn grew over a period of time and changed into a romantic relationship.
“In March of 2019, wife had an affair with Mr. Yawn and admitted this relationship to husband in May of 2019. Although she did not admit the adultery until later.”
Ben Zobrist lays out a more detailed sequence of events in his pretrial filing. At an unspecified time in 2018, Ben began to notice that Julianna was “distracted and often not engaged with him or the family.”
Ben Zobrist
Photos of former Chicago Cubs infielder-outfielder Ben Zobrist.
Ben says Julianna asked him for space, and Yawn, when Ben asked for his advice as their marriage counselor, reinforced her request, he said.
According to the filing, Zobrist “looked at his wife’s cellphone records and realized that she was spending huge amounts of time virtually every day, beginning in August 2018, talking and texting with Pastor Byron Yawn.”
Zobrist cites that Julianna testified in her deposition that her relationship with Yawn “crossed the line” in September 2018. In either October or November, she “confessed her love for Pastor Yawn,” presumably to Yawn, though she doesn’t expressly say that in the brief.
Then in December 2018 — in a pivotal moment that Ben Zobrist calls the “genesis” of their split — Julianna threw a retirement party for Yawn, who was stepping away from his role as elder of Community Bible Church in Nashville to take on a more business-related position, according to Ben’s filing.
“The one-night party cost almost $30,000 and was conducted at the Zobrist farm,” according to the filing. “Mrs. Zobrist paid for the party out of the ‘farm account’ that her husband typically did not review, apparently to keep the cost of the party unknown to him. … Mrs. Zobrist and Pastor Yawn both became intoxicated and are dancing ‘on’ each other in a provocative way that was very embarrassing to Ben Zobrist, especially in front of their close church friends.
“Wife took umbrage at her husband’s rebuking her privately after the party for acting in this manner in public. However, unknown to husband, wife was already ‘in love’ with Pastor Yawn.”
According to a family spending report Ben Zobrist commissioned, financial advisers reported that Julianna’s spending began ramping up in 2018 and increased by as much as 174% by 2019.
In 2018, she averaged $24,000 per month in spending, including $12,500 for rent and $4,000 for furniture rental, until a court order limited her to $30,000 per month for living expenses. Total spending on clothing topped $134,000 in 2018 and $289,000 in 2019.
In spring 2019, Ben Zobrist was preparing for a “long grueling season with the Chicago Cubs at a time when wife was changing and acting differently. He reluctantly left for Spring Training Camp, wife finally admitted (after Pastor Yawn’s now ex-wife caught them talking) directly to husband that she was having an ‘emotional affair’ with Pastor Yawn.”
Ben Zobrist was alerted to the affair in May 2019 by Robin Yawn and was “devastated” and “simply could not play baseball while his marriage and family were in limbo.”
Zobrist asked the Cubs for a leave of absence, and they placed him on the restricted list on May 8.
“Rather than take up a roster spot that could be taken by another player, husband took a leave of absence from the team. This decision cost him about $8 million,” according to Zobrist’s brief. The Cubs recalled Addison Russell from Triple-A Iowa.
Julianna Zobrist filed for divorce May 13, 2019, in Cook County, then later withdrew. Ben filed for legal separation the same day in Tennessee.
The couple decided to put the divorce on hold and entered an agreed order to attend counseling. Ben Zobrist contends that Julianna kept in contact with Yawn “despite her promises to the contrary, and purchased a burner phone to do so, which she discarded after using it to hide evidence of such.”
Julianna Zobrist admits in a previous filing that she acquired a disposable phone in June 2019, used it to communicate with Yawn, “then threw the phone away in an airport in New York City.” Also, when she received a new phone after changing service providers, it allowed her to get “rid of her phone that contained the nude photos and text messages that she had sent to Yawn.”
Also, “by Pastor Yawn’s own admission during his deposition, he too spoliated evidence … under the dubious claim that his cellular phone ‘fell out of his pocket’ into a puddle as he was crossing 21st Street to go to a restaurant and was run over by a vehicle,” and he had regularly deleted text messages, according to Ben Zobrist’s memorandum.
“Incredulously, wife sent a text message to Pastor Yawn while watching his testimony in his deposition via Zoom, telling him ‘You’re killing it. I knew you would’ as he was being questioned about his inappropriate relationship with wife and his spoliated electronic device.”
Ben Zobrist’s baseball career was on pause during most of May and all of June, July and August 2019 while the couple went through counseling, though Julianna was “continuing her sexual affair while the parties were attending marital counseling.”
Meanwhile, “Mrs. Zobrist … coaxed her husband into returning to the Chicago Cubs in the late summer and fall of 2019, during which he earned another $4 million.”
The Cubs activated Ben Zobrist from the restricted list Sept. 1, and he played the final 21 games of the season.
Starting at second base, he went 0-for-3 and pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two walks and a strikeout during a 9-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 29 at Busch Stadium, his 47th game of the season and the 1,651st of his career, according to baseball-reference.com.
Zobrist says in his brief that his “Major League Baseball career is over.”
“It appears that one of wife’s main motives in concealing her affair with Pastor while participating in marriage counseling was to coax husband back into playing baseball so he could further enrich the marital estate in which wife is expected to receive significant sums of money once the court equitably divides the estate,” Ben Zobrist alleges in his memorandum. “One would be hard pressed to concoct a more deceitful, sinister, and otherwise inappropriate scheme than wife has devised in this divorce matter.
“Therefore wife is going to claim, in order to complete her scheme, that husband ‘dissipated’ the marital estate when he decided to take a leave of absence so that the parties could work on the marriage. Again, it is difficult to fathom a more disingenuous argument when it was wife, who knew full well that she had no intent in repairing the marriage, even attended marriage counseling in bad faith while continuing her affair with Pastor Yawn.”
Ben Zobrist’s filing adds, “Wife’s scheme did not pan out as she had hoped as husband soon retired from baseball.”
Finally, on June 3, 2020, in answer to Ben Zobrist’s formal “request for admissions,” Julianna was “forced to admit her affair was not just ‘emotional,’ but also physical.”
Ben Zobrist requests that the judge weigh whether Julianna is at fault for his leave of absence and its cost to the couple’s bottom line.
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Famous Person - Divorce
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Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crash
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ALBANY — Forty-six years ago, the Capital Region faced tragedy when an airliner crashed into a city home. The Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashed March 3, 1972, killing 17, injuring 36 and turning a neighborhood into chaos. Ambulances were unable to maneuver through mobs of sightseers who blocked the streets, while rescue workers turned a neighbor's garage into a makeshift morgue, stacking bodies in rows on a blacktop driveway and covering them with sheets from the neighbor's home. At 8:48 p.m., the plane, 4 miles from the Albany County Airport, hit the two-family house on Edgewood Avenue. The 45 passengers were prepared for landing. The flight, with a crew of three, had departed LaGuardia Airport at 8:05 p.m.
Those on board were unaware the plane had lost altitude and was having serious propeller trouble. On the 25th anniversary of crash, Tom Devane, then 68, described witnessing it from his house three doors away at Edgewood and Melrose avenues. He was paneling the family room when he looked up and saw the plane so close ''you could almost see the people looking out.'' From a clear vantage, he watched in horror as the airliner plunged into the home of Joseph and Marcia Rosen. He heard a ''muffled poof'' and called police, whose lines were busy. He then called the fire department. ''It hit right in the middle of the house; lifted the house right up, and it came back down again'' on top of the plane, Devane said. He went to the site; it was eerily silent. He tried but couldn't open a door on the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board held hearings in Albany following the crash of the Fairchild-Hiller 227-B turboprop and concluded pilot error, along with confusion in the cockpit over trying to remedy a mechanical problem with a propeller, caused the accident. The pilot and co-pilot were killed. The flight attendant survived. The flight was routine until 4 minutes and 41 seconds before impact, the NTSB concluded. Because the pilot was preoccupied with a malfunctioning cruise pitch lock, a device on the propeller, he was not attentive to the rapid loss of altitude. Attempts by the crew to feather the troublesome left propeller, preparing it for landing, proved futile.
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Air crash
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1956 Murray River flood
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The 1956 Murray River flood involved the rising of waters in the Murray River and flooding of many towns in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The flood occurred due to higher than average rainfalls in Western Queensland and heavy rains in the proceeding three months in the Murray-Darling basin. [1] Flood waters moved down the Murray and Darling rivers for seven months and peaked between 11 and 14 August at Merbein in Victoria[2] and 12.3 metres (40 ft) at Morgan in South Australia. [1] Some areas were flooded up to 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the natural flow of the river. The flood was and still is considered the biggest flood in the recorded history of the Murray and described as "the greatest catastrophe in South Australia's history",[3] in spite of no lives being lost. From upstream to downstream, flooding occurred in the towns of Wentworth in New South Wales; Colignan, Iraak, Mildura, Nangiloc, and Red Cliffs in Victoria; and Mannum, Murray Bridge, and Renmark to store high flows from the Darling River. [1]
0 deaths, Hotels in the main street of Mannum operated their bars from the second floor with boats tying up to the balcony. The flood water broke the levee bank on 24 August, and had not fully receded until Christmas. To many locals it is common knowledge that the beginning of the roof on the Visitors' Centre in Main Street was the height in Main Street. [4]
In 2006, historic flood markers were erected at Apex Park and the lawns of the Mildura Rowing Club at Mildura, indicating the height the river reached in 1956. Additional markers are to be erected at various locations along the river from Wentworth to Colignan. [5] Several towns in South Australia also have depth markers showing how high the floodwaters rose. The town of Wentworth, located on the junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers, erected a statue in 1959 in honour of the Fergie TE20 tractor, responsible for helping to erect a levee around the town which kept floodwaters at bay for months. [6] A tractor rally is also held every five years to celebrate the Fergie. [7]
Author Philip Pullman used his childhood memories of being taken to see the flood as a basis for his 2017 fantasy novel La Belle Sauvage. [8]
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Floods
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Strike for Black Lives (Coalition)
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The Strike for Black Lives was a mass walkout that occurred throughout the United States on July 20, 2020. Occurring during the George Floyd protests, the main goals of the strike were to draw attention to systemic racism and racial inequality in the United States, with additional goals including a raising of the minimum wage in the United States, stronger protections for unionizing, and expanded healthcare. Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, a series of protests occurred, initially in the Twin Cities area, but quickly spreading across the United States and worldwide. [1] As part of the wider Black Lives Matter movement, the protests are rooted in longstanding racial issues in the United States, such as police brutality, institutionalized racism, and racial discrimination. [1] The idea for a mass strike was announced on Twitter on July 8 with the hashtag #StrikeForBlackLives. [2] Over 60 groups helped to organize the event and included such groups as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the American Federation of Teachers, and the United Farm Workers. [3][4] The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of 150 independent Black Lives Matter groups, was also involved in the organization of the strike. [2] President Mary Kay Henry of the Service Employees International Union (which was involved in the strike) stated that the strike was an effort to unite essential workers in the fight for both racial and economic justice. [4] The Associated Press compared the strike to the Memphis sanitation strike, which was also caused by both racial and economic issues. [5] According to organizers, the four main points of the strike were:
"Justice for Black communities, that elected officials use their authority to rewrite the rules so that Black people can thrive, that corporations dismantle racism, white supremacy and economic exploitation including at work and that every worker has the opportunity to join a union. "[4]
The strike took place during the COVID-19 pandemic,[4] with African Americans making up a disproportionate percentage of workers impacted by the pandemic and constituting approximately 1 in 4 deaths due to COVID-19. [6]
On July 20, the strike took place in 160 American cities at multiple places of employment. [7] Workers from McDonald's and Walmart locations represented a significant portion of the strikers involved. [2] At noon, many strikers kneeled or took a moment of silence for eight minutes 46 seconds in memory of Floyd. [8] In Ferguson, Missouri, protesters marched to a memorial for Michael Brown, who was killed by police in 2014. [8] In New York City, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to a crowd of protesters outside of Trump International Hotel and Tower. [4] Protesters there called for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act. [9] In Chicago, protesters met at the James R. Thompson Center and marched to a nearby McDonald's. In Detroit, a mass work stoppage occurred at several nursing homes in the area,[10] and a Fight for $15 protest was held at the same time as the strike. [3] Protesters in Durham, North Carolina, painted a "BLACK LIVES MATTER" street mural at an intersection in downtown. [11] Multiple politicians from the Democratic Party expressed support for the strike, including Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. [4]
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Strike
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Marburg causes haemorrhagic fever and has been identified in Guinea and in West Africa
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Brazzaville/Conakry, 9 August 2021 – Health authorities in Guinea today confirmed a case of Marburg virus disease in the southern Gueckedou prefecture. This is the first time Marburg, a highly infectious disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, has been identified in the country, and in West Africa. Marburg, which is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola, was detected less than two months after Guinea declared an end to an Ebola outbreak that erupted earlier this year. Samples taken from a now-deceased patient and tested by a field laboratory in Gueckedou as well as Guinea’s national haemorrhagic fever laboratory turned out positive for the Marburg virus. Further analysis by the Institut Pasteur in Senegal confirmed the result. The patient had sought treatment at a local clinic in Koundou area of Gueckedou, where a medical investigation team had been dispatched to probe his worsening symptoms. “We applaud the alertness and the quick investigative action by Guinea’s health workers. The potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide means we need to stop it in its tracks,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. “We are working with the health authorities to implement a swift response that builds on Guinea’s past experience and expertise in managing Ebola, which is transmitted in a similar way.” Gueckedou, where Marburg has been confirmed, is also the same region where cases of the 2021 Ebola outbreak in Guinea as well as the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak were initially detected. Efforts are underway to find the people who may have been in contact with the patient. As the disease is appearing for the first time in the country, health authorities are launching public education and community mobilization to raise awareness and galvanize support to help curb widespread infection. An initial team of 10 WHO experts, including epidemiologists and socio-anthropologists is on the ground helping to investigate the case and supporting the national health authorities to swiftly step up emergency response, including risk assessment, disease surveillance, community mobilization, testing, clinical care, infection prevention as well as logistical support. Cross-border surveillance is also being enhanced to quickly detect any cases, with neighbouring countries on alert. The Ebola control systems in place in Guinea and in neighbouring countries are proving crucial to the emergency response to the Marburg virus. Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and malaise. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days. Case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and case management. Although there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, are being evaluated. In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Agricultural Bank of China robbery
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The Agricultural Bank of China robbery was the embezzlement of nearly 51 million yuan (c. US$6.7 million) from the Handan branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) in Hebei province between March 16 and April 14, 2007. Perpetrated by two vault managers employed at the branch, it is the largest bank robbery in China's history. [1]
The idea for the heist had begun when one of the managers, Ren Xiaofeng, stole 200,000 yuan (c. US$26,000) in October 2006 with the complicity of two security guards, Zhao Xuenan and Zhang Qiang. Ren then purchased tickets for the Chinese lottery, with the intention of winning a sufficiently large prize that he could return the missing funds before their absence was noted, and still have money left over for himself. [2] Despite the odds, Ren was successful, and he was able to return the 200,000 to the vault. [3]
Emboldened by his initial success, Ren joined forces with another manager, Ma Xiangjing, to perpetrate the same crime on a far larger scale. During March and April 2007, the two stole 32.96 million yuan (c. US$4.3 million), and spent almost the entire amount—31.25 million—on lottery tickets. [4] This time good fortune was not on their side. In desperation, they stole six cash boxes containing a further 18 million yuan (c. US$2.3 million) on April 14, spending 14 million in a single day in an effort to recover their losses. Despite Handan reporting record lottery ticket sales, the two recouped only 98,000 yuan (c. US$12,700). [5]
On April 16, ABC branch managers discovered the missing money and notified the police. [1] With insufficient funds to cover the losses, Ren and Ma used their meager winnings to buy fake IDs and flee. [5] This prompted an extensive manhunt, with the Public Security Ministry placing the two men on their "Most Wanted" list. [1][5] Ma was arrested in Beijing on April 18, and Ren was found a day later in Lianyungang, a coastal town in Jiangsu Province. [4]
Ren and Ma were charged with embezzlement, while Zhao and Zhang, the security guards, were charged with misappropriating public funds. A fifth man, Song Changhai, was also prosecuted for sheltering a criminal, Ma, while he was on the run. [1] The three accomplices were all given sentences of up to five years in prison, while the two managers were sentenced to death. [3] A landlord, a cab driver, and a car saleswoman in Lianyungang shared a 200,000 yuan reward for assisting police to arrest Ren, while in Handan five employees of the bank were fired. [4] Only 5.5 million yuan was ever recovered by the police, with the remainder squandered by the perpetrators' gambling. [4]
Both Ren and Ma were executed in Hebei province on April 1, 2008. As criminals, their bodies were cremated and the ashes thrown into the Yellow Sea by the Chinese Police. [6]
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Bank Robbery
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EuroBasket 1961
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The 1961 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1961, was the twelfth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) entered the competition. The competition was hosted by Yugoslavia. The event was held at the Beograd City Fair. [1]
1. Soviet Union: Jānis Krūmiņš, Gennadi Volnov, Valdis Muižnieks, Maigonis Valdmanis, Viktor Zubkov, Armenak Alachachian, Yuri Korneev, Vladimir Ugrekhelidze, Aleksander Petrov, Aleksander Kandel, Viacheslav Novikov, Albert Valtin (Coach: Stepan Spandaryan)
2. Yugoslavia: Radivoj Korać, Ivo Daneu, Slobodan Gordić, Radovan Radović, Nemanja Đurić, Vital Eiselt, Sreten Dragojlović, Marjan Kandus, Miha Lokar, Miodrag Nikolić, Zvonko Petričević, Željko Troskot (Coach: Aleksandar Nikolić)
3. Bulgaria: Viktor Radev, Mincho Dimov, Ljubomir Panov, Georgi Panov, Atanas Atanasov, Ilija Mirchev, Petko Lazarov, Tsvetko Savov, Khristo Tsvetkov, Khristo Donev, Radko Zlatev, Stefan Stojkov (Coach: Veselin Temkov)
4. France: Jean-Paul Beugnot, Henri Grange, Christian Baltzer, Bernard Mayeur, Michel Rat, Lucien Sedat, Jerome Christ, Michel House, Michel le Ray, Andre Goisbault, Jean-Claude Vergne, Andre Souvre (Coach: André Buffière)
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Sports Competition
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Priyanka Sarkar recovering fast after surgery
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Priyanka Sarkar recovering fast after surgery Priyanka Sarkar who had to undergo surgery after getting injured while shooting for a web show near EM Bypass is recovering fast. The ‘ Nirbhaya ’ actress had the surgery on Saturday. Doctors said she fractured the tibia in her right leg. Doctors are saying the actress’ condition is stable and is recovering well in time. Two plates were inserted and bone grafting was done on her right leg. She will be discharged after analyzing the latest x-ray report. Priyanka and her co-actor Arjun Chakraborty got injured while shooting for a web series near Eco Park when a motorbike lost control and hit them on Friday night. While Priyanka was seriously injured Arjun had suffered minor injuries. Both of them were rushed to a private hospital near the spot from where Priyanka was later shifted. According to the primary investigation, the biker was part of the crew and he was instructed to harass the actress as part of the screenplay but he suddenly lost control and hit her. It was part of an action sequence shooting and the incident happened just when the shoot was supposed to end. Read Also Priyanka Sarkar, Arjun Chakraborty injured as biker hits them while shooting for web series The biker, who police have suspected was intoxicated at that time, had escaped and was arrested on Saturday. Meanwhile, Priyanka had earlier released a statement on social media thanking all for praying for her and assured everyone she’s fine and the surgery was a success.
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Efforts to lift economy out of recession pose risk of sparking a financial crisis, economists worry
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The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates over the past few months. Here's how their actions affect you. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY The economy may be stabilizing faster than expected amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but efforts to preserve it could tip off a financial crisis, economists said in a new report. Deutsche Bank economists led by Peter Hooper, the bank's global head of economic research, said the global economic recovery "has proceeded significantly faster than we envisioned in the gloomy days of early May." They estimated that the world's economy has already recovered about half of the GDP it lost and that it would get back to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of 2021, which is a couple of quarters sooner than the bank's previous forecast. But the price of short-term stability could be steep in the long run. "Massive fiscal and monetary policy stimulus" that came together to prop up the economy has caused debt to balloon and stocks to become potentially overvalued, posing "the serious risk of a looming global financial crisis as central banks begin to shift away from easy (monetary) policy at some point in the years to come." COVID-19: Restaurants are taking biggest hits due to the pandemic The restaurant industry is taking a big hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some big chains are filing for bankruptcy or facing challenges paying debts. USA TODAY Economic concerns: U.S. could slip into double-dip recession if Congress doesn't pass new stimulus "Financial crises have often been touched off in the past under such conditions by the inevitable shift from policy ease to policy tightening, which is likely still at least several years away, but could surprise sooner," the Deutsche Bank economists wrote. From a global health perspective, Deutsche Bank projected that "widespread vaccination" will begin by summer 2021 and will continue for the next year or more, leading to "a significant move toward herd immunity in the global population over that period and into 2023."
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Financial Crisis
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2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion crash
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The 2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion occurred around 1:36 p.m. PDT on May 26, 2007 when SkyWest Airlines (operating as United Express) Flight 5741, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop aircraft, nearly collided with Republic Airlines (operating as Frontier Airlines) Flight 4912, an Embraer 170 Regional Jet, at the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in South San Francisco, California. [1]
There were no injuries to occupants and no damage to either aircraft. [2](p6)[3] Federal Aviation Administration officials described the runway incursion as the most serious incident of its kind in at least a decade, and the National Transportation Safety Board carried out an investigation into the incident. [4][5][6]
The SkyWest aircraft was arriving at SFO after a flight from Modesto, California, and was cleared to land on Runway 28R. At the same time, the Republic Airlines aircraft, bound for Los Angeles, was instructed to taxi into position and hold on the intersecting Runway 1L. As the landing SkyWest aircraft passed the runway threshold, the Republic Airlines aircraft was cleared for takeoff. [3][2](p3) Local procedures and FAA Order 7110.65 require the local controller to wait until the landing aircraft has passed through the intersection before clearing an aircraft for takeoff on one of the intersecting runways. Approximately 27 seconds later the Airport Movement Area Safety System issued an aural warning of an imminent collision, and the local controller instructed the SkyWest aircraft to stop, transmitting, "uh, sky-, skywest uhh fifty seven forty one HOLD HOLD HOLD." The SkyWest aircraft stopped in the intersection of Runways 1L and 28R, while the Republic Airlines flight lifted off and overflew it. The initial FAA tower report estimated that the aircraft missed colliding by 300 feet (91 m), but the SkyWest crew estimated the distance as 30 ft (9.1 m) to 50 ft (15 m). [3]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classified the incident as a Category A runway incursion, the most serious type. Category A events are those in which "[s]eparation decreases and participants take extreme action to narrowly avoid a collision, or the event results in a collision. "[4][7] Of the previous 15 runway incursions at SFO between 2001 and 2007, none had been more serious than Category C,[8] which is defined as a situation in which "[s]eparation decreases but there is ample time and distance to avoid a potential collision. "[7]
Commenting on the seriousness of the incident, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz noted that "We investigate probably just a handful (of incursions) a year. "[4] The NTSB's investigation was completed in November 2007, concluding that the controller had failed to provide adequate separation between the two aircraft. [2](p6)[2](p2) FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said, "This wasn't a procedural issue, this was caused by a good controller with a lot of experience making a mistake," adding that since the incursion the controller, who had over 20 years of experience, was recertified. [4][9]
Runway safety has been a priority concern for both the FAA and NTSB;[7][10][11][12] it has been on the NTSB's annual list of "Most Wanted Improvements" continuously since 1990. [13][14]
The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) is an airport surveillance radar system that is designed to detect potential runway conflicts and alert controllers. [15] SFO was selected by the FAA for the first test installation of the AMASS system, where it became operational in June 2001 before its rollout to 40 airports around the U.S.[16][15] AMASS is designed to provide an alert 15 seconds before aircraft reach the conflict point. The system performed as designed in the incident at SFO,[3] though it did not alert in time to prevent the runway incursion. [17]
The NTSB believes that AMASS is insufficient to prevent runway incursions. [18] The agency has often named runway safety and prevention of runway incursions on its annual "Most Wanted List" of transportation safety improvements. [19]
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Air crash
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Cargill shutters Avery Island salt mine after fatal roof collapse
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Motorists stop at the toll booth at the entrance to Avery Island following a roof collapse at the Cargill salt mine Monday, December 14, 2020, in Iberia Parish. Six weeks after a roof collapse killed two workers, Cargill Deicing Technology announced on Thursday that it shuttered its salt mine at Avery Island. The mine has not reopened since the Dec. 14 collapse, which remains under federal investigation. The company previously planned to quit production “later in 2021,” since its lease expires at the end of the year, according to a statement. The decision to close earlier than expected stemmed from a combination of business factors, including the amount of time it would take to ramp back up to full production, according to spokesman Daniel Sullivan. "With six weeks now behind us, considering the time to get to back to full production, low demand for road salt due to a soft winter so far, and the time remaining in our lease, we need to focus our time and energy on safely closing the facility," Sullivan said. A total of 18 people were working underground at the mine in the early morning of Dec. 14 when the roof collapsed. All but two, 41-year-old Rene Romero and 27-year-old Lance Begnaud, made it out alive. Romero and Begnaud each had less than 30 weeks of total mining experience, according to a preliminary accident report. Inspectors discovered at least four serious safety violations following the collapse, according to the Mine Safety Health Administration's online database. The violations pertained to hazardous ground conditions and barricades or warning signs, records show. The company decided not to reopen after the collapse out of "an abundance of caution," Sullivan said in an email. "We know we can operate safely," he said. About 200 people work at the mine, and Sullivan said their employment status is still being determined. Decommissioning the mine will take at least three years, according to the company. "There is still a significant amount of work that needs to be done at the mine to complete closure activities and maintain safety. We will work through a process to determine positions and employees needed to support mine closure activities, which will consider employee skills and experience required," Sullivan said. Federal law requires companies to formally notify the state within 60 days of shuttering worksite of 50 or more people. Cargill had not filed such a notice as of Jan. 19, according to state records. The mine on Avery Island has been operating since the mid-1800s and was the first rock salt mine in North America. The mine is owned by Avery Island Inc. and has been managed by Cargill since 1997 when it acquired the lease from Azko-Nobel. The Cargill mine at Avery Island is one of three commercial salt mines in Louisiana, and 14 in the United States. The Louisiana mines are clustered around a salt dome in Iberia and St. Mary Parish, and they collectively employ about 500 people. Cargill also operates a salt evaporation facility in Breaux Bridge. Those facilities are not impacted by the mine's closing. Prior to the Cargill roof collapse, the last death in a Louisiana salt mine occurred at the Cote Blanch mine in 2013, when a piece of salt fell and struck a shaftman. Federal inspectors have found more than 50 safety violations at the Cargill mine since the start of 2020, including at least 15 that are considered serious. Yet its rate of serious violations in that time is below the national average, and the lowest among Louisiana's salt mines. The violations discovered after the roof collapse are not likely related to the cause of the collapse, since the results of that investigation will not be revealed until it is complete, said Kim Redding, a mine safety consultant and former MSHA inspector. “These citations are not associated with the two fatalities. The citations that are coming for the fatalities, we won’t see those sometimes for six months," Redding said.
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Mine Collapses
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Faster, fit-for-purpose and fraud-proof: Digitalizing financial aid distribution
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The Meheba Refugee Camp in north-western Zambia is home to 12,000 refugees [1], each of whom rely on money from international aid organizations to survive. Not long ago, these funds took up to 10 days to reach the refugees’ pockets. Today, they can arrive within an hour. This change reflects a larger transformation in how aid is delivered globally. Nearly one-third of the world’s poorest people [2] live in countries that experience regular humanitarian crises such as natural disaster, disease and displacement by armed conflicts. Often, the first aid to arrive is physical: food, blankets, medicine and other emergency supplies. While this is vital to save lives at the beginning of a humanitarian crisis, the need soon shifts to financial aid in order to sustain them. Physical to financial aid That reality is reflected in the data. In 2018, total international humanitarian funding reached $28.9 billion, up an estimated 30% ($6.7 billion) since 2014.[3] The enduring challenge, however, has been distributing those funds safely, on time and to the right people. In regions suffering humanitarian crises, physical transportation infrastructure is often limited or even non-existent. Where it does exist, usage costs ‒ including security arrangements in some cases ‒ can make the cost prohibitively high. The benefits are enormous when aid is delivered and disbursed in an efficient and timely manner. Financial stability and independence start to take hold, and consumer spending patterns emerge. As local economies experience growth, new job opportunities arise. Over time, a helpful development cycle can emerge. To overcome the challenges of aid delivery, many development organizations have begun relying on mobile money, prepaid cards, e-vouchers and digital wallet solutions. Standard Chartered plays a key role in this, working with aid organizations, public sector bodies and development agencies to provide financial infrastructure such as cash management, payments and foreign exchange services. Standard Chartered has also beefed up its ability to accelerate the speed and ease of aid distribution in crisis situations by enabling expedited account opening and securing priority access to funding. The bank also offers a blockchain-based cross-border wallet remittance service in partnership with Ant Financial.[4] Using AlipayHK in Hong Kong and GCash in the Philippines, this service enables Filipino workers in Hong Kong to send money back home in real time, providing a convenient, secure and affordable way for overseas Filipino foreign workers to support families in need back home. Financial inclusion and financial controls Standard Chartered sees an opportunity to do even more. Already, the bank has rolled out mobile money solutions in more than 10 markets that are home to vulnerable communities. So long as the telecoms infrastructure supports this digital initiative, further expansion is planned. In Zambia’s Meheba Refugee Camp, a vast area spread across nearly 700 square kilometres, a Standard Chartered mobile money solution is enabling the rapid disbursement of cash to the refugees. This solution – jointly developed by the bank and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – was awarded the 2018 Banker Magazine Bank of the Year Award for Financial Inclusion. The UNHCR pays a monthly physical cash stipend to each household in the camp, and prior to the rollout of the mobile money solution, refugees travelled to regional distribution centres to receive the funds. Once there, they would queue for up to 10 days before receiving the money, preventing them from engaging in more productive economic activities. At the same time, the large volume of cash payments proved extremely difficult to accurately audit, raising governance challenges around the process. To address this, Standard Chartered began working with mobile money partners to distribute SIM cards and register eligible beneficiaries for mobile money. Under this programme, UNHCR pays stipends directly to beneficiaries through Standard Chartered’s Straight2Bank Wallet platform. Payments can now happen in a flash and can be easily and fully audited. Refugees, instead of having to queue for days on end, now receive their funds within an hour. Balancing risk, regulation and need Although mobile money and other digital cash solutions are increasingly prevalent, gaps remain, especially in high-risk countries where international banks are unable to operate directly. Through digitization and partnerships, Standard Chartered is helping to meet urgent humanitarian needs whilst strictly adhering to international sanctions and regulatory requirements, as well as donor needs for transparency and accountability. In Somalia, Standard Chartered has a long-term partnership with Al Amal Express Exchange to disburse funds for the humanitarian sector. For this high-risk country, the bank has created a cash disbursement transaction model for its development organization clients. This is fully supported in the bank’s systems, processes and controls – including sanctions screening. Successfully screened transactions are transmitted to the bank’s local service provider Al Amal Express Exchange through an application programming interface (API). Funds are distributed to beneficiaries, and payment status data is returned for automatic confirmation and reconciliation, giving users full visibility over the end receipt of funds. Standard Chartered’s mobile cash payment services are being used by development organizations around the world. ChildFund, a charity that helps deprived and vulnerable children through sponsorship programmes, uses the bank’s Straight2Bank Wallet service to deliver funds to the charity’s vendors and staff, to support beneficiaries directly.[5] Jhpiego, a charity affiliated with John Hopkins University and dedicated to mother and child health, is using Straight2Bank Wallet to instantly disburse cash to beneficiaries in Kenya.[6] The bank’s regulatory, operational and technological expertise – coupled with on-the-ground knowledge across developing and frontier markets – have been instrumental in helping development organizations meet their humanitarian objectives. The result? Secure, timely and transparent aid delivery solutions, helping vulnerable people gain a new measure of financial independence and supporting the welfare of vulnerable communities. SC-Article-banner-780-rotate [1] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Meheba Refugee Settlement Profile, 30 November 2018. [2] Global Humanitarian Assistance, Key trends in global humanitarian assistance 2019, extreme poverty defined as those living on less than $1.90 per day, page 1, para 1.[3] Global Humanitarian Assistance, Key trends in global humanitarian assistance 2019, page 1, para 3. [4] We have been appointed by Ant Financial as core partner bank for its new blockchain cross-border remittance service, Standard Chartered press release, 25 June 2018.[5] Finextra.com, ChildFund to utilise Standard Chartered Straight2Bank wallet service, 03 November 2014. [6] Business Chief, Straight2Bank: the mobile banking solution driving growth in the developing world, 15 June 2018. About the Authors Karby Leggett, Global Head of Public Sector and Development Organisations, Standard Chartered Based in Singapore, Karby became the Head of our Public Sector and Development Organisation (PSDO) team in June 2019, responsible for the Bank’s coverage of Ministries of Finance, Central Banks, Development Organisations and other Government related institutions across our global footprint. He was previously the Head of the Asia PSDO Business. Prior to his expanded role, Karby ran the Capital Markets business in the Greater China & North East Asia region. Before joining Standard Chartered, Karby worked at Goldman Sachs where he oversaw the firm’s Europe, Middle East and Africa sovereign ratings advisory and risk management. Karby has over 20 years of experience in capital markets, finance, risk management and sovereign ratings advisory and international affairs including a decade during which he worked as a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Karby has lived in China, Korea, Japan and the Middle East, and speaks fluent Mandarin. Katharine Steger – Regional Head, Europe, Public Sector and Development Organisations, Standard CharteredBased in London, Katharine is European Head of Public Sector and Development Organisations client coverage, responsible for relationships with clients including sovereigns, quasi-sovereigns, central banks, public pension funds, supranationals, microfinance institutions, humanitarian and development agencies and NGOs. Previously Katharine had a global remit in Standard Chartered’s Public Sector and Development Organisations team. Operating as COO for the segment, she worked on strategy, risk management and thematic issues, with focus areas including blended finance, microfinance and development priorities. She also managed European client relationships, predominantly sovereigns, development organisations and NGOs. In prior roles Katharine was Deputy Chief of Staff for the Group Chief Executive, responsible for external affairs; managed Standard Chartered’s relationships with international organisations, policy engagement and thought leadership platforms, building the Bank’s profile among decision makers and opinion leaders; and prior to that had a number of roles focussed on environmental finance & management, sustainability and project management. sponsor-SC-article-footer-600 Disclaimer This material has been prepared by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), a firm authorized by the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and PRA. It is not independent research material. This material has been produced for information and discussion purposes only and does not constitute advice or an invitation or recommendation to enter into any transaction. Some of the information appearing herein may have been obtained from public sources and while SCB believes such information to be reliable, it has not been independently verified by SCB. Information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Any opinions or views of third parties expressed in this material are those of the third parties identified, and not of SCB or its affiliates. SCB does not provide accounting, legal, regulatory or tax advice. This material does not provide any investment advice. While all reasonable care has been taken in preparing this material, SCB and its affiliates make no representation or warranty as to its accuracy or completeness, and no responsibility or liability is accepted for any errors of fact, omission or for any opinion expressed herein. You are advised to exercise your own independent judgment (with the advice of your professional advisers as necessary) with respect to the risks and consequences of any matter contained herein. SCB and its affiliates expressly disclaim any liability and responsibility for any damage or losses you may suffer from your use of or reliance on this material. SCB or its affiliates may not have the necessary licences to provide services or offer products in all countries or such provision of services or offering of products may be subject to the regulatory requirements of each jurisdiction. This material is not for distribution to any person to which, or any jurisdiction in which, its distribution would be prohibited.
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Financial Aid
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Tsunamis caused by air pressure could resuspend Great Lakes contaminants
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It was atmospheric pressure waves that produced 6-foot water waves in Lake Michigan on April 13, 2018, damaging docks and cottages and submerging breakwalls in Ludington. The event is the first documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes and provides an opportunity for scientists to better understand and forecast these events, according to a study recently published in the print version of the journal Natural Hazards. Meteotsunami is short for a meteorological tsunami. While most tsunamis are caused by seismic activity, meteotsunamis are caused by rapid changes in air pressure, usually as the result of severe thunderstorms. “Meteotsunamis happen in every Great Lake and they can happen (roughly) 100 times per year,” said Eric Anderson, the study’s lead author and a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. “Almost all of those are insignificant in the sense that they’re not causing much damage and generally not leading to injury or death,” he said. “We see a storm that can cause injury or death every few years.” Despite their frequency, Great Lakes meteotsunamis are rarely documented since they usually last less than 15 minutes. This one was larger than typical and lasted long enough for people to document with video. It was caused by atmospheric pressure waves that started somewhere in the Midwest and traveled east over Lake Michigan, Anderson said. “These are like ripples in the air, not dissimilar to where if you drop a stone in a pond, it creates ripples that radiate out from that point in the atmosphere,” he said. While this meteotsunami did not cause any deaths or injuries, it very well could have, had it occurred during the summer and not early spring, Anderson said. “If this exact storm hits in July, it probably leads to a number of fatalities because it basically swamped the breakwall, and if you can picture the Ludington breakwall, in the summertime there can be 50 to 100 people on that.” The southern region of the Great Lakes is especially prone to meteotsunamis due to the water’s shallower depth. Atmospheric pressure waves have to be moving at roughly the same speed as the water waves below them to efficiently pass that energy down in the water and create a meteotsunami, Anderson said. Meteotsunamis occur year round in the Great Lakes, but generally peak in April and May, he said. Researchers are trying to figure out if climate change will increase the number of meteotsunamis in the summer. Scientists in Croatia are researching climate change’s effect on meteotsunamis. “What they’ve shown is it’s unlikely that you’ll see meteotsunami intensity increase, meaning bigger waves, but that you might see more meteotsunamis happening in the summertime,” Anderson said. More research is needed to determine if meteotsunamis will become more frequent in the summer due to climate change, he said. Meteotsunamis also threaten the ecosystem by increasing erosion and releasing contaminants within sediments. “There are buried contaminants in the sediments, ‘legacy contaminants,’ that we have in a lot of places in the Great Lakes,” Anderson said. “Meteotsunamis are, in some cases, the primary driver of the erosion of sediments and possibly the resuspension of these contaminants.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is working on ways to warn the public when weather presents the possibility of a meteotsunami, similar to a tornado warning, Anderson said. Meteotsunamis can seem less dangerous to people who are unaware of these events, as they can appear to be flash flooding events and not tsunamis. “This doesn’t look like the Hollywood tsunami movie poster image of this giant wave coming in and crashing,” Anderson said. “What it will look like is more like a rapid flood (that lasts) for 10 or 20 minutes.” “If you see this rapid change in water level, whether it’s a meteotsunami or not, the best bet is to back away from the beach and wait for it to pass.”
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Tsunamis
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1900 Hoboken Docks fire
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The 1900 Hoboken Docks fire occurred on June 30, 1900, and killed at least 326 persons in and around the Hoboken, New Jersey piers of the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) shipping company. [1] The piers were located in New York Harbor, at the foot of 3rd and 4th Streets in Hoboken, across the North River (Hudson River) from Manhattan in New York City. The area, a few blocks north of Hoboken Terminal, is now mostly part of the Hudson River, without docks; a waterfront bicycle path lines it. [2] There is, however, a "Pier C Park" on the northern side of the disaster area, which juts out into the water. The fire began when cotton bales stored on NDL's southernmost wharf caught fire, and winds carried the flames to nearby barrels of volatile liquids, such as turpentine and oil, which exploded in rapid succession. It burned NDL's Hoboken piers to the waterline, consumed or gutted nearby warehouses, gutted three of NDL's major transatlantic liners, and damaged or destroyed nearly two dozen smaller craft. Most of the victims were seamen and other workers, but included women visiting one of the ships. [1]
Many of the deaths occurred as the flames reached several of NDL's transatlantic steamships docked at the piers, including the Saale, Main, and Bremen. These ocean liners, which caught fire while their coal-fired steam engines were cold, became deathtraps for dozens of seamen and visitors who were unable to reach safety on deck, squeeze through portholes, or otherwise escape. Saale was gutted, with the highest death toll. After she became engulfed in flames, her mooring lines were cut, leaving her to drift as fire reached those further below deck. Finally towed after she drifted toward New York piers, she settled in the Jersey flats near Liberty Island. [1] Her death toll included her captain (August Johann Mirow), and members (primarily women) of a group known as Christian Endeavor, who were visiting the ship before the fire started. [3]
Main was furthest from the fire's starting point, but was soon engulfed with fire. She was unable to get loose from her moorings for more than seven hours, until the fire was nearly over. Damaged nearly beyond repair, Main was ultimately towed to Weehawken, New Jersey, where she was beached. Amazingly, 16 coal trimmers who had survived the fire hiding in a coal bunker then crawled out of the hulk. [1] Two days after the fire began, the red-hot ship continued to smolder and smoke, which further delayed rescue and recovery efforts. [4]
Bremen also burned intensely. After her crew threw off her mooring lines, she drifted until she was towed to mid-stream by tugs. She eventually ran aground upriver near Weehawken. More than 200 people were on board when the fire began, including visitors. Initial reports indicated that all managed to leave the ship, but many jumped and may not have reached shore. [1]
Many who died in the fires were interred at the Flower Hill Cemetery, North Bergen. [5][6]
The holder of the Blue Riband at the time of the fire. [7] NDL's Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was also docked in the company's Hoboken piers, but fared better than its sister ships. She was the first of the steamers that tugs tried to pull away from the pier (15 minutes after the fire began). [1] Although she was afire at several places, fireboats soon put out those fires, and in the end she suffered little serious damage. The fire erupted on a Saturday that was considered a “half-holiday” when no departures were scheduled. Had any of the ships been ready to sail, the loss of life and property would have been much greater. [3]
The fire also destroyed several Campbell Stores warehouses, built by the Hoboken Land & Improvement Company, the nearby piers of the Scandinavian America Line and a railroad shed. According to The New York Times, the railroad shed belonged to West Shore Railroad, although it was more likely a shed of Hoboken Shore Railroad (which connected the West Shore Railroad's lines at the Weehawken Terminal to the Hoboken docks). A shed of Hamburg America Line was partly chopped down during the fire by the fire service to avoid spreading of the fire to the Hamburg America Line piers. The total value of property losses due to the fire was estimated (the morning after the fire) at $6.175 million,[1] and (the following year) at $5.35 million. [8]
The NDL replaced its Hoboken piers with larger, stronger and more fireproof structures. [9] The new steel piers were known as Hoboken Pier Nos. 1, 2, and 3. All of the damaged ocean liners returned to maritime service, Saale under a different name (the SS J. L. Luckenbach). On the first anniversary of the fire, a large granite monument was dedicated in Flower Hill Cemetery in North Bergen, New Jersey above a mass grave containing unidentifiable bodies of the victims, listing the names of the dead and missing. [10]
News stories of the fire had described below-deck crew “trying in vain to force their way through the small portholes, while the flames pressed relentlessly upon them.”[1] The fire prompted arguments that portholes on all ships should be at least 11 in × 13 in (28 cm × 33 cm) in size, to make it easier for them to serve as a means of escape. [11] Others responded that making portholes larger would be cost-prohibitive,[12] or come at the expense of structural strength. [13] In the end, regulations required portholes to be big enough for a person of reasonable size to escape. [14]
Five years later, a fire consumed the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Hoboken ferry piers. [15]
The piers immediately south of the NDL piers, owned before World War I by Hamburg America Line, were later also destroyed by fire. In 1921, two of the three piers (Hoboken Pier Nos. 5 and 6) were consumed in a fire that also scorched the SS Leviathan. [16] In August 1944, Pier No. 4 burned, killing three and briefly setting afire the SS Nathaniel Alexander, a Liberty ship. [17]
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Fire
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Planned incinerator could pollute Sydney water
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The New South Wales Farmers Association has raised concerns that a proposed waste incinerator north of Goulburn would contaminate Sydney's water supply.
Goulburn branch president Margaret Cameron says the site for the proposed incinerator is within 500 metres of Wollondilly River, which flows into the Waragamba Dam.
"The proposed location of the incinerator is actually north of Goulburn, so it's not directly on the Goulburn water supply but it would impact potentially on the Sydney water supply," she said.
Ms Cameron says livestock drink from the waterway.
She says Goulburn residents need more information about the proposal "to see what the potential impacts that proposed burning of mixed household garbage could have on the local grazing industry, in terms of possible pasture contamination and water contamination by airbourne pollutants".
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
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Environment Pollution
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Not all divorces end on a good note, and some of our favorite celebrities prove this statement quite well
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Not all divorces end on a good note, and some of our favorite celebrities prove this statement quite well.
6 Kim Kardashian & Kanye West
A post shared by The Independent (@the.independent)
When Kanye met Kim for the first time, he knew who'd be his girlfriend . Nine years of steadiness and persistence borne fruits, and finally, Kim tweeted how proud she was to be his girlfriend. They got married in 2014, and now, they have four children. But life can be challenging, such as Kanye's bipolar disorder, which significantly impacted his decisions. So, step by step, their relationship started deteriorating .
Kanye announced his presidential campaign, and at a rally in South Carolina, he'd shared too sensitive information that made Kim 'furious'. Later on, he published several now-deleted tweets, which made Kim react by explaining his condition on Instagram. Eventually, they ended up vacationing in different places and decided to split up. "He deserves someone that can go support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can't do that," said Kim to her sisters on one of the final series of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. So, finally, 'Kimye' officially ended their six-year marriage in February 2021.
5 Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie wins appeal to remove judge from Brad Pitt divorce case https://t.co/VcEwtXKyoA
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 24, 2021
No one could ever imagine that the sexiest couple would fail to live a long and happy life together. But life is not perfect, and their divorce is a solid proof of that. Everything began from shocking news - Angelina and Brad started dating after working together on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Well, Brad Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston at that time. So, a new couple emerged - Brangelina. They've adopted three children, Shiloh from Namibia, Maddox from Cambodia, and Pax from Vietnam.
Eventually, they got three more children, Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox. The family of eight was living a happy life until Angie filed for divorce due to 'irreconcilable differences' in 2016. She was asking for physical custody of the six children and give visitation to Brad. According to TMZ , she became 'fed up' with Brad's consumption of alcohol and weed and his anger problem, which she considered dangerous for the children. Yet, the allegations of child abuse haven't been proved. So, since 2019, Brangelina are legally single.
4 Caitlyn Jenner & Kris Jenner
A post shared by Caitlyn Jenner (@caitlynjenner)
Bruce Jenner, a gold medal winner at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and Kris Jenner, a successful business lady, and a reality TV star, called it quits after twenty-three years of marriage. They have two children together and four from their previous marriages. Thanks to the reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the family became a multi-millionaire, which aired from 2007 till 2021. In 2015, Bruce had a two-hour interview with Diane Sawyer, and a couple of months later, Vanity Fair published an iconic cover of Caitlyn Jenner.
Later on, Bruce shared the tweet about becoming a transgender woman. During the interview with Diane, Caitlyn shared about her transitioning path that was going on for five years already. Well, Kris was not happy about that at first - it turned out she didn't know about the changes. She was angry because of the published Vanity Fair intimate interview, but a couple of months later, she got over it. It was a challenging path for both, but they eventually finalized their divorce on friendly terms. Angelina also wants out of the wine business she started with her ex-husband Brad Pitt .
3 Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
A post shared by Amber Heard (@amberheard)
The couple was married for one year until Amber filed a divorce in 2016 for physical abuse. She claimed Johnny was abusive since their relationship started in 2011-2012. She got a restraining order against Depp, but in 2016 withdrew her request for it. But the drama continued when Amber wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about her experience of being a victim of domestic abuse. Depp reacted to the article by suing Amber for $50 million for defamation against him. Later on, in June 2020, a new trial began, which ended in November the same year - the court ruled against Depp. He had lost the role of Grindewald from the Fantastic Beasts franchise and was denied the right to appeal twice.
2 Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck
They met each other at movie sets in the early 2000s, which eventually lead to their relationship in 2004. Before they first met, Jennifer was married to actor Scott Foley, and Ben was engaged with Jennifer Lopez. Well, nothing is eternal, so in 2005 they got married and got three children. However, US Weekly reported that Ben was dating their nanny, a 28-years-old Christine Ouzounian, which allegedly led to a divorce between the couple. Yet, in the interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer stated they were already separated before the incident with the nanny. In the interview with The New York Times, Ben confessed that he regrets the divorce with Jennifer and how his alcoholic addiction affected their relationships. So, in 2017, they officially filed a divorce, but today, they're still in contact because of their children.
RELATED: Ben Affleck Reveals Another Key Reason For Leaving Batman Franchise
1 Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore
The couple married two years after dating each other, even though there was a 16-year age difference. However, being six years in marriage, they separated in 2011 and divorced in 2013 . There were several reasons for that. First, as Demi confessed to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, was the infertility issue. The second was Ashton's interest in threesomes, which eventually led to him cheating at a party in San Diego. In 2019 Demi published a memoir about her life and relationships with Ashton. For now, they don't have any contact with each other. Sadly but relationships can end very badly, and celebrities are no exception in that. Mostly, break-ups are hurtful, but it is how it is.
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Famous Person - Divorce
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2010 PDC World Darts Championship
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The 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 17th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation. The event took place at Alexandra Palace in London from 18 December 2009 and 3 January 2010. Phil Taylor successfully defended the title with a 7–3 victory over Simon Whitlock in the final. This was Taylor's thirteenth PDC world title, and his fifteenth in all. [1]
Raymond van Barneveld recorded the second nine-dart finish in the history of the tournament in his second-round match against Brendan Dolan. [2]
The televised stages featured 72 players, an increase of 2 from last year. The top 32 players in the PDC Order of Merit on 1 December 2009 were seeded for the tournament. [3] They were joined by the 16 highest non qualified players in the Players Championship Order of Merit from events played on the PDC Pro Tour. These 48 players were joined by 24 international players: the 4 highest names in the European Order of Merit not already qualified, the 3 highest names in the North American Order of Merit not already qualified and 15 further international qualifiers to be determined by the PDC and PDPA. Some of the players, such as the 4 from the European Order of Merit, the top 2 Americans, and Australian players are entered straight into the first round, while others, having won qualifying events in their countries, were entered into the preliminary round. Order of Merit
Pro Tour
European Order of MeritFirst Round Qualifiers
International QualifiersFirst Round Qualifiers
International QualifiersPreliminary Round Qualifiers
The 2010 World Championship featured a prize fund of £1,000,000 – a rise of £260,000 on the previous year, to become darts' first £1 million tournament. All rounds featured more money compared to 2009, and also sees a £10,000 highest checkout prize being to make the fund go up to a million. In addition, the losing semi-finalists contested a third place play off match on the same night as the Final, played for an extra £20,000 "winner takes all" pot on top of the £40,000 they both already received for being losing semi finalists. Therefore, third place won £60,000, and fourth place £40,000 – both an increase from last years £30,000 for the losing semi finalists. The prize money is allocated as follows:[6]
The preliminary round draw was made on 29 November,[7] and the format is best of 7 legs. Shi Yongsheng was originally drawn to play Tomas Seyler. However, he was forced to withdraw from the competition after he was unable to receive a visa to travel to the UK. Jan van der Rassel, the next non-qualified player from the Players Championship Order of Merit, took his place. [8]
The first round draw was made live on Sky Sports News on 7 December, and was conducted by Rod Harrington and Eric Bristow. [9]
Scores after player's names are three-dart averages (total points scored divided by darts thrown and multiplied by 3)
This table shows the number of players by country in the World Championship, the total number including the preliminary round. As they had done for every WDC/PDC World Darts Championship, Sky Sports provided coverage in the UK, broadcasting all 72 matches live in high-definition. Dave Clark presented the coverage with analysis from Rod Harrington and Eric Bristow. They also commentated on matches along with Sid Waddell, John Gwynne, Dave Lanning, Nigel Pearson, Rod Studd and Stuart Pyke. Interviews were either handled by Clark, Bristow or Studd. Technical crew were supplied by Yorkshire-based Sports Event Services Limited, with Mark Leak heading up their crew and assuming the role of stage manager. [10]
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Sports Competition
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State shuts down Blind Brook school over building violations, blasts school officials
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The state Education Commissioner blasted the Blind Brook school district on Friday for allowing staff and students into its elementary school without obtaining inspection permits amid a construction project. Blind Brook school district officials said Friday they are working to get the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School in Rye Brook reopened after the state closed it Wednesday over ongoing construction issues. It's the first time the state has been forced to close a school in several years, Education Commissioner Betty Rosa wrote in a letter to the school system Friday. The school welcomed students and staff for three days without a certification of occupancy, according to the state, a move that led to the fiery letter from its education commissioner Friday. The state has prohibited students and staff from entering the building until the district obtained the required building inspections following a state investigation, according to the education department. "Closure orders are not issued lightly," Rosa wrote. "And it was issued only after SED learned that the district illegally allowed staff and students into the building without a valid certificate of occupancy." The commissioner called an intentional decision to have students and staff in the building without a certificate of occupancy "brazen" and possibly even criminal. The action could warrant the removal of school officials for neglect of duty under education law, she wrote. In the letter, Rosa called it "unfathomable" that it took a state directive to close the school. "Which was the only morally and legally acceptable action," she added. The education commissioner listed numerous fire hazards in parts of the building that were either under construction or occupied by students, including: The school was opened from Monday to Wednesday, closed Thursday for Yom Kippur and was declared off-limits Friday. Hundreds of students go to the elementary school. It's unknown if they were in remote learning on Friday. The issues stem from construction that has been ongoing in the village of Rye Brook school. During a Zoom school board meeting Friday afternoon, Blind Brook Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Brimstein said the district was working to obtain the necessary inspections. Information from those inspections conducted on Friday would then be submitted to the state in hopes of obtaining a full or partial certificate of occupancy, Brimstein added. He stressed there were no health or safety hazards while students were in the building. In her letter sent Friday, Rosa emphasized there were multiple "serious violations that led to the school closure." She wrote, "Imagine the potential tragedy should a fire have occurred in this building this week." Rosa wrote in a separate letter Wednesday that ordered the closure the district needed to do the following to reopen: In response to Rosa's Friday letter, the district sent The Journal News/lohud a scanned copy of a certificate of occupancy for the elementary school. The district said that certificate of occupancy appears to show it went into effect March 2021 and expires in March 2022. During the Friday Zoom meeting, Board of Education President Scott Jaffee admitted the school should've have communicated better about the closure, calling it "unacceptable." He apologized to those parents that learned Ridge Street school would be closed Friday from reading it in local media, and not directly from the school system. "We failed to meet the level of transparency," he said parents expected.
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Organization Closed
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January 2013 Southeastern United States floods
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The 2013 Southeastern United States floods were ongoing flooding across the southeastern U.S. Flash floods began on the morning of July 2 and continued through Independence Day and into the next day. The hardest-hit areas as of Friday afternoon are the Florida Panhandle, northwest Alabama and the area around Columbus, Mississippi. A plume of tropical moisture caused heavy rain to train over the same areas, for more than 36 hours in some cases, leading to flash flooding.
The system also caused sporadic damaging winds and one tornado in Destin, Florida. A dip in the jet stream over the Plains states brought a continuous flow of tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico and East Pacific into the southeastern United States. Meanwhile, a large ridge of high pressure over the Western United States combined with another in the North Atlantic Ocean to block the pattern on July 2. By the morning of July 3, heavy rains were falling over western Georgia and the Atlanta metropolitan area along with the Florida Panhandle. On July 4, the low pressure retrograded to southwest Missouri, allowing another band of heavy rain to develop over northwest Alabama and Middle Tennessee. The following day, heavy showers and rainbands developed across Alabama, eastern Mississippi and the Florida panhandle.
Several inches of rain fell across north and west Georgia on July 3, leading to flash flooding and washing out roads in parts of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Water briefly covered the road at the intersection of Interstate 75 and 285. Creeks ran out of their banks in some areas of North Georgia, causing many roads to be shut down overnight. Heavy rainfall in excess of 10 inches led to severe flash flooding over the Florida Panhandle. Homes were inundated and roads were washed out in Bay and Washington counties, including Panama City, and evacuations were required in some areas. Also, strong winds caused rip currents on the coast that caught several swimmers off guard, leading to dozens of water rescues along the Florida gulf coast. On July 5, a waterspout came ashore as a tornado in Destin, causing minimal damage. [9]
Minor street flooding was reported in the Birmingham area on the evening of July 3. Flash floods occurred across northwestern Alabama, including the Huntsville area, on July 4. Many roads throughout Huntsville and Madison were flooded and closed. Severe flooding was reported in Hartselle as well, where authorities closed a portion of State Route 36 and several side streets. Flash flooding and mudslides were reported in Winston County. In addition, heavy winds blew down trees in extreme southeastern Alabama on Thursday afternoon. Several towns across Alabama cancelled or postponed Independence Day festivities due to the rain and flooding. On July 5, heavy rains once again formed over West Alabama. Street flooding was reported in Tuscaloosa. That evening, extremely heavy rainfall once again led to widespread flooding across northwest Alabama. Significant flash flooding affected Haleyville and covered sections of State Route 13 in the town with over one foot of water. Roads were also shut down due to floodwaters in Brilliant. [10]
Floods were reported in the Asheville area on both July 3 and 4. Several roads were closed. Flash floods also occurred in the southwestern part of the state on July 4. Flash flooding struck Asheboro during the evening of July 5. During the early morning hours of July 5, flash flooding closed roads and inundated homes in Wayne County in the far southeast portion of the state. Dozens of homes were evacuated due to rising waters. Heavy rains fell on the afternoon of July 5, producing floods that covered 40 streets and closed several county roads in and around Columbus. [11]
Flash flooding prompted several road closures around Greenville on July 4. One person was killed in Gaffney due to high winds from flood-producing thunderstorms. Heavy rains over central Kentucky caused flash flooding on July 4. During the afternoon and evening, rural roads were inundated with floodwaters. Rains redeveloped on July 5, leading to flooding in downtown Campbellsville. Heavy rains once again fell on July 6, causing severe flash flooding in the Frankfort area. Homes and businesses were inundated, and numerous roads were submerged. Later in the morning, flooding spread to the Cincinnati metropolitan area with many creeks and small rivers running out of their banks. The heavy rain on July 5 caused street flooding in the Nashville metropolitan area. Minor flooding also affected Montgomery County in the late evening hours. Another flash flood event occurred in the Mount Juliet area (east of Nashville) in
early August. [12]
Life-threatening flooding also occurred in Roanoke, Virginia on July 10 and 11. [13]
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Floods
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2008 Indian floods
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The 2008 Indian floods were a series of floods in various states of India during the 2008 monsoon season. The floods mostly affected the western regions of Maharashtra state and Andhra Pradesh as well as northern Bihar. In India, the monsoon season generally lasts from June to September. [2]
According to Ministry of Home Affairs (India)'s disaster management unit, the countrywide death toll from floods in various states was 2,404 between June to September. [3]
Earlier, during the start of the monsoon season, West Bengal and Orissa were hit with heavy rains, creating a flood-like situation in the two states. The monsoon killed 100 people, mostly in the country's east and north-east. [2] In Andhra Pradesh alone, 42 people died in a matter of two days because of sudden, heavy rains. [4]
In August, the Konkan region of Maharashtra experienced heavy monsoon rains, placing lives in jeopardy. Many inter-city trains between Mumbai and Pune were cancelled. Heavy waterlogging had been reported from Chiplun, Rajapur, Khed and Mahad in Maharashtra. On 10 August 2008, a major landslide caused extensive damage to a three-story building at the Sinhgad Technical Education Society's (STES) academic campus in Lonavla. [5] A large number of passengers were reportedly stranded at various railway stations across western Maharashtra as Central Railways canceled many trains. Vehicular traffic on the Mumbai-Pune expressway was also affected due to heavy rainfall and was diverted. [6]
In Mumbai, heavy rains lashed the city and its suburbs, affecting traffic and disrupting rail services on the days of 10–11 August. [7]
In Andhra Pradesh 119 relief camps were set up in the state, most of them in the Guntur and Krishna districts. Hyderabad, Krishna district, and the East and West Godavari districts were the worst affected areas due to floods. The situation in Andhra Pradesh was more deadly as 53 people reportedly died due to floods. [8] In Hyderabad alone 14 people were killed, when they were crushed by the collapsing roofs of their homes. [2]
The nexus of the Bihar flood is the Kosi River's immense alluvial fan, extending some 185 km from the river's exit from the Himalayas and foothills in Nepal, down to its confluence with the Ganges in Bihar. The laws of geology and physics cause rivers to course back and forth across such fans in ephemeral channels lasting decades at most, but for flood control reasons man-made embankments endeavored to contain the Koshi within a channel along its fan's western edge. On 18 August, heavy monsoon rains caused the river to break out of this channel. It started flowing through an old channel much further east, inundating cropland and towns and villages with 1.2 million inhabitants, mostly in Bihar. Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar met India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his help in dealing with the "catastrophe". [9][10] The worst affected districts included Supaul, Madhepura, north Bhagalpur, Araria, Purnia (all by the Kosi) and West Champaran (by Gandak). Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials in the worst hit districts. [9]
The district magistrate of Madhepura has ordered the inhabitants of the town of Madhepura to evacuate because the water level continued to rise. Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials (including 600 food packets per day) from Purnia in the worst hit districts where nearly two million persons were entrapped. [9]
It is not possible to assess the magnitude of deaths or destruction, because the affected areas are totally inaccessible. Even mobile phones had stopped working, because entrapped persons cannot get their batteries charged. 150 persons were washed away in a single incident (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition). Another report says 42 people have died in the flood in Bihar. [11]
The Government of Bihar has constituted a technical committee, headed by retired engineer-in-chief of the water resource department, Nilendu Sanyal, to manage the restoration work and closure of the breach in the East Koshi afflux embankment. [11] Indian authorities were working to prevent further widening of the breach and channels would be dug to direct the water back to the main river bed. [12] However, Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) reported on Aug 28 that Indian officials were chased away by anti-social elements from the breach site in Nepal. Nepal's Defence Minister has made a statement that Nepal will repair the breach on its own, although it was not made clear when this work will be started. Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) later sent its reporter to the site of the Kushaha breach, who reported with photographs on Sep 5 that all earlier claims by government officials of repairing the breach and of Nepalis chasing away Indian officials were utterly false reports by Indian officials, because there were thick forests on the embankment and it was not possible to reach the site before the end of August. Forest on the embankment proves that these parts of Kosi embankments were not even visited for decades. Its maintenance was the responsibility of Indian, especially Bihar's officials. The life of these embankments elapsed over two decades ago, but no effort was taken to even survey their conditions, although the Bihar government spends huge sums on the maintenance of embankments each year. A high-level Government of Nepal team that inspected areas devastated by the flood in the Koshi River has held India responsible for the havoc. Media reports stated The devastation took place as the Indian side did not carry out repair and maintenance work on the Kosi barrage and the embankment along the river, thereby violating the Nepal-India Koshi agreement. As per the bilateral agreement of 1954[13][14] India is entirely responsible for repair and maintenance work and operation of the barrage. [15] There was no effort by Indian officials to repair the breach in time, although the Kosi took 15 days to make the breach. On the other hand, Indian engineers say that anti-social elements in Nepal did not allow them to repair the embankment (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition, Aug 28). These so-called "anti-social" elements are the victims of the Kosi embankments who have been forced to bear tsunami-like floods every year;[16] they are happy that the river wants to change its course. Kosi embankments are designed to contain the Kosi in the channel of the Tilyuga River, while the old course of the Kosi lies far to the east in Purnia district. Later, Dainik Hindustan reported on Sep 5 that Indian officials could not reach the site of breach as there were forests on the embankment which were cleared in early September, hence Indian officials were lying about being prevented to repair the breach: they had not visited the site for decades due to forests in the way. The New York Times reported that it is the worst flood in the area in 50 years, prompting Manmohan Singh to declare a “national calamity” on 28 August. The government earmarked US$230 million in aid for the region. [17] The Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and non-governmental organizations[18] operated the biggest flood rescue operation in India in more than 50 years.
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Floods
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Allied Air Flight 111 crash
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Allied Air Flight 111 was a cargo flight operated by Lagos-based cargo airliner Allied Air, flying from Lagos, Nigeria to Accra, Ghana. The flight was operated with a Boeing 727 cargo aircraft. On 2 June 2012, the aircraft crashed on landing at Kotoka International Airport, killing twelve people on the ground. [1][2]
The aircraft overran the runway, broke through the airport perimeter fence, and struck a minibus on a roadway. All four crew members on the plane survived, but all 10 aboard the minibus were killed. [3] It was the second deadliest accident in Ghanaian aviation history. [4]
Allied Air Flight 111 was a flight from Lagos Murtala Muhammed Airport to Kotoka International Airport with 4 crew members aboard. It took off from Lagos at 19:04 local time and was cleared to flight level 240. The flight operated under instrument flight rules (IFR). Weather was reported to be inclement, with turbulence reportedly present. [4][1][5]
As it was approaching Accra, the flight crew was told to descend to 2000', and then ordered to climb to 3000' due to high ground. On approach to Accra, the captain decided to fly an instrument landing system (ILS) approach. However, he later disconnected the autopilot and decided to fly manually. [4]
During landing, the aircraft encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMS), with rain and zero visibility. The landing became unstable, and the aircraft touched down at a speed of 167 knots. Thrust reversers and normal braking were deployed, but proved ineffective. The nose gear remained in the air, and did not touch ground until the aircraft flew into the perimeter fence. [4]
The aircraft overran the runway and impacted the field's threshold lights and approach lights. It then destroyed the ILS localizer, the debris from which struck a passing taxi cab, causing an injury to its occupant. The aircraft then entered crowded Giffard Road, and crushed a minibus with 10 people on board. All aboard were killed. The plane then uprooted a tree, and stopped in an open area near El-Wak Stadium. [4]
All 4 crew members survived the accident with minor injuries. [4]
Investigation by the Ghanaian government's accident investigation commission concluded that the cause of the crash was pilot error. The pilot landed long- 4000' from the threshold of Runway 03. The remaining runway distance was insufficient to allow the plane to come to a stop. The investigation stated that both pilots might have been fixated on landing immediately, regardless of the poor conditions. The flight crew also did not deploy the speed brake, contributing to the aircraft overrunning the runway. [6]
Just over 20 years prior, the same aircraft had performed the final flight for Pan American World Airways from Bridgetown, Barbados to Miami, Florida, USA. [2]
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Air crash
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Egypt Unearths New Mummies Dating Back 2,500 Years
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More than 100 painted wooden coffins, many with bodies, were found in the necropolis of Saqqara, officials said. After several recent finds at the site, it’s the largest discovery there this year. transcript (clapping) “The teeth, mouth.” “...of the age as well as the state of art of the mummification.” Mummies Discovered in Egypt Necropolis By Isabella Kwai Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed more than 100 delicately painted wooden coffins, some with mummies inside, and 40 funeral statues in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara, the Egyptian antiquities authorities said, calling the discovery the largest find at the site this year. The sealed, wooden coffins, some containing mummies, date as far back as 2,500 years and are “in perfect condition of preservation,” Khaled el-Enany, the Egyptian minister of tourism and antiquities, told reporters in Saqqara on Saturday. The fine quality of the coffins meant that they were probably the final resting places for the wealthiest citizens, officials said. Other artifacts discovered include funeral masks, canopic jars and amulets. “This discovery is very important because it proves that Saqqara was the main burial of the 26th Dynasty,” Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist, told the magazine Egypt Today, referring to the rulers from about the mid 600s B.C. to 525 B.C. It would also enrich existing knowledge about mummifications in that period, he added. The artifacts and coffins will eventually be exhibited at several museums in Egypt, including the Grand Egyptian Museum, a sprawling archaeological center under construction near the Giza Pyramids that is expected to open next year. Saqqara, a city about 20 miles south of Cairo, is a vast necropolis for the Old Kingdom capital of Memphis, and it has long been the source of major archaeological finds. Made a UNESCO world heritage site in the 1970s, the necropolis holds more than a dozen burial sites, including the Step Pyramid of King Djoser, the first known burial pyramid. In a dramatic flourish at the news conference on Saturday, experts opened a coffin and scanned a mummy with an X-ray, determining it was most likely a man around the age of 40. The discovery announced on Saturday is the most recent in a series of historical finds at the site. Officials said in October that they had found 59 intact coffins. More discoveries are predicted at the site, with archaeologists expecting to find in 2021 an ancient workshop that prepared bodies for mummification. The latest discovery comes as Egypt is making a concerted effort to draw visitors back to the country, which depends heavily on tourism. Political problems, including a 2011 uprising that toppled the longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, coupled with terrorist attacks and other instability have deterred tourists, and the coronavirus pandemic has dealt another blow. According to a Times database, Egypt has reported 110,547 total virus cases, with an average of 226 new infections per day over the last week. The country reopened its borders to visitors in July.
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New archeological discoveries
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An industrial gas supply firm and its chief executive officer failed to take necessary measures to ensure workplace safety, leading to a fatal blast that killed a chemist in 2015.
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SINGAPORE - An industrial gas supply firm and its chief executive officer failed to take necessary measures to ensure workplace safety, leading to a fatal blast that killed a chemist in 2015.
New mother Lim Siaw Chian, 30, was killed and at least seven others were injured after a explosion at Leeden National Oxygen's Specialty Gas Centre Quality Control Laboratory in Tanjong Kling Road near Pioneer Road on Oct 12 that year.
Ms Lim had returned to work from maternity leave a week before the tragedy. The former Malaysian had received Singapore citizenship just a month before she died.
She left behind a daughter who was six months old at the time.
Leeden National Oxygen, which sent a representative to court, and its CEO Steven Tham Weng Cheong, now 69, each pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Dec 1) to an offence under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
Among other things, they had failed to take measures to ensure that unsafe modified regulatory valve assemblies were not used when testing combustible gases.
They had also failed to ensure that there was a system in place for the accurate tracking of gas cylinders.
On Tuesday, Ministry of Manpower prosecutor Erdiana Hazlina said that Ms Lim was carrying out gas analysis on a cylinder shortly before the explosion occurred.
Ms Lim was last seen touching a regulatory valve assembly (RVA) connected to a cylinder, the court heard.
Ms Erdiana added: "The said RVA was found to have been modified with an unqualified welded joint. The failure of the welded joint... was found to have pre-existed but was not prudently checked before usage prior to the incident.
"The failure at the unqualified welded joint... resulted in a leak of flammable methane-oxygen-nitrogen mix from the RVA during the testing of the cylinder."
The court heard that the leaking gas mixture could have been ignited by the frictional heat generated due to the escaping gas mixture.
An explosion occurred and the ensuing blaze engulfed the ground-floor laboratory. Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force were then deployed to the scene.
Ms Lim's charred remains were later found on six occasions over a two-month period. They were identified using her daughter's DNA.
Chemist Lim Siaw Chian was killed in the fatal blast. PHOTO: FACEBOOK
What the laboratory looked like after the fire and explosions at Leeden National Oxygen. PHOTO: SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCE
In 2016, then State Coroner Marvin Bay found that Ms Lim died of blast injuries. He also found her death to be an industrial misadventure.
On Tuesday, Ms Erdiana urged the court to sentence Leeden National Oxygen to a fine of $380,000. She also pressed for Tham to be fined $50,000.
Both offenders are expected to be sentenced on Jan 12 next year.
For committing the offence under the Act, a company can be fined up to $500,000 while a person can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $200,000.
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Gas explosion
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The 737 MAX-10 completed its first flight in Renton, Washington on Friday
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The 737 MAX-10 completed its first flight in Renton, Washington on Friday. (Boeing) Boeing's 737-10, the largest airplane in the 737 MAX family, on Friday completed a successful first flight. The airplane took off from Renton Field at 10:07 a.m. and landed at 12:38 p.m. at Boeing Field in Seattle. "The airplane performed beautifully," 737 Chief Pilot Capt. Jennifer Henderson said in a June 18 press release. "The profile we flew allowed us to test the airplane's systems, flight controls and handling qualities, all of which checked out exactly as we expected." The MAX-10 lands at Boeing Field Seattle. (Boeing) The 737-10 can carry up to 230 passengers. It also incorporates environmental improvements, cutting carbon emissions by 14 percent and reducing noise by 50 percent compared to today's Next-Generation 737s, according to Boeing. Boeing expects the 737-10 to enter into service in 2023. Under a new agreement between European Union (EU) and United States (U.S.) officials announced on June 15, tariffs on large aircraft parts and components have been suspended by both sides for a period of five years that resolves a 17-year trade dispute involving Airbus and Boeing. According to the cooperative framework published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), a key provision within the new agreement is that both sides will be subjected to a more open and transparent process in the way that they provide government funding in support of research and development of new aircraft programs and technologies developed by Airbus and Boeing. Airbus has decided to concentrate its efforts for metallic hydrogen tanks in a complementary setup by creating Zero-Emission Development Centers (ZEDC) at its sites in Bremen, Germany and Nantes, France, according to a June 14 press release. The goal of the ZEDC is to achieve cost-competitive cryogenic tank manufacturing to support the successful future market launch of ZEROe and to accelerate the development of hydrogen-propulsion technologies. The ZEDCs will focus on technology developments that cover the full product and industrial capabilities from elementary parts, assembly, systems integration and the cryogenic testing of the final liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank system, according to Airbus. “The tank is a safety-critical component, for which specific systems engineering is needed. LH2 is more challenging than kerosene because it needs to be stored at -250 °C to liquefy. Liquidity is needed for increased density. For commercial aviation, the challenge is to develop a component which can withstand repeated thermal and pressure cycling which an aircraft application demands,” Airbus said in the release. Technologies matured as part of the RISE Program will serve as the foundation for the next-generation CFM engine that could be available by the mid-2030s, according to GE Aviation. GE Aviation has established a partnership with Safran to launch a new technology development program targeting more than 20 percent lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today’s in-service commercial aircraft engines, according to a June 14 press release. The CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program will demonstrate and mature a range of new, disruptive technologies for future engines that could enter service by the mid-2030s, the two companies said in the release. Additionally, the two companies are extending their CFM International 50/50 partnership to the year 2050. "Our industry is in the midst of the most challenging times we have ever faced,” Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran, said in the release. “We have to act now to accelerate our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment. Since the early 1970s, breakthrough engine efficiency and reliability have been the hallmark of our historic partnership and our LEAP engine already reduces emissions by 15 percent compared to previous generation engines. Through the extension of our CFM partnership to 2050, we are today reaffirming our commitment to work together as technology leaders to help our industry meet the urgent climate challenges.” General Motors and Liebherr-Aerospace will join forces to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-based demonstrator system for aircraft. The collaboration is based on GM’s HYDROTEC technology, like this hydrogen fuel cell stack. (Liebherr) General Motors and Liebherr-Aerospace have agreed to collaborate on development of a HYDTROTEC hydrogen fuel cell technology-based electrical power generation system for aircraft applications. The two companies will explore possibilities to leverage Liebherr’s strong position as an on-board aircraft system supplier, together with GM’s leadership in hydrogen fuel cell technology, to develop an “integrated system, customized to the performance and economic requirements of commercial aircraft,” Liebherr said in the release. Moving forward, the two companies will focus on developing an electrical power generation system to demonstrate how hydrogen fuel cell-based power systems could be used in aircraft applications. The construction and testing of this demonstrator will take place in a specialized laboratory multi-system integration testing at Liebherr-Aerospace in Toulouse, France. “The change from the conventional to a hydrogen technology-based electrical power generation system means major systems modifications on board the aircraft that could result in better, more efficient performance of the plane,” Francis Carla, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS said in the release. “This we want to prove and test thoroughly. The advantage of GM’s HYDROTEC fuel cell technology is that it has shown promise in extensive automotive and military programs, where it has shown to be reliable from the engineering and manufacturing perspectives.” A computer rendering of Leonardo's new U.K.-based advanced helicopter logistics hub. (Leonardo) Leonardo is adding a new £30 million single-site logistics facility to its helicopter site in Yeovil, U.K. The new facility is scheduled to be completed in Q4 2022. The project sees the consolidation of eight existing warehouses into one all-encompassing logistics hub. “The main aim of the Single-Site Logistics facility at Leonardo’s site in Yeovil is to consolidate all Yeovil-based warehousing. This state-of-the-art facility will streamline the site’s operational capability and customer service by having all logistical support in one place,” Nick Whitney, Managing Director of Leonardo Helicopters (UK), said in a June 16 press release. The new facility will service the Yeovil production facilities and provide spares support for the global fleet of rotary aircraft built at Leonardo’s site in Yeovil and support the management of production tooling. A beam pointing system developed and manufactured by Synopta, the Switzerland-based company recently acquired by General Atomics. General Atomics (GA) on June 14 said it has acquired Synopta GmbH, a developer and supplier of opto-electronics instrumentation used in space and terrestrial applications, in a deal that complements GA’s existing technologies and improves its ability to provide complete subsystems to customers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Switzerland, Synopta’s customers include European organization, national agencies and international companies in the defense, space and capital goods sectors. The company provided the beam pointing system for laser communications on satellites launched by the European Space Agency for the European Union’s Copernicus Earth program, GA said. Synopta also provides strategic and technical consultancy services. GA already has extensive experience in adaptive optics for lasers and telescopes. “Synopta’s pioneering expertise and innovative developments in communication, beam control, pointing assemblies, and stationary and transportable optical ground systems will supplement the diverse portfolio of laser communications, sensors, and ground systems which enable delivery of dependable solutions to government and other customers,” Scott Forney, president of GA’s Electromagnetic Systems Group, said in a statement. “Synopta will continue to serve its European customer base but will expand now also to customers in the United States and other countries, while contributing to GA’s systems and strategic objectives. Under its new name General Atomics GmbH, the company will form a technical center of excellence within the General Atomics group of companies.” The Army announced Monday it has selected L3Harris Technologies and Raytheon Technologies for a prototype program to develop a Multi-Domain Sensing System (MDSS) for the service’s High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) intelligence-gathering aircraft program. The two companies received Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements to demonstrate their sensor offerings in the eight-month first phase of MDSS, valued at nearly $4.7 million, before the Army selects one or both vendors to move onto prototype fabrication. The Airborne Reconnaissance Targeting & Exploitation Multi-Mission Intelligence System (ARTEMIS) aircraft. (U.S. Army) “The initial award is for Phase 1 of a Multi-Domain Sensing System program to demonstrate, develop, build, and integrate prototype electronic intelligence (ELINT) and communications intelligence (COMINT) sensors onto [HADES], the Army’s next generation airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system,” the Army wrote in a statement. “This competitive first phase of a multi-phased OTA prototype project will demonstrate the vendors’ sensors under controlled conditions, leading to Phase 2 in which one or more vendors will further develop and build their sensors specifically for the HADES platform.” A third phase will then focus on providing “a holistic COMINT/ELINT system” that will be flight tested to inform potential production requirements, with the entire MDSS prototype effort valued at $49 million. SpaceX launches the fifth GPS III satellite on June 17, 2021. (SpaceX) SpaceX’s latest GPS III launch was its fourth time launching this type of satellite for the U.S. military, but Thursday’s mission marked a brand-new milestone: It was the first time a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission was conducted on a reused booster. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 17 at 12:09 EST, carrying the Lockheed Martin-built fifth GPS III (SV05). The booster successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean nine minutes later, and the payload separated just under 1 hour and 30 minutes after liftoff. The booster used in this mission previously supported the prior GPS III launch in November 2020. The U.S. Space Force previously announced its deal to reuse flight-proven SpaceX boosters in September 2020. At the time, the Space Force agreed to re-fly a booster for SV06 as well. The SV05 launch that took place on Thursday was originally set for January 2021, but pushed to the summer to allow time to validate reuse activities. "Business jet demand in Texas and latterly, New York, has stormed ahead of 2019 trends in recent weeks. Within Texas, flight activity is still shy of 2020 let alone 2019, but connections between Texas and Colorado, Florida, and California are higher than ever," according to WINGX. According to the latest global business jet traffic activity tracker published weekly by WINGX, during the first half of June, global business jet activity rebounded “well beyond the recovery threshold with relation to flight trends in 2019,” according to a June 17 press release. With just over 100,000 business jet sectors flown this month, the sector represents 15 percent of all fixed wing movements, with activity going 12 percent higher than in the first half of June 2019. This is the first time business aviation growth is outstripping air cargo growth, according to the release. In contrast, scheduled commercial airline activity globally is still “languishing more than 40 percent below pre-pandemic normal for this time of year,” according to WINGX. “During the pandemic, lifestyle and occasionally necessity sustained business jet demand, in the last few months we have seen leisure boost the recovery, and this will accelerate through the summer, with the return of at least some business travel taking utilization to new highs in 2021 compared to 2019,” Richard Koe, managing director of WINGX Advance GmbH, said in the release. “The surge should reliably follow the lifting of restrictions, with international trips waiting longer but almost certainly at the planning stage.” Embraer and VisionSafe Corporation today announced that VisionSafe’s EVAS (Emergency Vision Assurance System) is now available for the Praetor 500 and the Praetor 600 business jets. The new feature will be available through a Supplement Type Certificate (STC) issued by VisionSafe Corporation, according to a June 16 press release. The EVAS system provides a clear space of air through which a pilot can see flight instruments and out the front windshield for landing the plane in the event of cockpit smoke, according to Embraer. In addition to the Praetor aircraft, VisionSafe has also achieved certification for the technology through STCs for the Legacy 600, 650 and Lineage 1000 jets. “This feature will enhance safety on Embraer’s Praetor business jets,” Marsha Woelber, Head of Worldwide Executive Jets Customer Support & Aftermarket Sales, Embraer Service & Support said in the release. “This reflects the continuous improvement Embraer brings to its successful business jet portfolio.” Viasat's in-flight connectivity is being added to a mix of business jets operated by Flexjet LLC, including the Embraer Praetor 600 pictured here. (Flexjet) Flexjet LLC is bringing Viasat in-flight connectivity (IFC) to its fleet of Bombardier Globals, Embraer Praetor 600s, and Gulfstream G450/G650 aircraft, through a new partnership between the two companies, according to a June 17 press release. The new partnership will install Viasat’s Ka-band IFC service on the Flexjet Praetor 600 fleet while adding the Ku-band version of the service to the Globals, G450s, and G650s owned and operated by Flexjet. According to Viasat, Flexjet has already begun receiving Praetor 600s equipped with its Ka-band system, which can enable in-flight connection speeds greater than 20 Mbps. "When we began evaluating IFC partners to improve our existing connectivity, it became clear that Viasat's products and services would enhance it on more devices across more of our fleet—which will boost the value of our Owners' flight experiences," Flexjet Chief Operating Officer Megan Wolf said in the release. "We also appreciated their satellite roadmap—which would ensure the IFC investments we're making today will meet the increasing data demands of tomorrow." Iridium Communications has tapped Greg Pelton from Pyron as the company’s new CTO. The company announced Monday that Pelton will take over for retiring CTO Hermon Pon. As CTO, Pelton will oversee the technical aspects of Iridium’s products and services and manage technology development and engineering. Pelton served as chief product officer at Pyron, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) company focused on augmented intelligence for enterprise. There, he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s augmented intelligence product portfolio. Pelton also previously led Cisco‘s corporate Technology Center where he worked on the Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) program, consisting of developing a router for use in satellites and transitioning of satellite ground networks to multi-service IP networks. During a 40-mile demonstration flight at the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site in North Dakota, uAvionix displayed its new George autopilot and SkyLine C2 infrastructure using three terrestrial skyStation Ground Radio Systems (GRS). During a 40-mile demonstration flight at the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Site in North Dakota, uAvionix displayed its new George autopilot and SkyLine C2 infrastructure using three terrestrial skyStation Ground Radio Systems (GRS), according to a June 14 release from the company. The George Autopilot was announced in April and is compliant with the National Defense Authorization Act, according to the release. It uses DAL C hardware and safety and sensor monitoring for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. uAvionix’s command and control network, Skyline, powered the autonomous 40-mile BVLOS flight, according to the release. This demonstration was the first time three SkyStation terrestrial ground radio locations were managed by the system. Former Airbus CEO Tom Enders will assume the role of chairman of Munich, Germany-based Lilium. Former Airbus CEO Tom Enders will assume the role of chairman of Munich, Germany-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) 7-seater jet developer Lilium, according to a June 16 press release. Enders, who previously served as a Lilium Advisory Board member, assumes the new role as Lilium simultaneously completes a business combination with Qell Acquisition Corp., an announcement made as part of the company’s inaugural “Analyst Day,” held June 15. In a video message, Dr. Enders discussed the importance of these commercial relationships to the future success of Lilium. The video also highlights the new relationships the company has established with long-running aviation organizations and companies such as Honeywell Aerospace and Lufthansa Aviation Training among others to enable the eventual entry into service of its aircraft within the next few years. “Tom Enders is an aviation industry giant, and we are all delighted to see him reaffirm his commitment to Lilium by accepting the future role of Chairman of the Board when Lilium becomes a Nasdaq-listed company,” Daniel Wiegand, Co-Founder and CEO of Lilium, said in a statement. “We will continue to leverage Tom’s incredible network across aerospace, both in the delivery of aircraft and in commercial development, and together with Barry Engle and the directors who will serve on the Board of Directors of Lilium N.V., Tom will provide important counsel and stewardship as we prepare for a planned commercial launch in 2024.” Guangzhou-based EHang is using AI for intelligent navigation. (EHang) EHang, the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer, deployed its aircraft in Guangzhou City, China for COVID-19 relief and control efforts, the company announced in a June 14 press release. The eVTOL operations began on June 4 and included EHang’s passenger-grade autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) EHang 216 and its logistics model EHang 216L, according to the release. The AAV’s were able to complete contactless relief and support takes in quarantine and relief zones like aerial logistics, emergency transportation, and aerial inspections.
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New achievements in aerospace
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Garuda Indonesia Flight 865 crash
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Garuda Indonesia Flight 865 (GA/GIA 865) was a scheduled international flight from Fukuoka, Japan, to Jakarta, Indonesia via Bali, Indonesia. [2] On 13 June 1996, Flight 865 crashed on its takeoff from Fukuoka Airport Runway 16. Three of 275 suffered fatal injuries in the accident. Flight 865 was cleared for takeoff from Runway 16. Suddenly, the crew of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 (Captain Ronald Longdong, First Officer Yudhia Putra and Flight Engineer Dwi Prayitno) attempted to abort take-off after the failure of the number 3 (right) engine. The abort occurred at speeds nearing V2, and after rotation of the nose. Following the abort, attempts were made to stop the aircraft on the runway by use of brakes, ground spoilers and thrust reversers, but the crew was unable to stop the aircraft within the boundaries of the runway, which exited the airport property. [2] The captain stated that he feared that the aircraft might hit buildings or objects if he did not abort the takeoff. [3]
In slowing down, the aircraft slid through a ditch, a fence and a road before finally coming to rest approximately 620 metres (2,030 ft) beyond the runway threshold. Damage done to the aircraft during the slide across the ground caused the landing gear to break off and both wing-mounted engines to be torn from the wings. The fuselage broke in two places, at about the wing root trailing edge, and at approximately 10.4 metres (34 ft) aft of the wing root trailing edge. The resultant fire destroyed the areas between the hull fractures, and other areas of the aircraft. Three passengers died as a result. [1]
The final report concluded that pilot error and the failure of the maintenance and flight operation sections of the airline in properly coordinating matters resulted in the accident. [4]
The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, registration PK-GIE. It had its first flight on 24 April 1979 and was delivered to Garuda Indonesia on 27 July 1979. The aircraft was 17 years old at the time of the accident, it was the 284th DC-10 built and its MSN number was 46685. [5]
The aircraft had three General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofan engines. [6] The cause of the engine failure leading to the crash was that the engine turbine blades had been in service for 6,182 cycles (take-offs and landings) when General Electric said to discard blades after 6,000 cycles. [7]
The former aircraft registration number was later used on one of the ten airline's Boeing 777-300ER with same registration as previous DC-10-30.
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Air crash
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Ozone Disco fire
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The Ozone Disco fire in Quezon City, Philippines, broke out at 11:35 pm Philippine Standard Time on March 18, 1996, leaving at least 162 people dead. It is officially acknowledged as the worst fire in Philippine history,[1][2] and among the 10 worst nightclub fires in the world. [3][4]
Ozone Disco was a popular spot in Quezon City for students and young professionals in the mid-’90. It was located near the 11th World Scout Jamboree Memorial Rotonda along Timog Avenue, was opened in 1991 by Segio Orgaoow. [5][6] Its building had previously housed a jazz club named "Birdland". [5] The disco was operated by Westwood Entertainment Company, Inc.[6][7]
The fire broke out just before midnight on March 18, 1996. At the time of the fire, it was estimated that there were around 350 patrons and 40 club employees inside Ozone Disco, though it had been approved for occupancy for only 35 people. [1][7] Most of the club guests were high school and college students attending graduation or end-of-the-school-year celebrations. [8] Survivors reported seeing sparks flying inside the disc jockey's booth shortly before midnight, followed by smoke which they thought was part of the party plan of the DJ. [1] Another survivor added that after about 15 seconds of smoke, the electrical systems of the disco shut down; flames quickly became visible. [9]
Many of the bodies were discovered along the corridor leading to the only exit, piled up waist-high. [1] Quezon City officials were quoted as saying that the club's emergency exit was blocked by a new building next door,[1] and that there was no proper fire exit installed. [8] It was also reported that the exit had been locked from the outside by the club's security guards, who had thought that a riot had taken place. [7]
The final death count was reported as between 160[10] and 162 people, the latter being the figure cited by the trial court that heard the ensuing criminal case. [7] In addition, at least 95 people were injured. [7] The death toll was one of the worst ever for a nightclub fire,[8] though it was subsequently surpassed by the República Cromañón nightclub fire. Six people involved with Westwood Entertainment were tried before the courts for criminal charges of "reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple serious injuries". [7][10] On March 16, 2001, the president of Westwood Entertainment, Hermilo Ocampo, and the corporation's treasurer, Ramon Ng, were found guilty by a Quezon City trial court and sentenced to a four-year prison term, and fined 25 million pesos each. [7][10] They and their co-accused (who were acquitted) were also ordered to indemnify the families of the deceased 150,000 pesos, and 100,000 pesos to the injured. The trial court concluded that Ocampo and Ng failed to provide fire exits and sprinklers inside the establishment, that the fire extinguishers they placed were defective, and that the lone exit was through a small door that swung inward and did not meet the standard set by the building code. [7] A former employee who was among the survivors of the fire has claimed that the inward swinging doors were installed because it was good feng shui. [11]
In November 2001, twelve officials of the Quezon City government were charged before the Sandiganbayan for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicides and multiple serious injuries. They were accused of allowing Ozone Disco to secure a certificate of annual inspection in 1995 "despite the inadequacy, insufficiency and impropriety of the documents submitted by the owners". [10] In 2007, one of the twelve – the former city engineer and building official of Quezon City, Alfredo Macapugay – was discharged from criminal and civil liability after the Sandiganbayan concluded that he had no hand in the issuance of the necessary permits to Ozone Disco management. [12]
On November 20, 2014, seven officials of the Quezon City government were found guilty under the Philippines' anti-graft and corrupt practices law by the country's anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. They were held liable for negligence in connection with the approval of the building permit and issuance of certificates of occupancy for the company which owned Ozone. The club's owners were also found to be liable. [13]
The structure, which housed the Ozone Disco, remained standing in Timog Avenue, Quezon City but was not commercially used for over 20 years after the incident. [14] For a few years after the incident, there was a makeshift memorial on the site featuring photographs of the victims. [15] This has since been dismantled, and no marker or official memorial commemorates the incident or its victims. [16]
In March 2015, a week before the 19th anniversary of the tragedy, the Ozone Disco building was finally demolished. Relatives of the victims still visit the site. [17] As of October 2016, the former location of the Ozone Disco Club now has a new structure and is currently occupied by a branch of known food chain GoodAh!! !, co-owned by television host Boy Abunda. [18]
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Fire
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Ceiling of an underground mine collapsed in Queensland causes serious casualties
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A 60-year-old man has died after the ceiling of a Queensland mine collapsed on him, with two others taken to hospital. A 60-year-old man has died and two others were taken to hospital after the ceiling of an underground mine collapsed in Queensland on Tuesday night. A section of the wall and ceiling fell in on the workers at the Sojitz Gregory Crinum Coal Mine near Emerald at about 11pm, Queensland Police told NCA NewsWire. A worker in his 20s who became trapped in the rubble suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries was airlifted to assistance by a critical care team while another man was taken to hospital in a stable condition. “A man with pelvic and leg injuries was initially encapsulated before being freed and airlifted to Rockhampton Hospital in a serious condition, while a second patient was assessed for critical injuries,” Queensland Ambulance Service said. “A third patient was also transported stable to Emerald Hospital following a medical event.” The underground mine collapse occurred at the site about 60km northeast of Emerald, which is a coal coking operation – a crucial component in the making of steel. The mining sector’s inspectorate confirmed to NCA NewsWire investigators were already on the scene attempting to unravel the reason for the horrific accident. “Resources Safety and Health Queensland confirms tragically overnight a miner has lost his life and another suffered injuries following a fall of rock from the roof at Crinum underground coal mine near Emerald,” the body said in a statement. “The injured worker has been transported to hospital for assessment.” Originally published as One man killed, two hospitalised after horror Queensland mine collapse In what is truly a world first, an Australian baseball team has made a wild announcement about paying its staff and players. The casino giant has spent almost two years under the spotlight of multiple investigations, but the WA royal commission is finally drawing to a close.
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Mine Collapses
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Philippine Volcano Belches Dark Plume, Villagers Evacuated
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A small volcano near the Philippine capital has belched a dark plume of steam and ash into the sky in a brief explosion. Philippine Volcano Belches Dark Plume, Villagers Evacuated In this image made from video from Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology - Department of Science and Technology, a plume of steam and ash is seen from Taal Volcano, Batangas province, Philippines on Thursday July 1, 2021. A tiny volcano near the Philippine capital belched a plume of steam and ash into the sky in a brief explosion Thursday, prompting an alert level to be raised due to heightened risks to nearby villages. (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology - Department of Science and Technology via AP) The Associated Press By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A small volcano near the Philippine capital belched a dark plume of steam and ash into the sky in a brief explosion Thursday, prompting officials to start evacuating thousands of villagers from high-risk areas. Government experts said magmatic materials came into contact with water in the main crater of Taal Volcano in Batangas province, setting off the steam-driven blast with no accompanying volcanic earthquake. They said it’s unclear if the volcanic unrest could lead to a full-blown eruption. “It’s just one explosive event; it’s too early to tell,” Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said at a news conference. Three smaller steam-driven emissions occurred Thursday night, he said. The agency raised the alarm at 1,020-foot (311-meter) Taal, one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, to the third of a five-step warning system, meaning “magma is near or at the surface, and activity could lead to hazardous eruption in weeks.” Alert level 5 means a life-threatening eruption that could endanger communities is occurring. Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the government’s disaster-response agency, said officials started to evacuate residents from five high-risk villages. Up to 14,000 residents may have to be moved temporarily away from the restive volcano, he said. Officials reminded people to stay away from a small island in a scenic lake where Taal is located and is considered a permanent danger zone along with a number of nearby lakeside villages. The ABS-CBN network broadcast videos of some residents with their belongings in cars and motorcycles forming a line at a gasoline station. Residents said they did not feel any tremors but reported a volcanic sulfur smell. Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas said evacuation camps, trucks, food packs and face masks were ready in case the volcanic unrest escalated and more people needed to be moved to safety. There were concerns that crowding in evacuation camps might spread the coronavirus in a region that has seen a spike in cases in recent months. Taal erupted in January 2020, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and sending clouds of ash to Manila, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the north, where the main airport was temporarily shut down. The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A long-dormant volcano, Mount Pinatubo, blew its top north of Manila in 1991 in one of the biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds of people.
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Volcano Eruption
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San Francisco tech bus protests
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City of San Francisco
Silicon Valley tech companies
Community activists
The San Francisco tech bus protests were a series of community-based activism held by residents of the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in late 2013, when the use of shuttle buses employed by local area tech companies became widely publicized. The tech buses have been called "Google buses" although that term is pars pro toto, in that many other tech companies such as Apple, Facebook, Yahoo and Genentech also pay for private shuttle services. [1]
The buses are used to ferry only tech company employees from their homes in San Francisco and Oakland to corporate campuses in Silicon Valley, about 40 miles (64 km) south. [2] The people involved in the protests viewed the buses as symbols of gentrification and displacement in a city where rapid growth in the tech sector and insufficient new housing construction[3] has led to increasing rent and housing prices. [4]
In reaction to the protests, the City of San Francisco began provisional regulation of the shuttle services in August 2014, with some of the shuttle stops being closed or reassigned to other locations within the city. [5] A permanent solution, known as the Commuter Shuttle Program, took effect on 1 February 2016. This subjected the shuttle services to regulatory processes and monetary compensation requirements, imparting greater legitimacy upon their use. Owing to these new regulations, by May 2017 the protests had largely abated. [6]
The core issues surrounding the use of buses were that only employees of tech companies were allowed to use them, and for a substantial amount of time the buses used city infrastructure without compensating the city for their use. According to Berkeley professor Abigail De Kosnik, the resulting protests can be viewed as "synecdoches for the anger that many San Francisco residents feel towards technological privilege and its facilitation of a widening of a class divide in the city", and that the Google bus protests were "attempts to disrupt the smoothness of technological privilege's spread. "[7]
Growth in the technology sector of Silicon Valley at the beginning of the 21st century encouraged an influx of tech workers to the area, increasing demand for public transportation in the greater Bay Area. [8] Inadequate links between San Francisco and Silicon Valley workplaces became a leading factor in Silicon Valley employers' 2008 implementation of tech buses as viable alternatives for transportation. [8] As a net gain, busing ensured employees had a convenient way to commute to work while allowing for tech workers to live outside of Silicon Valley. According to a 2012 report by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), there were approximately 6,500 tech commuters who used shuttle buses to take them from their respective homes to work locations outside the city. [9]
At the same time, the growth of the technology companies caused gentrification. [10][11] Rents were rising and evictions were increasing in frequency by late 2013. [12] The use of exclusive busing services, along with the suburban locations of tech companies, served to isolate tech workers from other San Francisco residents in a manner similar to gated communities. [8] One commentator remarked:
The buses roll up to San Francisco's bus stops in the morning and evening, but they are unmarked, or nearly so, and not for the public. Most of them are gleaming white, with dark-tinted windows, like limousines, and some days I think of them as the spaceships on which our alien overlords have landed to rule over us. Sometimes the Google Bus just seems like one face of Janus-headed capitalism, in that they contain the people too valuable even to use public transport or drive themselves. [13]
Concerns soon arose over the busing, most notably the shuttles' use of public bus stops. Having different transport systems attempting to use the same areas at each stop in an uncoordinated fashion brought about unnecessary traffic congestion, for which the City of San Francisco was not compensated. [14][15] An internal city report stated:
Prior to August 2014, San Francisco did not regulate or collect fees from commuter shuttles. Shuttles operated throughout the City on both large arterial and small non-arterial streets. Shuttles loaded and unloaded passengers in a variety of places whether it was legal or not, including white loading zones, red Muni zones, and other vacant curb spaces. When curb space was unavailable, shuttles often would load or unload passengers in the travel lane. The lack of rules for where and when loading and unloading were permitted resulted in confusion for shuttle operators and neighbors, inconsistent enforcement, and real and perceived conflicts with other transportation modes. [16]
The protests started on 9 December 2013, when activists from a group called Heart of the City blocked and entered a double-decker bus used by Google at 24th Street and Valencia in San Francisco's Mission District. [17] The main strategy used during the protests was to briefly detain buses while engaged at their stops loading passengers. Afterwards, messages by the protesting groups were disseminated through media, communicating their actions to larger audiences outside the city. This sparked other groups across the Bay in Oakland and out of state in Seattle to protest private tech commuter buses in their areas. [18][19] In the majority of incidents, protesters merely blocked the buses from leaving their stops. [20] At a protest organized by Eviction Free San Francisco on 20 December 2013, a group of protesters blocked a bus while an organizer using a loudspeaker from the back of a truck drew attention to the blockade, which lasted 30 minutes. On 1 April 2014, April Fools' Day, protesters wearing blue, yellow and red costumes blocked a tech bus carrying Google workers at 24th and Valencia, preventing it from departing. [21] An organizer named "Judith Hart" — claiming to be the president of Google's new Gmuni division — began answering questions on a loudspeaker from the gathering crowd of onlookers while distributing Gmuni passes, which she claimed allowed the public to ride the tech buses for free. After several people from the crowd were denied boarding, the organizer acknowledged to arriving police that the bus driver "may not have received notice of the program" and the bus was ultimately allowed to depart. [21]
Across the bay in Oakland, protesters were more pointed in their blockade, with one protester breaking the window of a bus[22] while an unrelated second protester slashed the tire of another bus. [23] Other protesters detaining a bus in Oakland unfurled a banner containing expletives. [24] In one incident on 2 April 2014, a protester climbed to the roof of a Yahoo bus close by Bay Area Rapid Transit's MacArthur station in Oakland, and vomited on the windshield. [25] According to an organizer from San Francisco, the protests in Oakland were not affiliated with the San Francisco groups, with "the only real connection is that most of our communities are being heavily displaced and people are very angry. "[24]
In almost all incidents, the protesters who were obstructing buses eventually moved of their own accord or at police direction. Very few incidents of arrests were made during the protests, due largely to so-called Graham factors, whereby use of the police power to arrest is considered inexpedient in cases where people are viewed as peacefully protesting. In these cases, San Francisco Police Department officers are trained to de-escalate the situation by using other, non-confrontational means, such as communicating with non-compliant subjects. [26]
With the accumulation of media and public interest that the protests garnered, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held their first three-hour meeting on the protests at City Hall on 7 January 2014. Tech bus operators had been offered a solution whereby they would be charged $1 per stop per day, regardless of how many workers got on or off. [22] Angry residents, citing the $2 fee[a] San Franciscans had to pay to board city buses, demanded that the private bus services pay more for their share. [29][4] In the meantime, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was asked by the Board of Supervisors to commission a panel to begin gathering information on a long-term solution. Six months later, in July 2014, SFMTA began implementing its first preliminary fee of $1.00 for each public stop used by the buses, which was expected to raise $1.5 million during the 18 months that it was to be in effect. [23]
In February 2014, Google donated $6.8 million to SFMTA to provide free public transit for low-income children in San Francisco. [30] On 31 March 2014, tech-advocacy group sf.citi—led by Ron Conway, angel investor in Google and other tech companies—released a statement of support for SFMTA's pilot program.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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India's cumulative Covid vaccine coverage crosses 81 cr; 10 cr doses in 11 days
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Among states, Uttar Pradesh is leading the tally with 9.57 crore Covid-19 vaccinations, followed by Maharashtra at 7.43 crore, Madhya Pradesh at 5.82 crore, Gujarat at 5.71 crore, and Rajasthan at 5.37 crore More than 81 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered across the country since the beginning of the inoculation drive across the country. These vaccinations have been conducted across 72,621 sites, consisting 69,433 government-run and 3,188 private vaccination centres. As per the CoWIN dashboard, more than 81.73 crore doses have been given - 60.97 crore were given as the first dose, while 20.75 crore doses were administered as the second dose. Among states, Uttar Pradesh is leading the tally with 9.57 crore Covid-19 vaccinations, followed by Maharashtra at 7.43 crore, Madhya Pradesh at 5.82 crore, Gujarat at 5.71 crore, and Rajasthan at 5.37 crore. #LargestVaccineDrive #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/qXQh5Tha7H Last 10 crore doses took only 11 days, informed Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The country took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30 crore, according to the health ministry. India took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore doses and then 20 more days to cross the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6. It took 19 more days to go past the 60-crore mark and took only 13 days to reach 70 crore from 60 crore on September 7. India saw 30,256 people testing positive for coronavirus infection on Monday, taking the nation's total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,34,78,419. The active cases declined to 3,18,181, the lowest in 183 days. The death toll climbed to 4,45,133 with 295 more fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The active cases have declined to 3,18,181 comprising 0.95 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.72 per cent. A reduction of 13,977 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. A total of 11,77,607 tests were conducted on Sunday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 55,36,21,766. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.57 per cent. It has been less than 3 per cent for the last 21 days, it said. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.07 per cent. It has been below 3 per cent for the last 87 days. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 3,27,15,105, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.
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Disease Outbreaks
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2015–2018 Iraqi protests
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Iraq
Sadrist MovementWhite Vans Armed Group[3]Ahmad al-Hassan followers[4]Basra Tribesmen[5]
The 2015–2018 Iraqi protests over deteriorating economic conditions and state corruption started in July 2018 in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities, mainly in the central and southern provinces. In 2014, Iraq's election led to a fractured parliament and inability to quickly form a government. Following frustration at the lack of progress, Muqtada al-Sadr promised to lead a sit-in near parliament within the Green Zone in calling for reforms to end corruption. [9][10] Despite attempts by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to re-shuffle his cabinet,[11] he carried out the threat[12][13] for a short period before calling on his supporters to disperse. [11] The political instability in the country had been disconcerting to foreign governments,[14][15] especially amongst rumours of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki political maneuvering. [16][17] The U.S. had earlier called for the replacement of al-Maliki as prime minister as a condition for fighting ISIL. [18][19] A few days before the protests, parliament failed to reach a quorum to approve new ministers to replace the current government. [20] Al-Abadi warned that a failure to form a new government would hurt the war against ISIL. [21]
On 16 July, clashes between police and demonstrators led to the death of one young man, with two others wounded. [22]
On 2 August, hundreds took to the streets in the southern cities of Nasriyah and Najaf to protest over poor living conditions, including power shortages, and urged authorities to fight widespread corruption. [23]
On 7 August, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand changes to the government in central Tahrir Square and jammed the main streets around it, some calling on Prime Minister Abadi to fire corrupt ministers. [24]
On 30 April 2016, thousands of protesters entered the Green Zone in Baghdad and occupied the Iraqi parliament building. This happened after the Iraqi parliament did not approve new government ministers. The protesters included supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. Although Iraqi security forces were present, they did not attempt to stop the protesters from entering the parliament building. [25]
Shorty after al-Sadr ended a news conference in Najaf where he condemned the political deadlock and warned that "either corrupt [officials] and quotas remain or the entire government will be brought down and no one will be exempt from that" and that he would take a two-month withdrawal from public life as he was "waiting for the great popular uprising and the major revolution to stop the march of the corrupt";[21] though he did not order his supporters to enter the Green Zone, Shia protesters breached the barricades at the Green Zone and stormed the Iraqi parliament building. [20] After crossing a bridge across the Tigris River, a guard at a checkpoint reported that the protesters had not been searched before entering, while television footage showed them waving the flag of Iraq whiles some were standing on top of concrete blast walls at the outer barrier to the Green Zone. [26] They chanted "the cowards ran away," in reference to MPs leaving parliament. [27] While there were scenes of rioting,[13] other protesters shouted "peacefully, peacefully" as they tried to contain the destruction. Some of the protesters pulled barbed wire across a road leading to one of the exits from the Green Zone, while several vehicles believed to belong to MPs were attacked and damaged. [20] While there were no clashes with the security forces, an army special forces unit was dispatched with armoured vehicles and all entrances to the city of Baghdad were shut "as a precautionary measure to maintain the capital’s security," according to an unnamed security official, although no curfew had been imposed. Hundreds of protesters were seen dancing, waving Iraqi flags and chanting pro-al-Sadr slogans, while others appeared to be breaking furniture. [21] Security was also increased at state institutions such as the headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq and the airport. [28] Other protesters were said to be convening at the road to Baghdad International Airport to stop politicians from leaving the city and/or the country. [citation needed]
The security forces declared a state of emergency in Baghdad soon after the protesters broke through cordons to enter the Green Zone. [29]
President Fuad Masum called on the protesters to leave the parliament building but added: "Burying the regime of party and sectarian quotas cannot be delayed." Sheikh Muhanad al-Gharrawi, an al-Sadr spokesman, also said that al-Sadr had called on his supporters to evacuate the parliament building and set up tents outside. "Negotiations are ongoing between security and government officials and protesters’ representatives to make sure their demands are met. "[21]
On 11 February, at least five protesters and two policeman have been killed in Baghdad when thousands of people took part in a rally. At least 320 protesters and seven police officers were wounded as violence gripped the rally. Late on that day, there were reports that six or seven Katyusha-type rockets were fired at the Green Zone from within Baghdad. No people claim responsibility and there no casualties reported. [30] Moreover, Iraqi security forces had sealed off routes leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone after the protests. [31]
On 24 March, thousands of anti-government protesters filled up the streets of downtown Baghdad with Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to boycott the upcoming provincial elections, urging followers to join a "reform revolution. "[32]
On 15 July 2018, protests erupted in southern and central Iraq, with protesters burning the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah in Najaf and sacking the city's airport. Protesters in southern Iraq blockaded the border with Kuwait and occupied several oilfields. In response to the mass unrest, flights from Iran to Najaf were diverted,[33] and the Iraqi Army redeployed forces in the north that were engaging ISIL and the White Flags group to the south to counter the rise in unrest. [34] During protests in Basra two demonstrators were killed by Iraq's security apparatus, and protesters in Sadr City stormed the headquarters of the Iranian backed Badr Organization. [35] On the next day, protesters in Basra began burning pictures of Khomeini and continued to storm the political offices of the Islamic Dawa Party, Badr Organization, and the National Wisdom Movement, the protesters also demonstrated against Iranian drainage of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which has caused water in southern Iraq to become saline. [36][37] The government started to crack down on the increasing violence during the protests, and there were eight reported deaths among the protesters. [38] On 21 July, a Badr Organization militiaman killed a 20-year-old protester in the city of Al Diwaniyah. [39][40][41]
On 3 September, Iraqi security forces killed Makki Yassir al-Kaabi, an Iraqi tribesman protesting near the provincial capital in Basra; in response to his death many tribesmen from Banu Ka'b threatened to take up arms against the Iraqi government. [8] A few days later, at least 7 people were killed and 30 wounded after a protest about the lack of public services in Basra was fired upon by security forces. [42] On 8 September, an unknown group fired 4 Katyusha rockets at Basra Airport, no injuries or casualties were reported. The US consulate was situated at the airport, and it expressed concern for the developments in Iraq. No one had claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. [43]
In October, two bodies of activists were found in Basra and suspected to be victims of assassinations carried out by Iranian-backed militias. [44]
On 17 November, Sheikh Wessam al-Gharrawi, a leading figure during the protests against deteriorating public utilities and water contamination, was killed by unknown attackers outside his house in central Basra. [45]
On 5 December, protesters demonstrating in Basra wore high-visibility vests, inspired by the French yellow vests movement. They demanded more job opportunities and better services.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Sydenham rail disaster
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The Sydenham rail disaster occurred on 19 December 1953 when a New South Wales Government Railways electric passenger train travelling to Bankstown ran into the rear of another electric train travelling to East Hills at Sydenham. Five people were killed and 748 injured. [1][2] A wrong-side failure of the signalling system, as a result of human intervention, was believed to be the cause. [3]
Two suburban passenger trains, the first travelling to East Hills the following train travelling to Bankstown, collided at about 12:30pm. [3] The Bankstown train was travelling at 30 to 35 miles per hour (48 to 56 km/h) a few seconds before the crash. [4] Both trains were crowded, each with around 1200 passengers, many travelling home after work (it being a Saturday), and Christmas shoppers. [4] The East Hills train was being held at a home signal just on the Sydney side of Sydenham Junction station. The two leading cars of the Bankstown train telescoped into the two trailing cars of the East Hills train. [5]
Signals behind the East Hills train should have been showing stop to protect the train, it was established that the signals were in fact showing proceed giving the following train the belief that the line ahead was clear. In the accident, a signal electrician was attending a failure of a track circuit. To help keep the trains moving, he manipulated the track circuit relay with a screwdriver. [3][6] Distracted by a telephone call, he forgot to remove the screwdriver to drop the track circuit relay when the section became occupied by a train, allowing a second train to see green signals and collide with the first. [7]
The driver of the second train (the Bankstown train) was charged with manslaughter, accused of being under the influence of alcohol. [3] He was later acquitted of the charge by a jury. [8] A Signals Electrician was also charged with manslaughter for his part in the incident. [9]
Since that time, training and procedures for signal electricians have been strengthened and it is clearly stated in railway rules that in the event of a track circuit failure, no attempt shall be made to clear any of the signals controlled by the track circuit by manipulation of the track circuit relay...[10]
Two carriages of the East Hills train (the second and sixth) were older wooden bodied carriages and it was claimed this may have contributed to the deaths and injuries, although the Bankstown train, a fully steel carriage train, suffered more damage. [11]
Coordinates: 33°54′48″S 151°10′06″E / 33.91333°S 151.16833°E / -33.91333; 151.16833
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Train collisions
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‘Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Appears Above NYC, East Coast: See the Rare View
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This morning, there was a rare sighting of the ‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse in sky above, making it the first celestial spectacle of its kind. After a few days of nasty weather, the tri-state area is getting a nice break with not only partly clear skies and lower humidity but also a celestial spectacle known as the "ring of fire." New York City and nearby areas, along with the U.S. East Coast, were the ideal locations Thursday morning to watch the partial solar eclipse where the moon blocks about 60%-80% of the left side of the sun as they rise together, according to the Great American Eclipse website. It was only visible for about four minutes before the moon moved out of the sun's way. The event, known as an annular solar eclipse, occurs when the moon is too far from Earth to block out the entire sun, leaving the sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a "ring of fire,“ NASA said. According to Space.com, the eclipse was completely visible in a narrow path starting at 4:12 a.m. ET from the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada, and moving over Greenland, the North Pole and finally ending at 9:11 a.m. ET over northeastern Siberia. Like with all solar eclipses, observers are advised against looking directly at the sun's rays as it can permanently damage the eyes. NASA says when watching a solar eclipse, wear certified solar viewing or eclipse glasses — those known to block not just the visible, but also the invisible, damaging infrared and ultraviolet rays — throughout the entire eclipse if you want to face the sun. Regular sunglasses are not safe for viewing the sun. The last time such major event occurred in the U.S. was in 2017 and it won't happen again until 2024.
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New wonders in nature
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Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 9760 crash
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Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 9760 was a domestic commercial passenger 50-minutes flight, flying from Sentani Airport in Papua's Province Jayapura to Oksibil Airport in Oksibil, Indonesia operated by a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300. On Sunday, August 2, 2009, while carrying fifteen people over Papua, the aircraft went missing en route. [1][2] Its wreckage was found a few miles from Oksibil two days later. [3] All 12 passengers and 3 crew members were killed in the accident. Indonesian Investigation Agency, NTSC released the final report and concluded that the cause of the crash was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). The pilots did not maintain visual flight rules while flying below lowest safe altitude, thus impacting terrain. NTSC stated that the crash was "not survivable". Merpati Flight 9760 took off at 10:15 (local time) with an estimated time of arrival at Oksibil of 11:05. It was the second flight using the same aircraft with the first flight departed at 06.50 A.M local time. The flight was planned to use Visual Flight Rules instead of Instrument Flight Rules. Fuel was sufficient for at least 2 hours and 50 minutes. Flight crews did not report any problems related to the aircraft as the plane took off from Sentani Airport. But then, at 10:28, the plane had lost contact. [4] Control Tower frantically tried to contact the missing plane, but no response was received. The plane later missed the scheduled arrival. An INCERFA was later declared by the tower. The plane still missing on 13:05 P.M. At this point, the plane should have run out of fuel. A search team was assembled by Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS). Two days later the wreckage of the plane found at the elevation of 9,300 feet (2,800 m). All fifteen people on board were fatally injured. The plane was found disintegrated due to massive impact force when it hit terrain. The impact force was so big that no one could survive the crash. The plane had apparently crashed in a good weather. Another aircraft in the vicinity informed Flight 9760 that the weather around Oksibil Airport was partly cloudy. [5] The aircraft, a DHC-6-300 with tail number PK-NVC[6] was a 30-year-old airframe and was not equipped with a flight data recorder. The aircraft involved in the accident was a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 registered as PK-NVC with serial number 626. The aircraft was manufactured in 1979 and was acquired in 2007. It has over 30,000 flying hours and was equipped with a turbo propeller from Pratt & Whitney Canada. Fifteen people were aboard the doomed flight, including three crew and twelve passengers. All of them were Indonesian. The passengers consisted of ten adults and two infants, while the crews consisted of two pilots and one flight engineer. The Captain, Qodryanova, had logged 8,387 hours of flying experience. The First Officer had logged in 1,207 hours of flying experience. The Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) opened an investigation into the accident. The cause was found to be controlled flight into terrain. In the report, Merpati Nusantara Airlines were stated not to have fully co-operated with the NTSC as they had not provided the investigators full details of the crew's line checks and training undertaken. [7]
The National Transportation Safety Committee found that there were no maintenance defects found on the aircraft. The aircraft was also loaded with cargo within limit, ruled out overloading. The weather in the area of the flight was reported by local villagers to have been mostly clear in the valleys, with cloud on the mountains and slopes. About 25 minutes prior to the accident, the crews contacted with another crew from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft owned by Indonesian Air Force which flying from Oksibil to Sentani, and said that they were 100 miles from Jayapura, en route to Oksibil. The pilot of the Hercules informed the crew of Flight 9760 that over Oksibil the cloud base was low, with cloud tops between 6,000 and 7,000 feet (1,800 and 2,100 m). As the cloud tops to 12,500 feet (3,800 m), the Hercules pilot informed that the crew of Flight 9760 had to detour via Kiriwok to avoid the cloud. The aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder (FDR). Indonesian regulations did not require a FDR to be fitted to the Twin Otter aircraft. However, the aircraft was equipped with a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). Indonesian Civil Aviation regulations required that a serviceable CVR was to be fitted to the Twin Otter aircraft. Search and Rescue personnel recovered the CVR from the wreckage and handed it over to NTSC investigators. The outer box had minor damage, but the contents were undamaged. About 20 minutes before the impact, the pilots were discussing the area they were flying over, and made comments about the local inhabitants. Fifteen minutes before impact, the pilot in command said to the copilot "Let's fly direct Oksibil".
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Air crash
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Prose and Kohn: Paddlers named to Team USA feel honored despite event cancellation
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The 2021 International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships were scheduled to be held in November in Hong Kong. It won't be taking place. The IDBF canceled the event out of COVID-19 concerns. The cancellation is a disappointment for every paddler with dreams of being named to Team USA and competing in it. The United States Dragon Boat Federation and its members are no exception, which is why the USDBF decided to fill out its Team USA rosters anyway. The selections were primarily made based on paddlers' performances at time trials held across the country, including one at Nathan Benderson Park in July. Five members of the NBP Dragons team were named to Team USA. Paddlers Don Bickel and Doreen Clyne were named to the Men's Senior A (40 and older) small boat roster and the Women's Senior B small boat team, respectively. Angela Long, who is the head coach of the park's paddling program, was also named to the Women's Senior B small boat team. Mandy Kendall Boyers was named to the Women's Senior B standard team while Beth Turconi was named an alternate to the Women's Senior B standard team. Turconi was the park's first Team USA representative in 2019. No, this quintet will not be competing in Hong Kong. But they're part of Team USA and they're proud of that fact, as they should be. "It's overwhelming," Clyne said of the honor. "It's taking all of the work, all of the sacrifices and the training and the coaching, and making it a culmination. It takes a village. It's my efforts but it's also everyone who comes together on the team and pushes each other and strives to be the best they can be." Paddlers from the NBP Dragons and Survivors in Sync get in some practice before the Club Crew Championships, to be held Oct. 1-3 at Nathan Benderson Park. Bickel called the entire experience humbling and thanked the program's coaches, including Long, for challenging him and getting him to believe he could reach this point. All of the paddlers shared similar sentiments in that regard. It is clear that the members of this program view every individual victory as a victory for the team as well. Clyne was emotional when discussing the program. Even though the World Championships are cancelled, the paddlers will get a chance to compete as the Dragons at the 2021 USDBF Club Crew Championships, which will be held at Benderson Park Oct. 1-3. Clyne said it will be wonderful to race for spots in the 2022 IDBF Club Crew Championships with her favorite people after all the encouragement they have given her. "There is a family bond here and we are at home here (at Benderson Park)," Clyne said. "To be paddling together is going to be awesome. Hopefully we will take home some hardware. To be going for goals like that together is what means so much." It's a cliche for an athlete to say that their team is like a family, but for these paddlers, I can see it being true. Not only are the Dragons competing at the Club Crew Championships but so is Survivors in Sync, the park's dragon boat team made up of breast cancer survivors. Survivors in Sync doubles as a support group for many of its members. The entire sport is about encouragement and overcoming whatever is in your way as a team. It makes sense that even in individual accomplishments, like reaching Team USA, that the paddlers would have their teammates and coaches on their minds. The Club Crew Championships are free for spectators to attend. Approximately 90 clubs will be participating. Not only will you see high-level dragon boating if you attend, but you'll be supporting the Team USA members who had their championship experience taken from them.
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Organization Closed
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China successfully launches radio and television broadcasting satellite
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Thursday marked another successful mission in China’s busy 2021 launch manifest, this time lofting the Zhongxing-9B (ChinaSat-9B) into orbit on a Long March 3B from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This satellite serves as a replacement to the Zhongxing-9A, launched in 2017 but inserted into a lower than planned orbit, and thus its operational life reduced. The nature of both satellites is for communications, specifically related to radio and television broadcasting. Built by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and operated by China Satcom, they are based upon the DFH-4 satellite bus and equipped with Ku-band antennas. The satellite is expected to allow 8K broadcasting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Zhongxing-9B was successfully inserted into Geostationary Transfer Orbit, where it will use its own propulsion to leave this transfer orbit and begin its planned 15-year mission. Zhongxing-9A Requires Replacement Thursday’s mission came in the wake of predecessor Zhongxing-9A, which launched from Xichang on June 18, 2017, also by a Long March 3B. While the launch was successful, an issue arose in the latter stages of flight. After nominally going through stages one and two, stage three completed its first burn and went into a coast phase. However, a failure relating to the stage’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters meant there was no roll control during the coast, and thus when the second burn occurred, the stage and attached ChinaSat-9A were not in the proper attitude. Orbit was attained, but short of the mission-intended parameters needed for Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The Zhongxing-9A satellite launched yesterday did in fact reach a 193 x 16358 km x 25.7 deg orbit – apogee 20000 km lower than planned — Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) June 19, 2017 As with all GTO-inserted satellites, they are equipped with their own onboard propulsion to circularize from the transfer orbit, as well as the usual attitude control. Therefore, Zhongxing-9A had to use its propellant to compensate for the third stage and circularize into Geostationary Orbit like usual. What resulted was the satellite depleting a significant amount of its propellant through ten burns, and thus reducing its planned 15-year lifespan by more than two-thirds. ChinaSat-9A did reach Geostationary Orbit approximately two weeks after launch and operated nominally for the time its propellant residuals could allow. However, it is believed the spacecraft depleted all of its propellant around February 2021 with a cease to stationkeeping. On ZX-9A: It has drifted off station but no sign of a graveyard manuever, at least so far. Its replacement, Zhongxing-9B, successfully attained the proper Geostationary Transfer Orbit following spacecraft separation on Thursday. The satellite is reported to be healthy and will begin to circularize its orbit in the coming weeks. Final integration of Thursday’s Long March 3B was seen as early as August 30 at Launch Complex 2 of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Situated in southwestern China, the launch facility has been active since 1984 with its two operational launch complexes, hosting Long March 2 and 3 vehicles specializing in Geostationary-bound missions. The launcher soared into the skies at 7:50 PM local time (11:50 UTC) under the collective power of eight engines from the first stage and boosters. As shown by a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), the vehicle’s trajectory was predominantly eastwards, intuitively similar to other GTO-bound NOTAMs from Xichang (XSLC). Additionally, the three hazard zones for boosters, first stage, and second stage reentry could also be seen, with the boosters and first stage expected to fall onto land. The launch trajectory and drop zones for the boosters, first, and second stages Chang Zheng 3B, known as Long March 3B internationally, is a medium-lift launch vehicle manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Liquid-fuelled, it comprises of three stages (with an optional fourth), including four strap-on boosters with the first stage, amounting to an 11,200 kg lifting capability to Low Earth Orbit and 5,100 kg to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. While the vehicle is heavily based upon the Chang Zheng 3A, the Long March 3 has undergone adaptations during its service life in the form of Thursday’s 3B variant (four strap-on boosters) and 3C variant (two strap-on boosters). The variants of Long March 3 – via China Great Wall Industry Corporation Both the 3B and 3C variants have undergone even further development, designated as being ‘enhanced’ and reflected as such by Long March 3B/E and Long March 3C/E, respectively. Such development involved stretching the length of the strap-on boosters and first stage, leading to longer-duration burn times in the aforementioned components and an increased payload capacity over the base variants. Thursday’s CZ-3B/E has the capability to loft up to 5,500 kg to Geostationary Transfer Orbit, with Zhongxing-9B’s payload mass believed to have been between 5,100 and 5,500 kg. The majority of the Long March 3’s stages use hypergolic propellants, specifically unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), both of which provide easy combustion but are toxic. In addition, the four strap-on boosters each use the YF-25 engine. Using the standard flight timeline of a CZ-3B GTO mission, these are jettisoned at approximately T+ 2 minutes and 8 seconds from the first stage. Meanwhile, the first stage and its four YF-21 engines, also utilizing the same hypergolic propellants, burns until 2 minutes and 25 seconds before second stage separation. The second, another hypergolic stage, ignites its single YF-22E main engine to burn until T+ 5 minutes and 26 seconds, with the stage’s YF-23 Vernier engine shutting down 15 seconds later. Fairing separation occurs approximately three and a half minutes into the flight. After the second stage shuts down and separates, the third stage ignites its two YF-75 engines fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the only cryogenic stage of the vehicle. This stage burns for approximately 4 minutes and 44 seconds in order to reach near-orbital parameters. A second burn to raise the perigee is initiated at around T+ 21 minutes following a coast phase. As well as performing an orbital insertion, this 179-second burn then significantly raises the apogee to the parameters needed for a Geostationary Transfer. Spacecraft separation from the third stage occurs at approximately T+ 25 minutes. ChinaSat-9B’s launch marked the tenth from Xichang Satellite Launch Center this year, with the previous mission being only 16 days ago from another launch pad. China continues to fulfill its increasingly busy launch manifest, with the prospect of more payloads for launching with the country’s rise of a private aerospace sector.
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New achievements in aerospace
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South Portland A-26 Invader crash
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Coordinates: 43°38′6″N 70°18′55.9″W / 43.63500°N 70.315528°W / 43.63500; -70.315528
The South Portland A-26 Invader crash was the worst aviation accident in Maine history. It occurred in the historic Brick Hill neighborhood of South Portland. [1][2]
On July 11, 1944, a A-26B-5 Invader of the United States Army Air Forces struck the ground during a foggy day. It cartwheeled through a government-operated trailer park, starting a fire. The aircraft's pilot and navigator were killed. In the trailer park, 17 residents were killed and 20 residents were injured. Phillip "Phee" Russell had played basketball, baseball, and football at South Portland High School before graduating in 1939 to attend the University of Maine. Russell married his high school classmate and sweetheart in June, 1943. He was commissioned a United States Army Air Forces Second Lieutenant the same month and became a flight instructor at Barksdale Field in Louisiana. A year later, Russell received permission to visit his wife and 3-month-old daughter in South Portland as part of a long-range training mission. [3]
Russell's family and friends gathered at the Portland airport to await his arrival in patchy heavy fog. The airport officially closed at 1635 because of the fog. Six minutes later, his family reportedly heard Russell's voice requesting landing instructions on the airport radio, and saw his A-26B-5 Invader appear briefly out of the fog at an estimated altitude of 200 feet. The airport instructed Russell to climb to 1500 feet, and the plane disappeared into the fog. Waiting for a radio response from Russell, airport observers saw flames and heard crash noises from the direction in which the plane had disappeared. [3]
The aircraft struck the ground and cartwheeled through a government-operated trailer park housing families of shipyard workers at the New England Shipbuilding Corporation. Sixteen trailers were destroyed by fire and a dozen more damaged by pieces of the disintegrating airplane. Seventeen trailer-park residents died, and twenty more were injured. The bodies of Russell and his navigator, Staff Sergeant Wallace Mifflin, were found in the trailer-park wreckage. [3]
66 years later, the Long Creek Air Tragedy Memorial was erected to commemorate the crash and honor the victims. [4] A similar memorial on Deer Mountain, 100 miles to the north, marks the site of Maine's second-worst plane crash. Through coincidence, both crashes occurred on the same day. [5]
The granite for the Long Creek memorial came from a quarry in Wells, Maine, the same quarry that supplied granite for the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.
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Air crash
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Sydney's Redleaf Beach contaminated by sewage from nearby blocked toilet
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Beachgoers have been evacuated from the water at Redleaf Beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs after sewage was detected in the water.
The harbourside tidal enclosure in Double Bay, also known as Murray Rose Pool, was contaminated due to a blockage in a nearby public toilet.
A spokesperson for Woollahra Municipal Council said crews from Sydney Water told members of the public to exit the water on Saturday afternoon..
It's understood the water pollution may be the result of toilet paper blocking the pipe in the toilet block but council workers are still investigating the potential source.
"A blockage in a public toilet wastewater line operated by Woollahra Municipal Council caused a wastewater overflow this morning in Double Bay," said a spokesperson for Sydney Water.
"It is understood council rangers closed Redleaf Beach and Murray Rose Pool and barricaded the toilet block."
A small section of Bronte Beach is also closed until further notice due to poor water quality.
Work crews from Sydney Water checked the nearby sewer line with CCTV cameras and confirmed there was no fault.
Beachgoer Andrew Cooper says the beach is still packed but the water "looks really dirty".
"There are two security guards who have blocked off the entrance to the beach and are stopping people from swimming," he said.
Another visitor Jack West said some people were only finding out about the contamination after diving into the water.
"It was never communicated to us or anyone very visibly that there may be sewage in the water. No one knew there was any real danger."
Murray Rose Pool will be closed for the rest of the long weekend.
In an unrelated incident, Bronte Beach is also partially closed due to poor water quality from a sewage issue.
The southern part of the beach is closed until further notice due to wastewater overflow discharging into the rock pool.
"Sydney Water was notified of the incident when a sensor alarm was triggered from a wastewater line," said a spokesperson from Sydney Water.
"Crews attended shortly after to contain the sewer overflow and set up precautionary signage. The overflow was stopped by Sydney Water crews who remained onsite to ensure the area is safe."
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Environment Pollution
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Great Fire of Toronto (1904)
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The Great Fire of Toronto of 1904 was a great fire that destroyed a large section of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 19, 1904. It was the second such fire for the city in its history. The fire was first spotted at 8:04 p.m., on April 19, 1904, by a Toronto Police constable on his regular street patrol. [1] The flames were rising from the elevator shaft of the E & S Currie Limited's neck wear factory at 58 Wellington Street West, just west of Bay Street (now TD Bank Tower). [1][2] The factory was situated in the centre of a large industrial and commercial area. The exact cause of the fire was never determined, but a faulty heating stove or an electrical problem is suspected. [3]
With 17 fire halls alerted, two engine companies and one hose company, the fire took nine hours to get under control. The glow of the fire could be seen for miles in all directions. Firefighters from cities as far away as Hamilton, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, came to Toronto's aid. The temperature that night was approximately −4 °C (25 °F) with winds at 48 kilometres per hour (30 mph) and snow flurries. The fire destroyed more than 100 buildings. [4] Damage on Wellington Street West and Yonge Street was limited because one of the buildings, the Kilgour Brothers factory, had a sprinkler system fed by water tanks on the roof, preventing the fire from spreading in that direction. [5]
The fire claimed one victim, John Croft, who was an explosive expert clearing the ruins from the fire. [6] It caused C$10,387,000 in damage[7] and put five thousand people out of work; at the time the city had 200,000 inhabitants. As a result of the fire, more stringent safety laws were introduced and an expansion of the city's fire department was undertaken. [citation needed]
A few buildings nearby survived including the Bank of Montreal building at Yonge and Front Streets, Customs House and their warehouse (demolished in 1919), Toronto Evening Telegram Building. The fire remains the largest fire ever to have occurred in Toronto. A previous great fire on April 7, 1849, in the St. Lawrence Market area, consumed several city blocks when the city was much smaller and many more structures were wooden. Call Box 12, which was used to sound the alarm, is the name for the volunteer canteen truck supporting Toronto Fire Services today. Toronto Fire Services Public Education Centre and Museum at Station 233 has a model displaying the area of the fire. A 1904 film, The Great Fire of Toronto, created by George Scott & Co. about the event, was the first to be shot in Toronto. [8]
A fictionalized account of the Fire was central to the Murdoch Mysteries episode, "Great Balls of Fire". [9]
Part of the area cleared by the fire became the site of Union Station, built during the following decade. [10]
Coordinates: 43°38′49″N 79°22′52″W / 43.647°N 79.381°W / 43.647; -79.381
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Fire
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Yulimar Rojas smashes world triple jump record in Tokyo
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Posted by Jason Henderson | Aug 1, 2021 | 0 Yulimar Rojas celebrates her world record (Getty)
Going into these Olympic Games you would struggle to find a hotter favourite than Yulimar Rojas. The triple jumper has been a class apart in her event lately, with the world record looking increasingly likely.
Inessa Kravets’ mark of 15.50m has stood since the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In Tokyo on Sunday (August 1) Rojas effectively sealed gold with an Olympic record of 15.41m in the first round and then jumped out to 15.67m (0.7) in the sixth round to finally beat the Ukrainian’s global record.
Breaking down Rojas’ effort, she produced a 5.86m hop, 3.82m step and 5.99m jump. This compared to an estimated 5.40m, 4.30m and 5.80m by Kravets in 1995.
The athletics world will applaud the fact Kravets’ mark is now consigned to history. In 1993 she was suspended for taking stimulants and then received a two-year ban in 2000 for a steroid positive.
On the eve of the Games, Rojas promised the record would be hers soon. “Estoy en llamas” – or “I am on fire” – she told the Latin American media.
She also predicts she will be the first woman to break the 16-metre barrier too. Maybe she would have got closer if the Olympic Stadium had been packed with people and noise.
During her attempts she tried to rally the small number of onlookers in the arena by urging them to clap for her as she charged down the runway. She is a natural entertainer and relished the stage. At one point in the third round she sailed way beyond Kravets’ world record and began to celebrate, only to realise it was a foul.
Yulimar Rojas with Ana Peleteiro (left) and Patricia Mamona
In the battle for minor medals, Rojas’ competitors were more than half a metre adrift, but Patricia Mamona rose to the occasion with a Portuguese record of 15.01m for silver. In third, Ana Peleteiro jumped a Spanish record of 14.87m to take bronze just 3cm ahead of Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica.
Outside of the records, Rojas won Venezuela’s first Olympic gold in athletics. It was also just the third gold in history at the Games following a men’s boxing title in 1968 and men’s fencing victory in 2012.
Five years ago in Rio she took Olympic silver behind fellow South American, Caterine Ibargüen of Colombia. Back then, Rojas described herself as “a novice” and an “emerging athlete”.
But she has been a growing force since, taking the world titles in London 2017 and Doha 2019 and becoming increasingly consistent in the 15-metre-plus zone. Ibargüen, meanwhile, is now aged 37 and was 10th in Tokyo with just 14.25m.
Rojas set the world indoor record with 15.43m earlier this year in Spain, where she is based most of the year. When AW interviewed British triple jump legend Ashia Hansen recently the former world indoor record-holder suggested the event had not moved on much since her retirement. Well, it has now.
Yulimar Rojas (Getty)
Not only is Rojas a tremendous athlete but she is a fascinating character. With a chameleon-like appearance, she regularly dyes her hair different colours and in Tokyo was sporting white with a tinge of pink. “It transmits hope and strength,” she says.
She is coached by Iván Pedroso, the Olympic and four-time world long jump champion from Cuba. Outside athletics she is a member of the LGBT community.
“I am lost for words, I can’t describe this feeling and this moment,” said Rojas. “Gold medal winner, with an Olympic record, and a world record … Wow. It is a fantastic night.
“I was looking for it, I knew we had that distance in my legs to get it today. I was failing a bit in the technical aspect, but the last jump was one to give everything, and it was like that.
“I focused on giving my best, enjoying… and it came out. It makes me happy. I have to enjoy it now and live the experience.”
» For the latest athletics news, events coverage and updates, check out the AW homepage and our social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
Tags: Ana Peleteiro, Caterine Ibarguen, Inessa Kravets, Patricia Mamona, Tokyo Olympics, Triple jump, Yulimar Rojas
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November 11, 2021
November 9, 2021
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Mel Watman Performance of the Year nominees:
Thompson’s triumph ??
✅ Qualified for the Olympic marathon at 39
✅ Hit the tape in a personal best of 2:10:52
✅ First Olympic appearance since 10,000m at London 2012
Vote for @Thommo10k's Olympic qualification via our website ⬇️ ? AW 2021 Awards ?
It’s that time of year again when you vote for your favourite athletes: International Athlete
British Athlete
International Junior Athlete
British Junior Athlete
Masters Athlete
Para Athlete
Mel Watman POTY
Vote via our website ⬇️
https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/aw-readers-choice-awards-2021-1039950838/
Mel Watman Performance of the Year nominees: Outstanding Thompson-Herah ??
✅ 10.54 in Eugene to become the fastest woman alive
✅ Jamaican national record ✅ Off the back of completing the 'double double' in Tokyo Vote for @FastElaine's 10.54 via our website ⬇️ ? AW 2021 Awards ?
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Break historical records
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At Least 126 Killed As Jade Mine Collapses In Myanmar
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A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar killed at least 126 people, with more feared dead, authorities said on Thursday, after a heap of mining waste collapsed into a lake and buried many workers under mud and water. The miners were collecting stones in the jade-rich Hpakant area of Kachin state - the centre of Myanmar's secretive jade industry - when the "muddy wave" crashed onto them, after heavy rain, the fire service department said in a Facebook post. By late afternoon rescue workers had recovered 126 bodies, the department said, but more were missing. "Other bodies are in the mud," Tar Lin Maung, a local official with the information ministry, told Reuters by phone. "The numbers are going to rise." Deadly landslides and other accidents are common in the poorly regulated mines of Hpakant, which draw impoverished workers from across Myanmar in search of gems mostly for export to China. But Thursday's accident was the worst in over five years. About 100 people were killed in a 2015 collapse which strengthened calls to regulate the industry. Another 50 died in 2019. Many of those killed are freelance "jade pickers" who scour tailings - the residue from mining - for gemstones overlooked by larger operators. One good piece of jade, worth tens of thousands of dollars, could transform their lives. Video footage on social media showed frantic miners racing uphill to escape as a towering pile of black waste cascaded into a turquoise lake, churning up a tsunami-like wave of mud. Photos showed rows of dead bodies laid out on a hill, covered by tarpaulin. In a statement posted online on Thursday evening, the armed forces commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said military officers would continue the rescue efforts. "Run, Run" Maung Khaing, a 38-year-old miner from the area who witnessed the accident, said he was about to take a picture of the precarious waste mound he felt looked set to collapse when people began shouting "run, run!" "Within a minute, all the people at the bottom (of the hill) just disappeared," he told Reuters by phone. "I feel empty in my heart. I still have goose bumps...There were people stuck in the mud shouting for help but no one could help them." Than Hlaing, a member of a local civil society group helping in the aftermath of the disaster, said those killed were freelancers scavenging the waste left by a larger mining firm. She said about 100 people were still missing and 30 had been hospitalized. A local official had warned people not to go to the mine on Thursday because of the bad weather, she said. "There's no hope for the families to get compensation as they were freelance miners." The government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi pledged to clean up the industry when it took power in 2016, but activists say little has changed. Official sales of jade in Myanmar were worth 671 million euros ($750 million) in 2016-17, according to data published by the government as part of an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. But rights group Global Witness says the trade is worth billions of dollars a year, funds it says fuel armed conflict between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels fighting for greater autonomy for the region. In a statement, the group called Thursday's accident a "preventable tragedy" and said the Suu Kyi's administration had failed to implement promised reforms to curb "illicit and rapacious mining practices".
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Mine Collapses
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1858 Hietsu earthquake
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The Hietsu earthquake (飛越地震, Hietsu jishin) was a doublet earthquake that took place on April 9, 1858 (according to the old Japanese calendar, February 26, Ansei 5). It most likely occurred on the Atotsugawa and Miboro faults,[2] which connect the Amō Pass in Gifu Prefecture (in the part that was called Hida Province) and Mount Tate in Toyama Prefecture (then known as Etchū Province) on the island of Honshū in Japan. Its name includes one kanji from Hida (飛騨国) and one from Etchū (越中国). The earthquakes are estimated to have killed 200–300 people. It also caused the Mount Tombi landslide and blocked the upper reaches of the Jōganji River. [3]
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Earthquakes
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1993 Sudan famine
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The 1993 famine in Sudan occurred in 1993. [1] It came amidst political unrest and civil war in the Sudan. In Kongor, the famine killed 20,000 and made 100,000 people leave the region. [2]
This famine was the subject of Pulitzer Prize-winning photography "The vulture and the little girl" taken by South African photojournalist Kevin Carter. Carter committed suicide shortly after being awarded the prize, possibly a result of trauma from witnessing the effects of the famine first-hand. [3]
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Famine
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Camp Dump strike
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The Camp Dump strike was a labor dispute that began on March 9, 1882 at the Burlington Yards in Omaha, Nebraska. The event pitted state militia against unionized strikers. It was reportedly the first strike by organized labor in Nebraska[1] and the first Omaha riot to receive national attention. [2]
Approximately 75 workers from a Burlington Railroad grading operation began picketing at the Burlington dumping yards in Omaha. After being paid $1.25 per ten-hour day since their job began, they struck for $1.75 and rejected a compromise offer of $1.40. [1] After parading around Downtown Omaha, the strikers formed a picket line at the dump for better pay. [2] Hundreds of workers from other industries joined the strike in solidarity. [3]
Nebraska Governor Albinus Nance called in the Nebraska state militia to subdue the strikers. On March 12, eight companies arrived in Omaha with the stated purpose of protecting strikebreakers. The city's first Catholic Church was used as a headquarters for the militiamen. [4] Soon after their arrival, rioting began. [5] During this initial surge of violence, a striker whose last name was Armstrong was killed after he tried to cross strike lines and was bayoneted by the militia. Omaha pioneer Erastus Benson was the first lieutenant of Company H in the First Nebraska National Guards during this period. After the death, he was put in charge of the Nebraska militia. [6] U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Omaha arrived as well, bringing Gatling guns and a cannon with them. [7]
The Army's arrival is credited with ending the violence and the strike. [8] A number of strike leaders were arrested for "assault with intent to kill" because of fights that broke out among the picketers. [9]
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Strike
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2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Final
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The 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (formerly called the IIHF U20 World Championship)[1] was the 38th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJHC), hosted in Malmö, Sweden. The 13,700-seat Malmö Arena was the main venue, with the smaller Malmö Isstadion the secondary venue. It began on December 26, 2013, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2014. [2]
Finland defeated host team Sweden in the final 3–2 in overtime and won their first gold medal since 1998, as well as their third gold medal in total. It was also their first medal in the tournament since 2006. Sweden earned their second consecutive silver medal, their ninth silver medal in total, as well as their third consecutive medal in the tournament. For the first time since 1979–81, Canada failed to capture a medal for the second consecutive year by losing the bronze medal game 1–2 to Russia, who captured the team's fourth consecutive medal at the tournament. The 2014 tournament marked the first time since 1998 that all three medalists were European teams. A total of 144,268 spectators attended the 31 games, setting a new attendance record for IIHF World Junior Championship tournaments hosted in Europe. 12,023 spectators attended the gold medal game, setting a new record for a single IIHF World Junior Championship game in Europe. [3]
The playoff round was expanded to eight teams (again), with group leaders no longer getting a bye into the semifinals. The first time since the 2002 tournament. The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to work the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship
They were the following:[4]
A change in format was implemented for the Top Division. The four best ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advanced to the quarterfinals, while the last placed teams from each group played a relegation round in a best of three format to determine the relegated team. [5] This format was last used in 2002, except the current tournament will not incorporate playoff games to determine places five through eight. A player is eligible to play in the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:[6]
If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once. [7]
All times are local (UTC+1). The relegation round was a best-of-three series. Norway lost two games and was relegated to Division I for 2015. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource: IIHF.com
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource: IIHF.com
Reference: [1]
Note that due to the lack of playoff games for determining the spots 5–8, these spots were determined by the regulation round records for each team. Source:
1
2
3
The Division I A tournament was played in Sanok, Poland, from 15 to 21 December 2013. [8]
The Division I B tournament was played in Dumfries, Great Britain, from 9 to 15 December 2013. [9]
Team Great Britain was disqualified due to use of an ineligible player and was relegated to the 2015 Division II A. [10]
The Division II A tournament was played in Miskolc, Hungary, from 15 to 21 December 2013. [11]
The Division II B tournament was played in Jaca, Spain, from 11 to 17 January 2014. [12]
The Division III tournament was played in İzmir, Turkey, from 12 to 18 January 2014. [13]
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Sports Competition
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Indonesia mine collapse: bodybags and silence as hopes fade for 100 trapped men
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Calls for help from underground fade one week after wooden support beams of the illegal mine buckled under shifting soil Last modified on Thu 21 Mar 2019 09.36 GMT Hopes are fading for up to 100 Indonesian miners trapped inside an illegal gold mine that collapsed on the island of Sulawesi last Tuesday, with dozens of body bags sent to the site and pleas for help from the rubble now falling silent. Thirteen people have died and 19 have been rescued after the wooden support beams of the illegal mine in Bolaang Mongondow buckled under shifting soil, trapping dozens inside. Hundreds of rescue workers have spent the past week attempting to clear the unstable debris from the steep and muddy site, employing rope and spades and digging with their bare hands, in fear of triggering another landslide. Survivors have been carried out on stretchers with medical personnel amputating the leg of one man whose leg was caught under a rock. He died from blood loss soon after. For days pleas for help could be heard from the trapped men, but local officials said they have now fallen silent. “Since yesterday, we have heard no more voices from inside,” local disaster official Abdul Muin Paputungan, told the Associated Press on Monday, adding it would be a “miracle” if any more miners were pulled out alive. A week into the ordeal, hopes for the fate of the miners have started to fade with rescuers expressing concern over the lack of oxygen inside the collapsed and confined mining pit. It is unclear how many are trapped inside but Indonesia’s national disaster agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said there could be as many as 100 miners still inside. “Based on the reports of the miners who survived and the surrounding community, the number of miners who worked while in the pit when mining varied. Some said 30 people, 50 people, 60 people, even 100 people because at that time many were mining in large holes, [while the number of those in the] small holes are unknown,” he said. Without official data, rescue teams have been reliant on reports from the rescued miners, local community and family members to ascertain how many miners are inside. On Monday local officials doubled their request for body bags. “Initially only 30 body bags were prepared,” said Abdul Muin Paputungan, “Based on information from the public, it is estimated there are still many gold miners buried, or more than the initial estimate of 60 miners.” The condition of those trapped is unknown and search and rescue efforts, complicated by the challenging terrain, would officially continue until 11 March. Heavy machinery was also employed over the weekend to assist in evacuation efforts. Illegal gold mining is prevalent across Indonesia, with authorities suggesting the Bolaang Mongondow collapsed due to shifting soil and a large number of mining holes in the area.
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Mine Collapses
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Nato's secretary general has called on Russia to be open about its"Zapad-2021military exercises and the troop numbers involved as alarm grows in P land, the Baltics and Ukraine about Moscow's intentions.
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BRUSSELS (REUTERS) - Nato's secretary general has called on Russia to be open about its "Zapad-2021" military exercises and the troop numbers involved as alarm grows in Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine about Moscow's intentions. Previous "Zapad", or West, exercises along the border that Russia shares with Nato have been on a vast scale, according to allied officials, who say Moscow has habitually underreported their size despite international rules. "Russia should behave in a predictable and transparent way," Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Friday (Sept 3). The main phase of the exercises is due to start on Sept 10. The Zapad manoeuvres, which follow a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's borders this year, heighten the risk of an accident or miscalculation that could touch off a crisis, Nato officials have said. "What we have seen before is that the numbers of troops participating in the exercises significantly exceed the numbers announced," Stoltenberg said, urging Moscow to meet its obligations under the Vienna Document, an international agreement governing military exercises in Europe. According to a tally by Nato Review, an allied magazine, Russia deployed between 60,000 and 70,000 troops in Zapad-2017 but only declared 12,700 personnel. Russia, which will join forces with Belarusian troops, says it is within its rights to exercise on its territory and is clear about the numbers involved. Belarus's defence ministry said in August the exercises would be held at training grounds in both Russia and Belarus and will be based on a scenario where the two countries are under attack. "The reality is that since the end of the Cold War, Russia has never opened an exercise for mandatory inspections," Stoltenberg said. "So we will be vigilant." Western experts believe the large-scale operations, using drones, missiles and new weapons, allow Russia to practice for any all-out war with the United States in Europe. Nato says it is a defensive alliance and is not looking for any conflict. Tensions are also high on the Belarus-Nato border after Minsk began pushing migrants into Lithuania to put pressure on the European Union, Western officials say, in response to EU sanctions on the Belarusian government. "Belarus is weaponising migration," Stoltenberg said. "We decided to deploy a team of experts to Lithuania next week, to help Lithuania face the hybrid activities by the regime" of President Alexander Lukashenko.
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Military Exercise
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Kieran Culkin explains the origin of her daughter’s name | Celebrity
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Federal Court Refuses to Lift Vaccine Obligation | Work Kieran Culkin named her daughter after a teenage stranger who witnessed the wedding. The “succession” actor married Jazz Charton in 2013 after a few months of dating, but at some point during the three-month expedition he decided to tie a knot, so the two had a big day. I couldn’t make a clear plan. Same-sex marriage was legal. Kieran recalls: “We packed a car with a ring, her wedding dress, and my suit and drove all over the country for three months thinking of getting married somewhere.” The couple then vowed to meet 18-year-old Kinsey at a local cafe under an oak tree in Decora, Iowa. Kieran continued: “[We were by] A small white church with a red door on the hill. We pulled up in the rain-she wore her wedding dress, I have my black tie-and the moment we got married, the rain stopped, the clouds broke up, the rainbow There was-I’m not s **** *** you – a giant rainbow just above the valley we were looking at. “ Regarding their witnesses, he added to Telegraph magazine: Please put my name on the legal document. “ “And we thought,’Wow, this 18-year-old girl has put together far more of her s *** than we two.’ Very impressive and cool. “A few days later we were talking about her, and I said,’We should give our daughter her name.'” Currently, the couple has a 2-year-old daughter. The daughter, known by her nickname Zissou, is officially named Kinsey Sioux and has the same middle name as Kieran’s beloved late sister Dakota. The 39-year-old actor and his wife also welcomed their son to the world in August, but haven’t decided on a name yet.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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No clarity yet on cause of fire, but probe rules out explosion
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Multiple agencies inspected the flat at Devarachikkanahalli apartment complex on Wednesday, a day after the blaze was reported.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN Contrary to initial reports, a preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire in a flat at Devarachikkanahalli on Tuesday, in which two women were killed , indicates there was no explosion. “The damage in the flat seems to indicate there was no explosion. If it had occurred, a blast would have left more physical damage,” a senior official said.
Fire and Emergency Services personnel recovered two undamaged LPG cylinders from the kitchen, one empty and the other full. This ruled out a blast triggered by leaking LPG as well.
Senior Fire Services officials said a thorough technical investigation of the flat would be conducted on Thursday and there was no clarity yet on the cause of the fire.
One of the victims, Bhagyarekha, 59, had returned from the U.S. with her husband after a six-month stay there. According to a senior official, an electrical short-circuit, gas leak, or malfunctioning of electrical appliances, such the fridge or geyser, could not be ruled out as they had not been in use for many months.
Multiple agencies, including the Forensic Science Laboratory, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), Electrical Inspectorate, and Indane Gas Agency, inspected the flat on Wednesday.
Agencies now suspect the fire started somewhere in the hall and later spread to other parts. Bhagyarekha had called her daughter, who lives next door, asking her to rescue her as “fire had broken out in the hall”, the police said.
Sunanda, a software engineer who lives in the flat below in Ashrith Aspire apartment complex, told The Hindu that she did not hear the sound of any explosion when the fire broke out. “We first saw smoke, then we were alerted of the fire, and we ran out of the house. We heard sounds like someone moving around furniture in the flat above, but no explosion,” she said.
As she ran out of the apartment and saw the fire in the flat above, she and her husband rushed back in to try to save Bhagyarekha and her mother, Lakshmidevi, 82, but in vain.
“The sight of the woman [Bhagyarekha] on fire in the balcony was horrifying. There was a lot of smoke and we couldn’t go near the flat,” she said.
Naveen Kishor, who lives in the complex, said he was working at home when the fire broke out. “After a few moments, the window panes shattered with a huge sound. Many confused the sound with a blast,” he said.
Glitches in property registration software Kaveri will be set right by year-end: R. Ashoka
After an inspection, Bescom cleared all, but eight flats, in the complex for reoccupation. Bescom had cut power supply to the entire complex and the BBMP had evacuated all residents of the 72 flats as the fire broke out. “We have started moving back in. In the eight flats around flat no. 210 where the fire broke out, the wiring needs to be checked for safety, the agency has informed us,” said a resident.
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Printable version | Nov 13, 2021 12:51:01 AM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/no-clarity-yet-on-cause-of-fire-but-probe-rules-out-explosion/article36621600.ece
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The K.G. Halli police on Wednesday arrested a Nigerian national who works as an actor in the Indian film industry for allegedly peddling drugs in the
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Gas explosion
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NYC continues classroom closures due to coronavirus
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NYC continues classroom closures due to coronavirus: These S.I. schools are on the list Updated: Sep. 23, 2021, 2:19 p.m. | Published: Sep. 23, 2021, 2:19 p.m. According to the city Department of Education’s Daily COVID Case Map, there have been 1,689 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in schools across New York City since the first day of classes on Sept. 13. (Staten Island Advance/Annalise Knudson) 393 By Annalise Knudson | aknudson@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York City public schools have been open for nearly two weeks, and some students have already experienced a disruption to their in-person instruction as positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases are being reported and shuttering classrooms across the five boroughs. According to the city Department of Education’s (DOE) Daily COVID Case Map , there has been a total of 1,689 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in schools across New York City since the first day of school on Sept. 13. This data was last updated on Wednesday evening. Last week — during the first week of school in New York City — at least 30 Staten Island public schools had at least one classroom closed or partially closed. As of last Wednesday, there were already 403 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in schools citywide since the first day of school. This resulted in 178 classroom closures across New York City. Another 165 classrooms were partially closed, as those classrooms had a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students, according to the data. Currently, there are 687 full classroom closures in effect across New York City, the data shows. Another 521 classrooms are currently partially closed, as those classrooms have a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students, according to the data. There is one school, located in Manhattan, that has shuttered its entire campus due to multiple coronavirus cases. However, a new quarantine policy going into effect in New York City on Monday will likely lead to fewer classroom closures across the five boroughs. The policy will align with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Vaccinated and unvaccinated students who are wearing a face covering and have maintained at least three feet of distance from a student who tests positive for COVID-19 will not be considered close contacts and won’t have to quarantine, according to the DOE’s website. On Staten Island, 39 schools have at least one classroom closed, or partially closed, due to exposure to COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening. Those schools are listed below.
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Organization Closed
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Last motorists caught in Glenwood Canyon after mudslides evacuated from Bair Ranch
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UPDATE – 6:30 p.m. Saturday — A safety closure is expected to continue through the weekend for Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon. According to a Saturday evening update posted to the Colorado Department of Transportation Facebook page, crews removed more than 135 truck loads of mud and debris Saturday. “There are severe impacts in the canyon due to mudslides and debris flow; there is also heavy rain in the forecast through the weekend. Motorists should avoid the area and travel on the northern alternate route,” CDOT advised. –– CDOT confirmed Friday night that all of the more than 100 people caught in Glenwood Canyon after major debris flows hit Interstate 70 on Thursday night have been evacuated. “As of 5 p.m., we confirmed that all motorists and all of the remaining vehicles at Bair Ranch have been removed,” said Colorado Department of Transportation Region 3 Communications Manager Elise Thatcher. CDOT Region 3 Director Mike Goolsby said during a news conference held Friday afternoon that highway department officials were in the process of punching a hole through the debris to get through to the stranded motorists, which included 65 to 75 people. Officials said there were no injuries or deaths. Members of the Colorado Highway Patrol were with the stranded motorists at Bair Ranch. “Today, we worked with CDOT and our other local partners to assist those stranded motorists who were impacted by the debris flows,” Colorado State Patrolman Dave Rollins said during the news conference. “We are also deploying additional staffing on the alternate routes that motorists are using to travel around the closure.” Transportation department officials worked to evacuate everyone in the Bair Ranch area prior to further storms hitting the area Friday night. At 4:41 p.m. Thursday, CDOT opted to close Interstate 70 in both directions between west Rifle and Dotsero due to a flash flood warning. Less than two hours later, however, the department reopened the interstate, only to close it again around 9 p.m due to another flash flood warning. In the process, several mudslides occurred after a storm cell quickly moved over the area and hit the Grizzly Creek burn scar, which has been a common occurrence in Glenwood Canyon over the past six weeks. “We actually kept (I-70) closed about 45 minutes past the end of the warning last night,” Goolsby said Friday. “We deemed it safe based on the radar and based on what information we had. The good thing is, meteorologists work on probabilities and they make the best guesses that they can make. And, unfortunately, this snuck up on all of us.” The bigger flows of rock, mud and trees that occurred Thursday night ranged from 20 to 150 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet deep. “One of the ones that ran over both the eastbound and westbound portions of the interstate had such force that it broke its section of the parapet wall off of the westbound (lane),” Goolsby said. “A majority of that debris ended up in the river farther down from the previous debris flow that we had.” The flows left a total of 108 motorists and their passengers stranded in the canyon. Of which, 29 sought refuge in the Hanging Lake Tunnels area around 9 p.m. Thursday. Those stranded in the tunnel were escorted out of the tunnel Friday morning, where they eventually sought shelter at the Glenwood Springs Community Center, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. For motorists who weren’t initially evacuated, they sought refuge at Bair Ranch. “Somebody got in one of our loaders from Bair Ranch and proceeded down the interstate. Unfortunately, the loader that they got into was actually one that was waiting to get repaired,” Goolsby said. “They used it until it ran out on hydraulic fluid. The nice thing about it is the individual that was operating it was kind enough not to ruin it and turned it off when he realized that the check engine light came on.” There were initially 29 to 35 vehicles stranded in Glenwood Canyon. “We’ve been able to punch a hole through most of the debris fields, and that has allowed us access with our equipment,” Goolsby said. “That has afforded us the opportunity to get all of the vehicles out except for three, and those three vehicles were either trapped in the mud flow or they were abandoned.” The highway department has also deployed its resources from many of its regions around Colorado to assist with mitigation efforts at Glenwood Canyon. CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said the closure will likely last throughout the weekend. “The extended safety closure is necessary due to significant cleanup required after Thursday’s mudslides and debris flows as well as continued heavy rain in the forecast compounding the events we’ve seen over the past few weeks,” she said during the news conference. “CDOT reminds travelers that weather and safety conditions can shift precipitously in a matter of moments in this area, and weather forecasts suggest rain and significant mudslide risk throughout the weekend.” The transportation department is recommending alternative routes for Interstate 70 through traffic via U.S. 40 to the north through Steamboat Springs and Craig, using connecting routes of Colorado Highways 13, 131 and 9. CDOT Director of Maintenance and Operations John Lorme said, however, that motorists coming in from bordering states should completely circumvent Interstate 70 by using alternative major roadways. “So, as commercial motor vehicles and cross-country traffic approaches Colorado from Kansas, they’re being instructed and guided to take I-25 north and basically take (Interstate 80) to the west and then keep going that way,” he said. “And same thing with if they’re coming in from Utah.” CDOT is warning motorists to be aware of all threats caused by inclement weather and to plan ahead before traveling. “Especially during this active monsoon season,” Lew said.
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Mudslides
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25 Celebrity Divorces You Totally Forgot About
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Celebrity divorces seem to occur at a rate faster than those of us mere mortals. Why this is remains unclear. What's cooking in Hollywood that makes so many people want to tie the knot before barely learning their partner's last name? It happens so often that you may have forgotten about a few A-list unions that were super-duper short-lived.
We all know about Jennifer Garner's marriage to Ben Affleck, but did you know she was also married to Scandal heartthrob Scott Foley once upon a time? Or how about Kim Kardashian's first marriage, which, nope, wasn't to Kris Humphries? Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett? Yes, that's a thing that happened. See also: Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson and Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray and Jennifer Lopez and Cris Judd. The list goes on.
Check out these 25 short-lived celebrity marriages that quickly became celebrity divorces you probably forgot all about.
Before Brad, even before Billy Bob, Angelina Jolie was married to her Hackers co-star, Jonny Lee Miller. They wed in 1996 and split up in 1999, and he was around at the beginning of her rise to superstardom.
Talk about a blast from the past! Depending on how old you are, you may have no idea that then-pop superstar Paula Abdul and actor Emilio Estevez were one of Hollywood's hot couples. They were married from 1992 to 1994, but the split was reportedly pretty amicable.
The Oscar winner and the country singer pulled off a surprise wedding in the Virgin Islands in 2005. But in an even more shocking turn, Zellweger filed for an annulment four months later, claiming “fraud.” This led to much speculation in the press about what that meant exactly, and we still don't know the full story.
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Lopez and Landry were together for many years when they tied the knot in 2004. So it was surprising when they split up two weeks after the wedding. Lopez later admitted he cheated on Landry during his bachelor party weekend. “At that point I was not ready to settle down. I wasn't man enough to know how to go about handling it,” he later said.
Before he was Jackson Maine, Cooper was Mr. Jennifer Esposito—for four months, anyway. The couple got married in December 2006 before the actress filed for divorce in May 2007.
J. Lo has truly always been in love with love. While her relationships with super famous men like Diddy, Ben Affleck, Marc Anthony, and, now, Alex Rodriguez are often remembered, it's easy to forget the period she was with dancer Cris Judd. The couple was married from 2001 to 2003.
Davis and Goldblum met on the set of Transylvania 6-5000 and, after making two more films together, tied the knot in Las Vegas in 1987. The divorce came three years later, with the couple citing "irreconcilable differences."
The prestige actors said "I do" to each other in 1990 but divorced two years later. Thurman went on to marry Ethan Hawke in 1998, but they divorced in 2005. Oldman, meanwhile, is currently married to his fifth partner: art curator Gisele Schmidt.
Jane Lynch met her ex-wife, Dr. Lara Embry, at a fundraiser in 2009; they were married by 2010 and divorced three years later. "It's two people who decided it's better to go apart than stay together," the Glee star told Larry King of the decision to separate.
How Aquette and Cage met is somewhat of a Hollywood myth. Rumor has it they met in a deli and Cage proposed to her on the spot. Regardless of what happened, the two did very much get married in 1995, but they ultimately divorced in 2001.
Singer Christina Milian and producer Terius “The Dream” Nash were married 10 months when they separated. “Beautiful has nothing to do with [getting cheated on],” she told Niecy Nash in an interview. “I know I’m a really good wife, I’m a really good girlfriend. I know we’re all supposed to take blame for certain things, but I have to say I’m pretty good at all those things.”
"We didn't have a shot," Garner told Allure in 2013 about her marriage to Scandal star Scott Foley, which lasted from 2000 to 2003. "He's a really good guy, and we just imploded."
The Killing Eve star and the Oscar-winning director married in 2003 after working together on the movie Sideways. They split in 2005 and, according to People, took quite a long time to settle their finances.
Crawford and Gere married in 1991 but divorced four years later. “I think part of the problem in our relationship was that we were a lot of other things, but I don’t know if we were ever friends—like peers, because I was young, and he was Richard Gere," Crawford said of the relationship in 2014.
Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley were married for three months before the actor filed for divorce in November 2002. “I’m sad about this, but we shouldn’t have been married in the first place,” Presley said in a statement at the time while Cage's response was, "I did not comment on the marriage, I am not going to comment on the divorce.”
Three days after Cher finalized her divorce from Sonny Bono she married rock singer Gregg Allman in 1975. Their breakup was just as quick: Cher filed for divorce nine days later. They ultimately reconciled and stayed together until 1977.
In 1993, Julia Roberts—pretty much the biggest movie star in the world at the time—pulled off a surprise wedding to singer Lyle Lovett before one of his concerts in Indiana. "It happened rapidly, very rapidly," Lovett's manager, Ken Levitan, said at the time. "Lyle's extremely excited. He couldn't be happier." The marriage lasted about 21 months.
After dating for five years, Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria married in 1999; they divorced in 2000 after 17 months of being husband and wife. “Getting over someone is a grieving process,” Azaria told Elle several years ago. “You mourn the loss of the relationship, and that's only expedited by ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ But when you walk outside and see them on a billboard or on TV or on the cover of a magazine, it reopens the wound. It's a high-class problem, but it's real.”
No, Kim Kardashian's "fairy-tale wedding" to Kris Humphries wasn't the first time she got married. In 2000 she eloped with music producer Damon Thomas. The couple divorced in 2004.
It's a testament to how quickly the news cycle moves that this fairly recent breakup feels like it happened ages ago. The This Is Us star shocked fans in November when he filed for divorce from Chrishell Stause—a former soap star turned realtor who also appears on the reality show, Selling Sunset—after two years of marriage. “Justin had been having problems with the marriage for a while,” a source told Us Weekly.
Electra and Rodman had a quickie wedding in Las Vegas in November 1998. Nine days later, Rodman filed for an annulment, but the couple reconciled on New Year's Eve before ultimately divorcing in April 1999. Electra told Glamour in 2004 she married Rodman to help numb the pain of losing her mother and sister. "Right after my mom and sister died, I flew to Las Vegas, and Dennis and I got married. I guess I was trying to cling to whatever I had. I'd lost my mom and my sister; I didn't want to lose anyone else," she said.
Moss and Armisen married in 2009 but divorced eight months later; their separation was finalized in 2011. “Looking back, I feel like I was really young, and at the time I didn’t think that I was that young,” Moss said of the marriage to New York magazine in 2014. “It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible.”
Brooke Shields and tennis star Andre Agassi were quite the hot couple for a bit in the '90s, but that seems like a million years ago now. They divorced after two years of marriage in 1999, and it made the cover of People. She went on to marry Funny or Die co-creator Chris Henchy, and Agassi wed fellow tennis player Steffi Graf.
The One Tree Hill co-stars married in 2005 but split five months later, with Bush eventually filing for an annulment. “Sophia went into the marriage believing in the sanctity of marriage, and Chad simply did not share that vision," a source told People at the time.
Before she started hanging out with Julian Assange—but after her tumultuous marriage to Tommy Lee—Pamela Anderson was briefly married to Kid Rock. They married on a yacht in July 2006 and divorced that November. Anderson says she never spoke to the singer again after that.
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Famous Person - Divorce
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2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra
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The Kherlanji massacre (or Khairlanji massacre) refers to the murders of four Scheduled Caste citizens by villagers of Khairlanji in September 29, 2006. [1][2] The killings took place in a small village in India named Kherlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra. On 29 September 2006, four members of the Bhotmange family belonging to a Scheduled caste were murdered in a small village called Kherlanji in Maharashtra. The women of the family, Surekha and Priyanka, were paraded naked in public before being murdered. Enraged by a police complaint lodged the previous day by Surekha over a land dispute, the accused dragged out Surekha Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange and two of her sons and daughter, paraded naked in the village and then hacked them to death. The accused were members of various backward castes. The incident was the offered as by the Scheduled Caste/ Neo-Buddhist organisations for the well planned Nagpur riots. The criminal act was in fact carried out by assailants from the numerically dominant Kunbi[3] caste (classified as Other Backward Classes[4]) for "opposing" the requisition of their field to have a road built over it. Initial reports suggested that the women were gang-raped before being murdered. Though CBI investigations concluded that the women were not raped,[5] there were allegations of bribery of doctors who performed the post-mortem, and of corruption. [6]
There were allegations that the local police shielded the alleged perpetrators in the ongoing investigation. A government report on the killings, prepared by the social justice department and YASHADA—the state academy of developmental administration, has implicated top police officers, doctors and even a BJP member of the Legislative Assembly, Madhukar Kukade in an alleged coverup and hindering the investigations. Kukade has denied these charges, saying that he had not even been in Kherlanji in months. The state Home Minister R. R. Patil admitted to initial lapses in police investigation and said that five policemen suspended in the investigation of the killings have been dismissed. [7] In December 2006, CBI filed a chargesheet against 11 persons under charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly with deadly weapons and outraging the modesty of women. CBI also said that it will investigate the role of the 36 people under detention. [5]
The media coverage of the incident was initially weak, but picked up momentum after an investigative feature article by Sabrina Buckwalter with the help of social activist Deelip Mhaske in The Times of India provided the first mainstream, in-depth coverage of the massacre. [8]
In September 2008, six people were given the death sentence for the crime. [9] However, on 14 July 2010, the Nagpur bench of the High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to the six convicted to a 25-year rigorous imprisonment jail sentence. Protests against the killings in the Kherlanji village took place in various parts of Maharashtra. On 19 November 2006, over 4,000 Scheduled Caste citizens gathered at the Azad maidan in Mumbai to protest against the Khairlanji incident. [10] On 23 November 2006, several members of the Scheduled Caste community in the nearby district of Chandrapur staged a protest over the Khairlanji killings. The protesters allegedly turned violent and threw stones. The police baton-charged the protesters to control the situation. Scheduled Caste leaders, however, denied that they had caused any violence and claimed that they were "protesting in peace". Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 600,000 to the next of kin of the victims' family, and housing and job awards to the affected family members. He also assured that his government would give an additional Rs 200,000 to them from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. In November and December 2006, the desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh triggered off violent protests by Buddhists in Maharashtra. Several people, including the Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh[11] and the Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy[12] remarked that the protests were fuelled by the Khairlanji killings. [13][14]
The verdict in the 2006 Khairlanji court case was announced on 15 September 2008. Bhandara Sessions court has held eight people guilty of murder and acquitted three. List of people held guilty of murder:
List of acquitted people:
The first ad hoc sessions judge, S S Dass, had heard the arguments of prosecution and defence on the quantum of punishment and had fixed 24 September for his pronouncement. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had made a forceful plea for capital punishment to all the convicts. Defence lawyers Sudip Jaiswal and Neeraj Khandewale pleaded for leniency in view of the act committed in the heat of the moment and clean past record of the convicts. On 24 September 2008, six people were awarded the death sentence, while two others were given life imprisonment. [9] The ruling was appealed to the Nagpur division bench of the Bombay High Court where hearings began in April 2010. Justices A P Lawande and R C Chavan heard arguments in the case until 21 April 2010, at which point they announced the verdict would be announced on 15 June 2010. [15] However, Justice Lawande on 15 June said the decision would be deferred until 14 July 2010 as Justice Chavan is posted in Bombay. [16]
On 14 July, the Nagpur bench of the High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to the six convicted to a 25-year rigorous imprisonment jail sentence. The two others who received life sentences received a similar sentence. [17]
The ruling touched off statewide protests and re-kindled the fury of injustice felt by local Scheduled Caste organizations and the sole survivor, Bhaiyalal Bhotmange. The court ruled that the murders resulted from an act of revenge and was not caste related. [18]
Bhotmange was told that the CBI would appeal the commutation to the Supreme Court, however, after over two weeks of no action, Bhotmange announced he would appeal the decision himself. [19]
An appeal against the judgment of the High Court is pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. It was last listed for hearing on 14 August 2015. The lone survivor of the 2006 Khairlanji Scheduled Caste family massacre, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange died on 20 Jan 2017 due to heart attack. [20]
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Oregon bill funds ‘benefits navigators’ at public universities, colleges
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The passage of a bill Wednesday will require each of Oregon’s public universities and community colleges to hire a “benefits navigator” to help students access aid programs, such as food and housing assistance. House Bill 2835 allocates nearly $5 million to the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission, which will distribute that money to the institutions for the new positions. Sponsor of the bill and long-time instructor at Mt. Hood Community College, Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, spoke about the bill on the Senate floor Wednesday. “In my many years at Mt. Hood Community College, starting back in the 1990s, I have seen the slow but steady erosion of advisors for our students in community college,” Gorsek said. “I believe that this is an important way to help fill some of that gap in knowledge that we’ve lost.” The schools will receive the money for the positions in this upcoming two-year budget cycle, beginning July 1. The bill does not specify a deadline by which the positions have to be filled. A coalition of Oregon anti-hunger advocates, student-led groups and higher education leaders had been pushing for the bill, and they celebrated its passage Wednesday. “The Oregon community colleges, as part of this coalition, applaud the passage of this landmark bill that both acknowledges basic needs insecurity as a major barrier to college completion, particularly for racially minoritized students, and provides a foundation for addressing this need at scale,” Portland Community College President Mark Mitsui said in a news release from the Oregon Student Association. “Most importantly, the benefits navigators will have a profound, positive impact on the lives of countless Oregonians who seek a better life through education at their local community colleges.” Chemeketa Community College President Jessica Howard also stressed that the bill will assist students from underrepresented communities, and it will help increase access to higher education in the state’s pandemic recovery efforts. “HB 2835 provides community colleges like Chemeketa with a key strategy to create an equitable recovery from the recent recession, particularly for Oregonians from rural, racially diverse, and economically challenged communities,” Howard said in a statement. Eastern Oregon University. Rob Manning / OPB Eastern Oregon University President Tom Insko noted students’ advocacy for the bill. More than 50 people testified on behalf of the bill earlier this year, many of them current college students. “The many students across Oregon who advocated tirelessly for HB 2835 are to be commended for ensuring the benefits navigators program can be put into action,” Insko said in that release. “Students attending Oregon’s colleges and universities today have more needs than in previous generations and it is important they maximize all resources available to ensure they have access and opportunity to graduate and succeed in life.” Along with creating the positions, the bill also requires the colleges and universities to participate in a “statewide consortium” to facilitate communication between the benefits navigators and develop best practices. Oregon State University already has a “basic needs navigator” in its Human Services Resource Center, OSU spokesperson Steve Clark said. “Oregon State University applauds state legislators for recognizing the significant and growing needs that college students face today,” Clark said. Clark said the university’s basic needs navigator has helped students in need access more than $800,000 in federal and state resources, such as SNAP benefits — informally known as food stamps. “We look forward to working with legislators, state agencies, and Oregon’s other universities and community colleges to advance the goals of HB 2835 and serve growing student needs even better,” he said. If Senate Bill 5528 passes, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission estimates roughly 11,000 additional students would have access to a key state financial aid program in the next two years. Student body presidents from five Oregon public universities, and the Oregon Student Association, sent a joint letter Thursday to the Oregon legislature and the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission pushing for funding to student financial aid.
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Financial Aid
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Aeroméxico Flight 576 crash
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AeroMéxico Flight 576 was a Mexican domestic passenger flight from Cancún to Mexico City that was hijacked on 9 September 2009. The plane was flown to Mexico City International Airport where the passengers were released. A short while later, the crew was also released and authorities detained five men in connection with the hijacking. [1] However, only one of those taken into custody was identified as the perpetrator by the authorities. The hijacker's main demand was to speak with President Felipe Calderón. [1]
This has been the only hijacking for Aeroméxico. The plane, AeroMéxico Flight 576, took off from Cancún International Airport at 11:38 local time (17:38 UTC), according to flight records. It was originally scheduled for Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, where it was due to land at 13:50 local time (19:50 UTC). A total of 112 people were initially believed to be on board, including Mexicans and foreigners from France and the United States. [2][3]
All passengers were released after the plane touched down in Mexico City,[1] where it was taken to the emergency apron that is a special area at the end of the airport near the runway 23L. Passengers were seen entering buses as they left the aircraft. Heavily armed security forces surrounded the aircraft as the hijackers and the crew remained on board, according to reporters on scene. The hijackers, reported as three Bolivian men, demanded to speak with President Calderón. They claimed to be carrying a package with tape and cables, which was said to be an explosive device. The government went into an emergency meeting, in what was being described as a national emergency. At 14:37, most hostages were taken off the plane and evacuated by bus. [4]
At 14:56 local time, federal police stormed the aircraft and took five men into custody, without having to fire their weapons. [5][6] The Bolivian Embassy in Mexico City denied its nationals had been involved. [7]
Soon after landing, passengers reported seeing a hijacker who was carrying a package which resembled an explosive device; however, a bomb squad's search of the plane turned up no explosive devices. [8] Televisa reported a controlled explosion of luggage at 16:00. [5]
Federal Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna, speaking at a press conference shortly afterwards, identified the individual as José Marc Flores Pereira (aka "Jósmar"), a Bolivian citizen. García Luna also reported that Flores had served prison time in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. [9] While Flores claimed divine guidance for his hijacking action, local media noted that he had a history of drug- and alcohol-related problems. [9]
Flores asserted mystical, religious motives for the hijacking, claiming that the date the hijacking took place was 9/9/09, which is the satanic number 666 upside down. [8][9] A non-explosive construction consisting of two fruit juice cans, filled with dirt, and adorned with light bulbs was found in his possession. [10]
Quintana Roo State Congressman Hernán Villatoro (of the Labor Party) was on board the flight and said, in a radio interview, that the hijacker was carrying a Bible, issued a series of religious prophecies, and warned that President Calderón should not attend the traditional Independence Day festivities in Mexico City's Zócalo on 16 September because of an impending earthquake. [11]
On 19 May 2011, Flores was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison for the hijacking. [12] After over a year of appeals, Flores' prison sentence was overturned by an appeals court in September 2012, citing evidence that Flores suffers from mental illness; instead, Flores was moved to a rehabilitation center for treatment. [13] He was released from custody in September, 2014 after a judge ruled that his sentence of four years of psychiatric treatment should begin from the date he was first captured and imprisoned, in 2009, and not starting in 2012, when he was sentenced. [14]
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Air crash
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2019 Sichuan earthquake
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An earthquake measuring 5.8 Mw struck the province of Sichuan in China at 22:55 local time (14:55 UTC), 17 June 2019. [1] Changning and Gong counties in Yibin were particularly affected. 13 people died and more than 200 others were injured. [2]
Sichuan lies within the zone of complex tectonics caused by the continuing convergence of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate. The active faulting in this area relates to the eastward movement of material away from the Tibetan Plateau, which has been uplifted by this collision. The largest structure in the area is the Longmenshan Fault, movement on which was responsible for the M7.9 2008 Sichuan earthquake. [1]
Based on the focal mechanism the earthquake was a result of oblique-slip faulting, dominantly reverse faulting with a component of strike-slip. [1] Further analysis suggests that the initial movement was on a reverse fault followed by rupture along a shallow strike-slip fault. The reverse fault movement matches well with the known stress field in the area, but the strike-slip fault is less favourably orientated, suggesting the presence of elevated pore pressures due to water injection associated with solution mining of rock salt. [3] Results from the analysis of Interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (InSAR) data indicate that the reverse fault was shallow enough to be intersected by the openhole sections of some of the injection wells. [4]
A number of aftershocks also occurred. [5]
More than 20,000 houses were badly damaged and some roads, communication infrastructure and hydroelectric power plants were also reported to be affected. [8]
There were 13 deaths overall, 9 of them in Changning County and the other 5 in Gongxian County. [2] A further 220 people were reported injured, 6 of them critically and 16 severely. [8]
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Earthquakes
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Kilbirnie Street fire
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The Kilbirnie Street fire, on Friday 25 August 1972, was a warehouse fire in the Port Eglinton area, on the south side of Glasgow, Scotland, which killed seven Glasgow Fire Service firemen in a flashover while they were trying to rescue a trapped colleague. [1] What started as a routine industrial premises fire resulted in one of the highest losses of life for the UK Fire Service at a single incident in peacetime. The warehouse premises at 70–72 Kilbirnie Street was used as a cash and carry warehouse by the Sher Brothers company, selling textiles, clothing and household goods. It was built as a stables in 1899, but in common with much of Glasgow's industrial premises at that time, had seen numerous uses over the years. It was a brick built construction of ground, first and attic floors, connected by internal stairs and a goods lift. The first floor was of concrete construction, and the attic floor of composite steel and timber, supported on cast iron columns. Internal partitioning consisted of timber frames with hardboard lining. An external steel stair opening off the attic and first floors acted as the fire escape route. Stock was arranged on steel frame shelving and stacked on the floor. The potential fire load was considered high following a fire prevention visit in December 1971 and again in March 1972. It had been occupied by the owners since 1970. The fire was discovered by an employee while searching for stock and appeared to have started on the attic floor. Three 999 calls were received by Glasgow Fire Service control by 11:21 am and two water tenders and a turntable ladder were dispatched from South station, with Station Officer Carroll in charge, arriving at around 11:24. A serious fire was seen to be in progress, with smoke emitting from the building and from the roof. All staff had evacuated, and the fire brigade were faced with a serious but largely routine fire. Divisional Officer Quinn arrived soon after, and after early investigations with Carroll, called for reinforcements by "Making Pumps 4". Queens Park and West Marine Fire Stations despatched two further water tenders, arriving around 11.30. Glasgow Salvage Corps despatched a vehicle to the scene as part of the initial attendance, and their men began their normal fireground task of attempting to protect stock from fire and smoke damage by covering with plastic sheeting. On the "Make Pumps 4" message, a second salvage tender was despatched. Crews using breathing apparatus ("BA"), searching the building for the seat of the fire, found conditions very difficult with thick smoke and the crowded layout of the premises hampering progress. With the arrival of the additional pump from West Marine Fire Station at 11:33, Station Officer Carroll ordered the roof be opened to assist in ventilating the building. This was effected under difficult circumstances, from ladders pitched against the building, and thick smoke began emitting through the hole created. The complex layout of the stock and partitioning of the building created difficulty finding the fire. With the intense heat and thick smoke, internal fire fighting was effected on the first and second floors. Around this time, a small amount of fire was noted breaking through the first floor ceiling, which was addressed. This indicated serious fire in the attic floor above. At around 12:00 with the initial crews becoming exhausted, Divisional Officer Quinn requested the attendance of an emergency tender, for the additional breathing apparatus and fresh men. This was dispatched from South Fire Station. Around 11:55, with conditions deteriorating, Divisional Officer Quinn ordered all men from the building. As he was leaving, Fireman Rook was asked by an officer (who possibly had not heard the order to evacuate) to assist in a flare up of fire in the attic. They attempted to turn a hose on the fire, but were engulfed by a stock collapse that stunned both men. The Officer came to and managed to stumble out and raise the alarm. Soon after the "Man trapped" message was sent, Deputy Firemaster McGill turned out to Kilbirnie Street, hearing a "Make Pumps 8" message whilst en route, arriving around 12:18 to take command. With the discovery that Fireman Rook was missing, a rescue party was sent in to get him, but had to be pulled out due to exhaustion. Divisional Officer Quinn was not prepared to leave Rook to his fate, and a second rescue attempt was mounted. Between around 12:05 and 12:20, Leading Fireman Crofts, Firemen Bermingham, Finlay, Hooper and McMillan donned breathing apparatus and, with Quinn, returned to the attic floor. Inside they found Rook. Fireman Murray dug him out of the collapsed stock. Fireman Murray, not in BA and suffering burns, had to leave the scene, and was assisted from the building by Firemen Welsh and Smith who managed to drag him clear. Fireman Hugh Welsh was to receive a bravery award for his actions. Rook was being dragged out of the collapsed stock when a rapid and fierce eruption of heat and flame across the first floor ceiling engulfed the rescuers, leading to a structural collapse. It gradually became apparent to those outside that a serious situation had occurred. A roll call in the street showed who was missing, and further rescue attempts were made from ladders through the first floor windows. The first body was found at 1:48 pm, and when it was clear that no survivors were to be found, rescuers were ordered to withdraw from the building until the fire was under control. It was no longer justifiable to risk further men, as the building was in a hazardous condition. The fire was attacked externally from turntable ladders, hydraulic platform, and a "Scoosher" aerial monitor. By mid afternoon, with the fire under control, the bodies could be retrieved, with the last body, that of Fireman Rook, found at around 6:11 pm. These firemen were killed on 25 August 1972 during this event
The names of those lost was added to the eastern side of the memorial to the firefighters lost in the Cheapside Street whisky bond fire, standing on the eastern side of the upper section of the Glasgow Necropolis. Glasgow Fire Service went into a state of mourning for its largest loss of men since the 1960 Cheapside Street Whisky Bond Fire, and public funerals were held before the men were laid to rest in the Glasgow Necropolis. The building was deemed unsafe following an inspection by a Glasgow Corporation building inspector, and demolition commenced almost immediately.
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Fire
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Navies of 21 countries kick off US-led drills in Southeast Asia
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SEACAT exercises under way in Singapore and virtually as Beijing and Moscow also hold drills in China’s Ningxia. The United States-led Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) military exercises are under way in Singapore and online. Now in its 20th year, the annual drills began on Tuesday and involve the navies of of 21 countries. They include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. In a statement, the US Navy 7th fleet said this year’s drills include 10 ships and more than 400 personnel. The exercises are designed to encourage countries to use their maritime forces to enhance understanding of the “operational environment, build capacity for humanitarian support missions, and uphold international laws and norms”, it said. The SEACAT exercises are taking place as China and Russia also undertake joint military exercises in China’s north-central Ningxia region and the US prepares for drills with South Korea that have raised tensions with Pyongyang. During the SEACAT drills, an operations post in the International Fusion Centre in Singapore will serve as a centralised hub for crisis coordination and information-sharing as the participating navies track merchant vessels that are “simulating suspicious vessels of interests throughout Southeast Asian seas”, the statement said. The South China Sea, which is claimed almost in its entirety by China but also by Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, is one of the world’s busiest waterways and has become an increasing focus of maritime interest. “The scenarios are designed to encourage countries to work together though maritime domain awareness assets to better understand operations and adherence to international norms,” said US Captain Tom Ogden, the commander of the Destroyer Squadron 7. “Practicing multilateral, multi-platform intercepts help our Southeast Asian partners prepare for possible real-world engagements in the future.” SEACAT began in 2002 as “Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism”. The exercises were launched in the wake of the September 2001 attacks in the US and renamed in 2012 to focus on advancing training among regional navies and coastguards in South and Southeast Asia to manage challenges, including piracy and smuggling. Several international and non-governmental organisations are also taking part in drills this year. They include the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), EU Critical Maritime Route Wider Indian Ocean (CRIMARIO), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
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Military Exercise
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King Fire
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The King Fire was a wildfire that scorched over 97,000 acres (390 km2) of land in El Dorado County, California in the fall of 2014. The fire, which was named because it started off King of the Mountain Road in Pollock Pines, started on September 13, 2014 near Pollock Pines, California, to the east of Sacramento. [3]
On September 16, three days after starting, the fire had spread to 11,520 acres (46.6 km2) forcing the evacuation of over five hundred homes[4] A handcrew of 10 inmates and a Fire Captain were saved from being overrun when they were led to safety by a helicopter that was staged at the nearby Swansboro Country Airport. [5][6] By September 18, the fire had expanded to 73,184 acres (296.17 km2), becoming the second largest wildfire of the 2014 California wildfire season. [7][8] As a result of this growth, the mandatory evacuation order was expanded to 20,000 homes. By the start of October the fire had grown to 97,099 acres (392.95 km2) with containment increasing to 94%. [7] On October 9, the perimeter of the King Fire was reported to be 100% contained, with a final acreage of 97,717 acres (395.45 km2). [3] During the following days, pockets of fire continued burning deep inside the containment lines. [3]
On October 10, the closure area was reduced, as additional progress was made. [3] During the next several days, the wildfire was diminished further, as the weather in the region entered a cooling trend. The King Fire injured a total of twelve people and caused the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people in the area. [9]
The King Fire has destroyed 12 singles residences and 68 other residential structures, but the amount of damage caused by the wildfire is currently unknown. [citation needed]
On September 18, 2014, Wayne Huntsman was arrested on suspicion of intentionally starting the fire. [1][10] He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. [11]
On April 8, 2016, Wayne Huntsman pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, as well as being ordered to pay $60,000,000 in restitution. [12]
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Fire
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ALM Flight 980 crash
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ALM Antillean Airlines Flight 980 was a flight scheduled to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, on 2 May 1970. After several unsuccessful landing attempts, the aircraft's fuel was exhausted, and it made a forced water landing (ditching) in the Caribbean Sea 48 km (30 mi; 26 nmi) off St. Croix, with 23 fatalities and 40 survivors. The accident is one of a small number of intentional water ditchings of jet airliners. The aircraft was a twin-engine Douglas DC-9-33CF, operated on behalf of ALM Antillean Airlines by Overseas National Airways (ONA), with an ONA aircraft and flight crew, and an ALM cabin crew. It was registered in the United States with FAA tail number N935F. [1] The flight carried 57 passengers and 6 crew. The flight crew consisted of Captain Balsey DeWitt (37), First Officer Harry Evans II (25), and Navigator Hugh Hart (35). [2]
Flight 980 made a normal departure from Kennedy Airport, and had an uneventful flight to the Caribbean. After the flight was given descent clearance to 10,000 feet (3,000 m), regional air traffic control (ATC) advised that weather in St. Maarten was below landing minima, a set of criteria that determine whether landing is possible. The captain elected to divert to San Juan, but shortly thereafter, the tower at St. Maarten advised them that the weather had improved sufficiently for landing. The flight made an initial approach to St. Maarten, but failed to see the runway in time to line up for landing, and announced a missed approach. Flight 980 then made a second landing attempt, but it, too, was unsuccessful because of alignment with the runway. After breaking off that approach, the crew made a third attempt, but the aircraft was too high to land safely. After assessing the weather and fuel situation, the crew elected to divert to St. Croix, and received a vector and clearance. At this point, the crew noticed a possible discrepancy between the fuel gauges and what had been computed as the amount of fuel remaining. The captain advised ATC of his intention to ditch the aircraft, and began a low approach over the water. Flight 980 ditched in the Caribbean Sea at 3:49 PM local time, 30 miles east of St. Croix. [3][2]
Although the pilots flashed the seat belt signs just prior to ditching, confusion remained in the cabin as to when or whether the plane was to touch down. The public address system was not working on the plane, so the cabin were not given any warning of the impending ditching. Consequently, an unknown number of passengers and crew were either standing up, or had their seat belts unfastened, when the aircraft struck the water. The sea was rough at the time as a result of the weather conditions. [3] The aircraft remained relatively intact after the water landing, but soon sank in about 5,000 ft (1,500 m) of water, and was never recovered. The accident resulted in 23 fatalities, as well as injuries to 37 of the 40 survivors. Both pilots and the navigator survived. The survivors were left bobbing in the turbulent and shark-infested sea in their life jackets until rescue came. [3][4] Recovery of the survivors by helicopter began approximately 1 1/2 hours after the ditching, and the last survivor, the first officer, was picked up about 1 hour later. [2] The helicopters were guided to the rescue site by a Pan American Airways plane, whose pilot reported the ditching by radio, then circled the scene until help came to help guide rescuers. [3]
Rescue efforts included units from the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, and a number of survivors were rescued by helicopter. The accident was investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The report concluded that the cause of the accident was poor fuel management, complicated by the crew's inattention and distraction as a result of the weather situation and multiple diversions. Some specific issues cited include miscalculation of the rate of fuel consumption, misreading fuel gauges, and incorrect computation of the amount of fuel expected to be remaining at the time of landing. The NTSB report stated:
The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion which resulted from continued, unsuccessful attempts to land at St. Maarten until insufficient fuel remained to reach an alternate airport. [2]
The NTSB also concluded that the chances of survival in the accident were worsened by poor coordination among the crew before and during the ditching. The recommendations in the report included adding "warn passengers" to the checklist of procedures for emergency landings and ditchings, requiring that flights not be dispatched without a working public address system, and phasing out an older type of seat belt then in use in favor of more modern designs. The ditching of Flight 980 is featured in the first season 1 episode of The Weather Channel documentary Why Planes Crash. The episode is titled "Brace for Impact", and was aired in July 2009. It featured an interview with Captain Balsey DeWitt. [4]
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Air crash
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2013 Polar Airlines Mil Mi-8 crash
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On 2 July 2013, a Mil Mi-8 helicopter operated by Polar Airlines crashed near Deputatsky, an urban locality of Ust-Yansky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, with 25 passengers (including 11 children) and three crew members on board. [1][2] According to a Ministry of Emergency Situations spokesman, 24 people died in the crash; the three crew members and a child survived. [3] Early reports suggested that the pilot lost control of the helicopter due to strong winds. The crash is being investigated by the Interstate Aviation Committee. [4]
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Air crash
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Springfield race riot of 1908
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The Springfield holocaust of 1908 turned 2,000 black citizens into refugees. Approximately 5,000 white Americans and European immigrants in Springfield, Illinois participated in targeting African Americans during August 14th - August 16th, 1908. Two black men had been arrested as suspects in a rape, attempted rape, and murder. The alleged victims were two young white women and a father of one of them. When a mob seeking to lynch the men discovered the sheriff had transferred them to a jail out of the city, whites formed criminal vigilante groups and furiously moved on black neighborhoods to murder black citizens and destroy their homes and businesses. Governor Charles Deneen ordered the state militia to quell the pogrom. The riot, trials and aftermath are said to be one of the most well-documented examples of the complex intersection of race, class, and criminal justice in the United States. In 2008 an NPR report on the centenary of the race riot said that the fact of its taking place in a Northern state, specifically in "The Land of Lincoln", demonstrated that blacks were mistreated across the country, not just in the South, and described the event as a proxy for the story of race in America.
At least sixteen people died as a result of the riot: nine black residents, and seven white residents who were associated with the mob, five of whom were killed by state militia and two who committed suicide. In alignment with the way things were in 1908, white journalists misreported for decades that blacks were responsible for white deaths and that more whites than blacks had died. Personal and property damages, suffered overwhelmingly by blacks, amounted to more than $150,000 (approximately $4 million in 2018), as dozens of black homes and businesses were destroyed, as well as three white-owned businesses of suspected black sympathizers.
As a result of the mob action, numerous black citizens left Springfield, but it is unclear how many moved away permanently. In the following months, over 100 holocaust-related indictments were issued and some pled guilty to minor violations, while only one alleged rioter went to trial and convicted for lesser offenses. Of the two accused black men, one was eventually tried, convicted and hanged, the other was found not-guilty and set free. Near the 100th anniversary in 2008, the City of Springfield erected historical markers and a memorial statue. The riot was a catalyst for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organized to work on civil rights for African Americans.
In 1908, Springfield was a transportation hub, connected by railroad to other major cities such as Indianapolis, Louisville, and Kansas City, etc. Illinois is often considered a microcosm of the U.S. and Springfield, with about 45,000 people at the time, most of whom were working class, was described as an "average American community".
In July 1908, the US was pulling itself out of the Panic of 1907, which occurred during a lengthy economic contraction between May 1907 and June 1908. This contraction led to suspension of cash payments by banks, a halt in lending, and a fall in the stock market, all resulting in significant economic disruption. Industrial production dropped, and the period saw the second-highest volume of bankruptcies to that date, with the dollar volume increasing nearly 50 percent. [15] Production fell over 10 percent, commodity prices dropped by more than 20 percent, imports fell by over 25 percent, and unemployment, which had been less than 3 percent prior to the panic, increased to 8 percent, resulting in fierce job competition. ] As of April 1908, there were 200,000 unemployed men in Illinois, with 55 percent of those residing outside of Chicago. [16] Comparatively, neighboring Iowa and Missouri, which had populations that were 40 percent and 60 percent of Illinois' (5.5 million), had 2,000 and 43,000 unemployed men, respectively.
Prior to the Panic, over one million immigrants had arrived in the U.S. during each of the previous two years. However, after the Panic, the rate of arrival began declining by nearly 40 percent.
Due to its dependence on mines, railroad, and vice industries, such as saloons, Springfield was largely insulated from much of the contraction. However, the city still could not escape the economic downturn of the region, including new alcohol policies passed in 1908 that would suddenly put the employees at nearly 2,000 bars across the state out of work, including 20 percent of the saloons across Sangamon County.
There was growing unrest among railroad workers after the Illinois Central Railroad began a "retrenchment" (cost-cutting) policy in December 1907. For example, men in nearby Clinton saw their work week drop from seven to four days a week by March 1908. That same month, the railroad also began streamlining positions to further cut expenses, which caused many to be "bumped down" to lower jobs, affecting younger workers.
There was also uncertainty amongst Springfield's miners at the local and national level. In November 1907, 4,000 miners in Danville went on strike when coal operators stopped paying workers in cash and began issuing checks. Five months later, on April 1, 1908, Springfield's miners were nearly part of the 250,000 miners across the country who went on strike after their contracts expired and coal operators showed "no inclination" to make new contracts with the union. Illinois' 60,000 miners subsequently "declared war" against coal operators. The unrest led to the shut down of Illinois' mines for a month, which had a significant negative impact on the freight business for the railroads as coal cars sat idle during that time. The lack of coal movement also impacted road workers, who could not pave the roads without the coal. In early May, while over 35,000 of Illinois' miners voted to return to work, miners in two districts voted to move forward with the strike – Peoria and Springfield. Around the same time, miners in neighboring Decatur voted to go on strike and, on June 8, 1908, roughly 500 miners called off two separate strikes, at the Pawnee and Pana mines, over work conditions.
Ultimately, these events created a Springfield workforce where workers by and large had jobs, but the earning power of those jobs was being diminished, the security of those jobs was laced with uncertainty, and the respect paid to those who held those jobs was seemingly being diminished. In surrounding counties the job prospects were similar or worse and the workforce was less diverse.
As Reconstruction came to an end, between 1870 and 1890, the United States was undergoing a massive population increase. Between 1890 and 1908, rapid industrialization and urbanization brought millions of European immigrants to the country. Arrivals usually came to Ellis Island, then trekked to cities where relatives had already been establishing themselves, expanding ethnic communities throughout the country. Springfield, a rapidly growing industrial center, was one of those cities. At the turn of the century, Springfield's population was about 35,000 people and growing. In 1900, the immigrant population, which prior to 1890 had only grown at a rate of 0.15 percent per year and remained stagnant at roughly 4,500, began to grow at a rate of 4 percent per year – a 300,000 percent increase.
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 1908, nearly 35 percent of these immigrants were unable to speak English, and nearly 15 percent were illiterate. This created tension between white immigrants and white Americans, who feared their growing political presence. White Americans were increasingly more negative, fearful, and xenophobic toward the immigrants, who they deemed to be biologically inferior, culturally and religiously odd, and generally substandard with a proclivity to filth, laziness and violence.
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Riot
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The present drought in US Southwest may last at least into 2022, potentially longer
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Human-caused climate change has intensified the withering drought gripping the Southwestern United States, the region's most severe on record, with precipitation at the lowest 20-month level documented since 1895, a US government report said on 21 September. Over the same period, from January 2020 through August 2021, the region also experienced the third-highest daily average temperatures measured since record-keeping began near the end of the 19th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) drought task force. Reuters reports that the study warned that extreme drought conditions are likely to worsen and repeat themselves "until stringent climate mitigation is pursued and regional warming trends are reversed." The drought emerged in early 2020 in California, Nevada and the "Four Corners" states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico and has led to unprecedented water shortages in reservoirs across the region, while fueling devastating western wildfires over the past two years, the report noted. The study also cited dwindling reservoir levels that have threatened or disrupted drinking supplies, irrigation systems, hydropower generation, farming, fishing and recreational activities, with immediate economic losses in the billions of dollars. Much of the record below-normal wintertime precipitation was likely due to natural weather variations, including a La Nina pattern, while research suggests that successive summers of scant monsoonal rainfall may also occur by chance, the NOAA report said. However, unusually high temperatures coinciding with the Southwest's historic dry spell are symptomatic of human-caused climate change and have intensified the drought, making it "more impactful" in a number of ways, the report's authors concluded. Above-normal heat helps dry up surface and soil moisture and reduces snowfall in winter, which in turn diminishes dry-season surface water storage from snow-melt runoff, the report said. Low snowpack and parched soil can also create a "land-atmosphere feedback" that deepens a drought by helping raise ground temperatures while leaving less moisture available to evaporate for future precipitation, according to the study. Extremely high temperatures also sharply boost demand for water, further straining depleted reservoirs and rivers. The report noted that the drought has been so severe that states sharing the Colorado River, the region's principal river basin, experienced the first ever water delivery shortfall. The report focuses on drought in six states comprising the American Southwest, home more than 60 million people, but its implications stretch beyond that region, the authors said. "Half of the United States is in an unprecedented drought, precisely as the country's economy is struggling to emerge from the effects of COVID," lead author and Dartmouth College geography professor Justin Mankin said in a statement. While summer 2021 brought welcome monsoon rains to parts of the Southwest, several years of above-average rain and high-elevation snow are needed to replenish the region's reservoirs, streams and soils. "This suggests that for much of the US Southwest, the present drought will last at least into 2022, potentially longer," the report said.
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Droughts
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Police investigate after girls pour bleach on student in Beersheba
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Updated: DECEMBER 16, 2021 18:10
A GROUP of junior high school students are demanding the government fulfill its educational duty to them.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
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The Israel Police has opened an investigation after receiving a complaint from a girl who claimed to have been abused within the walls of a school in Beersheba .
In the investigation, it was suspected that three students had poured various substances onto the girl and then rubbed her head with a broom, with footage of the incident circulated over social media.
In her testimony, the girl claimed that the substances poured on top of her included various types of detergents, including a bleach-like disinfectant.
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Two 13-year-old suspects were detained Thursday morning.
תלמידות כיתה ז' בבית ספר בדרום תיעדו עצמן שופכות חומרי ניקוי על תלמידה. את הסרטון שצולם בשבוע שעבר הן שיתפו באינסטגרם. העונש שקיבלו - שלושה ימי השעיה מבית הספר @Itsik_zuarets https://t.co/durOb5UAl6 pic.twitter.com/m1Yqc5VupT
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 15, 2021
"This is a very serious incident in which a girl was humiliated in the eyes of her friends, all for the sake of humiliation and publicity on social media," said Inspector Yoni Dasklo, an officer from the Beersheba Police's Youth Department. "We will work to bring justice to those involved."
Lian and her mother Ilana spoke with 103FM's Guy Peleg and Nissim Mash'al and discussed the difficult event.
"At first they sprayed me with water, and then soap, and then window-cleaning spray," Lian explained, adding that "I didn't do anything to them – they just decided to do this to me."
One of the girls documented the incident and shared it on Instagram, she said.
Despite her requests and pleas to stop, "they did not listen. They saw I was crying but kept going."
ILANA SAID that her daughter called her at 12:30.
"She said, 'don't ask what they did to me. They poured soap and cleaning products on me and I'm not going to give them up. I'm going to the class coordinator,'" her mother said.
"She went to the coordinator and when I called I said I was coming to pick her up, and I didn't know how serious it was. I thought they squirted dish soap. When did I find out the whole story? When I got home and she showed me what they uploaded to their Instagram story.
"When I saw it, I had darkness in my eyes. I said poor girl, what she went through was more than just mental and physical abuse. As an adult, I would not want to go through what a 12-year-old girl had to endure," Ilana said.
"I would send [the school] videos, all kinds of posts and messages written to her. Every time, it is sent to everyone and they say they don't have the tools to deal with it – nothing can be done," she said.
"When I spoke to the coordinator I asked why no one did anything for so long. They said the principal had more important things to deal with," Lian's mother said.
"More important? What could be more important? Yesterday, she went to school and the girls came back, made a mess, threatened her and beat her.
"She called me again crying and said 'You told me to go to school, that everything would be fine and to see what happens.' And they accused her of wrongdoing."
Lian agreed and said she was afraid of going back to school.
"I went yesterday and one of the girls threatened me. If they had not held her back, she would have beaten me."
ILANA SAID a complaint was filed with the police.
"We were not told the truth, they took testimony and said a case was being opened. What happens next, we don't know," she said.
"We don't think the police can do anything. We thought the school would remove the girls and that she would continue to study and get psychological help and counseling, that we would know how to deal with the situation."
The principal refused to comment on the case and referred them to the Education Ministry.
The ministry responded "This is a serious and difficult incident that has crossed every redline and violated every behavioral norm expected of students in an educational institution. In view of the seriousness of the matter, the abusive students were suspended from school, and their further studies at the school are conditional.
"The injured student is closely accompanied by a school counselor daily and receives a wide range of emotional and therapeutic support. The school staff is in continuous and consistent contact with the mother and are monitoring the development of the police investigation," the ministry said.
"The current incident of violence joins the sequence of extreme and frequent violent incidents occurring in the education system against the background of the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis," it said. "In light of this reality, the Education Ministry has launched a comprehensive program to prevent violence and it has allocated close to half a billion shekels for this purpose. As part of these resources, a number of in-depth programs will be implemented in the schools to make significant changes."
Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovich said that, "following the shocking incident at the school I learned about today, I had an urgent discussion this morning with the principals of the education directorate and talked with the principal, the student and her mother. We will work resolutely to eradicate this problem.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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EntertainmentNEWS
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Choi Jong-hoon, 31, former leader of K-pop band FT Island, was released from prison on Nov. 8 after serving two and a half years in prison for gang rape. On May 9, 2019, Choi Jong-hoon was arrested on charges of gang rape and illegal filming of women along with Jung Joon-young, former mainstay of the Korean TV show “2 Days & 1 Night” and three others. Former FT Island member Choi Jong-hoon (left) was released from prison while Jung Joon-young will finish his sentence in October 2025 (Instagram, Jonathan Hicap) They were accused of gang raping women in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province in January 2016 and in Daegu in March 2016. On Nov. 29, 2019, the Seoul Central District Court found them guilty of violating Korea’s Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes and sentenced Choi Jong-hoon to five years and Jung Joon-young to six years in prison. The Seoul court also convicted Jung Joon Young for distributing illegally filmed sex videos on KakaoTalk chat rooms in 2015. Under Article 299 on Quasi-Rape, Quasi-Indecent Act by Compulsion of Korea’s Criminal Act, “A person who has sexual intercourse with another or commits an indecent act on another by taking advantage of the other’s condition of unconsciousness or inability to resist shall be punished in accordance with Article 297, 297-2, or 298.” After their conviction, Choi Jong-hoon and Jung Joon-young filed appeals in December 2019 to overturn their sentences. On May 12, 2020, the Seoul High Court reduced Choi Jong-hoon’s sentence from five to two and a half years after submitting to the court an agreement with the victim. Jung Joon-young’s sentence was reduced from six to five years. After his release from prison, Choi Jong-hoon must participate for 80 hours in a program for the treatment of sexual violence and is barred from being employed in institutions related to children and youth, and welfare facilities for the disabled. Jung Joon-young will be released from prison on Oct. 1, 2025. Choi Jong-hoon debuted in FT Island in 2007 and left the band in March 2019 due to the scandal. He also retired from the entertainment industry.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
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2010 Central European floods
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The 2010 Central European floods were a devastating series of weather events which occurred across several Central European countries during May and June 2010. Poland was the worst affected. Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia were also affected. At least thirty-seven people died in the floods and approximately 23,000 people were evacuated. The city of Kraków declared a state of emergency. The floods forced the closure and relocation of items from the Auschwitz concentration camp museum. On 20 May, aid began arriving to Poland from several European Union countries. In Poland, the floods caused the deaths of at least 25 people, the evacuation of approximately 23,000 people, and an estimated economic cost of 2.5 billion euros. [1] Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed the Sejm that ongoing flooding was "the worst natural disaster in the nation's history ... without precedent in the past 160 years". [2][3]
Two months' worth of rain poured down over a 24‑hour period. [4] The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum was closed[5] and important artifacts were moved to higher ground as floodwaters approached. [4] The city of Kraków announced a state of emergency. [4] Due to the high level of the Vistula river, Kraków's Dębnicki bridge, located in the center of the city, and the Nowohucki bridge were closed on 18 May. [6]
The flooding lasted for a number of days, and escalated on 20 May when the Vistula River broke its banks. In the town of Sandomierz, residents were stranded in their homes while power outages affected telecommunication. [7] The 2010 flooding was considered more severe than the last major flood, in 1997. [3]
Wrocław, where the level of the Oder river on 22 May reached 665 cm in Trestno, declared a flood alert. [8] The Kozanów district of Wrocław was flooded after a temporary sandbag wall was breached. [9]
On Sunday 23 May the Wisła river broke a retaining wall and flooded Świniary near Płock, and nearby villages, including Szady, Wiączemin Polski, Nowy Wiączemin and Nowosiodło. Reports stated that 22 villages in the Płock area had sustained flooding or were under imminent threat. Around 4,000 people and 5,000 animals were evacuated. [10][11] In Płock, Gmury street was submerged. [11]
In the Lublin Voivodeship, 800 people had to be evacuated after the river Chodelka flooded in the Gmina Wilków. [12] On 23 May, it was reported that 23 villages were already flooded with 4–5 meters of water and the situation continued to worsen. [13]
During the May floods, at least 6,200 households in the Małopolska region alone were fully or partially flooded and 12,000 people were affected by it. Numerous other places in Poland were flooded too. In the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, another flood alert was announced on 2 June in relation to Kraków, Tarnów, the counties of Bochnia, Brzesko, Dąbrowa, and Sucha, and eight gminas. Twelve rivers exceeded the alarm level in 14 places and eleven rivers exceeded warning levels in 21 places. On 4 June the railway bridge between Nowy Sącz and Stary Sącz was broken by the river Poprad. At least three people fell from the bridge into the rushing waters. According to some reports their fate is still unknown while other say they managed to save themselves. [14][15] The Poprad river also flooded the town of Muszyna. On 5 June the Vistula flooded the Gmina Szczucin and around 3,000 people had to be evacuated. [16][17]
In the Silesian Voivodeship, flood alerts were again issued in the Bielsko, Bieruń-Lędziny, Cieszyn, Gliwice, Pszczyna, Racibórz, Wodzisław and Żywiec counties, and in the cities of Bielsko-Biała, Gliwice and Zabrze. In the Lublin Voivodeship, river-side gminas announced flood alerts. In the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, the river Ropa flooded the town of Jasło on 5 June. [18]
From 3 June, the Trześniówka river flooded the part of the city of Sandomierz (located in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship) which lies on the right side of the Vistula, and which was already flooded in May. The city was also threatened by the Vistula river which reached 770 cm, over 100 cm past the alarm level. [19][20]
In the Czech Republic, the heaviest rain in the region for eight years was reported. [4] A state of emergency was declared in a total of 302 municipalities across the Zlín Region and Moravian-Silesian Region. [21] One death was reported, due to drowning. [4]
In Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Northern Hungary eighteen towns and villages were cut from the outside world by the flood of the rivers Sajó, Hernád and Bódva. More than 480 people had to leave their homes. [22] In Miskolc the Szinva flooded the Diósgyőr district of the city during what was described by locals as "the biggest flood since 1975". [23]
Several roads became unusable, the border checkpoint of Sátoraljaújhely/Slovenské Nové Mesto was closed on June 1. [24]
In Pásztó (Nógrád county), a local reservoir threatened with overflow; the earthen dam was strengthened by sandbags. 2000 people had to leave their homes. Houses would be under 4 m water within seven minutes of the collapse of the dam. [25]
A short part of Motorway M1 collapsed near Győr. [26]
On 17 May, the death toll reached five people.
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Floods
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Sky Watch: November’s treats include a partial lunar eclipse and that sweet extra hour of sleep
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When night falls in early November, look to the southwest to find the brilliant, neighboring planet Venus. It’s exceptionally bright and easy to spot at dusk. Venus hangs out in the constellation Sagittarius and starts the month at -4.6 magnitude, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. There’s more: It gets brighter and can be seen at -4.8 magnitude by the end of the month. The skinny young moon approaches Venus on Nov. 6-7, passing by the effervescent planet Nov. 8. The Sagittarius asterism is shaped like a teapot, and when it sets in the west, it gives a hint of pouring tea. While no scandalous overtones surround Venus, the planet appears to scoot through the teapot’s dome about Nov. 11 through 16. Jupiter and Saturn happen to be in Venus’s neighborhood. Look high to the south as evening descends. Of the two large gaseous planets, Jupiter is brighter because it is closer to us, and it starts the month at -2.5 magnitude (very bright), but it gets slightly dimmer throughout November. The ringed planet Saturn is seen at +0.7 magnitude (substantially dimmer than Jupiter) for most of the month. The young moon approaches Saturn on Nov. 9, passing under the planet on Nov. 10. Our lunar companion becomes a first-quarter moon on Nov. 11, and it scurries under Jupiter in the southern evening heavens. Just before sunrise late in the month, Earth’s other neighbor Mars starts peeking above the eastern horizon to give us a sneak preview of its more prominent role in December’s sky. Story continues below advertisement The annual Leonid meteor shower peaks Nov. 17 to 18, but this shower will be a washout, as the shooting stars streak through the heavens just before a full moon (Nov. 19). The American Meteor Society predicts about 15 shooting stars an hour, but because the moon will be bright, its light effectively renders the meteors invisible. Enjoy a partial lunar eclipse in the early morning of Nov. 19. To watch, make sure your coffee is hot. Technically, it’s a partial eclipse, but it will seem like a total lunar eclipse — which is very safe for your eyes. You’re watching the moon change color. For Washington, the partial phase begins at 3:18 a.m. The moon will gradually darken as our lunar companion cruises through Earth’s shadow — moving from the penumbral into the umbral phase. Story continues below advertisement The exact middle of the eclipse occurs at 5:03 a.m., according to the Naval Observatory. Most of the moon will be in Earth’s umbra, and astronomers expect it to take on a reddish tint. As sunrise for Washington occurs at 6:56 a.m., the moon moves out of Earth’s shadow. By 8 a.m., the event is officially over. Next weekend, you’ll be turning back time. Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, Nov. 7, at 2 a.m., so turn your clocks back an hour for standard time. As a reward, you get an extra hour of sleep. Down-to-Earth events: ● Nov. 13 — Julie McEnery of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will discuss online the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission, a next-generation space telescope in development. The presentation is hosted by the National Capital Astronomers. The virtual Zoom doors open at 7 p.m., and the meeting starts at 7:30. To register, visit capitalastronomers.org . ● Nov. 14 — “Come Fly Away to the Sun,” an online talk by astrophysicist Kelly Korreck about the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft, which is designed to study the sun and space weather. Hosted by the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club. 7:30 p.m.
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New wonders in nature
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1988–1989 Montenegrin protests
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The anti-bureaucratic revolution (Serbian: Антибирократска револуција, romanized: Antibirokratska revolucija) was a campaign of street protests by supporters of Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević that ran between 1988 and 1989 in Yugoslavia. The protests overthrew the governments of the Serbian autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, as well as the government of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro, and replaced them with allies of Milošević, thereby creating a dominant voting bloc within the Yugoslav presidency council. The name anti-bureaucratic revolution is derived from the proclaimed revolt against bureaucratic and corrupt governing structures. The events were condemned by the communist governments of the western Yugoslav republics (especially SR Slovenia and SR Croatia), who successfully resisted the attempts to expand the revolt onto their territories, and turned against Milošević. The rising antagonism eventually resulted in the dissolution of the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1990, the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the start of the Yugoslav wars. These protests were in support of Serbian nationalism, a centralized Yugoslavia, economic liberalism, and Milošević. Since the adoption of the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, Serbia and its two autonomous provinces Kosovo and Vojvodina entered into political deadlock with the provincial governments in Kosovo and Vojvodina. [1] In 1976 the Serbian government issued its first complaints of unconstitutional practice of autonomy by the provinces to Tito and Edvard Kardelj and issued a subsequent complaint in 1984 on the matter, attempting to resolve the problems within the 1974 Constitution. [2] It was reported that the provinces had repeatedly denied the Serbian government the ability to enact policies in their territories, such as regulation of citizenship policy, common defense law, and social plans. [3]
The situation in Kosovo became a crisis in the 1981 protests in Kosovo by Albanians who were heard shouting slogans such as "We are Albanians, not Yugoslavs", "Kosova Republic", "Unity with Albania", "Long live Marxism-Leninism, Down with Revisionism" and others. [4] The presence of ethnic and ideological dimensions to the protestors' demands led to Yugoslav authorities deciding to forcibly stop the protests. The president of the Pristina League of Communists, Aslan Fazlia (an Albanian) said that the protests were nationalistic and counterrevolutionary and announced tough police action against the demonstrators. [4] This action failed to quell the protests that instead grew in response with protests by Albanians sweeping across Kosovo, the President of the League of Communists of Kosovo Mahmut Bakalli decided in response to ask the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) to bring tanks onto the streets. [4] Police reinforcements from Central Serbia were stopped by a roadblock and then Albanian demonstrators took hostages from thirty-four houses of Serbs and Montenegrins, demanding that these police forces leave Kosovo in exchange for the release of the hostages. [5] Only after additional police forces from Priština arrived were the hostages released. [5] The protests led to vandalism throughout Kosovo including smashed windows of cars, shops, and state institutions. [5] The Yugoslav leadership declared a "crisis situation in Kosovo" and all republics were requested to send their police troops to Kosovo. [5] The Yugoslav leadership was shocked by the extent of the violence used by the demonstrators and the relatively large participation in the demonstrations. [5]
The aftermath of the 1981 protests in Kosovo resulted in resentment by Serbs in Kosovo to the political situation in Kosovo. [6] Serbs suspected that deliberate Albanianization of Kosovo and Serbs being driven out was demonstrated by statistics showing that the population of Serbs in Kosovo had significantly decreased from 23.5% in 1961 to 13.2% in 1981, as well as making claims that they were being persecuted by Albanians including that Serb women were being systematically raped by Albanians. [6] Many of these claims were not backed up by factual evidence but built up as popular rumours believed amongst Serbs in Kosovo. [6]
Milošević took control of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia's Serbian branch in September 1987, when his faction won over its opposition, led by Ivan Stambolić. His rise to power coincided with Serbo-Albanian tensions in Kosovo, as Kosovo Serbs felt oppressed by Albanians and the Albanian-dominated leadership of the province. The tensions were further boosted by inflammatory reports in the Serbian media. According to the 1974 Yugoslav constitution, the two autonomous provinces of Serbia (Vojvodina and Kosovo) were largely independent from the central Serbian government, with both of them holding a seat in the Yugoslav Presidency, on a par with the six constituent republics of Yugoslavia. In effect, their status was almost equivalent to the republics', which enabled provincial leaderships of Kosovo and Vojvodina to have policies that were practically independent. In late 1987 and 1988, a populist campaign started in Serbia against this situation, which it described as untenable. Provincial leaderships were being accused of bureaucratic inefficiency and alienation from the people. Popular slogans like "Oh Serbia in three parts, you will be whole again" (Ој Србијо из три дела поново ћеш бити цела, oj Srbijo iz tri dela ponovo ćeš biti cela)[7] caught on. The atmosphere was further stirred up by numerous articles and readers' letters in Serbian press, the most notorious being Politika's rubric "Odjeci i reagovanja" (Echoes and reactions), a letters to the editor column which was used as a type of astroturfing. [8][9]
The main points of the campaign were the following:[10]
The mass protests started in February 1986, with several meetings of Kosovo Serbs in Belgrade and in Kosovo, pleading for a resolution of the problematic situation on Kosovo. These were relatively small, with 100–5,000 participants, and were mostly reactions to individual inter-ethnic incidents. The largest such protest was held in Kosovo Polje in April 1987, gathering around 20,000 people. [9]
However, the outburst of protests began in the latter half of 1988. In June, the protest of workers of the Zmaj factory gathered 5,000 protestors; in July, meetings were held in seven towns with tens of thousands protesters, and in August in ten towns with 80,000 people. By September they spread to 39 towns with over 400,000 people. [9]
On 5 October 1988, around 150,000 people gathered in Novi Sad to protest against the Vojvodina provincial government. The gathering started a day earlier in the nearby town of Bačka Palanka, and, as Politika explained it, people spontaneously gathered and moved on to Novi Sad, the provincial capital. [9] The protest in Bačka Palanka was led by Mihalj Kertes, a mid-level official of the Communist Party, an ethnic Hungarian who would later become famous for his remark "How can you Serbs be afraid of Serbia when I, a Hungarian, am not afraid of Serbia?". [11]
The provincial leadership, led by Milovan Šogorov, Boško Krunić and Živan Berisavljević, were caught by surprise. Before the event, they tried to compromise and negotiate with Milošević, expressing cautious support for the constitutional changes while trying to keep their and Vojvodina's position intact. However, the avalanche of media campaign orchestrated from Belgrade was about to overwhelm them; they were labelled as power-hungry "armchairers" (фотељаши/ foteljaši) and "autonomists" (аутономаши / autonomaši). [12]
The Vojvodina government then cut off power and water supply to protesters, a move which enraged them further still, and caused even more people from Novi Sad and its vicinity to join. When power was restored, they tried a different tactic: in order to cheer the demonstrators up, they gave them bread and yogurt. However, thousands of yogurt packages were soon thrown at the Parliament building by angry protesters. Thus, the protests are sometimes referred to as the "Yogurt Revolution". [13]
On October 6, the entire collective leadership of Vojvodina resigned and were soon replaced with Milošević's men of trust Nedeljko Šipovac, Radovan Pankov and Radoman Božović. The Vojvodina representative in the Central Committee of SKJ, Boško Krunić, resigned and was replaced by Stanko Radmilović, while the President of the Central Committee of the SKV, Milovan Šogorov, resigned and was replaced by Bogosav Kovačević. The rally in Belgrade, at Ušće (the large field at confluence of Sava River into Danube) was held on November 19, 1988. According to the state press, it gathered about a million people, and according to others, several hundred thousands.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games
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The Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was a bid by Birmingham, England and Commonwealth Games England to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. [1] On 21 December 2017 it was announced that the bid has been successful. [2]
Birmingham was actually planning to bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. On 13 March 2017, Commonwealth Games Federation stripped Durban, South Africa of their rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games and reopened the bid process for the 2022 games. [3] On 19 June 2017 Birmingham announced its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games along with unveiling of its bid logo. The bid had the full support of: Birmingham City Council;[4] three regional local enterprise partnerships (Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership; Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership; Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership); the West Midlands Combined Authority, the West Midlands Growth Company and the newly elected Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street. [5] Four-time Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion Sir Mo Farah and CEO of Aston Villa F.C. Keith Wyness also supported the bid. [6][7]
Birmingham has also bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, but Barcelona was selected. Birmingham has a track record of delivering large international sporting and cultural events, such as:[1]
Birmingham has a wealth of existing sports venues, arenas and conference halls that were ideal for hosting sport during the Games. 95% of the competition venues were already in place for the 2022 games. [1] Alexander Stadium which will host the ceremonies and athletics will be renovated and the capacity will be increased from 12,000 to 50,000 seats. A 400-metre warm up track will also be developed. This would leave the stadium well placed to become the home of UK Athletics, hosting all the major national and international competitions after the Games. [8]
Athletics
Judo
Table Tennis
Freestyle Wrestling
Para Powerlifting
Hockey
Para Swimming
Diving
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Sports Competition
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U.S. withdrawal from WHO over claims of China influence to take effect July 2021: U.N.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States will leave the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 6, 2021, the United Nations said on Tuesday, after receiving notification of the decision by President Donald Trump, who has accused the agency of becoming a puppet for China during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, who announced the decision over a month ago, has to give one-year notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the Geneva-based body and pay all Washington’s dues under a 1948 joint resolution of the U.S. Congress. The United States currently owes the WHO more than $200 million in assessed contributions, according to the WHO website. After more than 70 years of membership, the United States moved to quit the WHO amid escalating tensions with China over the coronavirus pandemic. The virus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The WHO has denied assertions by Trump that it promoted Chinese “disinformation” about the virus. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi described Trump’s official withdrawal as “an act of true senselessness as WHO coordinates the global fight against COVID-19.” “With millions of lives at risk, the President is crippling the international effort to defeat the virus,” the Democratic leader posted on Twitter. So far there have been nearly 12 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 540,000 known deaths worldwide, according to a Reuters tally, with about 25% of both cases and deaths in the United States. Trump’s decision could be overturned before it takes effect if he is defeated by his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, in a November election. Trump had halted funding for the 194-member organization in April, then in a May 18 letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit to reforms. He announced the United States would quit less than two weeks later. Vice President Mike Pence, asked in a Fox News Channel interview whether it was the right time to break with the WHO, said: “It’s absolutely the right time.” “The World Health Organization let the world down ... There have to be consequences to this,” Pence said. The WHO is an independent international body that works with the United Nations. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that the WHO is “absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19.” “The Secretary-General ... is in the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Tuesday. Since taking office, Trump has also quit the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. cultural agency, a global accord to tackle climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. He has also cut funding for the U.N. population fund and the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees. Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Eric Beech; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Bill Berkrot
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Doctors and patients offer hope for women with metastatic breast cancer
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/ Updated:
Oct 13, 2021 / 07:18 AM EDT
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and October 13 is Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. This day focuses on the less common, but more deadly form of the disease.
Metastatic breast cancer is when the cancer spreads, typically to the liver, lungs, bones or brain.
Most women are diagnosed months or years after completing breast cancer treatment. Only about 6% are diagnosed with it first. Angela Ferrell of Moyock is one of them.
“I woke up one morning and the right side of my right breast was completely hard; I had no idea why, I just knew that it wasn’t a good thing,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell’s cancer is aggressive. Often missed on mammograms, it lies across her breast, unlike a typical lump.
She recalled the day she was diagnosed in 2018. “He (doctor) came in and he told me it was metastatic breast cancer and I also had bone cancer.”
Jeanette Demko was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. It metastasized years later. “I don’t even want to know where it is,” the 86 year old told us.
These women are living proof that metastatic breast cancer is no longer an automatic death sentence.
“There is hope,” Dr. Cristina Alencar said.
Dr. Alencar, an Oncologist with Virginia Oncology Associates, sees patients at the new Priority Toyota Cancer Center at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center . She said for every ten patients she sees, about two or three have metastatic disease. “More women are living longer with good quality of life,” she said.
According to Susan G. Komen , about one-third of women live at least five years after diagnosis and some live longer depending on what type of cancer it is and what treatments are available.
Dr. Alencar said bone cancer seems to be the easiest to treat, while treatment is more difficult when cancer attacks an organ. “If we don’t know yet how to treat that type or the best way to treat we can enroll patients in clinical trials.” She said Virginia Oncology Associates currently has patients enrolled in nearly a dozen breast cancer trials.
Angela’s cancer is treated with medication. “They told me I would deal with that for the rest of my life, but I have a rest of my life,” she told WAVY.
Playtime with her grandchild is now a priority for Angela. Her painful bone cancer sometimes makes it difficult to walk, but she doesn’t complain.
Jeanette is also focused on living her best life. She stays active with the Bra-Ha-Ha and exercises everyday.
Bra-ha-ha returns to Chesapeake
“I don’t like to walk outside; I like to walk around Target,” she laughed.
She’s on her third kind of chemotherapy. She is keeping the faith and remaining fearless which, when it comes to breast cancer, is just what the doctor ordered.
Dr. Alencar tells women “Don’t be afraid!” of mammograms because the earlier cancer is found the better your chances, and if it is metastatic there is hope in new research and medications.
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Famous Person - Sick
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Officers have released further details after an explosion and fire at a farmhouse occurred in the town of Coolidge on Sunday morning, August 15.
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Coolidge, AZ (August 18, 2021) – Officers have released further details after an explosion and fire at a farmhouse occurred in the town of Coolidge on Sunday morning, August 15.
Deputies with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said that two people were dead and one other victim was hospitalized with severe burns.
A large pipeline fire burned down the victims’ farmhouse after a fire broke out with an explosion around 5:30 a.m. at Kinder Morgan’s El Paso Natural Gas line, located near Randolph Road east of State Route 87. Flames were visible as far as Casa Grande, and the blast was heard from several miles away.
Coolidge Police said two bodies were recovered, believed to be a father and his 14-year-old daughter. The other victim, an unidentified woman believed to be the wife and mother of the deceased victims, was located wandering away from the house with severe burns. She was taken to a trauma center in critical condition.
Authorities have blamed the fair on a failure in the natural gas pipeline that contributed to an explosion. Due to the nature of the fire, first responders had to focus on containment while the fire went out on its own following gas disconnection.
On Monday, August 16, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board announced they would be sending investigators to the scene of the explosion to investigate the cause.
Our deepest condolences go out to the families of both deceased victims. Our thoughts are with the victim injured in this accident. We hope for her full recovery.
Deadly Gas Explosions in Arizona
Explosions across the United States have a devastating impact on families. In some instances, material losses are overwhelming. Families who lose all their possessions, their homes, and essentially their livelihoods are forced to start over.
As if the loss of homes and possessions were not enough, many victims sustain injuries in these unexpected incidents. Being hurt in an explosion can be devastating. In many cases, victims sustain burn injuries that have an incapacitating impact on their health and wellbeing. In fact, fires leave more than 500,000 victims hurt every year in our country. Over 40,000 people are hospitalized with acute burn injuries while over 30,000 people require treatment at specialized burn centers.
Although there are an array of reasons why explosion incidents occur, tens of thousands of people are harmed by faulty electrical work, defective appliances, and malfunctioning products.
When victims are injured in explosions, due to another party’s negligence, they should reach out to a national personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Victims may be entitled to compensation to help alleviate the financial burdens they face moving forward.
Some damages that victims are able to recover include compensation for medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and more. Working with a team of attorneys who are skilled, aggressive, and competent will ensure you are in the best position possible to move forward after being harmed in a fire incident.
The lawyers at Burg Simpson have spent over four decades putting together a proven record of success. Our law firm has helped secure more than $1 billion in verdicts for our clients and we remain dedicated to helping those harmed in accidents due to the negligence of others.
Our Pinal County personal injury lawyers provide aggressive legal representation to ensure victims collect full and fair compensation to cover medical treatment, lost wages, and more.
Our team has extensive experience with investigating accidents, negotiating settlements, and litigating in court against parties who refuse to take responsibility. Contact our nationwide personal injury attorneys at (888) 895-2080 to see how we can help you. Our team is available to meet with you at your earliest convenience to discuss the circumstances surrounding your claim.
Note: Independent sources were used in the creation of this post. These sources include news reports, police reports, eye-witness reports, social media reports, and first-hand accounts about the injury accident. For that reason, the facts pertaining to the specific events surrounding this accident have not been independently verified by our writing team. If there is any information that is not correct about a specific incident or if you would prefer that the post be removed, please reach out to us as soon as possible so that we can make the correction or remove the post.
Disclaimer: At the personal injury law firm of Burg Simpson, we have made it our mission to give back to our local community members. We have dedicated our careers to changing peoples’ lives for the better by fighting for them in court to ensure that they receive fair and full compensation for their injuries and damages after suffering an injury. We hope these posts will help bring awareness to the dangers of driving and will remind members of our communities to practice safer driving habits and take the necessary precautions to prevent being injured. This is not a solicitation for business. The information in this post should not be misconstrued as medical advice or legal advice. The photos depicted in this post are not representative of the actual accident scene.
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Gas explosion
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Kristof Milak breaks Olympic record for 200m butterfly gold
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Hungary's Kristof Milak was unable to break his own world record, but he still managed to grab gold in the men's 200m butterfly -- in an Olympic record-worthy 1:51:25. It was the Hungarian's third-fastest swim ever.
Japan's Honda Tomoru and Italy's Federico Burdisso finished second and third, respectively, with 1:53:73 and 1:54:75. Honda's efforts provided the host nation with its second swimming medal of the Tokyo Games.
South Africa's Chad le Clos, who previously won gold in the event at the London Games, led at the halfway mark -- but ultimately faded to fifth.
Milak's time still tops the previous world record of 1:51:51, set by Michael Phelps in 2009. Phelps held the record for almost exactly a decade before the Hugarian shattered it at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships with 1:50:73.
Team USA's Gunnar Bentz, who finished seventh, took to social media ahead of the race to express excitement and announce his retirement.
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Break historical records
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Over 1 Million People In Madagascar In Need Of Urgent Relief
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Amnesty International has asked the world and Madagascar’s government to step up relief efforts for over a million people affected by drought in southern Madagascar. More than a million people on Madagascar’s parched southern tip are on the brink of famine and some are already dying, the global rights watchdog said in a report on Wednesday released ahead of the United Nations’ climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. It called on rich nations to provide humanitarian aid and offer financial and technical support to help Madagascar adapt to climate change. The months-long drought, stoked by climate change, is the worst in 40 years, according to Amnesty. It afflicts a region where more than 90 percent of the population live in poverty, leaving many with little choice but to migrate. “It is a grave injustice that impacts of climate change are felt by people in developing countries the most considering that they have contributed the least to the climate crisis,” the rights group said. The UN has repeatedly blamed climate change for the drought, which has forced people to boil weeds and cactus to survive. In January, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for emergency aid of $35m to fight hunger in southern Madagascar. About three-quarters of the country’s 25 million people live in poverty. Madagascar has gone through 16 recorded food crises since 1896.
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Famine
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Death toll rises to 90 in Surfside condo collapse
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The death toll in the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, rose to 90 on Sunday, officials said in a news conference.
Seventy-one of the victims have been identified and their next of kin have been notified, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
There are now 217 people accounted for and 31 others "potentially unaccounted for," she said.
Recovering the victims has been much swifter after the search operation shifted its focus from rescue to recovery. Levine Cava said teams are making "incredible progress," and as of Sunday morning, more than 14 million pounds of concrete and debris have been removed from the site.
Ten additional victims, all of whom were recovered between July 6 and 9, were identified by Miami-Dade officials in a statement Sunday.
Read More
They were identified as Maria Gabriela Camou, 64; Julio Cesar Velasquez, 66; Lorenzo De Oliveira Leone, 5; Alfredo Leone, 48; Maria Torre, 76; Richard Augustine, 77; Luis Sadovnic, 28; Edgar Gonzalez, 42; Alexia Maria Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 9; and Anna Sophia Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 6.
The recovery effort is still delicate work, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said, telling reporters that search and recovery workers have "even found unbroken wine bottles in the rubble and recovered them."
Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky echoed that statement. The process of removing debris is faster for the section of the building that remained standing after the collapse and was brought down in a controlled demolition last week amid concerns it posed a threat to search and rescue teams.
Evidence from the Surfside condo collapse is growing by the day, but the investigation could take years
"On the rubble pile where we're still in our search and recovery, it's still a methodical process," Cominsky said. "The crews there, they're monitoring, they're hand digging ... As we're delayering, it's a slow process."
Other personal belongings, like rings, continue to be recovered as well, Burkett said. Those items are being "returned to the site storage area, categorized, photographed and saved for the families."
Recovery efforts have been helped by information on where the victims were anticipated to be inside the building when the collapse happened, Burkett had, calling it "nothing short of incredible."
"It has allowed the search and rescue teams to, on many, many occasions, pinpoint exactly where the victims were ultimately found," he said.
Burkett and Cominsky both acknowledged disappointment as rescue teams have accessed the condo tower's stairwells, which they had hoped would be an area of refuge and perhaps provide the best chance for voids in the rubble where someone could survive.
"The stairwell is always a primary -- the stability of how the stairwell is built, it's hardened better than other areas per se. So with a collapse that's where you have your greatest void space, your greatest possibility," Cominsky said.
"Unfortunately, with this type of collapse and everything coming down ... it just minimized those opportunities."
Saying 'thank you'
Some of the search and rescue task forces that had been deployed to Surfside from out of state or out of the country are beginning to leave, including a team from Israel. Levine Cava said the team would depart Sunday.
Community members, including the families of the victims, gathered Saturday night for a commemorative walk to recognize the efforts of all the first responders who have worked the site of the collapse, particularly the Israeli National Rescue Unit.
Levine Cava presented two of its leaders -- Cols. Golan Vach and Elad Edri -- with keys to Miami-Dade County to recognize their service to the community. They were also presented with badges and made honorary members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
"You delayed and you delayed and you delayed your departure," Levine Cava said. "I didn't even have to ask. You just wanted to be here with us."
Comsinky said a team from Virginia is also in the process of demobilizing, and that teams from New Jersey and Ohio are on "standby" and may begin that process soon. Florida Task Force 1, Florida Task Force 2 and teams from Indiana and Pennsylvania remain on scene.
Analysis shows sister building concrete strength is 'very good,' mayor says
As authorities conduct a flurry of examinations of other buildings in the wake of the collapse, Mayor Burkett said that the analysis of samples taken from the Champlain Towers South sister building, Champlain Towers North, have started to come back.
"Early results on the concrete is that the concrete strength is very good," he said Sunday, "And at or beyond the levels at which it should be."
Experts have been examining the building, which had been evacuated for safety concerns. Burkett has previously said the north towers building is "substantially the same as the building that came down."
The contents and substance of the concrete are also being analyzed, Burkett said, but experts are "constantly" at the building doing visual inspections.
Tests are taking place at different times of day. "Our engineer has said that those buildings are breathing entities," Burkett said, "and what goes on in the middle of the day is different than what goes on at night."
Other buildings in the area will receive letters from the mayor advising them to take the necessary steps to assure residents their buildings are safe, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CNN.
Regardless of the age of the building, the city is recommending the hiring of an engineer to review structural drawings and review basements, as well as a geotechnical engineer to examine the foundation.
"The recommendations are made in an abundance of caution based on the current status of the investigation," the letter said. "They are intended to serve as an interim methodology to afford residents some peace of mind until the forensic investigation progresses further."
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Mine Collapses
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Bali beaches swamped by garbage as tourists, hotel workers sweep up each morning
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It's garbage season in Bali, as an annual and worsening tide of trash swamps the beaches of the holiday island.
From December to March, thousands of tonnes of plastic debris are washed onto the island's main tourist strip, polluting the sand and making the prospect of a swim less than appealing.
The shocking sight is having a real impact on tourism, and the official response is to try and sweep it away before visitors hit the beach each morning.
"This is so disturbing for the workers around here and of course for the tourists," Wayan Suadiana, from the Housekeeping Workers Association of Legian Hotels, says.
"The issue is to actually to find where the trash is coming from."
The association sends a team of about 100 hotel workers out onto the beach soon after dawn to sweep the sand.
They join thousands of volunteers who are deployed along 20 kilometres of beach to try to clean up the debris that's been washed onto the beaches overnight.
"I've been here for 10 years," long-term resident Kino says. "But every January, February and March, you see it getting worse."
"I think it's disgusting," Danielle Paea, from Melbourne, says.
"We've just arrived last night and we're absolutely appalled by the rubbish on the beach."
"I won't bring my children down here to swim at the beach," Samantha Macri, also from Melbourne, says.
"And they want to come for the beach because they're young, and all they want to do is surf and be in the waves."
Some of the plastic debris comes from Bali but plenty of it is from other Indonesian islands, like Java and Sumatra.
From December to March seasonal winds and heavy rainfall push the rubbish onto Bali's south-westerly facing beaches at tourist hotspots like Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Canggu.
Ice cream seller Edi Karyadi volunteers to sweep the sand at Kuta.
"This happens annually when the west winds come," Edi says.
"The rivers in Bali carry the trash, but some of it comes as far away as Java."
Indonesia is one of the world's worst contributors of plastic pollution into the ocean, with an estimated 200,000 tonnes of plastic washing into the ocean — 16 per cent of the global total, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Four Javanese rivers are listed in the global top 20 of plastic-polluted waterways.
Single-use plastic is common in Indonesia, and last week a lot of the debris on the beaches of Bali was disposable drinking cups and food packaging.
Recycling right across the archipelago is haphazard, there are few rubbish bins and almost no separation of waste.
A scheme to ban plastic bags in shops fizzed out almost as soon as it was announced.
Organised recycling is left up to a handful of private businesses, like Eco Bali in Canggu.
The company charges consumers a fee to collect separated waste, which it then trucks from Bali to the nearest recycling centre — in Java.
"There's a lack of awareness and infrastructure, like garbage bins and transporters," Eco Bali's Ketut Martaadi says.
"The big problem is that the dependency on plastics is too high."
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
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Environment Pollution
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Brexit vote: Good Friday Agreement ripped up, says SNP
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MPs, including the DUP, backed an amendment by Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady by 317 votes to 301. It is not binding but Prime Minister Theresa May has said the vote gives her a mandate to return to Brussels to seek changes to the legal text. The Good Friday Agreement is an internationally binding treaty that was signed in 1998 and helped end more than three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. 'Reckless' The peace that followed allowed for the removal of security checkpoints at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Mr Blackford, who is the leader of the SNP at Westminster, said MPs who backed the Brady amendment had "reneged on the backstop" and the peace agreement. But Mr Dodds said Mr Blackford's words were "reckless", and that the DUP would now work with Mrs May to "deliver the right thing for the UK". "The house has expressed support for the sort of deal that will get through," he added. What is the backstop? Media caption, Reality Check unpacks the basics of the backstop. The backstop is the insurance policy to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland unless and until another solution is found through a wider UK-EU trade deal. The UK government agreed to a backstop in the draft withdrawal deal with the EU in November 2018 that would take effect at the end of the transition period in December 2020. It would see the whole of the UK stay in a customs union with the EU, while for regulatory matters, Northern Ireland only would continue to follow some EU rules that would see extra checks on goods coming into NI from the rest of Great Britain. Why is there opposition to the backstop? Although it would avoid checks on the land border in Ireland, it has been rejected by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and other parties at Westminster who said it created a "de facto Irish Sea border". The DUP was opposed because it believes anything that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK could threaten the integrity of the union. But a majority of political parties and business groups in Northern Ireland have urged support for it. Mrs May has said she recognises the concerns about the backstop, and is planning to seek changes to it - but the EU has already said it is not willing to renegotiate the current withdrawal agreement. What has the reaction to the votes been? Mrs May is expected to speak to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Wednesday In a statement issued after the votes, the Irish government said its position on the Brexit deal has not changed. Both it and the EU have repeatedly said since the draft deal was published in November, that it cannot be amended. Backstop was agreed by UK/EU as the insurance policy to avoid a hard border in all scenarios. We hope it will never be used, or be replaced quickly by a future relationship agreement. But it is necessary and tonight’s developments at Westminster do nothing to change this. Its statement said: "The withdrawal agreement is not open for re-negotiation. "We have consistently said that we want the closest possible future relationship between the EU and the UK. A change in the UK red lines could lead to a change in the political declaration on the framework for the future relationship, and a better overall outcome." The Irish government also said it will continue its preparations for a no-deal scenario. Welcome the UK Parliament's decision to reject a no-deal & the hope of cross-party talks on future relationship. We stand by Ireland & the Good Friday Agreement. There is no majority to re-open or dilute the Withdrawal Agreement in the @Europarl_EN including the backstop. — Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) January 29, 2019 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. View original tweet on Twitter Earlier this month, it said it was implementing its plans for a no-deal Brexit and would be prioritising Brexit legislation through Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament) in the form of an "omnibus bill". How have other Northern Ireland parties reacted? Sinn Féin South Down MP Chris Hazzard, said the government was trying to "intimidate" the Irish people with a hard border. Speaking from Westminster, Sinn Féin MP @ChrisHazzardSF has said the British parliament needs to realise that it cannot push the people of Ireland around over SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "London has decided that the interests of the people in Northern Ireland are secondary to the needs of the Conservative Party". "The rejection of the Irish Backstop, the only viable mechanism to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, is an affront on the Good Friday Agreement," he said. Alliance Brexit spokesperson Stephen Farry MLA said parliament has voted to send Brexit down "a dead-end" on the backstop. "Many people will be exasperated at a dysfunctional parliament unable to process and work through the real choices facing the UK around Brexit. Thirty-one months on from the referendum there is still no coherent way forward," he said. Green Party leader Claire Bailey said the "alternative arrangement" was a "non-runner". The independent unionist MP for North Down, Lady Hermon, voted against the amendment. Earlier she told the Commons it was unclear what the alternative arrangements proposed amounted to, and that she was "very sorry" that the prime minister had moved away from her original commitment to the backstop. 'Hold our nerve' On Tuesday evening, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said the Republic of Ireland has to hold its nerve as the Brexit deadlock between the UK and EU continues. He was giving a speech at an Irish Farmers' Association dinner. He spoke to Mrs May on Tuesday morning ahead of the votes in the Commons, and said he would speak to her again after the result. During his speech in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said: "Brexit is the great political challenge of our time, and we have to hold our nerve." "I think the words of the poet Maya Angelou apply perfectly to Brexit: While hoping for the best, we must be 'prepared for the worst and unsurprised by anything in between'." He also told the audience at the dinner that the Irish government has alerted the European Commission that it will seek emergency aid in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The purpose of it would be to help mitigate the impact on Irish trade, in particular for the beef, dairy and fishing sectors, he added. "I cannot offer you the reassurance provided by certainty but I can reassure you that until things are certain we will keep fighting your corner."
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Tear Up Agreement
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1952 San Juan earthquake
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The 1944 San Juan earthquake took place in the province of San Juan, in the center-west area of Argentina, a region highly prone to seismic events. This moderate to strong earthquake (estimated moment magnitudes range from 6.7 to 7.8) destroyed a large part of San Juan, the provincial capital, and killed 10,000 of its inhabitants, 10% of its population at the time. [2] One third of the province population became homeless. It is acknowledged as the worst natural disaster in Argentine history. The earthquake occurred at 8:52 pm on 15 January 1944 and had its epicenter located 30 km north of the provincial capital, near La Laja in Albardón Department. Some 90% of the buildings in the city were destroyed and those left standing suffered such damage that in most cases they had to be demolished. It is considered that the reason for such widespread destruction was the low quality of construction, rather than just the power of the earthquake. In 1944 many of San Juan's houses were made of adobe and the reconstruction programme prompted the creation of a building code that took into account contemporary knowledge of earthquakes and their effect on buildings. Stronger bricks were used, concrete single-story houses were erected and sidewalks and streets were made wider. There was some debate as to whether it would be advisable to rebuild the city in the same place, or to take advantage of the situation to move it to a less earthquake prone location. The former alternative was adopted. At the start of the reconstruction, emergency homes were built for the population with funds from the national state. This was the first large-scale state-directed construction plan in Argentina, the first stages of which occurred under Peronist rule. Colonel Juan Perón, later to become president, had met his wife Eva Duarte (Evita), during fundraising activities to help the victims. After the 1955 coup d'état ousted Perón, the reconstruction was continued under the de facto President Pedro Eugenio Aramburu. The earthquake caused many families to scatter in the confusion, and left around 1,000 orphaned children. According to historian Mark Healey, the issues surrounding the orphans and the nearly 100,000 homeless had a profound influence on the shaping of social legislation enacted during Perón's first term as president, two years later.
As of 2006, San Juan has a population of around 400,000, and 63% of its approximately 90,000 homes, and 100% of its public institutional buildings, were built under seismic safety regulations. This, however, leaves more than a third of houses as non-seismic-resistant. A study of the seismic vulnerability of the city, conducted by the National University of San Juan in 2005, showed that 28% of the outlying neighborhoods present medium risk, and 20% of the city itself can be classified as high or very high vulnerability.
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Earthquakes
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Critical Event Management (CEM) Leader Everbridge Completes Acquisition of xMatters to Accelerate Digital Transformation for Enterprise IT and Cyber Resilience
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Everbridge combines with xMatters to create industry’s most robust enterprise-wide platform for managing both digital threats and physical security via a common operating environment – powering the next generation Fusion Center BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG), the global leader in critical event management (CEM), today announced the completion of its acquisition of xMatters, a leading provider of IT Service Operations, Cybersecurity and DevOps incident response management. On April 6, 2021, Everbridge announced a definitive agreement between the parties pursuant to which Everbridge would acquire all of the outstanding equity of xMatters. “By 2025, 70% of CEOs will mandate a culture of organizational resilience to survive coinciding threats from COVID-19, cybercrime, severe weather events, civil unrest and political instabilities.” Everbridge’s end-to-end CEM platform, combined with xMatters’ solutions, digitally transforms how organizations manage, respond to, and mitigate IT and cyber incidents, helping organizations protect and enable revenue while reducing expenses. CEM can be deployed rapidly on a modular basis supporting hundreds of positive-ROI use cases, including for people and life safety, operations and business continuity, supply chain risk, IoT and the smart enterprise, and IT incidents and cybersecurity. “xMatters’ strong position within many of the Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 adds even greater value to our CIO and C-suite customers and prospects across large enterprises. For many of these C-level decision makers, IT incident and cyber response management remains critical to protecting revenue, productivity and reputation – one of Everbridge’s fastest growing use cases,” said David Meredith, CEO of Everbridge. “xMatters’ technology will complement our successful IT alerting business, providing a natural combination to further strengthen our CEM for Digital solution. Our two companies share award-winning cultures as best places to work, and we are excited to welcome the talents of the xMatters team into the Everbridge family.” “The combination of our xMatters team and technologies with Everbridge will enable us to provide our collective customers and partners with a highly-differentiated, end-to-end platform for transforming digital service resilience,” said Troy McAlpin, CEO at xMatters. “For our customers, digital business is their lifeblood and when that business is interrupted every second counts. With our acquisition now complete, we’re looking forward to further extending the power of critical event management (CEM) across an enterprise’s IT incident, digital service delivery, cyber security, and DevOps environments to help organizations ensure uninterrupted customer experiences.” With the rising challenges and opportunities associated with the Future of Work, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and 5G, Everbridge’s CEM suite of software solutions digitally transforms how organizations keep their digital and physical operations running, mapping risk intelligence with the automated tools to manage the full-lifecycle of an IT disruption or services issue. Automating and streamlining how organizations manage, respond to, and mitigate a crisis, as well as protecting revenue while improving cost efficiencies, CEM represents a ‘must have’ set of standards and best practices that forward-looking CEOs and boards increasingly incorporate into how they govern operational risk from unplanned events. According to a Gartner report, it is predicted “By 2025, 70% of CEOs will mandate a culture of organizational resilience to survive coinciding threats from COVID-19, cybercrime, severe weather events, civil unrest and political instabilities.”* Another Gartner report stated “Organizations that have been able to optimize their IT support model are able to free up resources to be reinvested into projects that advance the organization’s strategic initiatives and begin reducing their technical debt. However, organizations that are hampered by labor-intensive IT support models find themselves overwhelmed with operational activities.” ** Summarized Meredith, “The acquisition of xMatters represents another significant step in Everbridge’s commitment to better serve customers and create increased shareholder value. We intend to leverage our large, combined R&D teams to further innovate with data analytics and AI Ops, and to drive innovation and value for our customer base.” *Gartner ‘Predicts 2021: Organizational Resilience’ by David Gregory, Roberta Witty, Ron Blair, Katell Thielemann, 4 January 2021. **Gartner ‘ITSM Best Practices: How to Optimize IT Incident Management With Automation’ by Steve White, Venkat Rayapudi, 31 March 2021. About Everbridge Everbridge, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG) is a global software company that provides enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations’ operational response to critical events in order to Keep People Safe and Organizations Running™. During public safety threats such as active shooter situations, terrorist attacks or severe weather conditions, as well as critical business events including IT outages, cyber-attacks or other incidents such as product recalls or supply-chain interruptions, over 5,600 global customers rely on the Company’s Critical Event Management Platform to quickly and reliably aggregate and assess threat data, locate people at risk and responders able to assist, automate the execution of pre-defined communications processes through the secure delivery to over 100 different communication modalities, and track progress on executing response plans. Everbridge serves 8 of the 10 largest U.S. cities, 9 of the 10 largest U.S.-based investment banks, 47 of the 50 busiest North American airports, 9 of the 10 largest global consulting firms, 8 of the 10 largest global automakers, 9 of the 10 largest U.S.-based health care providers, and 7 of the 10 largest technology companies in the world. Everbridge is based in Boston with additional offices in 20 cities around the globe. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the contemplated closing of, and anticipated benefits from, the acquisition of xMatters, the anticipated opportunity and trends for growth in our critical communications and enterprise safety applications and our overall business, our market opportunity, our expectations regarding sales of our products, our goal to maintain market leadership and extend the markets in which we compete for customers, and anticipated impact on financial results. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” /“potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “intend,” variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the ability of our products and services to perform as intended and meet our customers’ expectations; our ability to successfully integrate xMatters’ people, technology, and business, as well as other businesses and assets that we may acquire; the financial impact from the acquisition of xMatters, including impact on our revenue and adjusted EBITDA in 2021 and in future years; our ability to attract new customers and retain and increase sales to existing customers; our ability to increase sales of our Mass Notification application, our CEM for Digital solution, and/or ability to increase sales of our other applications; developments in the market for targeted and contextually relevant critical communications or the associated regulatory environment; our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate; we have not been profitable on a consistent basis historically and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; the lengthy and unpredictable sales cycles for new customers; nature of our business exposes us to inherent liability risks; our ability to attract, integrate and retain qualified personnel; our ability to maintain successful relationships with our channel partners and technology partners; our ability to manage our growth effectively; our ability to respond to competitive pressures; potential liability related to privacy and security of personally identifiable information; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, and the other risks detailed in our risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including but not limited to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC on February 26, 2021. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We undertake no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. All Everbridge products are trademarks of Everbridge, Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other product or company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
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Organization Merge
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2009 El Ayyat railway accident
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The El Ayyat train collision killed at least 50 people and injured 30 others on 24 October 2009. [1] The incident occurred in El Ayyat, 6th of October Governorate, located 50 km south of Cairo. [2][3][4] The official death toll has increased and might increase further. [5][6][7][8] One of the trains was going southward to visit the Asyut and Aswan, popular tourist destinations. [9]
A second train slammed into the first, which had stopped to allow an animal, described by various witnesses and officials as either a cow or a water buffalo, to make its way safely across. [1][10][11][12] The second train was first class and had many passengers aboard;[9] the first one was traveling light. [9] It was thought that two carriages were wrecked completely. [13]
Reports described passengers jumping out of the train, but one carriage fell on another and the two had to be separated by a crane. [6] Attempts to find survivors in the two carriages were eventually halted when rescuers concluded there were no further survivors in or under either car. [14] Carriages were cut to reach the passengers. [15] Casualties were hospitalised. [14] Searches continued throughout the night after the crash. [7]
Egyptian railway authorities immediately announced an investigation into the crash. [9] The Egyptian government was criticised for its reaction by some of the surviving passengers. [16] Dubai's daily newspaper Gulf News and Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post both suggested officials on-scene had been forbidden from speaking to the media about the incident. [17][18] The crash was first reported on Twitter, with news networks initially reluctant to provide coverage. [16]
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Train collisions
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Northwest Airlines Flight 2 crash
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Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 was a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser aircraft that was ditched into Puget Sound, just off Maury Island at the Point Robinson Light, shortly after takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) on the morning of Monday, April 2, 1956. [2][3][4]
The plane flew over Normandy Park heading southwest. All of those aboard survived the ditching and escaped the aircraft before it sank, but four passengers and one flight attendant subsequently died. [4][5][6]
Flight 2 departed Sea-Tac at 08:06 PST on runway 20 (since removed), and its itinerary was south to Portland, then east to Chicago and New York City. The takeoff was uneventful until the first officer retracted the wing flaps; the aircraft suddenly began to buffet violently and also began a roll to the left. The captain believed that an asymmetric wing flap condition--when one set of flaps retract, but the other wing's set of flaps remain extended--had developed and made numerous attempts to control the aircraft, but to no avail. [4]
Believing the aircraft unairworthy, he considered returning to Sea-Tac or diverting to McChord Air Force Base south of Tacoma, but the buffeting worsened and the Stratocruiser began to lose altitude. They decided their best chance was to ditch in the relatively shallow and (on that day) calm waters of Puget Sound. The first officer's Mayday transmission relaying the intention to ditch was heard by the captain of a Coast Guard vessel and the pilot of an Air Force amphibious Grumman Albatross aircraft; both readied to assist the stricken aircraft. [4]
The captain brought the aircraft down smoothly at 08:10, 4.7 nautical miles (8.7 km; 5.4 mi) southwest of the departure runway. Although it took on water quickly, the passenger cabin remained in one piece, and all of those on board were able to depart safely, most using their seat cushions as makeshift flotation devices. [7] Ten minutes after the ditching, the Air Force Grumman landed in the water nearby and launched a number of inflatable liferafts, but not all passengers and crew were able to reach them; many remained in the 42 °F (6 °C) water of Puget Sound, hanging onto their seat cushions until they were rescued less than thirty minutes later by the Coast Guard vessel. Four passengers, including a six-year-old boy and his mother, and one male flight attendant were not recovered, thought to have succumbed to hypothermia. The Stratocruiser sank fifteen minutes after the ditching in approximately 430 feet (130 m) of water. [4]
Investigators with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) determined that the underlying cause of the accident was a single error made by the flight engineer. Stratocruiser engines were cooled by opening panels called "cowl flaps" or "engine cooling flaps" (also called "cowl gills") which circled the rear part of the engine and allowed heat to dissipate when open. The open cowl flaps could also disrupt the flow of air over the wings and it was therefore necessary to close them during critical phases of flight such as takeoff when maximum lift was needed. When the captain during his pre-takeoff checklist called, "Cowl flaps set for takeoff," the flight engineer replied "Set for takeoff," but had not actually closed them. When the aircraft took off and the wing flaps were retracted, the loss of lift caused by the open engine cowl flaps caused the aircraft wings to partially stall. [4]
Tests performed by CAB investigators showed that a Stratocruiser that took off with all cowl flaps open responded very similarly to a one-engine shut down; the aircraft could be turned and flown for some time before becoming too unstable to remain aloft. However, the captain was convinced that the problem had been caused by asymmetric wing flaps, a situation that would make all but the slightest turn dangerous, and decided to maintain the southwest heading and ditch, based on that analysis. [4]
The CAB found that the captain had incorrectly identified the cause of the aircraft's control and stability problems, but that it was extremely difficult if not impossible for him to have correctly identified the problem given the information available, the nature of the emergency he was faced with, and the time in which he had to make the decision as to whether to ditch or to attempt a landing at McChord AFB or back at Sea-Tac. [4]
The flight engineer was qualified on three different aircraft, but spent most of his time in the other two types (L-1049, DC-6). In the previous ninety days, he had less than two hours in a B-377, during a requalification check two weeks prior. The cockpit cowl flap controls on the B-377 and L-1049 moved in opposite directions for the closing of cowl flaps. At the hearing, the flight engineer testified that it was possible he had moved these controls in the wrong direction prior to takeoff, thus leaving the flaps in their already open position. [4]
The accident flight is known in some references (and in the CAB report) as Northwest Airlines Flight 2; it actually flew under the Northwest Orient Airlines name. Northwest advertised itself as Northwest Orient Airlines from the late 1940s to its merger with Republic Airlines in 1986; the registered corporate name remained "Northwest Airlines", thus the CAB report's designation is correct.
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Air crash
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Bituminous Coal Miners' Strike of 1894
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The bituminous coal miners' strike was an unsuccessful national eight-week strike by miners of bituminous coal in the United States, which began on April 21, 1894. [1]
The panic of 1893 hit the coal mining industry particularly hard. Wage cuts in the industry began immediately, and wages were slashed again in early 1894. By the late spring of 1894, the United Mine Workers, which had a mere $2,600 in its treasury and a paid membership of 13,000, called a general strike in the bituminous coal mining industry. The demand was for wages to return to the level they were at on May 1, 1893. Initially, the strike was a major success. More than 180,000 miners in Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia struck. In Illinois, 25,207 miners went
on strike, while only 610 continued to work through the strike, with the average Illinois miner out of work for 72 days because of the strike. [2]
But the mine owners were unwilling and/or unable to restore wages. Some owners adjusted wages slightly upward, but most refused to budge. In some areas of the country, violence erupted between strikers and mine operators or between striking and non-striking miners. On May 23 near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 15 guards armed with carbines and machine guns held off an attack by 1500 strikers, killing 5 and wounding 8. [3] On May 24 and 25 in LaSalle, Illinois, a firefight erupted between strikers and 40 sheriff's deputies. The deputies eventually ran out of ammunition and were forced to flee, most of them wounded. [4] The situation in LaSalle remained tense into early July, when a posse of 60 well-armed men was raised to fend off a force of 2000 miners. [5] On June 13 in McLainesville, Ohio (west of Bellaire), strikers armed with stones and clubs clashed with National Guard troops. [6] In Iowa, the National Guard was mobilized to protect miners in Givens and Muchakinock who had not joined the strike. [7][8][9]
As the depression deepened, the miners were unable to hold out. By late June, almost all the miners had returned to work. The strike shattered the United Mine Workers. A year after the strike, the union's secretary-treasurer wrote to the American Federation of Labor (AFL), declaring, 'The National is busted...' The union almost ceased to exist. It suspended publication of its newsletter and ceased paying per capita dues to the AFL. It would be a quarter of a century before John L. Lewis would turn the Mine Workers into a successful union again.
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Strike
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USAir Flight 5050 crash
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USAir Flight 5050 was a passenger flight that crashed on takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. As the plane took off from LaGuardia's runway 31, the plane drifted to the left. After hearing a loud bang, the pilots attempted to abort the takeoff, but were unable to stop the plane short of the end of the runway. The plane continued past the end of the runway and plunged into Bowery Bay. Two passengers were killed. On September 20, 1989, Flight 5050 was an unscheduled flight operated by USAir to replace the regularly scheduled but cancelled Flight 1846, from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. The flight was operated using a Boeing 737-400 narrow-body jet airliner (registration number N416US). [1]:6 The aircraft was originally delivered to Piedmont Airlines on December 23, 1988, and was inherited by USAir when it acquired Piedmont in 1989. [1]:6 On the date of the accident, the aircraft had accrued 2,235 flight hours, and was painted in a Piedmont-USAir transition livery. [1]:6
Flight 5050's captain was Michael Martin, 36, who began his career as a C-130 pilot for the United States Air Force; Martin continued to hold the rank of Major in the Air Force Reserve at the time of the accident. [1]:5 Martin was hired by USAir subsidiary Piedmont Airlines in 1984 and worked as a Boeing 727 flight engineer for a year before transitioning to the Boeing 737. [1]:5 Martin's training as airline captain was interrupted twice, once due to a USAF Reserve deployment and once due to personal illness. [1]:5 Martin had accumulated a total of 2,625 flight hours in the Boeing 737, including 140 hours as a Boeing 737-400 captain. [1]:5
Constantine Kleissas, 29, who served as Flight 5050's first officer, had been hired by Piedmont three months before the accident. Flight 5050 was his first takeoff in a 737 without supervision by a flight instructor. [1]:49
Neither pilot had formal training in cockpit resource management. [1]:5–6 The captain did not discuss emergency procedures such as rejected takeoffs with the first officer before the departure, despite the presence of weather conditions that included darkness, low visibility, and a wet runway. [1]:49[2][3]
Flight 5050 was cleared for a departure from LaGuardia Airport's runway 31, a 7,000 foot runway which ends with an elevated deck overhanging Bowery Bay. [1]:7
As the first officer began the takeoff on runway 31, the airplane started to drift to the left. The captain attempted to correct that drift with the use of the nosewheel tiller. Moments later, they heard a "bang" and then a rumbling noise. [1]:1 The bang was most likely due to air escaping from the left nose tire as it was pulled off its wheel, damaged by the captain's improper use of the nosewheel steering tiller. [1]:47 The captain took over control from the first officer and aborted the takeoff, but he was unable to stop the plane before it ran off the end of the runway into Bowery Bay. [1]:1
The airplane collided with a wooden approach lighting stanchion as it went off the end of the overrun. The fuselage broke into three sections, with the forward section resting on part of the elevated light stanchion and the aft section partially submerged. All of the fuselage fractures were due to overstress. [1]:13
All the exits except the L1 door and L2 door were used for evacuation. Senior flight attendant Wayne Reed could not open the L1 door. The L2 door was opened and then closed by Kelly Donovan when water entered the cabin. Flight attendant Susan Harelson deployed the evacuation slide at R1; the R2 slide was disarmed before the door was opened because flight attendant Jolynn Galmish believed that the slide would float upward and block the exit. All four of the overwing exits were used to evacuate successfully. "About 20 passengers stood on the left wing, which was out of the water. Someone unstowed the fabric ditching line from above a left overwing exit and tied it to its wing fitting. These 20 passengers, including the woman with the 5 year old child and the 8-month old infant, held onto the line as they awaited rescue. The ditching line was unstowed from its right overwing exit opening but evacuees did not know it needed to be tied to the right wing fitting. The forward portion of the right wing was out of the water and passengers held onto the ditching line so they could stay out of the water. "[1]
"Passengers who egressed at the two floor-level exits entered the water and because of the one-knot current some persons drifted away from the airplane and under the runway deck. Crewmembers threw flotation seat cushions and crew life preservers, which were held by passengers and crewmembers, some of whom could not swim. Several persons complained that they could not hold onto the cushions or that the cushions did not keep them afloat. Some clung to pilings under the deck and floating debris. Some passengers also swallowed fuel that was on the water surface. Several
complained that waves from boats and downwash from a rescue helicopter hampered staying afloat with their heads out of the water. One passenger said that she sustained a fractured right ankle and a lacerated hand when a rescue boat backed over her. "[1]
The last passengers, who were trapped in seats 21F and 22A, were extricated approximately 90 minutes after the accident. Two of the 57 passengers were killed. Fifteen other passengers were injured, one critically. [1]
The NTSB found numerous "crew coordination problems" during its investigation, which had a bearing on the ultimate outcome of Flight 5050:
Analysis of the digital flight data recorder revealed that the rudder trim had moved to the far left limit, while the plane was parked at the gate. Since power to the DFDR was off, while parked at the gate, the NTSB could not determine what caused the rudder trim to move to that extreme limit. It was speculated that someone was sitting in the jumpseat (which is located directly behind the control pedestal) had rested their feet on it and inadvertently toggled the trim knob. This knob used to have a raised flat and straight portion protruding from it.
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Air crash
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Biden Offers a Can-Do Unity Vision With Rich Paying ‘Fair Share’
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President Joe Biden declared the U.S. has turned the corner on a pandemic that’s killed more than half a million Americans and crippled the economy, promising tax increases on the wealthy to pay for ambitious plans to spend trillions on infrastructure, education and other Democratic priorities.
“America is on the move again,” Biden said in his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
But he warned corporations and wealthy Americans that he expects them to carry more of the burden of financing the nation’s advancements.
“It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to pay their fair share,” he said, promising to “reward work, not wealth” by raising taxes for the richest 1% and ordering an Internal Revenue Service “crackdown on millionaires and billionaires who cheat on their taxes.”
He would restore the top personal income tax rate to 39.6% for people earning more than $400,000 a year, tax capital gains at the same rate for people earning $1 million or more, and end a capital gains tax break on inheritances as well as the “carried interest” tax break utilized by fund managers.
“What I’ve proposed is fair. It’s fiscally responsible,” he said, promising programs financed in part by the tax increases would “create millions of jobs and grow the economy.”
Biden’s 65-minute speech laid out a broad vision for the country’s recovery from the pandemic, centered around a vastly expanded role for the federal government. His aides say he regards the nation’s emergence from a year of lockdowns, death and economic collapse as a unique opportunity to persuade voters that the country is more united -- and poised for massive taxpayer investments.
In the speech, the president unveiled his American Families Plan, a $1.8 trillion package of tax credits and domestic priorities including child care, paid family leave, and tuition-free community college that would be funded in part by the largest tax increases on wealthy Americans in decades.
He also touted his previously proposed $2 trillion infrastructure bill, casting it as a jobs-maker especially for people without college degrees -- Americans who largely supported his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
“Nearly 90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan don’t require a college degree,” he said. “Seventy-five percent do not require an associate’s degree.”
Joe Biden speaks during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on April 28.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg
The plan, he said, is “a blue-collar blueprint to build America.”
“Good guys and women on Wall Street but Wall Street didn’t build this country,” he said. “The middle class built the country. And unions built the middle class.”
The two proposals follow the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus that Biden called “one of the most consequential rescue packages in American history.” Biden’s address also celebrated a coronavirus vaccine rollout that’s delivered more than 315 million shots and a stimulus program that provided more than 160 million checks to taxpayers.
“Our progress these past 100 days against one of the worst pandemics in history is one of the greatest logistical achievements our country has ever seen,” he said.
U.S. equity futures extended their gains as Biden spoke, building on an advance propelled by strong tech earnings. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index extended its post-Fed decline, dropping 0.1% as of 10:10 p.m. in New York. Treasury 10-year futures were little changed.
John Hudak, deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution, discusses President Joe Biden’s proposal on Bloomberg Radio.
On foreign policy, Biden vowed to stand against Russia and China where he sees America’s interests at risk -- such as in the South China Sea -- but he also reiterated his willingness to work with rival nations on areas such as climate change.
“In my discussion with President Xi, I told him that we welcome the competition – and that we are not looking for conflict,” Biden said of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “But I made absolutely clear that I will defend American interests across the board.”
Biden looked to frame both his accomplishments and aspirations as an implicit rebuttal of the disarray that defined the federal government during the Trump administration, eroding confidence in the nation’s ability to meet big challenges.
“We’re vaccinating the nation,” he said. “We’re creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. We’re delivering real results people can see and feel in their own lives.”
He sought to build popular support for police reform, gun control and immigration proposals that have languished on Capitol Hill. He told lawmakers to pass his immigration overhaul in answer to a surge of migrants at the southern border his critics have called a crisis.
“If you actually want to solve the problem – I have sent you a bill, now pass it,” he said.
And he depicted the revitalized U.S. fight against climate change as a jobs plan, saying scores of Americans could go to work “building more efficient buildings and homes,” installing charging stations for electric cars, planting cover crops in fields to absorb carbon dioxide and manufacturing blades for wind turbines.
“There’s no reason the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing,” he said.
Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, delivered the GOP response to Biden’s speech. Scott credited Trump for progress against the pandemic, saying: “This administration inherited a tide that had already turned.”
Tim Scott speaks with members of the media while arriving for a vote in the U.S. Capitol on April 28.
Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
He also hit Biden for the slow pace of U.S. school reopenings -- a potential political vulnerability for Democrats, as teachers’ unions allied with their party have been blamed by many parents and Republican lawmakers for keeping children in remote learning.
“Locking vulnerable kids out of the classroom is locking adults out of their future,” Scott said. “Our public schools should have reopened months ago.”
Biden strode to the House rostrum having attended more joint session addresses than any previous president: eight times as vice president and dozens more as a senator. But Wednesday’s was unlike any in the nation’s past. Two women -- Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- sat over his shoulder as he addressed the American people.
Biden portrayed the gathering as a symbol of renewal after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in which Trump supporters nearly breached the House chamber where he spoke. “The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War,” he said.
Elements of the address emphasized how far the nation still has to go in battling the coronavirus pandemic. Pelosi limited the number of attendees for the event to around 200 people on the advice of medical experts, less than a fifth of the normal attendance.
Members of Congress weren’t allowed to invite guests, and the first lady’s box -- where presidents traditionally position a group of Americans who help illustrate the need for policies outlined in the speech -- was occupied only by Jill Biden and Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff.
The first lady held a “virtual reception” Wednesday afternoon with a guest list that hinted at elements of the president’s speech: a child migrant who became a nurse on the front lines of the pandemic, gun control and transgender rights activists, the director of a child care center for at-risk kids, and an information technology worker focused on bringing broadband access to rural Native American communities.
Chief Justice John Roberts
Photographer: Leah Millis/Reuters/Bloomberg
Chief Justice John Roberts was the only representative of the Supreme Court, while just two cabinet officials -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin -- attended.
White House officials credited the pandemic for the timing of Biden’s address, which the president had initially pledged to hold during his first month in office. Instead, aides on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue struggled to sort the logistics of the traditionally standing-room-only event as conditions rapidly shifted with lawmakers receiving vaccines. In addition, Biden’s stimulus legislation took longer than expected to pass both chambers of Congress.
The delay in some ways proved fortuitous, allowing the president to highlight accomplishments that enjoy broad support among voters. Nearly two-thirds of Americans approved of Biden’s coronavirus relief package, 64% support his handling of the pandemic, and 58% back his plan to raise corporate tax rates to pay for infrastructure investments, according to an ABC News poll released Monday.
“The timing gives him an opportunity to take a victory lap not for victory’s sake, but to prove the concept that government can work right for the people,” said Liz Allen, a former Biden aide.
How Capital Gains Are Taxed and What Biden Would Do: QuickTake
After the address, Biden will follow in the path of his predecessors by taking his message directly to voters, with trips to key swing states to amplify his proposals. The president, Harris, their spouses and cabinet members plan to visit approximately a dozen states. That includes Biden’s trip Thursday to Atlanta, where he’s expected to hold a car rally to celebrate his 100th day in office.
The following day, he’ll visit Philadelphia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amtrak -- expected to receive a sizable funding increase under his infrastructure plan -- at the city’s 30th Street Station. Georgia and Pennsylvania marked key electoral victories for Biden in November after they had voted for Trump in 2016.
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Famous Person - Give a speech
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2003 Congo air disaster crash
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The 2003 Congo air disaster occurred on 8 May 2003 when a cargo door of an Ilyushin Il-76 owned by Ukrainian Cargo Airways accidentally opened mid-flight while the aircraft was flying over Mbuji-Mayi with more than 160 people on board. The flight was conducting a civilian transport from Kinshasa in the southwest of the country to Lubumbashi in the southeast. Seventeen people were confirmed dead by the Congolese government, while officials estimated that 60 lost their lives. Survivors even claimed a higher number of fatalities, claiming that as many as 200 people were sucked out to their deaths. [1]
The incident occurred above the city of Mbuji-Mayi on the night of 8 May 2003. The aircraft was an Ilyushin Il-76 registered as UR-UCB and was operated by Ukrainian Cargo Airways, a Ukrainian state-owned charter airline company based in Kiev. The two-hour flight was chartered by the military to transport soldiers and their families to Lubumbashi, home to a large Congolese military base and located in the south of the country in Haut-Katanga Province. The cargo compartment was full of passengers; many were sleeping in the middle section and near the cargo door. The aircraft had no proper seating, and there were only folding chairs in the cabin, with people "crammed onto benches and on the floor. "[2]
About 45 minutes after takeoff from Kinshasha, at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the cargo door of the Ilyushin Il-76 suddenly opened, sucking many passengers out of the aircraft. Several people were clinging to ropes, bags and netting on the interior wall of the plane. Survivors described the scene as chaotic, with passengers screaming and flying out of the open door. Several people who had been sleeping were awakened by other passengers' screams. They also claimed that the plane suddenly tilted to the left and right, causing more people to be sucked out. Several people who had clung onto ropes lost their grips and were sucked out to their deaths. A secured truck on the cargo hold may have saved many lives as it may have acted like a barrier. [3][4]
One survivors described the commotion: "I was just next to the door and I had the chance to grab onto a ladder just before the door let loose." Another said, "I saw a soldier cradling a baby and a mother with a baby near the door suddenly just being wrenched into the darkness." The aircraft managed to return to Kinshasha after the incident. The Congolese government ordered an immediate search for the passengers who had been sucked out of the aircraft. Survivors claimed that many people had disappeared after the incident, and stated that as many as 200 people, including women and children, were killed in the incident. Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Konstantin Khyvrenko stated that no one was hurt in the accident, but survivors stated that many were injured by flying baggage and cargo. At least two pregnant women experienced miscarriages resulting from shock. The government only confirmed the deaths of 17 people, while officials estimated that as many as 60 may have been killed and airport officials placed the number of fatalities at 129. Aviation officials and western diplomats in Congo estimated that at least 170 people were killed in the incident. Of the more than 160 passengers in the cargo compartment, only about 40% returned to the airport. [5]
An investigation was ordered immediately after the disaster. Information minister Kikaya Bin Karubi told Reuters that the Congolese Air Force and Army were investigating to determine whether the accident was the result of human error or a mechanical problem. Sergeant Kabmba Kashala said that the aircraft had taken off with the door improperly fastened and that the door had flung open after three failed attempts to fully shut it mid-flight. The pilot suggested that the door had opened either after one of the passengers tinkered with its controls, or because of a computer glitch. He stated that a passenger could have been "touching the button for special opening device. "[6]
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Air crash
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Etna volcano update: Lava fountains light up Sicily's sky during Etna's 3rd paroxysm in May 2021
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After a period of mild activity during the last days of April, the volcano had been again calm until yesterday evening, when intermittent mild strombolian activity returned once again to the New SE crater. ... Fri, 30 Apr 2021, 16:37 Etna volcano (Italy): swarm of tiny earthquakes under eastern flank A swarm of small earthquakes has been occurring under the volcano since yesterday: about 50 tiny quakes with magnitudes between 1.0 and 2.2 were detected over the past 24 hours in an area on the lower eastern flank, roughly between the towns of Milo, Mascali and Giarre. ... Etna volcano eruptions : Near continuously active; some major historic eruptions include 122 BC (large Plinian outbursts that created the small caldera of the "Cratere del Piano"), 1669 AD (devastating flank eruption that destroyed 15 villages and part of Catania), 1787 (Subplinian eruption and one of the most spectacular summit eruptions on record - lava fountains reportedly up to 3000 m high).
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Volcano Eruption
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With its ad hoc rescues and bailouts of regional lenders, the country’s central bank risks fueling a larger financial crisis
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With its ad hoc rescues and bailouts of regional lenders, the country’s central bank risks fueling a larger financial crisis. By October 27, 2020, 6:00 PM EDT The East is Red ink. Photographer: Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Anjani Trivedi is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies in Asia. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal. As Chinese official slogans go, “one bank, one policy” may lack the revolutionary fervor of “let a hundred flowers bloom” or “smash the four olds.” But don’t be fooled by the bureaucratic banality of this mantra recently adopted by China’s banking regulator. Its patchwork one-bank, one-policy approach to a cascade of regional bank failures could trigger a wider financial crisis in the world’s second largest economy. Across China, Beijing has willy-nilly injected capital into failing lenders, forced state-owned enterprises to step in as shareholders and consolidated yet more institutions in a bid to stave off system-wide contagion. Last month, regulators approved the recapitalization of Zhejiang-based Bank of Wenzhou using special infrastructure financing bonds. Plans are afoot to merge two ailing city banks to create Sichuan Bank Co., which will become China’s largest municipal commercial bank with 30 billion yuan of capital ($3.75 billion). Since May 2019, which saw China’s first bank seizure in decades, there has been a wave of other mergers among small provincial lenders, with officials maneuvering behind the scenes in order to avoid stirring panic. Other lenders have been restructured and reorganized. Meanwhile, regulators are allowing unlisted, small lenders — regardless of their financial position — to raise equity capital via private placements.
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Financial Crisis
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2 women freed from ongoing Minnesota bank robbery standoff
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Officers stand near an entrance to the Wells Fargo branch Thursday May 6, 2021, in south St. Cloud, Minn. following a reported hostage situation. Police in Minnesota were on the scene Thursday of a reported bank robbery with hostages. (Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times via AP) ST. CLOUD, MINN. -- A standoff between Minnesota police and an alleged hostage-taker continued into the evening Thursday despite the release of four bank employees. Three women and a man were released from a Wells Fargo Bank branch in St. Cloud, according to authorities. The first woman ran from the bank toward members of a SWAT team with her hands up. After being searched, she was escorted to safety. Two women and a man later emerged from the bank and were led to safety. It wasn't immediately clear if other bank employees were being held against their will. The incident began around 1:45 p.m. Thursday, with a report to police of a robbery in progress. Law enforcement officials initially said an unspecified number of hostages were being held by a male suspect. Police said negotiations were continuing with the suspect, and there were no reports of injuries. St. Cloud resident Abdi Kadir told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune he was in the bank drive-through when the teller hurriedly told him to leave. As he drove off, he saw people running out the bank's front door, he said. "We recognize this is a traumatic moment for the community and our colleagues," Wells Fargo said in a statement. Company spokeswoman Staci Schiller confirmed "a hostage situation" at the bank's south branch. She said bank officials are co-operating with local law enforcement and will do whatever they can to assist the authorities. Two armoured vehicles were stationed near the bank's front door along with several armed officers. Police moved onlookers away from the bank, but a crowd gathered across the street to watch the drama unfold.
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Bank Robbery
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2019 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
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The 2019 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 18th season of Europe's premier women's club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Women's Cup to the UEFA Women's Champions League. This was the first time since the final is played as a single match that a host city for the Women's Champions League final was not automatically assigned by which city won the bid to host the men's Champions League final, although the same association is still allowed to host both finals by the UEFA bid regulations. It was played at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 18 May 2019,[6] between French side Lyon and Spanish side Barcelona. Lyon won the final 4–1 for their fourth consecutive and sixth overall UEFA Women's Champions League title. [7]
In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Women's Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Women's Champions League era. Lyon, which hold the record for most titles (five) and most consecutive titles (three), are the first team to reach eight finals and four consecutive finals. Barcelona were the first Spanish team to reach the final, and the first women's side whose men's team have also won the Champions League. [8]
This is the first time a major international women's final is held in Hungary. [9]
The stadium is the home ground of Hungarian club Ferencváros. Due to UEFA regulations regarding naming rights of non-tournament sponsors, the stadium was referred to as the "Ferencváros Stadium" in all UEFA materials. For the first time ever, an open bidding process was launched on 9 December 2016 by UEFA to select the venues of the club competition finals (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Women's Champions League, and UEFA Super Cup). [10][11] Associations had until 27 January 2017 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 6 June 2017. UEFA announced on 3 February 2017 that six associations expressed interest in hosting,[12] and confirmed on 7 June 2017 that two associations submitted bids for the 2019 UEFA Women's Champions League Final:[13]
The following associations expressed interest in hosting but eventually did not submit bids:
The bid evaluation report was published by UEFA on 14 September 2017. [14] The Groupama Arena was selected as the venue by the UEFA Executive Committee on 20 September 2017. [15][6]
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). Tickets were available for sale for 1,000 HUF, 700 HUF, and 500 HUF. [16]
On 1 May 2019, UEFA announced that Anastasia Pustovoitova of Russian would officiate the final. She was joined by Russian compatriot Ekaterina Kurochkina and Petruţa Iugulescu of Romania as assistant referees. The fourth official for the final was Hungarian Katalin Kulcsár, joined by fellow countrywoman Katalin Török as reserve official. [2]
The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, which was held on 9 November 2018, 13:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. [17][18]
Player of the Match:
Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)[1]
Assistant referees:[2]
Ekaterina Kurochkina (Russia)
Petruţa Iugulescu (Romania)
Fourth official:[2]
Katalin Kulcsár (Hungary)
Reserve official:[2]
Katalin Török (Hungary)
Match rules[20]
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Sports Competition
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